By Dr. Mike Spaulding

August 7, 2024

Poetry often succinctly captures a moment of time, sometimes an era. The words of a poet can move the heart in ways other literature cannot. Great poets are remembered, and their writing spoken of and written about for long years, decades and centuries afterward. Sometimes poetry is a commentary on culture, pointing out deficiencies and moral failures. Are we at that place where moral failures are dismissed, and the courage of our convictions have withered before the heat of adversity?

Philosopher George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” It is nearly universally understood today that Santayana’s statement was meant to be a warning to all freedom loving people that we must never allow the moral failures and outrageous behaviors of treasonous, treacherous, evil people to be repeated in our time. Since we lived through atrocities of the past, it is our duty to not allow the same atrocities to overtake us again. Yet that is exactly where we find ourselves today. Let me explain.

Martin Niemoller was an influential German pastor during the rise and reign of Adolph Hitler. When Hitler’s National Socialist Party, the Nazi’s, wrested power from the German government by hook and crook, Niemoller was an enthusiastic supporter. Hitler had promised Niemoller that he had no interest in the church and promised that his party would allow the church to tend to the spiritual needs of the people without interference. This was a monumental lie. Hitler aggressively pursued control of all aspects of German life including the church.

Niemoller’s awakening from his slumber evinced a heavy toll on his heart and mind. He realized too late that he had fallen victim to the siren song of propaganda and had failed his Lord and the German people. In his desire to participate in the tsunami of popular support for the Nazi’s and the national pride they seemed to engender, Niemoller lost sight of the Bible and what it says concerning Israel. What did he do? He repented of his naivety and began to preach the truth concerning the Nazi’s, encouraging his fellow Germans to stand against the warmongering and wicked barbarity that was even then manifesting itself toward the Jewish people. This courage landed Niemoller in Hitler’s concentration camps, where he would spend eight years.

In an act of public confession and repentance, Niemoller authored a poem still quoted to this day. Here is what he wrote.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Niemoller ended his poem referencing the Jewish people. He realized too late that the Nazi’s followed a well thought out plan whereby the Jewish people were always the target. Having defined opponents for years as enemies of the state, there was no resolve left among the German people to support and defend the Jewish people.

We have arrived once again at a place in history concerning the Jewish people that if it is to be reversed, there must be mass confession and repentance among Christians in America.

I had brief hope for this nationwide confession and repentance days after October 7, 2023. There appeared to be near global shock and outrage at the murderous hellish murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent people by demonical charged Hamas and their Iranian masters. Alas that did not translate into mass confession and repentance. Instead, the same mechanisms that have fueled anti-American hatred and violence within our national borders as well as overseas, began their unchecked money flow to their agents. These agents used that money to influence ignorant people to engage in college campus protests. We have all seen the idiocy on full display.

As this unfolded, I understood clearly that a national confession and repentance concerning Israel was not to be. Those in control of America would not let that happen. Following is a list of reasons why this national confession will never happen.

American Christians have said little to nothing for decades while the enemies of Israel, the terrorist proxies of Iran, have bombed, murdered, kidnapped, and raped Jews at their discretion. October 7, 2023, horrendous as it was, is just a microcosm of a greater evil against Israel that has been sustained for decades while American Christians simply went about their daily lives none the wiser.

American Christians have said little to nothing for decades while Muslim countries neighboring Israel have taught their children from the youngest age to hate Jews, to take up arms against the Jewish people, and to die a martyr’s death to inflict pain on any Jew for any reason, or no reason at all beyond their belief that it pleases Allah.

American Christians have said little to nothing while our politicians have groveled at the trough of Muslim money. The price for the Islamic largess? Betrayal of Israel. It is no secret that the US Department of State is a hotbed of Arab Muslim sycophants. The treacherous tenacles of Islam are deeply embedded in American government.

American Christians have said little to nothing about the millions of dollars in Islamic money donated to American universities to fund Palestinian hate groups to foment violence against Jewish Americans.

American Christians have said little to nothing about the horrendous illegal invasion occurring at our southern border with Mexico. It is a known fact that most of those invading America are military aged men of Middle Eastern descent with known ties to Islamic terror groups.

American Christians have said little to nothing about Joe Biden and his administration openly working to foment civil war in Israel and to unseat a freely elected Benjamin Netanyahu from his office so that this American government can install their puppet to concede defeat to the Islamic terrorists. Destroying sovereign foreign nations has been an American strategy for decades while American Christianity slept.

The seeds of America’s destruction have been sown in heaps for decades. Communists, Socialists, and Marxists are all out in the open. Evil forces have operated in the open, none so blatantly since 2020. Antifa and Black Lives Matter, two virulently anti-American domestic terrorist organizations, have been given billions of dollars by American corporations to continue their anarchy and subversion, while Conservative, Bible-believing Christians have been made the target of lawfare by our highest law enforcement agencies in the land.

We are witnessing Niemoller’s poem in the inverse today. For Niemoller the Jews were last and there was no one to stand for them and with them. Hitler prioritized his genocidal strategies to eliminate the Communists, Socialists, and their boots on the ground, trade unionists first. Then he came for the Jews. Americans today are willing to throw Israel to the Islamic Jihadi terrorists in the hope that they will escape unscathed, while allowing a Communist take over of our nation. How utterly and ridiculously ignorant this is.

Terrorism is the path to tyranny, absolute state control, and inestimable human suffering. Hitler proved it. The ayatollahs are proving it. Remaining silent in the face of such an onslaught of evil is reprehensible. If these wicked people have their way Israel will fall. Fortunately, there are a few American Christians who see clearly what is transpiring and they are beginning to stand.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must stand now. All of creation is the Lord’s. There is no subject, issue, or ideology that is not under the purview of God. He has spoken to all things through His Word, and by His Spirit.

The enemies of God will not stop at Israel, and that includes American enemies and even some Americans who claim Christ. The United Kingdom is within the Islamic grasp. America could be in the grip of foreign control soon. Some say it already is. If we do not stand up for the Jews today, who will there be to stand when they come for us?

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

July 14, 2024

Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field, contains a line that has become especially relevant in the political realm. That line is: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” That line perfectly describes the state of Jewish-Muslim geopolitics. A recent event in Italy is a clear message to the world that Muslim terrorists, regardless of which banner they fight under, are incapable of accepting peace on any terms except the complete eradication of the nation of Israel and every Jew living in the Middle East. Here are the details.

Mustafa Barghouti founded and is still an influential leader within a political party called the Palestinian National Initiative Movement. Barghouti and his organization have steadfastly opposed Israel. They are active participants in the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement, and recently called for economic and military sanctions against Israel by the US and EU. More egregious than those activities, however, is Barghouti’s approval of the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel by Muslim terrorists and their barbary toward innocent men, women, and children. He stated at the time that the Muslim terrorists were justified in their rape, murder, beheadings, mutilations, and torture of Israelis because there can never be normal relations with Israel.[1] This information provides needed background to understand the Muslim reaction to Barghouti’s friendly gesture.

During a recent conference in Italy that brought Italian parliamentary factions together, Barghouti was videoed hugging former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami. This simple expression of greeting and friendship caused an immediate uproar among Palestinians and the organizations purported to represent them. Never mind that Ben-Ami is a leftist and proponent of a two-state solution. Barghouti was roundly denounced as a traitor, as having committed a “crime” by embracing a Jew, and as a secret proponent of normalizing relations with Israel.

Why would something that is commonplace around the world in all societies and even among leaders of nations when they gather, cause such angry and hostile rebukes from the Muslim world? The answer is really quite simple. The leaders of the Palestinian organizations have all been clear in their denunciations of Israel. Palestinians and Muslims in other nations train their children from the time they are old enough to walk and talk to hate Jews. Palestinian children are indoctrinated by various fables such as: the ridiculous notion that Israel oppresses Muslims and Arabs, in the illegitimacy of Israel as a nation because they exist on “stolen” land, in the nonsensical and easily rebutted “apartheid” charge, and of the equally nonsensical charge of ethnic cleansing. None of these stables of Palestinian and Muslim myth have any basis in reality. Apparently, truth has no place among the Palestinians.

When an entire population is brainwashed by lies concerning the Jews, is it any wonder that missteps by Palestinian leaders receive such vitriolic responses? The fact is that Barghouti and other leaders of supposed Palestinian advocacy organizations must toe a very well drawn-out line of constant hatred toward Israel and the Jews. Any actions or words that might be observed or construed as conciliatory toward Israel are not tolerated. The only permissible speech concerning Israel and the Jewish people is hateful, vilifying, and demeaning.

Clearly, there can be no negotiations for peace with Palestinian leaders. There can be no two-state solution. There can only be a complete and total victory by Israel over the terror groups that have unanimously vowed to annihilate the nation of Israel. There simply is no room for political optics or posturing for Israel. It must complete the destruction of Hamas, Hezbollah, and every other terrorist organization while sending a message to Iran and other state sponsors of terror that it has the will power to persevere through world opposition in order to secure its existence.

Western governments are well aware of this reality and must not choose to play the game of pacification of the Muslim terrorist groups and their benefactors in Iran. Israel will stand with or without the US and EU. What leaders need to answer today is this: Do you want to be on the side of those fighting for freedom? Or do you want to be on the side of the Muslim and Arab tyrants who oppress their own people? The world is watching for the right response.

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Bassam Tawil, Why Palestinian Leaders Cannot Make Peace With Israel, Gatestone Institute, International Policy Council, July 11, 2024. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20773/palestinian-leaders-cannot-make-peace

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

May 20, 2024

In Greek mythology, a story is told about Odysseus, a king of Ithaca. This king is said to have waged war against the city-state of Troy. After an unsuccessful siege of the city, Odysseus conceived the idea of building a huge horse and hiding within its structure many of his best fighters, counting on the Trojans to see the wooden horse as a sign of their victory over the Greeks.

As Odysseus believed, the Trojans pulled the wooden horse inside their city walls, believing it to be a sign from the gods of their victory. At nightfall, the Greeks disembarked their hiding place, opened the gates for their fellow soldiers and the city of Troy fell. History has trumpeted the genius of Odysseus. The Trojans on the other hand, have been seen as gullible and painfully naïve.

Why the quick lesson in Greek mythology? It seems the same type of strategic maneuver has recently been completed in the US House of Representatives, with many Republicans playing the part of the Trojans. Let me explain.

House Resolution 6090 (HR 6090), interestingly named the Antisemitism Awareness Act, was passed recently without a full committee hearing or markup, which would have enabled lawmakers to address many of the concerns voiced by those who see dangerous implications for American’s free speech rights under the US Constitution.

It should go with saying that antisemitism is evil. Labeling Israel as an apartheid state is the height of ignorance and delusion. Declaring Israel’s government and military leaders war criminals for their response to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, invasion and violent barbarity is unconscionable. The issue is not about addressing antisemitism. We must do that forcefully. The issue is that addressing antisemitism must be a genuine effort whereby all parties to any proposal agree that antisemitism must be prosecuted to the full extent possible while also denying potential applications outside the original intent of the law. Loopholes left intact that can be used to prosecute other parties beyond original intent is extremely dangerous to free speech rights in America. Therein lies the rub.

The House of Representatives under Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and his predecessor, Republican Kevin McCarthy, have practiced “airdropping” bills to the House floor which circumvents regular order, deliberation, and potential amendments. In other words, nothing can be debated, objected to, removed, or added. Lawmakers are left to vote yea or nay. Christians and conservatives decry that practice when the Democrats do it but are surprisingly silent when Republicans do the same thing.

At issue with this bill is any clear definition of what constitutes antisemitic speech. It seems that this bill is little more than a knee-jerk reaction to the violent antisemitic actions currently wreaking havoc on several college campuses across America. As such, the bill fails to adequately address the current turmoil and does not give any clear direction for prosecution of offenders in the future. If it cannot or will not be used to prosecute the current Soros funded campus violence, then what is the point in touting this bill as some type of solution? I’ll tell you what the point is – it is mere political optics. In other words, HR 6090 is meant to shore up the Biden administrations polling numbers among American Jews, a demographic that is in freefall away from Biden. The same strategy has been used by the current administration toward Israel, coddling the American Muslim population ahead of the 2024 election by denouncing Israel, threatening to withhold armaments, and giving a green light to the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants. Do you really believe that a bill to protect Jews from acts of violence would find favor with House Democrats without the Biden administration giving the go ahead? Why are Republicans, Conservatives, and Christians so naïve?

Opponents of the bill cite the Bible as now being placed directly in the crosshairs of prohibited language. The standard by which courts in the future will decide what constitutes antisemitic language (depending on whether the Senate rubber stamps the bill as anticipated) was developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Why does that matter? It matters because the IHRA has provided what amounts to another step in the destruction of American civil liberties. I’m not saying that the IHRA has deliberately done anything nefarious. I am saying that their language needs revision and “tightening up” to make it specific, and clear. Their broad definition of antisemitism begins with “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews.” This means that the thoughts, opinions, or perspectives of people are once again on trial. What the IHRA has provided, and a majority of the House GOP railroaded through, is nothing more than the same broadly defined hate speech legislation that Conservatives and Christians have criticized from the very start of that dangerous and unconstitutional boondoggle. Why are some Christians and conservatives celebrating this bill?

Within the language the IHRA provided is this gem: “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.” Using a cross, a Bible, or biblical passages can under this bill be deemed antisemitic.

Before we go any further, let it be known that this author is a staunch supporter of Israel. I have taught for decades and continue to teach that Israel is Yahweh’s people, that His promises in the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic Covenants will be fulfilled entirely, that Israel has every right to exist in peace without constant threat of attack, that Israel must stop being made the villain for the haters in the Muslim world and elsewhere, and that the church absolutely has not nor ever will replace Israel in Yahweh’s economy. My bona fides concerning Israel are impeccable.

I’m also sympathetic to the “something is better than nothing” argument currently heard in response to opposition of this bill.

However, Christians must be alert to the deceptive intrusion of anything with a stated goal of stopping and criminalizing certain types of speech and behavior.[1] Legislation that purports to bring greater degrees of safety offered to us during times of national crisis always has ulterior motives buried deep within the language. The Patriot Act and the FISA Court renewal is one of the most egregious examples of the violations of American life, liberty, and right to privacy and personal freedom this nation has ever witnessed. I remind you that it was delivered under a Republican President completely written and white-washed as patriotic and necessary to fight terrorism. Beware the bearer of gifts presented with claims of greater safety. It is almost always a Trojan Horse.

Christians of all people should see the handwriting on the wall. Our judicial system has become progressive and Marxist. How do you think a judge will rule on a case when the defendant is a Christian pastor who was teaching from the book of Acts and happened to linger on 4:10-12 which says: “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Or how about Acts 3:14-15 which says, “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”? Consider 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16: “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”

Under the proposed definition of antisemitism Christian pastors who might preach from these biblical passages would be subject to criminal prosecution and sentencing if any Jewish person wanted to press the case and a judge wanted to make an example of him or her.

We must oppose antisemitism everywhere. We must stand for Israel and against the flood of wickedness unleashed against her in our day. But we must oppose antisemitism from solid ground. We must stand for Israel from the sure foundation of Yahweh’s Word. That means we will be very careful to examine everything purported to assist America is standing for Israel and that includes clearly defined definitions and outcomes in any potential legislation considered.

I used to say that most everything the Democrats want I oppose. The Democrat party has lost touch with not just Americans but truth and reality. I can now add most Republicans to the same principle. They are either exceedingly gullible, or more likely, have given up trying to make a difference for Americans and especially Christian Americans. They have allowed the Trojan Horse of deception to enter the once protected arena of the church. As author Daniel Silva observed, “The barbarians broke down the gates a long time ago…They’re living among us and devouring our children.”

God, please give us wisdom to navigate the days in which we live. We will stand with Your people Israel. That means we must be wise in considering anything offered by known enemies of Israel that is touted as coming to Israel’s defense. If it looks like a Trojan Horse, it likely is.

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Current President Biden’s prosecution of prolife activists who merely pray outside abortion mills is one example of the evil lurking within most legislation. One 80-year-old woman has been sentenced to jail for praying on a sidewalk near an abortion center. Careful and thorough review is prudent and wise to avert any unintended applications.

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

May 12, 2024

Asking why we continue to see and read of the hatred and vitriolic rants against the nation of Israel often sounds like a “broken record.” I have surmised that we will continue to hear and see the incessant spewing of Antisemitism because those expressing these views are short on reason, rational thinking, and logical, analytical deduction skills. This is not meant as an insult. This is observably true. What else can possibly explain the lack of comprehension among so many?

A simple way to address the widespread disinformation and subsequent rants of those who hate Israel would be to ask a series of questions and wait for an accurate and meaningful response. For example, I would ask someone who has expressed the kind of thinking that denigrates Israel as the sole cause of the many issues facing the region, this simple question: “When did the Palestinian people organize their land and establish its local governing authorities?” Israel is always spoken of as occupying the land of the Palestinians, so when did the Palestinians organize their land and set up a government to govern it and them? The answer of course, is, never. There is no such thing as the land of the Palestinians or Palestine.

Any honest historian will state that the Palestinian “problem” was created by Arab and Muslim nations who refused to admit those Arabs and Muslims who fled Israel in 1947-48 at their insistence. When Arabs and Muslims left Israel, the people including the leadership of the new nation asked them to stay. Today, the same problem exists because Arab and Muslim nations will not allow the Palestinians to immigrate to their countries. Those nations see the Palestinians as both a bargaining chip against Israel and a likely domestic problem for peace if allowed to immigrate. The reality is that the Arab and Muslim nations will never permit the Palestinians to enter their nation because along with them come the dangerous tentacles of Hamas and Hezbollah. There is much to be gained by the Israel haters by continuing the erroneous global optics of Israel as the villain in the story of the Palestinians.

The so-called ethnic cleansing decried on college campuses across America is also logically a non-starter. How is Israel committing genocide against the Palestinian people when the population of the Palestinians continues to grow? If there is a genocide ongoing, it is being perpetrated by the terror groups which rule Gaza and Lebanon with an iron fist. The Palestinian people are nothing more than expendable chattel in the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, and their masters, the Iranian mullahs.

Perhaps the most potent question one could ask of someone blinded by their hatred toward Israel is this: “Can you name one Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian leader who has stated publicly and is affirming among his group of constituents that as a part of a separate Palestinian State, Israel has a right to her land in which to live in peace and security?”

Today’s virtue signaling, communist loving, Israel hating, Palestinian sympathizers, have no depth of understanding concerning global politics, and they certainly do not have any historical perspective. The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit in 2000 resulted in a basic framework for a Palestinian State. The continuing issue is that while the Arab and Muslim leaders smile for the cameras and receive the applause of the Western world for their determination to bring peace to the region, these same leaders speak a very different message to their constituents. That message is “We will never be at peace with the Jewish occupiers of OUR land; we will only drive them into the sea and out of existence. Then the land will be cleansed and returned to us.” Arab and Muslim doctrine dictates that if a territory was ever occupied by Muslims, it belongs to Allah into perpetuity. Thus, the leaders of the Palestinians lie to the West but tell the truth of their intentions to their people.

Unless the Arab and Muslim leaders start telling the truth about their intentions, there will never be an acceptable two state solution. Israel knows the truth. The West refuses to allow it to see the light of day. It seems incredible to consider but President Biden is doing all he can to force the issue on Israel by threatening to withhold armaments required to continue to purge the region of terror. How absurd is it to stop Israel from doing the entire world a favor by destroying Hamas? How absurd is it to have a US President protect terrorists by deterring Israel?

Now, we must also consider of highest importance what the Bible has to say about Israel. Here I remind people that Yahweh has spoken many promises over His people Israel. Whether we consider the Abrahamic, Mosaic, or Davidic Covenant, there remain unfulfilled promises to this day. You have two choices to make concerning the Covenants. You can say that Yahweh will fulfill them to His people Israel, or you can believe that Yahweh is finished with Israel and the Covenant promises now belong to the Christian church. If you choose to believe the latter, that Yahweh has abandoned His people Israel, you are faced with believing what the Bible explicitly refutes. Consider in the least that Yahweh has promised to give to Israel an everlasting inheritance (Genesis 17:89; Zechariah 12:9-11; Luke 21:20, 24; Acts 1:6).

The Apostle Paul informed the believers in Rome that:

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”
“This is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

All Israel will be saved. This has meaning within the context of the Tribulation, about which the angel Gabriel informed Daniel that a future time of Tribulation would come which would involve Daniel’s people, Daniel’s holy city, and the process by which Yahweh would save all Israel (See Daniel 9:24-27; and Zechariah 12).

Finally, Yahweh’s promises concerning His people Israel are summed up well in Jeremiah 31:35-37.

Thus says the Lord,
Who gives the sun for light by day
And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
The Lord of hosts is His name:

“If this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”

Thus says the Lord,
“If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

Unfortunately, even here, there are some who reject the clear and literal biblical narrative concerning Israel. We are living in a unique time indeed.

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.org

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

April 7, 2024

Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.  —Matthew 24:12 NASB

The context of Matthew 24:12 is Jesus speaking to His disciples after leaving Jerusalem during His Passion Week. He had sparred with the religious leaders several times in the preceding days. As He and his disciples left Jerusalem that day, Jesus responded to some of the disciples’ comments about the beauty of the Temple complex. He said that what they thought beautiful would be destroyed one day. This led to some of His disciples asking when that time would come. Jesus then described the things that would be prominent during the time right before His Second Coming.

The timing of this verse in Matthew’s Gospel is generally accepted as being during the time of the Tribulation.[1] This is thought to be the case because Matthew 24:9 mentions “Then they will deliver you to tribulation…” Following that, verses 9-11 describe a falling away from the faith, betrayal, and hatred arising among the brethren to the extent that many will be misled by false prophets apparently suggesting that their betrayal, hatred, and callousness toward the brethren is warranted. Verse 12 describes the fading love of many. Some scholars see this entire passage as part of the period Jesus called “birth pangs” prior to the Tribulation (Matthew 24:8). Regardless of the timing of this worldwide event, I see this very behavior spreading across the world today and especially in American Christianity.

Lawlessness is from the Greek anomian from anomos, which means illegality, violation of the law, iniquity, and/or sin.[2] We get the word antinomian (without or against the law) from these roots. In this context, it means to violate God’s law specifically, which of course, includes God’s moral law.[3]

Notice in verse 12 that Jesus connects the rise of antinomianism (lawlessness) with love (agape) growing cold. The Greek for “will grow cold” is psygesetai, and means to cool, chill, or pass. Paul was writing of the same thing when he wrote in his second letter to Timothy, Chapter 3:

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, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

Here we see clearly that the agape love for one another will be replaced by a love for self only. A self-absorbed, narcissistic love will characterize many and will result in a mass exodus from the ecclesias. No wonder, for these will love themselves and will become swallowed up in their own pursuit of pleasures, abandoning any pretense for loving God (2 Timothy 3:4 cited above).

Believers are instructed to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength (Mark 12:29), as well as our neighbors in like manner (Mark 12:31). Jesus then stated that there are no other commandments greater than these two. Are Christians obeying these two commandments today? Some are and unfortunately some are not.

Most alarming for me in the context of love growing cold, is the meteoric rise of Antisemitism among those who profess Christ that evinces vitriolic outbursts and denigrations. It is one thing to criticize some of Israel’s political decisions over the years. It is quite another to demonize Israel and the Jewish people as a whole carte blanche.

What do we see happening today that reflects the love of God and His heart for all people and especially His people Israel? In many evangelical ecclesias we see Christians supporting Israel by word and deed. Millions of dollars of humanitarian assistance have been delivered to the Israeli people. Sermons have been preached advocating for the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign nation, her right to her ancestral land, and her right to defend herself against aggression. This is the love of God for His people manifested by and through the grafted in vine, the Christian ecclesias.

However, not all Christians are exemplifying the love of God for Israel. Instead, they are demonstrating hatred, rage, tirades of ungodly speech, and advocating for other Christians to follow their lead. Many churches are involved in the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement (BDS), a known hotbed of aggressive Antisemitic rhetoric and behavior. The stated goal of one of the founders of the BDS movement is: “The ending of Israeli control in the territories is but the first stage on the road to fulfilling the vision of the dismantling of Israel.”[4]  Some are appealing to non-sequiturs such as the evil of Zionism, Rockefeller and Rothschild seed money provided for Israel’s creation, and the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Lies and Antisemitic thinking is a hallmark of the devil and must not be entertained or given credibility by Christians.

The question that must be answered by all Christians is this – “Who is your neighbor?” Is it only those people who meet your criteria such as holding the same doctrine, the same eschatology, being of the same ethnicity, or meeting your requirements whatever they might be, to be loved and concerned about? Do we love only the loveable or do we love with a godly love that seeks the best for all people?

Will we obey God’s command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem? Do we seek to share the Gospel of Jesus with Jewish people, knowing that only through faith in Jesus for eternal life will peace come to Jerusalem. Without appealing to eschatology, do we see God’s love for His people Israel as a motivating factor in how we view and interpret the news and reports concerning Israel and her need to be ever vigilant against overwhelming odds?

God is not done with His people Israel. God has promised through the prophet Zechariah that His people will one day return to their land and turn to Him through faith in their promised Messiah (Ezekiel 36:24; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1). We read in Ezekiel 36:25-28 that God will one day yet future:

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.

What some in the church today seem incapable of overcoming is their antagonistic beliefs concerning Israel that simply are not supported in the Bible. An entirely new narrative has arisen among some Christians that is antithetical to the Scriptures concerning Israel. If your doctrine, theology, and/or eschatology results in you hating, vilifying, denouncing, and working to destroy Israel as a people and nation, you are creating for yourself a future where you will answer to God for your treatment of His people.

When the Bible is permitted to speak for itself, and people seek the leading of the Holy Spirit, they will be able to clear away all of the mis and disinformation that clouds their judgment.

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Generally accepted by those who are Premillennial in their eschatology. Amillennial and Postmillennial interpreters are confronted with several problems by this text.

[2] Interlinear Bible – https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/24-12.htm

[3] Micah 6:8 and Luke 10:30-37 (The Parable of the Good Samaritan) are two of hundreds of examples of the moral law being an outworking of God’s Law, often referred to simply as the Torah.

[4] Quote Attributed to Omar Barghouti, Co-Founder and Leader of the BDS Movement. See https://www.ajc.org/issues/bds

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

March 23, 2024

Is this not the reason you are mistaken…?  —Mark 12:24

American political rhetoric has never been more vitriolic. There has never been a more clearly defined divide between political perspectives than there is right now. The Republican Party has become the party of compromise, acquiescence, and feigned allegiance to the rule of law, that is to say, the Constitution. The Democrat Party has become the mouthpiece for every form of debauchery, evil, violence, and anti-American sentiment. With very few exceptions, what we have in Washington D. C. is a Uniparty of likeminded politicians acting a part to continue a charade of difference.

In this current political environment, the Church has elected to play the harlot in three ways. Some side with the Republican Party, choosing to believe that the Republicans represent the best hope for the survival of America. That is simply an illusion. The vision for America shared by many Republicans differs very little with that held by many Democrats as has become clear. Gridlock and finger-pointing across the aisle is simple one strategy among many that politicians employ to obfuscate their complicity in the destruction of America.

Other Christians continue to support the Democrat Party. This is a most perplexing decision given the wanton hatred for and vile attack upon anything remotely approaching an orthodox biblical position on issues of morality and Christian teaching on holiness, righteousness, and the Great Commission mandate to preach the gospel.

The third path some Christians are choosing is to disengage completely from the political process and American social and cultural life entirely. The thinking among this group is that politics is a “dirty” and “evil” enterprise, and it is better to remain above a fray that might result in the soiling of one’s reputation among other religious people of their community, within their local church, and citizens of the community in which they live and meet. Being respected in the eyes of others is much more important to these Christians than nearly anything else. This choice is only slightly better than the deceived choice of those supporting the Democrat Party. Is there another option? Of course there is another option. That option is to choose the biblically informed path of cultural engagement. What does that look like?

The Church Has Lost Its Way Because It Has Succumbed To Self-Inflicted Ignorance in Two Contexts

The twelfth chapter of Mark’s Gospel contains a parable (v. 1-12) that Jesus used to announce to the Jewish religious leaders that He knew their evil intention concerning Him, and that they were following the same path as their forefathers in persecuting or murdering every true prophet God sent to them. Most telling in this passage is verses 6-11, where Jesus prophesies the killing of the vineyard owner’s son, while simultaneously announcing to them that He in fact was the Son whom they were rejecting and intending to murder. The religious leaders understood this clearly as Mark 12:12 states.

After that exchange the Sanhedrin began to formulate the “how” they would destroy Jesus (see Mark 11:18). Their strategy resulted in a multipronged course of attack aimed at making Jesus look like an insurrectionist (Mark 12:13-17), and if that failed, a theological fool (Mark 12:18-27). Jesus rebuffed their attempts with His powerful truths. First, in Mark 12:17, Jesus reminded His antagonists that paying taxes is not the greater issue the Jewish people faced. Instead, their greater issue was honoring God with their lives. Here’s how Jesus put it: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17; emphasis mine).

Then in Mark 12:24 Jesus delivers a knockout punch to the schemes of God’s enemies. There Jesus reprimanded the hypocrites with a scathing rebuke. He said: “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”

Let me elaborate on that statement. Jesus calls them “mistaken.” The Greek word for mistaken is planao and is defined “to roam” from truth or virtue. Jude 13 uses a closely related word to define false teachers: “wandering (Greek planetes) stars” that will end up in darkness forever.

Now, based on the above definitions and related words for mistaken, Jesus makes two summary conclusions. First, He says the Jewish religious leaders have wandered from truth (mistaken), as evidenced by their ignorance of the Scriptures. Second, because the Jewish religious leaders have wandered from the truth, they do not know the power of God.

The grammatical construction of this verse makes an additional point that is lost in translation. The implication is that the religious leaders were ignorant of the Scriptures, and they were in that state of ignorance willfully. In other words, they did not know the truth because they did not want to know the truth. They were happy in their error. Consequently, they were willfully ignorant of the power of God. The context of their ignorance concerned the resurrection. There is an application for us to consider.

A large portion of church, ministerial, educational, and parachurch leadership, has become just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They are willfully ignorant of the Scriptures and because of that they do not know the power of God. How willfully ignorant of the Scriptures are they? They demonstrate willful ignorance by the policies they support. The herd mentality among many religious leaders when it comes to so-called social justice and socialism is one glaring example today. The entire “woke” church movement is nothing more than a race baiting, critical race theory fantasy of anti-God, anti-American, and anti-freedom individuals who see a demon of racism behind every tree. The word they use to convey that belief is systemic. Racism is systemic and therefore the entire structure of our government must be destroyed and a new form of government that focuses on inclusion, intersectionality, multiculturalism, and diversity must take its place. One day these church leaders and the Christians that support them are going to realize they were hustlers for a vacuous ideology from hell.

Abandoning the truth of Scripture also cuts you off from knowing the power of God. You cannot deny the Scripture that reveals God and expect Him to move in your virtue seeking misadventures. Too many Christians chase the almighty dollar, the next new and sparkling thing they can’t live without, and falsely believe that God is in that pursuit of the good life. God casts down every vain thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of Him, and that includes the vain imaginings of people who claim the power of God working in their lives to accumulate treasures on this earth. When I speak of treasures on earth, I am not just speaking about material things. There are many prideful, arrogant, and egotistical pastors and ministry leaders who have long since become immune to criticism. They refuse to receive any form of correction and they are aided in this travesty by a cadre of boot lickers. I can tell you from personal experience that when you point out error in the teaching and behavior of our modern-day religious personalities, the mesmerized followers of these pied pipers will attack you with a vengeance.

A large segment of the Christian church is in a state of apostasy. They have accepted that whatever the culture holds as true and noble is worthy of their collaboration. How else do you explain the idiocy of transgenderism, same sex marriage, fornication, adultery, child sacrifice, drag queen normalization, and gender self-identity being supported by churches? They are mistaken! They have become dislodged from truth and are wandering stars (Jude 13) that compound their error by proclaiming their inclusiveness, as if that is a get out of jail free card from their obligation to obey God’s commands.

Why is it that many pastors encourage their congregants to call their elected representatives to voice their disapproval with a particular pending legislation, and believe they have done their duty? How has the church become blind such that they think that the politicians in Washington D. C. or in their own state capitals care what they think about anything?

Why do Christians expect politicians to do what they are unwilling to do? Listen to me Christian: your elected representative is not your proxy for what God has called you to be and to do. Your elected representative is not going to go out into the streets and protest the wonton destruction of life at the nearest abortion mill. Your elected representative is not going to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your neighbors. Politicians are not going to restore any kind of Christian morality to our communities or our local schools. There is only one way these things will ever happen, and that is IF Christians decide that Satan has destroyed enough of our nation and rise up in mass and do something about it.

The church has made the same mistake the Sadducees made when they confronted Jesus about the resurrection. Jesus’ final remark to them was about their ignorance of the God they said they knew and served. Jesus said: “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

Christians treat God like He is absent in space and time, like He is there but not really involved in their lives. Christians act like God will not move in our day to defeat the demonic hordes of mindless citizens and their political handlers who have become addicted to the US Federal Government’s largess, to the satanic propaganda of the media, to the drug infested, Satan worshipping Hollywood pedophile elites, who constantly churn out anti-American subterfuge. Christians have become a castrated shell of what God intended.

Thankfully, God has kept for Himself a remnant that has not bowed the knee to Baal. Satan is ravaging America and Christians could not care less. You are mistaken if you think Washington D. C. will save us. The beast system that has conquered Washington D. C. and every federal agency therein is not the friend of the true Christian. We must stop looking to them for any type of assistance and start standing against the Luciferians that control Washington D. C. It is time to mount up and ride out into the war.

God will move when Christians move into the streets and begin an aggressive insurgency against the spiritual forces of darkness that has a choke hold on America. Will you rise up and join God’s Warriors?

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

March 17, 2024

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8[1]

Justice for all! This statement is a great sound bite but little more than that. Indeed, as it is used today, it is superfluous on the surface and vacuous once a brief examination is undertaken. However, given that Americans have been conditioned to respond to sound bite journalism and half-truths and worse masquerading as fact-based news, this mantra has become a dangerous, misleading, and effective tactic utilized by those bent on destroying Israel, in part by undermining American support for it.

The recent action by the South African government in filing a legal proceeding with the International Court of Justice against Israel, accusing it of violating the Genocide Convention agreement, is one example of the upside-down world in which we live. I admire the detailed response by Tal Becker, legal advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his opening statement on January 12, 2024, he called the character of the government of South Africa into question. He said in part:

But, as this Court has already made clear, the Genocide Convention was not designed to address the brutal impact of intensive hostilities on the civilian population, even when the use of force raises “very serious issues of international law” and involves “enormous suffering” and “continuing loss of life”. The Convention was set apart to address a malevolent crime of the most exceptional severity.

We live at a time when words are cheap. In an age of social media and identity politics, the temptation to reach for the most outrageous term, to vilify and demonize, has become for many irresistible. But if there is one place where words should still matter, where truth should still matter, it is surely a court of law.

The Applicant has regrettably put before the Court a profoundly distorted factual and legal picture. The entirety of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities.

South Africa purports to come to this Court in the lofty position of a guardian of the interest of humanity. But in delegitimizing Israel’s 75-year existence in its opening presentation, that broad commitment to humanity rang hollow. And in its sweeping counter-factual description of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it seemed to erase both Jewish history and any Palestinian agency or responsibility. Indeed, the Application delegitimization of Israel since its very establishment in 1948 in its submissions, sounded barely distinguishable from Hamas’s own rejectionist rhetoric.

It is unsurprising, therefore, that in the Applicant’s telling, both Hamas’s responsibility for the situation in Gaza and the very humanity of its Israeli victims are removed from view.[2]

For justice to be realized by all, at least two things are necessary foundationally: there must be a standard or system of justice available to all that is objective, that is, it is beyond the frailties and double mindedness of man, and all parties interested in justice for all must recognize this objective standard as the guiding principles for determining when justice has been exhibited. In other words, there must be law and the rule of law must prevail over all well-intentioned and/or misguided arguments based on emotions, feelings, or the ideology-du-jour of the day.

In order for true justice to prevail and guide any people in their shared lives, justice must be impartial, proportionally related to behavior so that each individual receives his or her due, whether that due is reward or punishment. This must be in accord with the objective standard agreed upon as the guiding principles mentioned above.

America was founded upon Christian principles. Therefore, God’s moral law has undergirded the guiding principles of this republic even before the American Revolution. The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of English settlers to America makes this clear. The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights follow suite in recognizing the God of the Christian Bible as Creator, Sustainer, Lord, and Law Giver. His immutable and timeless law is recognized as the foundation for America’s laws.

John Locke said, “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” President John F. Kennedy recognized that truth when he stated during his inaugural address that: “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Sir William Blackstone, the acclaimed English jurist and scholar of jurisprudence, wrote that:

“Man … must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator…This will of his Maker is called the law of nature…This law of nature…is of course superior to any other…No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force…from this original.”[3]

Additionally, justice has many different applications and therefore must be understood within several different contexts, among them: commercial, vindictive, retributive, punitive, and remedial justice.[4] Commercial justice defines voluntary relationships, while vindictive, retributive, punitive, and remedial justice defines involuntary relationships. Theologian and Philosopher E. Calvin Beisner, offers this explanation:

Commercial justice requires that if we desire what another has, we must offer something he prefers in exchange for it, not acquire it by force or fraud – whether directly (picking his pocket) or indirectly (using a law to take from him and give to ourselves or others). Violations of commercial justice by fraud, theft, or violence bring punitive and vindictive justice into play as correctives.

When one person violates another’s rights (which are defined by justice), the injury is to be redressed by vindictive, retributive, and punitive justice. Vindictive justice judges the victim right in his cause (1 Kings 8:32; Deuteronomy 25:1). Retributive justice (from the Latin re, or “back,” and tribuere, “to pay”) requires the offender to restore the victim to his status before the offense (Exodus 22:1-15). Punitive justice applies a penalty to the offender as punishment for violating the law (Romans 13:4). In crimes against property (theft or destruction), punitive and retributive justice combine in the offender’s restoring what was taken or destroyed (retribution, also called restitution) plus some additional amount (punishment).

Sometimes someone harms another accidently. Then, remedial justice requires the one who caused the harm to share the cost equally with the victim (Exodus 21:35) but adds no penalty. But if he is negligent, he must be punished by bearing the whole loss (Exodus 21:33-34, 36), restoring the victim fully to his former state at his own expense.[5]

In the current climate of identity politics, gender dysphoria, and Marxian and Critical Theories run amok, these requirements for justice appear to be out of reach. That leaves us with a bare-naked power grab by certain people, or cast in Darwinian terms, a fight for the survival of the strongest, where might makes right. In America today that means political power financed by globalists who espouse anti-American ideologies. The ability to force people to comply against their wishes and of the common good has defined tyranny throughout the ages. Sadly, much of the American Protestant church has been deceived and is supporting the multi-pronged Luciferian lunacy of the leftists and other assorted God haters.

Instead of giving up and giving in to the wickedness of our day, a better approach would be to educate ourselves and others in the methodologies and strategies of the enemies of God and then begin to broadly denounce this present darkness for what it is – a direct attack against God. Mankind has consistently done a very poor job of administering justice when the laws used to determine justice are constructed on the shifting sand of rogue philosophies and the subsequent politics that pander to tyrannical lusts. The fight is on. You must join the fray or watch America and her allies die a slow painful death.

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] All Bible references are taken from The New American Standard translation (Lockman Foundation, 1995).

[2] Jewish News Syndicate, International Court of Justice Opening Statement On Behalf of Israel, January 12, 2024.

[3] See Natural law the ultimate source of constitutional law

[4] See E. Calvin Beisner, Social Justice vs. Biblical Justice: How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and Gospel, Good Tree Press, 2018.

[5] Beisner, p. 24-25.

Dr. Mike Spaulding

March 10, 2024

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  —Micah 6:8

Most discussions of Critical Theory (CT) and its many permutations are usually met with a blank stare. When I attempt to include any number of philosophical tangents that have been coopted into Critical Theory, a look of bewilderment soon follows. Why is there such widespread unawareness concerning Critical Theory and how this ideology and philosophy is shipwrecking America?

One reason among many that Americans in general, and middle-aged and older Americans specifically, are unfamiliar with Critical Theory is because they were not subjected to it in their education at any level. Young people, however, are quite familiar with it. Today’s Gen Z and Millennials have been immersed in Critical Theory and its many manifestations for most of their lives.

A second reason is this – older Americans have lived long enough to know when they are being played. By played, I mean snookered. Ok, for you younger readers, older Americans know when they are being conned. Critical Theory is a con game. Not only is it a con game but it is seriously and purposely misaligned with the Bible, and in no sense represents Christian Orthodoxy. On this basis Americans must take the time to understand Critical Theory and how it is changing everything in America. I’m sure I have your attention now.

Critical Theory presents a serious problem for all Americans. In our ignorance of what Critical Theory is and what it asserts (a better word would be what it agitates for or foments political insurrection in order to accomplish), we are allowing ourselves to be divided. When division reaches a critical point then manipulation and propaganda may be successfully applied to derive a predetermined outcome. That predetermined outcome always includes the grouping of people into oppressors and oppressed. This is effectively the Hegelian Dialectic Reasoning in action.

A brief explanation of Hegelian Dialectic Reasoning is necessary. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (b. 1770 – d. 1831) was a German philosopher who sought to understand and explain the development of human freedom through conflict and struggle that marked history. Hegel’s The Philosophy of History was his attempt to review and critique history as a whole in order to offer explanations for what transpired. Hegel did not believe that blind chance was responsible for events that comprise history. Instead, Hegel saw events as moving toward a climatic end which he believed was human freedom. Hegel used a three-part process to interpret history. His starting point was a Thesis. The Thesis for Hegel was the current understanding of an event or of a perspective of an event. To the Thesis Hegel applied an Antithesis. This Antithesis represented a new understanding of an event, a new idea advanced as interpretation of an event or of a series of events leading to a historically important event. Finally, Hegel’s Synthesis, the third step in his Dialectic Reasoning process, was the result of an altered or new historical interpretation. The new Synthesis then became the starting Thesis for further examination and inquiry.

This all seems rather innocuous. In some sense it is. Historians and philosophers generally investigate all known resources related to a historical event and allow those resources to shape their interpretation. However, readers will see in Hegel’s process an open door to rewrite history in the sense that anyone capable of doing historical research may arrive at vastly different conclusions concerning the variables that resulted in accepted history. It matters not how thin or questionable the interpretation of the evidence or the evidence itself is. When this happens, ideas and perspectives foreign to the historical record may be applied and a totally different conclusion advanced about history. We see this clearly today. One example among many is the breathtaking speed at which historical monuments are being destroyed, removed, or stored, because a new narrative has arisen about the “history” of key figures. This turn of events that is destroying American history exacerbates most Americans. It seems irrational and illogical, and it is unless you happen to accept a revised history that sees two categories of people – the oppressed and the oppressors. If the oppressed are able to seize power, then wrongs must be righted.

Hegel used his Dialectic Reasoning process to better understand the movement of man across time in his quest for freedom. In other words, it was a tool to clarify what happened in the past in order to better understand today. There was another man born before Hegel’s death that saw in Hegel’s dialectic an opportunity to project the future, or more precisely to create the future; to take from history and rewrite it to comply with his own philosophy of the struggle for human freedom, and what elements of society held man’s progress back. His name was Karl Marx.

Karl Marx (b. 1818 – d. 1883) took Hegel’s Dialectic Reasoning and merged it with his own Dialectic Materialism which is the theoretical foundation of Marxism. Here is one author’s definition.

Dialectic Materialism, in very simple understanding, argues that History is a never-ending class struggle or a struggle over material resources: The “haves” vs. the “have nots.” So, first, Marx applies dialectical reasoning to ensure confirmation of his interpretation of history, but instead of simply using it as an interpretative tool to confirm his own interpretation of history, he goes one step further and uses it as a strategy for the future, a plan to get to a future he desires. And this is the key to the entire argument.[1]

For Marx, the future he desired was free of Christianity and capitalism. Marx believed that capitalism was the great force that held man back from experiencing true freedom and he saw Christianity as its chief proponent. Some people benefited from capitalism but far more suffered because of it according to Marx. Marx’s solution was to abolish capitalism, therefore abolishing the wealthy class who benefitted most. Marx’s use of the Dialectical Reasoning thus produced his Thesis – Capitalism enslaves the masses. Therefore, his Antithesis was that Capitalism must be destroyed in favor of centralization of all means of production. This is another way of suggesting that the State should own all material things, including abolishing all private property. His Synthesis then became that once the capitalists did not control the labor of others, the masses would gain control of their own freedom. Marx provided the philosophical foundation for what has become Critical Theory.

Critical Theory emerged in its infancy from the Frankfurt School, originally a part of the Institute for Social Research at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany in the 1920s. Since then, Critical Theory has spawned many offspring. Among them are the now familiar critical social theories of “feminist theory, postcolonialism, critical pedagogy, queer theory, and critical race theory among others.”[2]

What readers must understand from this brief overview of Critical Theory is that it is a power dialectic. Said in another way, Critical Theory has become the means by which power can be taken from one group and given to another by deception, force, or by lawfare. Who decides from whom and to whom power is taken and given? That is the role of the new American priesthood. We see it across the US Federal Government and every major corporation. Sometimes these new priests go by the title of Chief Diversity Officer, or Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). An entirely new industry has risen around Critical Theory to ensure its belief system continues to be implemented among generally unsuspecting people. I do not want to go into the depths of this masquerade, other than to say that you need look no further than Critical Theory and its many children to understand the constant barrage of sloganeering such as “white supremacy,” “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” “white male patriarchy,” and multitudinous other diatribes against the perceived oppressors who must be destroyed according to Critical Theory devotees.

Let us now consider the implications of all of this. October 7, 2023, is a day of infamy in Israel. As you know, that was the day that Hamas successfully invaded Israel through the aid of a multination strategy (Iran and Russia were heavily involved). Hundreds of Israeli hostages were taken back to the Gaza Strip and hundreds more were murdered where they stood. The horror and outcry within Israel and across the world were nearly unanimous against such barbaric bloodshed perpetrated by Hamas terrorists. Sadly, and predictably some refused to denounce Hamas and call for their international sanction. In the US House of Representatives, the “Squad” not only refused to denounce Hamas but after quietly strategizing about their response, announced that Israel was to blame for this act of war because of their continued “occupation” of Palestinian land.[3] This is Critical Theory applied.

Students across dozens of college campuses soon followed suite by staging protests on behalf of the allegedly oppressed Palestinian people, blaming Israel for the murderous invasion of Hamas. Congress called several college presidents to testify before a House committee seeking answers to why they didn’t do more to quell Pro-Hamas protests and the Antisemitism these protests incited. Harvard President Claudine Gay (since removed from that post), University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill, and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth refused to give any clear responses other than the laughable “we support free speech,” which Americans know is simply not true when it comes to conservative speech, Christian speech, or single, white, heterosexual speech, which brings me to my point.

How can such blatant Antisemitism be allowed to flourish in America? In a time when people are canceled and their livelihoods destroyed by merely using the wrong pronoun, we have elected officials of the US Government defending a terror organization’s invasion of a sovereign nation and their bloody rape, torture, and murder of innocent people. We have college presidents supporting and defending abhorrent acts of violent threats to Jewish people and Israel as a nation. This Orwellian condition did not appear overnight. It has been fomenting for decades and is now out in the open. It has been utilized as rationale by the US Department of State in their recent dealings with both parties of the current war in Gaza, and current US President Joe Biden is showing his support for it in his foreign policy decisions.

You might be thinking, “How can this be?” Where is your evidence of this? My evidence is in the things I’ve already written and in the ever-changing world of geo-political intrigue. A recent article drew my attention to this dynamic relationship between Critical Theory, one of its key components, intersectionality, and US foreign policy. Titled How Intersectional Myths Killed the Black-Jewish Alliance,[4] the article details how a group of one thousand black pastors have joined a movement to pressure President Biden to force a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. How would a group of American pastors see a connection between their black experience and the terrorist group Hamas? Their connection is found in intersectionality. Briefly, intersectionality teaches that:

…different facets of our identity interact in distinct and complex ways based upon the particular intersection of social categories we occupy, yielding a life and existence that can be generally characterized by either privilege, oppression, or both…The combination of our social categories formulates our identity and establishes our relationship to power, yielding the assertion, “Intersectionality recognizes that power, privilege, disadvantage, and discrimination are functions of interlocking spectrums of identity. Intersectionality attempts to offer insight into the relationship between purported systems of oppression, how they intersect, and the net effect they have on individual lives.[5]

In the article mentioned above and footnoted below, its author asks an important question. “Why so many African-Americans, especially church leaders who have real influence among their congregants as well as the general black community, could believe that the cause of the Palestinians is somehow linked to their own interests and beliefs?”

Tobin answers his own question.

The answer to this puzzle is clear. Intersectional myths in which the Palestinian war to destroy the one Jewish state on the planet is somehow analogous to the struggle for civil rights in the United States are no longer merely a talking point of academic fashion. These toxic ideas have now been embraced by the African-American community. The teaching of critical race theory and the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) divides the world into two immutable groups locked in a never-ending struggle: white oppressors and people of color, who are always the victims. Black pastors have swallowed the neo-Marxist lies that Jews are “white” oppressors and that Palestinian Arabs are victimized people of color—and are sharing that with their congregants.[6]

The truth is always inconvenient to those who want to use lies to force their desires on other people. The many conflicts in the Middle East have never been about race. Israel and most of her neighbors are the same ethnicity. Most Israelis would be classified by Critical Theorists as people of color due to their North African descent. Also, completely ignored is the fact that Gaza hasn’t been occupied since 2005. Who started this current conflict? It certainly wasn’t the revelers at the music festival that suffered the brunt of Hamas’ barbarity, nor the Jewish infants shot in their cribs, nor the Jewish adolescents hot down in the streets of their towns.

Concerning the claim of occupation, the Jewish people ARE THE indigenous people of the land. My friend Tov Rose presents the facts concerning Israel’s place in the Middle East in a recent post on his Substack page.

It’s sickening to see how many natives are siding with the Islamic conquistadors and colonizers of the Middle East who have been ethnically cleansing millions of indigenous people since the 7th century and still persecuting and murdering indigenous people to this day. If this was 1492 you would be siding with the Spanish Conquistadors who raped, hanged, slaughtered, burned our chiefs and leaders at the stake and more atrocities that mirror Hama tactics.

The vast majority of these keyboard activists have never been to Israel and are talking… with ZERO knowledge about what is really happening here except for the spoon fed propaganda they happily gobble up. Get educated and learn the truth.

Not one Palestinian would be dead if Hamas had not slaughtered, raped, beheaded, and burned alive innocent civilians on October 7th.[7]

My question is this – “Who will stand with Israel?” I’m not talking about who will post pictures or memes on social media proclaiming your stand with Israel. I am talking about speaking up for and about Israel, her right to live free from terror attacks, and her right to defend herself unequivocally if attacked. I’m talking about speaking up for Israel when you encounter conversations that scapegoat Israel, when you see posts that call into question Israel’s right to exist because Zionism is evil, or the Rockefellers bankrolled her, or any other number of nonsensical claims that even Christians engage in.

Who can Israel trust today? She sure can’t trust the current US Administration and their fickle policies and clear subterfuge of Israel’s best interests. Israel cannot trust the United Nations either. It has been revealed that several of the Hamas terrorists who took part in the invasion and crimes against Israeli citizens were part of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).[8]

When the entire world aligns itself against Israel, Bible believing Christians know the time is drawing near to the return of Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that we are to sit around and do nothing. Now more than ever, it is time for the true church of Jesus Christ to speak boldly for Israel and against the raging Antisemitism, hatred, and violence being perpetrated and cheered by Israel’s enemies. God is certainly watching us in this hour. Will you be found faithful to stand up for His people Israel?

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Dorothy Logan, Black and White: An Essay on Critical Theory, Freedom, and the Pursuit of Happiness, (Self-Published, 2023). Available here – https://www.freedomacademy-dorothy.com/books

[2] Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer, Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Implications for the Church and Society, (Harvest House Publishers: Eugene, Oregon, 2023), p. 16.

[3] Oren Oppenheim, Rep, Rashida Tlaib Draws Fire for Not Apologizing for Saying Israel Caused Gaza Hospital Blast, October 18, 2023. Kristina Watrobski, Rep. Ilhan Omar Urges US Against Backing “War Crime” in Israel: This Is Collective Punishment, October 9, 2023.

[4] Jonathan S. Tobin, How Intersectional Myths Killed the Black-Jewish Alliance, Jewish News Syndicate, January 31, 2024.

[5] Shenvi and Sawyer, p. 101.

[6] Tobin.

[7] See: Introducing the Indigenous Embassy in Israel

[8] About 10% of UNRWA workers in Gaza have ties to terrorist groups according to evidence confirmed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. If the US confirms 10% it is likely much higher. See https://www.jns.org/wire/un-agency-fuels-hamas-terrorism/

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

March 3, 2024

“Truth will ultimately prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light.”  —George Washington

We are living in unprecedented times. America appears to be imploding. The once strong moral and social fabric of American society has become threadbare and is showing serious signs of tearing apart. How did this happen? How did this happen seemingly “overnight”?

Answering the first question is easy. America is in the position that it is because evil has been allowed to permeate every facet of our government, civic, and social institutions, and has propagandized a critical mass of Americans.

The intentional removal of American civics from the classroom, the obfuscation of the responsibilities of every citizen in this Constitutional Republic, and a state-controlled media has resulted in a population of extremely mis and disinformed people who unwittingly advocate for their own demise. Freedom and liberty are on life-support because most Americans are fixated on themselves, their pleasures, their material prosperity, and their comforts and lusts (James 4:1-4). Too many Americans are averse to any type of sacrifice, service for others, or upholding the truth of foundational principles of right and wrong. Live and let live is a sure recipe for death. Living your life while watching other people destroy theirs, as well as those close to them, is not compassion and mercy. It is shameful indifference and worse. That is what we are seeing right now in America.

The answer to the second question, “How did this happen seemingly overnight,” is that it did not happen overnight. It has been a slow and deliberate strategy to undermine American exceptionalism by methodically undermining what made her strong, to begin with, an adherence to Judeo-Christian principles and truth. A nation that was established to be that city on a hill, shining the Gospel light to the entire world, once lived up to that divine mantle. But, alas, the light has been slowly dimmed such that today, other nations send missionaries to America!

America has a dual personality. The rest of the world sees America as either that place where dreams come true, the fabled land of freedom and liberty, or as an enemy that foments wars and the inevitable consequences of war such as destroyed economies, poverty, disease, and years of tragic turmoil trying to rebuild lives after the Americans leave. Most Americans only see the former. I was reminded of this dual personality once again in a book I recently read. In Dallas ’63: The First Deep State Revolt Against the White House,[1] author Peter Dale Scott alerts readers to the true nature of America.

The massive projection of U.S. wealth and power abroad has produced a massive increase of covert unchecked power in Washington, to the extent that we now have what the journalists Dana Priest and William Arkin have called: two governments: the one its citizens were familiar with, operated more or less in the open: the other a parallel top-secret government whose parts had mushroomed in less than a decade into a gigantic, sprawling universe of its own, visible to only a carefully vetted cadre – and its entirety…visible only to God.

The power of the public state is based on the constitution and periodic elections and is thus limited by checks and balances. The power of the covert deep state, in contrast, is unchecked and has expanded as the global U.S. presence has expanded. The two kinds of power were destined to come into conflict. The public state aims at openness and persuasion. The deep state represents the opposite, intervention by secrecy and violence. (pp.5-7)

What we are seeing today in America is the clash of two worldviews of two distinct aims and goals for the nation of America and indeed, for the world. Behind the secrecy and domination through violence is the deep state, composed of various organizations and individuals who collectively have one common goal – control the world and increase their personal wealth regardless of the cost to anyone else. These individuals and organizations are composed of well-known individuals, business people, heads of major global corporations, politicians, historically wealthy families, central banking cartels, media conglomerates, and of course, various religious factions.

I will not go into greater detail than that here. That work is left for you to do. The information is available in abundance for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. (Luke 10:23). Do not be the person who is critical of revealed truth when you have never bothered to verify anything. The Bible says God’s people perish because they have a lack of knowledge. There is a serious lack of not only biblical knowledge but of knowledge concerning the reality of the world we live in. America is in the throes of death precisely because Americans have allowed the God-haters and America-haters to thrive and press their ungodly views upon everyone else.

Even in the midst of this current struggle I have hope. I have hope because I believe that what is right will prevail even in this dark hour. I have hope because I do not believe God is done with America yet. I have hope because I know of many Americans who have been awakened from their slumbers and understand the times in which we live demand a swift and pronounced opposition to what the deep state desires to do to us all. But most importantly, I have hope rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has already won the greatest victory over any and every deep state and those individuals and organizations that empower them. I have hope that the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ will rise up and make this our finest hour in America.

Will you join me in this struggle? I am praying for God’s mercy. We may be under the judgment of God, or we may simply be reaping the fruit of our own failure to be the moral compass for America. Regardless of which it is, we are not free to sit back and do nothing.

You cannot sit it out. It is here and it will touch every community large or small. There will be no standing on the sidelines observing this war. If America is to survive every man and woman who loves America in spite of its blemishes, must invest themselves in this struggle. I hope one day I will be able to say to my grandchildren, I did all I could and left everything on the field of battle so that you might enjoy the freedom and liberty you now have. Let’s do this for the glory and honor of God!

Semper Fidelis to Jesus!

© 2024 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Peter Dale Scott, Dallas ’63: The First Deep State Revolt Against the White House, (Open Road Integrated Media: New York, 2015).

By Pastor Mike Spaulding, Dr.

February 25, 2024

But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. —Mark 13:23

A new word has recently entered our vocabulary. That new word is Controligarch. Let’s define what that means. Many people are familiar with the word Oligarch. That word emerged in mainstream conversation from the ashes of the former Soviet Union. Russian Oligarchs were thought of as successful entrepreneurs that were able to navigate the difficult times the implosion of the Soviet Union resulted in. An oligarch is someone who has extreme wealth, usually billions of dollars. With this wealth comes influence. In addition to massive wealth and influence, comes power to change the minds of people who fashion regulations, codes, statutes, and laws. Many times, this influence and power is implemented clandestinely through lobbyists. Most Oligarchs do not like press coverage or fame. They are content to remain somewhat obscure to the public.

With that definition in mind, let’s discuss what Controligarch means. Individuals who fall under this definition are not dissimilar to Oligarchs with one exception. Controligarchs do not mind being in the public eye. They do not attempt to hide from public view and in fact, consider themselves as a type of champion of humanity and the earth’s environment we share. Many of the names are now familiar to most Americans – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, George Soros, and Klaus Schwab to name just a few. Why would these men be considered Controligarchs? They are defined as such because they are using their extreme wealth to change our world. Gates for example, is buying up thousands of acres of farmland. Why would Gates do that? Is there any relationship between his drive to become the largest farmland owner in America, and his nearly $12 billion investment into “alternative” food sources including lab grown meat? Would a significant decrease in crops such as corn, a staple food source for cattle and hogs, result in a parallel drop in available beef and pork? Would this be enough to motivate people to try Gates’ artificial “meat”?

It is an established fact that George Soros donated at least $40 million dollars to assist in the recent elections of multiple prosecutors across America who agreed to not pursue prosecution of certain offenses including hit-and-run, eluding police, reckless driving, trespassing, public drunkenness, and failure to appear. In Loudon County Virginia, Soros enabled Prosecutor Buta Biberaj dismissed 491 cases brought to her office, bringing only 8% to trial.[1] What is Soros’s stated goal in doing this? Is it to signal to a select demographic that they may create havoc with impunity? Consider these well-known examples:

So egregious are the actions of the Soros-backed progressives that for the first time in history, these prosecutors have become household names — whether it be St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who made headlines for persecuting the McCloskey’s for defending their home against rioters, Chicago’s Kim Foxx, known for her role in attempting a cover-up after actor Jussie Smollett’s hate crime against Jussie Smollett, and the now-recalled Chesa Boudin of San Francisco, the son of 1960s radicals who was raised by terrorist Bill Ayers and effectively legalized shoplifting in the city.[2]

Why should Christians care about these things? Aren’t we pilgrims just passing through? Where do I begin to enumerate the reasons? In the least we can agree that America is a nation founded on the rule of law. Our law was founded upon belief in the God of the Scriptures. Our political theory of governance was not fashioned from secularism, progressivism, or humanism, but from the pages of the Bible.[3] God established governments as we read in Romans 13, for the benefit of the godly and to punish wickedness.

³ For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

This being the case, why are not more Christians speaking up to remind our elected officials of these truths? Some will respond that we are not meant to be involved in politics as a principle and furthermore, the IRS forbids it under several 501 codes. Both of those reasons are fraught with misunderstanding and have been used to silence the church for far too long. If Romans 13 means anything at all, it means we must encourage and applaud our representatives in government when they are faithfully fulfilling their responsibilities according to God’s mandate, or, rebuke and correct them when they aren’t.

But I want to make what I believe to be a greater point within the context of the silence of the church. If we really believe that the return of Jesus is near, shouldn’t we be speaking up and against the wickedness we see in our land? I’m not talking about railing against the lost unbelievers in our communities. We are commissioned to go to the lost, the defenseless, the ones who absent our intervention in a meaningful way, will become more victim to this current system than they already are. I am speaking about the great need of our day to boldly speak the truth that Jesus is coming again soon and when He does, He is coming as a judge.

Christians of all people should not be dismayed or fearful in speaking about these things that have become commonplace in this present age. It’s one thing to understand the times in which we live, it is entirely another to take responsibility for changing the circumstances where God has given us opportunity and favor.

We must also resist the devil’s temptation to think that Jesus has not, is not, and will never be the solution to the dark times man faces. The Controligarchs believe that wealth and power win every day over faith. Christians know the allurements of this world will fade away one day soon. Until that day arrives, we are to occupy this land for our King.

I direct your attention to Matthew 24 where nearly all Bible scholars agree that Jesus provided insight into the climate of the days immediately preceding His return. We read in verses 36-39 Jesus saying:

³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷ For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

The key verse in this passage is verse 37. Within that verse the key phrase is in my opinion “just like the days of Noah.” What does that mean? It cannot mean that Noah’s times were sinful. Every age since Noah has seen increasing evil. Many Biblical scholars and historians point to Genesis 6 to say that during Noah’s day there were giants in the land. Genesis 6:4 names those giants as Nephilim. Now don’t panic and stop reading. It doesn’t matter what you believe about this subject. What matters for our purposes here is to see a connection by type. The Genesis 6 account is telling us that human DNA was corrupted and polluted in some way which resulted in Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that very intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Do you see the connection? What are the Controligarchs attempting today in this same regard? If you said, “AI enhanced transhumanism” you are correct. What will that entail? Today’s most wealthy people are fixated on transforming mankind into an image they imagine. The recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, hosted the world’s wealthiest individuals, and top government officials from across the world. One plenary session was held to discuss the subject of AI. Artificial Intelligence is embedded in everything the Controligarchs have stated is essential for the survival of the world. If the participants in the Davos meeting were constricted by a “truth” requirement, they would have said that AI is essential for their vision of a new world without many of the useless eaters presently consuming scarce resources. The top of their list of useless eaters are born-again, blood-bought, spirit-filled Christians. World Economic Forum philosopher Noah Yuval Harari has stated repeatedly that a new religion is rising upon the earth. It is a religion of technology. Harari believes that this new techno religion will replace Christianity primarily. He believes that technology will save humanity. This new religion is a modern manifestation of the old Gnostic heresy of salvation through secret, esoteric knowledge.[4]

Several major points emerged from the conversation about AI at the recent Davos meeting. I’ll share a couple of them. First, the Davos crowd believes that too much of the world is still analogue and disconnected from the “information superhighway.” The solution according to the Controligarchs, is to get everyone on the planet electronically connected as quickly as possible. Second, they believe that AI will enable them to perfect quantum computing which will in turn unlock innumerable things that remain unknown. This is the entire purpose for CERN by the way. Scientists there state that they are attempting to receive information inaccessible to them presently. Third, AI is believed to be the key to assisting today’s world leaders in prioritizing humanity. Again, if they would speak truthfully, they would say that AI is going to determine for world leaders where to invest resources and where to withhold resources. This has chilling implications when you consider what we already have witnessed in the Twenty-first century concerning the devaluing of human life.

The most concerning thing that we must know about our modern Controligarchs is that they are determined to rewrite human DNA. Shadows of this intent emerged in the recent Covid-19 discoveries by independent researchers. Genome editing and CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology are the new frontiers and Controligarchs are heavily invested in research in these fields. Bill Gates trumpets gene editing technology as a solution to every health crisis the world faces.[5] Elon Musk famously tweeted in 2020 that “Genetic engineering is too slow unless you use a synthetic virus.”[6] Talk about a “letting the cat out of the bag” statement. Musk has also invested billions in his new company Neuralink, to research and create a viable link from human brains to computers through implants.[7]

Here is why all of this information about the current state of technology, especially as it relates to gene editing, genome research, CRISPR, and Artificial Intelligence, is important. We find ourselves living in another day like Noah just before the flood. Technology has enabled us to expand our understanding of the human body. Indeed, the technologies mentioned above provide opportunities for scientists to create, change, and add to human DNA. We can already see that this technology can be used for evil purposes. I will also say that this technology is being used to create designer viruses.[8] Is this technology being used for the common good of all mankind? Yes, in many cases it is. However, we must ask the question, “Is modern technology being used to create dangerous things detrimental to mankind’s survival?” The clear answer is yes, it is. The dangerous use of current technology far exceeds any proposed benefit, given the stated goals of the people involved.

In my youth the government of the US was focused on the nuclear threat to America from the Russians. At the height of the Cold War in the 1960’s I recall participating in school drills meant to prepare us to act in the event of a nuclear attack. Something far worse has gripped the world today. Jesus warned us that His second coming would be during a time just like the days of Noah. The days of Noah were evil because human DNA had been corrupted. We are at that place again. We will begin to hear of amazing creations coming from the world’s scientists. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been working on what they term “super-soldiers” for decades. An article in The Atlantic describes how far technology has come and what we can expect to be revealed very soon.

For decades after its inception in 1958, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—DARPA, the central research and development organization of the Department of Defense—focused on developing vast weapons systems. Starting in 1990…a new focus was put on soldiers, airmen, and sailors—on transforming humans for war. The progress of those efforts, to the extent it can be assessed through public information, hints at war’s future, and raises questions about whether military technology can be stopped, or should.

Gorman sketched out an early version of the thinking in a paper he wrote for DARPA after his retirement from the Army in 1985, in which he described an “integrated-powered exoskeleton” that could transform the weakling of the battlefield into a veritable super-soldier. The “SuperTroop” exoskeleton he proposed offered protection against chemical, biological, electromagnetic, and ballistic threats, including direct fire from a .50-caliber bullet. It “incorporated audio, visual, and haptic [touch] sensors,” Gorman explained, including thermal imaging for the eyes, sound suppression for the ears, and fiber optics from the head to the fingertips. Its interior would be climate-controlled, and each soldier would have his own physiological specifications embedded on a chip within his dog tags. “When a soldier donned his ST [SuperTroop] battledress,” Gorman wrote, “he would insert one dog-tag into a slot under the chest armor, thereby loading his personal program into the battle suit’s computer,” giving the 21st-century soldier an extraordinary ability to hear, see, move, shoot, and communicate.[9]

Astute readers will be reminded of the Tony Stark character in the Marvel Iron Man movie franchise. I noticed this same tacit acknowledgement in the recent Tom Cruise Top Gun Maverick movie when actor Ed Harris playing Rear Admiral Chester Cain, arrived at the test site of an experimental next generation stealth fighter to shut the program down. His reasoning was that manned aircraft was a thing of the past. Admiral Cain believed future jet fighters would be flown by AI “pilots” who never tire, who don’t need to eat, or drink, and who obey orders. Sounds exactly like what the Controligarchs are attempting to implement.

Our world is on a collision course with biblical prophecy. While Controligarchs deceive people into believing that the future is theirs to create and rule, Jesus waits in the wings. While scientists tamper with DNA, the Bible reminds us that God has created the human body, and it is fearfully and wonderfully made. Will God allow some of His creation, who are in open rebellion, to destroy His imagers and create their own race of super soldiers to do the bidding of the Controligarchs? The Bible gives a resounding “NO” to this strong delusion.

The birth pangs of biblical prophecy are already upon the earth.[10] Those who have ears to hear and eyes to see are not fooled. To those Christians who have been gifted with God’s perspective, His divine insight, and have learned to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, the battlefield is clear. We are armored up and prepared to press the war wherever King Jesus leads us. Will Jesus tarry much longer?

© 2024 Dr. Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] See the White Paper Justice for Sale, available at the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund website. https://www.policedefense.org/leldf-justice-for-sale/

[2] George Soros Spent $40M Getting Lefty District Attorneys, Officials Elected All Over the Country, The New York Post, January 22, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/01/22/george-soros-spent-40m-getting-lefty-district-attorneys-officials-elected-all-over-the-country/

[3] For a remarkable treatment of this thesis see, Eric Nelson, The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Thought, (Harvard University Press: Boston, MA, 2010) and Thomas G. West, The Political Theory of the America Founding: Natural Rights, Public Policy, and the Moral Conditions of Freedom, (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2017).

[4] This author is currently writing a book on the Gnostic origins of several major movements that drive identity politics and most current governmental emphases.

[5] Alan Boyle, Why Bill Gates Thinks Gene Editing and Artificial Intelligence Could Save the World, Geek Wire, February 14, 2020. https://www.geekwire.com/2020/bill-gates-thinks-gene-editing-artificial-intelligence-save-world/

[6] See Musk’s post here – https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1309393328987926530

[7] Antonio Regalado, What We Know About Elon Musk’s “Dramatic” Plan to Link Human Brains to Computers Through Implants, MIT Technology Review, July 22, 2019. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/07/22/what-we-know-about-elon-musks-dramatic-plan-to-link-human-brains-to-computers-through-implants/

[8] Emily Willingham, Why Scientists Tweak Lab Viruses to Make Them More Contagious, Scientific American, June 14, 2021. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-scientists-tweak-lab-viruses-to-make-them-more-contagious1/  Jordan Harbinger, Are Manmade Viruses the Next Big Terrorist Threat? Newsweek Magazine, October 24, 2019. https://www.newsweek.com/2019/11/01/synthetic-biology-manmade-virus-terrorism-1467569.html

[9] Annie Jacobsen, Engineering Humans for War, The Atlantic, September 23, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/military-technology-pentagon-robots/406786/

[10] Mark 13; Matthew 24-25.

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

July 1, 2022

However political parties may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.[1] —George Washington

Welcome to 2022. If you’re like me, you’re not sad to see 2021 pass, nor for that matter 2020. Here in Ohio, we have experienced things I never thought possible, instigated by career politicians and the political machines that they serve or, is it, that serve them? In my opinion, the bare-naked corruption has never been more visible. The disaster that Americans are experiencing right now will not change unless we decide to take appropriate action to change our circumstances.

One thing among many that the last two years has cemented in the consciousness of a growing number of Americans is that elected representatives at both the state and federal level routinely disrespect those they claim to represent. This disrespect has been building for decades, but is now unmasked for even casual observers. The last two years pulled back the curtain and snapped the last threads of illusion. Politicians are wholly owned by corporations and foreign governments, as brokered by their lawyers and bag-men, also known as lobbyists.

The level of politicians’ disrespect of their sovereigns (you and me) is appalling; a demonically manifested arrogance that should cause self-respecting people to recoil in disgust. Today’s politicos have reached a level of arrogance that they do not fear reprisals from We the People. Indeed, the people are now persecuted, prosecuted, and described as domestic terrorists for standing on our Constitutional rights and especially those enumerated in our Bill of Rights. We must change this if Americans are to again live free.

As you have already surmised, I am an action advocate. I believe Americans, especially Christians, must govern our Republic. America was designed by our Founding Fathers to be a participatory Republic. Elected servants at every level and capacity serve at the pleasure of those who elected them and by the consent of those same people. This is embodied in the first three words of the Constitution, We the People.

With those words, we establish immediately that we are, collectively, the Boss. We are the final authority on what laws our Republic will uphold and what ideals and anti-God nonsense we will vehemently reject. This is the very heart of the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Over time, America’s political class has made itself an aristocracy. Conducting a type of clandestine law fare on their sovereigns, they have leveraged the power of the state to grow their own power and wealth while destroying the liberty of We The People that made their illicit success possible.

If We Can Keep It

As in every banana republic, notice how American politicians in local school boards, state house, and Congress accumulate wealth while in office. They do it by doling out favors which we used to call legislation, and contracts at the school board, city, and county levels. Under the granite domes in state capitols and Washington DC, they sell their votes; they merely sponsor, rather than write, legislation that is written by industry law firms.

And finally, in a mafia-style arrangement that Patrick Byrne has labeled deep capture, state and federal legislators maintain a massive, invisible, unaccountable ‘fourth estate’ of European-style regulatory agencies and bureaus that write regulations to stifle competition and line the pockets of favored corporations.

As the delegates walked out of the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, Lady Powell asked, “Doctor Franklin, what kind of government have you given us, sir?”, to which Ben Franklin replied, “A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it.” Franklin and the other Founders understood that a Republic of sovereign States under this Constitution required at least a critical mass of ‘We The People’ who would remain fully engaged in the process of oversight, to enforce the terms of the magnificent law we call the Constitution.

We Have Work To Do

The free, happy people as envisioned by the Founders, can never abdicate their authority and duty of oversight and swift, fair enforcement against servants who violate the highest law in our Republic, as stipulated by that responsible remnant, collectively called We the People.

It is painfully clear that many Americans for too long have enjoyed the blessings of America without giving back a measure of service and sacrifice; the only way to perpetuate the liberty bequeathed to us. Too many Americans receive without giving; eat of the bountiful harvest without volunteering to sow the next season’s seed and tend the fields until harvest. Americans have chores to do; and for Christians especially, those chores begin with perspective.

When people have massive amounts of information available to them that contradict the desired narrative, a choice must be made. Two opposing narratives cannot be true at the same time and context. Reality is not just what each individual says it is. Reality is truth and it cannot be hidden from those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. Truth is what is real and demonstrable.

When experts in the field of medicine, biology, physiology, and pharmacology all contradict with facts, research, and peer-reviewed studies what governments and their hand-picked ‘professionals’ say, the American people must understand that we have chores to do.

There is a heavy weight upon our necks and it is clearly preparation for tyranny. If we accept this burden now without complaint, those who fancy themselves our masters will speedily finish their wicked work of enslaving us all under their globalist plans.

If that sounds like an alarmist view to you, then you have been lulled into a stupor from which emotional position you are incapable of determining truth from lies.

Action Steps Needed

It is time to awaken to the stark truth that while we slept, while we raised our families, went to church, enjoyed our common civic blessings, evil people crept in and sowed our fields full of tares.

If 2020 and 2021 taught me anything it is that only those things done for Christ will stand. As recorded in the Gospel of Mark 13:32, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away.” The context of that statement is given beginning at verse 1, where Jesus is talking about the final days before His return. There will be much tribulation and persecution. We are seeing criminals lay the foundation for the same persecution of Christians in America that we see right now around the world. And the response from the church thus far has been largely silence, either from indifference or fear.

The surest thing we have is the Word of God and its promises, unlike the worthless promises from politicians and bureaucrats. The repentant remnant of We The People need to realize that:

1) We are in dire straits at felons’ hands. Stop sugarcoating this reality. Call the criminals what they are – criminals and traitors.

2) Politicians will not change unless they are forced to. That means visiting them in their offices and anywhere they happen to appear, and voicing with the most righteous indignation fitting their behavior, your vehement disapproval of their alleged service.

3) We must become responsible overseers of our servants. This means we must spend some time educating ourselves and others about how government really works, who is paying for the outrageous legislation coming out of Congress, and how we can oppose and negate this.

4) Faith without works is dead. So is prayer without action. We must refuse to think that someone else will do the hard work of maintaining our freedom. Allowing others the privilege and great responsibility of vigilance is exactly what has gotten us into the current mess.

5) Our duty, as stipulated in the Constitution, is to demand that every agency, bureau, department, and office of our servants obey the limits we stipulate in the Constitution, or face law enforcement action, as any other felon faces. This means we will be energetically active in every organ of our local political bodies, insisting on the rule of law for all.

6) We the People will only enjoy the liberty granted by God as our Founding Fathers envisioned, to the extent we do the law enforcement duties that we stipulate in the Constitution. We the People are the Grand Jury under the Constitution. We’ve been lied to and have had our rights to call public officials to trial stolen from us.

7) A strategy of playing defense only is defeat on the installment plan. If we do not achieve success in addressing this current darkness through communication and activism, then it is time to develop and implement a strategy to replace this current government at the federal level and every state government that is a model of the federal. I am not speaking of armed revolution but of massive coordinated protests, demonstrations, and blunt persuasion beginning at the grassroots level. Mayors, Council Members, and County Commissioners are your neighbors. They will listen to you when you have an irate minority of the same opinion.

At this point, you may agree in principle but have no idea where to start. We begin by creating networks of people who meet physically, communicate regularly, and execute on action projects that specifically address the things we know to be true in America as mentioned above.

America Is Our Land

Jesus said His words will not pass away. He never uttered a word that was not true and necessary. I remind you of one thing specifically that He commanded us to do, found in Luke 19:13 – “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” (KJV) That means we are to serve our King Jesus by using the resources He gives us (ten pounds), advance righteousness, holiness, and just civil government. Conversely, we must strenuously oppose wickedness, evil intent toward our liberty, and attempted enslavement of our posterity.

We find ourselves in similar days to those of Nehemiah. The people lamented their condition; but notice that they also knew why wickedness had descended upon them and prevailed upon their land. Here is Nehemiah 9:36-37.

Behold, we are slaves today, and as for the land which You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its bounty, behold, we are slaves in it. And its abundant produce is for the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies and over our cattle as they please, so we are in great distress.

America is in distress. If Christians do nothing, evil will prevail. We must rise up together and begin to be an active force in our land. Public servants at every level must become familiar with our names and what we stand for. A healthy fear, reverence, and respect for the One we represent must once again grip Americans.

We can and must march together under the banner of King Jesus. We are overcomers because Christ has already overcome our foes. We are victorious because Christ has already won the victory. However, those victories must be secured in real time right now through action.

Every generation must prove its loyalty to King Jesus on the field of responsible action. Let us rise to the challenge, so that our legacy will be the testimony of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren that we did not shirk our duties nor shrink back from personal responsibility; that instead, we fearlessly put our shoulders into the work for the soul of America.

If we will do this, we will hear those words we all long to hear from our Lord on that glorious day, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.”

© 2022 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

*This article has been revised and edited from a previous work in a booklet titled Tactical Civics for Pastors.

[1] This article has been revised from an earlier work. Some content has been removed from the original and other content added.

By Mike Spaulding

January 17, 2022

President Woodrow Wilson’s several short–sighted missteps—among them allowing the creation of the Federal Reserve System, which is a centralized banking cartel that has nothing whatsoever to do with the United States Federal Government, and leading America into World War I, after campaigning on a pledge not to do that—created a great urge among Americans, and indeed the peoples of other nations, to create a global organization based on an ecumenical spirit of unity, clearly the legacy of the original progressive clergy I’ve mentioned many times previously.

This ecumenical spirit of the age was expressed most tangibly in the creation of several global religious and peace organizations and conferences such as the American Society of International Law (1906), National Arbitration and Peace Conference (1907), the Methodist Federation for Social Action (1907), The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America (1908), American Society for the Judicial Settlement of International Disputes (1910), World Alliance for International Friendship (1914), The Church Peace Union (1914), American League to Limit Armaments (1914), American Union Against Militarism (1915), League to Enforce Peace (1915), Committee on Moral Aims of the War (1918), The International Missionary Council (1921), the Universal Conference on Life and Work (1925, 1930–1938), and The Faith and Order Movement (1927), among several others.

Many of these organizations were merely the out–workings of private foundations and their wealth, most especially the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation. Author Carl Teichrib describes the function of the many American Foundations that sprang up in the early twentieth century as:

Change agents of yesterday and in the present understand that if culture is to shift in a permanent way, then social values must move gradually until a tipping point is reached. For this to occur, institutional hubs must first be altered within; government, the education system, media and popular culture, religious organizations, and other key societal crossroads need to embrace the new worldview…The “top–down” change agents “reforming” our social and political institutions are not difficult to discover. Indeed, for the past hundred years in the Western World, and the United States in particular, an army of social and policy engineers have been accepted as part of the structural landscape. Enter the “expert” pressure peddlers: The interlocking complex of philanthropic foundations, think–tanks, executive organizations, and high academia…This is exactly what has been going on since the days of Andrew Carnegie, Nicholas Murray Butler, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Indeed, it’s an outgrowth of America’s “Progressive Era.”

Before 1900, there were only 18 Philanthropic Foundations operating in the United States. However, between 1910 and 1919, 58 new foundations were created. During the 1920’s, the total number grew to 173, and during the 1930’s, tax exempt foundations grew to 288. The 1940’s and 1950’s saw the greatest growth of these foundations such that the total number became 2,839.

Why is this important to understand? It is important to understand because from the beginning of the creation of these foundations, they have had two objectives. The first objective was to shelter the wealth of their creators, and the second was to use that wealth to fundamentally change America into one nation among many under the control of a global governing body.

These statements might sound outlandish to some readers. Let me assure you they are not. David Patterson, in his article titled, “An Interpretation of the American Peace Movement 1898–1914,” summarizes the mindset of the wealthy philanthropists by stating:

The world federationists were more closely internationalists. These internationalists shared peaceful aspirations of the pacific–minded and generalists, but were unwilling to wait for the conversion of the masses to the goal of world peace or of the nations’ widespread acceptance of arbitration and conciliation procedures for the resolution of international disputes. They wanted the major world powers to establish permanent international institutions which would formalize and regularize the conciliation process. They talked most often of the creation of some kind of world federation. Their proposals ranged from Andrew Carnegie’s general program for a a league of peace composed of the leaders of the major powers of Europe and the United States, who would agree to use economic sanctions and as a last resort an international police force against the aggressor states, to more specific arrangements for the creation of an international legislature which would develop procedures for preserving the peace.

By the early 1950’s, the amount of money the largest foundations had poured into anti–American activities such as socialism, progressive organizations, racial agitation groups, and activist groups, was in the billions of dollars and finally drew the attention of citizens and politicians alike. The late Jim Marrs, in his book, Rule by Secrecy, writes about a statement that Norman Dodd, Director of Research for the House Select Committee to Investigate Foundations and Charitable Organizations made in 1952. Dodd asserted that the then president of the Ford Foundation told him: “operating under a directive from the White House,” his foundation was to “use our grant–making power so as to alter our life in the United States that we can be comfortably merged with the Soviet Union.”

The House Select Committee mentioned above was also called the Reece Committee on Foundations. Norman Dodd’s report was a bombshell of revealing information that should have resulted in the Department of Justice and the FBI launching full scale investigations into the illegal activities of many of the largest foundations. The Dodd Report conclusion is that:

It seems incredible that the trustees of typically American fortune– created foundations should have permitted them to be used to finance ideas and practices incompatible with the fundamental concepts of our Constitution. Yet there seems evidence that this may have occurred.

Norman Dodd tempered his words in this report, however, the findings leave readers no other understanding than that the foundations deliberately undermined the Constitution of the United States by supporting organizations and strategies aimed at its demise. The questions the investigation team sought to answer included:

• Have foundations used their resources for purposes contrary to those for which they were established?
• Have they used their resources for purposes which can be classified as un–American?
• Have they used their resources for purposes which can be regarded as subversive?
• Have they resorted to propaganda in order to achieve the objectives for which they have been made?

The short answer to all these questions is an unequivocal yes! Consider that the American Historical Association issued a report in 1934 which “concluded that the day of the individual in the United States had come to an end and that the future would be characterized, inevitably, by some form of collectivism and an increase in the authority of the State.”

In February of 1936, the John Dewey Society was created. It worked very closely with The American Historical Society, The Progressive Education Association, the League for Industrial Democracy originally named the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (Fabian Socialism), and the National Educational Association to develop and disseminate:

…an educational curriculum designed to indoctrinate the American student from matriculation to the consummation of his education. It contrasts sharply with the freedom of the individual as the corner- stone of our social structure. For this freedom, it seems to substitute the group, the will of the majority, and a centralized power to enforce this will —presumably in the interest of all. Its development and pro- duction seems to have been largely the work of those organizations engaged in research, such as the Social Science Research Council and the National Research Council…Its promotion appears to have been managed by such organizations as the Progressive Education Association, the American Historical Association, the League for In- dustrial Democracy, the John Dewey Society and the Anti–Defama- tion League. Supplementing their efforts were others, such as: the Parent–Teachers Association, the National Council of Churches, and the Committee for Economic Development, each of which has played some part in adjusting the minds of American citizens to the idea of planning and to the marked changes which have taken place in “the public interest.”

The Dodd report examined foundation activities from 1903 to 1953 and their relationships with one another and the Executive branch of the United States Federal Government. Here, the evil underbelly of Political and Religious Progressivism is exposed to the glaring light of truth. Dodd revealed that grants made by foundations already mentioned above were for the purposes of:

• Directing education in the United States toward an international viewpoint and discarding the traditions to which it (formerly) had been dedicated.
• Training individuals and servicing agencies to render advice to the Executive branch of the Federal Government.
• Decreasing the dependency of education upon the resources of the local community and freeing it from many of the natural safeguards inherent in this American tradition.
• Changing both school and college curricula to the point where they sometimes denied the principles underlying the American way of life.
• Financing experiments designed to determine the most effective means by which education could be pressed into service of a political nature.

Berit Kjos, in an article entitled, Conforming the Church to the New World Order writes:

In 1942, six years before the World Council of Churches was formally launched, its organizers within the Federal Council of Churches held a National Study conference at Wesleyan University in Ohio. Among the 30 delegates were 15 bishops, seven seminary presidents, and eight college and university presidents.

John Foster Dulles, who later became Secretary of State in the Eisenhower administration, chaired the conference. As head of the Federal Council’s inter–Church “Commission to Study the Bases of a Just and Durable Peace,” Dulles submitted the conference report. It recommended:

• a world government of delegated powers
• immediate limitations on national sovereignty
• international control of all armies and navies
• a universal system of money
• worldwide freedom of immigration
• a democratically controlled international bank [the Federal Reserve]
• even distribution of the world’s natural wealth.

Kjos’ point is clear: the drive for a new world order that embraces socialism under the guise of the brotherhood of man is being forced upon the world and the Church has been a vehicle for that development.

Semper Fidelis to Christ!

This article is an excerpt of the book Social Injustice: Exposing the False Gospel of the Social Justice Movement, which brought together authors Jeff Dornik, Brannon Howse, Dr Andy Woods, Dr Mike Spaulding, Thomas Littleton, Ken Peters, Sam Jones, Ian M Giatti, Patrick Wyett, Paige Rogers, Dustin Faulkner, Schumann and the foreword by Mychal Massie. This team of authors exposes the heresy of Social Justice and how it preaches a false Gospel.

© 2021 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Mike Spaulding

January 8, 2022

The Democrat Party is a wholly owned Satanic subsidiary of the Luciferian Globalists who are making what they hope is their final power play right now in Washington D.C. and all across this nation. With few exceptions, the Republican Party is clueless about how to stop this coup d’état in broad daylight. In fact, many of them are riding alongside of their Democrat counterparts in the take-down of America and are just as culpable.

Satan, with the assistance of the Chinese owned U.S. entertainment, media, and education systems, aided and abetted by the tyrannical judicial and civil governments at every level, has done an effective job reprogramming and literally dumbing- down Americans. Now we see little more than programmed zombies marching to the orders and propaganda of evil doers.

God has appointed watchmen in every generation. When the watchman’s cry is heeded, disaster is averted. When the watchman’s cry is ignored, a nation suffers and is often conquered and enslaved. Yet, today, we have Christians, even pastors, saying that we should not cry out that something is wrong or stand against it. Christians scorn those who warn, accusing them of being divisive.

The stark reality of America today is that we have become an abomination and deserve the severest judgment by God. After you read the list below, ask yourself, “What is righteous about any of this?” Then ask yourself a second question: “Why do woke Christians, the woke church and the self-proclaimed evangelical left support these things or remain silent about them?”

• Murder of the unborn
• Selling aborted baby parts
• Same-sex “marriage”
• Allowing illegal immigrants to vote
• Elimination of national borders
• Adoption of identity, special interest politics
• Supporting anarchy and “sanctuary” for people illegally in America
• Expansion of the welfare state that enslaves people in poverty
• Continuous attacks on the God they claim to serve

I have heard some Christians retreat from addressing all of this by the pious platitude of “Well, we just need to preach the Gospel.” Of course we need to preach the Gospel! That is not in question. However, how does preaching the Gospel prevent people from trafficking humans for sex and money? They are not listening to you or anyone else preaching the Gospel. How does preaching the Gospel to Marxist Communists, which is to say, Satanists, stop their stated goal of destroying America and, in the process, the church? The leadership of Black Lives Matter and Antifa are all Satanicuseful idiots marching to the orders of their master, Satan.

When I hear people say we just need to just preach the Gospel, I fear I am looking at a spineless coward who does not have the courage to stand against evil and do hand-to-hand combat with the enemies of God. Or, perhaps, the one who falls back on the excuse of “we just need to preach the Gospel” thinks that it is the sum total of what he or she is required to do for the Lord Jesus. That person is very much like the one who believes they have served God by attending church once a week.

People who think all we need to do is preach the Gospel are most often looking for a convenient way of escaping the call to duty as a soldier of Christ. There is often a battle that goes on for the heart and mind of an individual before they are willing or ready to hear anything about salvation through faith in Jesus. Conversations with those who are willing can take time when a humanistic worldview must be replaced with a biblical one.

I have made the observation many times before, and I make it again now: Preaching the Gospel is going to abortion clinics, literally state-sanctioned murder mills, and pleading with women not to end their child’s life. There are other options besides murdering the innocent, and people need to hear about them.

Preaching the Gospel is going to shame parades and telling homosexuals, lesbians, transgenders, and pedophiles, as well as others suffering under the bondage of sin, that God did not create them that way. There is freedom from their darkness through Christ.

Now, please understand that Jesus Christ does not call us to follow Him because of what we already are. Jesus does notcall us to follow Him because He will fulfill our dreams, plans and goals that we have established. Jesus’ desire is to fashion us into servants that bring glory and honor to Him. Jesus bids us to follow Him because of what He desires to make us.

Here is what it means to follow Jesus and carry your cross daily: it means that you will stand in stark contrast to the world at large. It means that your time and energy are not spent vainly trying to keep up with what the world says is important.

Your life and actions will be a protest against an ungodly world. You will be scorned by the world, misunderstood by your family and woefully out of step with what the world values and exalts.

A.W. Tozer remains a giant of the faith nearly sixty years after he went to be with Jesus. He wrote about the apostasy of the days in which he lived. It has grown exponentially worse since then. Tozer observed:

Today we need prophetic preachers – not preachers of prophecy merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits. It is not the ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to appraise the religious scene as viewed from God’s position, and to tell us what is actually going on.

What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight. Scholars can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present. Learning will enable a man to pass judgment on yesterdays, but it requires a gift of clear seeing to pass the sentence on our own day.

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher.

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear.

He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt- spoken and a little bit angry with the world.

He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But, he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath.

The world will try to define you by their terms. The world will tell you that you are naïve, ignorant, bigoted, intolerant, and all sorts of other things for opposing their demonic agenda and for refusing to kneel before their golden statue of state and its de facto religion of humanism. Understand that these people are under the command of their father, the devil, and are to be pitied and opposed.

Let us not shrink back from the battle raging all around us. The soul of America and the testimony of the church are at stake. As Paul wrote to the Philippian believers so I remind you: Courage exalts Christ!

According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. — Philippians 1:20

I encourage you with one final thought. In the book of Daniel we learn that there will be people who abandon God in the heat of battle. They will listen to the lies of the enemy of God and will side with the lawless one. However, there is a remnant that will remain faithful to God. This prophecy has come to pass today. It has happened in advance of the rise of the lawless one who will by intrigue deceive many.

By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. — Daniel 11:32

Those who know God will display strength and take action! Amen and amen!

Semper Fidelis to Jesus Christ!

Pastor Mike

© 2021 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[This article is an excerpt of the book Church & State: How the Left Used the Church to Conquer America, which brought together authors Pastor Greg Locke, Dr. Michael Brown, Denise McAllister, Pastor Cary Gordon, Jeff Dornik, JD Rucker, Pastor Ken Peters, Dr. Robert Oscar Lopez, Dr. Mike Spaulding, Pastor Sam Jones and Dustin Faulkner. This team of authors exposes the strategy employed to overthrow America through the infiltration of the Evangelical Church. Order your copy today!]

By Mike Spaulding

January 4, 2021

This is a brief exposé on the history of progressive politics and how it has infiltrated the Church. Readers will be well served to investigate the history of the Church and the relationship between it and the US Federal Government, the wealthy foundations, and Marxist Communism over the last one hundred years.

It is clear from what is discussed above that foundations and the US Federal Government have worked together tirelessly to destroy the Judeo–Christian foundation upon which this nation was built and by which this nation was a light to the world in so many positive ways. Part of their joint plan was to infiltrate and utilize the Church as a primary cultural change agent. This subject needs to be more fully studied, written about, and discussed among Christians.

Marxism has been part of the Protestant Church in America for decades. Edgar C. Bundy reveals that:

In 1919 the New York State Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities within the state was set up. This committee was headed by state Senator Clayton R. Lusk. It produced a monumental work of four volumes of over 1000 pages each, giving evidence of the infiltration of subversive forces within the State of New York. This committee report was published on April 24, 1920. On the subject of Communist infiltration, Part One has this to say:

There are two dangerous centers of Revolutionary Socialist teaching of a university type in ecclesiastical institutions. One is the Union Theological Seminary of New York [funded by the Rock- efellers], where Christian Ethics are taught by Dr. Harry F. Ward…. Dr. Ward is the author of The New Social Order, in which he shows a decided sympathy for Socialist social forms and is friendly to Bolshevism in Russia. He also wrote The Labor Movement, which contained addresses delivered before the Boston School of Theology, when he was professor of social science at that institution. He expressed in it approval of the I.W.W. [Industrial Workers of the World]. It is reported in a recent issue of the National Civic Federation Review that he gave his endorsement to the new gospel of Bolshevism, which he considers a spiritual movement replacing the outworn Christianity of the Russian Orthodox Church. He characterized the cognate I.W.W. “philosophy” as the most ideal and practical Christian philosophy since the days of Jesus Christ, and as expressing the ideas of Christ much more closely than any church of the present day.

The activities of Dr. Ward, as shown in other parts of this re- port, are entirely consistent with this point of view. He is chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union, which champions the I.W.W., and presided over the I.W.W. meeting of Feb. 9, 1920, held at the Rand School…. He has also been prominent in numerous pacifist and radical societies such as the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Emergency Peace Conference and People’s Council, the Liberty Defense Union.

Dr. Ward is also connected with the Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A., and the InterChurch World Movement.

Bundy summarizes The Congressional Record on Investigation of Communist Activities in the New York City Area (Parts 6–8): Hearing Before The Committee on Un–American Activities House of Representatives, 83rd Congress, First Session July 7 and 8, and July 13 and 14, 1953, with the following transcript:

The lectures which Dr. Ward made in China date back to 1925, beginning just after he had been to Moscow. Preparation for the fall of China to the Communists was being made in the early 1920’s, when the Kremlin’s Colonial School for training leaders in the take–over of other countries was functioning fully, although China was not won by the Communists until late 1949.

The Communist program is a long–range one. It may take many years to implement its tactics and strategy, but its objectives never change. This clergyman, Dr. Harry F. Ward, not only had a powerful influence in the American churches, through The Federal Council of Churches, softening up his own country with Communist propaganda, but he went overseas to help to prepare China, with its 500 million souls, for eventual capture by communism. Men in the pulpit will not tell their people these things, and the people do not even know that testimony upon them is available.

We continue the testimony from pages 2084 and 2085 of the record.

Mr. KUNZIG: What kind of an organization was the Methodist Federation for Social Action, and how did it differ from a Communist– front organization?

Mr. GITLOW: The Methodist Federation for Social Action, originally called the Methodist Federation for Social Service, was first organized by a group of Socialist, Marxist clergymen of the Methodist church headed by Dr. Harry F. Ward. Dr. Ward was the organizer, for almost a lifetime its secretary and actual leader. He at all times set its ideological and political pattern. Its objective was to transform the Methodist Church and Christianity into an instrument for the achievement of socialism. It was established in 1907, 12 years before the organization of the Communist Party in the United States in 1919.

The outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in November 1917 had a tremendous effect upon the Socialist ministers of this organization and especially upon Dr. Ward. When the Communist Party was organized in 1919, Dr. Ward was already a convinced Communist with a few insignificant minor reservations. By 1920 he was already, though not yet a member of the Communist Party, cooperating and collaborating with the Communist Party.

This collaboration of Dr. Ward with the Communist Party was reflected in the expressions and activities of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. The inner hard core of the Methodist Federation consisted, up to the time Jack R. McMichael, a member and leader of the Young Communist League, was elected its executive secretary, after Dr. Ward had relinquished his post, of a Communist cell headed by Ward, which functioned under the direction of the Communist Party.

Mr. KUNZIG: What were the connections between the Methodist Federation for Social Action and the two Communist–front organizations you mentioned that played such an important role in the Communist infiltration of religion?

Mr. GITLOW: In the first place, the Methodist Federation for Social Action was affiliated with and collaborated more closely with the American League Against War and Fascism, and the American League for Peace and Democracy, and the American Youth Congress. 115–118

Mr. KUNZIG: Did Dr. Ward use his position as chairman of the American League Against War and Fascism to aid the Communist conspiracy for the infiltration of the churches?

Mr. GITLOW: He did.

There are a few resources available to readers for their research. Many of them are found in the footnoted information in this chapter. The late Carroll Quigley produced one of the best examinations of the inner workings and secret relationships between the US Federal Government, British Government, US and European financial institutions, and the foundations created for the express purpose of changing governments and cultures around the world toward a globalist, internationalist, centrally controlled socialist civil and economic model.

Quigley confirms what has already been stated throughout this chapter, namely that the wealthy American oligarchy took steps to ensure their wealth was increased and safeguarded at the expense of the average American:

More than fifty years ago, the Morgan firm decided to infiltrate the Left– wing political movements in the United States. This was relatively easy to do, since these groups were starved for funds and eager for a voice to reach the people. Wall Street supplied both.

The associations between Wall Street and the Left…are really survivals of the associations between the Morgan Bank and the Left. To Morgan, all political parties were simply organizations to be used, and the firm always was careful to keep a foot in all camps. Morgan himself, Dwight Morrow, and other partners were allied with the Republicans; Russell C. Leffingwell was allied with the Democrats; Grayson Murphy was allied with the extreme right; and Thomas W. Lamont was allied with the Left.

In 1951 the Subcommittee on Internal Security of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the so–called McCarran Committee, sought to show that China had been lost to the Communists by the deliberate actions of a group of academic experts on the Far East and Communist fellow travelers whose work in that direction was controlled and coordinated by the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR). The influence of the Communists in IPR is well established, but the patronage of Wall Street is less well known.

The IPR was a private association of ten independent national councils in ten countries concerned with affairs in the Pacific. The headquarters of the IPR and of the American Council of IPR were both in New York and were closely associated on an interlocking basis. Each spent about $2.5 million dollars over the quarter–century from 1925 to 1950, of which about half, in each case came from the Carnegie Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation (which were themselves interlocking groups controlled by an alliance of Morgan and Rockefeller interests in Wall Street).

One author leaves no doubt about the avarice of the Foundations:

People must understand that the funding for so much of what goes on today comes, at least in the United States, from our great tax–exempt foundations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation and the Pew Foundation. They have fabulous amounts of money—hundreds of billions of dollars—which they then disseminate to religious, political and cultural organizations. Their priority is to change the message of the Christian churches. They’ve certainly infiltrated the Catholic Church and her seminaries; indeed, their agents are working at the highest levels of the Catholic Church today, which is why that Church has protected the pedophile priests who have been molesting boys here in America. In the Protestant churches, they’ve done similar things; they’ve changed the message there, too. People who want to be ministers go to seminaries, and there they learn what they think is the truth. But they don’t understand this: if you want to change the message of the Protestant faith, you must infiltrate the seminaries with people who will subtly change the message while merely professing to believe in Christianity.

The Rockefeller and Carnegie Foundations are especially culpable for their funding of eugenics, birth control, and abortion. E. Michael Jones reveals that:

By 1932, Margaret Sanger had become completely attached to the goals of the eugenics movement, partially because she was being funded by the plutocrat aristocracy…On March 1, 1934…John D. Rockefeller III, scion of the Rockefeller family, wrote his father urging him, in spite of shutting down the Bureau of Social Hygiene, to continue his support of both the American Birth Control League, which was to get $10,000, and Sanger’s National Association of Federal Legislation, which was to get $1000…Eventually John D. Rockefeller III would go on to create the Population Council in the early ‘50s, which would fund the research that would come up with both the pill and the IUD…In 1942, in reaction to the bad name that eugenics had got by its association with National Socialism in Germany, the American Birth Control League changed its name to Planned Parenthood…In 1943 Planned Parenthood launched its “Negro Program,” a nation–wide educational program” whose purpose was “creating among Negroes a greater understanding of the importance of Planned Parenthood to their health and welfare and economic security” and, of course, to reduce their birthrate by persuading them to use contraception…On December 26, 1945, Packard wrote to Morris Hadley of Planned Parenthood, informing him that John D. Rockefeller III had made a contribution of $2500 to support PP’s Harlem Project, which was “to provide an example for other Negro communities” on how to reduce their numbers through the use of contraception.

Have you considered that three of the most fiercely argued issues of our time: sexual deviancy, abortion, and illegal immigration are all supported by tax exempt foundations? This is not coincidence. Homosexuality, lesbianism, and pedophilia have been orchestrated since the 1940s by the Rockefeller Foundation.

This article is an excerpt of the book Social Injustice: Exposing the False Gospel of the Social Justice Movement, which brought together authors Jeff Dornik, Brannon Howse, Dr Andy Woods, Dr Mike Spaulding, Thomas Littleton, Ken Peters, Sam Jones, Ian M Giatti, Patrick Wyett, Paige Rogers, Dustin Faulkner, Schumann and the foreword by Mychal Massie. This team of authors exposes the heresy of Social Justice and how it preaches a false Gospel.

© 2021 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

December 28, 2021

Progressivism Is An Infectious and Abhorrent Demonic Mutation That Must Be Quarantined & Eradicated – Dr. Mike Spaulding

The following is an excerpt from the book “Social Injustice: Exposing the False Gospel of the Social Justice Movement.” Ordering details are shown below.

Author Phil Kent details how the Rockefeller Foundation supported Alfred Kinsey and his deviant homosexual and pedophilia sexual abuse under the guise of sex research at Indiana University. Kinsey wrote this following concerning the origin of his “research” at the Kinsey Institute:

The present volume is a progress report from a case study on human sexual behavior. The study has been underway during the past nine years. Throughout these years it has had the sponsorship and support of Indiana University and during the past six years the support of the National Research Council’s Committee for Research on Problems of Sex, with funds granted by the Medical Division of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Jones adds that the Rockefeller Foundation knew perfectly well that Kinsey’s research was bogus, that his statistical analysis was not accurate, and that his activities were in fact, criminal. Kinsey became a master at blackmail and coercion based on information he gathered on people who controlled the flow of money.

In the end, the only people at the Rockefeller Foundation who were capable of pulling the plug on Kinsey funding were the people who had not given him their histories. Those who had were completely under his control… The three wise men from the Rockefeller Foundation—Yerkes, Corner, and Gregg—never knew what hit them. The same premise undergirds contemporary phenomena like SAR (Sexual Attitude Restructuring) of the sort that psychologists and medical professionals are forced to undergo for certification as experts in the field of sex. SAR means looking at pornography, and the sex educators who have followed in Kinsey’s footsteps understand that if you look at enough pornography, you will become desensitized; your attitudes will change; you will be more likely to act on what you see and less likely to object to what you see. If you follow the trajectory to its logical conclusion, you will become someone enslaved to passion—a sexual addict—to use the contemporary term.

Kent adds that:

Some inside the Rockefeller Foundation responsible for oversight of the grant actually complained about bad data and irregularities concerning research regarding the experiences of prisoners, bar–hopping homosexuals and child molesters…Warren Weaver, head of the foundation’s natural sciences division, objected to funding Kinsey’s “library of erotic literature, and a collection of pictures and other art objects.”

Just as important to understand is the legal impact of the foundations’ funding of Kinsey’s perversions. Consider that Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundation money was used to create state level organizations to inform and guide bar associations for the express purpose of changing America’s laws concerning sex crimes.

In 1955, the Model Penal Code was completed under the auspices of the Carnegie and Rockefeller seeded American Law Institute, the education arm of the American Bar Association. This “model” was then submitted to state legislatures for their consideration, with plenty of authoritative support for the implementation provided by Kinsey’s flawed scientific analysis. Adoption of the Model Penal Code eliminated and/or trivialized prior sex offenses, eventually aiding the reduction of penalties for abortion, rape, wife and child battery, desertion, seduction, adultery, prostitution, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, soliciting for masturbation, sodomy, public sexual exhibitions, ‘unfit’ parentage, alienation of affection, and obscenity, as well as infanticide, premeditated AIDS/STD transmissions, etc.

Nearly every major sexual research study since the 1940s has cited the Kinsey studies as a basis for their call for the normalization of sexual deviancy. But this was only the tip of the spear in the grand scheme the Rockefeller Foundation trustees had in store for America. The real goal was the breakdown of the natural family through an unleashing of sexual morality from biblical standards of marriage between one man and one woman. Following close on the heels of the destruction of the natural family, came the push for unfettered abortion. Once again, the Rockefeller Foundation led the way with assistance from the Ford Foundation and the Hewlitt Foundation. Kent writes:

After the 1973 Roe v. Wade US Supreme Court ruling, in which Justice Harry Blackmun infamously wrote that “the word person, as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn,” all kinds of programs to limit the America population through abortion were undertaken. A June 2, 1972 Chicago Tribune story contained this gem: “It is no surprise that Playboy Foundation money is now competing with Rockefeller money to promote the concept of permissive abortion.

Today, pro-life and abolitionist groups are winning the argument against the wanton destruction of unborn human beings, in spite of the various foundations donating millions for the promotion of the murder of unborn children. If the various groups, that support the protection of unborn human beings will put aside their differences and unite, government-sponsored abortion can end in our lifetime.

The same need to unite is observable regardless of the subject. The US Federal Government as well as many State governments are aligning themselves against the Christian Church. They are using foundation money to change minds and then change laws. Once laws are changed they are using the court system to attack and silence the Church. The Church, in many instances, has become an accomplice in this travesty. This is true in immigration, gender identity confusion, Islamization, and environmentalism.

One event that shows just how far the Church has fallen into the wicked deception that is Progressivism is the apology David Platt issued for the crime of praying for President Donald Trump. The president recently stopped by Platt’s church on a Sunday morning with only a short notice. Platt had the president appear with him on the platform and prayed for him. The howling from the progressives and invectives hurled at Platt—who is one of their own, by the way— forced him to issue a hurried letter of explanation for his action of praying for the president.

Since when do Christians have to explain their action of praying for the president of the United States? Under eight long years of President Obama, the progressives were quick in their attempts to squelch any negative remarks. Christians were routinely reminded that: “you should be praying for President Obama instead of criticizing him.” Apparently, they really don’t believe we should pray for our president.

Then, there was the recent invitation-only, clandestine meeting of progressive Christian leaders at Wheaton College in Illinois. Headlined by Tim Keller and Ed Stetzer, attendees were invited to discuss ways in which Christianity could be redirected away from support for President Trump. By ‘redirected,’ they meant forced back on the unopposed road of cultural Marxism, Progressive Christianity, and socialism. Some of those invited were so insulted by the Trump-bashing that ensued that they walked out.

The social gospel and its offspring, social justice, are heresies that fortunately are not aging well. Arnold Toynbee identified the Progressivism of his day when he stated: “Western liberalism is merely the political husk of Christianity, without its spiritual kernel.”57 That describes Progressivism plainly: a veneer of spirituality that fools the masses, but lacks any spiritual power derived solely from the One true God. Thus, Progressivism is a poison, an infectious and abhorrent demonic mutation that must be quarantined and eradicated. Progressivism actually creates social injustices, and as such, should be rejected and vociferously objected to by Christians.

This article is an excerpt of the book Social Injustice: Exposing the False Gospel of the Social Justice Movement, which brought together authors Jeff Dornik, Brannon Howse, Dr Andy Woods, Dr Mike Spaulding, Thomas Littleton, Ken Peters, Sam Jones, Ian M Giatti, Patrick Wyett, Paige Rogers, Dustin Faulkner, Schumann and the foreword by Mychal Massie. This team of authors exposes the heresy of Social Justice and how it preaches a false Gospel.

© 2021 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Contact me through the contact form on this website if you would like a signed copy. The suggested donation is $20 and includes shipping for the month of December only.

You may support The Transforming Word Ministries through your gifts to:

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Dr. Mike Spaulding

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a rabid postmodernism. As you will recall, postmodernism stresses the importance of the individual, his or her “lived experiences,” meaning his or her own reality, regardless of whether or not it is true. In fact, the perception of the individual is an unassailable mountain of truth through which all other experiences must pass through. In other words, according to CRT, truth, as evidenced by reality, is a western construct used to hold back people of color, therefore everyone’s truth is true for them. If this sounds like a different shade of relativism you are correct.

The difficulty we encounter today is that the viewpoints of racists utilizing and hiding behind CRT in order to propagate their racism and hatred are nearly incontestable. Running roughshod over other people’s rights, while maintaining the privilege to do so is utter lunacy. Lunacy codified into law is tyranny.

We are seeing this happen right now in America’s classrooms. The “1619 Project” is the current effort of CRT enthusiasts to revise history about race in America. The effort is aimed to create new claims of never-before-seen racism that the project’s advocate’s claim is deeply embedded in America’s core. It is not peer-reviewed, nor has it been vetted for accuracy. It was created by journalists and alleged scholars but lacks any real credibility outside of the race-baiting leftists that control government education in America.

Dr. Carol Swain, a former political science and law professor at Vanderbilt University, has written extensively about CRT and its devastating effects on liberty, freedom, and public discourse. In an essay titled “Critical Race Theory’s Destructive Impact on America,” Dr. Swain reveals that:

Critical race theory is an analytical framework to analyze institutions and culture. Its purpose is to divide the world into white oppressors and non-white victims. Instead of traditional forms of knowledge, it uses personal narratives of marginalized minority “victim” groups (blacks, Hispanics, Asians) as irrefutable “evidence” of the dishonesty of their mostly white heterosexual oppressors. The ultimate goal of this theory’s proponents is to remake society so that the victim class eventually displaces the oppressors and becomes the new ruling class.

Within this framework, white privilege and what they conceive to be its unearned benefits, are responsible for economic, health care, and social disparities in minority communities. It advances a narrative of blame that declares white America guilty for the plight of blacks. When it comes to education, members of the victim classes do all the teaching. It is a worldview and narrative that commands white people to sit in obedience and listen quietly to the arguments about their unjust gains as well as their obligation to provide a remedy for — in this case, black Americans, whether they are descended from slaves or not.

There is no way out for whites when it comes to race. Critical Race Theory assumes that racism is permanent and affects every aspect of our society, including political, economic, social, and religious institutions. The theory further advances the belief that being born with white skin, gives unearned privileges.

Therefore, any expectation of societal attainment of colorblindness, in which race or ethnicity does not hinder opportunities, is impossible to be achieved. Neutrality in law and decision-making is a pipe dream that can never be attained according to CRT advocates. Therefore, this mistaken reasoning goes, the oppressive system must be dismantled and destroyed.

This flawed theory suggests that race and ethnicity will always taint and pollute every decision, and, as a result, racial minorities will consistently lose out to whites because of structural racism. The message is clear: If you are unfortunate enough to be born with black skin, you are forever a second-class citizen who pays a race penalty. Under this rationale, the most affluent blacks rank below the poorest whites when it comes to privilege and opportunities. We are asked to believe that more than 50 years of affirmative action programs and race consciousness have done nothing to change the trajectory or opportunities of people born without white skin. Critical Race Theory says every dysfunctional condition in black, urban communities can be traced to slavery and its aftermath. There is no place for the individual-choice initiative.

What critical race theory actually “accomplishes” is to create anger, frustration, and despondency among persons in the victim categories who internalize that destructive message.

Universities and colleges have created a cottage industry of people who profit from indoctrinating America’s future leaders with a dangerous and destructive ideology. These future leaders then spread this diseased ideology, like a virus without an antidote, into corporate boardrooms as well as K-12 public and private schools, both Christian and non-Christian. Standards normally used to reward academic credentials are sometimes relaxed to give more authority to watered-down factors such as “personal experience” and the narrative of victim-class members and less credence to whatever facts, science, and contrary data that persons from the “oppressor” class might dare to proffer.

Education is now about white privilege indoctrination. According to the narrative, all white Americans are guilty oppressors who have benefitted from their white skin even if their parents are, say, Appalachian poor or high school dropouts working at the local big-box franchise store (if employed at all). Once the oppressor label is applied, accepted, and internalized, a deadly silencing ensues. In some cases, animated videos with messages of white guilt and oppression shown to middle and high school students create damaging images where whites are taught guilt and minorities are assigned permanent and debilitating victimhood. [1]

The demonic nature of CRT is apparent. CRT advocates for the god-like status of their perspective. People are not permitted to decry their views because doing so is evidence of racism. When people convince themselves that entire races of people, in the case of CRT agitators, the Caucasian or white race, owes them something because they have developed a perceived experience, then any system of thinking that calls that thinking into question or labels it nonsense is perceived as a threat. Therefore CRT proponents and the numerous militant special interest groups that utilize and support it, are convinced that any and all resistance including physical violence is warranted. Violence is just one strategy of social justice warriors today. Why would any Christian support this satanic wickedness?

If you want to understand the complete conquest of American universities all you need to know is that social justice and the larger theory of CRT is a religion, victimhood is its doctrine and their priesthood is anyone who hates whites, Christians, and people of any color who are conservatives or libertarians.

Now, CRT and Social Justice are at the center of Marxist, Leftist, Progressive politics. Attorney General William Barr sees Progressivism as a religion as well. Here is what he said recently:

In any age, the so-called progressives treat politics as their religion. Their holy mission is to use the coercive power of the state to remake man and society in their own image, according to an abstract idea of perfection. Whatever means they use are therefore justified because, by definition, they are a virtuous people pursuing a deific end. [2]

Now let me answer the naysayers who believe that Leftists, Marxists, Communists, Democrats, and Progressives are irreligious. Any religion seeks to answer four primary questions. Those four questions are related to origin, meaning, morality, and destiny.

In other words, where did we come from, what is our purpose, what determines right and wrong, and what happens when we die. Those are basic questions that all human beings seek to answer.

Progressives, Leftists, Marxists, and Democrats say human life is expendable. That means there is no supernatural origin, no creator other than Mother Nature. Since life is an accident there is no significance to it and therefore no meaning to life. Human beings can be sexually abused for the pleasure of their abusers and then discarded when no longer useful to that end. Jeffrey Epstein was a monster and a master at this and he knew of many other powerful people who treated other human beings as chattel. He was murdered under solitary confinement because he was going to name names.

The enemies of America such as the Obamas, Bidens, Pelosi, Schumer, numerous Hollywood stars, the CIA controlled media, and many so-called Christians who are in full-blown apostasy, believe that might makes right. The enemies of America want to wrest control of the government from the hands of sane people who still believe “we the people” can govern ourselves, and deliver it to a cadre of technocrats that will tell us what is best.

The Progressives are fighting for the victory of their religion which is state power, and unrelenting coercion by the state. That is tyranny. But they are doing so because they think they are the virtuous ones. Their worldview makes them believe they are right, honorable, and just.

Here is how Thomas Sowell described them in his book “Vision of the Anointed.”

The great ideological crusades of twentieth-century intellectuals have ranged across the most disparate fields—from the eugenics movement of the early decades of the century to the environmentalism of the later decades, not to mention the welfare state, socialism, communism, Keynesian economics, and medical, nuclear, and automotive safety. What all these highly disparate crusades have in common is their moral exaltation of the anointed above others (fly over people; the great mass of despicables, (to quote the Wiccan High Priestess Hillary Clinton; this comment added), who are to have their very different views nullified and superseded by the views of the anointed, imposed via the power of government. Despite the great variety of issues in a series of crusading moments among the intelligentsia during the twentieth century, several key elements have been common to most of them:

1. Assertions of a great danger to the whole of society, a danger to which the masses of people are oblivious.
2. An urgent need for action to avert impending catastrophe.
3. A need for government to drastically curtail the dangerous behavior of the many, in response to the prescient conclusions of the few.
4. A disdainful dismissal of arguments to the contrary as either uninformed, irresponsible, or motivated by unworthy purposes.

When their agendas fail to deliver on promises, they always respond “where would we be if we didn’t have these programs in place? How much worse would it have been?”

In short, no matter what happens, the vision of the anointed always succeeds, if not by the original criteria, then by criteria extemporized later—and if not by empirical criteria, then by criteria sufficiently subjective to escape even the possibility of refutation. Evidence becomes irrelevant.

Listen, friends, we must rise up in unison and fight back against these evil people in our government, in our society, in our businesses, and yes, even in some churches who are being led into deception and ultimately hell itself by pastors and ministry leaders under the spirit of the age, which is to say the spirit of antichrist.

You may support Dr. Mike Spaulding and The Transforming Word Ministry by sending your gifts to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Lima, OH 45807

Online at http://www.thetransformingword.com
Or by PayPal studies@thetransformingword.com

© 2020 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Footnotes:

[1] Dr. Swain’s essay found here

[2] Cited in David Kupelian, The World’s Deadliest Religion Is Not What You Think.

Part 1 found here

Mike Spaulding

We are living in a time of revealing. Christians, Conservatives, Libertarians, Patriots, and other freedom and liberty minded people, should take the time to rejoice. There are many reasons to rejoice today but here is one that some may be missing – we should rejoice because the God-haters, the America-haters, the freedom-haters, the liberty-haters, in short, the satanic, demonic, Leftists among us are finally being exposed on a scale and at a depth never before seen in American history.

Leftists, Marxists, Communists, Democrats, America-haters, and God-haters, all have one thing in common – they serve a demonic master who has completely destroyed their innate ability to reason for the common good. I and many others have said for many years that Leftist politics, whether Marxist, or Globalist, is a mental disorder. We are seeing that truth verified like never before.

Governors and Mayors across America, who march under the banner of the Democrats and some even as Republicans, have been doing us a great favor by showing who they really are. Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Gavin Newsome in California, Andrew Cuomo in New York, Kate Brown in Oregon, and many others, have shown that their true allegiance is not to their constituency, is not to the Constitutional rights of their states’ citizens, but is instead to their utopian vision of all people living as serfs to the all-powerful state; In a word, friends, tyranny.

They are busy pontificating in unlawful and unconstitutional ways that are destroying individual freedom and our God-given Constitutional rights. The reason they are doing this is because they have done it before with little to no resistance. These Leftists, Marxists, and Luciferians, now hiding under the Orwellian moniker of Progressive, have enjoyed the complete sanctioning of the Mockingbird American media. The media industrial complex which is wholly owned by the Central Intelligence Agency obfuscates truth and as a whole, regurgitates officially sanctioned and carefully crafted disinformation aimed at keeping the dumbed-down American public asleep and coddled at the breast of an ever increasing Federal Government that has become an oligarchy. This is tyranny friends. Americans are being enslaved and the vast majority doesn’t know and doesn’t care.

Today, Christians not bamboozled by false doctrine and teaching about subservience to the state as master, Conservatives not beholden to a political party for their voice, and patriots who understand the dire times we live in, are rising up and offering stiff push-back. Americans who understand what the founding fathers bequeathed to us are rising up and saying no more. Protests are growing and political fallout is on the horizon.

We should be encouraged by this, friends. However, we must maintain our strong opposition to what has embedded itself in our national fabric. Indeed, I believe we must destroy it as it is a disease and a cancer upon any free people and nation.

What you need to know today friends is that the Leftists, Marxists, Communists, Progressives in our midst, have all revealed their religion, they have unfurled their banner, and they are attempting a blitzkrieg across this great nation with one objective: the complete surrender of our freedoms, liberties, Constitutional rights, and way of life. We cannot allow them to win this war and we must aggressively oppose this take-over of America with every available resource we have at our disposal.

Some may be skeptical about my belief that the God-haters, the Progressives have a religion. When we take time to analyze the left’s madness, some call it derangement; we see that they all subscribe to a faith. Let me explain this.

The satanic Progressives do not believe that life has any real meaning. Thus they give no thought whatsoever to the wholesale slaughter of unborn children. Their altar is convenience. Their mantra is my body, my choice, and is another way of saying I want my best life now. I want to have sex with whomever, whenever, and not worry about the inconvenience of a baby. Even the worse President in our history, Barack Hussein Obama admitted that unborn children are a burden and that women should not be burdened by a mistake. He is symbolic of the hatred and wicked indifference to human life.

Why do Leftists, Marxists, Democrats, and Progressives treat human life as worthless or at best on par with a plant, a dog, or a frog? They do so because human life is just one variation among many occupying earth. Their mantra is cogently stated in the silly axiom: from the goo to the zoo to you. You, Mr. or Ms., are nothing more than an accident of time and chance. In short, evolution is your father and creator.

However, human life is sacred. Humans are created as image bearers of the Creator. When Progressives, Leftists, Marxists, and Communists show their disdain for the most vulnerable human beings, those in their mother’s womb, they are also signaling their intent to destroy human life that does not serve the purpose of advancing the leviathan’s power, that is, the power of the state.

This is why Progressives advocate for euthanasia as mercy killing, refuse to oppose honor killing among the demonically charged Islamists in our midst, and protect illegal aliens who are known murderers and violent aggressors who daily commit atrocities against American citizens. This is why Progressives, Leftists, Democrats, and their supporters refuse to investigate human sex and labor trafficking. Pedophilia is emerging as the Progressives new head of the spear, aimed at normalizing the sexual perversion of those who prey on children.

Progressives and their supporters are modern day worshippers of Molech the Canaanite god that received the sacrifices of human beings of all ages but especially of children. Modern day Leftists are just as evil as their progenitors.

The religion of Progressives and I will include Progressive Christians, which is an oxymoron if there ever was one, is politics. Not just mainstream politics if that even exists anymore today, but “woke” politics.

Woke politics is nothing more than hatred of the Caucasian race. For white liberals it is self-loathing, for people of color it is cover for their blatant racism. The goal of woke politics and woke religion is the total destruction of America and the deliberately engineered restructuring of it as a progressive utopia where alleged marginalized people of gender and sexual dysphoria, people of color, people of aberrant practices and beliefs foreign to this nation and our history, will rule and enforce their version of justice upon the majority. If you are white then you are out.

If you think I’m exaggerating then you are deceived and ignorant, willfully or because of slothfulness. Here is what I wrote recently on the Trojan horse called Critical race Theory.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has paved the way for special, focused, legalized racism. Most Americans are probably unfamiliar with what CRT is. If you have heard the pejoratives, “systematic oppression,” “institutional racism,” or “white privilege,” then be aware that those who use these phrases to justify their position are using CRT.

Those who have been deceived by CRT believe that racism is a permanent part of American life. It matters not that only they can see it. Racism exists in the eyes of the beholder only and according to CRT that is enough.

CRT rejects the ideals of a colorblind society where merit and equal treatment govern interactions. Instead, CRT agitates for aggressive, color-conscious efforts to fundamentally change what CRT advocates believe is white-privileged America, into a nation where people of color replace all white power and privilege structures.

CRT has been most visible in the transformation of speech. Speech deemed to be hateful or racist is now condemned not only in public discourse but now, new laws are being constructed to limit the free expression of speech. This is nothing more than lawfare, the practice of using the law to punish those you disagree with. This is anti-American in spirit and practice. This friends, is a dangerous path and one that Christians especially should be advocating against.

Bill Barlow sees the crux of the matter and warns of the danger inherent ion CRT.

Critical Race Theory offers a potent mix: rejecting racial neutrality in the law, rejecting the liberal emphasis on individual rights, rejecting the possibility of objectively neutral legal analysis and embracing “the tools not only of reason but unreason.” It is an unusual combination for a theory originating on the far left.

If Critical race theory were just about affirmative action, perhaps we could let such indulgences slide. But Critical Race theory not only directs how to structure the university, but also how to structure the relation of the individual to the state. Racially-based taxes, racially-based employment quotas, racially-based redistributions of wealth: none would be beyond the theoretical horizon of Critical Race theory. All are justified by an appeal to inadequate racial justice, an appeal that can neither be proved nor disproved, an appeal that can just as easily be used for naked racial subordination. All fall within a context where speech labeled as “hurtful” and “racist” could be punishable by law, and opponents of the racial regime would be silenced.

To teach Critical Race Theory is to teach the latest in a sad line of theoretical justifications for legally-codified racism. As a proponent of academic freedom, I have no problem with this, just as I would have no problem for studying the legal justifications for other regimes that have codified race into law. But let’s not pretend that we are doing anything else, and let’s certainly not mandate the teaching of any such ideology.[1]

PART TWO NEXT TIME

© 2020 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Footnotes:

[1] Bill Barlow, Racism Justified: A Critical Look at Critical Race Theory.  Found here – http://hlrecord.org/2016/02/racism-justified-a-critical-look-at-critical-race-theory/

Mike Spaulding

Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.They are leading you into futility;they speak a vision of their own imagination,not from the mouth of the Lord.“They keep saying to those who despise Me,‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ —Jeremiah 23:16-17

Are you a watcher? I mean do you pay attention to the times we live in? Are you aware of the shift in what is considered to be polite and impolite conversation culturally speaking? Let me zero in specifically on evangelism.  Have you noticed the huge shift in the methods of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

I believe that many of the new approaches to evangelism are not well thought out and lack clear biblical support.  The reason so many of these new emergent and hipster strategies are gaining a foothold in churches is because too many Christians have succumbed to new definitions of old words. Our society has determined that new definitions are needed in order to rationalize ungodly behavior.  A case in point is the word tolerance.

In America tolerance once meant that everyone had a right to express their viewpoint and everyone had a right to disagree with a viewpoint.  Today tolerance means that everyone has a right to express a viewpoint as long as it is a socially acceptable viewpoint.  In other words, if you hold a viewpoint that is contrary to what the society at large believes, you are not free to express yourself.  If you are brave enough to try then you will be met with a very hostile “shout down” by the more enlightened people in our midst.

This has clear implications for telling other people about Jesus Christ. It has become increasingly impolite and in fact culturally incorrect to speak about anyone “needing” Jesus.  The Christian faith is being systematically muted by self-appointed “elites” and apparently many Christians are ok with this development.

Tolerance used to mean defending the right of everyone to state their opinion in the public square of debate. Today tolerance has been redefined to mean that only opinions that are consistent with those ideals espoused by cultural elitists are permitted. Attempts are made to silence all contradictory viewpoints and some are silenced through the weapon of choice for these elitists – government activism. Here are some examples.

Army Lt. Colonel Christopher Downey is likely to be discharged after being administratively convicted of violating the military’s open policy concerning gays.  What was Colonel Downey’s crime? He attempted to stop two lesbian Army officers from filming their erotic behavior that included kissing, groping, and disrobing each other while on the dance floor at an official Army officers dance and dinner event.

In another case in point, although certainly not surprising, California officials have once again passed irrational and convoluted legislation. The California legislature along with Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law a bill that permits all public school children to self-identify their gender and based on that self-identification choose which restroom facilities they will use. This self-identification even allows boys to participate on girls’ sports teams and vice versa.

Perhaps the single issue that more than any other provides proof of the redefinition of tolerance is the culture war surrounding same-sex marriage.  This is the most hotly contested issue of our day.   But if cultural elitists have their way, all viewpoints that fall short of affirming and celebrating same-sex marriage will not only be silenced but criminalized.

Intolerance is now state sanctioned. Did that statement startle you?  If so what I want you to do now is ask yourself why you are startled by that comment.  Saying that intolerance, specifically intolerance toward Christians and Christianity is now a government mandated practice is easily proven from the abundant evidence all around us.

Examples are plentiful. For many years now, the federally funded National Endowment for the Arts has financially supported all expressions of art that serve no other purpose than to desecrate Christian symbols and sensitivities.  Compared to other examples this now seems tame.

The US Government’s continues to purge our military of chaplains who insist on praying in Jesus name while simultaneously increasing the number of Islamic imams and Wiccan leadership who denounce Jesus Christ; the suspension of teachers who attempt to teach creation or who dare speak of evolution as theory, and the now notoriously famous re-education of Christians who have refused to cow-tow to political correctness run amok and have stood instead on their convictions that certain behavior is sinful no matter how much government cover and celebratory nonsense it is shrouded in.

Of far more concern than our government’s predictable behavior however, is the behavior of much of the Church.  Pastor, author, and theologian John Stott succinctly describes the present delusion of the church: “Tolerance is not a spiritual gift; it is the distinguishing mark of postmodernism; and sadly, it has permeated the very fiber of Christianity. Why is it that those who have no biblical convictions or theology to govern and direct their actions are tolerated and the standard or truth of God’s Word rightly divided and applied is dismissed as extreme opinion or legalism?”

Some in the Church today have thrown in the towel and raised the white flag of surrender. They have decided that instead of standing firm on conviction and doctrine, it is far more expedient to agree with the latest cultural ideals.

Unfortunately, those who have given up the biblical position concerning marriage have succumbed to the siren song of postmodernism and have become blind to the consequences of their misguided expressions of love.

Christians who continue to hold to the teaching of the Scriptures concerning homosexual behavior should not be surprised at the rapid turn of events being played out in America today.  The tares have certainly been growing among the wheat so that now in many denominations the tares have completely taken over and crowded out the wheat.

A recent “Relationships in America” survey supports this conclusion.  Respondents were asked to give their views concerning a wide range of sexual activity including viewing pornography, premarital cohabitation, abortion rights, open sexual relationships, and the need for marital fidelity.

The survey’s conclusion?  Those confessing Christians who support same-sex marriage hold the same views as the general population. For instance, on the question of viewing pornography, Christians who support same sex marriage also support viewing pornography at a level slightly higher than the general population – 33% to 31%%. On the subject of abortion, Christians who support same-sex marriage also support abortion at a higher level 39% to 37%, than does the general population.  Similar results are demonstrated across the board. This is not holiness friends, this is philosophical assimilation in the least and frankly unrighteousness unmasked.

What is the point in all of this?  Christians who support same-sex marriage are not “cutting edge, compassionate, enlightened, right side of history” types. Rather, they are deceived and drinking the Kool-aide of the enemy who is stealing futures, killing congregations, and destroying their testimony of the God who forgives and saves from all sin.

Conclusion

We started this conversation by observing that tolerance has been redefined to exclude the original idea of freedom of expression to the now sacrosanct notion of celebrating every behavior as normal and right.  This new freedom does not include the freedom to disagree so it is really just freedom to walk in lock-step with the prevailing enlightened ideals of those opposed to historic, biblical Christianity.

What does this mean for Christian evangelism?  It means that Christians need to sharpen their minds and focus on exactly what it is we are trying to speak to our neighbors and friends.  Old techniques of evangelism don’t work for the simple reason that people don’t see anything “good” about the Gospel. For the most part all they hear are dos and don’ts. This leaves us needing to rethink our approach. In other words why is the gospel good news to those we want to speak to?

It is precisely at this point that the Gospel is most clearly seen as relevant to every culture, time, and place.  You see, the problems mankind has wrestled with and sought answers to – namely where is hope to be found, can I find acceptance for who I am, who will love me truly and intimately, and even where can I find tolerance for my views – are all wrapped up in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hope is found in our new identity in Christ, an identity that He hand picks for each of us as His special creation. Acceptance is found in the unfathomable grace we experience as God accepts us in Christ and declares us holy and just in His eyes.  Intimacy is found in the midst of an ongoing love that lifts us up in every circumstance. Finally, even tolerance as the present world defines it is turned upside down as Jesus Christ shows us how to love those different from us and yet remain faithful to proclaim the truth that Christ alone saves.

Friends, don’t be dismayed by the current condition of the American culture. See instead great opportunity to share why the Gospel is great news for everyone.  It truly is a transforming truth.

You may support The Transforming Word Ministry by sending your gifts to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Lima, OH 45807

Online at http://www.thetransformingword.com
Or by PayPal studies@thetransformingword.com

© 2020 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Mike Spaulding

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. 1 Peter 1:6[1]

In Part 1 of this focus on joy in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ, I discussed the manifold reasons why Christians can and should be people of great joy. The Apostle Peter lists some of the many reasons Christians can rejoice in Peter 1:1-5.

Briefly, those reasons include that Christians have been given a new eternal home in heaven with the Creator, thus we are aliens (v1) in whatever nation we call our temporal home.

Additionally, we have been chosen (v1) by the Father and have been and are being sanctified (v2) through the working of God the Holy Spirit in us. This results in our ability to be obedient to Jesus’ commands (v2). Preceding this present work in all God’s children by faith is the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit (v3), what Christians refer to as the new birth. That was the work of God’s great mercy (v3).

The lives of faith we live always keep in view a great hope we have, namely that we will be resurrected just as Jesus was resurrected (v4). Our resurrection brings with it the realization of our blessed inheritance which is being kept in heaven for us (v4). Even our faith is safe-guarded by our heavenly Father for the blessed day of its final realization in eternity (v5).

Peter’s first phrase in verse 6 is based on these truths. In this you greatly rejoice, looks back on these promises of God toward all those who believe. A pivot point occurs right after that phrase. Peter says that we are to rejoice based on the promises of God toward us, “even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.”

In Chapter 4 verses 12-13 of this same letter Peter says to readers:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

What are we to understand about Peter’s sudden shift from joy as a mark of Christian faith to his more sober encouragement to persevere through various trials? Bible scholars and researchers have generally assigned the writing of this letter by Peter to approximately 62-63 AD, which places it during the reign of Emperor Nero. Peter likely wrote this letter from Rome based on his somewhat cryptic use of Babylon as the place of his writing in Chapter 5 verse 13.

Some have surmised that Peter was addressing the persecution that officially began under Nero in his letter. Other’s are not convinced that Peter had Nero’s persecution in mind. Regardless of who the responsible party was, it is clear from historical accounts that Christians were the subject of often extreme persecution in the areas he mentions in 1:1. All those areas by the way, are in modern day Turkey.

It is important to note that Peter says persevering through trials is a sign of the genuineness of faith in Christ. He uses the word “proof” in verse 7 along with the picture of “fire.” In this sense, fire is used of trials which refine faith, making it more valuable to the individual because faith refined by trials results in a strengthening and a firmer resolve toward obedience to Christ and a greater joy in realizing the promises of God are true and sure.

We know that this is the Father’s desired outcome because Peter says that these various trials are for the “testing” of faith, which is more precious than gold. The refining process of gold separates the impurities and results in a purer precious metal. Peter is using that analogy to make his point that faith tested and refined always results in greater holiness (verses 15-16), thankfulness for and praise of our great God the Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy of all our honor (v7).

In verses 8-11 Peter discusses the risen Savior who was not presently seen by human eyes (v8), because He has risen and ascended back to His glory (v11). The prophets had foretold of the Christ (v10), who would redeem the creation through His sufferings (v11). This is the glorious message preached by those anointed by the Holy Spirit (v12).

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews shared this same perspective on faith. He wrote that “Now faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval”[2] In other words when tested by trial these “men of old,” by which the writer means the biblical patriarchs, were found faithful and that the outcome of their faith was glory and honor to the Father.

Peter wrote all of this so that what he desired to share with them in the rest of his letter would have the proper context and basis for the hope and encouragement he sought for them to hold on to. That is evident starting in verse 13 where we read the transitive word “therefore.”

When you see “therefore” you should ask yourself what is therefore there for? It is nearly always a word that provides a bridge into a summary or conclusion of what has been stated prior to that. Therefore, serves that purpose in 1 Peter 1:13.

We are encouraged to stay focused, preparing ourselves mentally and emotionally to take action. What action does Peter have in mind? Note verse 14: “do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance.” Instead of falling into sin whether from past habits or new temptations, we are to be holy in all our behavior (v15). True faith leads inexorably to holy living. Holy living is a result of throwing off the former lusts that plagued us starting in our mind.

The Apostle Paul made the same point in his letter to the believers residing in Rome. He wrote to them saying:

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.[3]

Rejoicing comes in large measure to believers when they are increasingly triumphant over their old sin nature. Someone has rightly observed that faith in Christ delivers from the penalty of sin, walking with Christ delivers us from the power of sin, and our resurrection into the glory of the Father and the Son delivers us from the presence of sin.

Recognizing the promises of God, the power that the Holy Spirit provides through obedience to the Word of God, and the refining processes of testing, result in a new mind transformed in its thinking which leads to righteous and holy behavior.

Peter was informing his readers then and us today that persecution by unbelievers is expected and indeed, normal. The world views the Christian faith and especially the Gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God died on behalf of mankind to be utter nonsense.[4]

What is often not pointed out to those who ridicule, mock, scorn, and persecute Christians is that those who engage in these behaviors are proving that they are among those who are perishing in a biblical and spiritual sense. Unbelievers exhibit a mind that remains darkened and separated from the Light that has come into the world, and does not and indeed cannot comprehend what they foolishly reject.[5]

The faith of true Christians does not rest on the so-called wisdom of this world.[6] Instead, the joy of the Christian is founded upon the rock which is Jesus Christ and a faith that is rooted in the power of God.[7]

A great reminder of the importance of rejoicing in our great God and in our Savior Jesus Christ is found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers living in Philippi. To them he wrote these encouraging words:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.[8]

By the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, rejoice today and every day knowing that your faith is not in vain. The Lord will reward those who faithfully follow Him. Do not let your current circumstances rob you of your God-given joy. Rejoice in what you know is true, the Lord Jesus Christ and His return in glory.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Send your gifts to support this ministry to:
Dr. Mike Spaulding
P.O. Box 3007
Elida, Ohio 45807

You may donate online to The Transforming Word Ministries by the following ways:
The Transforming Word website – www.thetransformingword.com
PayPal – studies@thetransformingword.com

Footnotes:

[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation, 1995.

[2] Hebrews 11:1-2.

[3] Romans 12:1-2.

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:18.

[5] John 1:5; 1 Corinthians 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

[6] 1 Corinthians 2:5.

[7] 1 Corinthians 3:11.

[8] Philippians 4:4-8.

Mike Spaulding

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. 1 Peter 1:6[1]

Rejoicing does not come natural to many people. Being full of joy such that your countenance is visibly changed is difficult for some. The Bible informs us in many places that we are to rejoice and let our rejoicing shape our thoughts and behaviors. Consider these examples:

But let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. Psalm 5:11

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. Psalm 32:11

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth. Psalm 66:1

Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His works with joyful singing. Psalm 107:22

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face. Proverbs 15:13a

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Christians of all people have reason to rejoice in God and live lives filled with joy because of His great gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. That is the context of the statement Peter makes in his first epistle, chapter one and verse six cited above.

The phrase that Peter begins his statement with, “In this”, refers back to what he has just said in verses 1-5, capped off with the declaration that God’s children by faith “are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

To fully grasp the gravity of the reason for our rejoicing, Christians should examine what Peter says in quick succession and without discussion beginning in verse 1. He beings by telling his readers that they reside in many places as “aliens” and that they are “chosen.”

Peter means they are aliens in the sense that the nations in which they live, indeed the earth itself is not their permanent home. They are living as aliens in the land because their true home is heaven. When people place their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross for the forgiveness of their sins, they become citizens of heaven.[2] Eternity with the Father becomes their future residence.[3]

This citizenship is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration[4] and sanctification.[5] It marks every man, woman, and child who experiences regeneration, what is elsewhere called the “new birth”, as “chosen.” Sanctification is the outward manifestation of the truth that the Spirit of God has indwelt and empowered Christians to live a life dedicated to God. That is what is meant in the Bible by “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”[6]

In 1 Peter 1:3 we read that by God’s great mercy He caused us to be born again. Elsewhere in Scripture we read that:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).[7]

And that:

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.[8]

The reality of this new birth, this exchange of the “dead in your trespasses and sins” life to the “made us alive together with Christ” life is demonstrated in the new life that we have the power to live. Paul wrote to the believers residing in Ephesus that:

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all… So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.[9]

To the believers residing in Rome Paul said:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.[10]

Therefore, Peter can speak of God’s grace and peace being extended to His sons and daughters in fullest measure (v2). This in turn rightly leads to a living hope in Christ Jesus, buttressed by His resurrection from the dead (v3), and a promise of an inheritance in heaven, beyond the corrupting influences of the world system (v4).

Jesus is proclaimed by the writer to the Hebrews as both the author of our faith and the perfecter of it as well.[11] He is the author in the sense that the power of God to save any man or woman is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.[12]

What Peter is doing here friends, is telling us what we may celebrate, enjoy, and rejoice in. Our rejoicing is rooted in the immutable promises of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is this rejoicing based on God’s unfailing promises toward us that provides a firm foundation that stands during the fiercest of storms.

Peter says to maintain a firm grasp on your joy rooted in your faith even when you are distressed by various trials. This is an important and significant truth to remember for what follows in Peter’s letter that we have considered here. We will consider the exhortations to stand firm in Part 2 of our look at “In This You Greatly Rejoice.”

© 2019 Make Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Support for The Transforming Word Ministry may be sent to:

Dr. Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Elida, OH 45807

Footnotes:

[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation, 1995.

[2] Philippians 3:20.

[3] John 14:3; Romans 6:23.

[4] Titus 3:5.

[5] 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

[6] Romans 12:1

[7] Ephesians 2:1-5.

[8] Colossians 2:13-14.

[9] Ephesians 4:1-6, 17-32.

[10] Romans 6:1-7.

[11] Hebrews 12:2.

[12] Romans 1:16.

Mike Spaulding

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.” —Matthew 13:24-25

The passage of Holy Scripture above comes from a collection of parables that Jesus used to describe different aspects of the kingdom of God, sometimes referred to as the kingdom of heaven. The entire collection in Matthew 13 is referred to as The Kingdom Parables.

Jesus explained the meaning of this parable to His disciples in verses 36-43 of Chapter 13. He is the man who sowed good seed in the field. The seed is His disciples. The field is the world. The tares are Satan’s slaves, i.e., the unredeemed, and the sower of the unredeemed is Satan himself.

And he answered and said, The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels.[1]

What this means by extension and application is that Satan’s servants populate the world and are even found within the church. These infiltrators sit on church boards and occupy prominent positions of authority and power within many Christian ministries. However, their doom is certain as Jesus states clearly.

Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[2]

The question that must be asked at this point is, what should God’s sons and daughters be doing about this situation? Specifically, what should Christians do about false converts within the body of Christ?

Some have suggested based on Jesus’ parable that Christians should do nothing about the enemies of God strategically located within churches and other Christian ministries. They base this on Jesus’ own words.

And the slaves of the land owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? And he said to them, An enemy has done this! And the slaves said to him, Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up? But he said, No, lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.[3]

Was Jesus teaching that unredeemed people, those who are enemies of Jesus Christ, should remain untouched within various assemblies of believers across the world? That is not what He was teaching at all.

We are instructed throughout the Scriptures to expose darkness, to judge sin, to fight against wickedness wherever it is found. Unredeemed, unrepentant enemies of Jesus Christ within the church should not surprise us, but we should not sit back and allow them to remain in their unregenerate state.

Consider these examples of identifying and opposing tares.

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;[4]

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.[5]

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.[6]

Then the Lord said to me, The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.[7]

But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.[8]

Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.[9]

Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.[10]

He who hates disguises it with his lips, But he lays up deceit in his heart.
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart. Though his hatred covers itself with guile,
His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.[11]

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.[12]

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.[13]

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.[14]

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.[15]

Lo, God will not reject a man of integrity, Nor will He support the evildoers.[16]

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, But those who keep the law strive with them. Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all things.[17]

You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes, For their deceitfulness is useless.[18]

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.[19]

Reject a factious man after a first and second warning.[20]

This list is not exhaustive by any means. Clearly, the Scriptures have much to say to us about opposing evil. Why then, do so many Christians refuse to resist, reject, expose, and warn about the evil not just in the world but in the church?

There are many reasons that Christians offer for their disobedience to the commands of Scripture concerning tares. One reason I hear often is that it is not their job to combat wickedness. This assumes that there is a singular office, position, job description for a specially called believer who addresses evil on behalf of other people, often entire congregations. What people normally mean by this excuse is that it is the pastor’s responsibility to do all those things. I have a one-word response to that: bologna! You will search the Scriptures in vain to find anything remotely suggesting that only the pastor must fight against wickedness in the church or elsewhere.

Another excuse I often here is that people are afraid to offend others by confronting them about their wickedness and their need to repent and receive Christ by faith. Friends, the responsibility of every born-again believer who is a seed sown by Jesus in the field of this world, is to tell others about their future apart from Christ. We are to warn them of the judgment to come.

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.[21]

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.[22]

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.[23]

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.[24]

Understanding the judgment that is coming upon the entire human race should be enough to motivate Christians to tell others about the free gift of salvation[25] that the Creator offers to everyone who will believe and receive the Son, Jesus Christ. Sadly, it is not. To those people whom believe they are safe and secure in Jesus’ loving arms even though they are disobedient to His commands to go into all the world and make disciples from among all the nations, teaching them to observe the commands of Jesus, I say this: repent of your callous heart toward the lost and perishing all around you. Repent of your naivety in believing that sins of omission are somehow less egregious than sins of commission.

Some will receive that as harsh. If that is you, then I encourage you to seek the Lord truthfully about your spiritual state. It is not someone else’s responsibility to warn the wicked. I’ve been looking for someone else for a long time and I’ve come to conclude that he or she is a figment of your imagination. Someone else does not exist.

You however, if you name the name of Christ as savior, have been called out of the darkness and have been given the responsibility to call others to come to the light which is Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter said this very thing in his first epistle.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;[26]

We read this exhortation in 2 Timothy 4:1-4:

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Friends, it is time to awaken from the slumbers that American materialism has utilized to mesmerize the body of Christ. We are not serving our heavenly Father by showing up for a weekly meeting with other believers, dropping a few dollars in an offering plate, or saying bedtime prayers with our children. The world in which we live is sliding rapidly into chaos. Christians have the only message of hope that can truly transform a human heart and subsequently a life. Let’s make sure that the tares within our reach become stalks of wheat ready for the harvest to come.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

You may follow Pastor Mike on Twitter @ccpastormike or @soaringeaglerad

Support The Transforming Word Ministries by sending your gifts to:

Pastor Mike Spaulding
PO Box 3007
Elida, OH 45807

Footnotes:

[1] Matthew 13:37-39. All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation.

[2] Matthew 13:40-42.

[3] Matthew 13:27-30.

[4] Ephesians 5:11.

[5] Acts 20:28-31.

[6] Matthew 7:15

[7] Jeremiah 14:14.

[8] Ephesians 5:13.

[9] Jeremiah 23:14.

[10] Matthew 24:11.

[11] Proverbs 26:24-26.

[12] Mark 13:22.

[13] 2 Peter 2:1.

[14] 1 John 4:1.

[15] 2 John 1:7.

[16] Job 8:20.

[17] Proverbs 28:4-5.

[18] Psalm 119:118.

[19] 2 Timothy 3:8.

[20] Titus 3:10.

[21] Hebrews 9:27.

[22] John 5:25-29.

[23] Romans 2:5.

[24] 2 Corinthians 5:10.

[25] Romans 6:23.

[26] 1 Peter 2:9.

Mike Spaulding

And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Revelation 15:3

My wife Kathy and I have a habit of asking one another a question during our morning devotional time together. Sometimes I will think to ask it and other times she will ask me, but it is always the same question. That question is this: what is God going to do today? By that we mean, what will God do in, through, or around us today that we will see Him once again at work to bring about His plans. Without fail each of us always answers that question in the same way: God is going to do great and marvelous things!

What started out as a challenge to one another to remember that God is in control of His creation regardless of what our circumstances might suggest, has turned into an encouragement to see and appreciate God’s goodness toward us specifically, as He chooses to reveal Himself in the circumstances of everyday life.

Over the years I have come to realize that God is always at work around us, but we often fail to see Him at work. Perhaps we are too busy to notice, too caught up in our daily routines, too involved in managing our lives for what we believe are important purposes.

When was the last time you considered how majestic, wonderful, beautiful, and marvelous God is? Have you considered the promises fulfilled in the power God wields everyday for the benefit of His creation?

The very first book in the Bible tells us that: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), and that He determined His creation to be good.

I often find myself considering the words of the King David as he related them in Psalm 8:1, 3-4:

O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

What are we indeed, compared to the splendor and majesty of our Creator! The Prophet Isaiah gives us a glimpse of the awe-inspiring God we call Father and LORD in Isaiah 6:1-5:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called out to another and said,

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

What a marvelous thought Isaiah introduces to us. Our eyes can see the King, the LORD! In our case we see His mighty works all around us, in events, in people, in conversations, and sometimes when we aren’t expecting it.

The Apostle Paul informed the believers residing in Corinth that the magnificence of God, the greatness and holiness of the One who made us all is observable to those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 we read:

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;  but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

This does not mean as some suppose, that those who refuse to believe in the one true God, Yahweh of the Bible, are somehow excused for their unbelief. The Apostle Paul answers that claim in his letter to the believers residing in Rome. Thus we read in Romans 1:18-20:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

My point here is that the creation itself gives testimony of the God Who is and as Francis Schaeffer informed us, He is not silent. He has left His imprint on the universe and His sons and daughters by faith give testimony to this truth. But those who deny God’s responsibility for the creation of the universe or even His existence, cannot deny the complexity of creation, the uniformity and intricacy by which all things work together to sustain life here on the earth. This clearly speaks of purposeful design.

Frank Turek and the late Norm Geisler wrote a book I often refer people to titled, “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist.” One of the key points upon which the book rests is this: the truth about reality can be known. Truth is not dependent upon our feelings or emotions, in fact, truth is independent of what we might think of it. Arguments to the contrary turn out to be self-refuting.

Employing accepted principles related to several truths that the scientific method employs, provides convincing proofs to the reality that what the Bible says concerning the creation of the universe corresponds to what is observed. Even devoted atheists admit that the universe shows signs of intelligent design. For example, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the expansion of the universe, cosmic background radiation, Great Galaxy Seeds, and Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity all support the Bible’s claims of a starting point for the universe.

God has already done great and marvelous things as witnessed in the creation. However, He has not left us alone to fend for ourselves. He is intimately involved moment by moment in the affairs of mankind. He gives us minds to think, analyze, and logically deduce the evidence before us and arrive at the only conclusion that satisfies: He is the Creator, our Maker and Great God. He is Yahweh, and He is worthy of our praise, worship, and obedience.

These thoughts are captured beautifully in the cherished hymn, How Great Thou Art. Created as a poem by Carl Boberg in 1885, it was eventually translated into German, Russian, and finally into English by Stuart Hines in 1949. This hymn speaks to the wonder and majesty of our God in Creation and of His mercy and grace in sending a Savior, Jesus Christ.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Chorus:

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee, 
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art! 

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Chorus

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on a Cross, my burdens gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Chorus

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

As you begin each new day, pause to thank God for the gift of life and ask Him to show you what He is doing all around you. When you do this, be prepared to witness things you never noticed before. That is His invitation to you to join Him in His work of redemption. What a great and marvelous God we serve!

Lyrics found here – https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/how-great-thou-art/  Carl Boberg first published “O Store Gud” in the Mönsterås Tidningen (Mönsterås News) on 13 March 1886.  The version utilized here is from Stuart Hines’s translation published in 1949. Information is here – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Great_Thou_Art

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Mike Spaulding

If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. —1 Corinthians 3:14

I was struck recently by the stark contrast between Christianity and every other faith system. During a recent communion service with the fellowship of believers I am blessed to be a part of, our worship was laser-focused by Bryan, one of several people who minister among us in music. Bryan played and sang this song, titled Communion Hymn:

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us: and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
So we share in this Bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.

The body of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Torn for you: eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life,
Paid the price to make us one.
So we share in this Bread of Life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you: drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
So we share in this Bread of Life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.

And so with thankfulness and faith
We rise to respond: and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering,
We proclaim: Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King.[1]

Around the table of the King, we will gather! What an inspiring realization. The song speaks of the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whom the book of Acts says was: “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God…and God raised Him up again.”[2]

Christianity proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, born of a virgin, who lived a perfect life without sin and in doing so, fulfilled God the Father’s plan of a Redeemer for His creation.[3] This same Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Father and now sits at the right hand of the Father, awaiting His return to judge the living and the dead.[4]

The communion service, sometimes referred to as the Lord’s Table, is a commemoration and a memorial by which Christians proclaim what Christ accomplished for all who believe in Him.[5] One day Christians will not need to participate in this memorial because we will be sitting at the Kings table in eternity looking upon our Savior.

Meanwhile

I have written elsewhere about the Christian view of eternity. I won’t labor that point in this article, but I do want to say that understanding eternity does have implications for us today. These implications inform our minds, hearts, and subsequent actions.

In the verse cited above, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth that their service to God resulted in heavenly rewards. Paul did not mean any work done for God but only that work which was truly done for God as evidenced by it having the proper foundation. That foundation was and remains Jesus Christ.[6]

What does that mean? How would someone know whether someone else is doing something for Christ? We do not have to guess at the answers because Paul says that:

Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

You likely noticed two different categories of building materials in the passage above. The first, gold, silver, and precious stones and the second, wood, hay, straw. The first group represents those things refined by fire and the second group represents those things destroyed by fire. The exhortation by Paul is to make sure your building material is precious.

What makes the work we do for God precious is determined by our motivation for doing it. Remember, the proper foundation is in view here. If we work for Christ, then what we build becomes precious in God’s sight and will endure the judgment under which all believer’s works will pass. Building upon the foundation that is Jesus Christ means working, serving, ministering in His name, for His sake, and for His glory and not our own. Everything that we do for the glory of God is gold, silver, and precious stones.

The contrast to that is wood, hay, and straw. These materials are quickly consumed by fire. Picturing this in relation to judgment means that all our works will be judged and only those done with the proper motivation, i.e., for the glory of God will survive.

That is the meaning of the statement in verse 13: “for the day will show it.” The day there is the judgment day, which for Christians is the Bema Seat of Jesus Christ. Paul discusses this in 2 Corinthians 5:10. It is important to note that this judgment is not to determine anyone’s salvation. All present at the Bema seat of Christ are saved. Paul states that plainly in 1 Corinthians 3:15 cited above.

If any additional evidence is needed that this interpretation is the proper one then also note that each person’s “work” is being judged, not the individual. Everyone claims to be building upon the same foundation. Indeed, Paul says no one can build upon any other foundation than that which is Jesus Christ. However, everyone’s work done allegedly for the glory of Jesus Christ will be tested to reveal whether that was true.

So, what is in view here is reward for faithful service to our King. Among the many rewards the Bible discusses are crowns. There are at least five: the crown of righteousness,[7] the crown of glory,[8] the crown of life,[9] the incorruptible crown,[10] and the crown of rejoicing.[11] Jesus spoke of crowns given to His sons and daughters in a general sense in Revelation 3:11: “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.” He spoke of our rewards even within the context of persevering through persecution:

“Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12; see also Luke 6:23, 35).

Some have supposed that this means the saints will live in eternity with crowns on their head and mansions full of riches. If Revelation 4:10-11 is indicative of all saints in eternity, and I believe it is, then we will place our rewards including our crowns at the feet of Jesus.

The twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, ‘Worthy art Thou our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.’

Our joy is Jesus Christ and that will become clearer the longer we walk in humble obedience to Him and most certainly when we see Him face to face in eternity. Whatever our reward might be for a life lived for His glory here on earth, it pales in comparison to the glory and majesty that is our God.

We will with much joy lay our crowns and our rewards at His feet and with thankfulness worship Him who alone is worthy. Until then let us run with endurance this race that is before us, proclaiming the goodness of our soon coming King!

And so with thankfulness and faith
We rise to respond: and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
As we share in His suffering,
We proclaim: Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King.[12]

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Footnotes:

[1] Stuart Townend, Keith & Kristyn Getty Copyright © 2007 Thank you Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com) found here – https://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/communion-hymn/

[2] Acts 2:23a, 24a.

[3] See for example Galatians 4:4-5; Romans 3:23-24, 8_19-23; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 3:13-14; Ephesians 1:7, 13-14; Matthew 1:21-23; Isaiah 44:6, 47:4; Psalm 19:4, 34:22; Luke 1:68; Hebrews 9:11-12; 1 Peter 1:18-21;

[4] Ephesians 1:20-23; 2 Timothy 4:1.

[5] 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

[6] 1 Corinthians 3:9-11.

[7] 2 Timothy 4:8.

[8] 1 Peter 5:4.

[9] James 1:12; Revelation 2:10.

[10] 1 Corinthians 9:25-27.

[11] 1 Thessalonians 2:19.

[12] Stuart Townend, Keith & Kristyn Getty Copyright © 2007 Thankyou Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com)  found here.

Mike Spaulding

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; —Philippians 3:20

There is a widespread misunderstanding in the body of Christ today related to our responsibility to live in this world while maintaining an attitude of not being of this world. This misunderstanding is based on seeing these seemingly opposing truths from an either/or perspective. In other words, some people seem confused as to what role Christians should actively play in the affairs of this world since heaven is our true home.

In the Scripture cited above, Paul rightly reminded the believers living in Philippi that their citizenship was in heaven. Some have taken that to mean that they should not be concerned about anything in this world beyond their own comforts and well-being.

What Paul meant by his exhortation to the Philippians was that their ultimate loyalty was to God and His kingdom, not to the earthly realm of dictators and despots. Paul was speaking about priorities. What Paul did not mean was that Christians bear no responsibility to influence and direct the affairs of citizens of this world.

The same is true for us today. As a matter of testimony and doctrine, eternity is our ultimate destination. However, having the assurance of heaven as our true and final eternal home does not release us from the obligation to speak the truth of who God is and what He requires from His creation, to every man and woman in every context, day, and age.

Thus, Paul’s statement is not an either-or proposition. Heaven is our ultimate destiny, but this earth is our temporal home. Understanding that our real citizenship is eternity does not release us from our responsibilities here on earth. People who claim that Christians should not be involved in for example, politics, are simply wrong.

How can we to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) without interaction with the communities in which we live? The short answer is you cannot be salt and light to the lost and perishing without serving on committees, school boards, or elected and unelected public offices in your communities. Evangelism requires outreach to people. Even protesting the latest moral outrage requires you to interact with people.

Just like our real, physical temporal homes need repair and ongoing maintenance, so too do the affairs of man. This world needs constant recalibration and input from Christians. Without a moral guiding light, i.e., the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, the world of humanity is left to their own vain imaginings (Psalm 2) and subsequent demonic control (1 John 5:19).

For some, “heaven is our home” has become an excuse for not becoming involved in the affairs of this world. Christians have withdrawn from many spheres of life, thinking that they are being obedient to the teachings of the Bible. Is it true that the Bible teaches withdrawal and separation from the world?

It is not true that the Bible teaches withdrawal and in fact, Jesus prayed to the Father that His disciples of all ages would be protected while in the world: “I do not ask Thee (the Father) to take them (Jesus’ disciples) out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:15-18).

THE REAL ISSUES

The enemy of God and of His people has managed an effective strategy that has resulted in much of the body of Christ viewing the world’s travails as “just deserts,” and pointedly admonishing no one in particular to “let them devour themselves.” Is this the way we should live our lives, watching the world destroy itself?

Where is the hope for those God desires to save from eternal destruction? When Christians withdraw from the war being fought for the souls of people, they are deliberately disobeying the Father’s desire for His children.

Jesus told His disciples just before He returned to His glory to await His second coming, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jesus’ commandment as Matthew records it above makes it very clear that we are to be engaged with the communities in which we live. Why then do so many Christians refuse to do this? I think the reasons that Christians do not engage their community can be distilled down to three primarily. Those three are: (1) disobedience (2) fear (3) ignorance of the command.

Disobedience cloaks itself in several different costumes. Some appeal to their doctrine surprisingly. Their mantra is “God knows His elect and He will bring them to saving faith regardless of anything I do or say.” Others say that evangelism is the job of ministers and others with that “gift” which they assert quickly, they do not have. These individuals never seem to consider why they think the “professional clergy” should do what they are not willing to do. Some use the oldest and lamest excuse ever: they do not have time. The basis for all these types of reasons for not being salt and light is simply disobedience.

Fear is without question the biggest reason people do not actively tell other people about their faith. In the United States we have watched as churches that once had visitation night, where church members met at the church for prayer and then went into the community to knock on doors and tell people about Jesus Christ, have morphed into churches that present programs on Sunday morning aimed at attracting lost people to their services where they hope a combination of skits, dramas. singing, and motivational speeches will take the place of Gospel proclamation. If all those activities fail, then they can always hold a Super Bowl Football party at the church complete with free beer.

What are Christians fearful of? For the most part they are fearful of having to answer any questions related to Christian faith. They are fearful of that line of questioning because they do not know what and in some instances why, they believe what they believe. Biblical illiteracy among professing Christians is at an all-time high and rising. Ignorance is indeed bliss for those who need an excuse not to be engaged with their community.

HOW WILL THEY HEAR?

Knowing that heaven is our home is a source of hope and encouragement. That knowledge also creates a sense of urgency. No one is guaranteed their next breath of air or heartbeat. That makes the use of our time an important issue. Do we want to have assurance that those we love will also be citizens of heaven by faith in Christ?

The Apostle Paul while on Mars Hill in Athens, told the assembled crowd that God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). To believers in Rome Paul said:

“Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:13-15a)

The days are long since gone when unbelievers wake up on any given Sunday morning and decide it would be a good day to visit the church down the street. Thus, Christians must go to them. Guess where the best places are to find those people who most need to hear about Jesus Christ? Here is a hint: the best places are the places you spend the most time at. For many of us that place is work. For some it might be school. The point is that God’s sons and daughters are on mission to disciple others wherever they are.

Christians must understand the importance of speaking the truth about who God is and what He has determined to do. Jesus Christ is returning as Judge (James 4:12; Revelation 16:7). He came the first-time offering salvation through faith in His finished work on Calvary’s Cross (John 3:17; 1 John 4:14). He is coming again to judge all those who have rejected the Father’s gracious offer. The reason the Father left us here after our profession of faith and filling with His Holy Spirit was so that we would be witnesses to this truth.

I often remind believers that they are no more ready for heaven today than they were the day they were saved. This is true from a positional perspective. We become adopted sons and daughters and joint heirs with Jesus when we are born-again. I say that to emphasize the point that the reason that God left us here after we were born again was to do the things that He prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

We are God’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) to a lost world. The foundation we have in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11) provides a steady and firm position from which we can offer exhortations and admonishments to all people to come to Christ in faith for the forgiveness of their sins. This reality of the believer’s responsibility to proclaim Christ to the lost is done in view of the surpassing riches of knowing Christ and the great hope we have that all people will come to know the same joy that God’s people have known.

We are citizens of heaven right now, but we are also heralding the greatest news creation has ever received: there is a coming King, make ready for His return! Do you know Him by faith?

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.org

Mike Spaulding

Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.[1]—Jesus Christ

Weariness has become epidemic in America. The mental and physical exhaustion being suffered is evident on the faces of a great number of people nearly every day. Webster’s Dictionary defines weariness as: The state of being weary or tired; that lassitude or exhaustion of strength which is induced by labor; fatigue.[2]

Lassitude as used by Webster in the definition of weariness above means: uneasiness proceeding from continued waiting, disappointed expectation or exhausted patience, or from other cause.[3]

When I read “or from other cause” I paused. Certainly, unfulfilled expectations can weary you, as can unexpected events that bring with them negative results. Patience can be exhausted resulting in weariness and depleted strength or stamina to continue to persevere while waiting for a desired outcome.

However, when I read “or from other cause” my mind went immediately to weariness of the soul. What I see happening today in America especially in the individual lives of Christians is weariness of the soul.

This raises the question of cause. Webster’s defines weariness as resulting from labor, fatigue, disappointed expectation, or exhausted patience. These are all true causes of weariness, but I believe the issue goes much deeper than that. Weariness of the soul is the result of battling the evil of our times and not seeing any noticeable victory.

There is no denying that the days in which we live have become dark, wicked, and filled with evil events and daily news reports related to them. Mass shootings, human trafficking masked as immigration, famous pedophiles being exposed and then “suicided” in order to protect those whom they serviced, Satanic worshippers reveling in their Baphomet statue displays at state capitol buildings, Drag Queen Story Hour normalizing homosexuality and pedophilia to children too young to even know or prevent what is happening to them, and the LGBTQ propaganda machine, which I refer to as “Big Gay”, winning victory after victory in our institutions and corporations aided and abetted by local, state, and Federal governments. These are some of the causes of the weariness of the soul so widespread in America.

More troubling than all of this is the acquiescence of some churches and entire denominations to the wickedness described above. It seems that rather than battle evil that seeks to destroy them, these churches and their leadership would rather bend the knee to outright falsehoods, Scripture twisting, and abominable behavior, choosing to accept as normal and loving what God has stated is anything but that.

Evil is rampant and seems to be winning the battle for the heart and soul of America because Christians in large number are neglecting their call. Proverbs 25:26 rightly describes them:

Like a trample spring and a polluted well, is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

Wicked people strut about across this land, arrogantly spewing forth their vile language, hatred of every good and pure thing, attempting to tear down every institution that dares to stand against their onslaught of evil. Violence has risen in our land, perpetrated by malevolent people who hire the dregs and useful idiots of our society to do their bidding.

It is indeed wearying to the soul to see behaviors that lead to physical and emotional disease and illness become Cause Celebre.  Law enforcement organizations at several levels have become ensnared in fortifying this behavior such that the deviants are protected and allowed to continue their ungodly and often violent behavior publicly.

Those who have the courage to stand against them publicly are harassed and even threatened by law enforcement officials. Wickedness that is celebrated as good and natural and protected by law is a sign that a society has been corrupted to its very core. That is why we see justice being turned on its head.

What should the response of the righteous be? Should Christians abandon the culture to its just demise? Should God’s ambassadors walk away from the battlefield and allow the enemy to sweep away the few remaining resistors to his evil schemes and plans?

Weariness is often born upon a belief that God knows but doesn’t care. We often ask the question, “Where are you God?” What we mean by that is, “Why aren’t you responding to the evil all around us?”

At a time like this we must press in ever more intimately to our Father. We must dedicate ourselves to a complete surrender to Him. If we desire to see righteousness prevail and revival to sweep our land we must be willing to forsake everything, exchanging what we are for what the Father wants us to be.

We see a picture of this in Matthew’s Gospel. Here is what we read in 9:35-38.

³⁵ Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

³⁶ Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Doesn’t this describe much of the church today? Take note of two words in verse 36: distressed and dispirited. The people were weary and had given up hope. This motivated Jesus to continue to heal every kind of disease and sickness, as well as deliver everyone He encountered from the bondage of demons (see Matthew 9:32-33).

I find Jesus’ response to the heart condition of the people of His day encouraging and convicting. Matthew records that “He (Jesus) felt compassion.”  Jesus looked upon the people and His heart was moved to help them. Please also notice a qualifier that Matthew states as the source for Jesus’ compassion: “He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

The people were weary because they had no shepherd. The people had no one to lead them in the way of righteousness. They had no one to point them in the right direction and encourage them as Paul did to follow him as he followed Christ.

Friends, if we desire to see things change in America those of us who understand the call of God upon our lives, must lead the way. Isn’t that the meaning of Matthew 9:37-38? Jesus felt compassion upon the people because they had no one to encourage them and show them the way of righteousness. The people did not know what kingdom living looked like. So, Jesus says press into the Father by faith and “beseech” Him to send out workers into the harvest.

Beseech means to “entreat; to supplicate; to implore; to ask or pray with urgency.” The days in which we live demand that we entreat, implore, and pray earnestly. But this type of prayer and entreating of our Father must be accompanied by our willing submission to Him to do with us as He desires.

Asking the Father to send out workers into note, HIS harvest, may mean He sends you. Are you ready to go? Or, have you become entangled in so much of the world that you offer up a litany of excuses why He should send someone else?

One of my favorite hymns begins with these words:

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see,
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

However, it is the last stanza that grabs my attention every time. It says:

His word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

There it is in perfect rhyme! His word, “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” shall not fail to accomplish all that He intends. Go therefore into a world that is dying, that is shepherdless, and that is distressed, despairing, and dispirited and tell them about Jesus Christ, the perfect, spotless, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

The antidote to Proverbs 25:26 stated above concerning the righteous giving way to the wicked is located in the preceding verse. Proverbs 25:25 says this: “Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land.”

Friends, the Good News is that Jesus Christ saves! He saves to the uttermost every man, woman, and child that comes to Him in faith, asking that He receive them, and cleanse them of their sin. That is the message we must take into the fields of harvest within America.

The day is coming when the harvest will be over. The souls of every man, woman, and child will be accounted for one day and then He returns. Are you ready? Do you know Jesus Christ by faith? If not, why not today? Simply confess your sin and ask Him to forgive you. Then seek to follow Him and learn from Him.

For more information please contact me at the email below.

God bless you today as you seek Him!

© 2019 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Footnotes:

[1] Matthew 11:28.

[2] Webster’s 1828 Dictionary online at https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Weariness

[3] Ibid.

“…we must understand that the only road to peace and social justice is socialism…With the exploiting classes there will never be peace.”[1]

“…it is necessary to understand that every modern theory of social justice is ideological. No matter how reasonable or rational it may be, every modern theory of social justice is the rationalization of the interests of a particular group or class.”[2]

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8[3]

Justice for all! This statement is a great sound bite but little more than that. Indeed, as it is used today, it is superfluous on the surface and vacuous once a brief examination is undertaken. However, given that Americans have been conditioned to respond to sound bite journalism and half-truths and worse masquerading as fact-based news, this mantra has become a dangerous, misleading, although effective ploy utilized by those bent on destroying America.

For justice to be realized by all, at least two things are necessary foundationally: there must be a standard or system of justice available to all that is objective, that is, it is beyond the frailties and double-mindedness of man, and all parties interested in justice for all must recognize this objective standard as guiding principles for determining when justice has been exhibited. In other words there must be law and the rule of law must prevail over all well-intentioned and/or misguided arguments based on emotions, feelings, or the ideology-du-jour.

In order for true justice to prevail and guide any people in their shared lives, justice must be impartial, proportionally related to behavior so that each individual receives his or her due, whether that due is reward or punishment. This must be in accord with the objective standard agreed upon as the guiding principles mentioned above.

America was founded upon Christian principles. Therefore, God’s moral law has undergirded the guiding principles of this republic even before the American Revolution. The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of English settlers to America makes this clear. The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights follow suite in recognizing the God of the Christian Bible as Creator, Sustainer, Lord, and Law Giver. His immutable and timeless law is recognized as the foundation for America’s laws.

John Locke said, “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom.” President John F. Kennedy recognized that truth when he stated during his inaugural address that: “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.” Sir William Blackstone, the acclaimed English jurist and scholar of jurisprudence, wrote that:

“Man … must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator…This will of his Maker is called the law of nature…This law of nature…is of course superior to any other…No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force…from this original.”[4]

Additionally, justice has many different applications and therefore must be understood within several different contexts, among them: commercial, vindictive, retributive, punitive, and remedial justice.[5] Commercial justice defines voluntary relationships, while vindictive, retributive, punitive, and remedial justice defines involuntary relationships. Theologian and Philosopher E. Calvin Beisner, offers this explanation:

Commercial justice requires that if we desire what another has, we must offer something he prefers in exchange for it, not acquire it by force or fraud – whether directly (picking his pocket) or indirectly (using a law to take from him and give to ourselves or others). Violations of commercial justice by fraud, theft, or violence bring punitive and vindictive justice into play as correctives.

When one person violates another’s rights (which are defined by justice), the injury is to be redressed by vindictive, retributive, and punitive justice. Vindictive justice judges the victim right in his cause (1 Kings 8:32; Deuteronomy 25:1). Retributive justice (from the Latin re, or “back,” and tribuere, “to pay”) requires the offender to restore the victim to his status before the offense (Exodus 22:1-15). Punitive justice applies a penalty to the offender as punishment for violating the law (Romans 13:4). In crimes against property (theft or destruction), punitive and retributive justice combine in the offender’s restoring what was taken or destroyed (retribution, also called restitution) plus some additional amount (punishment).

Sometimes someone harms another accidently. Then, remedial justice requires the one who caused the harm to share the cost equally with the victim (Exodus 21:35) but adds no penalty. But if he is negligent, he must be punished by bearing the whole loss (Exodus 21:33-34, 36), restoring the victim fully to his former state at his own expense.[6]

In the current climate of identity politics, gender dysphoria, and Marxian and Critical Theories run amok, these requirements for justice appear to be out of reach. That leaves us with a bare naked power grab by certain people, or cast in Darwinian terms, a fight for the survival of the strongest, where might makes right. In America today that means political power financed by globalists who espouse anti-American ideologies. The ability to force people to comply against their wishes and of the common good has defined tyranny throughout the ages. Sadly, much of the American Protestant church has been deceived and is supporting the multi-pronged Luciferian lunacy of the leftists and other assorted God haters.

Aiding and Abetting the Perversion of Justice

Recently the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) abdicated their responsibility to proclaim God’s truth by adopting Critical Theory and Intersectionality as guiding principles. Critical Theory and especially Critical Race Theory assume what they set out to prove. It is at best, circular reasoning on steroids. What it is at worse is a system for justifying racism against whites. If that statement makes you nervous, you are probably influenced by the now non-stop drumbeat of the white supremacy, white privilege nonsense perpetrated by Critical Theory race baiters embedded in the Southern Baptist Convention as well as many other denominations.

Critical Theory has already conquered numerous universities as evidenced by the growing number of white privilege courses being offered to students. The reason there is no uproar over this insanity is because college freshman have already been indoctrinated with the socialist, leftist, Marxist global citizenship lies such that by the time they enter college they have become victims of mass mind control that makes the CIA blush over its effectiveness.

Alex Newman, writing in the February 4, 2019 edition of the New American says:

More than 20 years ago, Hillary Clinton published a book called It Takes a Village. The key takeaway from the book is that the raising of children needs to be viewed as a collective responsibility, and that the government must take a much more active role. More recently, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry did a segment going even further. “We have to break through our private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to the whole community…Of course that idea is not new. In 1932, American Communist Party leader William Z. Foster, in his book Toward Soviet America, outlined similar goals. “Among the elementary measures the American Soviet government will adopt to further the cultural revolution are the following: the schools, colleges and universities will be coordinated and grouped under the National Department of Education and its state and local branches,” he wrote. “The studies will be revolutionized, being cleansed of religious, patriotic and other features of bourgeois ideology. The students will be taught on the basis of Marxian dialectic materialism, internationalism and the general ethics of the new Socialist society…Indeed dictators have long understood that shaping the minds of children is the surest method of keeping power. As Nationalist Socialist (Nazi) tyrant Adolph Hitler put it, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future”…Education, it turns out, is the secret weapon of those seeking to build what they frequently refer to in public as a New World Order. And they not only admit it, they boast of it in public. The very future of the United States as a free and self-governing republic hinges on the outcome of this battle.[7]

According to the Socialists-Communists in the U.S. Senate and House, as well as Socialists-Communists in every level of government and even in the U.S. Judiciary, American’s who believe in the rule of law, in the God-given rights of Americans, in liberty and freedom, in limited government, and State’s rights to tell the U.S. Government to “take a hike,” are prime candidates for re-education. That means many Americans must be indoctrinated with an ideology that sees religion, by which is meant true Christianity, and patriotism, by which is meant nationalism, as “bourgeois.”

The questions I have for all those Protestant and SBC leaders and the growing number of confessing Socialist-Communist Evangelicals such as Tim Keller and David Platt, is this: How do you legitimately espouse such demonic nonsense and think you are being true to the gospel of Jesus Christ? How can you adopt Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Social Justice, homosexual and even transgender propaganda and believe you are remaining faithful to the Scriptures? What people who hide behind and fly the flag of “inclusion” are really doing is waving the white flag of surrender to culture and the demonic hordes that have carefully crafted American culture for the last one hundred plus years. People who believe they are Christians and who see no conflict with their support of Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Big Gay, and every other interest that sets itself against the truth of God, have become useful idiots for the enemies of Christ and of the freedom and liberties we enjoy as Americans.

Founding Father John Adams was right when he wrote in a letter to the Massachusetts Third Division in 1798, that: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people, it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” This explains why the Socialist-Communists in our governments, their allies in the media, and Big Gay hate the rule of law and hate any reference to the Founding Fathers and our governing documents: they are not a moral people and they will not abide by any moral code that calls their behavior immoral, wicked, and evil.

I encourage every freedom loving American to begin to tell the people described above that we will not tolerate their continued attack upon this nation’s principles and follow that up with action. What is happening in your local community will determine the necessary action items for you. I also suggest you utilize your network of people to grow an organization of resistance to the creeping Socialism-Communism in our governments and in our churches. If you will not stand up and fight back now it may be too late in the very near future.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

www.drmikelive.com
www.soaringeagleradio.com
www.thetransformingword.com

Footnotes:

[1] Celia Hart, The Flag of Coyoacan, edited by Walter Lippmann in August 2004. Repreinted in Marxist.org Cited in Carl Teichrib, Forcing Change, Volume 4, Issue 8, p. 1.

[2] William E. Murnion, “The Ideology of Social Justice in Economic Justice For All,” Journal of Business Ethics, p. 848, 1989. Cited in Teichrib, p. 1.

[3] All Bible references are taken from The New American Standard translation (Lockman Foundation, 1995).

[4] See https://nccs.net/blogs/our-ageless-constitution/natural-law-the-ultimate-source-of-constitutional-law

[5] See E. Calvin Beisner, Social Justice vs. Biblical Justice: How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and Gospel, Good Tree Press, 2018.

[6] Beisner, p. 24-25.

[7] Alex Newman, The New American, Rescuing Our Children, February 4, 2019, p.7.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. —Edmund Burke

The quote above has been mentioned many times in many different contexts. It is part of a longer letter that Burke wrote to his friend Thomas Mercer in 1770. The entire thought that Burke sought to express is a powerful reminder of the evil that will befall any people who fail to swiftly and with much malice, destroy the evil actions of those who would by those actions enslave a free people in tyranny. Burke said:

Whilst men are linked together, they easily and speedily communicate the alarm of any evil design. They are enabled to fathom it with common counsel, and to oppose it with united strength. Whereas, when they lie dispersed, without concert, order, or discipline, communication is uncertain, counsel difficult, and resistance impracticable. Where men are not acquainted with each other’s principles, nor experienced in each other’s talents, nor at all practiced in their mutual habitudes and dispositions by joint efforts in business; no personal confidence, no friendship, no common interest, subsisting among them; it is evidently impossible that they can act a public part with uniformity, perseverance, or efficacy. In a connection, the most inconsiderable man, by adding to the weight of the whole, has his value, and his use; out of it, the greatest talents are wholly unserviceable to the public. No man, who is not inflamed by vain-glory into enthusiasm, can flatter himself that his single, unsupported, desultory, unsystematic endeavors, are of power to defeat the subtle designs and united cabals of ambitious citizens. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.[1]

I have thought often lately, about the necessity of good men taking action when evil men seek to wrest power and control from them. We are in a period of time in America in which good men have not stood toe to toe with evil men and steadfastly refused to comply. Instead, evil has run roughshod over Americans for decades and has become an emboldened giant our land. This giant has become so arrogant that it sneers at Christians, taunts us, mocks us, and dares us to step onto the field of battle do something about what it has forced upon us.

Some might argue that many good men have pushed back. They might point to organizations that appear to have done much good such as The Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the American Family Association and others. Each of these organizations has certainly done some good things. One thing is lacking however: they have not called for nor led their followers and donors to activism. By activism, I am not speaking of letter writing campaigns, and I do not mean calling elected officials. I am not even speaking about participating in an annual “march” in the city of your choice. What I am speaking of is becoming what the evildoers in our midst call a right-wing extremist.

If that last statement caused you concern and your first thought was, “well I’m not a right-wing extremist and I don’t think we should be,” then you are part of the problem Burke was speaking about in the quotation above. Let me explain what has happened to you. The evildoers that believe they are in an unassailable position of power in America have redefined righteousness and holy indignation that leads to action as extremism. Do you understand that dear reader? The Progressive, Leftist, Marxists that have high-jacked our political system, and I mean all parties have been high-jacked, have redefined godly behavior as extremism, and Christians who are to be the salt and light of the world have accepted this definition and turned their backs on the battlefield.

Salt that has lost its savor is good for nothing but to be cast down and trampled underfoot.[2] Does that not describe much of the modern Church in America? Christians, who are to wear the armor of God as day to day attire so as to be ready for every battle,[3] have refused to put on the armor of Him whom they proclaim to love and serve, and they refuse to do battle with evildoers. That this is true, is evidenced by the whimpering responses of so many who have accepted defeat, have shrugged their shoulders, and have proclaimed by their inaction that there is nothing that can be done to stymy evil’s advance in our land.

This behavior from the sons and daughters of God is heartbreaking. Burke said when men are linked together, when we understand the forces arrayed against our God and therefore against us, we are equipped to oppose it with united strength. The Apostle Paul described our mission statement this way:

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.[4]

In other words, there is a way of life that Christians are called to live, equipped from God’s armory with every weapon necessary to overcome first, our own frailties and second, the strongholds in our lives and those established in the lives of others. Christianity then becomes a rescue mission that strikes at the very gates of hell utilizing supernatural weapons of divine craftsmanship. But, there is something more to know about what God equips His sons and daughters with.

Of this weaponry Alan Redpath reminds us:

It is not armor to protect the body, for it is not designed to keep the Christian from physical harm, but it is armor designed to protect him from all spiritual attack. It is not something with which he clothes his body, but something with which he clothes his soul. It is hidden from the outward scrutiny of others, but its existence in the realm of a man’s soul will be revealed in his daily life.[5]

There is an issue that must be addressed friends. Paul’s last statement in his second letter to the Corinthians cited above, points a finger at the problem: carnality in the body. Paul said, “And we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” The body of Christ is weak, disoriented, and ineffective because carnality reigns. The salt is not savory when carnality is present.

How has this happened? It has happened because the Church has been infiltrated and Christians have become convinced that churches are to be safe houses for all. Let me be clear about something. The Church should be a field hospital that bandages up the wounded and cares for people during recovery. But, we are not to be putting bandages on festering wounds, allowing gangrene to eat away at the flesh, and pretend like we are loving people like Jesus did. Allowing people to remain in their sin because we think that is loving them is apostasy from the truth of the Scriptures writ large. Instead, when God divinely leads people to you, you are to take out your medicine bag which is the Word of God, and write them a prescription that will begin to address the disease of sin. Christians are to prescribe spiritual medication written by the Holy Spirit of God that provides the only healing available.

For the Church to be the Church once again, it must recognize several things. First, the Church must accept that America has been sabotaged from the inside out. That this sabotage has happened within the Church and has spread to our shared civic life is clear. The Church reflects the culture to its shame.

Second, the mission wherever the Church is found is to share the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone and to denounce wickedness. Christians have been mesmerized by clichés and psycho-babble nonsense when it comes to denouncing evil. One example of this is the common refrain I hear from pastors: “we want to be known for what we are for, not what we are against.” When you hear that you are listening to a coward or someone who is simply ignorant of the message of the Bible. Either way, I encourage you to keep your time short with fools.[6]

Finally, the Church must begin to hold its services in the streets. Some of you are thinking through the implications of that statement right now. What I am stating is that worship, ministry, service, and obedience should happen much more often outside the walls of our buildings. Our “church services” should be about equipping one another to do ministry and ministry happens in the streets more than inside the walls of the building you meet in. It is the world of people drowning in darkness that needs the ministry of God’s Holy Spirit empowered children.

I know of a group of Christians who have named their church, “The Church at Planned Parenthood.” You guessed it, they meet together at a local Planned Parenthood to pray, sing, and testify that God can redeem people. They incorporate those things into their mission to try to persuade those who are about to destroy innocent life, to consider another option. They speak of God’s holiness but they also point out the wickedness that is abortion of unborn children.

Now, make no mistake, persecution is the result of an obedient life lived for the glory of God.[7] We are sheep among wolves, but not ordinary defenseless sheep. We are to be shrewd sheep that understand the ways of the world and how we are to combat evil.[8] The point that I want you to understand reader is that when you are humbled before God, He will send you on mission for Him. That mission will be to those who are perishing. You will find some whom God has made ready to receive His mercy. You will find others who have become hardened in their sin and who reject you in the vilest of terms. Press on anyway.

Friends, we can no longer look the other way and expect someone else to get America back on the right path. We are fighting a cabal of evil. There are myriad people and organizations which are deliberately attempting to destroy America. They are well organized and they will not stop until they have turned America into a churning cesspool that envelops us all.

No President, Congress, billionaire, or corporation made by man is capable of winning this battle for the continued existence of America. Only blood-bought, Spirit-filled, redeemed, born-again believers who unite together, who fear nothing that breathes on this earth, are capable of winning this war. Will you step up and join fight? One way to do that is to go to www.equaljusticetour.com and become involved.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

www.drmikelive.com
www.soaringeagleradio.com
www.drmikespaulding.com
www.thetransformingword.com

Footnotes:

[1] See http://www.openculture.com/2016/03/edmund-burkeon-in-action.html

[2] Matthew 5:13

[3] Ephesians 6:10-18

[4] 2 Corinthians 10:5-6

[5] Alan Redpath, The Royal Route to Heaven, (Calvary Chapel Publishing: Costa Mesa, CA, 2007), p. 416.

[6] Proverbs 23:9, 26:4-5

[7] Matthew 5:10-12

[8] Matthew 10:16

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

We are at war. No I’m not talking about the Military Industrial Complex’s insatiable hunger for profiteering at the expense of American men and women’s lives. I’m not talking about the escalating conflict between the various political factions and their comic stooges played out in the news cycle day after day. I’m not even talking about the globalists and their open borders agenda for the destruction of American national sovereignty. I’m talking about a much more devastating war with eternal consequences. The war between the fallen ones and our great God that is raging all around us.

This war has a goal. Satan and his followers seek to capture every soul that God has created for the purpose of dragging that lost one into the pits of hell. God on the other hand is seeking to save that which is lost, namely every man and woman born in Adam and that remains unborn in Christ. So you see, the consequences are indeed for eternity.

The enemy is shrewd and often uses sublime tactics to deceive and divert. Alcohol, drugs, pornography, materialism, ego, are all fueled in America by abundant access to the addiction of choice.

What Does It Mean To Be A Soldier Of The Lord Jesus Christ?

Christians are soldiers in the Army of God. Specifically we are called to:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

A key point in that passage is this – disciples/followers of Jesus are soldiers by birth, and the duty of every soldier is to obey his/her commander. Did you notice the context for obedience? It is our desire to “please” Jesus in our every action.

Here is a key point of fact that all Christians must come to terms with – soldiers in God’s Army are not pacifists. We are called to be “boots on the ground” people, to borrow a military phrase.

Here is a second fact that many Christians ignore – Intel is vital to an army’s success. What Intel do we need? For starters we need Intel about:

• The enemy’s troop size.
• The enemy’s troop movements.
• The enemy’s strategies.
• The enemy’s weaknesses.
• The best strategies to defeat the enemy.

Many Christians don’t understand the importance of hearing Intel about the enemies of God and because of that they don’t want to hear Intel that is upsetting. Therefore a significant number of pastors muddle along determined not to upset the sheep and make it their goal to only lead them to graze in pastures of the sheep’s choosing. Talk about a recipe for disaster! Letting the sheep dictate the direction of the Church creates a false sense of security and is tantamount to feeding them false Intel.

Refusing to understand the times in which we live has led the Church into a swampland of confusing responses and an increased level of timidity when a bold biblical response is needed. False Intel is a lot like cotton candy. It dissolves quickly, is wonderfully sweet, and goes down easy. In other words it is not hard to chew, swallow, and digest. The problem is it will rot your teeth, elevate your blood sugars to dangerous levels, and provides absolutely no nourishment.

Far too much of the Church accepts false Intel because it makes them comfortable and happy, but that is deception. This deception allows for comfortable and happy sheep to return week after week for more and more cotton candy and they bring their checkbooks with them. All seems well in Wonderland.

But as Lewis Carroll so famously wrote there comes a time to talk of other things:

The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.’

If you know anything about this poem and its meaning then you understand that the walrus and the carpenter lured a bed of oysters to their demise by talking of grand things and all of it intentionally misleading.

Much of the church today has been lured to the sidelines by talk of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. The walrus and the carpenter are apt descriptions of many pastors today. How many are willing to concede that thousands upon thousands of pulpits are the source for fake Intel? If you cannot identify the problem you’ll never come up with a solution that works.

What is false Intel? It is not just refusing to tell the truth about America and the forces of evil that are hurling us headlong into massive social conflict. It includes the false Gospel of the “don’t worry be happy” Gospel hucksters, the “have your best life now” charlatans, and the “we’re all little gods” blasphemers. This kind of rotten false teaching is preached in many a pulpit week by week to a starving church. Little do these poor people understand that they are starving to death spiritually.
Seeking after and acquiring the best the world has to offer is no sign of God’s favor or success. The modern day Gospel hucksters preach wealth as a birthright of “The King’s Kids.” The Apostle Paul says this type of person has a depraved mind and is deprived of the truth.

If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Listen friends, if your pastor’s calling is better suited to a motivational speaker than a fearless soldier of Christ, please get out of that place and find a real God-centered family of believers where you can grow and live a faithful action-centered life of Gospel proclamation.

If your pastor will not publically stand for Christ and denounce sin and warn of coming judgment then get out of that place and find a new body of Christ that is being faithful.

The enemy’s troops have already mobilized all across America. Yet week after week hundreds of thousands of Christians go to their holy huddle and never hear a word about the evil that has America in a choke hold. The enemy is using our education system, governments at every level, our civic organizations and more to push for a complete and total victory of evil over good.

The true soldier of Jesus Christ does not accept the fake Christianity that renders the faith a powerless and tragic meme. The true soldier will fight the good fight to the last breath because the eternity of the lost hangs in the balance.

The Soldier’s Mission

In 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 we read Paul describing some of the power of the soldier of Christ.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

How do we destroy fortresses, speculations, and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God? By identifying every system of thought, philosophy, and even theology that attempts to marginalize, obscure, or eliminate God.

Soldiers of Christ, it is time to throw off timidity and any concern for what the world might think of us. It is time for all who call upon the name of Christ to be fearless. You will need to be courageous because when you stand against the “lofty ideas” and so-called knowledge that is the antithesis of true biblical knowledge and does in fact present itself as an enemy of God, you will be attacked, and these attacks will come from people you consider to be friends and even from your family.

Let’s start with a very touchy subject – the government indoctrination camps euphemistically called public schools. How do we “square” God’s commandments to have “no other Gods before Him” (Exodus 20:3) and “honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12) with a government education system that teaches children there is no God and that parents are idiots?

The average government school student will spend about 14,000 hours in a classroom before they graduate. This includes a great number of students that profess faith in Christ and are being reared in a Christian home. Statistics suggest that among these Christian students, each spends on average 1 hour a day interacting with their parents, and less than 3 hours per week at church services and associated activities.

Is it reasonable for us to assume that the Christian instruction they receive during time away from the government schools, will outweigh the thousands of hours of anti-Christian perspectives they are bombarded with by the government school system as well as the media? What does God say about how He expects Christians to educate their children?

Are you prepared to tell your family, neighbors, co-workers, and friends that every belief system except Christian theism is a false belief system that will lead them to eternal separation from God their creator? If you are then that means you are prepared to tell them:

• That abortion is murder and is the modern day equivalent to a blood sacrifice to Satan.
• That transgenderism is only the latest sexual perversion that Satan has used to undermine Christianity. Already we are hearing the calls for legalized pedophilia.
• That regardless of what laws Congress passes or the Supreme Court creates out of thin air, homosexuals and lesbians will never be married in God’s eyes.
• That live and let live is not a recipe for the long term viability of any culture and history has demonstrated that over and over again.
• That the righteousness of God when practiced by a people will exalt a nation but that sin allowed to flourish will destroy every people.

I am amazed at the number of people who declare they are believers but will state unequivocally that they could be wrong about Jesus and people like New Age heretic Oprah Winfrey could be right. I will say this as clearly as possible friends. God spoken to us in His Son Jesus Christ so that whoever will believe in Him will have eternal life. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we are saved. God has supernaturally preserved a record of all of this so that we would know for certain that Jesus is THE Christ. If you are not sure about Jesus then you don’t know Him in saving faith.

The faithful soldier of Christ has put on Christ. Our identity is Christ. Galatians 3:26-27 says:
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

A soldier of Christ endures hardship (Acts 9:16; 2 Timothy 2:3). A soldier of Christ recruits others (Matthew 28:18-20; the Gospels in their entirety). A soldier of Christ does not collaborate with the enemy (John 15:18).

I believe that the true Church of Jesus Christ – His body of born-again, blood bought, Holy Spirit empowered believers MUST get their feet on the ground, their hands “dirty” doing ministry among and to the lost, and begin to take action. We cannot sit back any longer. Will you join me and others who are taking the fight to the enemies of God?

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

www.drmikelive.com
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www.drmikespauldoing.com
pastormike@cclohio.org
www.equaljusticetour.com

Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read.[1]

Many Americans have been propagandized to the extent that they now form an entire subclass – the perpetually offended. What are the signs? One of the most glaring signs of this new genre of the walking infantile is the belief, often expressed by aggressive and even violent behavior, that anyone or thing that offends them ought not to be allowed to exist.

People that think this way apparently believe that the universe operates according to their ideology. They have no real justification for believing this way. They can’t point to any standard of moral reasoning, logical analysis, or time-tested system of thought that supports their viewpoint. They further demonstrate their ignorance by believing everyone would be better off believing like they do. Remarkable, they think they are the modern equivalent of the knights of old, riding in to rescue the damsels in distress, in this case culture, civility, and the American way. The truth that these individuals cannot grasp is something much different.

Here is a case in point: Two University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students were recently arrested and charged with assault. What led to their arrests? They were arrested after they physically and violently attacked a pro-life activist who was on the campus with Created Equal, a group that uses dialogue to attempt to persuade people that abortion is the murder of unborn human beings. One of the strategies that Created Equal uses is the prominent display of actual pictures of the dismembered bodies of babies, the result of “choice” as abortion is euphemistically called by those attempting to disguise the barbaric truth of what abortion is and does to the preborn human.

Pictures of babies who have suffered the cruelest fate imaginable are a powerful reminder of the truth of what abortion really is. Pictures leave no room for debate about abortion being “women’s reproductive healthcare” as the brainwashed like to call it. Abortion ends the life of the baby and therefore trying to obfuscate this truth by calling it “reproductive healthcare” is idiocy.

The university students mentioned above were shocked when law enforcement officers arrested them. They could not believe that their noble cause of violently opposing and assaulting pro-life individuals resulted in arrest. One of the students said, “I cannot believe this is happening,” referring to her arrest.

Another example of the same mindset demonstrated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill child murder supporters is the now infamous behavior of Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims. Sims, the self-proclaimed champion of a women’s right to murder her unborn child, thought he was valiant and courageous for demeaning, belittling, and verbally intimidating an elderly woman outside a baby murder facility.

What was the crime that set Sims over the edge? This grandmother was walking in front of the murder mill while praying silently. For this gross offense Sims took it upon himself to video the woman, demanding her name and address, offering a money reward to anyone who would identify her and where she lived so that he and others that think like he does could go harass her at her home.

In the least Sims demonstrated that he has no business making decisions that affect citizens of the state of Pennsylvania in his capacity as a State Representative. More troubling than that however, is the fact that Sims thought it perfectly normal to call for a mass turnout of like-minded baby murderers to intimidate an individual for having the temerity to be at a place where women murder their children and pray that they would change their minds.

Then there is the recent case of the morally bankrupt young women celebrating the act of murdering babies by dancing through a graveyard of crosses representing aborted babies. This publicity stunt was noteworthy for the callousness with which these young women were exulting child murder. Here is one report of this incident:

Planned Parenthood supporters at the University of Texas at San Antonio protested at a Students for Life symbolic cemetery for the unborn.

The incident occurred on April 9 as Students for Life commemorated aborted babies through a cemetery display, the pro-life nonprofit group revealed in a press release Wednesday. Students for Life set up pink crosses and talked to students about pro-life options as part of a spring Planned Parenthood Truth Tour throughout college campuses.

Young women from the university’s Students United for Planned Parenthood group interrupted the memorial activity. The protesters strode through the assembled crosses, shouted and waved signs, according to video footage.

“Look, there’s mine right there,” one Planned Parenthood supporter shouted in the video, pointing at a cross and pretending an aborted baby lay beneath it. A student shouted across the cemetery that she loves having sex and aborting babies. “My number one kink,” she can be heard saying in the video, as noted by Students For Life.

“I love advocating for abortion! My uterus loves advocating for abortion,” another girl shouted, waving her sign. “When I say Planned, you say Parenthood. When I say aborted, you say fetuses!”

“It’s a fetus graveyard!” another protester said.[2]

What has happened to a great number of men and women in America is that their conscience has become seared. Their mind is in a state of depreciating ability to grasp morality personally and interpersonally. They have become incapable of moral reasoning and logical analysis that lead to guilt or shame related to their thinking and behavior. They are being turned over to the darkness they crave and prostitute themselves to and on behalf of.

Depending on the severity of the behavior, psychologists call this psychopathic or sociopathic behavior. The difference between the two is that a psychopath has no conscience remaining. The psychopath’s conscience is completely seared and devoid of any emotion of shame or guilt associated with their behavior. Ironically, Hollywood glamorizes this behavior, giving tacit approval to the violent and murderous results of psychopathic people.

The sociopath has a small amount of conscience remaining. This person might still feel a twinge of guilt but not enough to stop their evil behavior. Both the psychopath and sociopath are dangerous to others with which they interact and especially those with whom they disagree.  Courtrooms across this nation are filled with cases involving the egregious behavior of people with little to no functioning conscience.

All of the examples above demonstrate varying states of the inability to reason morally. America is well down the path of being wrested from its moral foundations by psychopaths and sociopaths whose faculties have been impaired by evil. What can be done to correct this development? We must first understand what we are dealing with.

The late J.I. Packer said concerning conscience that:

An educated, sensitive conscience is God’s monitor.  It alerts us to the moral quality of what we do or plan to do, forbids lawlessness and irresponsibility, and makes us feel guilt, shame, and fear of the future retribution that it tells us we deserve, when we have allowed ourselves to deny its restraints…Satan’s strategy is to corrupt, desensitize, and if possible kill our consciences.  The relativism, materialism, narcissism, secularism, and hedonism of today’s Western world help him mightily toward his goal.  His task is made yet simpler by the way in which the world’s moral weaknesses have been taken into the contemporary church.[3]

Packer identified the real crux of the issue. Conscience is a God-given warning system that has been deliberately turned off today in a large number of Americans. An alarm cannot warn of danger if it is not connected to a power source.

Slowly and over time the innate ability of Americans to determine right from wrong has been strategically and with malice corrupted. The constant drive to remove and even erase Christianity from the public mind and memory has borne the rottenest of fruit culturally speaking.

How can a culture sustain moral uprightness from generation to generation when even the Church, that instrument of God meant to inform and when necessary, correct culture, begins to emulate the culture? When a society becomes seared in conscience, when a critical mass of people begin to think and advocate for evil under the guise of good, and exchange light for darkness, their minds become seared as with a branding iron and the resultant scar tissue renders them incapable of returning to correct thinking and behavior absent a radical surgery.

The Church is meant to be God’s scalpel, guided by His hand to make perfect incisions to remove the cancer of evil, the scar tissue of a seared conscience, and in so doing, restore right thinking and behavior to all individuals. When the Church refuses to do that mass deception is allowed to congeal and that environment creates hostility toward the truth of man’s precarious condition and toward the only solution to his dilemma.

The answer to this predicament is not for the Church to go with the flow, to seek the path of least resistance, to affirm inclusiveness as that term is meant today and throw open the doors to culture. The only answer that will turn America around is a full-on biblical revival that must start in the pulpits of America and sweep through the local bodies of Christ spread out over this nation. That kind of revival cannot be contained and it will spill over into local school boards, city councils, college campuses, businesses, state representatives, and finally our national leadership. When God’s people once again bow their knee to Him alone, then revival will come, minds will be freed from the bondage of the demonic slavery imposed upon them from God-hating miscreants who have secretly snuck into our churches, communities, and governments at every level.

True biblical revival will transform hearts, heal minds, and lead to tangible action by those delivered from their bondage. True biblical revival will come on the heels of true repentance, a faith that demonstrates a changed heart, mind, and life trajectory.

The Scriptures[4] tell us that: There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. John 1:9

This means that only through faith in Christ will people become free from a seared conscience and the inevitable consequence of that state. Christian, rise up and take your place in the army of God, and march forward in victory, for our God has given us this land. Occupy until He returns!

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

www.drmikelive.com
www.drmikespaulding.com
www.soaringeagle.com

Footnotes:

[1] Quote attributed to author Salman Rushdie found here.

[2] See Planned Parenthood Texas unborn cemetery

[3] J.I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness.

[4] All Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

It’s Like Deja-Vu All Over Again[1]

The late baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra was known for his “Yogi-isms.” I thought of him the other day as I was contemplating the political insanity that has gripped America. Honestly, haven’t we seen this play before? In fact, we have seen this before from the now notorious Saul Alinsky.

Alinsky became a “community organizer” before the term for what he did even existed. He was a favorite of union and communist leaders because his confrontational approach to protests appeared to bear fruit in concessions from those he considered the “bourgeois.” Surprisingly, he proudly acknowledged the mastermind behind his methods in the text that the Progressive Marxist Democrat Party and those aligned with them utilizes to this day. In his acknowledgement to the book Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals, Alinsky wrote this:

“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”

One thing is for certain, you can’t accuse Alinsky of knowing what the Bible teaches. Satan didn’t win a kingdom. He was thrown out of heaven for his foolish pride, thinking that he, a created being, could somehow overthrow his Creator. He was cast down to the earth and seized control of what is not his through lies and deceit. As such, he is a pompous potentate for a short time. It is an erroneous interpretation that ascribes a kingdom to the enemy of God. Indeed, Jesus said that He possessed all authority in heaven and on earth.[2]

It is quite telling that Alinsky aligned himself so nonchalantly with Satan. Even if he meant it to be humorous, which I do not think is the case, he was playing with fire. The rotten fruit that came out of Alinsky’s mind has spilled over into the streets of America and has caused bloodshed and mayhem.

So, what “rules” did Alinsky develop through his efforts at organizing people into action? Here are Alinsky’s rules:

1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.”Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
2. “Never go outside the expertise of your people.”It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
3. “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.”Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
6. “A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
7. “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”Don’t become old news.
8. “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.”Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
10. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.”It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
11. “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.”Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
12. “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
13. “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.[3]

Many politicians, special interest operatives, and America-haters are following Alinsky’s game plan to the letter. They are of course aided and abetted by the internationalists in the Council on Foreign Relations, the United Nations, and the too big to fail multi-national banksters, to name just a few.

Much of the Church has succumbed to a belief that these Luciferians have more power than they really do (see rule #1 above). The truth is if the Church ever realizes the authority that it has been given and presently possesses,[4] it is game over for the imbeciles running roughshod over Americans.

Unfortunately the game appears to be continuing unabated for the God-haters. Contrast the headlines today with what Alinsky determined to be the critical points of control listed below.  In How to Create a Socialist State, Alinsky wrote that in order to topple a free people and turn them into serfs of the state, i.e. socialists, you must gain control of specific key elements.

There are eight levels of control that must be obtained before you are able to create a socialist state. The first is the most important.

1. Healthcare – Control healthcare and you control the people.
2. Poverty – Increase the poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.
3. Debt – Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.
4. Gun Control – Remove people’s ability to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state.
5. Welfare – Take control of every aspect of their lives (food, housing, and income).
6. Education – Take control of what people read and listen to – take control of what children learn in school. Think: “Common Core.”
7. Religion – Remove the belief in God from the Government and schools.
8. Class Warfare – Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.[5]

These tactics are in play today, being employed by those who openly desire to destroy America. The Democrat Party and their Republican and now Muslim co-conspirators make no pretense of their aim to completely destroy the freedoms and liberties of Americans and to do that they must destroy Christianity. These miscreants are in a full out race to outdo one another with their idiotic promises that appeal to no one with even half a brain. Their taunting and reviling of God, prayer, the Bible, and Christians is bearing rotten fruit. Lawsuits filed against Christians are commonplace today. Municipalities appear to take joy in refusing displays of Christian themed national holidays while simultaneously forcing American children to undergo re-education indoctrination processes aimed at disarming them against the real dangers of the satanic geopolitical force commonly called Islam, the twisted and demented transgender confusion, and the butt-sex crazed political darling, homosexuality.

The Luciferians among us and that includes many who say they belong to Jesus, are seeking to kill, steal, and destroy the liberty and freedom of Americans, but the real goal remains the same: destroy the true Church. That is why we see so many calling for the United Nations to step up and become the arbiter of all things. The United Nations is Satan’s stronghold. The United Nations sponsors the Parliament of World Religions hoping to develop and mobilize millions who will receive any god but the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. The Interfaith Dialogue zombies, social justice shills, and victim class agitators, all babbling about white privilege and injustice, wealth redistribution, and now reparations, take their marching orders from the United Nations. The United Nations is poised to step in when the time is right and Christians are being played like a banjo and don’t realize it.

What the people in the Christian Progressive camp, the Democrat Party, the Republican Party, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, Muslim politicians, the rising socialists, and every other leftist aberration do not understand is that they cannot triumph over the true Church. There will be many who follow them into eternal damnation by their apostasy but the true Church cannot be defeated under the command of a defeated foe, that dragon of old, Satan.

Friends, it is time for Christians to stop being intimidated by the leftists of every stripe. Their father Satan is a defeated foe and he has no power or authority over a blood bought, Holy Spirit filled, redeemed, adopted, son or daughter of the Most High God. Church rise up! Pastors and Elders, lead the flock God has entrusted to your care into this war for the hearts, minds, and eternal destinies of Americans. Do it or get out of the way and let a real man of God lead them! Christian, stop your nonsensical mumbling about “all we need to do is share Jesus’ love” and start loving people by telling them the truth about salvation for those who repent and trust in Christ and judgement for those who reject Christ. Jesus Christ is returning with a sword and as the Judge.

Jesus said you are either for Him or against Him. If you refuse to fight evil then let me tell you clearly, you are against Him. Fall on your face, confess, repent, and be restored, then get up and get in the fight.

May Christ be glorified in all the earth by His people!

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Website: www.drmikelive.com
Website: www.soaringeagleradio.com

Footnotes:

[1] This statement is attributed to Yogi Berra. Found here
[2] Matthew 28:18.
[3] You can find Alinsky’s rules posted in hundreds of places on the internet. These were found here
[4] Luke 10:19.
[5] Alinsky, Rules for Radicals.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:9

What do Cleveland Brown’s running back Leroy Kelly, New York Yankee’s first baseman Babe Dahlgren, and Los Angeles Lakers center Vlade Divac have in common?  If you guessed that each followed a legend in their particular sport you are correct. Kelly took Jim Brown’s spot in the Browns backfield, Dahlgren took over for Lou Gehrig, and Divac replaced the retired Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

So what? You might be asking who cares about sports figures. I think Joshua had an even greater assignment when he assumed the unenviable position of following Moses in leading the Israelites. I can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like. There was one thing that Joshua possessed that none of the people listed above possessed though. That one thing was God’s leading and direction to be strong and courageous for He was with him wherever he went. Talk about lifting your confidence.

One of the many things that churches and church leadership lacks today is an appreciation for the promises of God.  Consider just these few.

• James 4:7 – Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
• 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Deuteronomy 31:8 – The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
• Isaiah 54:17 – No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me, declares the LORD.

I could fill up many more pages with verses that tell us God is with us to strengthen us for the difficulties we face in fulfilling the assignments He gives us. That being the case, why are so many individual Christians and so many churches weak and afraid when it comes to putting their faith to action? Could it be that they’ve never been taught the Word of God or that they’ve never heard their pastor encourage them to trust God for the provision of everything they need to be obedient to His calling upon their life?

I remember reading a book over 25 years ago that made what I considered then and more so today a very profound statement. The author said that God is always working to accomplish His plans and that He is always working all around you. Therefore it is incumbent upon every believer to pray and ask God to show you where He is working and to seek to join Him in that work.

Now consider this friend: If God is always working around you and He reveals where He is working to you, isn’t that an invitation to join Him? And if God invites you to join Him won’t He provide everything you need to fulfill that assignment? Pastor Chuck Smith was fond of saying that where God guides God provides and it is just as true today as it was for Moses and Joshua.

Since the above is true then why are there still so few laborers in the fields? If God reveals His work, calls Christians to the work, provides them with the necessary resources, and gives them strength and courage, why are the laborers so few? Sheep will follow their shepherd. It is a law of nature. Is it possible that faith among Christians today is lacking because the shepherds of America are more concerned with being liked and well thought of in their communities than they are concerned about being faithful to God’s call to be strong and courageous and to go out and conquer the darkness in the power and authority of Jesus name?

Since God issues His call to us, provides the necessary resources for us to accomplish what He desires, and goes with us as we move forward into every new land, why is there such widespread apathy and outright refusal to go?

AW Tozer was a man for the ages. He was a pastor and prolific author who gave his thoughts on the church and Christianity without apology. Although he went to his glory in the early 1960’s his words are just as timely today as they were then

In a book which is a compilation of his writings, Tozer said this:

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher.

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear.

He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world.

He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath.[1]

This captures the heart of the issue friends. There is a sore lack of fearlessness within the body of Christ today and most glaringly in the Christian pulpits of America. Oh but Mike don’t you know the day of the fire-breathing preacher has passed like the dinosaur before it? Then I say it is time to revive the fire-breathing shepherd again! But Mike this kind of pastor will not be liked by his peers and most Christians won’t care for someone like that?

Paul what do you think of those objections?

As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Galatians 1:9-10

Listen to me pastor, elder, deacon, or ministry leader. If your primary concern is to please your congregants, your friends, your neighbors, or anyone else as a first and primary focus you are in rebellion to the One who called you into the Gospel ministry. If you are thinking, “Well I don’t preach I only lead a Bible study so I’m not any of those things,” and that therefore this does not apply to you let me remind you of this:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Here is Tozer again:

A prophet is one who knows his times and what God is trying to say to the people of his times.

Today we need prophetic preachers – not preachers of prophecy merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits. It is not ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to appraise the religious scene as viewed from God’s position, and to tell us what is actually going on.

What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight. Scholars can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present. Learning will enable a man to pass judgment on our yesterdays, but it requires a gift of clear seeing to pass sentence on our own day.[2]

My point here is that serving God, which all Christians are commanded to do, means that you will be like a fish out of water. You will stick out like a sore thumb. You will march to a different drummer. Ok enough of the idioms – you will look, act, and speak differently than the culture at large. You will be a man or woman alive with a passion to speak to people about the grand delusion that has enveloped much of the Church and consequently much of what is thought to constitute outreach. You will be bold and courageous with joy and passion.

Pastors Have Accepted the Wrong Model

One of the many wrong paths the Church has taken in the last sixty years relates to outreach or evangelism. Many programs were developed to assist Christians in sharing their faith. Over time these programs gave way to new ones and the process evolved from going out into the community to inviting lost people to come to our services. Generally these programs focused on growing the Church through the creation of “events” which lost people might be interested in or in the reshaping of the services from focusing on the believer’s edification, encouragement, and equipping to focusing on the lost person. Naturally this new focus meant reducing the amount of time spent teaching the Bible based on the belief that lost people don’t know the Bible but they can relate to stories with a moral truth sprinkled in. So, many church services across America became story time with drama skits, musical performances, and other vignettes all designed to lead lost people to biblical truth in the hope they would “get it” and come to faith in Jesus Christ. Today all of these strategies fall under the general heading of Church Growth principles.

Church growth principles whether they claim to have purpose or to be sensitive to spiritual seekers are wrong headed for a number of glaring reasons. Primarily they are wrong because they are not biblical. Marketing and reprogramming the Church to reflect the greater culture in which it exists is simply compromise.

People who know they need God are not looking for what they can find outside the Church every day. They are looking for something that is life-changing. People that are not sure what they are seeking but know that they do not want to continue to live as they are don’t need to hear sloppy sermons about acceptance and inclusiveness.

Modern evangelism has forsaken the Gospel mission to go into the world and preach repentance for the salvation of lost sinners. Churches have decided that since Christians won’t go to the lost (because it is offensive to tell people they are separated from God by their sin) they will construct events that might lure them into their meeting places. Churches like this will go to great lengths to not appear like a traditional church. I’ve even heard of churches canvassing their neighborhoods asking survey type questions such as “what would a church have to be like in order for you to attend,” or “what do you think a church should focus on during a Sunday morning service”? This is beyond bizarre folks. Why in the world would Christians go ask lost people what the church should be like? Hello McFly! Get a clue here folks.

When the Church abandons its primary evangelistic mission of Gospel proclamation it has turned its back on the greatest and most powerful resource for changed lives ever given. The Apostle Paul states it clearly: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

The household of God is exactly that – the people of God. Refashioning our meetings to lure the unsaved and make them feel accepted and welcomed is insanity. How will an unsaved person who sits under the God-anointed teaching of the Gospel feel accepted and welcomed? Have we forgotten that the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction of sin? (John 16:8)

Why in the world would we want lost people who are going to hell to come and be comfortable in our Bible teaching times, our prayer times, our times of worship? Invite people most certainly, but do not try to soften or minimize the Holy Spirit’s power to save a soul trapped in sin. You are not assisting the Lord’s work in the lives of your friends if you apologize for Bible teaching that raises lots of questions, worship that focuses on God, and the genuine love of the brethren displayed toward one another.

What we need today is a powerful move of the Holy Spirit upon us so that we go forth fearlessly and in boldness proclaim to this dying world that only Jesus saves.  We have a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us that give testimony to the power of God to save.  Therefore let us throw off the shackles of our age that do nothing but entangle us and prevent us from running this race of fearlessness that God has called us to. Let us endure to the end for the glory of God and the salvation of the lost.

Shepherds you have your marching orders.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Dr. Mike Spaulding, Host, Soaring Eagle Radio and Dr. Mike Live

Footnotes:

[1] This quote appears in Tozer on Christian Leadership, compiled by Ron Eggert (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, Inc), 2001, on the March 21 page. It originally was part of Tozer’s book, The Size of the Soul: Principles OF Revival and Spiritual Growth, compiled by Harry Verploegh (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications Inc), 1992.

[2] Ibid, March 20 page.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.
They are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own imagination,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
¹⁷ “They keep saying to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;
And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,
They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ Jeremiah 23:16-17

Alyssa Milano is still desperate after all these years. Milano is desperate to be the face of the “my body, my choice” movement. She is desperate to maintain the gruesome, barbarous act of child sacrifice under the oxymoronic “choice” and “reproductive health” banners. Milano is desperate to elevate the #MeToo Movement beyond the irrational, myopic, androphobia that afflicts her and most of the progressive Marxist feminists that comprise the never-ending cadre of perpetually offended elitists. Milano recently began a campaign among her sycophantic Hollywood friends, to strong-arm the Governor of Georgia into submitting to her enlightened view of the deathstyle of infanticide or face economic consequences.

The actress has begun a campaign designed to “do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women.”[1] By “our power” Milano means her Hollywood friends and by “our industry” she means the movie making industry that last year was responsible for over $2.7 billion dollars of direct spending in the state of Georgia according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.[2]

What travesty did the legislature of Georgia commit? What heinous crime is the Governor considering signing into law that would so infuriate Hollywood celebrities that a call is being issued to boycott the state? The Georgia legislature recently passed a bill commonly referred to as The Heartbeat Bill which makes it against the law to murder an unborn child after a heart beat is detected. The bill is waiting for Governor Brian Kemp to sign.

In Milano’s view, the Heartbeat Bill, if passed, “would strip women of their bodily autonomy.” That’s a strange way of arguing for infanticide. The picture below is the result of exactly what Milano believes constitutes a woman’s autonomy.

Milano believes that the savage dismemberment of unborn children must continue because to stop infanticide is the equivalent of allowing others to invade her privacy. She characterized the Georgia legislature as: “These are the men that are voting on what goes on inside my uterus.”

Beyond the fact that this kind of hyperbole is baseless and demonstrates a propensity for wild exaggeration, Milano added to her bizarre advocacy by attempting to enlist God as a supporter of infanticide. She said: “I love God. I believe in God. But, I don’t believe my personal beliefs of which we can’t confirm should override scientific facts and what we can confirm. ‘If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?’ John 3:12.”[3]

In desperation, Milano went where only the brave among the leftist Progressive Hollywood elite dare to tread: she mentioned God. Stop the presses! Milano believes in God. Well, she sort of believes in something that is out there somewhere she thinks, but she’s not sure. She believes in a God she cannot confirm and who is simply a result of her personal beliefs. That sounds unconvincing in the least, and indicative of the fact that she very likely has no understanding of what it means to have faith in the God of the Bible.  Then she throws her personal beliefs under the bus so to speak by insisting that her personal beliefs must be subservient to scientific fact.

I’m not going to take the time to argue once again that “every day in the United States of America, approximately 2,900 distinct, living, whole human beings are killed for reasons we’d never tolerate the killing of older (born) humans. We use the generic label “abortion,” but what is taking place is no benign medical procedure. It is the dismembering, decapitation, and disemboweling of someone no less human than you. The only difference is that she is younger.”[4]

Biologically speaking, life begins at conception and this new life has unique and specific DNA. That, Ms. Milano is the scientific fact that you conveniently overlook. Critics of Milano’s statement were quick to let her know she was misinformed scientifically as well as theologically. Here are a few reactions to Milano:

• .. When does a baby in utero become ‘scientifically’ human enough for you to protect their life?
• Who wants to tell her that the fact that human life begins at fertilization has been scientific consensus for almost a century?
• If these babies aren’t humans, someone should tell them to stop kicking the sh*t out of my bladder.
• Do you think God creates a child in a woman’s womb just so it can be killed, or do you think He might have better plans in mind for it?
• You don’t have to love God to acknowledge the irrefutable science that a unique, individual human life begins at the moment of conception. But if you love God, then you also will love His children. He’s a father, and every single one of us are created in His image.[5]

I do want to briefly address Milano’s ill-advised excursion into the theological realm. She apparently performed her role as a desperate housewife adequately enough that Hollywood rewarded her to a degree that she can now spend her time advocating for the blood sacrifice of unborn human beings. Success in the world’s eyes does not translate into success in God’s eyes.

Here is a word of advice for Ms. Milano: you are not a theologian. You are not even well versed in biblical interpretation based on your use of the verse in the Gospel of John to prop up your advocacy for infanticide. Try to understand what the Scripture you quote mean before you use it as a prop for your evil.

To suggest that God approves of the horrible treatment of the unborn described above demonstrates a total disconnect from historic, orthodox, biblical Christianity and the God it reveals. I have stated this plainly elsewhere: you are not a Christian if you advocate for the slaughter of unborn human beings. You are deceived and a pawn in Satan’s hand. It matters not whether you have a fancy home in Beverly Hills, a private jet to transport you to “ministry” events, or any other external trapping. Treating unborn human beings as nothing more than a tissue growth that can be removed because it might interfere with your happiness and lifestyle is demonic callousness and testifies to a heart that is not in tune with God on any level.

Alyssa Milano is attempting to rub a psychological salve born of her own imagination upon the minds and hearts of those who are deceived. She is a false prophetess, who speaks not the words of the LORD but the words of her own wicked heart. What she is selling is a lie. This placebo of peace, comfort, and well-being is a lie straight out of the pits of hell and is authored by Satan himself. It forebodes a coming calamity upon her and those like her.

Hold the line Governor Kemp. I applaud you and every other man and woman in elected office who stands against the demonic onslaught being marshalled by people like Alyssa Milano.

Dr. Mike Spaulding

Host, Soaring Eagle Radio and Dr. Mike Live

© 2019 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Website: www.soaringeagleradio.com
Website: www.drmikelive.com

Footnotes:

[1] See https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/alyssa-milano-leads-protest-against-georgia-heartbeat-abortion-ban-demand-governor-veto-bill

[2] See https://www.ajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/alyssa-milano-georgia-film-workers-demand-kemp-veto-heartbeat-bill/jG3YYIJ9yze7FEKsFYZhOP/

[3] See https://www.dailywire.com/news/45400/alyssa-milano-uses-bible-push-abortion-amanda-prestigiacomo

[4] See http://www.createdequal.org/what_is_abortion/

[5] See https://www.dailywire.com/news/45400/alyssa-milano-uses-bible-push-abortion-amanda-prestigiacomo

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. —William Shakespeare, Hamlet – Act 1, Scene 5

Dr. Samuel J. Abrams is a Professor of Politics at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York. Dr. Abrams wrote an op-ed article published in the New York Times Opinion section that appeared in October 2018.[1] Dr. Abrams’ article was motivated as he says, by an email he received from a staff member of the Sarah Lawrence College Office of Diversity and Campus Engagement.

The email according to Dr. Abrams, sought input from the college community for topics of discussion during an upcoming conference titled “Our Liberation Summit.” It was revealed that the conference would include discussion about “liberation spaces on campus, Black Lives Matter and justice for women as well as for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and allied people.”[2]

As a result of this initial email, Dr. Abrams began to look into other activities that the Sarah Lawrence College administration was coordinating and soon learned that the Office of Student Affairs seemed to be in lock-step with the Office of Diversity and Campus Engagement, by offering such progressive events as “Stay Healthy, Stay Woke,” “Microaggressions,” and an event pandering to the current darling of all leftist subjects, “Understanding White Privilege.”

Did I mention that Dr. Abrams happens to be a conservative-leaning professor? He is quick to admit that this problem of leftist myopia is not limited to historically liberal schools, but is in fact a phenomenon that has gripped a vast majority of schools across America.

Professor Abrams decided to undertake a small research project in which he would seek to determine the make-up of college administrators and other college staff employees who were engaged in direct student affairs, activities, and programming beyond the classroom teaching environment. Indeed, Dr. Abrams noted in his op-ed article that many colleges have transitioned away from classroom instruction as the sole method of interacting with students. In the place of classroom instruction, schools are hiring personnel for student residential life, student centers, offices of student life, success, inclusion, and engagement. In other words, schools have increasingly determined to shape the minds of students through non-observed, non-evaluated, student and peer led activities taking place in the very places students call home. This has enabled peer pressure and the development of a herd mentality to take the place of actual learning that is determined against rigorous examination and testing.

The result of Professor Abrams’ survey of approximately 900 college administrators across America that have direct interaction with students as the primary activity of their role was not surprising. On average, liberal college staff members outnumber their conservative counterparts by a 12 to 1 ratio. The statistics were much more lopsided when viewed regionally. For example, New England was the most liberal in the nation, with liberal administrators holding a 25 to 1 advantage over their conservative peers.

There was nothing unusual or controversial about anything that Dr. Abrams wrote. He concluded his op-ed with these words:

This warped ideological distribution among college administrators should give our students and their families pause. To students who are in their first semester at school, I urge you not to accept unthinkingly what your campus administrators are telling you. Their ideological imbalance, coupled with their agenda-setting power, threatens the free and open exchange of ideas, which is precisely what we need to protect in higher education in these politically polarized times.[3]

That a professor of politics wrote an op-ed article about the politically charged environment on college campuses seems rather ordinary. That this professor took the time to request survey data from approximately 900 college administrators shows he based his evaluation on real data. What followed after Dr. Abrams’ article was discovered by students at Sarah Lawrence College demonstrates the precise points Abrams was making. The student activists did not resort to conversation guided by reason, logic, critical thinking and analysis. Instead, they immediately leaped into attack mode they justify by their victimhood mentality.

Progressive Marxism at Sarah Lawrence College

Writing on the Reason blog, Robby Soave examines the meltdown of the activist students in an article aptly title, “Activist Students Demand Sarah Lawrence College Punish a Conservative Professor for Expressing His Views.”[4] Soave includes a link to a list of demands that Dr. Abrams views triggered. Those demands include but are not limited to:

• Housing and Accommodation Accessibility. Under this category are such things as free housing during school breaks especially during winter break, free housing for students of color, free laundry cleaning products for all students and faculty.
• Food Security and Accessibility. Apparently there is a hunger problem among this private, very expensive, very exclusive college student body. In order to meet the needs of this starving student body, these activist students demand free meals that cater to “vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, halal, and kosher” diets. These free meals are to be provided 24/7/365. Additionally, the students demand the establishment of a Food Pantry capable of feeding 300 students per semester, and the construction of separate halal and kosher kitchens to “make good on the college administrations prior commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Here I quote exactly as it appears on The Phoenix, the official news source of Sarah Lawrence College.[5]

Diasporic Studies

Students of color should not be forced to resort to racist white professors in order to have access to their own history. It is crucial that the College offer courses taught about people of color by people of color so that students may engage in and produce meaningful work that represents them authentically.

We demand there be new tenured faculty of color – at least two in African diasporic studies, one in Asian-American studies, one in Latinx diasporic studies, and one in indigenous/native peoples studies.

We demand there be at least three more courses offered in African diasporic studies taught by Black professors.

We demand that the College offer classes that embody intersectionality, as defined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and address the racial diversity of the LGBTQ+ community instead of centering whiteness.

The aforementioned classes must be taught by professors who are a part of the culture they are teaching about.

Reject Funding or Involvement from the Charles Koch Foundation and Koch-Affiliated Organizations

From 2010-2017, Sarah Lawrence accepted $89,500 from the Charles Koch Charitable Foundation. Professor Sam Abrams is an alumnus of the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) at George Mason University (GMU), of which Charles Koch has served as chairman of the board for almost four decades. The IHS is linked to the League of the South, a neo-Confederate hate group that proudly “dared go to Charlottesville in August 2017” for the infamous white supremacist demonstration that resulted in the murder of 32-year-old anti-racist protester Heather Heyer. With this company, it is unsurprising that the Koch brothers wield their corporate influence to fight against free speech and progress, as documented by activists including the group Transparent GMU and news publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post. The fact that Sarah Lawrence utilizes money from the Charles Koch Foundation, at best, demonstrates a passive condoning of the violent ideology of the Koch brothers and their efforts to maintain the institutionalization of oppression against marginalized people. Accepting such money completely violates SLC’s “progressive” values and displays a gross indifference towards the suffering of marginalized students and faculty. Sarah Lawrence must confront how the presence of Sam Abrams, an anti-queer, misogynist, and racist who actively targets queer people, women, and people of color and is an alumnus of an institute with direct ties to a neo-Confederate hate group, affects the safety and wellbeing of marginalized students. Additionally, Sarah Lawrence will forfeit donations and interactions from the Charles Koch Foundation and never hire alumni from the League of the South-aligned Institute for Human Studies in the future.

Professor Samuel Abrams and Defending Progressive Education

On October 16, 2018, politics professor Samuel Abrams published an op-ed entitled “Think Professors Are Liberal? Try School Administrators” in The New York Times. The article revealed the anti-Blackness, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-woman bigotry of Abrams. The article specifically targeted programs such as the Our Liberation Summit, which Abrams did not attend, facilitated by the Office of Diversity and Campus Engagement. The Sarah Lawrence community deserves an administration that strives for an inclusive education that reflects the diversity of our community. Abrams’ derision of the Black Lives Matter, queer liberation, and women’s rights movements displays not only ignorance but outright hostility towards the essential efforts to dismantle white supremacy and other systems of oppression. This threatens the safety and wellbeing of marginalized people within the Sarah Lawrence community by demonstrating that our lives and identities are viewed as “opinions” that we can have a “difference in dialogue” about, as if we haven’t been forced to debate our very existences for our entire lives. We demand that Samuel Abrams’ position at the College be put up to tenure review to a panel of the Diaspora Coalition and at least three faculty members of color. In addition, the College must issue a statement condemning the harm that Abrams has caused to the college community, specifically queer, Black, and female students, whilst apologizing for its refusal to protect marginalized students wounded by his op-ed and the ignorant dialogue that followed. Abrams must issue a public apology to the broader SLC community and cease to target Black people, queer people, and women.

• Protection for Students. This category of demands amounts to this: We intend to do whatever we deem necessary to force the administration of Sarah Lawrence College to acquiesce and we demand that we not be held accountable in any fashion for our behavior in achieving our goals. Here is the actual language:

“The College’s work-study employers will respect students’ right to protest during the week of the sit-in and in the future.

The institution will not use the threat of expulsion, removal of positions held in student government, or any other forms of punishment in retaliation to civil disobedience.

We, the Diaspora Coalition and our allies, demand that students not be penalized for participating in sit-in commencing on Monday, March 11, 2019. We expect faculty to understand that student activists attending the sit-in may not be able to attend class. We ask faculty to support the student activism happening this week, which includes the sit in, distribution of demands, and a talk-back taking place on Wednesday, March 13th at 5:30pm in Titsworth Marjorie Miller Leff Lecture Hall. It is our hope that faculty and staff value our voices outside of the classroom and support students’ right to protest without repercussion.”

These self-styled activists are not what they believe themselves to be. They are merely brainwashed progressive zombies. Their self-aggrandizing, moral superiority is alarming and dangerous. They exhibit an undeniable inability to comprehend that the bubble they live in is a fantasy world. They have invented grievances from their fantasy land of utopian dreams.

Dr. Abrams did not come close to making the statements these Marxist sycophants attribute to him. Dr. Abrams, quoted by Soave in the Reason article, summarizes the current situation at Sarah Lawrence College as well as many other colleges across America:

The College had a chance to take the lead and serve as an national example in terms of how to have civil debates and disagreement and discuss facts and how they differ from opinions, Abrams told me via email. Sadly, the school did not come out strongly on academic freedom and free speech and this behavior runs against the core values of the College itself.[6]

The Tragic Usurpation of Logic and Reason

The continued assault on free speech in America as demonstrated in Professor Abrams’ story is a symptom of the death of reason and logic in communication. Postmodernism has certainly had an impact as has philosophically relativism.

Ironically, it is the tenured professors themselves who in many instances have brought this rotten fruit to bear upon America. Their radicalized rejection of truth propositions and Christian morals has opened the door for a Pandora’s Box of anything goes and the most outrageous behavior wins the prize mentality among many college students today.

What is lost on the Sarah Lawrence social justice warriors, and I use that phrase in a pejorative sense, is that they are nothing more than judgmental, exclusivist, partisans. They project their characteristics upon those they vilify in the “Demands” letter cited above. How strange is it that these cultural Marxists masquerading as students believe they are nonjudgmental, inclusive, and neutral?

Instead of engaging Dr. Abrams in discussion about his views, the activists at Sarah Lawrence College demand that he be brought before a tribunal composed of members of their myopic peers for the purpose of determining whether he should continue to hold tenure. How do you think that would turn out?

Let’s peel back the layers of this philosophic “onion” and expose the insanity and sheer lunacy of the activist students of Sarah Lawrence College as well as the faculty and staff that support such stupidity.

Progressives use such buzz words as inclusive, inclusivity, intersectionality, and diversity because they believe they denote tolerance. They are demonstrably wrong. They can check the box for virtual virtuosity but feeling morally superior to others based on your beliefs doesn’t make you such or make your views true.

When you tolerate all forms of beliefs and morals except those you do not agree with, you are a fool or worse. Intolerance hiding behind tolerance often becomes the iron fist of totalitarianism.  Let me state this in another way so that readers comprehend exactly what I am pointing out here.

The students at Sarah Lawrence College have shown themselves to be fools worthy of scorn for these very reasons:

• They preach tolerance but castigate Dr. Abrams for having a viewpoint. Clearly, they are not tolerant, but are in fact judgmental.
• The activist students at Sarah Lawrence College are not inclusive as they claim because they reject Dr. Abrams and anyone else who has a viewpoint similar to him. Therefore they are in fact exclusivists.
• The social justice Marxist students are exclusive and judgmental therefore, they are extremely partisan, and not remotely tolerant.

The plain truth is that the activist students at Sarah Lawrence College who make up the Diaspora Coalition and their supporters among students, faculty and administrators are direct results of the death of logic and reason.

Francis Beckwith summarizes well the spiral into insanity that Sarah Lawrence College is in.

Tolerance only makes sense within the framework of a moral order, for it is within such a framework that one can morally justify tolerating others. For tolerance without a moral framework, or absolute tolerance, leads to a dogmatic relativism, and thus to an intolerance of any viewpoint that does not embrace relativism. It is no wonder that in such a climate of “tolerance” any person who maintains that there is an objective moral order to which society ought to subscribe is greeted with contempt.[7]

Cultural Marxism attacks Christian morality, logic, and reason for the purpose of supplanting them with an amalgamation of nonsensical bluster. Establishing a permanent useful idiot brigade of perpetual victims is necessary to the furtherance of Marxism’s goals. If allowed to take root in an academic environment the result is devastating to critical and analytical thinking. The students and faculty at Sarah Lawrence College are merely one more example of the disease of Progressive thought formulated within Marxist theory.

My plea to the students and faculty at Sarah Lawrence College is this: Step back from the abyss you are teetering on the edge of. There are more things in heaven and earth than you envision in your utopian dreams.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Website: www.drmikelive.com
Website: www.soaringeagleradio.com

Footnotes:

[1] Dr. Abrams article found here

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Reason: Free Minds and Free Markets.  Accessed March 2019.

[5] See http://www.sarahlawrencephoenix.com/campus/2019/3/11/demands-westlands-sit-in-50-years-of-shame All emphases in the original. Accessed March 2019.

[6] Reason article cited previously.

[7] Francis J. Beckwith, Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice, (Cambridge University Press, New York, NY), 2007, p. 14.

Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16

In Part 1 of this 2 Part article, I introduced the necessity of apprehending spiritual truth organically. I contrasted organic truth with processed truth and explained the difference. In Part 2 below I continue with this explanation and make the necessary application.

Are Christians Being Systematically Indoctrinated?

I believe that many Christians have become indoctrinated and do not realize it. How is that possible? Ask yourself this question: Do I accept without question whatever my Pastor, Elder, or Ministry Leader says when it comes to the Bible? Do I uncritically believe whatever my Pastor teaches?

There has arisen in the church of America today a cult of personality. This cult is found anywhere a Pastor has become a brand. What I mean by Pastors becoming a brand is that hundreds of Pastors today have become celebrities. A marketing machine has been developed to keep them before the public, to keep their books on the best seller lists, to keep these Pastors from failing in spite of their failures. These Pastors are a book writing, book selling, conference speaking, money making machine, an expert on anything and everything. Television, radio, and print media seek out these Pastors for their thoughts and perspectives on any and every issue.

I suggest Americans wake up from this mesmerizing situation. Does the Bible say the following: “Study to agree with your Pastor? If you disagree, it’s because you don’t understand what you are reading.” That may well be a product of your study. You may learn for yourself that what your Pastor teaches is what the Bible states.

What the Bible actually says is this: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB). From this passage in 2 Timothy 2 we learn that it is every individual’s responsibility to know the Scriptures for themselves. The Apostle Paul commended believers in Berea for doing exactly that: “Now these (the believers in Berea) were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scripture daily, to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11 NASB).

Why is studying the Bible for yourself so important? It is important because we are instructed to do so, and it is important because knowing what the Bible says brings you into a deeper, more abiding, much fuller relationship with and understanding of the One who has given us life. Studying the Bible for yourself also protects you from indoctrination.

So, what is organic in this context? It is what you know is true because you have studied it for yourself. What is processed in this context? It is information that you accept as true but that you have not verified for yourself.

I want to be clear at this point on something so as to avoid any potential confusion. I am not saying that you should become argumentative with your Pastor or Ministry Leader. We are not to wrangle over words, which is useless and leads to ruin (2 Timothy 2:14).

Here are three things I am suggesting that you do. They are found in Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

The order of this process is important. Notice what the process is from Ezra 7:10. We are to: study the Bible for ourselves, and then we are to practice what we learn before we attempt to teach anyone else what the Bible says. We are to learn and practice before we teach. In other words, we cannot teach what we do not know because we’ve never worked out truth in our own lives. That’s one reason we are not to lay hands on young believers to commission them for service. They must have time to learn and then learn by experience what truth is.

This is perhaps why the church is in such dire straits today: Pastors have not studied the Bible and therefore what they are attempting to practice and then teach is such rotten fruit. They cannot practice what they do not know. Thus, what they teach is unbiblical. This is perhaps the reason why the average Christian today hears nothing more than cotton-candy sermonettes about a flannel-graph Jesus.

Here is a starting point for Christians today: get your own household in order first. Men, make sure you are practicing what you are learning and then that you are teaching your spouse and your children the Bible. It is not your Pastors responsibility to insure your family knows the Bible. You will thereby grow in truth and knowledge and will be prepared to lead your local fellowship in the same.

Then Christians must get busy demonstrating faith by action in the communities in which they live. James says that faith without works is useless (2:20). Too many Christians have leaned heavily into the “we’re not saved by works” passage that they have become blinded to the fact that true faith is demonstrated by works.

Some Christians think America is a lost cause. I hear them say that America is under judgement. That may well be, but even if it is, where are we instructed to stop fighting the battle in which we find ourselves? Is God done changing lives? Is God done saving people out of the certain fires of hell? Are Christians commanded to circle the wagons and ride out the storm? We are absolutely not told that!

One thing is certain friends: we will not win a war we refuse to fight. Let me show you a picture of what God will do with and for a people who seek to love Him and serve Him in spite of their circumstances. It is found in Joshua 8.

In the chapters leading up to Joshua 8 the Hebrew people are in the Promised Land. They arrive at Jericho and take the city after God miraculously brought down the walls. What a glorious thing that was to see. Unfortunately, a man named Aiken took spoils that the people were told not to take. This resulted in a devastating defeat when a few thousand Hebrews went to destroy Ai. They were defeated and set to flight instead. That is the background for Joshua 8:1 which reads:

Now the LORD said to Joshua, do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the King of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

In this one verse we see five things that are important to consider. First we read that the people were not to fear. Do not fear! In spite of past failure they were not to fear. What is fear? It is emotion caused by anticipation of danger. It is a normal emotion.

Listen to me Christian: do not fear! God has given you the city! An old proverb reminds us that courage and fear are brothers. One cannot exist without the other. Courage is simply fear under control. Freedom from fear comes when you take the step of faith, so step up Christian.

Second, we read the God told the people to not be dismayed. What does it mean to be dismayed? It means to lose courage or resolution. It means to lose hope. Have you not already seen God’s power working in your life? Push past the fear and do not allow your determination to be undermined.

Then God said to enlist those who understand, those with a warrior’s heart. “Take all the people of war with you.” We read in 1 Chronicles 12:32 that the sons of Issachar were men who understood the times in which they lived and knew what needed to be done. That is exactly what is needed today: people of God who understand the times they live in and know what needs to be done. It is time for people with a warrior’s heart to arise.

Next, God told the people to arise and go up with purpose and aggression against God’s enemies. This clearly tells us to go where the enemy is. Take the fight to them. This is offensive warfare. This as much as anything else is where the church has failed today. We see taking the fight to the enemy as serving at a soup kitchen or showing up for visitation night at the local fellowship. The next instruction makes this fourth command clearer.

The last thing embedded in Joshua 8:1 is this: God will destroy the enemy completely through your obedience to arise and go up with purpose and intention to take the fight to the enemy. “See, I have given into your hand the King of Ai.” Every time you turn a mother away from murdering her unborn baby at an infanticide facility you are defeating the King of Ai. Every time you attend a Gay Shame Parade and speak to those trapped in the debauchery of homosexuality and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ that alone can free them, you are defeating the King of Ai. Every time you tell a co-worker, family member, or stranger that there is salvation in no other name than Jesus Christ you are defeating the King of Ai.

Final Thoughts

Some of you reading this have not been fed true spiritual food in so long you’ve forgotten what it tastes like. You simply exist in a malnourished state. Here is the good news: that is not what God desires for you. God desires that you be the warrior He has created you to be. Do you believe that nothing formed against you will prosper? Then take action with courage and boldness!

Let me suggest that you be the church instead of going to church. It is time to leave the dead, dying, apostate corpses to rot in their lawlessness. Form a new body of believers that is faithful to Jesus Christ and then get active in your community. Start a home Bible study with other like-minded believers.

Finally, begin building a downline. Begin to network outside of your own neighborhood and community. There are thousands of believers looking for other believers to be the church alongside of. A day is coming when the visible organized church will be in full blown apostasy. Some churches and large portions of their denominations already are. Get out of those places and form a local body of true believers who love God and serve Him faithfully. I recommend that you organize regular meetings among those in your network. Have regional meetings where larger numbers can meet to be encouraged, edified, and equipped with God’s truth.

The day is almost over and the night is rapidly coming upon us when the Bible says no man can work. Let us serve our King to honor Him above all else, as workmen that do not need to be ashamed.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

Website: www.drmikelive.com
Website: www.soaringeagleradio.com
Website: www.thetransformingword.com
Website: www.drmikespaulding.com

How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. —Psalm 41:1

The Demoncrats[1] have escalated their war against God and the Church sings louder. What do I mean by that? A story is told about a German congregation that met together at a building that sat along a railroad track that led to a Nazi Concentration Camp. Here is that story told by one of those congregants.

“I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!

Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did nothing to intervene.

“Their screams tormented us . . . If some of their screams reached our ears we’d just sing a little louder.”[2]

What has happened to Christians in America? Decades after the contrived, fabricated, and phony Roe v. Wade decision was handed down by the SCOTUS, that many falsely believe is the law of land, after over 60 million unborn children have been murdered in the womb, and partially out of the womb in a “procedure” known as partial birth abortion,[3] 44 Demoncrat Senators who have obeyed the political spirit of antichrist in Washington D.C., have chosen to give a thumbs down to life for those children who miraculously survive the heinous attempt to murder them before and during birth. The Circus continues in spirit!

That this decision by Senators who have sworn to uphold the Constitution and especially the 14^th Amendment granting equal protection under the law to all Americans, who have issued “official statements” justifying their satanically controlled mind that renders such a decision as merely another vote on another bill under consideration, is all the evidence any rational individual needs to rise up with righteous indignation and light a fire that will sweep this nation clean of these wicked people.

What has been the Church’s response? For the most part they are singing louder. This response is simply more of the same behavior that has rendered the Church effeminate, emasculated, anemic, and a pitiful caricature of what it is meant to be. The Church abandoned the field of battle decades ago. Today, the visible, organized Church is in full retreat on nearly every front. How did this come about?

The Great Evangelical Disaster[4]

Theologian and author Francis Schaeffer has proven to be very accurate in his assessments of the rapid slide of America and other cultures into an abyss of wickedness and debauchery. In 1984 Schaffer wrote The Great Evangelical Disaster based on his observations at that time. Here are some of the many things that Schaeffer believed forebode ill tidings for the Church. It is my conviction the critique below explains how we have arrived at the point of moral and ethical implosion in America today.

America was overcome by the assault of moral relativism in public and private life. The adoption of moral relativism among Christians means that absolute truth dies, and every individual becomes the captain of his or her own universe. Right and wrong are privately determined and the splintering of society ensues. Manipulation and deception are easily employed against a people who have forsaken the high ground of a common morality that is rooted in the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible.

The common bonds once shared among most Americans has been shredded. A new demonic mob mentality has descended upon a vast number of Americans who are now triggered at the mere mention of words, politic perspectives, and even hats! Party politics has become the new Baal to many. The Church responds by telling the culture that it is a safe space for all, an inclusive organization of comfort and healing. What the Church has become in reality is the gateway to hell for all those who succumb to its siren song of peace and safety in our time.

Compromise must follow an amorphous morality and arguments for every form of sin and evil must be entertained. When compromise takes root, apostasy arises and is crystalized as new doctrine and a new Gospel is elevated within the Church. This new gospel is bewitching and soon Christians become dumbed down Scripturally, ethically, and socially. This results in the loss of Holy Spirit filled teaching, outreach, and evangelism.

A little leaven leavens the whole loaf and so, into the fissure created by relativism and compromise rush the social gospel, social justice, and ecumenism. I have been stating for many years that this new gospel of socialism is not biblical but Marxian and satanic. The real problem with mankind is the same as the Bible has always declared: we are a fallen creature living in a fallen world. Sin is THE issue, not unjust social, economic, or political systems. Those are the result of sin, but they will not change until or unless there is a heart change among a significant number of men and women. In other words, the only way a culture will change is if the hearts of people are changed favorably toward God. The opposite is also true and that is exactly what is underway right now. People are being led away from the only way of salvation and sane civic life: faith in Jesus Christ.

All the things mentioned above have coalesced into the most heinous display of malevolent destruction I have ever seen. Infanticide is now gleefully codified into State law in many places. Some Christians are horrified at this turn of events. My question to them is this: why are you shocked? Many Christians sang louder as arguments for murdering unborn children gained an intellectual foothold in American minds. Euphemisms such as “choice,” “a decision between a woman and her doctor,” and “my body, my choice,” became commonplace and accepted as reasonable. Nothing justifies the murdering of unborn children. America now condones the murdering of BORN children! The slope is indeed slippery!

Schaeffer’s admonition is sound and timely for us today: “The unborn child is a human being created in the image of God, and to deny this is to deny the authority of the Bible. It is impossible to read Psalm 139 and truly believe in the Incarnation and not realize that the child conceived in Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit was indeed the Son of God from the time of conception.”[5]

Christian, it is time to get up and march into the streets demanding, not asking, that your elected officials at every level recant their demonically inspired support for infanticide. Call your Senator, Congressperson, local officials, and those in State government and tell them in no uncertain terms that they will express your beliefs on this subject or they will face recall and organized resistance at every turn.

Christians must adopt a strategy of offense right now! Strike now while the Demoncrats are feeling the full wrath of Americans sick and tired of their over-reach and globalist nonsense. The agenda of the Congress, both Demoncrats and Republicants is subjection of the American populace to the whims of their fancied aristocracy.

Current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi astonishingly said recently that she as well as the rest of her Demoncrats are “doing the Lord’s work.” She and others are doing her lord’s work for sure. But her Lord is not Jesus Christ, nor the Father. Her lord is satan and unless she repents of her wickedness she will bust hell’s gates wide open.

Let me very clear to those readers who support infanticide in whatever form it takes: you are not a Christian if you support murdering unborn babies. You are a satanically controlled stooge. Blow me off if you want to but you do so at your own peril. I’m taking off the gloves and going bare-knuckled with those who believe they can be comforted by the belief that they are a Christian and march for child murder. You are nothing more than satanically controlled opposition and I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ.

Listen to me Christian America: singing louder only means that you will not hear the footsteps of your executioners when they come for you! Rise up and fight back.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Website: www.drmikelive.com

Author of, “#MTPGA: Make The Pulpit Great Again: 12 Things Christians Can Do Right Now; Matthew 1-9: A Commentary for the Remnant Body Of Jesus Christ; and Random Thoughts From a Disciple of Jesus Christ. Soon to be released: Mark 1-8: A Commentary for the Remnant Body of Jesus Christ.

Footnotes:

[1] I use pejorative terms for both Democrats and Republicans as is fitting. Neither political party is functioning under the counsel of We the People and indeed, do exactly as they wish in almost every instance. They have not earned nor deserve our respect. They have become an established oligarchical aristocracy.
[2] This version of the story is found here – http://www.repentamerica.com/singalittlelouder.html
[3] In the D&X procedure babies are “partially aborted” so the head is still in the cervix but the body is out. While in this position the live baby is still considered an “abortion” therefore a non-person. The live baby’s brains are sucked out and the other organs are harvested and sold to “researchers”. The baby receives no anesthesia and is alive until the procedure kills him. Data found at the same link as above.
[4] Francis Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, (Crossway: Downers Grove, IL), 1984.
[5] p. 108

Thy words were found and I ate them, and Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts. —Jeremiah 15:16

No one argues with the adage, “You are what you eat,” today. It is a generally accepted axiom. The meaning behind the phrase is clear: the type, quality, and quantity of physical food an individual eats will have a direct relationship to their health.

The reason is simple: our physical body is in a constant process of repairing, healing, and rebuilding at the cellular level. Our body is affected positively or negatively by what food we eat.

One example of this principle is found in the contrast between asparagus and a cinnamon roll. Asparagus is rich in vitamins A, C, E, K, and B6, as well as minerals such as folate, iron, copper, calcium, and protein and fiber. Asparagus is one of nature’s finest products and its health benefits are off the charts.

A cinnamon roll on the other hand, smells much better, looks more appealing, and makes our mouths salivate more quickly, especially at breakfast time with a hot cup of coffee! However, that warm, sweet, cinnamon delight also packs a whopping 880 calories, 127 grams of carbohydrates, and 37 grams of fat. By comparison, a quarter chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, a salad with balsamic dressing, with a multigrain roll is only 725 calories.

The take away is that appearances are deceiving. What we want to eat is not always what we should eat in many instances. We can state this another way as well: what tastes good, goes down easy, and makes us happy is not necessarily healthy.

We should be careful about what we eat. This is illustrated by the following story.

A Pastor was visiting members of his congregation one day and stopped to see an elderly widowed lady. During their conversation the Pastor noticed a bowl of peanuts sitting on a table near where he was sitting. This Pastor loved peanuts. He asked if he might have some of the peanuts to which his host replied, “of course, I can’t eat peanuts.”

As their conversation turned into a rather lengthy visit, the Pastor continued to eat the peanuts. He thought to himself that these were the best peanuts he had ever eaten. He tasted a very slight hint of chocolate which made them even more appealing.

At one point in their visit the elderly lady went into the kitchen to get them both a cup of coffee. The Pastor continued to eat the peanuts until he realized he had eaten the entire bowl. He was quite embarrassed by this and apologized to his host when she returned with their coffee.

The elderly woman was gracious and smiled as she said, “That’s ok Pastor. As I told you earlier I can’t eat peanuts so, I just suck the chocolate off of them.”

I use this illustration for two reasons. The first reason is that it always elicits the same response: a groan mixed with laughter and a contorted face. The second reason is that it makes the point that we should be sure that we know what it is we are eating.

Now, let’s consider this within a context of spiritual food. Do you know what you are eating spiritually speaking? Most will answer, yes, of course I do. Do you know if it is healthy for you? If you answered yes to the first question you no doubt answered yes to the second question. I want to challenge you to think deeper about what spiritual food you are eating.

Organic or Processed?

Is the spiritual food you are eating organic or processed? What do I mean by organic and processed spiritual food? Let’s start with natural, physical food. When you think of organic food what characteristics come to mind? Many people think that organic food is better for your body and therefore healthier. They believe this because organic food is thought to be grown without harmful chemicals. Another characteristic of organic food is that it usually costs more money than normally grown food.

When we think of processed food we think of food that may or may not be comprised of what it claims to be. There is a reason that the number one selling brand of “cheese” Americans like to use with their macaroni and cheese recipes is labeled “processed cheese food.” One look at the label tells you that there are chemicals and additives and ingredients most people can’t even pronounce. The only redeeming quality to processed food in some people’s minds is that it is cheaper. But, is cheaper always better?

Now, let’s move into the spiritual realm. When I speak of organic and processed spiritual food I want you to consider those categories in relation to truth and indoctrination. Truth is unvarnished, unaffected by additives like opinions and can be costly. Indoctrination is much easier to swallow and costs hardly anything at all initially.

Some readers might ask, “What is truth?” The opinion of a large number of Americans today is that truth does not exist. Many famously quote Pontius Pilate without knowing it.[1] Of course, Christians have the answer to this question. Truth is a person. Jesus famously said, “I am the truth.”[2] Here is a somewhat more theological definition of truth:

Truth is that which corresponds to reality. Truth is truth for all people in all places in every age. Truth is found in the God of the Bible who is the truth as well as it author.

This is an important point that people must understand. Truth is found in relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ the Son. Truth is discovered in relationship with God. Just as God is absolute, so is truth.

Let us turn our attention to a definition of indoctrination. Indoctrination is the process of presenting information to individuals or groups in such a way that these individuals or groups accept what they are being told uncritically. In other words, indoctrination occurs when individuals or groups accept whatever they are told or taught without examining the information in relation to truth.

Another name for indoctrination is brainwashing. Brainwashing is little more than charismatic persuasion. People accept information as truth not based on the information but rather on the charisma, personality, or talents of a person or group presenting the information.

Americans are increasingly aware that corporate media in America are little more than indoctrination outlets. It is not an overstatement to say that NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and their spin-off networks, along with radio news, newspapers, and magazines offer a daily, weekly and monthly dose of propaganda. There is another source of indoctrination that is hidden in plain sight in many churches today.  Let’s turn there next.

Part 2 Next Week

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.corg

www.drmikelive.com
www.soaringeagleradio.com
www.thetransformingword.com
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Footnotes:

[1] Pontius Pilate asked Jesus the Christ ‘What is truth?” as recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 18 verse 38.

[2] John 14:6.

Dr. Mike Spaulding

But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. —Mark 13:23

But when you see the Abomination of Desolation standing where it should not be [let the reader understand], then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. —Mark 13:14[1]

In Part One of this Three Part article, I introduced you to the fact that America has undergone an effective New Age indoctrination. This indoctrination is now so pervasive that today we have churches offering yoga classes, so-called Christians selling Angel Boards, the equivalent to the Ouija Board only, wait for it…Christians!

Christians today are participating in all sorts of activities such as Transcendental Meditation, Psychic Health and Healing Practices, Contemplative Prayer, Mantra Meditation, Higher Self, Centering Prayer, Reiki, Labyrinths, and Spiritual Formation. These practices are nothing more than white-washed New Age inspired activities, which is to say, they are demonically controlled deceptions.

The late Ray Yungen, an author, researcher, and speaker on the subject of the New Age deception said:

“The term [New Age] itself may indeed be fairly recent but the actual practices and beliefs involved are thousands of years old. For instance, the slave girl mentioned in Acts 16 was in effect a New Ager. The term itself was taken from astrology making reference to the Aquarian age in which humanity is supposedly going to realize its inner divinity. Hence, anyone who engages in these mystical practices is associated with this view, even though they may have lived centuries ago. It’s not the term; it’s the practices that are at issue here.”[2]

The term “New Age” is credited to Alice Bailey, the noted globalist Theosophist, author, demonic spirit channel, and founder of the Lucifer Publishing Company which became Lucis Trust.[3] Her influence on America through the United Nations during the 1940’s cannot be understated.[4] Bailey spoke plainly about the need to deconstruct Christianity, and to replace it with a new global religion devoid of any traditional Judeo-Christian theology and moral. No one gave her any credibility until after World War II. The carnage of the war left millions of people wondering how something like that could happen and how it could be insured to never happen again. Bailey’s message of a “New World Order” began to gain some traction among first, the intellectuals in America and Europe, and then publically in emerging global-minded politicians.

Bailey believed that as long as Christianity held influence upon Americans, progress as she defined it could not be achieved. Bailey laid out her plans for a new world order of progress for humanity as she received them from her spirit guide Djwhal Khul, whom she referred to as an “Ascended Master.”

The New Age plan related to the church that Bailey envisioned has been employed with precision and subtlety through the non-stop instigation of dozens of United Nations programs. Wherever New Age thinking has entrenched itself, there is a marked departure from Christian faith and practice. I encourage you to study Bailey’s demonism for yourself. She was a disciple of Satan who has duped millions of people. Neither time nor space allows a thorough study of her many blasphemies.

The Economic Foundation of Utopia is Technocracy

Global Warming alarmists, Climate Change fear-mongers, and those who are now suggesting that dissenters from the “world is dying” crowd should be prosecuted for opposing their viewpoint, have one thing in common: they bow at the altar of so-called experts. This is Technocracy.[5]

Technocracy is rule by acknowledged experts, and in its current manifestation, rule by scientists and engineers who are trained to understand what is best for the global community of mankind. In this sense, technocrats are the new priesthood of a global religion called Technocracy. Not surprisingly, the United Nations is heavily invested in developing and financially supporting programs aimed at forcing sovereign nations to acquiesce to their demands for proper care of the earth, our atmosphere, and all living things. I leave it to you to research Agenda 2030, the Green Economy[6] movement, Scientism, Sustainable Development and other programs designed to destroy individual national sovereignty and replace it with a world governing body of technocrats.

The results of all this meddling with the earth’s environment including its atmosphere is that more measures are deemed necessary to balance the alleged harmful effects of mankind. One example is the recent and terribly belated announcement that the United States Government was in fact spraying our atmosphere with chemicals. The American people have been aware of “chem trails” spraying for years. Instead of denying the practice the government is now declaring that they are doing this for the good of the planet. The new name for chemical spraying of our atmosphere is Geo-Engineering. Just like that, everything is acceptable.

This drive for a utopia marked by peace and safety is being orchestrated from a man-centered perspective. In other words, this thirst for a global utopia is demonic as it is intentionally constructed and advanced devoid of God’s input and with a deliberate attempt to deny His presence. This is the height of arrogance and self-delusion.

The Spiritual Foundation of Utopia Is Ignoring God’s Word

This fact is seen clearly in the rise of paganism and most notably, Wicca here in America.[7] If statistics are true, professing followers and practitioners of Wicca now outnumber the Presbyterian Church (USA).[8] However, it is not just Wicca that is on the rise. We are witnessing a rapid escalation in all forms of spirituality across a wide spectrum as evidenced by the Burning Man[9] community which is really a celebration of the individual apart from God, and United Nations sanctioned organizations such as The Parliament of World Religions (PWR).[10] Some of the programs the PRW offers represent a hodgepodge of globalist and utopian dreams. They include:

• Interfaith Climate Action
• World Interfaith Harmony Week
• Women’s Dignity
• The Next Generation
• Advancing Justice
• Countering War, Hate, & Violence
• Indigenous Task Force
• Interfaith Ramadan
• Sacred Space
• Educating Religious Leaders
• Faiths Against Hate
• The Ambassador Program

Prominently displayed on the PWR website are these banners: “The Promise of Inclusion, The Power of Love: Pursing Global Understanding, Reconciliation, and Change” and, “For a More Just, Peaceful, and Sustainable World.” Their mission can be summed up in the popular but illogical coexist bumper sticker. Each letter of the word coexist utilizes a different religious symbol to spell out the word.  For example in some renditions the C is a crescent moon representing Islam and the T is a cross that represents Christianity. Other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, and Taoism are also represented. The meaning is clear – all religions must coexist if there is to be world peace.

In order for all religions to coexist peacefully, the primary points of difference will need to be removed completely. No other religious system teaches a personal God who came to earth and died for the sins of mankind. For Christians this means that the teaching that there is salvation in no other name but Jesus Christ will need to be denied. That is the definition of apostasy and will never happen for true believers. The Bible states that “there is salvation is no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”[11]

Antithesis to Synthesis Is a Part of the Plan

What we are witnessing today is a worldwide demonic push for synthesis. Synthesis is a melding of all antitheses into one new synthesis. Teichrib calls it Oneness. It is really about forging a utopia, the drive to be as God, to be our own masters of meaning and destiny, and to build heaven on earth.

In order to create a utopia all individual ingredients must go into the blender, so that what is produced is an indistinct amalgamation of anthropocentric hedonism. Christianity is the greatest antithesis. It declares that Jesus is the only way to eternal life with the Creator.

The world hates this claim to absolute truth. The world system build by mankind hates the concept that something, anything, beyond its control can possible have any authority over it. So, piece by piece by piece, the Church has stood by and watched as the religious utopians have destroyed marriage, the family, children, and now even biological identity.

The Church has largely given up the stronghold of truth, seeking instead to join the culture in its death spiral into a culture of every man and woman doing whatever their mind can conceive. The cost to human life seems to be an afterthought to most.

Why do I call your attention to all of this? I do so because it explains how people are being deceived; it explains why the world has and will reject the only true God; it explains why people are and will reject Jesus and why the world will embrace a charismatic leader who promises them a utopia of safety and peace. The table is being set for the appearance of the man of lawlessness, the one the Bible calls the Antichrist.

Stay tuned for Part Three of Biblical Prophecy Refutes Earthly Utopian Dreams.

Host of Soaring Eagle Radio and DrMikeLive

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

Footnotes:

[1] Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation, 1995.

[2] Found here – https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newage.htm  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[3] Lucis Trust – https://www.lucistrust.org/  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[4] See https://www.lucistrust.org/about_us/support_un  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[5] Patrick Wood, Founder and Editor of Technocracy News & Trends, defines the term this way: “Technocracy is a replacement economic system for Capitalism and Free Enterprise, and is represented by the United Nations’ program for Sustainable Development and “Green Economy.” It proposes that all means of production and consumption would be controlled by an elite group of scientists and engineers (technocrats) for the good of mankind. Technocracy was originally architected in the 1930s but regained favor when adopted by the Trilateral Commission in 1973, under their “New International Economic Order” program. See – https://www.technocracy.news/faq-2/  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[6] Ibid. The UN defines Green Economy as “one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.”  It decouples resource use from economic growth, which replaces the market regulators of supply and demand with technocratic decisions based on predefined rules and regulations.

[7] Wicca is claimed to be rising rapidly globally but especially here in the US. A recent article talks about the rejection of Christianity among millennials. https://www.newsweek.com/witchcraft-wiccans-mysticism-astrology-witches-millennials-pagans-religion-1221019  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[8] Ibid.

[9] For an understanding of the significance of Burning Man and the Oneness movement it espouses see Carl Teichrib, Game of Gods; The Temple of Man in the Age of Re-Enchantment. Available here – http://www.gameofgods.ca/

[10] See PWR website here – https://www.parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/2018-toronto/2018-toronto  Accessed January 12, 2019.

[11] Acts 4:12.

Pastor Mike Spaulding

But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. Mark 13:23

But when you see the Abomination of Desolation standing where it should not be [let the reader understand], then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Mark 13:14[1]

Who and What is the Abomination of Desolation?

In the Scripture cited above, Jesus says that there will occur, an Abomination of Desolation. For those familiar with eschatology, the study of end times events, you will understand that this appearance and event marks the midpoint of the seven year tribulation period spoken of in the book of Revelation.

What is interesting about this statement from Jesus is that He mentions something that had already occurred to explain what was going to happen in the future. Recall that Jesus’ response in Mark 13:14 was in relation to the disciples asking Him what would be the signs of His return and of the end of the age.

To understand this completely and explain what we will see in the future we need to go back to the Hebrew Scriptures and look at the book of Daniel Chapter 8, verses 13-14. That passage says:

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, “How long will the vision about the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?” He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.”

This vision that Daniel received occurred about 551 BC. What is important to know about that date is that it is was nearly 400 years before it happened! As I stated in Part 1 of this article, the Abomination of Desolation occurred in 167 BC. How do I know that? Let’s read on in Daniel 8:15-21:

When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.  And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.” So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”

Now while he was talking with me, I sank into a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he touched me and made me stand upright. He said, “Behold, I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end. The ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

What Daniel is receiving is a history lesson of the future. You may recall that Daniel was taken to Babylon when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Daniel was in Babylon when God raised up Darius, King of the Medes-Persians, who conquered Babylon without a fight. That’s Daniel 5 by the way.

In Daniel 8:21 cited above, Greece is mentioned. That is Alexander the Great and he defeated the Persian Empire about 331 BC. Daniel 8:22 is important for to understand. It says: “The broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power.” That broken horn is Alexander the Great, who died at the age of 32 from venereal diseases, alcoholism, and some historians believe typhoid fever.

Alexander had no heirs, and so his empire was divided between his four generals. Those men are represented by the four horns that arose in the place of the broken horn who was Alexander. Those four generals were: Cassandra, reigned over Macedonia, Ptolemy, who reigned over Egypt, Lysimachus, who ruled Thrace and Asia Minor, and Seleucus, who ruled Syria and Israel.

What is pertinent to our understanding here is that one of the descendants of the Seleucids was a King named Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus was by most historical accounts insane. He was violently evil toward Israel. When we read Daniel 8:9 we see that: “Out of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the South, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.” That is a picture of Antiochus’ hatred of Israel, i.e. The Beautiful Land.

What did Antiochus do? Among other things he:

• Outlawed the public reading of the Hebrew Scriptures.
• He executed Jews who observed the Sabbath.
• He executed Jews who circumcised their sons.
• He forbade worship of Yahweh.

The grievous and blasphemous thing he did was to desecrate the Temple in Jerusalem by stopping the daily sacrifices, offering a pig on the Altar of Incense, and erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple. Daniel 8:11 gives us that information.

These acts so infuriated the Jewish people that a rebellion arose led by the Maccabean family. Antiochus’s army was driven from Jerusalem and the Temple was restored on December 25, 164 BC. This restoration is still celebrated today among the Jewish people as the Festival of Lights. Most Christians know it as Hanukkah.

The Reason Jesus Used the Prophet Daniel to Answer the Disciple’s Questions

The phrase that Jesus used in Mark 13:14 is found in Daniel 9:27 but we will read verses 24-27 for the bigger picture.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.  So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.  Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.  And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Let me unpack this prophecy, this vision given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel. If you can grasp the meaning of this prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, it will make end times prophecy so much easier to understand.

Here are some things to consider about the abomination of desolation within the prophetic context of Mark 13:14 where Jesus quotes Daniel 9:27. I have already mentioned that the abomination of desolation is both a person and an event. The person is the Antichrist. The event is his desecration of the Temple by demanding that he be worshiped as God.

Antichrist is given many names in Scripture. J. Dwight Pentecost, in his book Things to Come (p. 334), gives a list of names compiled by Arthur W. Pink (The Antichrist, pp. 59–75) which are applicable to Antichrist:

The Bloody and Deceitful Man (Ps. 5:6),

The Wicked One (Ps. 10:2–4),

The Man of the Earth (Ps. 10:18), the Mighty Man (Ps. 52:1),

The Enemy (Ps. 55:3),

The Adversary (Ps. 74:8–10),

The Head of Many Countries (Ps. 111:6 [sic]),

The Violent Man (Psalm 140:1),

The Assyrian (Isaiah. 10:5–12),

The King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:2),

The Sun [sic] of the Morning (Isaiah 14:12),

The Spoiler (Isaiah 16:4–5; Jeremiah 6:26),

The Nail (Isaiah 22:25),

The Branch of the Terrible Ones (Isaiah 25:5),

The Profane Wicked Prince of Israel (Ezekiel 21:25–27),

The Little Horn (Daniel 7:8),

The Prince that shall come (Daniel 9:26),

The Vile Person (Daniel 11:21),

The Willful King (Daniel 11:36),

The Idol Shepherd (Zechariah 11:16–17),

The Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3),

The Son of Perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3),

The Lawless one (2 Thessalonians 2:8),

The Antichrist (1 John 2:22),

The Angels [sic] of the Bottomless Pit (Revelation 9:11),

The Beast (Revelation 11:7; 13:1).

To these could be added: the One Coming in His Own Name (John 5:43), the King of Fierce Countenance (Dan. 8:23), the Abomination of Desolation (Matt. 24:15), the Desolator (Dan. 9:27).

It is extremely important that you understand that the Tribulation period spoken of in Daniel and wherever it is mentioned in the New Testament is focused on the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Daniel 9:24 makes this clear: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city.” So these events Daniel speaks of concerns the nation of Israel. They do not concern the church. The church was a mystery at the time of Daniel’s writing and therefore it is not in view here.

Furthermore, the church is not Israel and the church has not replaced Israel. Supersessionism also known as Replacement Theology is demonic. Its roots are Augustinian and Romish. Christian Triumphalism is heretical in the least. The grafting in of the church did not result in the exclusion of Israel.

The prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 consists of a 490 year period of time. “Seventy weeks have been decreed.” The Hebrew word for week used in this passage is “shabuwa” (Strong’s #7620) and means a unit of seen. In this context it means a week of years. We see the same thing in Genesis 29:27. There we read Laban saying to Jacob: “Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.”  Jacob served Laban seven “shabuwa’s” or years, for Rachel’s hand. Thus seventy shabuwa’s or units of seven years is equal to 490 years.

These 490 years are biblical prophetic years not years according to our Gregorian calendar. What does that mean? Our Gregorian reckoning of time consists of 365 days except for leap years. Prophetic years consist of 360 days.

We see this in a number of places in Scripture. For example, we see this in Revelation 11:2-3 in which verse two mentions 42 months and verse three mentions 1,260 days. This is referring to the same time period: 3.5 years of the Tribulation.

In Genesis Chapters 7 and 8 we read that the worldwide flood began and the ark rested exactly five months apart and it states that was 150 days. With this understanding we can turn to our calculators! What is 490 years times 360 days? It is 176,400 days. Why is all this important? It is important because it reveals to us a blueprint for the future.

What happens when 176,400 days are fulfilled? We don’t have to guess because the Holy Spirit through Daniel tells us. Read Daniel 8:24 once again. Note these six things:

Finish the transgression.
Make an end to sin.
Make atonement for iniquity.
Bring in everlasting righteousness.
Seal up vision and prophecy.
Anoint the most holy place.

In this vision then, six things will come about at the end of the 490 years. Hebrew scholar Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says that finish the transgression means that the Jewish people will come to faith in Jesus Christ.

The meaning of making an end to sin is tied to finish the transgression in that the Jewish people will be born-again through faith in Christ. This is the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33 where God says in reference to His people Israel: “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it.”

By faith the Jewish people will trust in the finished work of Christ upon Calvary’s cross for the salvation of their souls. They will believe on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the atonement He secured on their behalf and this is the meaning behind Daniel’s statement concerning “atonement for iniquity.”

When these 176,400 days are concluded an everlasting righteousness will be brought in. What does that look like? The prophet Isaiah gives us that information.

Isaiah 51:4-8

“Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.
“My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.
“Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not ^[e]wane.
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
“For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

Isaiah 9:6-7

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

This is the long-awaited Kingdom. This is what Christians pray for: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God will be established when Jesus returns. All this talk about building the Kingdom now is not biblical. That kind of “Kingdom Now” theology contributes toward the utopian dreams of the God-haters described previously. The church needs to tighten up its language and theological comprehension.

The next Kingdom that will be established and already is in the process of being established visibly is the Antichrist’s kingdom. That is what Jesus destroys when He returns! Much of the church and people who claim to be Christians are blind and ignorant. They are busy as beavers building a Kingdom but it isn’t God’s Kingdom.

The “sealing up of vision and prophecy” means that all the prophecies related to Israel will be fulfilled. Every promise God has made to Israel will come to pass. Every covenant God has made with Israel will be completed. That includes the land promises that are part of the Abrahamic Covenant. Many Christians will be shocked when the truth is revealed: God is not done with Israel.

Finally, the sixth thing that will be accomplished, the anointing of the most high place, will occur when the Temple is rebuilt during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. The prophet Ezekiel says that the glory of God will fill this Temple. Ezekiel 40-48 contains those details.

There is a lot of talk about a new Temple on the verge of being constructed in Jerusalem right now. Apparently, the priests have been trained, the Temple service implements have been manufactured and recently, an acceptable red heifer has been born. My opinion is that this Temple will not be constructed until the Antichrist is on the scene.

Regardless of the timing of this third Temple, it won’t last long. I believe it will be destroyed when Christ returns. He will build a fourth Temple from which he will reign.

All of this tells us that the political and spiritual restoration of Israel is yet future. The Jewish people have been regathered in their land but they are there in unbelief. There is a day coming when just as the Hebrew Scriptures predict, just as the Apostle Paul prophesied in the Apostolic Scriptures, just as God promised, all Israel will be saved.[2]

What Have We Learned?

This has been a lengthy examination of what the Bible says about the times we are living in and what the end of days actually looks like. The birth pangs Jesus describes in Mark 13:1-13 are upon us. Yet, they are essentially ignored by all but a few. The desire of many in these days is for peace and safety. That leads them to explore all types of activities that have spiritual components to them. Being ignorant of the devices of Satan is a sure recipe for bondage and destruction.

The drive toward a one world religion has gained momentum over the last few decades. All that remains is for governments across the earth to give their approval to a new spirituality of man-centered, earth worshipping, and humanistic amalgamation of God-hating people who have been strategically elevated to places of prominence by people with the ability to do so.

The question sober-minded people should be asking is this: is that possible? Is peace and safety possible in a world where dictators rise up and devastate nations with their greed and murderous ambitions while the world watches silently? Is it possible to have a new spirituality that allows for all expressions of alleged faith except that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life with the one true God? Is it possible to have peace and safety when entire nations of people are taught from the time they begin to walk and talk that other people groups are pigs and apes?

Is peace and safety possible without a brutal totalitarian regime that Orwell and many other modern prophets envisioned? Can the darkness in the human heart be overcome for the benefit of mankind across the world without the Light that is Jesus Christ?

All the machinations of mankind whether political or spiritual, are doomed to failure because they begin without God, and they seek an end that is anti-God. Utopian dreams void of the God who created all things are nightmares in the making.

I plead with you dear reader to consider this day whom you will serve. Will you serve the God of Creation, the God who has revealed Himself through the Son Jesus Christ? Will you trust Him for the salvation of your soul and the reconciliation with the Father that He offers? True peace and safety is only found in Jesus Christ.

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.org

Website: www.drmikelive.com

Footnotes:

[1] Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2] Isaiah 59:20-21; Romans 11:26; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1-9.

Dr. Mike Spaulding

I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am sick and tired of the Luciferian zombies, the mindless, clueless, sycophants of the Progressive Marxists and the hatred they vomit daily against America, Americans, and our freedom and liberties. I am sick and tired of people who call themselves Christians offering no rebuttal whatsoever.

This Orwellian nightmare we are living has given rise to people who one day are eating Tide Pods, and the next have become alleged experts in matters of our Constitution and the 1^st and 2^nd Amendments specifically. These clueless zombies and everyone like them are nothing but “props” for the satanic media like CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, et al .

Some people might think, Mike you are a little harsh. I remind those people of this: Jesus said, He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters (Matthew 12:30). Let me zero in on those people that should care the most about these developments.

Christian, are you bringing people to the truth or are you allowing them to remain in their deception? Here is the sad and ugly truth: Christians in large numbers have left the field of battle. They have surrendered without a fight. They have decided that it is easier to not gather with and for Jesus than it is to stand against the endless onslaught of cultural vitriol aimed at Christians and Christianity.

The Apostle Paul said, ^“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). Where is this message to those who are attempting a visible coup of our government today? Listen to me friends; suppressing the truth is unrighteousness in the Kingdom of God.

Let’s chat about our Constitution and the 1^st and 2^nd Amendments specifically. This might come as a news flash for some people, but our right to keep and bear arms is not secured by the 2^nd Amendment. These Luciferian Progressive Marxists think if they can instigate enough ignorant people to act out their ignorance they can somehow repeal the 2^nd Amendment. First of all, that’s not going to happen and second even if it were to take place the 2^nd Amendment doesn’t change the legal status of gun owner’s one iota.

The reason is this: the 2^nd Amendment is directed at the Federal Government and prohibits the government from infringing on the rights of every American. These rights are natural and God-given, and listen to me friends: these rights preexist government.

Here’s a real quick civics lesson – The Declaration of Independence enumerates several essential principles for every freedom and liberty that Americans have historically enjoyed. I say historically because the Luciferians among us are doing all they can to enslave us to a tyranny on the way to an apocalyptic future.

Every man or woman is endowed by God with fundamental rights. These include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So, because people’s rights are natural and God-given, they pre-exist government. Our rights come first and the government comes second.

Ron Paul captures the essence of our dilemma succinctly.[1]

What is the purpose of government? The Declaration (of Independence) answers the question: The purpose of government is to protect the existence and exercise of people’s natural, God-given rights.

That was the reason for calling the federal government into existence with the U.S. Constitution—to protect people’s natural, God-given rights that pre-existed the federal government.

A big potential problem arises: The possibility, even likelihood that the government itself will end up infringing or even destroying people’s rights. That possibility deeply concerned our American ancestors. They were convinced that government itself, not some foreign entity, constituted the biggest threat to their freedom, privacy, property, and pursuit of happiness. That’s why they were not terribly enthusiastic about approving the Constitution. If they hadn’t approved it, the United States would have continued operating under the Articles of Confederation, under which the national government didn’t even have the power to tax people.

The American people finally decided to go along with the deal. The biggest argument that finally sold it to them was that the U.S. Constitution, which called the federal government into existence, strictly limited the powers of the federal government to those few powers that were enumerated in the document. Those enumerated powers did not include the power to infringe or destroy people’s natural, God-given rights — rights, and again, that preexisted the federal government.

Thus, even without the Bill of Rights, the federal government had no legitimate authority to control what people read or what people owned, including books and guns. That’s because these rights preexisted the government and because the Constitution did not give the federal government the power to infringe on these preexisting rights.

In fact, if the government did infringe on people’s natural, God-given rights, it would be violating the very reason that people call governments into existence — to protect the existence and the exercise of their rights.

So why then was the Bill of Rights necessary? In a technical sense, it wasn’t. Since the powers delegated to the federal government were enumerated in the Constitution and since the delegated powers did not include the powers to control what people read or owned (including books and guns), the Bill of Rights was essentially superfluous.

In fact, some people even argued that by enumerating some rights in the Bill of Rights that might be construed to mean that those were the only rights that were being protected. That’s why the Ninth Amendment was enacted — to point out that that was not the intention.

The reason the Bill of Rights was enacted was because of the deep concern that our American ancestors had about the threat that the new federal government would pose to their rights and liberties. They believed that this government — their government — would inevitably end up doing what every other government in history has done — destroy their rights.

That’s why they enacted the Bill of Rights — to hammer the message home that the American people were expressly prohibiting the federal government from traveling the road to tyranny that all other governments in history had travelled.

But notice something important about the Bill of Rights: It gives no one any rights. Instead, it prohibits the federal government from infringing or destroying rights that already exist. it really should have been called a Bill of Prohibitions rather than a Bill of Rights.

Thus, people don’t have the right to own guns because of the Second Amendment, just as people don’t have the right of free speech because of the First Amendment. People’s natural, God-given rights preexist government. They exist whether the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the federal government are there or not.

What happens when a government infringes or destroys the rights of the people? The Declaration of Independence gives us the answer: It is the right of the people to alter or even abolish the government and institute new government whose powers are limited to its legitimate function. That’s a right that every American living today should keep in mind.

It’s Time to Stand Up

I’m sick of what I see in our nation AND in the Church today. Christian, you must get your house in order. Stop living a flannel graph Jesus faith. We are not going to see any change in our nation if Christians refuse to take up the fight and get out into the streets to defend our freedoms and liberties. Start turning over some tables folks!

Why do Christians believe that they should not get involved in reversing the death spiral America is in? New York State recently passed legislation to remove all obstacles to unlimited child sacrifice. The demons cheered as the stooges led by Governor Cuomo smiled while signing the potential death warrant of every child unfortunate enough to reside in New York State.

Congresspersons and Senators continue to brazenly advocate for evil against Americans through their legislative activity and the Church yawns. Our government finances Planned Parenthood to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, and Planned Parenthood uses that money to bribe elected officials to keep the flow of blood money going. The response from the Church is silence.

Pastors who do stand up are ridiculed and even fired. The Church is under such demonic deception today that it is breath taking. Here is where the Progressives are going next: our First and Second Amendment rights. The self-styled “servants of Jesus” (to borrow the demented ramblings of Nancy Pelosi), are going to attempt to outlaw free speech and our right to keep and bear arms. The “teeth” of enforcement will be prosecution and imprisonment. Are you ready to risk prison to fight back?

It may come to an open civil war. Are you prepared for that Christian? You better be prepared to respond in defense of these rights because once those are gone so will be the true Church. I’ve said this for years: the real goal of the Luciferians who control Washington D.C. is the destruction of the true Church of Jesus Christ. They are ignorant enough to believe they can actual do that. They will simply have authorized Churches much like China but the true Church will go underground and thrive even more than it does now.

It’s no good to be sick and tired of this mess in America unless you are prepared to do something about it. Are you ready to stand up and fight back?

© 2019 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

Footnotes:

[1] Ron Paul’s website is here – http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/

By Mike Spaulding

But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. —Mark 13:23

Utopian dreams burst onto the American mainstream consciousness in 1967 with the iconic “The Age of Aquarius/ Let the Sunshine In” medley originally part of the Broadway production of Hair, later recorded by the R&B group The 5^th Dimension in 1969. According to the lyrics, the remedy for mankind’s needs is found in the planets and star constellations of our galaxy.  To gain insight into our shared path forward in peace and love, mankind must “look to the stars.” The lyrics state this plainly:

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
Aquarius.[1]

The 5^th Dimension enjoyed a six week ride at number one on the Billboard charts with this breakthrough song. Clearly, Americans were ready for more peace and love sentimentality. The radio jingle “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,”[2]  adapted for a Coca-Cola commercial in 1971 provided another push toward the globalist dream of peace, safety, and unity. In this song we were entertained by a very early effort to condition us to multiculturalism. People of all walks of life, nationalities, and ethnicities, all gathered on a hilltop to sing kumbaya. Actually, the lyrics were much more in line with the re-emerging idea of the earth as a living organism.

I’d like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow white turtle doves

I’d like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I’d like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company.

I’d like to see the world for once
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills
For peace throughout the land.[3]

Building the world a home? Where mankind can live in peace and unity sounds a lot like Nimrod’s vision of Babel. In spite of the widespread and growing biblical illiteracy, most people know that did not work out too well for Nimrod.

This was followed by John Lennon’s bestselling song “Imagine,” which followed the same theme of global unity and peace, interestingly in the same year of 1971.

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one.[4]

When Lennon released Imagine, he was a globally minded peace activist. He famously quipped during this time: “If everybody demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.” I wholeheartedly agree with Lennon on one point; if people would get rid of their television sets, they would be much less likely influenced by the constant barrage of lies, manipulation, and corporate propaganda that insists that if we all try a little harder, elect the right people to public office, and especially if Christians would stop clinging to their Bibles and guns, the world would be on a fast-track to a utopia we have only imagined up to now.

Students of philosophy and political science as well as readers of texts of antiquity will surely interject that the real drive for an achievable utopia was first elucidated by Plato in his Republic, nearly one thousand six hundred years before Lennon or Coke made fortunes selling the idea of peace.

Of course, Bible students know that Nimrod was the first to attempt to establish his utopian dream in the 22^nd-21^st century BC. Everyone else on the peace train is merely a Johnny-come-lately. Nimrod’s utopian dream rightly ended in an earth moving event, as will this current globalist inspired, directed, and financed effort.

Governments Create the Problem and Then Promote Their Solution

Throughout the years of recorded history, mankind has had a nearly insatiable thirst for peace and safety. World Wars, domestic conflicts, political upheavals, and violent revolutions have only created a greater thirst for global security.

A common message today that spans a diverse group of organizations is one that focuses on peace and safety as an attainable goal for the so-called global community. Governments, non-governmental agencies, environmental organizations, and even the United Nations, have all joined with countless religious organizations such as the Roman Catholic Church, Parliament of World Religions[5], the World Council of Churches, the Evangelical Environmental Network, and many denominations in a unified call to global peace and safety.

Much of the church in America specifically is exhausting itself trying to make peace with the culture. Today in many places, ministry leaders are leading entire denominations into embracing ungodly behavior, illogical thinking, and unbiblical responses to real or imagined crises. They are unwittingly being moved along the dialectic path from antithesis (Jesus is the only way of salvation) to synthesis (there are many paths to God).

In some places the church has adopted a strange and biblically foreign concept of creating a safe space within the church campus, an alternative social network for believers only, so that Christians can further remove themselves from the culture. The church has also done great damage to the Gospel by attempting to create safe spaces in the body of Christ for unrepentant sinners. The most glaring example of this insanity is the church’s embrace of gender confusion.

In the most recent Presidential election cycle, Hillary Clinton famously said that Christians need to change their beliefs about certain things, namely abortion.[6] She implied that if they do not do so voluntarily then the force of the law should be applied. For Clinton, nothing is as sacrosanct as the right of women to murder unborn human beings. For people who think like Clinton, utopia is a world where women are free to do as they please with unborn children without the inconvenience of a guilty conscience brought on by people of faith.

As I am writing this article, the Democrats haven taken control of the House of Representatives and their first priority has been the creation of a spending bill to end the partial government shutdown that includes restored funding for Planned Parenthood. Something is clearly wrong when an entire political party is consumed with shoring up the barbaric act to ripping unborn humans from a woman’s womb.

This is a modern picture of the utopian dream. The basis of all utopias is simply this: create an environment where the maximum amount of happiness can be experienced by the greatest number of citizens. Those that show themselves to be dissenters will be marginalized, or worse, made to appear as criminals.

Politically speaking, this means concentrating power in the hands of a select few through the manipulation of a populace. This is the strategy of the current Democrat leadership. How else do you explain the support for the murder of unborn American children and simultaneously, support for all forms of immigration?

The political machine that is Washington D.C. spends billions of dollars attempting to allegedly produce a society of worldly defined justice and equality. However, when justice discriminates against entire groups of people based on a convoluted definition of racial theory, and equality is redefined with heretofore unheard of social constructs as guidelines, how is justice or equality arrived at? How is the government assuring peace, safety, and unity by these actions?

As I stated above, peace and safety is known by many names but the goal of modern proponents is the same: create an environment where all people can be happy, content with their circumstances, and experience the comfort of emotional well-being. The late Neil Postman called it amusing ourselves to death.[7] In other words, a virtual gulag decorated as a safe space for all.

Many Christians have unwittingly joined this nonsense by partnering with and advocating for the latest cultural movements of diversity, multiculturalism, and egalitarianism being aggressively advocated by the US Government and paid for with our tax dollars.

Unfortunately, this drive for global peace and safety brings out the worse characteristics in human beings. In fact, two characteristics are prominent and the former works in favor of the latter. The first characteristic of man is that he is willing to give up his freedoms for the promise of safety. The second characteristic of man is that some will see the opportunity to promise safety as a vehicle for rising to power and ruling over those who would be foolish enough to give up their freedom for the “feeling” of safety.

What did Jesus say about the End of the Age and the Possibility of Peace?

Many Christians never consider the fact that Jesus is a prophet. Although they have no doubt heard many times that Jesus is Prophet, Priest, and King, it has never dawned on them that Jesus spoke prophetically many times.

Jesus’ statement in Mark 13:14 is an example of this. In that passage we read:

But when you see the Abomination of Desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Matthew’s Gospel adds that Jesus says this Abomination of Desolation was spoken of through Daniel the Prophet.[8] There are two things interesting about that statement. One is that this prophecy was fulfilled in 167 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by slaughtering a pig on the altar of incense and erecting a statue of Zeus within its confines.

A second thing interesting about Jesus’ prophecy is that is has a future fulfillment. Granted, some Christians believe that the future fulfillment of Jesus’ words was completed in 70AD when the Roman General Titus crushed a Jewish rebellion and destroyed the Temple.[9] That does not come close to defining the abomination Jesus spoke of.

I encourage readers to read Mark’s Gospel starting at chapter 13 for the full context of what is being said there. As Jesus and His disciples left the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, an unidentified disciple remarked to Jesus that the Temple buildings were a beautiful thing to see. Jesus’ response to this disciple is Mark 13:2. The reason for this response from Jesus is found in Mark 11-12. Let me summarize those chapters briefly.

Mark 11 contains the narrative of Jesus’ so-called “Triumphal Entry” into the city of Jerusalem. We know that day as Palm Sunday. In Mark 11:11 we read that Jesus went into the Temple and looked around and left. In Mark 11:13 He cursed the fig tree which scholars agree represented judgement upon Israel and apostate Judaism.

Then in Mark 11:15 Jesus returns to the Temple, cleanses it the second time by running everyone out. He pronounces judgement by recalling the words of the prophet Jeremiah 7-8 in Mark 11:17. This prompted the Jewish religious leaders to begin seriously discussing the “how” they were going to murder Jesus. They had already determined they would murder Him;[10] all that was left was the manner in which to carry it out.

In Mark 12 Jesus tells the Jewish religious leaders that He knew they were going to murder Him, the Vineyard owner’s son. The religious leaders knew exactly what Jesus was claiming for Himself in that parable and they knew He was indicting them for what they were thinking and attempting to do concerning Him. That is what we read in Mark 12:12.

The religious leaders went away and hatched plan to attempt to trick Jesus into committing treason against Rome. The hope of the religious leaders was that Jesus would say something that they could take back to the Romans and have Jesus arrested, tried as a criminal, and executed. In other words, they were hoping the Romans would do their dirty work for them. That is Mark 12:13-17.

When that plan failed the religious leaders sent the Sadducees to create a theological incident. The aim in Mark 12:18-27 was to make Jesus look like He opposed the teaching of Moses and thereby discredit Him before the people. Jesus told the Sadducees that they were ignorant of the Scriptures, which meant Moses, and that they consequently had no power from God to rule anyone.

The last effort of the Sanhedrin is found in Mark 12:28-34, where a scribe approaches Jesus with a somewhat more whimsical approach and ends up being encouraged by Jesus to keep following his line of reasoning concerning wat was pleasing to God.

Jesus gives the Jews one last chance to understand who He was by asking a question to everyone gathered to Him in the Temple:

How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit; the LORD said to my LORD, Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet. David himself calls Him Lord; so in what sense is He his son?[11]

Then Jesus warns the people of the wickedness of the apostate religious system they were observing. That’s Mark 12:38-40. Next He gives an illustration of what He just said in Mark 12:41-44. By the way, this was not praise for the widow who gave her last remaining money to the Temple Treasury. Jesus called the disciples attention to this sad situation because the widow was a victim of a system that He had previously said in Mark 12:40 “devours widow’s houses.”

That brings us back to Mark 13. When Jesus and His disciples were leaving the Temple complex and the city, the unnamed disciple remarks at the beauty of the Temple. That elicited Jesus’ comment about the coming destruction. How could this disciple have missed the preceding events of the entire day where Jesus spoke judgement?

Peter, James, John, and Andrew were startled by Jesus’ comment because as soon as they arrived at the Mount of Olives they pulled Jesus aside and asked Him a series of questions. Mark 13:3-4: Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?

Jesus’ first response was what? Peace and safety will prevail upon the earth! Then I will return! If you have your Bible open you know that is not what Jesus said. He said in Mark 13:5-13 that:

• Mass deception would mark those days.
• False Christ’s – not necessarily only people claiming to be Christ but false Christ’s, meaning also unbiblical theologies concerning Christ.
• Wars; nations against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
• Famines, earthquakes.
• Persecution of true followers of Jesus even by family members, meaning people who call themselves Christian will begin to murder true Christians.
• Matthew’s parallel passage says false prophets will arise within the church, and that love among the brethren will grow cold.

Does this sound like a world heading for peace, safety, and unity? This is where you dear reader, need to understand what is going to happen in the near future. Mark 13:14 is a key passage. I repeat it here for your convenience.

But when you see the Abomination of Desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Who and what is the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Jesus? I’ve already told you that in one context it was Antiochus Epiphanes who desecrated the Temple in 167 BC. That had already happened nearly two hundred years before Jesus spoke this prophecy. That tells us what? It tells us that Jesus had a future fulfillment in mind. What is that fulfillment? That will be revealed in Part 2 of “Biblical Prophecy Refutes Earthly Utopian Dreams.”

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

Footnotes:

[1] Medley: Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. Songwriters: Galt Mac Dermot / James Rado / Gerome Ragni.

[2] This song was produced by Billy Davis and became famous as the “Hilltop Coke Song.”

[3] I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. Songwriters: William M Backer / Roger F. Cook / Roquel Davis / Roger Greenaway

[4] Imagine lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing. Songwriters: John Winston Lennon.

[5] The Parliament of World Religions has on its website the following two prominent headlines: (1) The Power of Love: Pursuing Global Understanding, Reconciliation, and Change. (2) For a More Just, Peaceful, and Sustainable World.

[6] Clinton has made these types of comments frequently to abortion advocates. See here for one example.

[7] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, (London: Penguin Books, 1985).

[8] Matthew 24:15.

[9] This viewpoint is called Preterism.

[10] John 7:1.

[11] Mark 12:35-37.

Pastor Mike Spaulding

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again[1]

There is an eight hundred pound gorilla on the world stage and nearly every political leader in the world, save Trump, Ader of Hungary, and Duda of Poland, plus a few more, refuse to acknowledge its presence. It is getting really awkward for Macron, Merkel, and May. The atrocities that they have allowed to be committed against their citizenry by this gorilla deny reason. Can open revolt In France, Germany, and the United Kingdom be too far off?

Stated simply, world leaders who advocate for the continued freedom of this gorilla to behave in any way it desires are either deceived or being paid to downplay what is clearly a war against Western civilization. I believe it is some of both but mostly deception. Somehow, Western leaders believe they can contain the cancer that is Islam.

What kind of blindness is this? How can political leaders who rise through the cesspool of maneuvering to reach national prominence not understand what Islam is? The message of Islam is simple: convert or die. There is no ambiguity within Islam. This is why I say that the world and especially the leaders of the world’s nations, save a few, are completely deceived. This deception is satanic. Let me explain.

In the passage above Jesus warned against being deceived. He said, “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name.” The context is that the time will come when people will attempt to mislead you by advocating for false Christ’s. There have been many people over the years that have done exactly that. They have all been proven to be liars and frauds. The most dangerous deception concerning Jesus – the false Jesus – is found in Islam.

Satan, who is known as Allah to Muslims, has constructed a masterful deception and named it Islam. Christians of all people should know better than to believe the lies of Islam but unfortunately that is not the case. This is to their shame and potentially to their destruction. How does Islam present the most clear and present danger to Christians and indeed the world? If you want to understand the barbarity of Islam and why Islamists are blood-thirsty savages, then you must understand their eschatology. Islam has a theology of the end times.

Would it surprise you if I told you that Jesus plays a significant role in Islamic end time’s theology? Of course, when I say Jesus, I’m talking about the Islamic Jesus. There is a difference between the biblical Jesus and the Jesus of Islam and you must understand this pivotal point.

Islam recognizes Jesus as a great prophet. But Islam states that Mohammed is greater. In fact the 12^th Imam or Mahdi of Islam is even greater. The Islamic Jesus is a great prophet but:

• He is not the Son of God.
• He was not born of a virgin.
• He was not crucified for the sins of the world.
• He did not die on a cross.
• Because He didn’t die He was not resurrected.
• He was taken to heaven just like Elijah and Mohammed.
• He is standing with Allah waiting for Allah to allow Him to return to the earth.

Now, some Christians get excited over that last point: Muslims believe Jesus will return to the earth. In their excitement they rush to an ignorant conclusion: We can use that as a starting place for interfaith dialogue.

As Lee Corso likes to say: Not so fast my friends! In Islam, Jesus returns to assist the Mahdi, the Islamic Messiah-Savior figure with several necessary activities. The Islamic Jesus will, according to Islam:

• Jesus returns as a radicalized Muslim and
• Jesus will implement Sharia Law across the entire world.
• Jesus’ testimony as a Muslim will lead many Christians to convert to Islam.
• Jesus will testify against those Christians who refuse to convert on the Day of Judgment.
• Jesus will abolish Christianity.
• Jesus will destroy every cross.
• Jesus will kill all swine.
• Jesus will kill the Muslim antichrist and his followers, which in Islamic theology are the Jews.
• Jesus will marry, have children, and die.

The Islamic Jesus is the exact opposite of the biblical Jesus. In fact, the Islamic Jesus is a near perfect representation of the biblical false prophet. Yet, we have mindless Christians that believe we can dialogue with Islamists and find a common ground.

Let’s consider the Islamic messiah-savior figure, the Mahdi, sometimes referred to as the 12^th Imam. The name “Mahdi” means “the Guided One.” The Mahdi is also called Sahib Al-Zama or Al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, which translated mean “the Lord of the age” and “the Awaited Savior.” The Mahdi is Islam’s savior.

The appearance of the Mahdi on the world stage is to Muslims the equivalent of the return of Jesus Christ to Christians. The Mahdi is:

• A descendant of Mohammed.
• The final and longed for Caliph who will establish the Islamic worldwide Caliphate.
• He will rule the world through a series of holy wars.
• His rise to power is preceded by an army of black flag carrying warriors.

The black flags these warriors carry are inscribed with the words “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Messenger” in Arabic. The Mahdi will lead the black flagged warriors to conquer Israel and will reign from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Muslims believe the Mahdi will be loved by the entire world.

The reason Muslims believe the entire world will love the Mahdi is because they believe the Mahdi will establish world peace. He will negotiate a peace treaty between the Arabs and the Romans, by which is meant Christians.

Let’s contrast what Islam reaches about the Mahdi with whom the Bible says accomplishes these things. The Bible teaches that the antichrist will arrive on the world stage as a political savior. He will bring peace to the world through a treaty between Israel and the Muslim world. The antichrist will appear to be a spiritual leader for the entire world and he will make use of the one world religion.

The biblical antichrist attempts to destroy Jews and Christians. In fact, the biblical antichrist breaks treaty with Israel, demands he be worshipped, and seeks to attack and conquer Jerusalem and establish his headquarters there.

Readers that are even vaguely familiar with the Bible see clearly that the Islamic savior, the Mahdi, is the biblical antichrist. The Islamic Jesus is the biblical false prophet.

Islam is Satanic. It is thoroughly demonic in origin and practice. Indeed, it manifests the spirit of antichrist right before the eyes of the world and yet world leaders turn a blind eye to the horrific evil being unleashed on innocent people.

Jesus warned of the day when false Christs would come onto the world scene.

And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many … for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. Mark 13:5-6, 22-23

Those days are upon us. Here are characteristics of the spirit of antichrist:

• and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spiritof the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 1 John 4:3
• Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 1 John 2:22-23
• For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ ascoming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 2 John 1:7

The spirit of antichrist deceives people, and is a liar. Those consumed by the spirit of antichrist deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of Israel and the world; they deny the Father and the Son and therefore the Trinity; they deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and therefore the incarnation.

Yet, people want to say that the God of the Bible is Allah, that Jesus is revered within Islam, and that if we just keep dialoguing with the Muslims then we can achieve a peaceful co-existence with them. Neville Chamberlain lives again as every modern imbecile who believes Islam is about co-existing.

Those that are pushing a globalist Chrislam one-world religion harlotry should be denounced and shamed. People that want to have conversations for better understanding with jihadi Imams should be denounced in the strongest possible terms.

You want to have a conversation with Islamists? Tell them to confess their sins and receive God’s free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Tell them to renounce the demonic lies of Islam and live as a disciple of Jesus.

Wake up church!

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

© 2018 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] The Who, Won’t Get Fooled Again, written by Pete Townsend. From the 1971 album Who’s Next.

Mike Spaulding

I live in flyover country as it is affectionately referred to by America’s aristocracy. The morally superior residents of the left and right coasts of America routinely verbalize their disdain for people like me for no other reason than the people who reside in the place I call home reject their foolish blathering as incoherent, irrational, and hypocritical.  It seems that this attitude of moral superiority and the behavior that always accompanies it is creeping into the heartland.

A recent edition of the Lima News, the local Lima, Ohio newspaper, reported that Mayor David Berger participated in an event designed to help raise funding to support a Lima tradition of summer known as Square Fair. During the event Mayor Berger gave the “toast” which is a strange way of saying he offered a prayer. Here is the content of that toast as reported by the Lima News:

“To a city and people both smile on my fate. May our pains make us stronger and may our strengths make us great. To our parents and others who came on before, who paved from a swamp this great place we adore, then brought the world oil, locomotives and tanks, neon and engines, restaurants and banks. To the soldiers who fight in wars far from here may they know we continue to hold them all dear. May God guard their actions wherever they roam and see them return to the safety of home. To our children, who venture too far away. And to those, best of all who would venture to stay. May we leave them a city of which to be proud. May their happiness flourish and their riches abound. May their leaders be wise and their troubles be few and more than anything else, may their motives be true. And until such a time as we toil for today, may the Lord bless our efforts and keep trouble at bay. May she smile on this city, this county, this state, and most of all, on you people who help make them all great. To Lima. To Allen County. To Ohio and the USA and all who love her, here and away. Cheers.”[1]

Beyond the fact that this toast was a rambling mess, Mayor Berger made a major misstep in announcing that the Lord had morphed into a woman. Transgenderism in the heavenlies! This came as news to me. I do not subscribe to the Lima News and I do not have television in my home, but the news that our Lord Jesus was a woman was stunning! Why am I just now hearing this?

I am of course being sarcastic. Mayor Berger is one more example among hundreds of people who think that appealing to those in the avant-garde of cultural institutions is good politics.

It is not news that the full court press is on right now for the recognition of Gaia or Sophia as the true God. God is not male, God is female is the mantra of many professing Christians. Pagans have always thought of “Mother” Nature as a real entity, and ancient cultures were hot beds of feminine goddess worship. The point I am making here is that the mayor of a small Ohio community (population ~40,000) took the opportunity during a community fund raising event to declare his belief that Jesus is a she. That is noteworthy.

It is noteworthy in the least because it was a public announcement of didaskaliais daimonioen[2] (doctrines of demons). In 1 Timothy 4:1 the Apostle Paul tells a young Pastor named Timothy that “some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron…”

The methodology of the demonic world is being advanced in our day all across the world. The leftists on either coast as well as the Marxists who have taken over our universities and force fed our youth a feminized and warped fantasy they claim is western history, would be so proud of Mayor Berger for his theological evolution into being a mouthpiece for demons.

MUCH MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

The feminization of God has long been a goal of the various pagan groups around the world, including witches, radical feminists, and assorted New Age adherents. The number of seminars, conferences, workshops, and pagan events scattered around North America alone, attests to the explosion of Gaia/Goddess worship. The word Gaia derives from Greek mythology. She was thought to be the mother of the titans and goddesses of the earth. Goddess worship was prominent in the Greek and Roman empires and America’s youth are still able to learn these mythologies in school today.

It all seems harmless until you begin to investigate what the teaching of goddess worship actually entails. Author Philip G. Davis offers this evaluation:

The tenets of the Goddess religion are to be found in an extended narrative in which the entire history of religion is played out as a gender struggle between an original, positive, affirming religion of female deity and a later, usurping, oppressive and patriarchal set of religions and philosophies based on Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman traditions. In this story, the God of the Bible is not joined by the Goddess or even subordinated to her. He is, instead, reduced to being the villainous self-image of sexist, racist oppressors who have supposedly dominated most of recorded history, bringing suffering and degradation to women, children, and the earth itself. The returning Goddess is meant to replace God the Father; this, according to her devotees, is an essential step towards curing the social and environmental ills of our times.[3]

When seen in this light, Gaia worshippers are focused on destroying what they believe is the absolute evil of patriarchy. Men must be overthrown, cast down, relegated to a status far below that of women. Only when men become subservient to women will the earth begin to heal, and human relations across the earth return to what they once were in the imagined utopian past when the Goddess reigned

Even scientists have jumped on the Gaia bandwagon in search of elusive answers to what they proclaim to be pending environmental catastrophes. James Lovelock, an atmospheric chemist, is credited with creating the phrase “Gaia Hypothesis” as a title for his theory of how life on earth emerged given the complexity of the myriad organisms present.  Lovelock used the phrase to explain his belief in the interconnectedness of all life found on earth. Scientists espousing the Gaia Hypothesis believe that mankind’s penchant for dominating the earth and its resources must end since the earth is itself a living organism.  Stephen B. Scharper writes that:

Whereas traditional Earth scientists maintain that the Earth’s climatic pattern is more geological than biological, and is therefore less robust and more vulnerable to lasting injury, the Gaia thesis purports that the Earth is like a self-regulating animal, and may have organs that are especially important, such as the rain forest and wetlands, which are more vital to the global environment than are other parts of the system (Joseph 1990, 2). In other words, while Gaia may sustain the loss of its “big toe,” i.e., the blue whale, it can ill afford to lose its “lungs,” i.e., the tropical rain forests.[4]

The hypothesis additionally states that only an intellectual paradigm shift of gigantic proportions that recognizes the earth as a living organism will head off a coming ecological disaster. The Gaia Hypothesis is part of the draconian United Nations Sustainable Growth ecological movement which, true to its roots within Goddess worship, sees mankind as the enemy of the earth.

Now, some readers might be tempted to think that I’ve overstated the situation. If that is you then consider these statements from some influential people and organizations:

“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our duty to bring that about?” The late Maurice Strong, then Secretary General of the UNEP

“In our deeply interdependent world today, the iron rule remains – our world is one, unseparated, and interdependent. It is this world that is threatened by the impact of man’s unplanned, selfish, and ever growing activities.” Kurt Waldheim, former Austrian Nazi and UN Secretary General

“If radical environmentalists were to invent a disease to bring human populations back to sanity, it would probably be something like AIDS.” Earth First! Newsletter

“We have wished, we eco-freaks, for a disaster or for a social change to come and bomb us into the Stone Age.” Stewart Brand, Whole Earth Catalogue

“Human happiness, and certainly human fecundity, is not as important as a wild and healthy planet: Some of us can only hope for the right virus to come long.” David Graber, biologist, National Park Service

“Given the total, absolute, and final disappearance of Homo Sapiens not only would the Earth’s Community of Life continue to exist but the ending of the human epoch on Earth would be greeted with a hearty ‘good riddance.’” Dr. Paul Taylor, professor of philosophy, City College of New York.

“If I could be reincarnated, I would return as a killer virus to lower human population levels.” Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, patron of World Wildlife Fund.

“The earth is a mosque.” Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Muslim environmentalist

“The earth has a cancer and the cancer is Man.” Club of Rome

“Nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred: trees are my temples and forests my cathedral.” Mikhail Gorbachev, founder of Green Cross International, Club of Rome member

“Christianity is our foe. If animal rights is to succeed, we must destroy Judeo-Christian Religious tradition.” Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University[5]

Clearly there is much more going on within the Gaia-Goddess worship movement than most people understand. The earth has become the goddess to increasing numbers of people angry with the cavalier attitude of some towards stewardship of the earth. But is abandoning reason for fantasy the way to care for the earth?

Christians have also become beguiled by the goddess of environmentalism. For over two decades the National Council of Churches (NCC), comprised of the United Methodist Church, the National Baptist Convention (USA, Inc.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, have received tens of millions of dollars from leftist progressive organizations and foundations such as the Sierra Club, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Tides Foundation, W. Alton Jones Foundation, V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, and New World Foundation. What do all these organizations and foundations have in common? They give their money with the requirement that the National Council of Churches uses the funds to fuel environmental politics among its members.[6]

Many Christians have become little more than stage props in the war against humanity. The National Council of Churches has sided with the radical environmentalists who decry alleged overpopulation. The necessary remedy according to the NCC is abortion, or what they prefer to call reproductive justice. In fact, the NCC and its member denominations have waded into the so-called culture wars and offered their support for every antichrist position. They support sodomy but call it sexual justice and welfare socialism but call it economic and social justice.

It is no surprise then that the NCC gave full support for the Green Bible, an environmentalist dream of historic Judeo-Christian revisionism, as well as the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE). The NRPE is funded primarily by the aforementioned Pew Charitable Trust. The goal of the NRPE is according to then executive director Paul Gorman, the creation of “a distinctly religious response to the crisis of environmental sustainability and social justice.”[7]

The NRPE environmental propaganda is distribute efficiently throughout a majority of Jewish synagogues, Roman Catholic parishes, and hundreds of thousands of Protestant congregations throughout America.

The rise of modern feminism, Goddess worship, and radical environmentalism is easily explainable when you understand that they are really three heads of the same latter day hydra. Many feminists, propagandized ecotheologians, New Agers, and the deceived masses in the NCC churches listed above, see historic, orthodox Christianity as the enemy.

All people including true Christians must wake up to the real danger of Goddess worship. The moneyed elite and their well-funded foundations and trusts are utilizing the political process to establish environmentalism as the state sanctioned religion. If they succeed, individual freedoms and liberties will die. We already see the intelligentsia building their case for the significance of every creature. A tree, a rock, a plant, a turtle, a human being: they are all equal in Mother Earth’s eyes.

May God have mercy on us for allowing this insanity to take root in America. The Environmental Holocaust which will destroy human life is set to be unleashed. Will you stand against it?

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

© 2018 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

Footnotes:

[1] Sam Shriver, “Toast to the City,” The Lima News, August 3, 2018, p. 1A, 6A.

[2] Didaskaliais daimonioen is a Greek to English transliteration of the phrase “doctrines of demons”. Source: Bible Soft One Touch Software.

[3] Philip G. Davis, Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality (Dallas, TX: Spence Publishing Company, 1998), p.38

[4] Stephen B. Scharper, The Gaia Hypothesis: Implications for a Christian Political Theology of the Environment, Cross Currents, Summer 1994, p. 209.

[5] All quotations are from R. Mark Musser, Nazi Ecology: The Oak Sacrifice of the Judeo-Christian Woldview in the Holocaust, (Published by Mark Musser Ministries, 2018), p. 414-416.

[6] James Wanliss, Resisting the Green Dragon: Dominion Not Death, (Burke, VA: Cornwall Alliance for the Stewartship of Creation), p. 64, 68.

[7] Ibid, p. 69

Pastor Mike Spaulding

Is this not the reason you are mistaken…? —Mark 12:24

American political rhetoric has never been more vitriolic. There has never been a more clearly defined divide between political perspectives than there is right now. The Republican Party has become the party of compromise, acquiescence, and feigned allegiance to the rule of law, that is to say, the Constitution. The Democrat Party has become the mouthpiece for every form of debauchery, evil, violence, and anti-American sentiment.

The Church has elected to play the harlot in three ways. Some side with the Republican Party, choosing to believe that the Republicans represent the best hope for the survival of America. That is simply an illusion. One needs look no further than RINO Republican Senators Flake, Collins, and Murkowski, to prove the point. The vision for America shared by many Republicans differs very little with that held by many Democrats.

Other Christians continue to support the Democrat Party. This is a most perplexing decision given the wanton hatred for and vile attack upon anything remotely approaching an orthodox biblical position on issues of morality and Christian teaching on holiness, righteousness, and the Great Commission mandate to preach the gospel.

The third path some Christians are choosing is to disengage completely from the political process and American social and cultural life entirely. The thinking among this group is that politics is a “dirty” and “evil” enterprise and it is better to remain above a fray that might result in the soiling of one’s reputation among the other religious people of their community, their local church, and citizens of the community in which they live and meet. Being respected in the eyes of others is much more important to these Christians than nearly anything else. This choice is only slightly better than the deceived choice of those supporting the Democrat Party. Is there another option? Of course there is another option. That option is to choose the biblically informed path of cultural engagement. What does that look like?

The Church Has Lost Its Way Because It Has Succumbed To Self-Inflicted Ignorance in Two Contexts

The twelfth chapter of Mark’s Gospel contains a parable (v. 1-12) that Jesus used to announce to the Jewish religious leaders that He knew their evil intention concerning Him, and that they were following the same path as their forefathers in persecuting or murdering every true prophet God sent to them. Most telling in this passage is verses 6-11 where Jesus prophesies the killing of the vineyard owner’s son, while simultaneously announcing to them that He in fact was the Son whom they were rejecting and intending to murder. The religious leaders understood this clearly as Mark 12:12 states.

After that exchange the Sanhedrin began to formulate the “how” they would destroy Jesus (see Mark 11:18). Their strategy resulted in a multipronged course of attack aimed at making Jesus look like an insurrectionist (Mark 12:13-17), and if that failed, a theological fool (Mark 12:18-27). Jesus rebuffed their attempts with His powerful truths. First, in Mark 12:17, Jesus reminded His antagonists that paying taxes is not the greater issue the Jewish people faced. Instead, their greater issue was honoring God with their lives. Here’s how Jesus put it: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17; emphasis mine).

Then in Mark 12:24 Jesus delivers a knockout punch to the schemes of God’s enemies. There Jesus reprimanded the hypocrites with a scathing rebuke. He said: “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”

Let me elaborate on that statement. Jesus calls them “mistaken.” The Greek word for mistaken is planao and is defined “to roam” from truth or virtue. Jude 13 uses a closely related word to define false teachers: “wandering (Greek planetes) stars” that will end up in darkness forever.

Now, based on the above definitions and related words for mistaken, Jesus makes two summary conclusions. First, He says the Jewish religious leaders have wandered from truth (mistaken), as evidenced by their ignorance of the Scriptures. Second, because the Jewish religious leaders have wandered from the truth, they do not know the power of God.

The grammatical construction of this verse makes an additional point that is lost in translation. The implication is that the religious leaders were ignorant of the Scriptures and they were in that state of ignorance willfully. In other words, they did not know the truth because they did not want to know the truth. They were happy in their error. Consequently they were willfully ignorant of the power of God. The context of their ignorance concerned the resurrection. There is an application for us to consider.

A large portion of church, ministerial, educational, and parachurch leadership, has become just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They are willfully ignorant of the Scriptures and because of that they do not know the power of God. How are they willfully ignorant of the Scriptures? They demonstrate willful ignorance by the policies they support. The herd mentality among many religious leaders when it comes to so-called social justice and socialism is one glaring example today. The entire “woke” church movement is nothing more than a race bating, critical race theory fantasy of anti-God, anti-American, and anti-freedom individuals who see a demon of racism behind every tree. One day these church leaders and the Christians that support them are going to realize they were hustlers for the emperor’s clothing line.

Abandoning the truth of Scripture also cuts you off from knowing the power of God. You cannot deny the Scripture that reveals God and expect Him to move in your virtue seeking misadventures. Too many Christians chase the almighty dollar, the next new and sparkling thing they can’t live without, and falsely believe that God is in that pursuit of the good life. God casts down every vain thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of Him, and that includes the vain imaginings of people who claim the power of God working in their lives to accumulate treasures on this earth. When I speak of treasures on earth, I am not just speaking about material things. There are many prideful, arrogant, and egotistical pastors and ministry leaders who have long since become immune to criticism. They refuse to receive any form of correction and they are aided in this travesty by a cadre of boot lickers. I can tell you from personal experience that when you point out the error in the teaching and behavior of our modern day religious personalities, the mesmerized followers of these pied pipers will attack you with a vengeance.

A large segment of the Christian church is in a state of apostasy. They have accepted that whatever the culture holds as true and noble is worthy of their collaboration. How else do you explain the idiocy of transgenderism, same sex marriage, fornication, adultery, child sacrifice, drag queen normalization, and gender self-identity being supported by churches? They are mistaken! They have become dislodged from truth and are wandering stars (Jude 13) that compound their error by proclaiming their inclusiveness, as if that is a get out of jail free card from their obligation to obey God’s commands.

Why is it that many pastors encourage their congregants to call their elected representatives to voice their disapproval with a particular pending legislation, and believe they have done their duty? How has the church become blind such that they think that the politicians in Washington DC or in their own state capitals care what they think about anything?

Why do Christians expect politicians to do what they are unwilling to do? Listen to me Christian: your elected representative is not your proxy for what God has called you to be and to do. Your elected representative is not going to go out into the streets and protest the wonton destruction of life at the nearest abortion mill. Your elected representative is not going to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your neighbors. Politicians are not going to restore any kind of Christian morality to our communities or our local schools. There is only one way these things will ever happen, and that is IF Christians decide that Satan has destroyed enough of our nation and rise up in mass and do something about it.

The church has made the same mistake the Sadducees made when they confronted Jesus about the resurrection. Jesus’ final remark to them was about their ignorance of the God they said they knew and served. Jesus said: “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

Christians treat God like He is dead in space and time, like He is there but not really involved in their lives. Christians act like God will not move in our day to defeat the demonic hordes of mindless citizens and their political handlers who have become addicted to the US Federal Government’s largess, to the satanic propaganda of the media, to the drug infested, Satan worshipping Hollywood pedophile elites, who constantly churn out anti-American subterfuge. Christians have become a castrated shell of what God intended.

Thankfully, God has kept for Himself a remnant that has not bowed the knee to Baal. Satan is ravaging America and Christians could not care less. You are mistaken if you think Washington DC will save us. The beast system that has conquered Washington DC and every federal agency therein is not the friend of the true Christian. We must stop looking to them for any type of assistance and start standing against the Luciferians that control Washington DC. It is time to mount up and ride out into the war.

God will move when Christians move into the streets and begin an aggressive insurgency against the spiritual forces of darkness that has a choke hold on America. Will you rise up and join God’s Warriors?

****

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Mike Spaulding

But you are a Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  —1 Peter 2:9[1]

When reality smacks up against perception it can be a very sobering experience. Statistics from the Barna Group  indicate that professing Christians hold to the same views as their unsaved friends and neighbors in the categories of viewing pornography, maintaining legalized abortion, and in supporting same-sex unions.[2]

Pornography is a plague upon every person it entraps, disrupting the natural affections and distorting the expectations people place upon their spouse’s. Pornographic images burn themselves into the memory banks of the mind and the enemy of God’s people throws them up on the big screen every opportunity he has. Social scientists and law enforcement professionals agree that many crimes are directly linked to the perpetrator’s pornographic viewing.[3]

Abortion, for all the euphemisms people use to blunt the truth of what it is, is still the murdering of unborn human beings. The barbaric practice of abortion – regardless of the type, scope, or process – is still a modern day blood offering to Satan.

Same-sex marriage is an oxymoron. Marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Adultery is not “having a fling” or an “affair.” It is a violation of the covenant a man and woman swear to uphold before God as their witness.

Since all of this is true, why do so many professing believers struggle to overcome these spiritual, physical, and emotional traps? When the data is available for everyone to see, when wrecked lives, utterly devastated marriages, and children in crisis are evidence of the dangers of the actions captured statistically above, why do Christians of all people continue to believe they won’t be touched by their participation in them?

How is it possible that people who have the Holy Spirit of God living in them can engage in such behavior on a routine basis? How is it possible that people who profess to follow Jesus Christ practice at nearly the same percentages as their unbelieving family, friends, and co-workers the things listed above? These statistics alert us to the fact that the holiness and righteousness Christians are empowered to exhibit is not done by many thousands who profess faith in Christ. And apparently many are perfectly fine with that.

Friends, something is terribly wrong with the type of Christianity being manifested by a large segment of professing believers today. How has the message of the Bible become so convoluted as to give cover for egregious behavior such as stated above?

I believe that one of many reasons professing Christians engage in ungodly and sinful behavior is that they have become convinced that God loves them no matter what and that His primary concern for them is their happiness. Thus, if God wants what makes us happy, then an unexpected pregnancy can be terminated because after all, God knows we are not ready to be a parent and it would be a shame to try to raise a child when the timing isn’t right.

Now, readers should be asking themselves at this point, where does anyone who reads the Bible come up with the idea that God’s primary concern is for people’s happiness? You are correct to ask that question, and I believe you already know the answer. It’s not found in the Bible but it is taught by many pastors as their stock and trade. Appealing to people emotionally is big business in the Church today. Encouraging people to chase things natural to the flesh and cloaking it in quasi-biblical garb, only feeds the beast of ego, unfettered desire, and unfulfilled expectation.

Overcoming sinful behavior is not aided by reminding people that God loves them so much and will continue to love them through their sinful behavior. Let’s apply that to drug addiction. How are we helping people by telling them that God loves them as they are shooting a deadly poison into their veins, and He loves them even up to and including their overdose and death? Stop that! You and I both know we are going to make an intervention and we are going to do whatever it takes to assist someone to stop their behavior, even employing what is commonly called tough love.

The truth is that pastors are creating train wrecks in believer’s lives by the things they teach week by week. Calling people to holy and righteous living is so 1950’s in the minds of many today. Simply teaching the Bible is now viewed as backward and out of step with modern people. But here is a truth we must accept and press – abandoning straight forward Bible teaching has opened a Pandora’s Box that we cannot shut. I believe this is why so many Christians engage in the ungodly behaviors listed above. They are not hearing the Bible taught as the power of God unto salvation and godly living. It is instead seen as a collection of good moral guidelines if they are ever needed.

Adding to the clear dilemma is the fact that discipleship and church discipline are also disregarded. If we are taking the Scriptural command to make disciples of every nation, teaching them the words of Jesus – and we are lovingly confrontational as part of our corporate life together – then these snares of the enemy would not be so successful.

What Christians need today are pastors who will say “the deeds of the flesh are . . . .” and who will back this up with action. Christians are as the Apostle Peter reminds us, “… a Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Because Christians, those who have trusted in Christ’s atoning work on Calvary’s cross for the forgiveness of their sins, have been called out of the darkness to walk in the light that is Jesus Christ, we should deny darkness any and every opportunity to manifest in us or in those we love.

Only when we are walking in the light of Jesus Christ can we proclaim His excellencies. Our testimony to what God has done in our lives is a very important aspect of remembering who we are. God says many things about His sons and daughters in the Bible. We can encourage one another with those things.

Are we suffering from an identity crisis as believers today? Indeed we are.

Too many Christians do not understand because they’ve never been taught that they are dragon slayers. Christians are meant to be people of renown or at least a peculiar people when contrasted with the culture at large.[4]  Wisdom and courage are to be our constant companions. An unflinching devotion to Christ is of primary importance in our lives. Christ said that our love for Him would be demonstrated by our obedience to what He commands. Obedience to Christ leads to blessings from Him, assurance of who He is and a constant experience of His power working in us and through us.

We cannot occupy until Christ comes again if we do not know that we are even in His Army. Where do we start to regain what has been lost to the deceptive teaching of hirelings and modern day motivational speakers masquerading as pastors? We start right here with reclaiming our spiritual God-given heritage.

The first action we take is throwing off the effeminate pseudo-identity that culture has foisted upon us. Why do we allow pagans, heretics, and the unsaved masses in the media, government indoctrination centers (public schools), and social media behemoths to dictate to us who we are in Christ? Men, it is time to be real men. Lead your families with godly vision and holy fire. Love your wife and give her your best, not the crumbs left over after doing everything else that needs done in your day. Protect your children from the ravenous wolves of secularism, the anointed high priests of our government education propaganda system and from the evil of media in all its ubiquitous forms. These are slithering serpents that brainwash people until they become mindless zombies repeating the ungodly drivel of progressivism which is only progressive in its march away from God.

Secondly we must become better at listening carefully to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us day by day if we will take the time to listen. How important is this? Consider just a few of the things the Bible tells us about living by the power of and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 2:38).

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  (John 3:5).

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (John 6:63).

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:25).

for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, (Philippians 3:3).

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24).

The reality of our new life in Christ is that we are provided with all that we need day by day to live obediently to the Father by the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit will always lead us into righteousness and will never lead us into error. The Holy Spirit will always lead us toward the fight and never advise us to duck and run.

Thirdly, become people of prayer. Husbands pray for your wives.[5]  Wives love your husbands, support and respect them. I encourage wives to pray[6] Proverbs 4:20-27 over your husbands daily. It states clearly the importance of listening to the Word of God and allowing it to govern the mind, soul, and heart.

20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
26 Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

Finally, plumb the depths of the Bible together as men, women, and children. Stop the misinformed segregation of our young people into their “teen” or “youth” groups and learn the wonder of our great God together. Make sure you are teaching your children the Bible and not a publisher’s watered down version of Bible stories.

Demand and only support shepherds who are faithful to proclaim the whole truth of the Bible. Friends, it is in the pages of the Bible that we learn who God is and what He says about us. Our identity is found in God’s Word, in His heart for us, and in the myriad pictures of His love for us. Remember and cherish this.

A word of caution here – this is not a call to a “witch hunt” or to creating a new cadre of Pharisees that sit in judgment of shepherds God has called. It is a call to support and encourage faithful men who teach and preach and give of themselves for the benefit of God’s people. You should know the difference between men who need to be dismissed because they are not called of God and men who need to be supported. We are called to treat one another with love and respect.[7]

When we understand who we are in Christ, the resources that are ours by spiritual birthright, and the power that living a life of obedience yields to our earthly benefit, we will regain our true identity and rise up in unison to advance the Light that is Jesus Christ.

© 2018 NWV – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

Footnotes:

[1] Unless otherwise stated all Scripture references are from The New American Standard Bible Expanded Edition, 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation).

[2] For stats on pornography among professing believers  –  Accessed March 8, 2018. For stats on abortion  –  Accessed March 8, 2018.  For stats on same-sex unions  –  Accessed March 8, 2018.

[3] Statistics available hear.  Accessed February 25, 2018.

[4] 1 Peter 2:9 in the KJV.

[5] I will provide specific reasons why men must pray for their wives in a future article.

[6] Covering Your Husband in Prayer 31 Days available here  –  Accessed February 26, 2018.

[7] Mark 12:29-31; John 13:34-35; Romans 13:8; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; for example.

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” —Matthew 12:24

If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. —Jesus Christ in Matthew 12:27

A recent article posted at The Huffington Post by religion reporter Carol Kuruvilla announced the group Vote Common Good (VCG), was beginning a bus tour to selected cities in America to challenge conservative evangelical Christian support for President Trump.

Who and what is Vote Common Good and what issues do they see as problematic for Christians supporting President Trump specifically and the Republican Party generally? Not surprisingly the “who” of Vote Common Good reads like a progressive, leftist, Marxist list of who’s who. The Executive Director of VCG is Doug Pagitt, he of the once dubbed Emerging Church movement, and author of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, among other books.

Kuruvilla quotes Pagitt giving readers his motivation for steering VCG: “Evangelicals care about the least of these, and I believe them when they say it…but they vote for politicians that invoke policies that don’t care for the least of these.” Here Pagitt is being deceitful either through his personal ignorance or deliberate obfuscation concerning the issue of immigration. Either way this is social gospel 101 which is to say not the biblical gospel.

The social gospel takes biblical language such as “the least of these” and super charges it with progressive Marxist meaning and liberation theology. Kuruvilla admits as much when she says that Pagitt and other Progressive Christians “are outraged by the Trump administration’s restrictive refugee policies and its separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border…” For Progressive Christians like Pagitt, their silence during eight long years of the reign of the Obama regime, who enforced the very same rules and laws concerning immigration, is a condemning indictment against their faux rage with President Trump and Republicans, and this makes the foundation for VCG disingenuous in the least.

Pagitt and his cohorts’ carefully choreographed meltdown over the current media driven crisis concerning immigration is better suited for Broadway than it is for national discussion. Nevertheless, true Christians should take this opportunity to give solid biblical reasons for why we must oppose what the left, masquerading as Christians is attempting to do. The reason I say this is: (1) Immigration MUST be regulated. A nation simply cannot and should not allow for mass invasion by whoever shows up at its borders. (2) There must be a vetting process for the safety of a nation’s citizens which its government is bound by law and morals to protect as a primary mission. (3) God has established sovereign nations, and recognizable borders and the enforcement of them is consistent with God’s design.

Sometimes open borders advocates such as Pagitt, McLaren, Wallis, and Clairborne, quote scriptural passages such as Exodus 23 or Deuteronomy 10 that admonish God’s people to be kind to the foreigner who was living amongst them (Exod. 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19). These exhortations are merely referring to basic compassion toward the less fortunate in their midst. These less fortunate were those who were foreigners and yet legal citizens of the nation of Israel. They were not immigrants. Context is everything in biblical interpretation but Pagitt and VCG don’t want people to know that because their position is much more palatable to people who do not know the truth of what the Bible actually says.

Bryan Fischer, a commentator on American Family Radio has said, “No one has a constitutional or moral right to immigrate to the United States. The Constitution gives Congress unilateral authority to decide under what conditions those from foreign lands are admitted into our country.”

Something else is clearly at work here.

That something else is the destruction of orthodox Christianity. Pagitt along with co-conspirators Brian McLaren, John Pavlovitz, Reverend Jacqui Lewis, Shane Claiborne, and Nadia Bolz-Weber, whom Kuruvilla names as “prominent progressive Christian pastors…authors, ministers and activists,” involved in promoting the VCG tour left orthodox Christianity a long time ago. They are now on a mission to destroy true Christianity from the inside out. They are in fact the tares the enemy planted in the wheat field of God’s people. “Progressive” Christian is an oxymoron. We could just as easily call them “Fascist” Christian or “Marxist” Christian.

Their support for the Democrat Party is proof enough of that. Let me give some specifics of what Pagitt is encouraging Christians to support by his support of the Democrat Party:

• The redefinition of women’s reproductive healthcare to mean the wholesale murder of unborn human beings up to the day of delivery from the mother’s womb. Murdering babies is not healthcare it is momicide.
• This right to murder unborn human beings must include the most heinous practice of partial birth abortion where the baby’s head is positioned outside of the mother’s vagina so that the baby’s brains can be removed.
• The legal and moral sanction of men with men and women with women and the prosecution of anyone who dares voice disapproval.
• The normalization of pedophilia.
• Drag Queens, transgenderism, transsexualism, and every other sexual depravity being normalized to our children through government indoctrination centers commonly called public schools.
• Open borders for everyone showing up wanting access to America.
• Confiscation of all fire arms from law abiding citizens.
• Censorship of all viewpoints that oppose their party line.
• Advancing the demonic LBGT debauchery through foreign policy.
• Incorporation of Wicca, New Age, and Satan worshippers into the Democrat Party.
• Rejection of God and prayer from the national life of Americans and certainly the Democrat Party Platform.
• Forcing Americans to pay for everything the out of control US Federal Government can dream of.
• Advocating violence against fellow citizens because they hold a conservative viewpoint. See Waters, Clinton, Holder, et al.
• Government corruption during the Obama years including the unprovoked destruction of Libya, Egypt, and Syria.
• Doing away with the Electoral College that the founding fathers were wise enough to install to protect Americans against the tyranny they envisioned happening in present day California and New York.
• The purposeful and with malice, attempted destruction of people for no other reason than they hold to a different perspective on moral issues. Two words here: Judge Kavanaugh.

I could go on but the point is that what Pagitt and Vote Common Good is doing is telling people to vote Democrat and by extension to support the demonic behavior listed above and much more. Given the things that the Democrat Party stands for, it is beyond insanity to suggest Americans should support them, especially that Christians should support them. The talking points Pagitt and his supporters utilize are the same tired, meaningless, amorphous topics: the environment, poverty, healthcare, etc. etc. How can Pagitt and his supporters be so blind?

They are blind because what is at work here is supernatural. America is in the throes of a spiritual war manifesting in space and time. The Kavanaugh hearing was just the latest example of Luciferianism from the Democrats and their puppet masters. Pagitt and VCG are nothing more than zombie foot soldiers of the left in this war. Mike Adams has very succinctly stated:

Realize this is not a political war but a spiritual war. The demon-possessed Leftists don’t merely want to achieve political victory and rule society with “progressive” ideas; they seek to destroy humanity, obliterate human life, mass murder babies, outlaw Christianity, demonize people based on the color of their skin, and even decimate all crops, forests and food sources on the planet by eliminating CO2 from the atmosphere. They are at war with humanity, and they merely pretend to be interested in politics as a means to accomplish their complete destruction of life on Earth.[1]

There is a reason why black Americans are leaving the Democrat Party by the thousands. There is a reason why the #walkaway movement is growing day by day. There is a reason why older Americans are leaving the party they have been a part of for decades. That reason is because the Democrat Party has become the party of Beelzebul. For those not familiar with the word, Beelzebul is Satan in the New Testament.

The current and recent leadership of the Democrat Party has taken it not just to the left, not even a hard left, but an off the charts course change that has embraced every form of debauchery, every form of anti-American policy, every anti-Christian position imaginable. The Democrat Party is one manifestation of the spirit of antichrist in our day. Apparently Pagitt and other VCG adherents are on board with these things.

Pagitt is quoted in the article as saying: “My faith does not call me to be Republican or Democrat, but to be faithful, and to be faithful is exercise my right to action, according to the situation on the ground, and what’s on the ground is calling us to flip Congress, because it is no good.” Once again, this is nothing but lip service and propaganda aimed at disarming the naïve Christians among us. Pagitt is providing a religious cover for all those that wish to continue the activities of the Democrat Party listed above.

What Pagitt and VCG want is leftist, progressive, fascist governments that in their warped sense of reality will much better care for citizens, the less fortunate among us, and the environment. Maybe Pagitt could spend about two minutes in Venezuela and let us know what he thinks of leftist progressive government then.

The truth is Pagitt is not being faithful to biblical mandates either in precept or command. He is being faithful to his brainwashed version of reality where he thinks the goal of Christianity is to reshape the world into a paradise and he is ok attempting to use government to do it.

Pagitt needs to be reminded that this world is fallen. Sin has destroyed the original beauty this world was created in. Not until Christ returns will all things be set straight and made new. Only when Christ returns will evil be completely dealt with.

Yes, Christians should be assisting the less fortunate but not in isolation from the gospel. What Vote Common Good does is a disservice to the gospel and to Christianity. It is nothing but a political ploy which Pagitt and others claim they detest.

Claiming to be wise Pagitt shows himself to be a fool. The Democrat Party is unashamedly Luciferian in its intentions and in their stated goals. Its primary goal is to destroy Christianity and any lingering impact it has on America. In siding with them Pagitt and those who assist and support Vote Common Good are doing the work of Beelzebul whether they want to admit it or not.

Pastor Mike Spaulding

Postscript

Those of you who are tempted to write me “yea, but the Republicans…” can save your breath. I don’t support them either and the point of this article is to address Vote Common Good and the idiocy of following these blind guides of the blind. Christians should be rebuking VCG and its supporters starting with its leadership.

[1] Mike Adams, The REAL WAR for the future of humanity: Democrats increasingly possessed by demonic forces that seek the extermination of humanity? Accessed October 12, 2018.

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

I appreciate the cartoon strip “Peanuts” created by the late Charles Shultz.

I remember one strip that featured Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown having a conversation.  You may recall that Peppermint Patty was one of the characters in the Peanuts family who always seemed to treat Charlie Brown (or Chuck as she called him) well.

This particular strip showed the two walking home from school.  PP says to Charlie Brown, “Guess what Chuck?  The 1^st day of school, and I got sent to the principal’s office.  And it was your fault Chuck.”

In the next strip Charlie Brown looking bewildered by the statement responds, “My fault?  How could it be my fault that you were sent to the principal’s office?”

In the last frame Peppermint Patty says, “You’re my friend aren’t you Chuck?”  Charlie Brown says “Of course I’m your friend Peppermint Patty.”  She then says “Then you should have been a better influence on me.”

That gives new meaning to “passing the buck” doesn’t it?

But the central truth of that strip is hard to miss.  We do influence people for good and bad don’t we?

How many of you parents told your children to watch their attitudes and behaviors because they had younger siblings that were watching?  How many of you remember your parents telling you that?

Well nothing changes when you become a born-again Christian.  People are still watching you.  If anything the watching is intensified isn’t it?

A few years ago Huey Lewis had a hit song called “Jacob’s Ladder.”  You might not remember the song by the title but you might by the lyrics.  (No you can relax; I’m not going to sing it) In this song though, Lewis sang about being pursued by an obese man selling salvation (clearly a reference to the blight of scandalous televangelists).

The chorus line sang over and over again said in part, “I’m not in a hurry to think about such things, and I don’t want to be like you.”  OUCH!

People are watching you.  That begs the question – Have you ever considered what they see?

There’s no shortage of people in the world who are not afraid to say “If that’s what Christianity is about, you can keep it because I don’t want to be like you.”

Joe Aldrich, author of the book “Life-Style Evangelism” said: “Christians should be the good news before they share the good news.”

I like that because it says that we should understand that how we live our lives has a direct impact upon the effectiveness of our witness.

The Barna Research Group recently released the results of a study involving 10,000 Christians.  Three of the questions posed to this group of people were these:

• What were the circumstances surrounding your salvation?
• How were you saved?
• Who or what started you going to church?

The results according to the Barna Research Group were as follows:

½ of 1%      as a result of attending a revival service
2%              went to church initially because they had a special need
3%              were attracted to the church’s programs
5%              liked the Sunday School
6%              liked the pastor (I think that # is low)
79%            came to Christ because of the witness of a friend

Now that’s influence in action!  Did you know that having this kind of influence, making this type of impact on our friends and the culture at large is exactly what Jesus taught?

Let’s see how God’s Word makes this point this morning.

5:13-16

The full impact of these words is lost on us today because we don’t appreciate the value of salt in past generations.

In ancient societies, salt was a valuable commodity.  For example at the height of the Roman Empire, its soldiers received their pay in salt.

In fact, did you know that our English word “salary” comes from the Latin word “salarium” which referred to these payments of salt made to Roman soldiers?

It’s from this practice that we developed our saying “he’s not worth his salt” to describe someone that we think is lazy and not worth their wages.

So, the multitudes listening to Jesus that day would have clearly understood that He was talking about something very important when he likened them to salt.

I’ve heard a lot of theories over the years concerning the exact meaning that Jesus had in mind by using the symbol of salt.  Some have said for instance that:

• Since salt is white it represents purity; Christians are to be pure; in fact Jesus has just told them this very thing.
• Since salt adds flavor, Christians are to add flavor to the world; we are to live a life of joy and excitement that draws people to investigate the source of our joy.
• Others have said that since salt stings in a wound, Christians are to be an irritant to ungodly behavior (some Christians have made being an irritant an art form).
• Some have suggested that since salt creates thirst, Christians should create a thirst for God in those who don’t know Him.

I don’t disagree with any of those points.  But I believe there is something else meant here.  I believe the primary idea that Jesus was communicating here was that Christians, like salt, are to be a preserving influence on society.

The primary usage of salt in Jesus’ day and even into the early 20^th century was as a preservative.

Salt was used to prevent food from spoiling.  So what Jesus was saying to us is that Christians are to be a preserving influence on the world.  We are to influence our surroundings morally in the same way that salt prevents decay in food.

This is a consistent message we see in the Scriptures.  In the book of Colossians we read these words:

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders (unbelievers), making the most of the opportunity.  Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you are to respond to each person” (4:5-6).

I’m reminded of Jesus’ words to the church of Laodicea found in Revelation:

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.  So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (3:15-16).

The point is this – Christians who have a shallow faith, Christians who are half-hearted and inconsistent have lost their saltiness and Jesus says have lost their purpose and effectiveness.

In our passage this morning Jesus uses two illustrations – salt and light.  Notice the contrast and the similarity between the two.

Here’s the contrast – salt is most often unseen until tasted.  Light on the other hand is a very visible and revealing influence.  The similarity takes some looking.  It is found in the pronoun “you” in v13 and v 14.  In these statements “you” is emphatic.  Thus it is appropriate to read these verses as “You are the only salt of the earth; You are the only light of the world.

The corruption and evil in the world will not be addressed unless God’s children are its salt and light.  Our lives are to manifest what the world does not have but needs desperately- Jesus.

We are to reflect all that Jesus is and has done in our lives and we are to do it visibly so people will see and praise God.  That can be a challenge folks.

Again, people are looking at you and me as the best and maybe only example of what Christianity is. (We can’t be like pro athletes who say I’m not a role model because we are a role model for the lost)

What are people watching for?  I used to think that most unbelievers were watching to see me fall.  Some no doubt do but I’ve become convinced that most unbelievers are really watching me to see if Christianity “works.”

The plain truth is this folks – we are either telling people by our lives that we have a dynamic relationship with God through Jesus Christ or that Christianity is just another religion that has nothing to offer them.

Consider the story of this wealthy Christian woman living in Nairobi, Kenya who hired a young Kenyan as a house servant.  After 3 months of service the young man asked for a letter of reference to a Muslim family a few miles away.

The Christian woman offered to raise her servant’s pay but the young man said he wasn’t leaving because of money.  He then told her this:

“A few months ago I decided that I would either become a Christian or a Muslim.  I came to work for you to discover how Christians act.  Now I will go to live with a Muslim family to see how Muslims act.”

The Christian woman had mostly regrets as she recalled instantly all the times she did not act like a Christian toward this young man.

What’s the answer to this dilemma?  How do we face this challenge to be salt and light to our families, friends, and co-workers?

How can we avoid being “trampled under foot” or having our light “put under the peck measure?”  Jesus is telling us that the attitudes and actions of His followers either draw people toward a relationship with God or push them away.

We’ve all seen Christians who we wish would not say they’re a Christian.  It would be much better if they would just shut up. Christians who contribute more to pushing people away than drawing them closer to God are not being light and salt.

There’s the “in your face believer.”  They’re the ones who would pull up next to a car of total strangers and yell, “Hey, do you know that if you don’t get saved you’re going to hell?’

Then we have the “holier than thou” believers.  Their words and actions make it clear that you’ll never reach their lofty spiritual heights.

There are some believers that are cosmetic Christians (I’m not talking about ladies in pink Cadillacs).  Their faith is really nothing more than a thin veneer – skin deep – because it does not change their character, personality, or values.

So that’s how not to be.  How do we make sure we are drawing people? How do we fulfill Christ’s commands to be salt and light?

I think the first thing we need to be is consistent.  Our family, friends, and co-workers need to see us living what we say we believe.

Here’s a story that illustrates my point.

A business owner developed a habit of hiring Christians over a period of years.  What caused him to do this was the result of a situation he had experienced with a Christian employee.

The business owner said “I was naturally drawn to God by observing Christian workers who were conscientious and kind and thorough on the job.  But what really impressed me the most was the day one Christian whom I knew to be a brand new convert to Christ asked if he could speak to me after work.  I agreed but then for the rest of the day I grew increasingly concerned that this young zealot would try to convert me too.

I was surprised when he came into my office with his head hung low and said to me, ‘Sir, I’ll only take a few minutes, but I’m here to ask your forgiveness.  Over the years I’ve worked for you I’ve done what a lot of other employees do, like borrowing a few company products here and there.  And I’ve taken some extra supplies; I’ve abused telephone privileges; and I’ve cheated the time clock now and then.

But I became a Christian a few months ago and it’s real – not the smoke and mirrors stuff.  In gratitude for what Christ has done for me and in obedience to Him, I want to make amends to you and the company for the wrongs I’ve done.  So could we figure out a way to do that?  If you have to fire me for what I’ve done I’ll understand.  I deserve it.  Or if you want to dock my pay. Dock it whatever figure you think is appropriate.  If you want to give me extra work to do on my own time, that would be ok too.  I just want to make things right with God and between us.”

The business owner said it was this conversation more than anything else that encouraged him to take seriously the claims of Christ.

Did you notice that it wasn’t a clever presentation of the gospel; it wasn’t a well-rehearsed testimony.  It was a simple confession and willingness to make things right – to be a Christian who lives consistently with the things Christ taught.

To be salt and light also means that we will be compassionate Christians.  Compassion is not just an inward emotional attitude.  Biblical compassion is action oriented.

James illustrates this:

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (2:14-17).

I think its clear that “engagement” with the culture is the key to being salt and light.  Jesus is telling us we can make a difference.  In fact He has called us to make a difference.

Let me warn you though.  The world will throw up roadblocks to try and stop you from being salt and light.

How do they do that?  How many of you have heard someone say “Faith is a private matter.”?  This is one of those things that people just accept because it’s been said so often.

People say this all the time- “You shouldn’t talk about sex, politics, or religion in public.”  You know what I see today?  That list is down to one – religion.  People hope to silence Christians by insisting that faith is a private matter.  Is that what Jesus taught?

Jesus told His followers to go into the world and preach the good news to all creation.”  He said “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The world will try and stop you from being salt and light by insisting that compromise is good.  Here’s a curious fact for you brothers and sisters – religion is on the rise in America today but morality is at an all time low and getting worse.

How can that be?  I believe it’s because the salt has lost its flavor and the light has been hidden.  In current terms this means that the ethics and morals of a vast number of Christians are no different from their unbelieving neighbors.

What is a Christian?  We’ve been studying the answer to that question for a couple of weeks now.  Jesus has much to say on the subject.

Consider this illustration as a glimpse of the answer.

A young boy of 9 years old went to Europe with his parents one summer.  Part of their trip was spent visiting the old gothic cathedrals scattered across the continent.

The boy was mesmerized by the vastness of the ancient cathedrals.  He stared in awe at the magnificent stained glass windows.  He wondered at the portraits of the disciples.  When he got back to America he was asked by his Sunday School teacher what he liked most about the old churches.

The boy replied “the great stained glass windows picturing the saints.”  His SS teacher asked him if he knew what a saint was.  Without hesitating the boy said “A saint is a person the light shines through.”

What a profound yet simple truth.  A Christian is someone whom the light of Christ shines through.  Is it shining through you?

Our being salt and light is for the express purpose of influencing people for Christ.  That’s what v16 is telling us.

The word for “good” this verse uses to describe our works that the world sees is not used to emphasize quality here as much as it is used to emphasize beauty and attractiveness.

The thought is that when we give feet to our faith, when we demonstrate the character of Christ, when we shine that way, then people will take notice of the beautiful work that God has done in our lives and they will be attracted to Him through us.

Isn’t that a humbling thought?  I’m reminded of Ephesians 2:10 which says:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

I found a poem this week that speaks directly to this passage of Scripture.  It is entitled:

The Gospel According to You

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Are read by more than a few
But the one that is most read and commented on
Is the gospel according to you.
You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day
By the things that you do and the words that you say,
Men read what you write, whether faithless or true,
Say, what is the gospel according to you?
Do men read His truth and His love in your life,
Or has yours been too full of malice and strife?
Does your life speak of evil, or does it ring true?
Say, what is the gospel according to you?

Arthur McPhee

*This is from my Matthew series taught at Calvary Chapel of Lima from 2006-2008. I am currently teaching through Matthew again. This will be the 2015-2016 series and will be available in audio format soon. Look for those teachings on my teaching ministry site – The Transforming Word.

The Sermon on the Mount picture from Vinelife UK.

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Dr. Mike Spaulding

I was listening to Coach Dave Daubenmire recently and during his Coach Dave Live program he made the point that Christianity as lived out by the overwhelming majority of American Christians has become nothing more than a custodian service. Let that sink in friends. Christians are nothing more than glorified janitors. Ouch! The truth hurts but out of that pain can come an understanding of what needs to change.

How are Christians only glorified janitors? Consider that Christians and the churches they call their spiritual homes spend untold amounts of time, energy, and finances on addiction recovery programs, counseling confused people about marriage, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, parenting, and every sort of life issue imaginable. There is even an army of “life coaches” that offer their services to Christians unable to deal with what their lives have become.

Now some Christians reading this might think, “Well what’s wrong with all of those things? Shouldn’t Christians be helping people to overcome their problems?” The problem with this strategy, this method of ministry, is that it is reactive instead of proactive. That’s right; Christians are reacting to people after the damage has been done. We are like janitors called to clean up the mess Johnnie and Jane make in the classroom because they’ve never been taught to understand that certain behavior is neither acceptable nor tolerated. A forgotten truth is this: certain behaviors result in negative and often catastrophic consequences for the individual involved and often others as a result of association with or by unfortunate contact with an individual.

Let me give you some concrete examples of what I’m talking about. Here in Ohio where I live, 13% of the state budget is spent on addiction, substance use, and abuse programs.[1] Of the 13%, $0.02 of every budgeted dollar pays for prevention and treatment programs and $0.90 of every budgeted dollar pays for the consequences of addiction, substance use, and abuse. Do those figures suggest anything to you? What they suggest to me is that if we must spend tax payer money on things like this, perhaps the amount spent on prevention should increase so that the amount spent on the consequences can decrease. Does it not follow that more emphasis on prevention might mean less negative consequences and the need for a bloated budget to pay for those consequences?

Further, these negative consequences for certain behavior places a large and growing burden on state health care systems. Consider that:

The largest share of spending on the consequences of addiction and substance use falls to the health care system. Tobacco, alcohol and drug use cause or contribute to more than 70 other conditions requiring medical care, including cancer, lung disease, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy complications, cirrhosis, ulcers and trauma. Nearly 1/3 of all hospital costs are linked to addiction and substance use.[2]

Addiction and substance use and abuse also impacts federal spending related to welfare, mental health, job and family services, and health care. Billions of dollars are authorized annually to assist people with the consequences of their behavior.

Let’s now consider the practice of abortion. The absurd ramblings of a demented Chelsea Clinton aside,[3] there is a tremendous toll being paid by Americans today resulting from the now 70 million plus unborn human beings murdered since the Supreme Court invented the “right” to murder unborn human beings 45 years ago.  This decision by our black-robed despots has had devastating effects.

One of the consequences of the Roe v. Wade invention was Post-Abortion Syndrome. In the early years of abortion women suffered in silence as the effects of their decision to murder their unborn child washed over them like ocean waves. Post-Abortion Syndrome continues to ravage women who undergo an abortion.[4]

The Students for Life organization at the University of Colorado recently published an article titled, “The Cost of Abortion.”[5]  This short analysis provided several alarming facts. Studies conducted among women who aborted their unborn children revealed:

• 55% expressed guilt.
• 44% complained of nervous disorders.
• 36% reported sleep disorders.
• 31% regretted the decision to abort their unborn child.
• 11% were administered a psychotropic medication by their doctor.

In another study cited that included 500 post-abortion women, 50% admitted to negative emotions concerning their decision to abort their unborn children, and 10% were classified as having developed serious psychiatric problems. Additionally, 30%-50% of post-abortion women reported sexual dysfunction ranging from short to long term beginning immediately after their abortions. The truth of the matter is this: a majority of women who make the decision to abort their unborn children will suffer some type of guilt, shame, sexual dysfunction, and psychiatric trauma, for which a majority will seek medical assistance and prescription drugs to deal with the aforementioned symptoms.

Perhaps even more troubling than the data cited above is the fact that women who abort their unborn children suffer what researchers and medical doctors report as depression often leading to suicide or attempted suicide, and other self-destructive behaviors including drug and alcohol abuse, chronic relationship issues due to dramatic personality changes, an increased tendency toward violence, and difficulty bonding with children they birth after a previous abortion.

Finally, the physical damage done to women who abort their unborn children is suppressed by abortion supporting organizations including hospitals, doctors, medical and psychiatric associations, and research institutions. Researchers not afraid to report what big medicine, big pharma, and big government try to hide, report that upwards of 5% of all women who abort their unborn children suffer sterility as a result of the operation’s latent morbidity.[6] Cervical damage almost always occurs and one study reveals that cervical incompetence was found in 75% of women who underwent forced dilation for an abortion.[7] This results in increased risks of miscarriage, premature birth, and complications during later pregnancies. In fact, a major study of first pregnancy abortions reveals that 48% of women who terminated their first pregnancy later experienced on average 2.3 miscarriages for every live birth.[8]

I hope you are still with me. Statistics can be dry and sometimes boring but they serve a purpose. In this instance they serve to vividly illustrate that federal, state, and even local governments are all involved in spending money to address the painful consequences of people’s behavior. The church is not immune from this activity either. I see all kinds of churches advertising for clients to attend their programs of recovery from this, that, or the other thing. Pastors get in on the act too. I often see promotions on social media about a “new and dynamic series that will teach you how to avoid the pitfalls of (you fill in the blank).”

I’m all for helping people in their time of need with few qualifications. But the idea that the church, that Christians, should be running around taking care of all the foolish people that believe they can engage in behavior that they know will lead them into a dark and difficult place, is naïve and misguided to say the least.

Instead of spending all our time putting band aids on gaping wounds that require surgery and stiches, how about we go straight to the source of the behavior that causes these painful consequences and eliminate them?

Listen folks, Satan is a liar and always has been. The lies he hisses in people’s ears need rebuked. Alcohol is dangerous. I’m not suggesting you become a teetotaler but I am saying you better be very careful with your use of alcohol. It might take you places you never intended to go and demand from you things you are not willing to forfeit. Alcohol is a cruel master that cares nothing about the things you do. If you allow yourself to become controlled by it you will lose everything you hold dear. If you think you are the one person that can beat the odds then you are more foolish than you realize.

In light of the tremendous drug and alcohol addiction crisis we face as Americans, it is very troubling that the so-called hipster Christians, you know, the skinny jeans, bearded, beer drinking, pot smoking, “new Christianity” Christians, engage in these addictive behaviors. Listen folks the church is supposed to reflect Christ not the culture.

If Christians really want to help drug and alcohol addicts then maybe we should start going to places that sell the stuff, like say, bars or night clubs, and stand outside with signs that suggest what they are about to do will destroy their lives and then engage them in conversation. If we can save anyone from the hell-hole of addiction don’t you think it is worth our time? Let’s go to the source before the mess is made!

If the church really wants to help victims of the modern day demonic ritual of child sacrifice euphemistically called abortion “choice” then it should be marching in front of abortion clinics in their communities. Christians should be shouting from the rooftops that aborting unborn children is indeed murder. Stop believing that satanic lie that “if you tell people that abortion is murder they will just tune you out as some type of radical.” If you don’t tell them abortion is murder you’ll answer to your Creator as to why you didn’t tell them the truth. Here’s the truth folks: holding signs showing the dismembered bodies of unborn children is an undeniable truth that abortion is murder. That’s why so many people will not look at a sign like that. But when someone does and it causes them to pause and think, don’t you think that is worth your time to engage them in conversation about the precious gift of life?

Think of this folks: if you go to an abortion clinic and persuade one woman to change her mind you have saved her from the likelihood of serious future psychological and medical issues AND saved her unborn child from the executioner’s forceps. Let’s not stop there though. If we are going to persuade women to not murder their unborn children we better be prepared to help those women to find a good home for their child should they decide to allow someone else to adopt. Wouldn’t that be a better way for a church to spend its resources than on a new bigger or better building?

Pastor’s how about you start preaching on the sanctity of life every Sunday? Life is precious in God’s eyes so let’s remind people to stop viewing pornography. It destroys the mind and devalues people, making the joy of sexual intimacy a vapor that disappears.

Christians if we want to graduate from being janitors that clean up the mess people make of their lives then let’s get proactive in our churches, in our communities, in our families, and in every other thing we are involved in. Let’s take the fight to the enemy by reclaiming our streets.

[BIO: Pastor Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. Dr. Mike Spaulding Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Lima and the Host of Soaring Eagle Radio & Host of  Soaring Eagle Radio & DrMikeLive.com  E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com
E-Mail Mike Spaulding: pastormike@cclohio.org

Footnotes:

[1] Data available by state here State spending addiction risk use Accessed August 25, 2018.

[2] Costs of risky use addiction  Accessed August 25, 2018.

[3] Craig Bannister Chelsea Clinton Roe helped add three and half trillion dollars our economy  Accessed August 25, 2018.

[4] www.lifeissues.org Accessed August 25, 2018.

[5] Studentgroups students for life  Accessed August 25 2018.

[6] Abortion complications  Accessed August 25, 2018

[7] ibid.

[8] ibid.

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

My message to you via this article is a call to action. Let me give you a frame of reference with a large dash of levity.

Please:

“Come listen to my story ‘bout a man named Jed.
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed.
Then one day, he was shootin’ at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubbling crude.
Black Gold, Texas Tea.

Well, the first thing you know ol’ Jed’s a millionaire.
Kin folk said Jed, move away from there.
Said, Californy is the place you ought to be,
So he loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly,
Hills that is. Swimmin’ pools, movie stars.

Anyone remember that theme song? What was the show? The show was The Beverley Hillbillies. Hard to believe that the Beverly Hillbillies was THE top rated television program for 2 of its 9 years on the air; it spend several years as a top 5 rated program, and it was ranked in the top 10 every year. That’s mega-success by television standards.

♦ Did you know the Beverly Hillbillies received 7 Emmy Award nominations?
♦ Did you know that the Beverly Hillbillies had two spin-offs – Petticoat Junction and Green Acres?
♦ Here’s another piece of trivia – Americans loved the show but television reviewers – the “critics” – hated it.

It’s not hard to understand why the critics hated the show. The Beverly Hillbillies presented an America and Americans that had a conscience that subscribed to a Judeo-Christian morality and perspective on life, even though the script writers rarely mentioned God, Jesus, or the Bible. And the two spin-offs – Petticoat Junction and Green Acres followed the same script of wholesome values and moral teachings.

But in the 1960s Hollywood was changing. It wasn’t obvious to most Americans then, but the “enlightened” critics wanted television to be a vehicle for social revolution. Hollywood even in those days was becoming a hub for anti-American values and they especially hated Christianity. Friends, the seeds of censorship of the Christian message began in the 1960’s not 2018.

Let me take you back to that era for a moment. The Beverly Hillbillies aired from 1962 – 1971. Those were the days weren’t they? In 1962 I was in the 1^st grade so it was a long time ago. Let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane.

In 1962 America’s children were still:

♦ Praying to God each day in the government school system.
♦ Reading their Bible each day in the government school system.
♦ Still being taught biblical creationism in the government school system.

Pastors were warmly greeted and asked to pray at sporting events, high school graduation ceremonies, civic organizations, school board meetings, city council meetings, and many other events.

When the Beverly Hillbillies aired, the wholesale slaughter of unborn children upon the demonic altar named “choice” was unconscionable.

When Jed, Granny, Ellie Mae, and Jethro Bodine entertained Americans with their homespun wisdom and thinly-veiled Christian morality, we didn’t have naked men, women, and children, dressed in the most sadomasochistic attire parading in our streets and celebrating their “pride.” Brothers and sisters hear me clearly – there is nothing to be proud about what men do sexually to other men or what women do sexually to other women.

America of the 1960’s my brothers and sisters, has been deliberately destroyed and a new America has risen from its ashes. We have gone from:

♦ Leave It To Beaver to the number one on demand video platform – Netflix – offering pornography available to anyone including children.

♦ We have gone from Happy Days where the trouble teenagers got into was drag racing in the streets, to Antifa which is bringing bloodshed to our streets.

Would you agree that America 2018 is a broken and crippled nation, far removed from the vision of our Founding Fathers?

Now, the question that I must ask at this point is this: What are we going to do? What are we going to do to change the trajectory of America? What are we going to do to push back against the darkness that has a stranglehold on the throat of America and is systematically choking the life out of this nation?

Here’s what we cannot do friends – we cannot continue to skip down the yellow brick road to Oz, thinking that it will all work itself out in the end. Inaction is surrender!

We cannot trust that our eschatology will save us. Can I give you a word of encouragement here friends? Stop fussing about the rapture! I could not care less what your understanding of eschatology is. Here’s another word for you: stop arguing about what day we are required to honor God on.

You are not more spiritual or closer to God based on what day you set aside to honor Him. You are not more biblically rooted and prophetically astute based on your view of the rapture timing.

And speaking of our holy huddles – whatever day you choose to honor God on – we have to stop thinking that gathering together with our brothers and sisters a few hours one day a week constitutes our service for God.

What about the other 6.5 days? What about James’ admonition that faith without works is dead? What about the Apostle Paul’s admonition to be living sacrifices to Christ daily, and to demonstrate that by being transformed in our thinking? Are we only to have transformed minds one day a week?

I hope you have your Bible close by. If not, use your phone and turn with me to Acts 1:1-8. This is a familiar passage to most everyone. Different people focus on different things when they read the Bible. Here’s what I want you to see from this passage.

Take note that in V4-5 God gives us power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. Some people ignore this power because they are more concerned about a proper theology and especially a proper view of the end times. That’s exactly the mindset of the disciples as stated in V6.

Remember my word of encouragement a few moments ago to stop arguing about eschatology? Jesus says the same thing in V7. Don’t worry about it. The Father has it under control.

Here’s what we need to be concerned about according to Jesus – V8.

What do we see in this passage? I see at least three things for you to remember. They are:

(1) Receive the Holy Spirit’s power.

♦ This is the power necessary to conquer the onslaught of evil in our day.
♦ This is the power that gives us boldness and unflinching courage.
♦ This is the power that causes the demons to shrink back and the darkness to flee.

(2) We are told that we must be Christ’s witnesses.

♦ Do you understand that this means we are to represent Him as He is not how the culture demands He be? Jesus is not a rainbow flag waving, socialist!

♦ Misrepresenting Jesus is a huge problem in America today because he has been refashioned by the Luciferians to use as a bludgeon against Christians who are too ignorant to know what is happening to them. Thus the Jesus these Christians witness of is not the biblical Jesus but a façade Jesus that hides the evil intentions and consequences of the demoniacs among us.

♦ Do you understand that this means we are to proclaim everywhere that only Jesus saves and that we are to do this without apology or compromise?

(3) We are to tell our family, friends, co-workers, and fellow citizens of the town that we live in first. We must start in our Jerusalem and only when our Jerusalem is saturated are we to move beyond that place.

♦ There is more than enough work to be done to repair the breaches in the communities that we live in. We don’t need to look for opportunities elsewhere.

♦ Expect push back from your family, friends, co-workers, and fellow Christians. Keep making your case anyway.

Coming up in Part 2 of this article I will continue to use the America of the 1960’s as a backdrop to explain what is happening today. Thank you for taking the time to read Part 1 and please share it broadly within your circles.

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics. E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Pastor Mike: pastormike@cclohio.org

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By Pastor Mike Spaulding

Lead like Jesus! Sounds super spiritual and to use today’s hipster pastor language, “way cool!” There are blog posts, multiple articles, even books all dedicated to assisting readers in leading like Jesus lead. The question is, what does that even mean?

In many instances today, authors, speakers, and writers paint a picture of the compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, tolerance, and unbounded grace of Jesus. While Jesus is all those things, it doesn’t follow that is His leadership style. The fact is, modern Western Christianity has created a sad caricature of the biblical Jesus.

In Mark 10:32 we read that Jesus and the disciples were on the road once again, this time to head to Jerusalem. This verse says “and Jesus was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful.” The context of this passage and the place it sits within the overall narrative of Mark’s Gospel is important to understand.

Jesus was now within a few weeks, perhaps as few as 4 to 6, from His divine appointment at Golgotha. Chapter 11:1 tells us Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem. Their entry into Jerusalem in verse 11 is what we call Palm Sunday. So the events we are reading about in Mark 10  are relevant to their arrival in Jerusalem and the rapid escalation of hatred that culminated in Calvary.

So, Jesus was walking ahead of the twelve disciples and they were amazed. Do you know why they were amazed? The text doesn’t tell us specifically but I believe the twelve were amazed at the bold determination of Jesus to march right into the jaws of the beast that awaited Him in Jerusalem. The religious system of Judaism in that day was an apostate beast system of corruption, manipulation, and deceit. The Jews had been plotting to murder Jesus for at least the previous 18-24 months. They seethed with rage just thinking of His popularity among the people, and they had become convinced that unless Jesus was killed their entire religious business was going to collapse like an unstable house of cards.

In the events recorded in Mark 10, the Pharisees thought they had conceived of the perfect plan and that they had been patient enough to spring their trap when Jesus crossed over the Jordan into Perea (“beyond the Jordan” in 10:1). They deliberately brought up the issue of divorce thinking they could manipulate Jesus into getting Himself arrested based on His own words. The Pharisee’s plan was to engage Jesus in a debate about divorce while He was traveling through the territory ruled by Herod Antipas. It was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptists’ head removed. Do you recall why Herod took such action?  John was jailed and executed because he spoke loud and often that Herod was an adulterer for stealing his brother’s wife. But Jesus once again took them to theological school by teaching them God’s thoughts on the subject.

Now, I’m stating all of this to show you the true nature of Jesus’ leadership style.  Friends, Jesus is not the effeminate Fabio caricature much of the American church thinks He is. Do you want to lead like Jesus? Then here is what you are going to need to do.

(1) You are going to have to lead the way. You are going to have to take the point. I know it has become popular to say that pastoral leadership is all about teaching others to do the ministry. The reality is others will follow and learn as you lead and do. But you better be very careful about how and where you lead God’s people, especially if you are considered a shepherd. God will hold you personally responsible for the spiritual nourishment or lack thereof that His people receive.

(2) You are going to have to find some courage. Leading is not about having all the answers. Only Jesus had all the answers. Leading is about having a determination to meet evil head-on. This includes being courageous in the pulpit. Pastors and ministry leaders simply must stop all the cotton candy sermons about how much God loves people.  The most glaring problem in the church today is not a lack of self-love. People already love themselves too much.

(3) You are going to have to stop listening to false teachers. Today we have well-known teachers, former and current pastors, and heads of denominational organizations who have succumbed to critical race theory propaganda, cultural Marxism, LGBT depravity, the demonic deception that Islam is compatible with American culture and values, and every other Luciferian agenda passed off as “compassionate Christianity.” Listen to me brethren: find some courage and denounce these people and their heresies because here is the truth of the matter:

• Islam is the military arm of the forces of hell.
• American media is the propaganda arm of the forces of hell.
• Apostate Christianity provides the “religious” covering and immoral framework for the forces of hell.
• The United States Supreme Court has wrested power away from the aristocrats in Congress and has become the legal sledgehammer for the forces of hell.
• Naive, deceived, and compromised Christians are the useful idiots of the forces of hell.
• America’s corporations including multi-national companies, central banks, and social media behemoths, provide the financial support for the forces of hell.

There is a reason Jesus confronted the beast religious system of His day: He recognized that it was not of God, did not obey His commands, and was instead worshipping idols of their own creation. The LGBT flag-waving, affirming, proud professing Christians are going to wake up in eternity and experience sheer terror when they hear “depart from Me you workers of iniquity.” Listen to me Christian: there is nothing to be proud of when one man sticks his penis into another man’s rectum. Have you lost your mind? That is not love and love has not won anything. Wickedness won and if you can’t see that then you are the problem.

The Islamic interfaith dialogue crowd is a picture of what happens when you deny centuries of history, the plain teachings of the Koran, the current speeches of the God-haters scattered all around the world in mosques, and the barbaric atrocities committed daily for Allah’s honor. What is there to dialogue about with people who say Jesus Christ was not the Son of God, did not die on a cross, never rose from the dead, and certainly is not the Savior of the world? With the fields white to harvest why are impotent stooges being honored for giving Islamic jihadists cover with their blind ego-driven speeches and seminars?

(3) You will need to realize that not all will follow you. The twelve were amazed but the larger contingency of disciples that followed Jesus was fearful (10:32). As I mentioned above, the twelve were amazed at Jesus’ resolve to travel directly to Jerusalem. The twelve knew the heated debates and angry words the religious leaders hurled at Jesus. The twelve had been ridiculed themselves for following Jesus. Watching Jesus walk that road straight into Jerusalem was a lesson they would forget in Gethsemane and in the days following Jesus ascension but, it was also one they remembered and drew strength and courage from after the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Some will fall away because they fear the path you are walking. They fear what they perceive to be the negative consequences for them personally. They will count the cost and decide it is too high a price to pay.

(4) You are going to have to tell people to stop sinning. America is currently in a period of time in which we are witnessing a mass exodus from the church. Do you have any idea why? The reason is simply this: people see very little difference between the lives of professing Christians and the general population. The church does not need another sermon series on being the best parent or spouse you can be. Christians do not need to be told to have their best life now. Christians need to understand that there are answers to their heartbreak. Statistics tell us that pornography is at an all-time high and rising among both men and women who profess faith in Christ. The church doesn’t need another sermon series on good sex. It needs clear biblical teaching on the God-given gift of sex that honors each spouse and that brings to bear the spiritual significance of sexual intercourse within marriage. The church needs to recover its identity as the assembly of the saints but it will not until the saints start acting like the people of God once again. The church needs accountability.

Do you want to lead like Jesus? If so then I encourage you to read Mark 10:38. There you see the cost to yourself and all that you count dear in this life. So, ask yourself, are you able to drink the cup Jesus drank? If you want to lead like Jesus, friend, you better buckle up because the ride is going to get bumpy. You are going to be misunderstood and even hated. You will be seen as a threat to the apostates of the beast religious system which is much of American Christianity, and you will be completely out of step, out of tune, and out of sync with the world system.

Father, I pray that You would raise up men and women who understand the times in which we live and who will not be afraid to lead with fearless conviction and Holy Spirit power, straight into the bared teeth of the Luciferians who control America. Father, equip us with divine courage that we would not flinch at the sight of evil but would instead snarl right back with a ferociousness born of a blood-bought soul. I ask this covering to be upon all who read these words and volunteer to lead like Jesus. In the wonderful, mighty, powerful name of Jesus I ask this, amen!

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.]

© 2018 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Rev. Mike Spaulding

We often hear that “revival starts with the people of God.” That statement is true but often masks what must precede revival. Before God will bring revival in and upon His people, Christians must repent, confess, and turn from their evil ways. In other words, revival is necessary for a people that have wandered off the narrow path and have come under judgment.

The idea of revival in America has a long and storied history. From traveling evangelists to week long “tent meetings,” revival was a yearly occurrence in the lives of Christians throughout the 1940’s through 1970’s. Somewhere in the process of holding annual revival meetings, Christians made them more about evangelism than about personal repentance. This means that Christians did not do much self-reflection but instead focused on inviting friends, co-workers, and family members that they believed needed to hear the gospel.

Over the years the effectiveness of this type of outreach has waned dramatically. The need for revival in and upon the body of Christ has never been clearer though. A problem is that the modern version of Christianity has been so distorted by false teaching, so misconstrued by a heretical breed of motivational charlatans, by the ever growing cadre of name-it-claim-it, blab-it-grab-it, mantra chattering, demon oppressed celebrity “pastors,” that the body of Christ is in the miry swamplands of self-absorbed materialism, self-inflicted narcissism, and demon produced doctrines of flesh and misdirection. Sadly they do not even realize their precarious estate.

Adding to this deadly mixture of toxic modernity, today’s pastors point people increasingly to a social gospel of works. Christians today spend their time and finances to feed, clothe, and house thousands of people around the world while not once even thinking to tell people about the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. The only lifesaving message the world has ever been given is not important enough to be made available to the very ones who are perishing for a lack of knowledge. Apparently as long as Christians feel better about themselves by having contributed to a charity or by having participated in the feeding of homeless people at the local soup kitchen everything is fine.

Nowhere in the Scriptures will you find statements that tell us to win people over by loving them. In fact you cannot love someone into a saving relationship through faith in Christ. Anyone who comes to faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins will do so only because they recognize their tenuous unredeemed state before a holy God. Nothing else leads to true repentance that leads to true salvation.

Modern Christianity has invented the concept of relational or friendship evangelism. Christians are now told we have to “earn the right to be heard.” We are reminded that people “don’t care what you have to say until they see how much you care.” Here’s a newsflash folks – the greatest love ever demonstrated was by Jesus Christ when He willing endured a brutal beating by savage soldiers and death by crucifixion all the while being mocked, spit upon, and ridiculed. His response was, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

The point I am making here friends is this – modern Christians don’t see any need for personal revival because they don’t see that God’s judgment is upon them and America for our obstinate refusal to bow our knee to God and confess our sin of throwing Him out of every aspect of our shared cultural life. And to further clarify the insanity that has gripped us, America now promotes Satanism and the occult in school clubs, television, movies, and government buildings in many state capitals. We live in a nation where God is not welcomed but Satan is welcomed and most Christians go about their daily affairs as if nothing is wrong with this.

Folks, the mission of the Church has become lost in America. In case you are wondering what that mission is I remind you that Christians are called to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). This calling means first of all that we must go to people everywhere with the message of Jesus Christ. This message is that He is the only way to salvation and through that same faith, eternal life. It means that this process of teaching people about Jesus is discipleship. We even have the parameters of this Gospel calling in Acts 1:8 – in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and outermost parts of the world. Our mission starts where we live and branches out from there as God leads.

Friends, the Church has lost its way today. The mission has been confused by a social gospel of good works. We must return to the simple message that Jesus saves. That must be our focus. When it is clarity will follow and we will see the fruit of the Gospel which is saved, redeemed, changed lives and a changed nation. We will not see revival until we see repentance and a turning from our wicked ways.

[BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.

E:Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com]

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

In Part 1 of this series I presented my belief that the Church has for the most part abdicated its position of moral authority in the American culture. Nature abhors a vacuum and thus the hedonists, atheists, humanists, and unconverted self-identifying Christians rushed in to fill that place with their morality. The result is that any vain and evil thing that can be imagined is advocated as normal and celebrated as liberating and natural today. The only liberty and freedom these deviants and their supporters are experiencing is liberty and freedom from conscience. Doctors include this trait in their diagnosis of sociopaths. God describes them as “worthy of death” (Romans 1:32).

The mission of the Church today is multifaceted and I want to touch on a few of those in this series. Let me begin by denouncing the propensity of evanjellyfish to excuse their cultural indifference by appealing to what they think are two unassailable truths: (1) Romans 13 and, (2) Separation of Church and State. What these poor deceived, misguided, duped, and unthinking people do not comprehend is that Romans 13 does not support blind obedience, loyalty, or support for any civil authority that does not uphold good and punish evil as God defines those terms. Read Romans 13 again until the truth of what it says sinks in – governing authorities are to reward good behavior and punish evil behavior. If authorities refuse to fulfill this God-given mandate they are no longer worthy of obedience. When people support the view that all governing authorities are to be obeyed regardless of their behavior then they have become enablers of the continued insanity of what we see today – advocating for men showering with women because the man insists he is a woman, men using women’s bathrooms because again, he says he is a woman, men being permitted to compete with women in athletic events, parents insisting on gender-change operations on their young children and the demonic deception of the so-called gender identity crisis, men marrying men and women marrying women, and the rise and support of the Satanic geopolitical ideology known as Islam, just to name a few things.  By refusing to engage governing authorities and to rebuke them and their upside down morality, Christians bear responsibility for what ensues. Burke had it right when he said that evil will continue if good people do nothing.

Separation of Church and State is another façade many people hide behind. The excuse is that as a “religious institution” the Church is not permitted to speak for or against any politician or legislation. There’s a Greek word that describes that idea – hogwash! The first point of information for people who hold this view is that it is not in any of our governing documents. The closest anything comes to saying this is the so-called “establishment clause” within the First Amendment. But for those who believe this means separation of Church and State I say again, reread until the truth sinks in. The fact is the establishment clause only says that government will not establish a state religion. In other words, our government must keep their noses out of and hands off the religious expressions of Americans.

By misunderstanding these two things (whether willfully or through ignorance) too many people believe they have a reason to not rebuke the evildoers among us, but by these excuses they neglect to be the salt and light they are called to be. Some would argue that they are being salt and light by their many ministries to the poor, drug addicted, and spiritually disabled. I’m not downplaying those contributions but what I am saying is that Christians are expending their efforts on the symptoms. Why not take an axe to the roots and destroy the origin of the problems Americans experience daily? For example, if people really want to assist drug addicts then let’s stand together against our own government that benefits handsomely from the drug trade they control. Is that news to you? So many people think drugs are provided by some hidden, dark, secret cabal of kingpins. The thought that the US Government aids and abets the continued destruction of its own citizens by providing cover for drug dealers is unimaginable. Folks, the US Government is in Afghanistan and other places of the world for a couple of major strategic reasons but none more strategic then the protection of the poppy fields and the Afghans who harvest this cash crop. Have you noticed the number of states now making the retail sale of marijuana legal with accompanying local, state, and federal taxes applied of course? It’s only a matter of time before more powerful and addicting drugs become the newest retail business operations of the US government. I don’t even want to get into discussing oil rich nations of the Middle East and our government’s continued nation toppling and building designed to give the US government and the globalist corporations it serves more control.

We can also point to the phony war on poverty. Trillions of dollars have disappeared into this black hole and Americans are worse off than ever. Under the recently deposed Obama monarchy food stamp recipients hit an all-time high and Obama thought it a wonderful sign of his administration’s assistance to the least of them. A lot of religious people agreed thereby showing their complete ignorance of the truth. Recently religious organizations like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Church World Services have entered into the “business” of resettling mostly Middle Eastern men into cities across America. They are of course being paid millions of dollars a year in taxpayer monies for their “acts of compassion.” The truth is that without taxpayer funding these subcontractors would not exist. Refugee resettlement is an issue because in the overwhelming majority of cases the “refugees” are supported by welfare programs that will enslave them in a permanent poverty class. Folks, there is no war on poverty. There is a war on America and a war on the middle class. The goal is to create a serf class of obedient workers for the globalist corporations and our politicians are being paid handsomely to remain quiet and go along for the ride. This is nothing short of the Cloward-Piven economic implosion strategy and Soros’ open borders agenda to make a permanent slave class.

Here’s my point in this Part 2 – if the Church is to have a moral voice in America again then it is time to stop being played by the political parties and their candidates and start speaking the truth about everything that is wrong with America and why it is wrong. We must stop the flannel graph sermons that intoxicate people for another week with feel good, mind-numbing nonsense and start telling people to get out in their communities and confront the evil all around them. This will mean speaking to the seats of power in the mayor’s office, at school board meetings, to judges, justices, law enforcement, and others who have civic or moral authority where you live. It is long past time to stand up to the leviathan called Washington DC and say, “NO! We will not do that and you better stand down!” Then chop off the tentacles of this beast system limb by limb.

What we are witnessing today friends is Romans 1:28 which says in part, “God gave them up to a debased mind.” That is the result of the continual and deliberate act of disregarding God and His Word. Our goal must be to shine the light on the darkness and expose it. Be prepared for battle friends. The darkness hates the light and will do whatever they can to stop the exposure. Fight on anyway.

Part 3 will continue this examination of the Church and Its Mission Today.

E-Mail Mike Spaulding:  drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

BIO: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998.  Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.

Part 1

America is being led into a cesspool of deviancy and America’s pastors remain largely silent. For those of us who have been calling attention to the rank immorality that daily seems to increasingly encroach upon the shores of common sense and moral sensibleness, this is not surprising.

Few pastors said a word when contemplative prayer, labyrinth walking, yoga, word faith heresy, and many other misguided and unbiblical practices were introduced into the church by goats masquerading as sheep. While these things demonstrate a tragic departure from the faith once for all delivered to the saints, today we are facing a full on frontal assault from our politicians.

President Obama, who demonstrated a spirit of antichrist, lobbied for men utilizing women’s bathrooms and threatened our public schools with loss of funding if they did not allow boys to shower with girls.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch threatened of fines and jail time in a blatant attempt to make sure Obama’s evil and unconstitutional demands appeared legitimate.

Where are America’s pastors? The progressive Marxists among us aided by the progressive Marxist media have rendered most pastors deaf mutes for fear of being labeled as a hater or racist or homophobe. Friends it is time that Christians throw off the shackles of political correctness and stand strong in the power of God and deliver this message: “No more, no more, no more! We will not silently stand by and watch our nation be torn apart by people who hate America. We will not stand by and allow morally depraved people to have their way with our children. We will not be afraid of what any President or any other evil tyrant says or threatens to do. God will reign and He will rule in our hearts and minds and therefore we will not fear any man or the consequences of our stand!”

It is the “eleventh hour” in America friends. Will you don the spiritual armor of God and stand firm against the encroaching evil? Will you encourage your Christian brothers and sisters to join you in this battle? Please encourage other believers to find a church that is true to the gospel and is not compromised by an end times Babylonianism.  This means finding a church that is not characterized by compromise, pandering to the pagan culture, or that rejects the Bible as our guide for righteous and holy living, the very Word of God.

This article is the first in a five-part series looking at the subject of the Church and its mission today. The intent is to encourage you as well as to help you identify a body of believers who is being the church as God intended.

God bless you today as you seek Him.

© 2017 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding: drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11

One of the most blessed things Christians are privileged to participate in is the life of a local assembly of believers. It might surprise readers to learn that the Bible in both Testaments speaks almost exclusively within the context of local bodies. The Old Testament speaks specifically about the nation, tribes, and families of the Hebrew people. Their story of failure and success in being obedient to God and in becoming the people He desired them to be is a primary storyline of the Old Testament. The New Testament reads like a manual for righteous living within the context of the local church family.

Think about this friends – Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience, Mark a Gentile audience, Luke for the benefit of Theophilus, John to Christians generally speaking, Paul to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae to name a few. One thing these letters have in common with the possible exception of Luke is that they were written to churches. One could argue that Paul’s letters to Timothy were written to an individual believer but even then Paul was instructing Timothy on how to handle issues within the body of believers.

My experience has been that most modern day Christians have not considered these truths. If they did, the number of people who deprecate the church would not be so high and alarming. I’ve seen many developments during my walk with Jesus Christ but none quite as surprising as the great number of people who have become indifferent to the local bodies of Christ. Researchers have a name for these people. They are called the “dones.” The name derives from the common attitude expressed by this demographic that they are “done” with the church, as if simply walking away from the local body is an answer to their frustration and is always a God-led decision.

Let me begin by admitting along with all those that have had a negative experience with a church, that the church has a lot of “warts.” What I mean by that is that the church has a lot of blemishes. The reason is simple. Churches are comprised of people and people make messes. There are plenty of things that people rightly point to and say, “See that’s the reason I don’t belong to a church.” Whatever your beef with the church is I’m sure you feel justified in remaining in that mindset. There are a couple of issues you need to consider if that is you though. One is that your perspective on the church is not shared by Jesus Christ. Jesus gave His life for His bride the church (Ephesians 5:23, 25). You are at odds with Jesus if you think the church is not worthy of your presence. Plainly stated friends, Jesus views His bride a lot differently than you do.

Additionally, your “feelings” shouldn’t be the determining factor in whether or not you are part of a local body of believers. Feelings are a horrible barometer of truth. Knowledge should be the primary consideration. Let me illustrate. How many people have ever had doubts about their salvation? The answer is lots of people struggle with “feeling” saved. The real question you should ask yourself is this: Do you know that you are saved? Have you made a profession of faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross to pay the penalty that sin demands? Do you know that those who are saved are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9)? Do you understand that Christ is building up His body by removing the impurities in us all (malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, slander – 1 Peter 2:1)? Do you also understand that as those impurities are removed we are made a stronger “spiritual house” together (1 Peter 2:5)? Being a part of the body means going through life together, sharing one another’s burdens, laughing and crying together, struggling to right wrongs together, and sharpening each other’s thinking on subjects of great importance to every believer today.

Being a part of a local body of believers is a birthright (John 1:12-13) that too many Christians have sold for a bowl of slop just like Esau sold his birthright. Only after Esau had flippantly given up his blessing did he realize what a huge mistake he had made. Unfortunately for him and his posterity, this one decision set his life on a course of judgment and sorrow.  He lived his life for himself and for his own satisfaction and paid a steep price. His children and children’s children suffered greatly for Esau’s wrong thinking.

When I speak with people who have hardened their hearts against the church I often hear in their words the hissing of our enemy who says to people, “You don’t need to fellowship with your brothers and sisters. You can do this alone. Remember how hurtful they have been? Who needs that?” Friends, in the end times days we live in the enemy’s strategy is clearer than it has ever been – divide and conquer.

It still surprises me that some Christians trot out the worn out excuse that, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” No one is saying that going to church makes anyone a Christian. What people who use this excuse are often trying to say is they can be spiritual without the local body. But being spiritual is not what we are to pursue is it? Christians are called to pursue godliness not adopt some form of spirituality as a mind salve.

God has determined that the best possible context for His people to grow in grace and knowledge of Him is the local church. That is the thrust of Acts 2:41-42 which is the passage dealing with the beginning of the church at Pentecost. We read in verse 41 that three-thousand people were “added.” The question is what were they added to? Clearly the local body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is in view. In verse 42 we find a great outline for what the church should look like even today. Note that this group of believers banded together to receive the apostle’s teaching (which was Jesus’ teaching – Matthew 28:19-20), to share their lives with one another (fellowship), to celebrating Christ’s death on their behalf (the breaking of bread here can be understood as sharing meals together but it is more likely a reference to the Lord’s Table or Communion which was still very fresh on the apostle’s minds. See 1 Corinthians 11:26), and to prayer. That is a very good foundation for any local body.

Without the local body of believers, Paul’s discussion of every believer having a gift that he or she should exercise for the benefit of other believers makes no sense at all. Who cares if someone has the gift of prophecy if that person never leaves his or her living room to share it with an assembled group of believers that recognize themselves as the body of Christ?

Now don’t mishear me brothers and sisters. You can have a local body of believers meeting in someone’s home. That’s how the first church plant I was involved in started. But at some point as you grow and more families join you it becomes impossible to continue in that setting.  You will need a larger meeting place with rooms for children and a nursery and bathroom facilities. Sounds like a building that people use for their weekly gatherings to me.

Another feature that I have noticed over the years that is emblematic of the “dones” is that they become in many cases narrowly focused on a doctrine or two and those specific doctrines become their litmus test for association.  There is an easy explanation for this. In a home church setting there is almost always a type “A” personality who sets the course of study and teaching and who functions for better or worse as an elder or pastor. His views on the Bible, on what are important and what isn’t, and on a number of other things become the de facto home church by-laws and guidelines. Step outside of the home church leader’s perspective and you’ll find yourself alienated. In many cases this same doctrine or “pet tradition” was at the center of controversy and served as the reason why an individual left a church in the first place. This raises an interesting question. Who is there to keep that home church leader in check?  Who is there to say, “Wait that doctrine does not line up with the Bible”? The answer is no one. There is as the Bible says wisdom in a multitude of counselors.

In addition to receiving a word of encouragement, equipping, and sometimes correction through a carefully developed teaching sermon by Holy Spirit filled and led elders, believers also need to understand that our lives in Christ are shaped together by worship through singing, by our interactions with other believers as often as we meet together, by our service to one another when needs arise, by our receiving from the Lord’s Table, and by our common submission to the Word of God. These activities are nowhere encouraged nor pictured to be participated in isolation from one another. It is simply an untruth that some believers convince themselves is biblical.

Friends, the body of Christ is a multifaceted organism that grows and changes by nature. That is because the body of Christ is comprised of many different people with different perspectives on a host of topics. By standing together over time, we are made sure in the things we believe and why we believe them. A healthy body will have much discussion and debate over the years. But therein lays a secret to the church’s longevity. Doctrine focuses ministry and ministry develops servant-hood. All who claim Christ by faith are to be disciples and are to make disciples and the best way to fulfill this commission is to be an active part of a local body of believers.

Another passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is a good place to close this exhortation. In 1:27 Paul offers some words of encouragement to the believers in Philippi. He says to them, “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ;…standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel;” and then in 2:2 he says essentially the same thing, “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” And then Paul identifies the foundation for being of one mind and one spirit in 2:3-4 – “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Folks, Paul is speaking about body life here. The context of the writing of the overwhelming majority of the New Testament is the local church. We learn how to be humble when we serve other people. We learn how to be untied in spirit as we grapple daily with the short comings of others as well as our own. Conceit, pride, selfishness, and ego are chipped away piece by piece all within the context of the local body of Christ as we travel this faith road together.

My encouragement to you dear reader, especially those who may have given up on the local church is to prayerfully reconsider your stance. Please seek out a local body of believers and ask God to lead you in that effort. I believe that as you pray for God to lead you, He will do exactly that; to a group of believers who have been praying for God to bring you and your family.

© 2017 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail Mike Spaulding:  drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

By Pastor Mike Spaulding

Two scenes from a movie I recently watched got me thinking about the ethics of naturalism.  Hollywood veteran Sylvester Stallone starred in the movie “Cliffhanger” and the suspense in the plot enabled it to live up to its name.

For those unfamiliar with this movie Stallone plays a trained mountain rescuer who along with fellow rescuer, actor Michael Rooker, are tricked into aiding a fugitive gang who have managed to steal several hundred million dollars from the Federal Reserve but during their escape by airplane are forced to crash land in a desolate mountain range.

Playing a convincing role as the cold-hearted villain was actor John Lithgow.  The two scenes that caught my attention happened within minutes of one another.  The first scene showed one of Lithgow’s gang murdering a rescue helicopter pilot played by Ralph Waite.  In shock and dismay over this cold-blooded act, Rooker screams, “he never hurt anyone.” In other words, Waite did not deserve to die. Lithgow without missing a beat, in an equally cold-blooded line only remarked, “how touching.”

The second scene moments later featured Lithgow murdering his female companion to gain leverage in a struggle with his co-conspirators to maintain control of the quickly evaporating escape plan.  Just before Lithgow murders his female companion he asks her if she knows what the greatest virtue of love is.  Before she can answer Lithgow answers for her by whispering in her ear, “sacrifice.” He then promptly murders her.

This is a violent movie but is candid in its portrayal of man’s dilemma ethically speaking.  These two scenes clearly demonstrate the great paradox that man faces when trying to explain and live an ethical life apart from belief in God as the moral law giver.  In the first scene Lithgow exhibits a naturalistic worldview, one completely in-line with a Darwinian evolutionary view. Being heartbroken over the death of a friend is nonsense to Lithgow and thus his “how touching” remark.  Clearly implied is the rest of the statement that could be stated: “how touching and how utterly stupid.”

Contrasting that naturalistic ethic Lithgow espouses a different ethic in the second scene in justifying his murderous behavior.  Where did he find any ground for love as sacrifice?  These two scenes present ethics opposed to one another.  Perhaps the writers of this movie script meant to mock the Christian ethic of God as moral law giver.  I think a better explanation is that they unwitingly portrayed where mankind is left if God is indeed dead.

The truth is that naturalism cannot provide an ethical foundation for love, sacrifice, compassion or anything human beings are said to need to survive as communities and nations. Naturalistic ethics that speak of these qualities have smuggled Christian theistic ethics into their system without due recognition because of course that would betray their underlying beliefs.  They cannot admit to what they claim does not exist.  This makes naturalism’s ethics quite unnatural.

When God is declared dead there is only one place man can turn for the source of ethics – himself.  This opens the floodgates for all forms of abuse and evil.  The twentieth and twenty-first centuries provide testimony to the validity of this truth.

Friends, I encourage you to continue to stand firm in your faith and in your testimony.  What your family, friends, and neighbors need today are answers to the myriad contradictions they encounter every day, not the least of which is the convoluted ethics of naturalism.

If you would like to know how you can trust Christ for your eternal salvation email Pastor Mike at drmichaelspaulding@gmail.com

© 2017 Mike Spaulding – All Rights Reserved

E-Mail: pastormike@woh.rr.com

Bio: Mike Spaulding was ordained to the ministry in 1998. Since then he has planted two Calvary Chapel churches – Calvary Christian Fellowship, St. Marys, Ohio, in 1998, and Calvary Chapel of Lima, Ohio, in 2005, where he currently serves as teaching pastor. Mike holds a B.A. in Organizational Management, a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in apologetics.