Welcome to the JREnsey blog for February 2023!
The Word for today
Neheniah 8:8 – “They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage” (NLT).
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Points to ponder
More potential strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4):
“I would be a better person if….”
“I would tithe if….”
“I would have a great life if…”
“I could be faithful to church if….”
Lesson #1 from Prodigal Son: “No change will take place until we say, “I don’t want it this way any more!”
Call me old fashioned, but I’m glad my mother was a woman.
Since we’re restricting international travel because of a “new variant,” shouldn’t we close the southern border too?
Those folks who want to take your guns are planning to keep theirs.
Unless you’ve just won the Powerball, it’s probably wise to go ahead and cancel the Easter egg hunt.
Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught falsehoods in school. And the person that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool. – Plato; or George F. Train
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Duly noted:
- In glory Paul will be applauded by the same people he martyred.
- How to backslide: Stop praying, stop reading the Word, stop giving. Then start missing church, start criticizing, start finding fault with others in church. Has anyone begun these steps but grace and mercy pulled you back?
- During a testimony time in church, it seemed that everyone testified how difficult living for God was, what troubles they had, how bad their life was. A lady visiting for the first time became concerned and stood to say, “I’m so sorry to hear these things. If there is anything I can do for any of you, let me know.”
- The person who takes counsel with his fears will never move forward.
- Too often our healing theology collides with reality. A veteran who had his legs blown off by a mine, said, “Don’t get into a charismatic church. First, you are a ‘project’ for them, but if you don’t grow legs, they don’t know what to do
with you.” - Everyone is becoming so sensitive. Soon I won’t be able to make fun of myself without someone being offended. – Julia Wright
- Those who trust the professors should note that in 1893 professor Orlando Ferguson listed 400 Bible passages that he said proved that the earth was flat.
- Deception is often more evolutionary than revolutionary.
- Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, affirmed “the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. …It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” [Goebbels must have survived with other Nazis to ultimately become advisors for the current administration.]
- You don’t have to preach to backsliders, just love them.
- When we speak of “protecting our pulpits,” perhaps we should not only think of not allowing false teachers and sensationalists to fill them, but also not allowing ourselves to be silenced by situations existing in our audience. The concept that “I can’t preach that fact/topic/belief anymore because there are folks in the congregation who don’t embrace that belief. They might think I was targeting them.” We can silence our own voice by fear of rejection. When Paul was rehearsing the basics of the Christian life and church leadership principles, “Timothy,” he said, “These things command and teach…and exhort” (I Timothy 4:11; 6:2)
- “The ruling political party is made up of weak men and unhappy women.” – Tucker Carlson
- “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” – Rosa Parks
- “He who has no money is poor; he who has nothing but money is the poorest of all.” – Billy Sunday
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A Constitution for a moral and religious people
One of the foremost constitutional theorists of the founding generation, John Adams, observed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He wasn’t the only Founding Father to hold this view. Indeed, James Madison wrote that our Constitution requires “sufficient virtue among men for self-government,” otherwise, “nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another.”
Many of our Founders were men of faith or were influenced strongly by the Judeo-Christian tradition. They accepted the premise of mankind’s imperfect nature. They had experienced first-hand the oppressive dictates of Parliament and the Crown that led to the American Revolution. And they were rightly suspicious of the accumulation of governmental power by one person or a small body — “the very definition of tyranny” according to Madison.
Consistent with these experiences and beliefs, the Founders imbued liberty-preserving principles into the very structure of the new government. They divided power between federal and state governments, apportioned federal power among three branches of government, and limited the power of the federal government to certain delegated functions. But the Founders also knew that these devices alone were inadequate to preserve and sustain our new nation.
[Source: Regent University post]
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The impact of anti-Christian, anti-American education
In 1960, 65% of Americans believed the Bible to be the literal Word of God. By 1992 only 32% believed that.
Today 65% believe there are no absolutes. Many churches have become bastions of the world’s way, denying truth, denying the Bible, and they have lost their way. Like ancient Israel who had a Lord, but denied Him, had a law but broke it, and had a land but defiled it. How could they do that, you ask. You are seeing the answer lived out before your eyes. The major denominations have lost their way and merged with the culture. Apostolic Pentecostals have the best chance ever of salvaging what is left of Christianity in America. While others are running away from the Word, we must keep running to it!
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Bible questions
Q: Are we saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8,9) or by hope (Romans 8:24)?
A: By neither, entirely. First, it is unwise to try to pick and choose words from the Epistles to cobble together a plan of how to get into the kingdom of God. Those folks to whom the apostles are writing are already saved from their past sins. Go back to where there are unsaved folks coming to God in the Book of Acts and determine what translated them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light! Start here: Acts 2:1-4, 37,38; 8:16; 10:45-47; 19:1-6; 22:16). Add John 3:5,36 NLT). Faith in Jesus was the beginning of their Christian experience and it leads one into obedience. The outcome of faith joined with obedience is the hope of life everlasting (John 3:16; 10:10) that keeps us motivated to walk righteously in this present life to inherit eternal life in the future.
Q: Ezekiel 16:49 seems to express the sins of Sodom as selfishness and pride rather than homosexuality. Which is 
correct?
A: Both are correct. The Sodomites were arrogant and selfish, not wishing to share their material prosperity with the poor and needy among them as the Ezekiel verse clearly states. But it is also true that there was gross sexual perversion prevalent among them (Genesis19:8; Jude 7). A combination of all of these evidently contributed to God’s decision to destroy the city.
Q: Since not all of Joel’s prophecy came to pass on the Day of Pentecost, was Peter mistaken when he quoted Joel in Acts 2:16-21?
A: Peter’s quotation of Joel 2:28-32 on Pentecost was accurate, but only as a partial or initial fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. It seems to indicate that Peter viewed the events of Pentecost as inaugurating the “last days.” The particular signs and wonders mentioned would take place in the future “before the day of the Lord” (v. 20), perhaps just prior to and during the seven years preceding the calm of the millennial age.
Q: Why was Paul forbidden to preach in Asia (Acts 16:6)? How did this fit with Jesus’ Great Commission?
A: The denial for Paul and Timothy to go there was not a permanent command to “stand down.” God had other plans for them at the present time. Later the gospel would be preached in Asia both by Paul (Acts 19:10,22,26; 20:4,16,18; I Corinthians 16:19) and through those Paul had converted and mentored (I Thessalonians 1:6-8).
Q: Peter says believers are sanctified by the Spirit, but Jesus said we are sanctified by the truth. Is this a contradiction?
A: The Bible does not contradict itself when accurately translated and properly interpreted. It does say that we are sanctified by the Spirit of God (I Peter 1:2), but also by “thy truth” (John 17:17). Additionally, we are sanctified “in the name of Jesus” (I Corinthians 6:11). Ephesians 5:26 suggests a sanctification that comes by the “washing of water of the word.” Hebrews 13:12 involves the “blood of Christ” in our sanctification. All of these elements—the Spirit, the truth, His name, the Word, and the blood—play a role in placing us in a righteous position and separated for God’s service and purpose. One verse is not usually comprehensive on any particular doctrine. Every reference does not usually give full details of every story, event, or doctrine. Some verses provide a particular fact and another verse may augment that story or that doctrine with another fact. Examples abound. All are true.
Q: Is there a sin which cannot be forgiven by God?
A: Yes, one at least—the one that remains hidden, unacknowledged and unconfessed.
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OLIGARCHS who control America’s economy
Elon Musk – untold billions; Twitter, Space X, Tesla
Jeff Bezos – 185 Billion; Amazon.com
Bernard Arnault – 155 Billion; business empire, 70 brands
Bill Gates – 122 Billion; Microsoft
Mark Zukerberg 100 Billion; Facebook
Zhong Shanshan – 94 Billion; Chinese pharmaceuticals
Larry Ellison – 89 Billion; software
Warren Buffet – 88 Billion; Investments
Larry Page – 77-79 Billion; co-founder of Google
Sergey Brin – 77-79 Billion; co-founder of Google
Steve Ballmer – 73 Billion; Microsoft
(Actual net worths may vary from day to day.)
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More athletes go down after vaccination
Uche Nwaneri, recently retired from the NFL, has passed away. Damar Hamlin, another NFL player, fell during a game this month with cardiac arrest.
How many young athletes and others in good health have to go down before America wakes up? The Covid vaccination mandate has taken many young lives across the world. The press plays down the vaccination angle, but it cannot be denied. And you know, anything they play down should be considered newsworthy, and anything they consider newsworthy should be considered suspect as something to divert our attention from the real stories.
Pregnant mothers are at risk, and children of all ages.
Elon Musk has promised to disclose the files on Dr. Fauci and the Covid scam. I am sure that the mainline press will tag it as “Russian propaganda.”
Here’s a Twitter video someone sent me that shows athletes going down after the clot-shot.
(2) American Cat Mom 🇺🇸 on Twitter: “https://t.co/l59zSa9I67” / Twitter
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Dr. Peter McCullough on the Covid vaccine
Dr. McCullough has been on top of the Covid vaccine issue since the start. His findings:
To break this down: 1,598 athletes suffered cardiac arrest since the vaccine came out. But between the years 1966-2004, a total of 1,101 athletes had cardiac arrest. That’s 1,101 over a 38-year time-span vs nearly 1600 in about two years. That’s a massive increase, and there is NOTHING wrong with wanting this horrific new “phenomenon” investigated.
JRE: A perfectly healthy teenage young man, having a distant connection to our church, got vaxxed recently and died within days.
Silence about this matter doesn’t seem to be a wise option. There is not enough space here to describe the many cases that are coming to light. Please use wisdom in making important health choices.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and have no personal way of knowing the absolute truth and details of every report that crosses my desk. My advice has been to do one’s own research and make up their own mind about the benefits vs. the risks. This information is shared as a suggested part of that research.
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The satirical Babylon Bee stings again
“It’s too early to say what could be causing this, but it’s never too early to say what isn’t causing this,” said local expert, Dr. Scott Rufflinger. “This could be caused by anything. But the one thing we know for certain is that it’s definitely not what we’re all thinking that’s behind this—if you know what I mean. We can go ahead and rule that thing out right now because Science just called us on the phone and told us not to discuss it. We always follow Science.”
According to sources, experts have been working tirelessly around the clock to try and get to the bottom of why so many seemingly perfectly healthy, athletic people are falling over suddenly. “I wish I could point to something in the past year or two that large groups of people were exposed to, or forced into, but nothing comes to mind,” added Dr. Rufflinger. “If only there was one thing all these patients had in common.”
At publishing time, experts said they had narrowed down the list of what most likely was causing these sudden health issues down to: climate change, racism, Christian Nationalism, standing up too quickly, standing up too slowly, and not eating enough bugs.
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There was no gender prejudice expressed by 16th century European prelates. They burned women who would not recant their Protestant convictions as well as men.
Washington is ruled by unhappy women who disdain and hate America!
It was Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first stop on the moon.
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Last Words
Abortion: A fetus is not a “would-be life,” but a living human baby inside a woman. She is feeding it prior to birth and is naturally programmed to continue the feeding from her body after birth.
Like gun control: Let’s reduce driving by making it harder for safe drivers to own cars.
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