Vacating the Vision

A good friend asked me this week,

"Where do you see yourself in three years?"

I must admit. At that moment the vision was not clear in my mind. Then came last night ... After being in downtown Austin all day, I came home to find Dede watching "The Rookie".

"The Rookie" is a great movie for many reasons; it was filmed in Hutto, Texas; Kitty, my niece, is in the movie; it's about small towns and baseball, and it is about family and funny teenagers. My appreciation for the movie and the story behind it grew even more last night. Most of you know that I'm an emotional kind of guy. Last night I noticed that my emotions where going up and down with this movie more so than any other time watching it. "Lord, what is going on here?", I asked within.

Dennis Quaid plays Johnny Morris, who has given up on his dream, but the vision of playing Major League Baseball is recaptured when a motivational speech backfires on Coach Morris. Johnny's dad, and his wife, Lorri, give him the reality check of family obligations as he is re-engaging the dream through an unexpected opportunity. Lorri quickly realizes the duplicity of her words to her husband compared with the values she wants to instill to her eight year-old boy. Within hours Lorri reverses course and encourages her husband to pursue the dream even though she must sacrifice greatly.

My answer also came quickly. The Lord has given me a vision. That vision is much bigger than I am. It is a vision that I cannot accomplish. It is a vision that requires you; a vision that requires God. A vision that some call lofty, though it is not beyond the realm of history.

I dream of the day when America returns to God. I dream of the day that salvation crashes on these shores again. I dream of the day when parents value Godly children more than Western culture. I dream of the day that true liberty defeats the oppression of Secular Humanism. I dream of an America that blesses the name of the Lord God Almighty. God is honoring that vision. God is calling His people unto Himself.

I am but one soldier in a raging war. I must confess, "I get discouraged". I lose my focus and drift off course. I allow the circumstances of the day to defeat the vision for a moment. But just when I need Him most, God is there. God is faithful, when I am not. God is holy and just, when I am sinful and filled with spite. God knows where He is leading, when I get off the narrow road. Praise Him for the call. Praise Him who directs our steps!

This is the blessing of knowing Christ our Risen Lord and Savior! This is the blessing that surpasses all understanding. This is the hope that endures. Know the Blessing!

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. - 1 Thess 5:24 (ESV)

God Save the U.S.A.

Death & Suffering in this Temporal World

Death and suffering is an issue oft ill-addressed in church teaching. The thought of death and suffering drives many away from God, yet the topic is foundational to understanding the nature of God.

Allow me to summarize the Bible in three words: Generation, de-generation and re-generation. God created the Edenic world (generation). Sin entered the hearts of mankind (de-generation). The price of that sin is death. God sent Christ to pay that debt, and He promises to make everything new (re-generation). Re-generation begins with acceptance of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is not completely fulfilled until He totally destroys His enemies. Death is the final enemy to be destroyed in the end (1 Cor 15:26).

A huge part of the problem, is that we say “God took him”, or “God called her home”. That is not theologically correct. Sin took him/her. The wages of sin is death, and it is the enemy that we all face. Sin has physical repercussions. Walking in the ways of man brings about natural consequences. Of course, none of this do we like, nor do we readily admit.

The Glorious Hope is that God has proven His power over death in the Resurrection of Christ. He has promised that the old order of things will pass away. This life is but a vapor. The question rests on our trust in His promises. Do we rest and trust in the Kingdom to come or the temporal kingdom on earth, where we currently reside? When you find the Pearl of Great Price, are you willing to give up everything you did have to get it?

Everybody, wants to go to heaven (where there are no more enemies), but no body wants to die (even in this troubled world).

Know the Blessing

Faith in the Law

My fellow lawbreakers, do you have faith in the law? That question could conjure up many different notions, so please allow me to elaborate.

Most religions advocate salvation by works. If you follow the rules, you get the prize. Christianity is very different in that we teach the prize comes by faith. Faith in what? Faith in Christ. But what would faith in Christ be, if Christ had not followed the law?

Christ was perfect, spotless; the unblemished Lamb of God. Certainly, he was tempted and tested, but without sin. Had he sinned, would not his sacrifice been disqualified? Christ's food was to do the will of His father. Christ did the things the Father showed Him. Christ adhered to the ways of the God. Christ obeyed the law; the Truth of God. In fact, Christ was and is The Way, The Life and The Truth. No one comes to the Father, but through Him.

Now, back to the question,

"Do you have faith in the law?"

More precisely, do you have faith in the Ways of God. Salvation is ultimately found in the ways of God. Our life here on earth is greatly impacted by our own adherence to the ways of God, and it is impacted by the adherence of those around us. When we follow God's commands, we are less likely to suffer the practical ill affects of sin. When we walk in the ways of man, we are beset by the short-comings thereof. His ways are perfect. Ours are ... well, they're human.

Furthermore, do you think heaven will tolerate the ways of man? Contemporary U.S. citizens believe freedom is the right to do whatever you desire, regardless of its alignment with God. True freedom is found in doing what is right and good. In heaven, theft, lies, lust, envy, deceit and death itself will be absent. The will and ways of God, holiness and righteousness will dominate. That's what makes it His Kingdom. His Kingdom is under His Rule. The enemies of God are tolerated in this temporal setting, but God promises to destroy them.

May your faith be extended to trust and depend on His Ways above man's ways. Not because keeping his laws will make you a Christian or bring you eternal security. Rather, may you keep His ways, because you are a believer, and you because you do have eternal security through the one that does keep the law, Christ Jesus Our Lord. May our sin be transferred to his account, and his righteousness be transferred to our account, both now and forevermore.

America Bless God

Left Over Red Letters

Maybe you've heard of the Jesus Seminar. This group of supposed experts claim authority over which of the Red Letters were spoken or not spoken. This false persuasion of Christianity places emphasis on the assertions of man over the assertions of the Bible. Such assertions embrace the curse, rather than the blessing.

Just as bad are those that emphasize some aspects of the Scripture over others. In today's American Christian church, even among Bible believers, God's grace is heralded repeatedly, while His justice is oft neglected. His love is proclaimed loudly, while His wrath is swept under the rug. I understand it is much more pleasant that way, and it is easier for you to tell people about the "pleasant" attributes of God.

Paul is recorded by Luke, saying ...

"I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."
Acts 20:24-27 (ESV)

Imagine the common thinking of American culture contrasted to the real Red Letters ...

“Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin."
Luke 17:1-2 (ESV)

Let's teach our children about the various forms of sexually identity and expression, so their bigoted parents will not teach them intolerance toward their fellow man.

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:16 (ESV)

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Matt 7:13-14 (ESV)

There are many paths to God. All that believe in God will be saved.

When man gets done with the Red Letters, there is not much left. When man has his way, God's character is fashioned in man's likeness. This should not be. Let us embrace the whole counsel of God. Let's us read and study all of His Word. Let us understand that the God of Mercy is the same God that will destroy everything that is evil.

If God allows evil to remain, heaven won't be heaven, will it? It will be just like the temporal world, where man asserts his ways over God's ways. Seek the whole counsel of God. Seek the whole Truth that is found in His ways.


America Bless God

New Babylon Rising

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The pictures you are about to see will take your words away, and fill your mind with awe and wonder.

The city of Babylon is mentioned throughout the Sacred Scriptures. It is the city where human ingenuity came to life, and made itself known as an enemy of God. It is the city known for one of the Sevens Wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens. It is the city known for the hand writing on the wall, and much much more.

The city was destroyed, and has been in ruins for most of the past thousand years. It did lie in desolation as the OT prophets had spoken, until, under Saddam Hussein, it got a new beginning. The city was restored under Hussein, and became occupied by the U.S.M.C. during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Today, the U.S. Military refers to the location as Camp Alpha. The location north of present-day Al Hillah, Iraq about 55 miles south of Baghdad. Below is a link that will take you to the exact location on Google maps. Be sure to turn on the Photo option (under the more button) to see some real pictures taken of the restored palace.

Click here to see the Palace at Babylon on Google Satellite

There is reason to believe the United Nations has chosen this site for their next world headquarters (some speculation required). The area has been recently been transformed into an agricultural mecca, which the U.S. invasion and the United Nations have helped bring about. The Tower of Babel is also thought to be in this region.

Is this a New Babylon rising? What do you think?

God's ways are above our ways. Human rationale will fail. God never fails.

Know the Blessing of His Ways

I Will Be My Brother's Keeper

Clint Eastwood would say, "Go ahead, punk. Make my day". Badge or not, Dirty Harry carried a vigilante style of law enforcement. Abel's brother, Cain, carried a similar attitude. I know we all love to see the bad guy meet his maker. Unfortunately, our pursuit of justice often trumps discernment. Then we wind up cutting down the fruit of the vine. Allow me to explain.


In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, we see the seeds fall on different types of soil. Some soils are more conducive to plant growth than others. Many times we look at the soil condition merely as the circumstance of life, of which we can do nothing about. We forget that we are the cultivators. We are the pest control company. We carry water. We watch for disease. We are our brother's keeper.


Following the Parable of the Sower is the Parable of the Weeds. This parable references wheat and weeds. The weed referenced is likely darnel (tares), which look very much like wheat when it is green. Suppose a young man accepts Christ at sixteen, and we find him drunk and carousing in a bar at the age of eighteen. Do we put the axe to the vine? He is still an immature plant. Should we cut him down or help him grow?


While certainly there does come a time to cut off a rebellious believer, we must be sure we allow time for maturity and correction. Most transformations do not occur over night. Green plants often look a lot like green weeds. It's not until they mature and achieve the ability to reproduce that we can discern which is a weed and which is a fruitful plant.

My Brother's Keeper - by Rich Mullins

My friends ain't the way I wish they were
They are just the way they are
And I will be my brother's keeper
Not the one who judges him

I won't despise him for his weakness
I won't regard him for his strength
I won't take away his freedom
I will help him learn to stand

And I will ~ I will be my brother's keeper

Thank God for Rich Mullins. Thank God for His compassion and mercy. Now, go and do likewise.

America Bless God (and your brother)



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The Anti-Establishment Church

The prophets dealt with it. Jesus rebuked it. He and the Apostles died because of it. Bible translators were killed by. Today, the Word of God is maligned by it; and many people reject it.

It is establishment religion, in opposition to the One True Church.

One of the lies from the Garden of Eden is that you shall become like God. This is the pursuit of Satan and the unregenerate man. Men pursue wealth, power, and authority. Governments and councils seek it with material and worldly aims. The poor are oppressed and the average person is taken advantage of by such corrupt power. It infects the man, the family, businesses, governments, and social institutions, even religious institutions.

One of the most powerful Red Letter passages is found in Matthew chapter 10. Jesus is speaking to the disciples before sending them out among the Israelites...

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not above
his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household."

Matthew 10:16-25 (ESV)

This passage is truly timeless. Since the inception of Christ' kingdom on earth, the establishment has opposed Him, His disciples, His teaching, and His kingdom. Man seeks to build his own kingdom. Man wants his own empire and his own rules. The natural man rejects the will and way of God, and establishes his own dominion, as far as the Lord allows.

Our experience with human institutions drives many of us away from establishment churches and other establishment organizations. Our experience tells us that these institutions become corrupted and political. Poor character, poor conduct, and human agendas take over, thereby, wrecking the organization. Organized religion has killed the prophets, killed the Christ, the apostles, the Bible translators, missionaries, evangelists, and many more left untold.

Even with all this, the true church, the bride of Christ lives on. The Beautiful Bride; The Bride washed in the Blood of the Lamb is being continually sanctified and purified. She is being fitted for that Great & Dreadful Day. She is being prepared for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, and you need her.

If you are His disciple, you need to be a part of the church. You and I need the fellowship, the accountability, the rebuke, the comfort, the joy and the teaching of the One True Church. No man is an island. Do not let your anti-establishment attitude bring your demise. Do not let the human institutions keep you away from the One True Church.