JREnsey Blog for December 2022

Welcome to the JREnsey blog for December 2022!

The Word for today

John 10:10 – “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

 

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MORE THAN A CARPENTER

Mark 6:1-6a: “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. ² And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. ⁴ But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. ⁵ And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. ⁶ And he marvelled because of their unbelief.”

God ordained that Christ would be born into the family and home of a skilled craftsman.[i] He was called “the carpenter’s son” in Matthew 13:55. Everything God does has divine purpose—sometimes obvious, sometimes not.

Why didn’t God choose a fisherman’s home on the shores of the Sea of Galilee? Or a blacksmith’s shop? Or a rabbi’s dwelling? Or a ploughman’s farm? Any of these may have been appropriate given the content of Christ’s ministry and His stories, but none more relevant or germane than the carpenter’s trade—“On this rock I will build my church,” He said. Building would be the thrust of His ministry.

He chose construction, at least in part, as a trade because it was a man’s job, and He was a man. In Joseph’s carpenter shop He learned that hard work and honest labor was honorable and fulfilling. Assuming woodworking was His focus, the tools Jesus learned to use as a boy would also be used in a spiritual way during His ministry of building the church. He became adept at handling an adze and a saw to cut the raw material into the shape and size He needed. His grasped His father’s proto-plane and smoothed the rough edges. He mastered the chisel’s ability to hew the essential grooves and notches. His hand was accustomed to the hammer that drove the pegs and nails into place to fasten the pieces and parts together. He used the plumbline to make sure that walls and doors and corners were straight and true. His crude ruler assured that proper measurements and dimensions would provide a quality product.

The builder’s trade was a perfect starting place for Jesus. Until age thirty He devoted His time to learn, to serve, to build, to put things together. That was the age Joseph, Jacob’s son, began service for the pharaoh of Egypt. That was also the age when Hebrew priests could begin to serve in the Tabernacle and the Temple or be considered a Rabbi. David was 30 when he assumed the kingship. So Jesus waited until John the Baptist, at that same age, had fulfilled the role of the prophet Elijah (Mark 9:11-13) to be baptized of him. Now He was ready to begin building His spiritual kingdom, starting with disciples who would ultimately form the foundation (Ephesians 2:20; Matthew 16:18).

For 30 years He had lived and served as a man, but now it was time for Him to reveal His true identity as God in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16). He had expressed His manhood, now the moment had come to express His Godhood. Those who noticed had caught a glimpse of it at age 12 in the Temple. They heard it from heaven at His baptism. Now He was open with it: “I and my father are one…I am the living bread which came down from heaven…I am the light of the world…I am from above…before Abraham was, I am…I am the resurrection and the life…Ye call me master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am.”

Jesus was more than a carpenter, more than a maker of tabletops, wagon wheels, and wicker-bottom chairs. This world does not produce men like Jesus. He came from another realm to earth as the Christ, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world. He came to build a church, a people who would someday become His bride and join Him in Heaven forever.

He proved He was not just a carpenter or even the son of a carpenter. He proved He was the Son of God it by the miracles He performed, by the words He spoke, and by the lives He changed. Perhaps the Roman centurion at Calvary said it best: “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). He ascended to Heaven and now He is pouring out His spirit into believers everywhere (Acts 2:33). They have become His building, His handiwork: “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building…in whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord” (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:21). The best part: He is now preparing a house not made with [human] hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1; John 14:3) for all who have made their calling and election sure.

That is the real crux of the Christmas story. He came to offer every person abundant life with Him in Heaven. The divine Carpenter is now building each believer an abode close to His. The new birth and an obedient life will put your name on one with a clear title.

You can’t beat that offer!

[i] The original Greek term (τέκτων; tekton), rendered “carpenter” was not limited to referencing the woodworking occupation, but also to stone masonry and other building crafts.

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The focus at Christmas

Now I am no Grinch. I enjoy the giving and sharing aspect of Christmas, including Christmas For Christ through NAM. But presenting something fake as real does little or nothing positive for the faith of children. From that experience they learn not to totally trust adults. Sure, lots of Christians have survived belief in those Christmas stories, but they can leave a taste in the mouth that questions more serious matters—like the Bible and other aspects of the faith.

There is no Santa with a big bag of toys atop a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, one with a red nose. Christians should never mislead their children to believe in myths. There are plenty of ways to enjoy Christmas without injecting a mythical jolly old elf into the picture.

That being said, assuming the role of Grinch may not be the best alternative, either. It is a time for reading the story of the first Christmas from the Bible, sharing gifts and hugs with children, renewing appreciation of loved ones, and enjoying a delicious meal together.

Hmmm…I guess there is no such being as a green-tinted Grinch, either. Got me there. But I never misled my kids to think there was, although I have met a few folks who seem to fit that description.

Santa Claus, Bigfoot, ghosts, and alien UFOs belong in the same category. If anyone can prove that to be wrong, I will stand corrected.

Have a good time, Christians! Spread some love and cheer, but don’t forget Jesus. After all, it is His birthday we are celebrating.

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Have you noticed…?

…how complicated the Trinity doctrine is and how much simpler Oneness is?

…that you are being followed (Psalm 23:6)?

…that you actually know less than you did 30 years ago?

…that people don’t talk as loud as they once did to us older guys?

…that printers and publishers are using smaller fonts than ever before?

…how much faster time moves the older you get?

…that there is always movement—some movin’ in, some movin’ out, some movin’ up, some movin’ on?

…that appearance doesn’t always mirror reality?

…how prettier your wife gets with age?

…that golf balls and baseballs don’t go as far as they once did when we hit ’em?

…that the standard apparel for the younger crowd while doing their Christmas shopping this year are hoodies? And those shoppers shown on the news all seem to be in a hurry to fill their bags. They must have a lot of folks on their gift list.

…that a deceased Democrat official, Tony DeLuca, won reelection in Pennsylvania? Yes, really. “Earth to Pennsylvania. Hello. Hello….”

…that it is always unhappy people who attack the things happy people believe in?

…that some people would rather stop speaking to you than apologize when they are wrong?

…that more government handouts are coming down the pike? Soon only the government will be hiring. They never stop. Please be reminded: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”

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News you can use

One world government called for by France’s President Macron

Read the story here:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/macron-calls-for-a-single-global-order-asks-are-you-on-the-us-or-the-china-side/?utm_source=popular

Pastors beware if “Respect for Marriage Act” becomes law

Read what it will mean here:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-republicans-join-democrats-to-pass-same-sex-marriage-bill-in-massive-defeat-for-conservatives/

How did millions of dollars flow into Democrat coffers from the FTX scandal? It was a lesson in money laundering and expert corruptionese. Read the story here:   BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Tens of Billions of US Dollars Were Transferred to Ukraine and then Using FTX Crypto Currency the Funds Were Laundered Back to Democrats in US (thegatewaypundit.com)

FTX Appears to Be a Political Ponzi Scheme Running Dollars to Politicians and Through Ukraine (thegatewaypundit.com)

We have now reached a point where a majority of those who are dying from Covid-19 are those who are vaccinated. Read the story here: 

 Vaccinated Americans a majority of COVID deaths for first time in August: analysis | Fox News

 

Death of boy, 14, three weeks after Covid jab of ‘significant public concern’ – coroner – World News – Mirror Online

Coroner blames Covid vaccine

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Different strokes for different folks

Holding out for a common sense approach to immigration evidently cost CNN commentator Lou Dobbs his job. How different it is in America from other countries around the world.

• If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 years hard labor.
• If you cross the Iranian border illegally you are detained indefinitely as a spy.
• If you cross the Afghan border illegally you get shot.
• If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally you will be jailed.
• If you cross the Chinese border illegally you may never be heard from again.
• If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally you will be branded a spy and your fate will be sealed.
• If you cross the Cuban border illegally you will be thrown into a political prison to rot.
• But if you cross the U.S. border illegally you likely get:

A job
A driver’s license
A social security card
Welfare
Food stamps
Credit/gift cards
Subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house
Free education
Free health care
A lobbyist in Washington
And…in some instances you may be given the privilege to vote in elections!

Merry Christmas, illegals…er, migrants!

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Bookends

You may have noticed this yourself. The first mention of the word “book” in the Old Testament is in the first chapters of Genesis (5:1) and had to do with the generations of Adam. The first mention of book in the NT is in the context of “the generation of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:1). Each of those books has an “end” to match. The OT bookend is in Malachi 3:16 where it is recorded that a “book of remembrance” is being recorded for the faithful. The NT bookend is in the last chapter of Revelation where the warning is given for those who would seek to add to or take away from “the prophecies of this book” (22:19).

What nice bookends! The Bible is such a fascinating Book.

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Our first loyalty

When I read of Absalom’s rebellion against David, it makes me shudder. In that case, deserved loyalty was laid aside for self-aggrandizement and political power. However, if David had been a tyrant and was attempting to turn Israel from God, then Absalom may have been justified if his efforts were directed toward returning the kingdom to righteousness. A higher loyalty would have been exhibited in such a situation.

Loyalty to earthly establishments and mortal men has its limits. Much has been made of David’s loyalty to Saul. Since he felt that Saul had been chosen by God to lead the Hebrew nation, and was its first king, he went the second mile to recognize and submit to his position. But as Saul gradually removed himself from God’s favor, loyalty was stretched to its limits.

All men have to decide where to place their loyalties and how far to extend them. Our first and highest loyalty is owed to Jesus Christ and His Word, not to any earthly individual or entity. If someone or something to which we have an attachment—including our local church, our pastor, or any organization—is faithful to the founding principles of the faith, then they deserve our genuine loyalty. If such faithfulness is not in evidence, however, a question arises as to the level of loyalty that should be extended. Spiritual authority is forfeited when serious compromise becomes a factor. No individual or association is owed loyalty when faithfulness to scriptural truth and/or basic ethics have been abandoned. When some insist that loyalty must be extended regardless of what the entity or the leader may do, they are misguided. Blind loyalty to a friend or mentor who has departed from the faith can be spiritually devastating.

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The way things are…

 

Waiting on Georgia to make up its mind:

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Last Words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God bless…and have the greatest Christmas ever!

JR and Roffie Ensey

 

 

JREnsey blog November 2022

Welcome to the JREnsey blog for November 2022!

 

The Word for today (please read)

Recently one morning, disturbed and saddened by the direction our nation is taking, I earnestly prayed for guidance for my thinking and that of all of God’s people. I opened my Bible seeking a timely and relevant passage. My eyes fell upon Psalm 32:6-10 (NLT), a prayer chant of David:

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
⁷ For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. 

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

¹⁰ Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.”

I read and reread it, distilling its direction and timeless message for a nation potentially “drowning in judgment“—possibly within days or months. We must not confuse “our nation” with a city far away in some eastern enclave. Our nation is US…you and me, our neighbors, our children and grandchildren. The judgment on the wicked who are tearing away the fabric of Christianity in America will not be limited to unbelievers but will touch true Christians, their families, their children. Right where we live. Our street. Our home. While we are currently hassling each other about the color of our socks, our nation is crumbling. Our schools are indoctrinating our children.

November 8 could be the most important date yet in the lives of those around your kitchen table. Some of the most vital issues for us as American Christians will be settled in our local school board elections. Do you know who is running for election to your child’s school board, and what they stand for? Are the Moms in our churches going to Board meetings and making their voices heard? I recently challenged a candidate for our local school board recently by asking if he would support drag queen shows in our schools. I had to know. We cannot continue on the path our woke and sexualizing culture has taken if we hope to save this nation and our children.

ACT. VOTE for your values! Weep for your children.

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God disdains legalism

I’m sure we’ve all heard talking heads on newscasts attack Christians who were standing for biblical truths. They love to criticize “legalists” and “legalism” because of its negative connotation. They suggest anyone who might reflect and advocate a lifestyle like that which Paul and Peter urged us to follow fits that category. Jesus never even mentioned homosexuality, they love to say. He already had! And didn’t Jesus tell someone that all he had to do to inherit eternal life was to sell his belonging, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Jesus—he would then be eternally saved. Any 12-year old raised in an Apostolic church knows that the context wasn’t Jesus explaining what it did or didn’t take for Gentiles to be saved in the coming grace period. He was speaking directly to an individual Jew who had already been keeping the Law of Moses.

Jesus came to His own people—the Jews. Much of what one reads in red letters in the Gospels related specifically to Judaism. The apostles also had to help the new Jewish Christians understand the difference in a holy life in this dispensation and the imperatives of the Law in that period of time. They condemned the “legalists” and Judaizers who insisted that Christians had to also follow the dictates of the Law of Moses. Paul explained that he law to which Christians are bound is the law of Christ (I Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2), not the Law of Moses.

Liberal thinkers like to make folks who preach and teach what Paul, Peter and other NT writers taught look like Pharisees. Following apostolic directives regarding hair in I Corinthians eleven, or other holiness admonitions in the Pastoral Epistles, I & II Peter, etc., do not make one a legalistic Pharisee trying to earn heaven by the works of the Law. The Judaizers who wanted to also keep Moses’ Law were condemned by Paul (Philippians 3:2 NLT; Galatians 2:16; 3:10; Romans 6:17 ESV). Understanding that there are commitments to keep as a Christian does not smack of legalism. It’s called obedience, which is imperative (John 3:36 NLT, et al).

It is neither ethical nor scripturally honest to try to justify compromise on holiness or doctrinal issues by categorizing ministers who hold to NT biblical standards as “legalists.” Renaming compromise as “mercy” or “tolerance” or “love” speaks volumes about one’s commitment to apostolic principles. That cover is quite transparent.

There is wisdom in Paul’s invitation: “Be ye followers of me even as also I am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1).

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Apostolics often hear the question:

Homosexual acts and idolatry are condemned in Leviticus, but why do Christians disregard the other prohibitions that are mentioned there?

Answer: Christians do not ignore the Levitical prohibitions but recognize that most of them were peculiar to the Hebrews, God’s chosen people. They were to mark the Israelites as a separate and “holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

The eating of certain foods, dwelling designs, specific farming guidelines, and ceremonial practices were for Israel only in consideration of their special relationship to God. Restrictions governing the “clean and unclean” vessels, kosher food types, particular threads for clothing, etc., were not carried over to the Gentile church (Acts 10:9-15).

Moral obligations, however, were universal and had been expected of all people. The abominations of fornication, adultery, bestiality, incest, homosexuality, and attire that expresses those tendencies of the flesh, would never be rescinded. These are “my judgments,” said the Lord (Leviticus 18:4), not merely those of Jewish or Christian leaders. They are repeated specifically and in principle to New Testament Christians. Moral sins are different from ceremonial violations, in part because they affect more than just the person involved—specifically, the institution of the family. Their effects may never be removed (Proverbs 6:33,34).

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12 reasons I quit going to sporting events

(A friend’s Facebook page)

1. The coach never came to visit me or even call on the phone.
2. Every time I went, they asked me for money.
3. The people sitting in my row didn’t seem very friendly.
4. The seats were very hard.
5. The referees made a decision I didn’t agree with.
6. I was sitting with hypocrites—they only came to see what others were wearing!
7. Some games went into overtime and I was late getting home.
8. The band played some songs I had never heard before.
9. The games are scheduled on my only day to sleep in and run errands.
10. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.
11. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches, anyway.
12. I don’t want to take my children because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.
Please don’t use these excuses for skipping church.

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It’s a fact—women live longer than men. Here’s part of the reason:

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Pardon, our humanity is showing!

As an author and publisher for much of my 66-year ministerial stint, I am keenly aware of the need for repeated editing of books and copy for publications and postings. In spite of our best efforts, they are rarely without a flaw. I bludgeon myself severely when I see a typo or other error in something I published and vow to do better next time. Alas, perfection eludes me. Computers are light years ahead of typewriters for correcting mistakes but they also make it easy to overlook small errors when you adjust a paragraph or sentence several times. The computer may even assist in making them. Thanks, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Errors by others are no justification for our own; however, at times they do offer a measure of comfort to know that we are not alone in our humanity. I was made to smile recently when I noticed a glaring typo (a misspelled word) in a Baker Book House publication. Baker is one of the nation’s largest book publishers employing a host of editors. A couple of years ago I purchased a Bible from Zondervan and forthrightly discovered a typo in the Book of Psalms. An entire verse was missing from the first edition of the Apostolic Study Bible. I am sure that we all have observed typos in Louis L’Amour’s paperback books, possibly because they were published in such swift succession for a time that the editors couldn’t keep up.

Editorial oversights and bloopers do not always mean that someone is asleep at the wheel, but that we are still human. Someone sent me a booklet with some church bulletin bloopers. A sampling:

• “The congregation is asked to stay seated until the end of the recession.”
• “The Rev. Merriwether spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.”
• “Don’t let worry kill you; let the church help.”
• “Ushers will eat latecomers.”
• “Potluck supper Thursday night. Prayer and medication to follow.”
• “Say a nice ‘Hell’ to all of our visitors this morning.”
• “Applications are now being accepted for 2-year old nursery workers.”
• “The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Uelzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Uelzer.”

Reading those might evoke a grimace from any editor, but they serve to remind us all that no one is perfect. Writers and editors seldom mike serous misteaks (oops!), but when they do, they often repeat the prayer of Nehemiah: “Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof” (Nehemiah 13:14). In other words, please judge me by my better work and not by  my editorial foibles and oversights.

PS: Someone recently posited that as this texting generation writes its history, it will feature misspelled words and have no punctuation.

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Books

Pre-Christmas SALE !

Here are two hard copy books that make great gifts for pastors, Bible college students, young ministers, and inquisitive laymembers.

Why do Apostlics…?

by J. R. Ensey
Some younger men have called for reasons that specific holiness standards appear in the UPCI Manual. They were not around when the issues were debated and passed in conferences. It is easier in today’s cultural climate to give up the fight than to take the time to find out why Apostolic Pentecostals believe what we do. Here are 224 pages of some common sense, Word-based answers for our Apostolic positions.
Chapters:

• Why do Apostolics embrace the Bible as the Word of God?

• Why do Apostolics teach monotheism?

• Why do Apostolics receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues?

• Why do Apostolics disengage from a worldly lifestyle?

• Why do Apostolics abandon or avoid harmful personal practices?

• Why do Apostolics choose modest apparel and shun ornamental
jewelry?

• Why do Apostolic ladies refrain from cutting their hair and wearing
cosmetics?

• Why do Apostolics live with a blessed hope?

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (I Peter 3:15,16).

Regular price $12.95 Sale price $9.95  While they last!

To Order Click on Title or call 936-537-0250

A Hill To Die On

by J. R. Ensey
Is truth worth dying for? If so, which truth? Which doctrine? This book suggests that there are some things worth risking our reputations, our resources, and perhaps our lives for. Six months ago we would never have thought we would be where we are today as a nation. The Christian faith is rapidly being dismembered and deconstructed to make way for Islam. The rush of endtime prophecy fulfillment should stiffen the backbone of every Christian and make us realize there will be a price to pay for our faith. The nine chapters include:

– A Hill To Die On

– Truth in an Age of Deception

– Unity in an Age of Division

– Righteousness in an Age of Hedonism

– The Church in an Age of Spirituality

– Absolutes in an Age of Relativism

– God and Government

– Is American Christianity Returning to the Social Gospel?

– Our Finest Hour

Regular price $12.95 Sale price $9.95   While they last!

To Order Click on Title or call 936-537-0250

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Reminders…lest we forget

“Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.”  –  Joseph Addison

A poverty of soul invites surrender to the enemies of the cross. – Anonymous

“The language of truth is unadorned and always simple.” – Ammianus Marcellinus

“In skating over thin ice, our safety is our speed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong” (Titus 1:9 NLT).

“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” – Albert Einstein

“Pain has a way of revealing who you really are and what you really believe. Pain doesn’t destroy your faith; it simply exposes it.” – Lina Abujamra in Fractured Faith

“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward” (II John 1:8).

“Once a government is committed to the principle of licensing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” – President Harry S. Truman, special message to the Congress, August 8, 1950.

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Our first loyalty

When I read of Absalom’s rebellion against David, it makes me shudder. In that case, deserved loyalty was laid aside for self-aggrandizement and power. However, if David had been a tyrant and was attempting to turn Israel from God, then Absalom may have been justified if his efforts were directed toward returning the kingdom to righteousness. A higher loyalty would have been exhibited in such a situation.

All men have to decide where to place their loyalties. Our first and highest loyalty is owed to Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Word, not to any earthly individual or entity. If someone or something to which we have an attachment, including our local church, our pastor, or ministerial organization, is faithful to those elements and also to their founding principles, then they deserve our genuine loyalty. If such faithfulness is not in evidence, however, a question arises as to the level of loyalty that should be extended. No individual or association is owed loyalty when faithfulness to scriptural truth and basic ethics has been abandoned. When some insist that loyalty must be extended regardless of what the entity or its leaders do, they are misguided. Blind loyalty to a friend or mentor who has departed from the faith is spiritually dangerous.

In a national sense, I believe there may be a sufficient measure of loyalty to America’s constitution and its founding principles left in enough of us to make a difference in the election next month. But only if we speak of our values to others and then get out and VOTE!

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And now…a word from the artists:

 

I believe someone stole my artwork from my first grade home room and built this beauty! I may sue.

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 Last Words

“The will of the majority must prevail, but for that will to be right it must be reasoned. …Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.”  – Thomas Jefferson (1781)

Don’t forget to VOTE! We will see what the will of the people turns out to be. May it be well-reasoned and based on common sense.

Thanks for visiting. I trust everyone survived Halloween.

God bless!

JREnsey

JREnsey blog for October 2022

Thanks for visiting the JREnsey blog for October 2022! We welcome all of our new readers!

The Word for today

“Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says” (Jeremiah 18:18 NLT).

It’s strange that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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Does biblical authenticity depend on identical wording?

I recently asked my wife who approaches genius status with computers, along with the thousand other things she does well, to put all the words of Jesus into a single document. So she took the KJV and selected the words that appear in red letters and promptly handed them to me in a single document. [I know you guys say the same of your own wife, but I just happened to have lucked out and got the best of the crop born in the 1940s.]

There are many events and spoken words recorded in the Four Gospels. The first thought that comes to mind when you read them on a printed sheet side by side is how they varied in word selection and details. How did this happen when all of them were inspired by the same Author? Does this detract from their authenticity?

Absolutely not. When you think about it, authenticity is in some ways enhanced. How can that be? Let’s take a closer look. Three factors stand out to me as I note the slight variation in the texts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

1) None of them contradicts the others. If four men were speaking from their own knowledge or memory, such harmonization would be highly unlikely. The level of accuracy in the records tells us that inspiration had to be involved for four different men with divergent backgrounds, writing in different locales yet with no contradictions. That fact provides another reason to trust the Bible. Some skeptics like to say that any differences in the texts indicate errors by the original writers. Sorry, that dog won’t hunt.

2) Certain information and details are provided in one Gospel that may not be in others because of the varying needs for particular emphases. For instance, Matthew will sometimes insert details that would be more relevant to Jewish readers than Luke’s targeted Gentile readers, as in the sign placed on the cross of Christ. Differences appear in stories like the Gadarene men (Matthew) or man (Mark and Luke) tending swine. If Matthew says there were two men from the tombs who came out to confront Jesus, but Mark and Luke mention only one, how many really did come of the tombs? Two. The fact that Mark and Luke only tell the story of one may suggest that only one of the two men responded to Jesus and was delivered.

3) The variations show us that syntax and linguistic features were not as important as the conveyance of the true meaning of what was said. Jesus often quoted from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible even though it might say the same thing in a slightly different way from the actual Hebrew text. Jesus called that Greek Septuagint text from which He had just quoted “Scripture” (Luke 4:21), although it reads a little differently from the Hebrew text used in the KJV Bibles. The admonition of Paul seems to convey the sense that meaning trumps words or their order in a sentence order (I Timothy 6:4). When the words of the law were read, other knowledgeable men were present who “gave the sense” (Nehemiah 8:8) in the interest of “understanding.”

The authenticity of the NT is not based on each of the Gospel writers penning their thoughts with identical words. With each describing the same event, quoting the same sermon or admonition, but seeing a different view through the lens of their own divinely appointed purpose, they succeeded in conveying the necessary details for their readers. The Lord chose those particular writers in order to achieve that purpose. Each had his own focus. Each was correct in the autographs. Trust the Bible.

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Goodbye, “Mom” and “Dad”

The U.S. military continues its woke walk, but it is turning into a run. Soldiers are now being required to ask other soldiers what gender they are so they can use preferred pronouns. According to a U.S. Air Force Academy publication: “Now we’re instructing every cadet entering the Air Force to not say mom and dad, to not say boyfriend or girlfriend, and this kind of drive towards gender neutrality,” he said. “I think the Air Force should be worried about the macro aggressions against America that are happening all over the world.” Yes, failure to acknowledge “gender neutrality” is a much bigger threat than China, Russia, Iran, ISIS, or the invasion at the Southern border. Right?

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., a Green Beret and Afghan War veteran, pointed out during an interview with Fox News Digital that “it’s been a tradition in the military to get letters from mom and dad or your boyfriend and girlfriend for as long as there’s been a military.” No more. “Mom” is verboten. Nixed. Taboo. Canceled. Just call her a “caregiver.” And drop “Dad” for “guardian” or something other than male-sounding Dad/Father. Is this another step in the disconnection of children from their birth mothers and fathers so manipulation becomes simpler? Must offsprings now think of themselves more as wards of the state rather than part of a family? Isn’t that the goal of socialism?

It doesn’t stop there. The Academy is promoting the Brooke Owens Fellowship at the training facility that describes itself thusly: “If you are a cisgender woman, a transgender woman, non-binary, agender, bigender, two-spirit, demigender, genderfluid, genderqueer, or another form of gender minority, this program is for you,” the application states. “If you are a cisgender man [read: real man], this program isn’t for you.” Hmmmm…we were told diversity is our strength.

Where is the “diversity” emphasis going to take Christianity? Your wildest guess may be closest to the real truth. Melding with the cultural philosophy didn’t bless the family of Lot. Will we someday knock on a door and when a green-skinned person with typical hands opens, will we say, “Oops, sorry—we were canvassing for six-fingered blue folks”?

“Colorblindness” is not the objective of today’s movers and shakers—its “color consciousness.” This cannot turn out well. Why can’t we take people as they come, as we meet them, as we encounter them in workplaces, in stores and restaurants, homes or anywhere and be able to present them with the good news of eternal life in Christ and invite them to our church?

Those who fail to see where they are going usually fall into a ditch.

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Christianity is not self-perpetuating

In 1854 the United States Congress said, “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in our schools.” – Source: Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 108^th Congress

In the mid-1950s Christianity and faith were peaking in America. Better than half of the population was in a church or synagogue on a typical weekend. Our high school had a student chaplain who prayed at all assemblies. Prayer was made before every football game and at all banquets. Converted during the summer after my junior year, I took my Bible to school every day as a senior. We had Bible discussions between classes, during study hall, on the school grounds—anywhere. It was never discouraged.

What a difference from today. To even show a Bible through the netting of a backpack may get a student sent home because it might “offend” someone, or make another student feel “threatened.” Certainly no prayers are offered to kick off assemblies or sporting events. A coach can be fired if he prays with his team. Parents have been too quiet about this, letting it go without notice or complaint. They even fear reprisals if a student speaks of Christian training in his or her home. Student are now seen as belonging more to the schools and the teachers than to the parents. This gives them a free reign to turn them toward any cultural quirkiness they desire. If parents complain to the school board, they are declared to be terrorists or worse by the teacher’s union.

So what? Let them rail against us. This is still a “Christian” majority country. We still have basic rights (I think). If we don’t use them, we will lose them! Teach your kids at home. Don’t leave it all to the church. Have nightly family devotions. Again, Christianity is not self-perpetuating. It is not caught like a virus. It is not passed along through food, or picked up from surfaces in kitchens or restrooms. Purposeful transference of the faith is the only way we can halt the slide into agnosticism and Christless socialism.

Don’t just have it or keep it, pass it on—instill it!

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A little TIC: What to do before the FBI drops by

CHARLOTTE, NC — Local housewife Shawna Coleman worked diligently all afternoon cleaning every baseboard in the house, intent that her home would look tidy if the FBI dropped in for a raid.

“I would be so humiliated if special agents searched my home and found it full of dust,” said Mrs. Coleman. “And what if they published pictures of my floors in the Washington Post? I better run the vacuum again.”

Having once attended a school board meeting, Mrs. Coleman figures a raid on her home is only a matter of time. “I have started setting out cookies at night as well. I’m sure they’ll be hungry after all their raiding!” said Mrs. Coleman. “It all started with liking this Facebook post about how schools needed to re-open during the COVID lockdowns. I wound up going to a school board meeting and next thing you know, there are three unmarked vans on my street and every guy on the block is wearing a Lacoste shirt and Ray-Bans. So, I’m trying to get the house all fixed up before they come in.”

Despite his protests, Mr. Coleman has again been roped into helping clean the baseboards. “Why? Why the baseboards? Every time someone comes over,” grumbled Mr. Coleman as he worked. “At least this time, there’s some chance the people coming over will be looking in the upstairs closet. Soon as this raid is over, I’m designing walls and floors that don’t have baseboards. What woman started this neurotic obsession with baseboards? Some mother-in-law looking to annoy a happy couple, no doubt.”

At publishing time, the FBI agents reported that the cookies were delicious and repeatedly expressed to Mrs. Coleman that it was the nicest home they had ever ransacked.

The Babylon Bee 9/11/22 (Sorry, this was just too funny not to pass on!)

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She did have a keen mind and a way with words

“I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.” – Queen Elizabeth II

“I wish that the Lord would come in my lifetime,” the Queen once said. “Why?” asked the chaplain. She replied with quivering lips and whole countenance lighted up by deep emotion: “I should so love to lay my crown at his feet.”

Over seven decades as queen, the longest reign of any previous monarch, she never made a major misstep or created a scandal that I am aware of. Her husband, Prince Philip, passed away only last year at the age of 99.  Elizabeth’s queenship was extraordinary. She confidently met with many heads of state over the years and rendered helpful advice to those who actually made political decisions for the British government.

And didn’t you just love those colorful, matching hats?

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Potpourri: read and said

• Currently, less than 1% of the 250 million cars on American roads are EVs, and yet these owners are already being asked to not charge their electric cars during peak electric usage hours to keep from straining the electric grid. This is a disaster waiting to happen. When 90% of California cars are EVs, catastrophe can only result. But China will be smiling.
• Americans are now paying $450 a month more for the same items you spent your money for last year. Think about that before you check a box in November.
• Someone has suggested this for a new law: If you sneak into America illegally, you will NEVER become a citizen and NEVER get any special benefits. No exceptions!
• When police are killed in the line of duty, I always hear the same sentiments: “They knew the risk when they took the job.” Shouldn’t the same understanding be expressed when violent criminals are killed during shootouts or confrontations with police?
• Seen on the back window of a car: “I was once willing to give my life for what I believed this country stood for. Today I’d give my life to protect my family from what this country has become.”
• Seen on a billboard: Trump may have hurt your feelings, but Biden is hurting your family, your finances, and your freedom.
• Is it true that we live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so stupid people won’t be offended?
• If athletes can’t bet on games they can influence, why do we let members of congress invest in companies they can “bless” or “curse” through legislation?
• Is it true that we are more focused on being a part of the world than speaking truth into it?

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In case you haven’t heard

Gun and ammo purchases by credit card will be coded. According to Steve Bittenbender at thecentersquare.com, the international organization responsible for creating merchant category codes for credit card purchases has given its approval to establish one for transactions made at gun stores. This apparently comes after “New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to chief executives at American Express, Mastercard and Visa, urging them to support a merchant category code. They were joined on Wednesday morning by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who tweeted in support of an MCC.” In other words, Big Brother wants to know who has guns and ammo so they will know exactly what to look for in your home when the time comes. Some Republican congressmen are calling for a reversal of this policy.

Read about it here:

https://www.thecentersquare.com/new_york/gun-ammunition-purchases-by-credit-card-will-be-coded

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The potential mark is here

Two articles were published recently regarding the implantation of microchips in human hands, particularly those of children.

The World Economic Forum has laid out “solid, rational reasons” to implant microchips in kids. [www.childrenshealthdefense.org] by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

Claiming “augmented reality” technology “has the ability to transform society and individual lives,” the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently suggested there are “solid, rational and ethical” reasons to consider implanting children with microchips.

According to an article published this month on the WEF website, “Implant technologies could become the norm in the future” and they “form part of a natural evolution that wearables once underwent.”

The article’s author, Kathleen Philips, said there are “compelling” arguments in favor of microchipping humans.

The potential benefits of these “amazing technologies,” Philips said, are endless — limited only by “ethical arguments” rather than “scientific capacity.”

Dismissing arguments that such expectations are “unattainable,” Philips said, “We’re already making the first strides towards an ‘augmented society,'” citing fitness-tracking apps on smartphones as part of an evolution “from health care to ‘well care.'”

Advancing technologies are bringing us ever closer to the ways the Antichrist will have to choose from in order to dominate the populace left on earth after the Rapture.

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There are no other books like these:

The New Cyclopedic Theological Dictionary  [eBook]

by J. R. Ensey
The only reference volume based on the biblical, Apostolic viewpoint! Compiled and written by J. R. Ensey.
When you want to know the meaning of a theological term, or the description of a religious movement, or the definition of over a thousand terms that are found in reference works and the Bible…turn to The New Cyclopedic Theological Dictionary!

Contains:
– Over 1000 entries
– Definitions and descriptions of many Bible words, theological terms, and religious movements
– 486 pages of easy-to-read, easy-to-use information
– The only reference volume of its kind! Written from a conser vative, apostolic viewpoint, this classic work has enhanced the study habits of thousands of ministers and laymen.

“This dictionary is far more than a word study; it is replete with the background and history of many doctrinal positions and teachings. It also serves as a standard for testing the validity of different theories—an invaluable tool!”
-Dr. Marvin Treece

AM Price $12.95

Searching the Scriptures  [eBook]

by J. R. Ensey

A number of years ago, I embarked on a journey to learn more about the actual text of the Bible. I wanted to know how it came to us in the present form. The research took me to libraries both here and abroad, the Internet, discussions with textual scholars, and the perusal of many books (a weariness of the flesh), and earnest prayer. I wanted to know the truth about the Bible we trust.

This largely polemic volume takes on the shallow claims of those who insist that only one 400-year old English translation—produced with pre-set biased rules, few resources, by Anglican clergy who did not fully understand that the New Testament was written in Koine rather than classical Greek—should be viewed as “the only Bible.” Finding truth behind the manuscripts, the texts and translations is a worthy objective that will build your faith in the Scriptures, not destroy it.

Searching the Scriptures: Merging Truth, Texts and Translations is the result of that effort. It puts the early English Bibles, including the KJV, in perspective where they can be evaluated with contemporary translations by the sciences of papyrology, textual analysis, and linguistics. No doctrines are lost or created in the process.

If you have questions about the ancient manuscripts, the Greek texts, the differences in the Textus Receptus, the Majority Text, and the Critical Text, or the translations that are available today, you will find some help here. What about the words or phrases in some translations that are not there in the 16th and 17th century versions or vice versa? You will find the answers in this book.

Includes charts, comparisons of Bible translations, and other addenda that you will find helpful in the study of the Scriptures.

Apostolics, of all people, have no need to fear truth. The more one learns about the Bible, the more it is respected and trusted.

AM Price $14.95

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Expressing the way we are

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Last Words

Thomas Sowell just keeps saying relevant stuff. We should listen carefully when wise men speak. “You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible. …We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.” PatriotPost.us 9/2/22

Our prayers and condolences go out to our brothers and sisters in Florida and beyond who have sustained losses in hurricane Ian.

As the leaves begin to fall, may the church begin to rise. Have a great soul winning October.

God bless!

JREnsey

JREnsey blog September 2022

Greetings to our new readers and our faithful regulars!

The Word for today

““Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors i would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do” (Joshua 1:6-7).

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Satan, do your worst…

…and we will do our best!

It appears, and some pundits and media outlets have confirmed it, that war has been declared against Christianity in ours and many other nations. War is not a pleasant thought, particularly when you recognize that it is waged against you and your religious faith. However, I am encouraged when I am reminded of another war and one of its greatest heroes—Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

His island nation had been under attack from Nazi Germany for over a year. Adolph Hitler had decided to bomb England into surrender and submission by reducing London and other major cities to rubble rather than invading it with an army. Britain’s families spending time in underground bunkers became a virtual way of life. It was as if gigantic Goliath was hurling spears and swinging swords at a David-sized nation across the English Channel.

Time and again Churchill took to the air waves to rally his people to stand fast against the Nazi aggressors. His way with words and his powerful, motivating speeches virtually saved the British people from becoming an extension of Germany. Churchill had chutzpah—guts, nerve, audacity, arrogance, boldness—and it was all contagious. The British people caught it.

He warned Hitler that if they did invade from ships or the skies, “We will fight on the beaches, we will fight on the landing grounds…We shall fight in the streets and in the fields…We shall NEVER surrender!” And he meant it!

On one dark day after the rockets had fallen and the Stuka dive bombers had screamed their death from the sky, Churchill shook his fist at Hitler and the German war machine and cried in a voice that spoke for all his nation: “We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst and we will do our best!”

Hitler’s worst couldn’t match England’s best, just as Goliath’s worst couldn’t match David’s best.

I feel like saying to all of our readers—pastors, leaders, and laymen alike—the enemy of our souls may have declared all-out war on Christian believers because he knows his time is limited, but let us rise up with one voice and say to him: “We will fight in our homes, we will fight in our schools, we will fight in our churches…We will fight in our worship, we will fight in our prayer rooms, we will fight in our pews, we will fight in our altars, we will fight on our feet and on our knees…WE will NEVER surrender!”

Satan, you do your worst…we will do our best! And God will give us the ultimate victory!

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Does the NKJV complicate Bible language?

The New King James Bible (NKJV) gets a bad rap from strict KJV advocates because it uses a word in Song of Solomon that is unfamiliar to many Western readers. For instance, they claim the NKJV and others are more difficult to read in part because of the use of “palanquin” in Song of Solomon 3:9. Many of us in the West have never seen one so it was easier to relate to the KJV rendering of the word as “a chariot.”

The KJV translators, who were better at Latin than Hebrew, were apparently unfamiliar with this Hebrew word since it was used only once in the Bible. Appiryon was not a chariot, however, which would have wheels and be drawn by horses. Elsewhere in the OT, “chariot[s]” is usually derived from some form of the noun merkaba.

The publishers of the NKJV, however, were accurately rendering the Hebrew word into English. The word “palanquin” is used by many versions to translate the Hebrew term appiryon in S. of S. 3:9: “King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon” (ASV); “King Solomon has made for himself a palanquin From the [cedar] wood of Lebanon” (AMP); “Of the wood of Lebanon Solomon the King made himself a palanquin” (NKJV). Others render it similarly (ASV, NRSV, etc.).

A palanquin is a box-like conveyance for one passenger, usually carried on two horizontal poles by four or six bearers. They were made to transport kings or other important persons so they would not have to walk. These are still used in some places in the East. The Orthodox Jewish Bible renders the verse this way: “HaMelech Sh’lomo made himself an appiryon (palanquin, mobile throne carried on a litter on the shoulders of men) of the wood of the Levanon [sic].” This is the only reference in the Bible to such a conveyance.

The usage of “palanquin” does not represent a complication of the Bible’s language making it more difficult to read. It is just that we Westerners are not accustomed to seeing such devices on our streets or hearing about them. The rendering is incorporated to better express what was actually meant by the original Hebrew term. Other names for the device are “sedan…sedan chair…covered litter” used in some translations.

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Mother of all scams

Back around 1970 we were warned by climate alarmists that a new ice age was coming. When that was not obvious to anyone and did not fit well with the new narrative, they changed to global warming, and then to “climate change,” and today to a “global climate emergency.” All designed, of course, to destroy the capitalist economy of America and bend it toward totalitarianism.

The biggest names in the climate emergency scam has been Al Gore, Barack Obama, and now Joe Biden. In the face of their claims of a dangerous rise in sea level, Obama and Al Gore both bought mansions on the beaches of Massachusetts and California, respectively. Joe Biden’s beach house in Delaware (left) is due for a high security fence costing almost a half million dollars, paid for by you and me. A wall for him, but not for the country.

The shameless hypocrisy of saying one thing then acting and living in a totally different way amounts to nothing less than a political scam. Check out the two websites below. You be the judge.

 

https://www.scienceunderattack.com/blog/2019/9/23/no-evidence-that-climate-change-is-accelerating-sea-level-rise-35

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Isn’t it true…?

…that it’s the parents’ job to ensure that their children grow up to be stable, self-confident, mentally healthy individuals—including building a solid connection between mind and body? Generic pronouns, a pliable identity and sterilizing drugs are total destruction of those things. Also if you have to have a uterus to have an opinion on reproductive rights, then I guess you have to own a gun to have an opinion on gun rights. – Outspoken Sam

…that if inflation was at 0% in July and was under control as the president said, we really didn’t need the “Inflation Reduction Act”?

…that one doesn’t  have to operate with great malice to do great harm? The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.” – Charles Blow

...that “We all have our time machines, don’t we? Those that take us back are memories…and those that carry us forward, are dreams.” – H. G. Wells

…that if something like the Trump raid on a political opponent would have happened during his administration, the streets would have been full of rioters, police cars would be burning, and mayors would be calling for the National Guard? The differences are so obvious.

…that in an empire of lies, truth is treason? – Patriot Post

…that China is teaching their kids quantum physics and calculus while America’s kids are learning new gender specific pronouns and how to twerk like a drag queen? This cannot turn out well.

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SSRIs and the “chemical imbalance” fraud

For years we have warned those who are “diagnosed” with depression due to a “chemical imbalance” in the brain were being duped by the pharmaceutical industry. Follow the money. We told the story and backed up the contention in our book titled The Couch and the Cross. Many outstanding and well-known psychiatrists whom we quoted were ignored by people who were sure that the other psychiatrists and psychologists who were in the money-receiving chain from big pharma were correct. Millions of people (1 in every six Americans), mostly women, were convinced that their “feelings” were due to “depression” (broadly defined to include nearly everyone who sees a psychologist or counselor) and that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants were their cure.

The pharmaceutical companies saw this as their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Brand names like Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and many others became popular overnight. People were told they had to stay on them for months in order to really determine their benefit. Of course, by that time they were virtually hooked, believing that they were being cured or made to “feel” better by their use, most electing to stay on them for fear of a return of their old feelings of “depression.” Never mind the uptick in the suicide rate, the rise in the divorce rate, or mass shootings credited to mind-altering drugs. By that time circumstances that had evoked feelings of depression had often changed, but the pills got at least partial credit for other “feelings.”

But what about those who say they were helped by these drugs? Trials are conducted with the use of placebos (pills without actual medicine in them) and many say they were helped by them also. In other words, they convinced themselves that they received benefit from the worthless pill. They same thing happens when people take these particular drugs. Some convince themselves that they are being “cured.” Some may actually experience temporary personality/behavioral changes. Doctors do not know how these medicines will affect an individual who takes them. It usually takes some time (weeks or months) to determine a result. That is why the labels are forced to include such statements as “may cause thoughts of suicide” and other dangerous outcomes.

Windfall profits sent hundreds of lobbyists to Washington DC to make sure that legislation to protect big pharma was always a priority with lawmakers. The money also could pay handsomely for studies favorable to their theories. They also kept the money flowing to doctors who were willing to prescribe their products without extensive examinations.

Lately, however, more serious studies have surfaced that have shined new light on the truth. I suggest that those who are on SSRIs be objective enough to read one of the latest studies that show that the theory behind them is flawed. Don’t treat this as professional advice to stop taking a drug immediately. Just read. Look before you leap. One study is called “The Serotoniin Theory of Depression.” The website link is https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01661-0.

The book The Couch and the Cross is still available as an eBook. Order at the advanceministries.org/books website or email raensey@gmail.com, or call 936-537-0250. Only 9.95.

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Mennonites drink the Kool-Aid while Simons spins

The Mennonite Church USA has adopted a policy of “inclusion” that permits their ministers to perform gay marriages, and embraces the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, recognizing their “spiritual gifts,” even apologizing to them for the “harm” done to them in the past by previous policies. While they were at it, they adopted a congregational curriculum that included defunding the police and the promotion of an anti-Israeli agenda. That is what can happen when theological liberals assume leadership in religious bodies.

Let’s see…what or who else might be embraced in a policy of “inclusion.” Adulterers? Murderers? Idolators? Why not? The “Society of Occasional Adulterers” may seek representation. Or “The Association of Holy Assassins,” or even OPABL—”Organization of People Against Biblical Lies.” Apparently those groups need acceptance, welcoming, and understanding.

While the modern trend and emphasis is on “inclusion,” Bible believers might note that God and Paul also embraced a policy of exclusion, which listed homosexual activity right along with murder, witchcraft, idolatry, theft, and extortion. Unrepentant practitioners of such acts would not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:8-10; Galatians 5:19-21). Apostolics who hold the same position didn’t write the Bible. They just teach what it says. But once a local church or religious organization starts down the road of making sure that all diverse segments of the population are accepted and “included” on church rolls, there is no turning back or stopping place. Pastors and Christian leaders have to split with the culture or with the Bible.

Unless I miss my guess, Menno Simons (1496-1561), the Anabaptist founder of the church named for him, is not just turning over in his grave, but is twisting, even spinning.

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For word addicts only:

1. Of all the inventions of the last 100 years, the dry erase board has to be the most remarkable.
2. If you’re up at night while the cows are asleep in the field, that means it’s pasture bedtime.
3. Did you hear about the guy that evaporated? He’ll be mist.
4. What do you call a cow with a twitch? Beef Jerky.
5. Did you hear about the truck transporting steaks that got into a wreck? Some car T-Boned it.
6. Which knight of the round table was the beefiest? Sir Loin.
7. What happened to the lost beef shipment? Nobody’s herd.
8. What has five toes but isn’t your foot? My foot.
9. Accidentally burned dinner on the grill. Mis-steaks were made.
10. How do you get a farm girl to marry you? First, a tractor.

UGH! How can you word addicts stomach that stuff?

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 Books

The Couch and The Cross eBook

by J. R. Ensey
This book exposes the psychology and pharmaceutical conglomerate’s inroads into Christianity. It answers many of the questions people have about counseling in general and Christian counseling in particular. The Word and Spirit of God are set forth as sufficient to the true healing of the soul. Drugs and other chemicals may affect physical ailments and change moods artificially, but true deliverance and spiritual wholeness always come through Christ and His Word.

AM Price $9.95  To order, click on the title above.

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 Babies have a better way of saying it

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Last Words

Trust the babies. They seem unbiased and wise beyond their years!

God bless!

JREnsey

JREnsey Mid-Month blog for August 2022

Thanks for visiting the Mid-month blog for August 2022!

The Word for today

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).

Would someone please inform AOC, Al Gore and the other climate change extremists that we are not really in danger of the world ending because of the weather before Jesus returns? The world will not end because of cow flatulence, auto emissions, or global warming. Please relax and tend to more important business affecting the lives of Americans.

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Helping new believers make lifestyle changes

There seems to be two sides to the question of how to get righteous practices into the lives of new converts.

Once there was only one—both Protestant and Catholic ministers preached their brand of holiness into them and virtually dared any to resist it. Excommunication or even stocks awaited nonconformists in Europe and Early America. Today the popular emphasis of some seems to be to leave everyone alone and let God guide them into paths of righteousness if that is what He wants.

Which is the right way? There are current examples of success with both approaches—and failures as well. It seems that we often force ourselves needlessly into an “either/or” mindset that invites failure. We all know that different people, depending on their background and personal experiences in the past, will respond differently to each of the two approaches. Christian leaders have to be discerning and wise.

It would be wonderful to never say a negative word about people’s lifestyle from the pulpit again. Some have made the decision to take that path. If that was the correct way to deal with holiness issues, we could cut large portions of Scripture from the Bible and be done with it. If God wants people to live holy and righteous lives, let Him deal with it. A testimony or two of new converts who straightened up their lives by merely feeling that they should, impresses some pastors who don’t bother to ever mention certain scriptures about believers’ lifestyles. That could reduce the five-fold ministry by one, eliminating “teachers.” Who would need them?

The other extreme might be expressed by a pastor who takes advantage of every service to pound away on his people should any look like they might be living a little beneath his high standard. Hell and damnation are dangled in front of them so often that the Apostolic life is perceived to be one of constant self-denial and fear of failure.

Somewhere between these two extremes must be a better way.

Let’s deal with the first concept—let God take care of it. Sounds great, but too often God doesn’t seem to “take care of it.” Months may turn into years and there appears to be no serious convictions guiding the convert’s lifestyle decisions. With no background of Word knowledge, God hasn’t seemed to say anything to them about their hair, their bling, the immodest unisex clothing, or entertainment choices. They seem quite satisfied with where they are spiritually. They “love God” and “feel His presence” when they worship. That is often interpreted as a “You’re OK as is” from God. Their conscience is not bothered by their lifestyle, unaware that their conscience is not to be trusted (I Corinthians 4:4 NLT/NIV84). Subsequently, pastors are put on the spot when SS teachers or worship leaders on the platform are needed. How to incorporate them into the church program can become a sticky point and a pastoral headache.

The second concept—that everything must be drilled into their heads and hearts by weekly demands and reminders—can produce a “holier than thou” attitude that is spiritually destructive. Christianity is portrayed as a list of do’s and don’ts. He or she may not know why some things are considered to be sin or a “weight” problem (Hebrews 12:1), but they try to be obedient. Slips in conformity seem to bring on bouts of self-deprecation and self-loathing. Secret mistakes or personal momentary failures hang over them like the sword of Damocles. Joy is almost non-existent. Any perceived shortcoming or mistake by the pastor or other church leader might be viewed as hypocrisy, which opens the door to bitterness and other problems.

A combination of sound teaching and spiritual maturation is likely a better approach. Time, prayer, worship, Word focus, and positive exampling by the more mature members will usually harden the new convert’s convictions.

Consider the example of Paul and Peter. They knew that a walk in the Spirit and the grace of God teaches and motivates the sensitive Spirit-filled Christian (Titus 2:11,12), yet neither of them had decided to “let God handle all the holiness teaching” (Titus 2:4). They also reminded us that some practices they did not specifically mention that would come along later would need to be weeded out through pastoral teaching—expressed as “…and such like” (Galatians 5:19-21). Both laid out broad principles to guide a convert’s thinking about why separation from the world (the real meaning of holiness) is essential to spiritual maturity (I Peter 2:1-3; I Corinthians 3:1-3), but they also injected some specifics to let the new believers know how the principles are to be lived out (I Timothy 2:9,10; I Peter 3:3). Toward the end of Paul’s three books on practical Christian deportment and church leadership (I & II Timothy and Titus), the apostle said, “These things teach and exhort…affirm constantly”! (I Timothy 6:2-4; Titus 3:8). That was an apostolic command to church leaders.

Pastors should expect the Lord and the individual to work some things out, supplemented by his encouragement, discernment, kindness, patience, and clear biblical instruction. If they never hear what Jesus and the apostles expected from the NT church (and from us today), they can receive and be misguided by mixed messages from their own conscience.

The point: wise pastors avoid extreme positions. They teach the Word, allowing it to be the basis for the standards that guide both the new believer and the mature Christian (John 17:17). If no guidelines are drawn by leadership, then there will be no lines. Provide reasons for what changes are expected. Some matters can justifiably be couched in the context of common sense rather than a specific verse in the Bible. Keeping holiness teaching in a spiritual atmosphere of love and understanding will make it more palatable to new converts.

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

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Think about it

If the wages of sin were paid quickly, sin would not be so popular.

New York and California have declared health emergencies because of the monkeypox outbreak in the gay community. According to NBC News, Biden administration officials have appealed to men who have sex with other men to “cut down on high risk behavior—like having multiple partners in a two week period or with those with known exposure—until the outbreak is under control.” They surely would not want to have any causal cloud over that community regarding monkeypox!

Why wouldn’t they also want to urge unmarried straight men and women to “cut down on high risk behavior” to avoid unwanted pregnancies in order to reduce the butchering of unborn babies?

If we were as dumb as the president’s speechwriters think we are, we’d be trying to nail Jello to the wall.

Old Turkish proverb: “When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king; the palace becomes a circus.”

It’s not the task of the church to “Make America Great Again.” The contemporary task of the church is to make Christianity countercultural again.” – Brian Zahnd

Recessions will be non-existent in the future as long as we change the definition.

AAA says properly inflated tires can save 8 cents a gallon of gas, but perhaps properly cast votes would have saved drivers three dollars a gallon.

Your grandfather didn’t sleep in a foxhole in a far away land while clutching a picture of your grandmother so you would surrender your guns.

“No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce.” – Thomas Sowell

“We don’t have inflation because the people are living too well. We have inflation because the government is living too well.” – Ronald Reagan

Since one Apostolic college has installed a “Reconciliation, Inclusion and Equity” program to train Apostolic students in those values, will others follow suit?

Definition of “confusion”: requiring leftists who say rights are being taken away from women to identify what a woman is.

Nobody talks about forgiving trade school tuition debt because those students learned a useful skill and can pay their own way.

How does sponsoring a U.S. Military drag show at Joint Base Langley-Eustis recently, highlighting a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” Summer Festival contribute to the preparedness of our military to do what it was formed to do?

When so many gay men are getting monkeypox lesions, sores, etc., “in their private regions…that it is like ‘passing glass’” [sorry to be so graphic as to quote national news reporters], TV talking heads are questioning why the government hasn’t developed a vaccine for this problem. Shouldn’t they be asking, “Why would you guys want to continue doing that which causes such agony?” It’s like I am bashing my finger with a hammer and it is really hurting. Therefore, the government should quickly develop a vaccine to eliminate this type of pain so I can continue bashing my finger!

If you ever feel useless, remember it took 20 years, four presidents, and trillions of dollars to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

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Why is it…

…that modern Bible versions are vilified for making many of the identical textual choices that the 16th and 17th century English translators, including those who produced the KJV, made?

…that illegals can’t be located for deportation but they can find them to give them money?

…that someone can post the words, “He’s an idiot,” and 90% of the world knows who is meant?

…that Brittney Griner insisted that the WNBA stop playing the National Anthem at games, but suddenly she now wants America to bail her out of a Russian jail for bringing illegal drugs into that country?

…that even though the gay community is the most at risk group in the U.S. for monkeypox (91.7% of all cases; 98% in some reports), San Francisco still sponsored its annual “Up Your Alley” leather and fetish festival in the first week of August that drew thousands to that city? It was being dubbed a potential “super-spreader” for the monkeypox virus before the event occurred. No rebuke from the administration or CDC is expected.

…that we are told to blame Putin for high gas prices, but praise Biden for subsequently reducing the cost by a few cents?

…that Bill Gates is buying up huge swaths of America’s farmland? I am sure he can’t wait to get on a tractor.

…that the Obamas took millions documents to his house from the White House when he left, but they never got raided or even subpoenaed? (https://therightscoop.com) And reckon what they could find in Hillary’s NY home and in the Clinton Library in Little Rock?

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Why are so many young people having heart problems after Covid vaccination?

Especially children and athletes with otherwise perfect health.

Which is more dangerous to your child—Covid or the vaccination? If you dare, watch the video posted by a parent whose young son got myocarditis from the vaccine.

What is myocarditis? In simple terms, myocarditis is a disease that causes inflammation of the heart muscle. This inflammation enlarges and weakens the heart, creates scar tissue and forces it to work harder to circulate blood and oxygen throughout the body.

While we often associate cardiovascular conditions with elderly populations, myocarditis can affect anyone, including young adults, children and infants. In fact, it most often affects otherwise healthy, young, athletic types with the high-risk population being those of ages from puberty through their early 30’s, affecting males twice as often as females. Myocarditis is the 3^rd leading cause of Sudden Death Syndrome in children and young adults.

Many have complained of blood clots after receiving the vaccination. Please be informed before making health decisions the government or your employer insists you make.

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Who are the most powerful people in America regarding change?

Hint: They are not the politicians in DC.

It is not even the teachers in your local school district.

The most powerful people who can effect change in this nation are those who teach the teachers—college professors—and specifically those who are tenured. They have assumed the role as the primary “change agents” in our society.

Our universities are turning out thousands of teachers every year who are filling the slots in your child’s classrooms. They will teach what they were taught. Your child will be trained to believe whatever the teacher regurgitates of the professor’s lectures—even if it is absolute nonsense.

Let’s return to home training being supplemented by patriotic schools, with the parents as the kids’ ultimate authority.

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Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words

Clarence Thomas, the new choir director

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Last Words

• “Proverbs says by your words you are taken and by your words you are snared (Proverbs 6:2). Can we do the flip side of that and say by your words you can be victorious?” – Pastor Don Grigsby, Madisonville, TX
• Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations.” – Ryūnosuke Satoro, author and poet
• Provide a word of encouragement for the kids and young people in your assembly as they face another school year filled with challenges to their faith.
• Share this blog with someone you care about.

God bless!

JREnsey

JREnsey blog August 2022

The Word for today

“Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34 NLT).

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Did Jesus and His disciples eat raw corn on the Sabbath?

“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat” (Matthew 12:1 KJV).

The answer calls for a little research and thought. It is likely that the early English Bible translators had never tasted the grain that we today in America call “corn” (Gr: stachys – heads of grain). Back then virtually all edible grains were called corn. Even early 20^th century English dictionaries defined corn as “any edible grain, such as wheat, barley, rye and oats.” Certainly Jesus and His disciples never actually saw a cob of corn like you may have gnawed during your after-church meal last Sunday.

Early English Bibles called what Jesus’ disciples ate corne (1611 KJV), but given the context, it was most likely barley that was intended here, since the corn with which we are familiar today was unknown in the Middle Eastern world at that time. Corn
seems to have originated somewhere in what is called Latin America today, perhaps in Mexico.

The Native Americans and Caribbean peoples adapted it to their diet before European settlers came over to what is today the U.S. and Canada. From his initial forays in the Caribbean area, Columbus took multi-colored “Indian corn” back to the European nations.

A “corn of wheat” in John 12:24 references what we call a “kernel,” a plantable seed.

My question is—did they eat the barley raw after removing it from
the stalk? The Bible does say they took time to “rub it in their hands,” removing the husks prior to consuming it. However, raw
grains consumed before the “kill stage,” usually achieved by boiling, can be harmful. Since it was common for people to stop at a convenient place and build a fire to prepare food, as Jesus did before serving up bread and fish (which can be eaten raw) for the disciples (John 21:9-13), it seems probable that they stopped after walking through the field to do just that.

 

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Rebranding your church? Here are some names you might want to avoid

From The Door:

Mitchell Chapel Church of the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas

Catholic Church of South Africa King George Win the War

Other suggestions from Cole-Slaw.blogspot.com:

Greater Second Baptist Church of Chattanooga, TN (stands in contrast, I guess, to the not so great second Baptist church around the corner)

Little Hope Baptist Church (sounds a tad better than another church called No Hope United Methodist Church. Kind of makes you sad just saying it.)

Original Church of God, Number 2. (I really can’t think of anything to add that could possibly be funnier than the name itself…except for perhaps number 3.)

First United Separate Baptist Church (This church in Indiana needs to make up its mind—is it united or separate?)

Half Way Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC (They just take you so far)

Accident Baptist Church, Accident, MD (obviously not Calvinist)

Waterproof Baptist Church (in Louisiana; does baptism count if you are water repellent?)

The New Aggressive Church of Deliverance, Durham, NC (no catchers allowed?)

St. Martini Lutheran Church of Milwaukee, WI; (lemon twists in the baptistery?)

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Blue laws (Sabbath No-Nos)

When we moved to Greensboro, NC in 1961 to plant a new church in that city, we learned that most North Carolina cities/counties still had some of the blue laws in force. Laws limiting what one could or could not do, including buying or selling, on Sunday were called Blue laws. Other states had them and some still do. They were originally a nod to the positive influence of Christianity in our country, which is no longer given to any great degree anywhere. Many of the laws seem strange or even funny to us today and are no longer enforced. Some think Pentecostals today are too strict, but note that these rules went for everyone in town—sinners as well as saints.

No citizen was allowed to dress up in any red-colored garment on the Sabbath and then attend a church service in Leecreek, AR.

All citizens in Bagdad, FL are outlawed from dipping snuff while on the grounds of any local church; neither are they allowed to smoke a pipe or a cigar on the Sabbath.

In Leona, KS no female wearing a nightgown, sheer or otherwise, can be rescued by a fireman on the Sabbath; she must be fully dressed before she can be legally assisted by a fireman during a Sunday fire.

In Honey Creek, IA only policemen were allowed to bring a slingshot to church on the Sabbath.

Garysburg, NC disallowed the shooting of fish from an airplane while church is in progress on the Sabbath.

In Idanha, OR Christians were not allowed to eat watermelons on the Sabbath.

Lingerie could not be hung on an outdoor clothesline in Toomsboro, GA on Sunday unless they were hidden by a fence or screen.

In Opal, WY a woman weighing over 200 pounds could not ride a horse on Sunday in public. (Are all stout women in Opal in constant possession of a scale?)

The prosecutors who enforced such laws in those times had better be prayed up.

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Great news!

A lawsuit on the behalf of health care workers who resisted the mandatory Covid vaccine on religious grounds has been settled in their favor.

Liberty Counsel settled the nation’s first classwide lawsuit for health care workers for more than $10.3 million. The class action settlement against NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois is on behalf of more than 500 current and former health care workers who were unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions from the COVID vaccine mandate. The agreed upon settlement was filed July 29th in the federal Northern District Court of Illinois.

As a result of the settlement, NorthShore will pay $10,337,500 to compensate these health care employees who were victims of religious discrimination, and who were punished for their religious beliefs against taking an injection associated with aborted fetal cells. You can read the full story here:

https://lc.org/newsroom/details/072922-health-care-workers-settle-covid-shot-mandate-for-dollar103-million?fbclid=IwAR3Z2xUPCsyj2KJWSG4FZK_dDgjDJTfJWGCOEoxtz-sKe3ipQYoxS9KfhtM

Thank you, Liberty Counsel and the workers who stood up against a bullying system whose mandatory shots have been proven to be largely ineffective in either preventing the virus or passing it to others, besides containing fetal cells of aborted babies. May it be educational to both the government and many institutions that tried to enforce the mandate. When we stand up and stand together, the Davids of our time can still defeat the Goliaths who would love to force themselves and their illegal and immoral systems on us and our children.

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The dangers of psych drugs

Before you read what I have to say on this topic, please listen to the following brief excerpt from Tucker Carlson, featured commentator on FoxNews, regarding the current epidemic of dangerous prescription drugs that are harming people you know:

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6309175411112#sp=show-clips

A more recent and dynamic revelation about the psych drug industry by Carlson has been removed from youtube. I wonder why?

I dedicated more than a decade of my life to training Apostolics who were interested in Christian counseling in order to help others cope with life’s stressful problems and struggling people. Our course called Christian Counseling From Scripture, plus other requirements certified many who recognized the failure of psychology and the pharmaceutical industry to solve the mental and emotional problems that were plaguing millions of Americans. Counselors wanted a result that included a spiritual benefit. I wrote the book The Couch and the Cross¹ to expose what big pharma was trying to get everyone to ignore—that their psychotropic drugs failed to “cure” anyone, plus that they were more harmful than helpful. A more recent example of a similar situation might be the mandatory Covid-19 vaccines that didn’t keep recipients from getting the virus (including Dr. Fauci and President Biden himself) and actually caused many young people to suffer heart problems and other diseases that we are just now learning about.²

The pharmaceutical industry had so much money to spend on ads and lobbyists that people were overwhelmed with false claims. They were able to pay for and evoke testimonies for corroboration. Millions have fallen for their half-truths and misinformation who today struggle with the aftermath of consuming SSRIs and similar drugs for years. I am old enough to remember when the tobacco industry paid doctors to help promote their particular brand of cigarette. They hid the facts in order to deceive and reap a financial windfall of billions. Finally the truth was revealed and it can no longer be hidden. Now everyone knows that smoking and using tobacco in other forms has caused fatal cancer and other diseases in millions of Americans.³

Gradually the truth is being learned about SSRIs and other mind-altering drugs as the tragic results have begun to be published. Already some are beginning to see that few have benefitted from such treatment and that many have been harmed. I am told that some of our Apostolic youth have died from volunteering to serve as guinea pigs in trials for certain new drugs. Virtually all of the mass shootings that have shocked our society have been committed by those on mind-altering drugs prescribed to keep them from doing exactly what they did. For attestation, take time to view the above referenced Fox News report.

Has anyone reading this ever read the warnings on a Zoloft or similar SSRI label like Paxil, Sarafem, Luvox, Prozac, Zoloft? The psych industry pays doctors to prescribe this stuff so it shuts their mouths. According to Carlson, over 224,000,000 million prescriptions were written last year for psych drugs, most for SSRIs to “combat depression and anxiety complaints.”

Has anyone followed up on these bizarre murders, parent-child killings, and wackos that are committing these crazy crimes? Usually in trials and seldom before does it surface that the perps were on psych drugs. When someone twists their brain with strong chemicals, they do not know what they are liable to do. When the brain becomes a drug receptacle the chemicals take over. Fentanyl kills tens of thousands of Americans every year. Why does that number not impress members of Congress? A few gun deaths and they are mounting a crusade against them. Regarding drug use deaths they simply turn their heads. Who cares?

WE do!

Notes:

1 To order the eBook version, go to advanceministries.org or call 936-537-0250. Only $9.95.

2 Please read “Studies Link Incurable Prion Disease With Covid-19 Vaccines” by Marina Zhang in the July 2022 edition of Epoch Times Bulletin. One can only speculate that this is one of the reasons Pfizer requested that the data regarding their vaccine not become available to the public for 75 years. The media tries to hide or deny such stories since Pfizer is one of their primary sources of advertising revenue.

3 See: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/index.htm

Don’t just take my word for it. Please inform yourself! Read on:

For collusion of drug companies and psych industry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDq6eQJ9KJo

How drugs incite violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LczMAchpnV4

More on how drugs incite suicide and violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XHNJyti1gE

Medicated to Death: Drugs and mass killings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeM0W9duWPg

Why SSRI Drugs are Dangerous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_XFfdkJXnM

The Marketing of Madness: The Truth About Psychotropic Drugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgCpa1RlSdQ

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Have you noticed…?

…that the screamers about overpopulation of America are strangely quiet about the steady stream of immigrants—millions since Biden became President—crossing our southern border?

…that none of the biological men who identify as women have been seen in the labor rooms of maternity hospitals?

…the prognostications of power blackouts this summer and beyond? Where will all those EVs plug in to power up?

…that the president never gets brain freeze from quickly eating all that ice cream?

…that some Christians prefer to feed on fiction from social media rather than facts from God’s Word?…that politicians pay attention to deaths by guns and ignore death by illegal drugs crossing the border?

…that President Biden wanted you fired from your job and the soldiers kicked out of the military for not getting vaxxed once. He got jabbed four times and still got Covid. When does he get fired? – Liz Wheeler

…that women are upset about trans “women” leaving the toilet seat up in public restrooms?

…that other countries think Americans have lost their minds about human sexuality. They mock us when they see pictures like the one on the right.

…that all the closings of Starbucks stores due to high crime rates are only in blue states?

…like Frederick Douglas, that the life of the nation is secure only when its leaders are honest, truthful and virtuous?

…that some are taking a stand. Christine Anderson, EU parliament member of Germany, has attacked the vaccine coercion campaign with this claim:“This vaccine campaign will go down as the biggest scandal in medical history and, moreover, it will be known as the biggest crime ever committed on humanity.” Months ago she called Canada’s Justin Trudeau a disgrace to democracy. Anyone following the police state he erected during Covid would agree.

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More on the day pigs will fly

The day truth means more than fiction to Oprah, Stephen Colbert, and Dr. Fauci.

The day real men begin delivering those babies they claim to be carrying within their protruding abdomens.

The day the current mayor of Chicago admits that 90% of all the deaths in that city each weekend occur within one section of that metropolis, that most involve drug deals, and that she intends to remove guns from those in that neighborhood formerly arrested for felony charges.

The day Newsom, Gascon & Company reject Soros money and promise government integrity with accountability from now on.

The day wind and solar alone will meet the energy needs of a growing America.

The day America is returned to economic vitality, a better educational system, and to First/Second Amendment rights by a liberal female President.

The day God says He was just kidding about the seriousness of sins like murdering babies, and telling lies. He says we can also ignore the biblical command to repent and be baptized because that and all those passages about the Holy Spirit baptism were only for the folks in the first century.

The day you see a new fast food restaurant named Hot Pig Wings.

So if you happen to see a herd of winged pig flying over, run for the nearest cover first, then reach for Uncle Clyde’s ol’ double barrel and bring home the bacon!

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Studies show Covid can lower one’s IQ

Anyone want to testify? What will his latest bout with Covid do to our President?

The cognitive problems caused by severe Covid-19 are equal to losing 10 points of your IQ, or your brain aging from 50 to 70. Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Imperial College of London published their findings in the eClinical Medicine Journal. Doctors from Mayo Clinic say that the long term effects of the virus have yet to be fully determined, but “it looks like more and more symptoms can be associated [with Covid].” In others words, the virus can be mentally crippling as well as physically debilitating, and “can include everything from muscle pain and fatigue to digestive disorders.”

Do you think this virus was loosed on the world from China knowing what the harmful effects would and could be?

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Advertise what you are…

…or are not:

Oops! Sorry, no abortion for you, buster! Have you shared the news with Jill yet?

Below is one of the LGBTQ+ flash cards used to teach pre-school kids in North Carolina about colors:

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Ignorance continues to prevail

Liberal politicians don’t like God or the Bible because both oppose lying, the shedding of innocent blood, and demand godly behavior. The church gets the spillover of that hatred.

The blatant ignorance, hypocrisy, and nonsense that is coming from our political leaders today is creating a situation that will likely invite increasing violence and perhaps even civil war.

The idea that no one can know what determines one’s gender is but the tip of the iceberg. This is a bow to the LGBTQ+ crowd and the transgender concepts that are being pushed onto our children in schools and colleges.

Do we need to remind the decision-makers in Washington and the professors in the classrooms that God had to harshly judge a multi-city region in the lowest geographical place on earth with a fiery destruction because of their choices along this line? They were abusing their bodies and celebrating it in mockery to God.

Christians love everyone regardless of the sin in which they may be involved. While we cannot condone sins of any type, we are cognizant that some sins potentially do greater damage and harm than others and thus may receive the greater judgment or condemnation, both in this life and the one to come. The following information may solidify that truth in our minds.

https://www.jackhayford.org/teaching/book-excerpts/fatal-attractions-why-sex-sins-are-worse-than-others/

https://rosilindjukic.com/sexual-sins-not-equal-other-sins/

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• All this hullabaloo about abortion…and just think how easy it is to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
• “History is not everything, but it is a starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It
  is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are but, more importantly, what they must be.” -John Henrik Clarke, writer and historian
• “Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.”  – George Washington (1796)
• Save on home utility expenses during the hot month of August by staying in church as much as possible.

JREnsey

[i]

JREnsey blog July 2022

Summer greetings! Grab a glass of iced tea or a cup of coffee, depending on the time of day, and let’s share a few minutes together.

 

First, the Word for today

“There are lords many and gods many, but to us there is one God” (I Corinthians 8:5 NLT).

Several false religions developed a trinity of sorts as their ultimate deities:

Hinduism has Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

The Egyptians honor Osiris, Isis, and Horus.

The Greeks had Zeus, Apollo, Athena.

The Babylonians had Semiramus, Nimrod, and Tammuz.

Post-Apostolic Christians developed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Hell’s trinity, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, keeps idolatry alive today.

Apostolics still say with Paul, “but to us there is one God.”

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It was time

The Supreme Court of 1972-73 yielded to pressure from the politically correct left. It took 50 years, but that fact finally came to light and caught up with them. Abortion on demand for any reason at any stage of pregnancy is not and has never been “a constitutional right.”

As Justice Samuel Alito explained in the recent majority opinion of the Supreme Court, “Roe v. Wade was an error…egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided…failing to ground its decision in text, history and precedent, without which it imposed on the entire country a detailed set of rules like…in a statute or regulation.” In other words, they basically legislated from the bench. Alito continued, “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and [Planned Parenthood v.] Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

The 1972 decision had been a tip of the hat from a liberal court to the abortion industry. The decision was based on political expedience and a surrender to popular voices in politics and the entertainment industry. “My body, my choice,” became the litany of leftist women on America’s streets. But there is more than one body involved here.

There are conjoined twins who are born attached at the hip or some other place on their bodies. Perhaps the most famous of such twins, Eng and Chang Bunker, were joined at their abdomen at a place the size of a baseball. Did Eng have the right to mutilate Chang simply because they were not yet separated from each other by surgery?[1] A fetus, a baby in the womb, is not a natural or original extension of the “mother’s body.” It is another person. It has a life of its own, although dependent on the mother’s body to nourish and house it for a time. Just because the cord is not yet cut, there is no legal “right” to take that human life “for any reason.” And we must never forget that a third person, even if anonymous, is also involved in the pregnancy.

In part, what the far left pundits and weird women of Washington DC are screaming about is that they have been exposed. Their real motives are laid bare. Many merely want to have certain ungodly privileges without consequences. But all actions have reactions; all sins have consequences. Our nation passed laws against aborting babies that stood for generations until Roe v. Wade shamelessly gutted them. More than 60 million babies have been slaughtered since 1972. The woman who oversaw millions of them as a Director of Planned Parenthood has renounced her role and has apologized to the nation for the cruelty which that agency, supported by our tax dollars, has heaped upon the unborn for the last 50 years. If the average person knew what transpires in abortion clinics, they would never vote for funding the abortion industry.[2]

Roe v. Wade had no real moral or ethical justification. It was part of a feminist takeover of America that opened the door to embrace homosexuality and transgenderism in our culture. When the distinctions God built into the two genders of human beings are set aside as non-existent or irrelevant, confusion and multiple problems ensue. After the feminist movement helped American women feel loosed from the bonds of biblical and traditional guidelines, they turned both religion and politics inside out. The evidence of this makeover and takeover surrounds us. Without male headship, the old serpent and “emancipated” womanhood are again on a track to subvert God’s plan for mankind.

“When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the righteous will live to see their downfall” (Proverbs 29:16 NLT). God does not hate sinners, but He despises “the hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17). The prophet Isaiah added this: “Their feet run to

The Roberts Court, April 23, 2021
Seated from left to right: Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor
Standing from left to right: Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Photograph by Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths” (Isaiah 59:7 NKJV). That is an apt description of the activity in PP clinics.

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood Director who now opposes that organization, says, “You can’t even conceive of the barbarity” of abortions done in PP facilities. Christians can take no other stand on this issue except in vocal and political opposition to its barbarism. The most avid pro-abortionists, quite predictably, to the extreme with their demands, even to after birth execution of the newborn. And to think of putting those body parts out in the marketplace for buyers is beyond the pale. Equally inconceivable is the nomenclature of their sordid industry—”women’s healthcare.”

Some cry, “But what about this or that special situation?” Laws, standard operating procedures and governing policies should not be established for any organization or entity, secular or religious, based solely on a couple of seeming “exceptions” or highly unusual possibilities. The justices knew that. They handed the matter back where it should have been all along—to the states—where decisions are made by legislatures closest to the people of this democratic republic. Those who want an abortion for any reason at any time can still find it legally available in a few blue states. Radicals are not justified in the rioting and destruction now occurring in the streets of our nation against courts, pro-life clinics, and churches. Such a reaction to legal decisions is reserved for the most backward of nations. Long live America!

Thank you, Supreme Court justices.

[1] Eng and Chang Bunker were never separated surgically. They sought opinions on surgical separation because they feared what would happen if one of them died. Chang Bunker died on January 17, 1874, from a cerebral blood clot. His brother Eng Bunker died three hours later.

[2] As the instructor of a Pastoral Theology course in a college classroom, I once showed a film about abortions. During the showing, I heard a loud “thump” in the darkened room. I quickly turned on the lights to find one of the students on the floor, passed smooth out from the sight of gore depicted in abortion procedures. PS: We were able to revive him and he was fine, except for some unpleasant lingering memories of what he had witnessed.

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In search of common sense

Do any of our readers desire more common sense? Doubtless, we all could use more of that valuable commodity. What a great advantage it gives one, especially in his or her service for the Lord Jesus. We should all apply ourselves to develop fundamental understanding and sensitivities. In my search, I ran across the following discussion of common sense:

In the words of Yoritomo-Tashi, “Common sense is a composite product consisting of 1) Perception; 2) Memory; 3) Thought; 4) Alertness; 5) Deduction; 6) Foresight; 7) Reason; and 8) Judgment. Indispensable in the development of common sense includes the ability to grasp situations, ability to concentrate the mind, keenness of perception, reasoning power, calmness, and self-control. …Enthusiasm is as brittle as crystal, but common sense is durable as brass.” (Common Sense: How to exercise it (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1915), iii,v.

Common sense should flow out from the person who possesses those qualities. The publishers of the above out-of-print tome added this: “The desire for knowledge, like the thirst for wealth, increases by acquisition, but as Bishop Law has told us, ‘Knowledge without common sense is folly; without method it is waste; without kindness it is fanaticism; without religion it is death.’ But Dean Farrar added: ‘[Knowledge] with common sense is wisdom; with method it is power; with charity it is beneficence; with religion it is virtue, life and peace.'” (p. v)

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God’s Word is filled with truth and common sense

Here are some modern common sense observations that support ancient truths from God’s Word:

A person may have a clear conscience because his head is empty.

“My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide: (I Corinthians 4:4).

Gold is the fool’s curtain which hides all his defects and insecurities from the world.

“The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety” (Proverbs 18:11).

A wise man sometimes changes his mind, but a fool never does.

“Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others” (Proverbs 12:15).

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.

“Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity” (I Timothy 4:12).

Most of man’s troubles come from his inability to be still.

“Be still, and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10).

Once the game is over, both the king and the pawn go back into the same box.

“Those who are wise must finally die, just like the foolish and senseless, leaving all their wealth behind” (Psalm 49:10).

The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground.

“The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life” (Proverbs 11:30).

The best cure for crime is not the electric chair, but the high chair.

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it” (Proverbs 22:6).

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its students.

“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

Whatever you dislike in another person, take care to correct it in yourself.

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” (Matthew 7:3).

Add patience to your righteousness and you will outlive the ungodly.

“When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes, but the godly will live to see their downfall” (Proverbs 19:16 NLT).

Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.

“How wonderful and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!
² For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron’s head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
³ Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting” (Psalm 133:1-3).

-Observations source: God’s Little Instruction Book, Tulsa: Honor Books, 1997.

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Five Reasons to Be Baptized in the Name of Jesus

1. Jesus said baptism, being the birth of the water, would be involved in the entrance into God’s kingdom (John 3:3-5). No baptism, no entrance. Jesus further told His followers to baptize believers specifically in the name of the Lord (Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19). They subsequently obeyed Him in the recorded instances where the saving message of the kingdom of God was preached (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:44-48; 19:1-5; 22:16).
2. The apostles commanded it and practiced it as they converted Jews and pagans to faith in Jesus as the Messiah/Savior (Peter in Acts 2:38; 10:44-48; Philip in Acts 8:12-16; Paul in Acts 19:1-5.) Such a command would not have been issued for some unimportant, non-essential rite with little meaning to the new believers (Mark 16:16).
3. It is a major part of the means by which the blood of Christ is applied to wash away one’s sins (Acts 22:16; I Peter 3:21; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:14,19,22; Titus 3:5; Revelation 1:5). The English equivalent for baptize/baptism is “immersion” or “washing,” used in Wycliffe’s Bible translation, the first English version.
4. The name Jesus, the English rendering of the Hebrew Yeshua, bearing the same meaning as Yahweh (God’s name forever), meaning “God saves/is Savior” (Exodus 3:13-15), is attached to us in the act of baptism. That is how “baptism doth also now save us” (I Peter 3:21). The virtue is not in the water but in the name appropriated through obedience: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; 3:16; 10:43).
5. In taking the name of Jesus in water baptism, we become espoused to Christ (II Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-33). As the Bride of Christ, the church will someday be with her divine Husband in celebration and joy throughout eternity (Revelation 18:23; 19:9; 21:2,9; 22:17).

Therefore, without baptism one is not yet a part of the kingdom of God, he is not in full obedience to the commands of Jesus and the apostles, the blood has not been applied to wash away his sins, the saving name of Jesus has not been attached to him, and he is not espoused to Christ as His spiritual bride. One has not “put on Christ” if he has not been baptized (Galatians 3:27). These facts should not be classified merely as “our beliefs…our tradition…our denomination’s doctrine.” It is clearly Bible truth. “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).

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Regarding the gospel and living the Christian life, how important is obedience?

“And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment” (John 3:36 NLT).

“We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32 NLT).

“If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15 NLT)

“But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29 NLT).

“People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed” (Proverbs 13:13 NLT).

“If someone claims, ‘I know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth” (I John 2:4 NLT).

“Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us” (I John 3:24 NLT).

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One world government is not a conspiracy theory!

Jesse Watters of FOX News shows clips of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and interviews Rand Paul. They conclude that the “elites” want a one world government. It is no longer a conspiracy theory to these men. Now we all know.

Rand Paul: ‘Elitists Want A One World Government; It’s Not A Conspiracy Theory’ – NewsWars

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Disney corruption

Mickey and Minnie have degenerated into liberal activists since I was a child and reading their comics. Now they have given new meaning to the Looney Tunes cartoon series. They intend to convince your kids that they should be proud if they are gay or transgender, but ashamed if they don’t support those ideologies. The Disney Theme Park in Orlando is well named: the Magic Kingdom. Their theme is to magically change the culture in the U.S., politicize our kids, confuse children’s minds as to who can actually give birth, and glorify the filth that they don’t try to hide anymore. Their wicked plan is now all out in the open and there is hardly an excuse for Apostolic families to finance that plan by visiting the Magic Kingdom [of Evil] to expose their children to that garbage while at General Conference in October. “If the wicked are ruling the nation, sin will be everywhere, but those who live right will win in the end” (Proverbs 29:16 ERV).

I highly recommend that pastors and parents read “Laying Siege to the Institutions” by Christopher Rufo in the April/May issue of Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College. The author carefully and accurately reminds us of Disney’s agenda and how Christians can respond in a meaningful way. You can read the article at https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/laying-siege-to-the-institutions/

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Dems blame guns instead of the shooters

How can anyone not understand why these shootings occur? Do they happen because a healthy-minded person happens to see a gun, picks it up and begins firing randomly? Of course not. Warped minds plan such attacks. The Uvalde killer got into his mind that he should kill children (for reasons of his own) and then figured out how it could be done.

What is warping their minds?

Ever see what kids have access to on their Gameboys today? Or what flows out from Netflix or Hulu (if the ads are examples)? Mind warping with constant themes and scenes of murder and mayhem is appaently the consistent menu. A death culture. Hate. Bitterness. Slaughter. The glorification of strange minds, strange sex, and a strange ethos that harks back to the shameless rages of Roman emperors or Mongol raiders of other times. “Crime increases when crooks are in power, but law-abiding citizens will see them fall” (Proverbs 29:16 CEV).

The liberals blame cops when criminals get shot, but blame the guns when a mentally deranged individual kills children with a gun.

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Books

Biblical Christology: Jesus the Christ

by J. R. Ensey
No study is comparable to the inquiry into the nature of the Godhead. One must know His identity to fully know Jesus. Those who have questions about the Person and work of our Lord will find this volume helpful to their study. Christ is presented as the Incarnate God, the indwelling Spirit, and the Coming King. Includes the text of the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. This is the text of a paper delivered at a UPCI Theological Forum.

AM Price  $3.95

 

A Hill To Die On

by J. R. Ensey
Is truth worth dying for? If so, which truth? Which doctrine? This book suggests that there are some things worth risking our reputations, our resources, and perhaps our lives for. Six months ago we would never have thought we would be where we are today as a nation. The Christian faith is rapidly being dismembered and deconstructed to make way for socialism and/or other religions. The rush of endtime prophecy fulfillment should stiffen the backbone of every Christian and make us realize there will be a price to pay for our faith. The nine chapters include:

– A Hill To Die On

– Truth in an Age of Deception

– Unity in an Age of Division

– Righteousness in an Age of Hedonism

– The Church in an Age of Spirituality

– Absolutes in an Age of Relativism

– God and Government

– Is American Christianity Returning to the Social Gospel?

– Our Finest Hour

AM Price  $12.95

Pastoral Epistles

by J. R. Ensey
The apostle Paul wrote three letters to two younger ministers he affectionately called his “sons.” The epistles became part of the canon of Scripture and have served since then as the best instruction available for those in ministry and lay leadership. Doctrine, practical church discipline, lifestyle and much more is all here. The verse-by-verse commentary is accompanied by a complete outline for ease of study and teaching.

AM Price $13.95

To order go to advanceministries.org/store  

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Eye candy for truth lovers

 

 

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Last Words

Think about it…the kids who are being home schooled are missing out on a good chance of becoming gay communists.

Keep in mind that believing lies is a serious matter: “So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth” (II Thessalonians 2:11,12).

Keep the faith.

JREnsey

JREnsey blog June 2022

Welcome! Cool your heels here for a few minutes. Thanks for visiting.

The Word for today

“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—both are detestable to the LORD” (Proverbs 17:15 NLT).

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Another school massacre…Where was God?

Through a fountain of tears that question surfaced immediately after the Uvalde school shooting, just as it has after every other human-perpetrated catastrophe in the last one hundred years. Why? Where is God when such awful things are transpiring amid His creation?

Doubtless that question was asked when babies and small children died under the hand of Pharaoh (Exodus 1) and when Herod had all babies under two years old slain in the time of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2). Where was He when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and leveled the Temple? Or when the Christians were being persecuted and slaughtered during the first three centuries of this era?

Where was He when children were being sacrificed on Aztec and Mayan temple altars? Was He on vacation during WWI when 20 million perished in that conflagration? Where was He when six million Jews died horrendous deaths at the hands of the Nazis during WWII? What about Vietnam and 911? Columbine? Sandy Hook? And now Uvalde?

Doesn’t a good, kind and loving God exist to prevent such unconscionable events from occurring?

No.

God is allowing all to see what an unconverted mind/heart* can conceive and do without the benefit of spiritual transformation (Colossians 1:21). The darker the expression of human depravity, the sharper the contrast between the unconverted mind and one transformed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24). God does not exist to merely prevent human tragedy. “God created man upright but he hath sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). All the responsibility is our own. Man’s mind, through Satan’s influence, has led him astray. God offers us “a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:20), but most ignore the invitation to that path (Matthew 7:13). God will not erase the line between good and evil. We must recognize the evil in ourselves and repent.

Barbarism will increase until Jesus, the Prince of Peace, returns to establish a government devoid of Satan and the iniquity that we see so prevalent in our world today. It will not be run by cognitively deficient men or the politically corrupt. He Himself will rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:21; 12:5; 19:15). Peace will prevail for 1000 years (Revelation 20:2-4), ending with the release of Satan to again tempt and corrupt the minds of men. Mankind will once more challenge God’s authority only to be completely and finally defeated (Revelation 20:7-10).

We can then relax without one worry about war, violence, or school shootings. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

* The human heart is simply an organ that circulates blood to the rest of the body. It is the mind, seated in the brain, where emotions and desires are formed and expressed, and where decisions are made, and movements are directed. It is the mind that is converted by faith and obedience (Romans 12:2; John 3:5; Acts 2:38).

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Jonathan Edwards’ awakening sermon

The famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards that stoked the fires of America’s First Great Awakening has long been a topic of conversation. He titled it Sinners In the Hands Of An Angry God and preached it in the little square, two-story Second Meeting House in Enfield, CT in 1741. Perhaps many younger men have never read the sermon that helped change the course of Christianity in America and reversed the liberal leanings of the major universities of the time. The church is no longer there, but an engraved stone marks the place where the church once stood.

If you would like to read the complete word-for-word message that Edwards preached that day, you click on this link: https://www.advanceministries.org/articles/articlepages/sinners.htm

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In the shade of the oak of Shechem

This story from the pages of the Bible (Genesis 35:1-5) holds a number of powerful lessons for believers today. The setting is a large household, an extended family that is facing trouble, explained in the previous chapter. It is the family of the last Hebrews patriarch. Jacob and his sons find themselves in a situation that doesn’t look good for their future.

When challenging circumstances come along, what God prescribed for them is still good advice for us today: “Remember Bethel…Go back to the place where your walk with God commenced and what you did there to please God, do it again.”

Bethel was years ago, and lots of water had passed under the bridge, but the freshness that moment—when all was given to God and personal commitment was deepest and most sincere and a life-changing experience occurred—can be revived and recovered. Renewal is never really out of reach.

What happened at Bethel?

The 77-year old Jacob was on a 500-mile journey to find a wife in Mesopotamia. He did not want to marry a Canaanite woman, but one from among his mother’s people. Having nothing with him but his staff*, he came to a place to spend the night, choosing a rock for a pillow.

In the night, he dreamed of a ladder or a stairway that reached up to heaven, on which angels ascended and descended. At the top of it stood the Lord who informed him about his future, and about the land of Israel, and how he would be kept, giving him some astounding promises about his descendants and how they would bless all families of the earth.

When he awoke, he knew he had been visited by God—“Surely God is in this place!” There he made his promises and deep commitments to the Lord.

Back to the present

All of that was years ago now and here he was with his family, his servants, his flocks and all who accompanied him. And he and his household are in trouble with the rulers and people of this area. But there was also trouble among themselves. Since Bethel, heathen practices and the trappings—heathen inspired accoutrements—of the culture around them had attached themselves to Jacob and his family. To be ready to face the pressing problems of the immediate future, he needed to return to his roots, to godliness, to his first love. There must be a reckoning, a confession, and a burial

Genesis 35:1-4 contains the instructions from God to Jacob. Go back at the place where we first came into direct contact. There was a reckoning that was ahead for this crowd, all of Jacob’s family, servants, and hangers-on. They must recognize and confess the failures that invited the present crisis. The heathen practices and influences they had adopted had to be confronted and put away. All of those under the banner of Jacob’s colors had been affected by his lack of spiritual diligence.

Back to Bethel

So before he went back to Bethel, the place of his first love experiences, he needed to recognize his mistakes and compromises. He needed to confess that he had done wrong, that he had not made good on the long term promises he made at that rocky altar called Bethel. A burial of the accoutrements that do not belong to children of God. They must rid themselves of the little gods that could be carried in their hands, worn on their ears, or carried in their pockets.

He called his group together and said, “Get rid of your jewelry, dig out those little images that you have copped from the heathens of the land.” There in the shade of the oak of Shechem, they buried those things that identified them with the people who didn’t know God. Jacob knew he had to face the future with confidence, assurance, and peace of mind. What he did in the shade of that old oak tree made that a possibility.

When trouble troubles us, perhaps a reckoning with some attachments that may have come along since our conversion long ago would be in order. It might be that a confession and a burial of some things in our lives could also produce that same confidence, assurance and peace of mind. Give it a try. Go back to Bethel, to the place where you first found God to be real in your life. Renew your spiritual life.

Go there in your meditation, in your prayer, and in personal commitment. Go with a promise to live a little closer than you have been living.

What about your personal eternity? If Jesus tarries, ahead for each of us is the reality of tough circumstances and, eventually, the end of life. Before that time, let’s make another trip back to Bethel to renew our commitments made in that precious moment when we were first bathed in God’s holy presence.

This call will be neglected by the weak, the unsure will choose an alternative, the fearful will draw back, and the unprepared will simply give up. Don’t let that be you. (Revelation 2:5)

Only the wise will do the right thing. Be among them!

* An interesting sidelight: Most travelers and shepherds had a staff of substantial length. Tradition lists the length of Jacob’s staff at 7 feet long when it was first made. He still had it when he died, speaking his final words while leaning on it (Genesis 49).

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From runways to church aisles

Pastors dislike having to deal with fashion. They would rather just leave it up to fathers to guide the choices of styles displayed by the family. However, not every home has a father, and even if one is there he is often over-bothered by making such judgments. He may be bent toward letting mom decide such matters or is willing to say, “Oh, whatever….” So pastors have to be involved to some extent when styles cross a line. To gently guide parishioners, particularly youth, to the path of modesty is a never-ending struggle. A close reading of the epistle of Paul and Peter reveals that modesty involves more than having everything covered.

Now, with all the gender garbage that is coming down the pike, unisex and gender-neutral styles are the rage. Christian leaders have to stay informed or they will find youth and millennials following Calvin Klein rather than the apostle Paul. Whether we like it or not, we have deal with it. Shepherding is is not always a pristine occupation. Apostolic Christian godliness will never go out of style in God’s household.

Author Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, writing in The Atlantic, notes that gender-neutral clothing is back in style, but the craze in many ways has mirrored broader social changes throughout the 20th century. You can read her informative article (not an endorsement of her position, just passing info) called A Brief History of Unisex Fashion here: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/when-unisex-was-the-new-black/390168/

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Strange, indeed

• Overnight the imbeciles who could not identify a woman without a biology degree became quite knowledgeable about the topic. One leak from the Supreme Court chamber turned the tide. From not knowing how to identify a woman, the leftist women gathered at statehouses across the country to denounce legislators who might remove their “right” to kill the baby in their wombs. Evidently each of them knew they were woman enough to conceive and bear children. One marvels at the ebb and flow of scientific knowledge.
• Saying that laws against abortion “force women to give birth” is like saying laws against murdering your five-year old force you to be a parent. (A.D. Marr) But, according to current knowledge in DC, on any given day no one there is aware exactly what makes babies. I guess there aren’t many biologists in the Capital. If they would quit doing whatever-it-is that makes babies out of wedlock, they wouldn’t have to worry about so many unwanted pregnancies.
• Almost as strange as the “what is a woman” puzzle among government hacks is the pressure to spend billions of dollars trying to figure out what these UFOs are. Give my 12-year old great grandson the money and he could probably tell you right away without a drawn out investigation. Choose one: Scam. Distraction. Money hole. Con artist’s dream. Conspiracy theorist’s addiction. Take your pick. Mine is all-of-the-above, particularly distraction. These grainy “photos” they show can probably be reproduced by a boy scout with a Kodak Brownie and a video camera from a Post Toasties box. That may be an overstatement but not much. They must have bought the cameras from a guy on Times Square with several of them in his inside coat pocket. Ridiculous visual “evidence” of this genre would never win a case in court. The one Fox News keeps showing has a background right out of Loony Tunes.  Now they are going to spend $$$$$ to send pixilated drawings of men and women into space to try to attract aliens from other solar systems. Hey, if they are advanced enough to send space ships to earth, fly them in our atmosphere at unbelievable speeds without burning up, and then disappear suddenly, they are way beyond the pixilating stage of technology. They will equate all earthlings with Neanderthals and probably move on to scout for a more advanced civilization in the Orion constellation. In other words, it is a distraction from what is really going on. Watch my hand.
• However, at this point, if I get abducted by aliens, it’s no longer an abduction; it’s a rescue mission!

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Here comes the monkeypox

This new virus was evidently prepared for when Covid-19 wore itself out. Bill Gates was on it back in 2017. Two vaccines were then made. Wuhan lab made a PCR test that will enable large numbers of false positives to again cause panic and vaccine mandates. Belgium has already ordered a mandatory monkeypox quarantine. You can make up your own mind about what this might mean to American life in general and churches in particular.

Here are four pieces of information you might find helpful.

https://rumble.com/v1643wt–may-25-2022-the-new-world-order-prepares-their-final-attack.html

Shock! Wuhan Lab Experimented on Monkeypox Just Before Outbreak (thenewamerican.com)

Wuhan lab published monkeypox PCR test info, February 2022, on Science Direct with PDF:

Efficient assembly of a large fragment of monkeypox virus genome as a qPCR template using dual-selection based transformation-associated recombination – ScienceDirect

Belgium become firstcountry to introducecompulsory monkeypox quarantine

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WHO wants to control America

There is an egregious attempt to usurp American sovereignty by a crooked globalist entity—the WHO—which is essentially the UN. Biden intends to bind the USA to this unconstitutional agreement. There is a petition against it below for those interested.

The WHO director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is a globalist and socialist malefactor. We cannot allow this to happen. If Biden unilaterally signs it, let’s pray that Congress will refuse to recognize it.

PETITION: Stop Tedros’ WHO Pandemic Treaty:

https://lifepetitions.com/petition/stop-tedros-who-pandemic-treaty?utm_source=lp_email

194 member states representing 99% of the world’s population are expected to sign pandemic treaties with the WHO that would allow Dr. Tedros, or any future Director General, to dictate exactly how your nation would respond to a new disease outbreak which they consider a pandemic.

This attack on national sovereignty will come as no surprise to those who for years have listened to elites like Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates discussing their vision for the centralization of power into globalist organizations like the World Economic Forum (WEF), the WHO and the rest of the United Nations.

This brand of globalism is merely a forerunner to the one-world system that will be installed by the Antichrist.

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Everyone knew it was a lie

Even the baristas at Starbucks. The guy changing my oil. My barber. Even the woman with a kid on her hip wading the shallows of the Rio Grande. Here’s the story:

Clinton campaign manager drops ‘bombshell’ exposing Clinton and media mob’s years-long Russia hoax (msn.com)

Those who lie must remember that they must tell other false tales to prop up the first one. The string of lies regarding Trump and Russia may have cost Trump the close election in 2020. Now the truth surfaces and the Clintons and their team were the real pushers of the big lie. In a world of propaganda, the truth is always a conspiracy.

When will they finally be able to put Hillary Clinton behind bars? They should pay with jail time and huge fines. Those at the top tiers of power need to pay when they break the law just as those at the lowest level of criminal activity. If they do lock her up, those who turn the key might suffer the same fate as those who tossed the three Hebrew men in the king’s fiery furnace. Her enemies have a way of passing on early.

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Books

Faith In The Furnace (eBook)

by J. R. Ensey
When pain racks the body, or when death is staring you in the face, you need answers, not just questions. Here are some down-to-earth, no-nonsense approaches to life when you are in the furnace of affliction. No hype, just biblical truth focusing on divine healing. Easy to read, thousands sold.

AM Price $6.95

The Best of E. L. Holley (eBook)

Compiled by J. R. Ensey

E. L. Holley was a man of unique abilities. An astute observer of human nature, he could communicate truth in an inimitable style that you could never forget. His ministry touched the lives of thousands of people over the years. Here are dozens of some of the best articles he left with us.

AM Price $9.95

Adorning the Doctrine (Only 21 copies left)

by J. R. Ensey

This book’s four sections deals with doctrine and spirituality, doctrine and the Book of Acts, doctrine and “three mentions,” and curbing the influx of false doctrine. For truth seekers only.

AM Price $4.95

ORDER books at advanceministries.org/store or call 936-537-0250. Click on book title to go directly to that book.

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MEMES say it so well

 

 

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Distilled wisdom

• Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.

• As individual fingers can be easily broken, together we make a mighty fist.

• Liberal logic: A single cell organism on Mars would be life, but a human baby in a woman’s body isn’t.

• Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it harder for sober people to own cars.

• Satan is a liar, and it is amazng what some people will listen to and how a situation can get so twisted.

• The difference in liberals and conservatives:  Liberals see everyone equal at the finish line; conservative see everyone equal at the starting line.

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Last Words

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them,” said the late President John F. Kennedy.

The late Ron Oliver commented on Kennedy’s statement: “He had a pretty good ghost writer. Seems to me James said something along the same lines.”

Have a safe and blessed June!

JREnsey

 

JREnsey blog for May 2022

Welcome…to the May 2022 edition of the JREnsey blog. Let’s share a few minutes over matters of common interest.

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The Word for May:

Exodus 14:9,10,13,30: “But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

¹⁰ And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord….

¹³ And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever….

³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.“

[At the end of the day, it is better to be numbered with the pursued than among the pursuers.]

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Droplets of truth

“Without Freedom of Thought there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as Public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.” —Benjamin Franklin (1722)

The big difference in Christianity and Islam is that in Islam you die for your God. In Christianity, the main message is: Jesus died for us!

Time always tells the truth.

Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.

The measure of a man is how he bears up under misfortune. – Plutarch

The giants of the race have been made of concentration, who have struck sledge-hammer blows in one place until they have accomplished their purpose. – Orison Marden

The world is so constructed that if you wish to enjoy its pleasures, you must also endure its pain. Whether you like it or not, you cannot have one without the other. – Brahmananda

Win hearts, and you have hands and purses. – Lord Burleigh

It’s a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much more often succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice and example could never have taught them as well as failure has done. – Samuel Smiles

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. – Chinese proverb

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When uncommon valor was a common virtue

WWII naval hero Admiral Chester Nimitz, commenting on the battle of Iwo Jima, said, “Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Judging from what I am hearing and witnessing, that could also be said of many young ministers of the 30-50 generation who choosing to take stand for righteousness and truth and against the encroachment of heresy and compromise. I salute them for their courage to oppose both cultural and denominational drift, clearly nailing the besetting trends that are impacting the Christian faith. These men recognize that the spirit of political correctness has invaded every denomination to some extent, but they are not willing to let go of what brought us to where we are! Some are paying a heavy price in terms of fellowship severance and unbridled criticism, willing to be misunderstood and mischaracterized for the sake of truth.

One of the criticisms they often endure is that they are “negative”—and who wants to wear that collar? If one is opposed to anything he is apt to be labeled “negative.” How sophomoric. We should not be so naïve as to think that we would have a well-rounded ministry by stating only what we are for and never mentioning what we oppose. The apostles didn’t trust that theory. One well-known pastor/leader told me once, “I don’t have enough time to preach about all the things I am for, let alone the things I am against!” What a non-brilliant cop-out! As a result of that approach, today that assembly hardly resembles an Apostolic church.

Some people assume the things they silently oppose will “take care of themselves” if they only concentrate on the things they are for. Try tending a garden, raising a child, developing a personal health regimen, running a political campaign—or building an Apostolic church—on that philosophy. It would be like rowing a boat with a single oar and going around in circles. If what is opposed should never be mentioned, someone should have informed Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude. They took up precious Bible space opposing ideas, philosophies and practices that were unorthodox and heretical, and sometimes the men who espoused them.

Thinking people recognize that one-sided presentations are apt to leave listeners confused and without direction, with more questions than answers. But, of course, that is the easy road. Just tell people what they all can agree on and what will make them happy. Help them to justify their carnal indulgences. Glad hand and back slap but never confront. Such philosophy will be the death knell of the Apostolic movement. Genuine revivals have never been birthed in that way.

Of course, there are two sides to the coin. We should not sanction the other extreme that assumes that we have to go through a litany of rules and regulations every time we stand to preach in order to prove our pulpit worthiness and red hot conservatism. All thinking persons know there is a biblical and practical position between the extremes that embraces both truth and reason. The man who rides a hobbyhorse will make both himself and his people sore.

So our hats are off to those brave young pastors who are wise enough to see the negative trends and courageous enough to stand against them. They manifest the virtue of uncommon valor. They will be the salvation of the Apostolic Movement.

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Pick a response

Christians have developed a list of pat answers for any eventuality: “God took him…The Lord must have had a purpose…It was the will of God…The Lord was wanting to teach us something…,” ad infinitum. True, perhaps, in many cases. We are especially prone to such philosophy when major diseases, like cancer, or tragic accidents strike our loved ones. But, noticeably, neither Paul nor the other apostles used God to explain every eventuality or physical problem. Life happens. It happens to sinners, to saints, to good people and bad. It rains on the just and the unjust. If God does not deliver us from pain and problems, His grace is granted to keep us faithful through them. He can even use our faithfulness as a testimony.

It is nice that God does not let—He probably allows more things than He causes—negative things come our way without getting some mileage out of them. Paul explained in Philippians 1:12: “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” God knows how to turn what seems to be a bad event into a good one if we will stop and give the situation some thought. He does not wish that our misfortunes, as we are apt to call them, cast a bad light on the church. Therefore, He tells us through Paul, “For I know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

So, relax. Life happens. But remember—the ultimate outcome is still in God’s hands.

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A plea from the heart

In 1987, Leon Stewart, then the General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Holiness Church, visited the General Council of the Assemblies of God and was asked to address the conference. After complementing the denomination, which is considered to be the largest and fastest growing Pentecostal-leaning movement in the world today, made a request of them:

“May I plead with you tonight in your 42nd General Council? Would you do something for the rest of us? Primarily would you do it for our Friend and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ?

“Would you lead us out of modern, cheap grace and easy believism? Would you lead us out of material greed and self-gratification? Would you lead us out of pseudo-psychology and exalted sensationalism? Would you lead us back to the voice that stills the voice of secular humanism? Would you lead us back to the touch of the nail printed hands that produce real and genuine miracles? Would you lead us back to Him, our true example, and that holy life-style that leads us upward and ever onward to where the light lingers, even when the sun is set? Would you please lead us back to a genuine appreciation of the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ? Would you please do that? I plead, do it! God bless you.”

Wow! No wonder the delegates rose to their feet and lifted their hands in contrition and prayer. If someone like him were to make a similar request of the UPCI, I wonder what his words would be.

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Your response:

I asked that question fourteen years ago on this blog. Here were some of your answers:

“I would say: ‘Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein (Jeremiah 6:16).’”

“Remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28).

“Please try to understand that hurting, wounded souls, beaten and abused by the world, desperately seek a refuge. Please don’t take away the only real refuge (the church) by turning it into something that looks just like the world we are trying to escape from.”

“Thanks be to God for every God-anointed preacher and pastor who pays such a terrible price sometimes in order to hold fast to the truth and sound doctrine in this endtime. God bless you all.”

“Put principle above politics, piety above promotion, and spiritual power above position.”

“Don’t strike out at those you think are beneath you; they may actually be above you.”

“Revival movements consistently call their constituents to repentance and deeper commitment. Movements that are in decline only stoke the fires of self-indulgence and compromise. Please lead us into revival and soulwinning. Don’t fear what important persons think; all that is important is what God thinks.”

“Don’t let so-called smart people influence you more than the common person. There are more of us regular folk than there are intellectuals. We want to feel like we count, too.”

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Non-golfers may skip this next entry and move on

Fifteen Laws of Golf

Law 1: No matter how bad your last shot was, the worst is yet to come. This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a summer; and, a lifetime.

Law 2: Your best round of golf will be followed almost immediately by your worst round ever. The probability of the latter increases with the number of people you tell about the former.

Law 3: Brand new golf balls are water-magnetic. Though this cannot be proven in the lab, it is a known fact that the more expensive the golf ball, the greater its attraction to water.

Law 4: Golf balls never bounce off of trees back into play. lf one does, the tree is breaking a law of the universe and should be cut down.

Law 5: No matter what causes a golfer to muff a shot, all his playing partners must solemnly chant, “You looked up,” or invoke the wrath of the universe.

Law 6: The higher a golfer’s handicap, the more qualified he deems himself as an instructor.

Law 7: Every par-three hole in the world has a secret desire to humiliate golfers.

Law 8: Palm trees eat golf balls.

Law 9: Sand is alive. Otherwise, how do you explain the way it works against you?

Law 10: Golf carts always run out of juice at the farthest point from the clubhouse.

Law 11: A golfer hitting into your group will always be bigger than anyone in your group. Likewise, a group you accidentally hit into will consist of a football player, a professional wrestler, a convicted murderer, and an IRS agent — or some similar combination.

Law 12: The person you would most hate to lose to will always be the one who beats you.

Law 13: The last three holes of a round will automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.

Law 14: Golf should be given up at least twice per month.

Law 15: All vows taken on a golf course shall be valid only until the sun sets.

[And all who have walked the links may cry “Amen!” Some preachers have been known to pray more fervently on the course than elsewhere. (See pic above.) So a little fresh air and fervent prayer may be just what the doctor ordered.

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The imprecatory Psalms

The violence in Ukraine makes me, like many of us, feel powerless. I watch helplessly as tanks roll into cities, as civilian targets are shelled, as the lives of whole families are viciously snuffed out. What do I do with this anger and heartbreak?

As I discussed recently with David French and Curtis Chang, I find myself turning again and again to the imprecatory psalms. Each morning I’m praying Psalm 7:14–16 with Vladimir Putin in mind: ‘Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends’ (ESV).

An imprecation is a curse. The imprecatory psalms are those that call down destruction, calamity, and God’s judgment on enemies. Honestly, I don’t usually know what to do with them. I pray them simply as a rote practice. But I gravitate toward more even-keeled promises of God’s presence and mercy. I am often uncomfortable with the violence and self-assured righteousness found in these kinds of psalms.

But they were made for moments like these.”

– Observations from Tish Harrison Warren, Christianity Today 3/8/22).

One wonders if the author and other writers on similar topics have read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, or is real history passé everywhere today?

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More gender fluidity

The Marines are always looking for “a few good men.” But what happens when politics overrule military sense? They develop maternity wear for the lady soldiers. Thank you, Uncle Joe. How thoughtful.

This is godless secular humanism, a false equality. Idiocy, in fact. The biblical pattern is for men to do the fighting, if need be, to protect their women, to keep them from harm, not place them in harm’s way. Will there soon be another “Children’s Crusade?” Who knows who this present administration will decide to put on the front lines of the next battle?

Marines alter uniform regulations, including maternity wear, manicure options and hairstyle (msn.com)

Gender Blurring in Pagan Worship | United Church of God (ucg.org)

I believe there are places within the confines of military service for women to serve, but wouldn’t it be best to be guided in those choices by the likes of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton rather than Joan of Arc and Boudica? Women don’t belong on the battlefield with arms in combat with other armies. But the farther we go with the theory that “there is no difference in men and women” the more we will see the placement of women where God never intended for them to be. The destruction of the family unit is the goal of the BLM and Marxist activists. We must pray and preach against these philosophies. We can also speak to our school boards and principles to let them know our opposition to these theories and policies.

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Books

The Book We Call The Bible  (eBook)

by J. R. Ensey
Pentecostal theologian Talmadge French has said:
“Here we are treated to a probing, yet readable, analysis of things pertaining to the formation and transmission of the biblical text. The implications of these discussions are far-reaching, worthy of our most sincere scrutiny, and of interest and relevance to all who love the Word of God. J. R. Ensey has rendered all of us a great service in addressing, in such a detailed and clear manner, the issues relevant to the matters of biblical authority, the text and translation.” – From The Foreword

The time has come for us to objectively take a closer look at the Book that informs us of the origins of the universe, the history of man, the cause of suffering in the world, and the path to restoration, redemption, and eternal life. No other book contains this authoritative history and information. No other book can justifiably claim divine inspiration and inerrancy. The section on Why You Can Trust the Bible is worth the price of the book.

AM price $12.95

Searching the Scriptures: Merging Trust, Texts, and Translations (eBook)

by J. R. Ensey

A number of years ago, I embarked on a journey to learn more about the actual text of the Bible. I wanted to know how it came to us in the present form. The research took me to libraries (both here and abroad), the Internet, discussions with textual scholars, and the perusal of many books (a weariness of the flesh), and earnest prayer. I wanted to know the truth.

This largely polemic volume takes on the shallow claim of those who insist that only one 400-year old English translation—done with pre-set biased rules, few resources, by men who did not fully understand the New Testament was written in Koine rather than classical Greek—should be viewed as “the only Bible.” Finding truth behind the manuscripts, the texts
and translations is a worthy objective that will build your faith in the Scriptures, not destroy it.

Searching the Scriptures: Merging Truth, Texts and Translations is the result of that effort. It puts the early English Bibles, including the KJV, in perspective where they can be evaluated with contemporary translations by the sciences of papyrology, textual analysis, and linguistics. No doctrines are lost in the process and none are created in Searching the Scriptures.

If you have questions about the ancient manuscripts, the Greek texts, the differences in the Textus Receptus, the Majority Text, the Critical Text, or the translations available today, you will find some help here. What about the words or phrases in some translations that are not there in the medieval versions or vice versa? You will find the answers in this book.

Includes charts, comparisons of popular Bible translations, and other addenda that you will find helpful in the study of the Scriptures.

Apostolics, of all people, have no need to fear truth. To do so casts a shadow of doubt on the Holy Scriptures. The more one learns about the Bible, the more it is respected and trusted.

AM price $14.95

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May 8 is Mother’s Day! Let’s make it special for the first lady of the household!

Serious and funny memes for Mama

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Top 10 predictions regardless of which party is in power after the midterm elections

1. God will still be on the throne.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. The Bible will still have all the answers we need.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost if they turn to Him.

No crystal ball was needed to make those predictions. ISN’T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN ULTIMATE CONTROL?!

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Last Words

The will of God never takes you to where the grace of God will not keep you.

We don’t change the message; the message changes us.

If you still have a problem regarding face masks for restricting Covid-19, you may be interested in this report from Israel: “New study: Face mask usage correlates with higher death rates.” Google Israel National News with that lead and read the article. Informed people are less likely to be misled by political ruses.

Have a great soul winning month in May! And on May 8 speak a kind word to every mother you know, especially your own…and the mother of your children!

JREnsey

JREnsey blog April 2022

Welcome…Thanks for joining this month’s discussion!

The Word du jour

“And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple” (Ezekiel 43:12 NLT).

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Martin Luther was right on some points

We all know he was right on the fact that salvation could not be earned by doing good works alone, particularly keeping those Jewish laws Paul referenced so often. And, like us, he believed those Catholic indulgences similar to “get out of jail free” cards were outrageous! We also know he, like other reformers of that age, stopped short in his Reformation break with the RCC rather than returning to the bold apostolic faith of the first century Christians. Yet the founder of a denomination that claims millions of adherents still today said some other things worth noting.

On the Scriptures:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.” (Roland H. Bainton.  Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1978, 182.)

“From the beginning of my Reformation I have asked God to send me neither dreams, nor visions, nor angels, but to give me the right understanding of His Word, the Holy Scriptures; for as long as I have God’s Word, I know that I am walking in His way and that I shall not fall into any error or delusion.” (azquotes.com)

“A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it.” (Ibid.)

“I am much afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which means are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must be corrupt.” (Ibid.)

On marriage:

“Marriage is no joke. It must be worked on, and prayed over. …To get a wife is easy enough, but to love her with constancy is difficult, for the mere union of the flesh is not sufficient; there must be a congeniality of tastes and character. And that congeniality does not come overnight.” (Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals: The Roaring Reformers; New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 2003), p. 166.)

“Nothing is more sweet than harmony in marriage, and nothing is more distressing than dissension.” (Ibid.)

“There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage. One wakes up in the morning and finds a pair of pigtails on on his pillow which were not there before.” (Ibid., 163.)

On the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church:

“If no one ventures to speak of the evils in the church and if everyone is to keep silence, the stones will eventually cry out.” (Ibid., 154.)

“[I am] more pleased over this deed [the burning of the Papal Bull] than any other deed of my life.” (Ibid., 152.) [The Pope was into burning too, but mostly men and their books with them.]

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Five ways to know when REVIVAL has come to your church

1. When a passion for souls permeates the congregation
2. When prayer has become a priority
3. When worship is churchwide and cheerleading is unnecessary
4. When folks start catching up on their tithes
5. When no visitor is ignored

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Thoughts make us what we are

The source of Charles Swindoll’s thoughts about Great Britain’s former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, has escaped me. From somewhere in his mountain of written works came his comments on her determination, decisiveness, and discipline that gave her the edge she needed to ultimately become the first woman Prime Minister of Great Britain. One of his favorite Thatcher quote was:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words;

watch your words, they become actions;

watch your actions, they become habits;

watch your habits, they become character;

watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Swindoll: “These words are profound. They describe, in detail, our life journey and the significance our thought life has on our future. We must learn to be selective with the thoughts we allow to circulate in our minds. God’s Word instructs us to do this. Every thought has an agenda…to shape our philosophy of life and prompt us to move in some direction. We must filter our thoughts with truth. Otherwise our feelings will control our minds and eventually produce words and actions that take us in a direction we will finally regret. To move in the direction God intended, we must begin by finding out what God thinks. In Isaiah 55:8 God says ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. As you and I think about His thoughts, we will find that His words begin to shape our thoughts and words. Actions will follow. Good habits will form and shape our character and destiny.”

Other Thatcher quotes he favored:

“Right thinking is your best light in this dark universe; it is your best hope in your worst hopelessness!”

“Life is an ocean and every ocean necessitates right thinking and right action, or else sinking becomes the only fate realizable!”

Thanks for sharing those insights, Chuck.

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Well said

“The trouble with so many of us is that we are on the right side of Easter but the wrong side of Pentecost, the right side of pardon but the wrong side of power.”  – Graham Scroggie

“Once government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” – Harry. S. Truman (1950; Democrat U.S. President)

“The freedom of America is the freedom to live your own life and take your own chances. The American Revolution was more than a rebellion against England. It was rebellion against the whole idea that some special anointed one could tell everybody else what to do. The Constitution of the United States is pervaded with the conviction that no one is to be trusted with too much power.” – Thomas Sowell, July 1, 1986; Compassion versus Guilt, p. 237.

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Have you noticed this?

• Christianity is learned in three ways: 1) studying the Scriptures, 2) observing others who live the biblical principles, and 3) experientially, through fellowship with God . Both 2 and 3 are subject to number 1. A man is not born naturally into the faith, neither can he be educated nor inducted into it. All who are truly born again into the kingdom of God have taken the apostolic path outlined in Acts 2:38.

• When post-Apostolic Christianity began to tolerate and inculcate false doctrines, the miracles and healings dropped off commensurately. The purer our message, the more privileges the church has to enjoy the favor of God. The renewal and recovery of doctrinal imperatives in the last century saw a return of the miraculous ministry of the Holy Spirit.

• The quickest way to be overwhelmed by burnout is to be hypocritical.

• Those whose ministry is built on prophetic teachings alone seem to seldom go back over their predictions to evaluate their accuracy. Why are their headlines usually in the form of a question that is not answered in the text that follows?

• Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest prophet. Why? Perhaps the answer is in John 10:41—he always told the truth. A phone saleslady called one day to try to entice me to buy a retainer from a group of attorneys. In her sales pitch she claimed that the lawyers in this group were “relatively honest.” I asked her to hold the phone while I wrote that line down. John wasn’t “relatively” honest; he always told the truth. What a great attribute.

• If reports were really wrong about the leftist motives of the tech oligarchs and liberal politicians, they wouldn’t have to cancel them.

• Statistics can be disheartening. I recently read that of 15 women who are pregnant today, five will get an abortion. Of the ten left, six will have no husband. Of the four left, two will get a divorce while their kids are still in school. That reveals that our culture is on the a frightfully wrong path.

• Ronald Reagan noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.

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I heard…

…that you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a bowl of gumbo in New Orleans and that is close enough.

…that gas prices were shooting up faster than Biden’s vote count at 2:00 a.m. on election night.

…that praising the government for reopening the country is like thanking your abuser when they stop beating you.

…that our oil comes from Russia, or Iran, or Saudi Arabia or Latin America, but the dipstick is in DC. If fossil fuels cause global climate catastrophe here, won’t it also do it there? Aren’t we on the same globe?

…that America has been poking the Russian bear. We secretly put biological labs funded by the Dept. of Defense in Ukraine, next door to Russia. Should they not be concerned? When the Pentagon and Dept. of Defense denied their existence through the fake media, why shouldn’t Russia be concerned? Would we want such Wuhan-type labs or potential weapons in Cuba or Ontario? (Perhaps they are already there.)

…that any government, be it conservative or libertine-based, that operates from a perspective of consistent lies is headed either for extinction or authoritarian power. In which direction is America headed?

…that the U.S. is currently the perfect example of what can quickly happen to a prosperous business when you hire all the wrong people.

…that Putin still has a Twitter account but Trump doesn’t. Can anyone guess why?

…that Hunter Biden’s religion is called Crystal Methodist. Uh…what could that possibly mean?

…that all the virtue-signaling celebs demanding “Justice for Jussie” got what they wanted. That true?

…that Biden hopes $6 gas will push us into electric vehicles and away from dependence on Russian oil. Does he know that Norilsk Nickel is the world’s largest nickel producer, with vast operations in Siberia?

…that Nancy Pelosi said that “government spending reduces the national debt. It is not inflationary.” Perhaps she using one of those crack pipes Biden is handing out.

…that Kamala said in Poland, “I am here, standing here, on the Northern flank—on the Eastern flank talking about what we have in terms of the Eastern flank and our NATO allies and what is at stake at this very moment.” Got that? Did she really know where she was…at that very moment?

…that on another European stop, the VP spoke about the Internet: “The significance in the passage of time…the significance of the passage of time…So when you think about it, there is great significance in the passage of time in terms of what we need to do…and there is great significance in the passage of time.”

…that shutting down Russia’s oil production will cripple their economy, but shutting down ours is good for our economy. Send that copy to the news media, they are waiting and will gladly disseminate it.

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Wo[man] of the Year

Democrats love it when a man is selected as “Woman of the Year.” USA Today selected Rachel Levine as their Woman of the Year. The Babylon Bee selected her as the “Man of the Year” and got kicked off of Twitter. Canceled. Which is she? Evidently only biologists know, according to Ketanji Jackson, Supreme Court nominee—and they aren’t telling.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell, 1984

“Disney, schools, and transgender ideology are all pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda beyond the pale.” – Emmy Griffin

The social engineers are no longer hiding their rabid efforts to indoctrinate our children. Somebody please clean up the swamp in DC and take out the trash in our schools.

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What is the definition of “woman”?

When asked if she could tell the questioning Senator what a woman is, Ketanji Jackson, who has been nominated to the Supreme Court, answered, “I cannot define what a woman is…I am not a biologist.” Are we going to put a woman on the Supreme Court who does not even know whether she is a woman or not? If she doesn’t know what she is, how did Biden come to the knowledge that she was “a Black woman” that he had promised to place on the court? Is Biden a biologist? How could she ever decide for women’s rights if she has no knowledge of what makes one a woman? Incredible! One woman, who knew what she personally was, said, “I am not a veterinarian, but I know what a dog is.” And let me add—I am not Eve, but she and I both were/are aware of what makes a man a man (Genesis 4:1).

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Opinion:

WHILE ROME BURNS: Should Apostolic Christians concern themselves about politics and government?

That question has arisen in part due to the fact that we have allowed our national history, among other vital subjects, to be rewritten or removed entirely from school curricula. Americans have seen it slip away while they were on vacation in Cabo, or Cancun, on a world cruise, or basking on the beach. Perhaps they are too busy with the latest man-toys from China, items that will be of little use in the coming society. A few have finally awakened to recognize that academia got “woke” while they were asleep. Other segments of the culture are either getting in line or counting the cost. We find our collective selves staggering around like rum-soaked sailors. “What’s happening?” we innocently ask as socialism steadily saturates our nation.

History is history—passé in the college classrooms. Lies and propaganda now pour forth from the professorial lecterns into the empty heads of students, both home-grown and foreign, who never learned to work, to serve, or grow intellectually in an objective way. To the ruling class, America is just another rung on the ladder to world domination. Parents have long ago left teaching and training up to someone who didn’t birth them. That paves the way for witless folk to get elected to office, fill our school boards, write our laws, destroy our monuments, empty our prisons, and elevate prima donnas to lead our troops and fight our wars.

“What can we do?” you ask. Well, doing what we have largely been doing—nothing—is certainly not working. Some seem fearful of even praying about the situation lest we cross the will of God. God Himself may be orchestrating what we are witnessing, many say. Just because you don’t see God’s hand in action does not mean He is in favor of what is taking place or that we should fall in line with everything the world wants us to do. He put Adam in the Garden to tend and take care of it. He was to be in charge. He dropped the ball. We now live with the judgment for his failure.

Can Christian pacifism be taken too far? Inaction equals surrender. Many believers don’t even know where the polling places are in their county. That attitude led to Nazism in Germany, resulting in millions of Allied casualties in WWII, including six million Jews. An interesting study for pacifists might be to determine what the Roman Catholics were doing as Hitler rose to power. The history is out there. Then take note of what the Protestants were doing as the hob-nail booted Gestapo ravaged their country and the nations around them. They played the quiet game. Just ask Niemöller. The Coptic Church in North African countries haggled over how many fingers are required to make the sign of the cross while Muslims and anti-Christian religious armies took over their nations. Methodists once had serious discussions about what to do with leftover communion crumbs. The day the Communists took over in Russia, the black-robed Russian Orthodox priests were in council trying to decide on the color of threads to be sewn into their priestly robes.

Why are Australian Christians bowing to tyrannical edicts and mandates with muted voices? Have they not read history? A while back it must have seemed wise to present their guns to be destroyed by the authorities in an effort to make it a “safer” country. Do they really feel safer now? Diminished potential defense invites a more haughty offense. Officials will do what they want when there’s nothing that can be done about it. Now those who defy the harsh edicts handed down in the name of “health” are being removed and quarantined in “health camps.” Similar camps were originally called “labor camps” in Eastern Europe but were later known by names like Auschwitz, Birkenau, Dachau and Treblinka. Elective surgeries have been suspended in Australia. In at least one case, parents were denied the ability to identify their dead son’s body. And how’s all that working out for stopping the spread of pandemic viruses? The Reuters’ headline in January said it all: “Australia suffers record Covid cases.”

“We are afraid of losing our tax status if we speak out or express our loyalty to America and our traditional values,” some Christians admit. What about losing our children? Is our money more important than our kids? And how about our personal freedoms? Our inalienable rights? A solid majority of Americans still claim Christianity as their belief, even if many of them are not regular attendees at church. If their voice is stilled, we are doomed to another kind of government. As in some other countries, it may become punishable by imprisonment to teach the Christian faith to one’s own children here in our own nation.

If we just “let this happen,” without doing something to contribute to the preservation of our freedoms, we will have little room to grumble. All of this will be thought of in a different light if one cannot get emergency treatment for his wife or child because he doesn’t have the right skin color, or he is wearing a cap with the wrong words, or he doesn’t have a card expressing political allegiance to the party in power. The time will come when one can’t get a loan to buy a house or car, or even buy the food he needs without proper “papers.” And that could be in place months or years before the Antichrist mandates his personal mark.

Ignorance, apathy and ambivalence of our citizens are what the Communists are counting on. They are trusting that Americans won’t stand up, that we won’t know enough or care enough to do anything about it. Silence gives consent.

Someone was fiddling while Rome burned.

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The Southern Baptist Convention decides to take a stand

They got tired of denominational leadership leaning to liberalism and “wokeness.” The false social gospel had made deep inroads because of their concerns about “the watching world.” Those who are taking a stand are lifting the banner of “God is watching, too!” When we get to the place where we are too plugged into the culture and fearful that some may not like us if we counter the wave of anti-Christian leftist propaganda, we will lose the favor of God. Some might prefer the favor of the world rather than that of God. Such a choice pushes any religious movement toward compromise and heresy.

The Baptists point to faculties in their seminaries where CRT and other liberal philosophies are pushed onto students. The churches, ministers, and laymen alike have a right to know who is teaching future ministers/pastors in organizational colleges and seminaries, what they believe, how they live, and what they are instilling in the students. To blindly support that which is largely secretive, well-covered and virtually hidden is foolish. “When you have done all to stand, stand therefore….” It is time to fight!

Visit this site for more details:  https://patriotpost.us/articles/87144-the-southern-baptist-convention-pushes-back-2022-03-24?mailing_id=6554&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.6554&utm_campaign=digest&utm_content=body  or just Google “The Southern Baptist Church Pushes Back.”

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Where do you end up on the diversity path?

No one should countenance racial injustice or supremacy of one race over another. Only foolish persons, biblically and constitutionally illiterate souls, would say otherwise. So, to underscore that philosophy, some virtue-signaling groups have climbed aboard the “diversity” bus with the current culture, thinking it is the means to express fairness and racial equality. Suddenly, they are stopping to pick up the crowd at the “inclusion” station, then the “equity” stop for non-ticket holders, followed by the LGBTQ++ crowd who are thumbing a ride, who then insist on stopping to pick up the “woke folk” and the trans advocates who are waiting at the next stop, and then…and then… There is no end to the diversity trip on the crowded bus. There’s always another special interest group waiting to board. We can’t see the end from here. It is virtually unimaginable. Like Lot, who just couldn’t imagine where he might end up if he pitched his tent south toward Sodom. Now, according to the Supreme Court nominee, one must be a biologist to identify a woman or know what one is. Have we arrived at a place where only men are allowed to call themselves women [aka, Lia Thomas]? Just a few years ago, no one thought we could be where we are today. Using the language of the culture is not benefiting the kingdom. Rather, it poses a serious threat.

Somewhere in an old black-backed Book I read: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” Does that still have meaning for true Christians?

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Books

Adorning the Doctrine

by J. R. Ensey

This book deals with the relationships of doctrine and spirituality, doctrine and the Book of Acts, doctrine and “three mentions,” and how to curb the influx of false doctrine. For truth seekers only. Only 21 copies left in paperback. Order today! AM price $4.95

 

The Pastoral Epistles

by J. R. Ensey

The apostle Paul wrote three letters to two younger ministers whom he affectionately called his “sons.” The epistles became part of the canon of Scripture and have served since then as the best instruction available for those in ministry and church leadership. Doctrine, practical church discipline, lifestyle and much more is all here. The verse-by-verse commentary is accompanied by a complete outline for ease of study and teaching.                   AM price $13.95

Go to: advanceministries.org/store to order

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Book Review

God’s Generals: The Roaring Reformers

By Roberts Liardon

Whitaker House Publishers, 2003; hardcover

In last month’s blog, I reviewed a book by the same author with a similar title: God’s Generals: The Healing Evangelists. Book Two of this short series is God’s Generals: The Roaring Reformers. In this volume, the author pens his views as he looks back several centuries to focus on six reformers who shook the Roman Catholic Church to its core. He does so through the lens of his modern day Charismatic background.

Liardon has accomplished the almost impossible task of cramming into a nutshell the larger-than-life minds and ministries of John Wycliffe, John Hus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and George Fox. I virtually guarantee you will find information here you have not known. While many books of historical biography have been written about each of them, the author distills in readable form what is probably most important about their lives and ministries. He gives them kudos as well as a few knocks when necessary to maintain an objective stance. He unoffensively injects bits of his own philosophies along the way for personal spice and application.

I think you might enjoy this read as well as be informed by it. If you like history, you will love this book. It won’t waste your time. It was hard to put down.

Available $18.79 new from Amazon; used for less from other sources

 

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Something to chew on

Only from Scripture can we truly discern right from wrong. In part, the reason is that we mortals judge each other and then form opinions from that judgment, but real convictions are drawn from the Word of God. – Anon.

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Artists see it a different way

The Home Depot a few years ago decided to embrace the LGBTQ++ agenda. But once stepping onto the freeway of sexual social engineering, there is no place to stop. Someone posted their latest publication for employee training (below). You might check out your local hardware and lumber company as you bypass the big box store.

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The Last Word

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). The foundations of this Christian-based nation are rapidly crumbling. One wonders what will appear next on the news. The nation changers have gone around the constitutional roadblocks to remove the freedoms we enjoyed for centuries. “Not our problem,” some say. “God is taking care of everything.” Do you read “mankind has no social responsibilities at all in this life” in the Scriptures? Within mankind is a people who form the kingdom of God. They have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and owe their first allegiance to Him. Beyond that, we are citizens of the greatest democracy the world has known. It has fostered the work of the kingdom of God on the earth, financed global missions, and supported biblical principles that form much of the flesh and bones of government polity. It is worth preserving, regardless of what the BLM activists and Antifa radicals say. We must have a vehicle, a society, a culture through which the faith can be promulgated and passed along to our children.

Let’s pray up, pack up, stand up, speak up, so we save ourselves and others—and be prepared to go up.

Blessings on every reader. Share the blog with others whom you feel would appreciate its content.

JREnsey

PS: As I have said before, this blog and its contents represents no other person or entity but the signatory above.