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  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    The Thief on the Cross

    I mentioned this before in The Selfish Gospel. Talk about the Lordship of Christ or the part of works in salvation, and this account in Luke 23 frequently comes up. Maybe you’ve noticed.

    But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

    And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

    – Luke 23:39-43 NKJV

    I assume none of us was ever crucified, but a little research will clear things up. This man was nailed to a wooden cross. Dr. C. Truman Davis gives medical particulars in his article entitled A Physician’s View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ posted on the CBN web site:

    The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The victim is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain — the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves.

    As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places his full weight on the nail through his feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward.

    Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. [The victim] fights to raise himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.

    – by Dr. C. Truman Davis (emphasis added)

    Go back and slowly, pensively read the bolded text above. This was not three guys having a casual theological discussion. Rather, it was while enduring this unimaginable agony that the thief on the cross gasped out his confession and his appeal. Might he have “accepted Jesus in his heart” and suffered in silence? Obviously, his efforts to speak just increased his torment, but he spoke as best he could, and his testimony has been read by millions in the past 2,000 years. Romans 10:9 says “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus” and that’s exactly what he did. I would submit that audibly confessing Christ under this extreme duress qualifies as a “work of faith.”

    He had faith to be saved, and his faith issued in works. He submitted to Jesus as Lord – he said so – and he was saved. Faith in Christ, trust in Christ, submission to Christ and the Lordship of Christ – it’s all there. Today, we have “easy believists” who misuse this passage to support the unscriptural idea that you can “accept Jesus as Savior” (as they allege this thief did) and be saved, but that submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord, or any form of “works” is optional at best, and that suggesting that any works have any part in salvation is heresy at worst. Jesus addresses this in Matthew chapters 5 and 7, and also Luke 6.

    I am NOT saying one earns salvation. Rather, I’m saying that salvation is more than a singular event. It’s not just forgiveness of sins or a stand-alone judicial act; rather, it’s a reconciled relationship, initiated by justification but including sanctification and eventual glorification. It’s walking in newness of life. It’s surrendering the lordship of your life to Jesus Christ. This is not complicated or arcane, though theological sophistry can make it appear to be so.

    It’s really quite simple: either you love God and get reconciled … or you don’t. If you choose reconciliation, you necessarily relinquish lordship over your life to Jesus Christ. Your willingness to give Him lordship over your life is the basis of your reconciliation. What I wrote previously bears repeating: the essence of saving faith is transformation. Having your sins forgiven is part of that. Being with Jesus for eternity is another part. But becoming like Him and becoming His companion is a MAJOR part. Yes, you must make Jesus your Lord in order to be saved, because that’s what salvation is. And that is EXACTLY what the thief on the cross did.

    Many – perhaps most – people who call themselves Christians today, at least in America, may not be saved. This is a bold and upsetting proposition, but consider this:

    One of the greatest deceptions in modern Christianity is the idea that you can have Jesus as savior without submitting to Him as Lord. This false dichotomy has filled churches with people who want the benefits of salvation without the demands of discipleship, but scripture does not give us that option. The Bible knows nothing of a salvation that does not include surrender. If Jesus is not Lord of your life, then He is not savior of your soul. Period.

    – Why Most “Christians” Today Are Not Saved, Dr. Voddie Baucham

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    A Few Loose Ends

    I made a much-needed addition to my Bewitched post:

    I want to make one thing clear before I proceed – this is NOT to be construed as a requirement for a wife to submit to an abusive husband. NO woman – Christian or otherwise – is required or even advised to submit to physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse. If the husband is abusive, the wife should LEAVE HIM.

    Shame on me for not clarifying this sooner.

    I also did some enhancement to my September 2023 post entitled Time of Jacob’s Trouble which you may want to review. I found a second candidate for this enigmatic time period.

    Speaking of, and possibly relating to the time of Jacob’s trouble, my friend Cindy-by-the-Sea has recently posted A Voice In Ramah – a tribute to all the mothers in the land of Israel who have lost children, bearing in mind that these bereaved and devastated people are noncombatant civilians – deemed “collateral damage” and found on all sides of these horrifying genocidal conflicts.

    With this new administration, it very much appears (so far) that no Deep State cow is too sacred, but my optimism remains guarded. DOGE appears to be a wrecking ball, being used on behalf of “we, the people” to dismantle the funding mechanisms of the Deep State. Maybe God has granted the U.S. a reprieve, and we will limp on into the future. I remind myself that I’ve been expecting the imminent beginning of Daniel’s 70th week since Pentecost 2009 – that’s over 15 years of documented bad guesses, incorrect assumptions, flawed reasoning, and sometimes comical algorithms. Reasons for “Doomsday-any-minute-now” creates clicks on YouTube and an income stream – profits for “prophets” in some cases. But the fact is: we don’t know and, by God’s design, we probably can’t know.

    There is, of course, the other possibility: that activities purportedly done for our benefit are in fact being done for other, and more nefarious reasons: continuity of government and the implementation of the Beast system. We are not seeing a new birth of freedom at all. Rather, we’re seeing the finishing touches on a system designed to enslave all Americans – perhaps a beta test for what’s planned for the whole world. It was almost a year ago that we got our “Nineveh eclipse” warning. I didn’t see much repentance. Did you?

    That to say this: work while it is day, because the night is coming when no man can work. Understand the gospel well enough to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you, and continue to grow up in all things in Christ, who is Lord of all. We were never given the assignment of “winning the world for Christ.” Our job is to become disciples and make disciples.

    Hope to see you soon. Leave a comment below.

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    The Envoy

    Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

    – Revelation 6:1-2

    We’re clearly getting very close to the time of the return of King Jesus. We have scriptural reason to believe that a final seven-year period begins with the confirmation of a covenant (Daniel 9:26). Many have looked to history and offered speculations on the identity of the one confirming the covenant, as well as its terms. However, discarding opinions and allowing scripture to provide answers, I think it most reasonable to believe that Jesus Christ confirms this covenant with His people.

    Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

    – Ezekiel 37:26-27 NKJV

    I had intended to do a rather extensive study supporting my conclusion that the rider on the white horse will be an envoy of Jesus, who will confirm the covenant and shepherd the true Jewish remnant to the midst of the land, fulfilling prophecies in Ezekiel, Revelation, Zephaniah and Daniel.

    I may do that if there’s time … but there may not be. So I want to post this quickly and encourage all my readers to view The Day of the Lord – Gaza Destroyed at Noon by Steve Fletcher. Steve may be correct; his conclusion and expectation seem to me to be both reasonable and consistent with scripture.

    For additional context, you may want to read Like A Flood by Cindy K at HeavenBound, and also a video she referenced by Lynn Marzulli entitled Six-Fingered Fist on Gaza Banner Linked to Biblical Nephilim.

    Maranatha!

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    Slavery

    I have been following the activities of the new administration, and am seeing various deployments of what’s known as “The Nuremberg Defense” – that is, the proposition that people in government, and especially at lower levels, should not be held accountable for any malfeasance they may have participated in because they were “just doing their jobs.”

    I’ve also been reading The Culture of Disbelief by Stephen L. Carter, who explores the same thing from a different angle. His 1993 book explores and explains how American law and politics trivialize religious devotion. When a Christian in government or business complains about being directed to do something that violates the principles of his religious beliefs, he’s told that religion is a private matter, and that he should either jettison his religion and find something else to believe in, or quit. “You don’t think God would approve? Find another job, or find another God.”

    Perhaps some would quit, and find another job if they could. But it seems many can’t. Why not? That’s not hard to figure out. If you are working and suddenly lost your job, what would your options be? Can you afford to NOT work for a season? Sadly, the vast majority of us cannot.

    Randall Terry not-so-famously said, “We’re all well-dressed and well-fed self-maintaining slaves on the Federal plantation.” If you have a mortgage and a car payment, a bank somewhere OWNS YOU. That’s the way the system works. If you don’t have a job, you will be hungry and homeless in short order. Faced with that very real possibility, many people in government went along. “I have a family to feed. God will understand.“

    Trump is allegedly serious this time about “draining the swamp.” My inner pessimist says it’s too little and too late, or that perhaps this is a smoke screen – a lot of goodies to keep us optimistic and distracted while the trap springs shut. There are plenty of reasons for cynicism, of course. But there are also a few reasons to think maybe God has granted a reprieve. Maybe the rapture isn’t quite as close as we all had hoped. For myself, there was NO WAY I would have believed someone if he told me fifteen years ago that we’d still be here in 2025.

    If the Department of Education is dismantled, we can take more control over the training and education of our children without resistance or interference from unelected and usually liberal bureaucratic busybodies who seem to think they know better than parents how to raise children. What will we do with the return of authority to parents?

    If we get a release from crushing interest rates, will we get out of debt and escape our slavery to the banking system? Will we teach our kids how to delay gratification and avoid the debt trap in the first place? Or will we see this as license to take on more debt, buy more toys, and self-gratify for a few more years?

    Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. - 1 Cor. 7:21-23

    I can’t unpack everything Paul was saying to the Corinthians, but there seems to be a general admonition against remaining a slave if it’s possible to become free. Freedom – and especially freedom of conscience – is a precious thing.

    In the Millennium (Isaiah 65:17 ff) we will build houses and live in them. No mortgages, no rental properties – no banks and no interest. Similarly, we will be able to grow enough food to have no necessity to buy groceries. THAT is part of the future we will begin to enjoy, perhaps not many years from now. In the meantime, IF this is a temporary reprieve from the fierce national judgment we’ve earned, what are we going to do about it?

    Stephen Carter speaks of government trivializing religious devotion, but we don’t need government for that; many of us (sadly) trivialize the precepts and commands of scripture very well without government assistance. How seriously are we willing to take Paul’s words? Today, it’s difficult – perhaps impossible (and that by deliberate design) – to escape this diabolical debt trap. If, by God’s grace, we get the opportunity to escape debt slavery, what will we do about it?

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    Harmonic Atheism

    This may be a “sign of the times” often overlooked.  I’m not sure whether it’s the abandonment of authentic faith by genuine believers, or the discovered futility and subsequent abandonment of the “Christian god” created by American corporate churches.  Maybe some of both.

    When someone claims to reject God, it’s helpful to determine just who or what is being rejected.  Some discernment is obviously required. 

    Nancy O’Brien Simpson grew up believing in Jesus, became the women’s columnist for Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, and was a co-founder of the Jericho Project, a pro-life group in Cincinnati.  Nancy was a fervent evangelical Christian until the idea of a loving god eternally tormenting his children began to invade her faith and trouble her worldview, and she eventually deconverted.  Apparently, she’s now concluded that “the Christian god is a sadistic psychopath.”

    In this case, the “god” being rejected is a sadistic psychopath.  And let’s be honest: NO rational person would read the accounts of Jesus in the new testament and ever conclude that Jesus was either sadistic or psychopathic.  And yet, apparently Nancy O’Brien Simpson has met, followed and ultimately rejected just such a “god.”  (By the way, scripture does NOT teach that God eternally torments His children.  Apparently, the “god” proclaimed by Nancy’s former church would.)

    At this point it becomes troubling.  What sort of “god” is being presented to the unbelieving world, and what sort of “god” do those in the churches follow?  Is it the God of scripture, or a manufactured idol?  Is the “god” of American’s Sunday mornings the one true God?  Or not??

    I suspect “not.”  As Tom Wadsworth pointed out, the early church did NOT have “worship services.”  They gathered in homes in small groups to edify and encourage one another.  They certainly worshiped, but Paul outlines their worship in Romans 12:1-2.  Our lives are worship; we are “living sacrifices,” and we worship Him by living the totality of our lives underneath the Lordship of King Jesus.

    However, the “god” of much of evangelical American Christianity sees worship and life quite differently.  For them, God wants a rock concert, a sing-along, a big building, a paid staff of professional Christian leaders, and a good sermon on Sunday mornings.  This “god” can be placated on Sunday, and safely ignored during the rest of the week as his followers go out into the world and become indistinguishable from it.  After all, how do American Christians compare with the world in TV and movie-watching habits, in honesty in the workplace, in divorce or sex outside of marriage?  And I’m just asking, not accusing – but from my vantage point “American Christians” blend in more than they stand out.  For many, “Lordship” is optional.  “You can obey Jesus or not, as you choose.  Your salvation is secure – grace through faith plus nothing.”  REALLY??

    In short, American evangelical Christianity seems to have produced an idol.  Tim Mills is showcasing a lot of American Christians who are abandoning the whole mess.  In some cases, the baby is being thrown out with the bath water, some might think. I am NOT talking about manifest hypocrisy. A hypocrite is someone who professes something but whose life is inconsistent with the confession. In this case, we’ve created a caricature of God, making him into a comfortable and casual sort of chap who grooves on rock music and digs light shows. This “god” is appropriately presented and “worshiped” by stuff like this: SEE how the DEVIL has Corrupted the Church with gospel music – Then these “believers” go out and live a life consistent with the very minimal demands of their “god.”

    The strange part, to me, is that they apparently wind up in the “atheist” camp.  I don’t know if they’re atheists – that is, they conclude that God doesn’t exist – or if they conclude that scripture is unreliable and that God, if He exists, is simply not worth knowing, believing in, or serving.  Again, probably no “one size fits all” on this.  And don’t misunderstand – I’m not broad-brushing all American Christians.  But there is deception out there and we need to be aware of it.  We also need to avoid becoming a part of it.  And if we’re in it, we need to escape.  For many, house-churches provide a safe haven.

    2 Cor. 13:5 contains an admonition.  Matthew 7:21 contains a warning.

    I think it behooves us all to examine the God (or “god”) we believe in and profess to follow, and see if He is the true God revealed in scripture, or a false “god” proclaimed by church leaders who may not even be saved.  Tim Mills has probably unwittingly done us a favor.  Most people aren’t saved, but the opportunity to get into the “church business,” make a living, be respected, be comfortable, and exert power over others is very appealing to a lot of people.  Some of them may have started out well, with a zeal for God and all the rest.  But we know from scripture that they can fall away.  Many have.

    For the rest of us, we need to once again see God as He has revealed Himself, and we must live under His Lordship every day.  This statement is offensive to a lot of “American Christians” who think believing in Jesus is the essence, and the Lordship of Christ is “optional” or “works salvation” or somehow in opposition to salvation by grace through faith.  There is not contradiction between confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 1:9) and then living like it.  But if we view scripture through the lens of American Evangelical Christianity, there’s a very good chance we can get it wrong.

    Bill Bright and his Campus Crusaders got it WRONG!  You do not “invite Jesus into your heart” to get saved, and then optionally offer Him the “throne” of your life.  You can’t “accept” Jesus as Savior and reject Him as Lord.  And you can’t confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and then NOT submit to His Lordship, believing that Romans 10:9 is nothing more than a secret password to get you into heaven.

    We may each know a few “harmonic atheists.”  These are folks who may have left a 501(c)3 church but also leave God, or more accurately, leave “god” and ignore God.  Believing God doesn’t exist, or living as if He doesn’t really matter – probably not much difference practically speaking. 

    My intention is to shine the light on the “idol” that American Christianity has created and presented as God.  This may be related to the “falling away” (2 Thess. 2:3) or to the love of many growing cold (Matthew 24:12). I don’t know, but John’s final word to us in 1 John 5:21 was “keep yourself from idols” and it sure looks like this could be what he was warning us about.

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    I Was (Probably) Mistaken

    Welcome to the day before Shemini Atzeret 2024. I am taking what may be my last opportunity to clarify my understanding of the end of the age, since expectation is quite high for a rapture event tomorrow, October 24, 2024. We shall see, of course.

    As we’ve gotten closer to the end, we’ve had an increase of clarity and I’ve seen one particular previous conclusion of mine that was probably incorrect. So I’m posting to point out and correct the error, for the sake of those who miss the rapture and might happen upon this post.

    The error concerns my understanding of “great tribulation” as it appears in Revelation, chapter 7:

    Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

    So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

    – Rev. 7:13-14 NJKV (emphasis added)

    Since the term “great tribulation” only appears three times in scripture, and since I believed this crowd was all the saints of the entire church age, and since scripture supports the idea that the church age would be characterized as a period of tribulation for believers, I made a distinction between this “great tribulation” and the one mentioned in Rev. 2:22.

    Now, I’m not so sure. It could be that the “church age” is NOT a “great tribulation” at all. So my new tentative belief is that the idolatrous and carnal saints of Rev. 2 are cast into an end-times period of post-rapture “great tribulation.”

    Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.

    Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works.

    – Rev. 2:20-23 NKJV (emphasis added)

    The end times “great tribulation” I suggest, is the first four seals in Revelation. While I’m still far from settled on the identity of the Rider on the White Horse, it takes little wisdom and no imagination to see war, disease, famine and additional miseries in the VERY near future for those living on Planet Earth, the results of the activities of the red, black and pale/chloros horses. The folks who don’t see this coming are ignorant by choice. Proverbs 22:3 comes to mind.

    I’m attracted to the idea that this “great tribulation” last for about 150 days – five months – as it was in the days of Noah. I’m certainly not dogmatic on this, but some time very shortly after the rapture, the One World System must be deployed, because the choice must be made by all the living, whether to take the Mark or refuse it. We see the refuse-niks under the altar at the opening of the 5th seal. I expect the 6th Seal events are at the end of The Dragon’s 42-month global reign, late spring of 2028.

    Of some interest is the “robe-washing” part of their description. It could be said there’s a distinction between those who are given white robes, and those who have robes in need of washing before they are white. I’ll let you figure that one out. But I’ll close with a passage that John may have been referencing when he wrote this passage:

    I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude, which I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound.

    Then I asked an angel, “Who are these, my lord?” He answered and said to me, “These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and they have confessed the name of God; now they are being crowned, and receive palms.”

    Then I said to the angel, “Who is that young man who places crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?” He answered and said to me, “He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.”

    So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord. Then the angel said to me, “Go, tell my people how great and many are the wonders of the Lord God which you have seen.”

    – 2 Esdras 2:42-48 RSV

    Stand valiantly and tell your people.

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    Bewitched

    Many readers may remember the 1960’s sitcom with Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York. It was fairly clear that Samantha ruled the roost, and bumbling Darrin sort of did what he was told and otherwise stayed out of the way. This, we now see, was intentional role reversal, as well as nascent feminism. It was, as far as I can tell, deliberate – crafted for the sake of comedy, but also intended to help reshape the culture. Did it work?

    We get our ideas on witchcraft from Macbeth and Halloween, and see witches and witchcraft as harmless and even comical. Ugly women stirring up something nasty in a cauldron, or Margaret Hamilton and her flying monkeys, unable to prevail against Dorothy and the “good witch of the North.” But God has something very different to say about it. Scripture equates witchcraft with rebellion:

    So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

    For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

    – 1 Sam. 15:22-23 NKJV (emphases added)

    God told Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Saul thought he had a better idea. As we know, it did not end well for Saul or for Israel.

    How about today, and today’s American witches? Because God says:

    Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

    – Ephesians 5:22-24 NKJV (emphasis added)

    (I want to make one thing clear before I proceed – this is NOT to be construed as a requirement for a wife to submit to an abusive husband. NO woman – Christian or otherwise – is required or even advised to submit to physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse. If the husband is abusive, the wife should LEAVE HIM.)

    A wife is supposed to be in submission to her husband. That’s God’s order. Today, that’s part of what “obeying the voice of the Lord” means. If a wife is NOT in submission, then she is in REBELLION. And this, my dear friends (or maybe former friends by the end of this post), is witchcraft. ANY married woman who is not in submission to her husband is practicing witchcraft. She may be pleasant, well-dressed, popular, and a regular church-goer. She may be beautiful, and she may even lead Bible studies. But she’s a witch.

    Paul gives at least one practical application of a proper submissive spirit in 1 Cor. 14:35 because the plan was clearly for the believing husband to be the spiritual head over his wife. The wife’s spiritual head is NOT “the minister” or “the pastor” or “the lady who runs the women’s Bible study.” Peter gives a related admonition in 1 Peter 3:1 –

    Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

    Do not let your adornment be merely outward–arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel — rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

    – 1 Peter 1-4 NKJV (emphases added)

    Well, how about that? Chaste conduct, fear (reverent respect), and a gentle and quiet spirit – how anachronistic. How unAmerican!! And even if the husband does not obey the word, the wife is to be in submission to him! Women, and especially modern American women, really don’t like this. Their excuse is that their husbands aren’t spiritual, their husbands don’t go to church, or their husbands don’t love them so they’re released from this obligation. “It’s all HIS fault. He’s a jerk; he brought this all on himself.“

    Okay, fine. You signed up to be his “suitable helper” and he turned into a jerk on your watch. Rebellion is still witchcraft, and you can explain it all to God when you stand before Him. American church leadership also will have some explaining to do. After all, they should be telling these women to be in submission to their husbands. Instead, they assume the mantle of spiritual leadership themselves. They usurp the husband’s legitimate, God-given spiritual authority, the rebellious wife is complicit, and God’s order is flagrantly disobeyed. The word of the Lord is rejected. Re-read 1 Sam. 15:23 above.

    As an equal opportunity curmudgeon, I must also point out to you men that love is patient and kind; it is not arrogant or rude. It isn’t fault-finding, but rejoices in what is good and right. You’ve no doubt heard this – 1 Cor. 13:4 was probably read at your wedding. It its primary application, these verses are telling us how God loves us, but the secondary application is how we are to love each other. So even if she’s a witch, you must love her. Husbands must love their wives, and wives must respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33).

    Now, if you’re still with me, you may wonder what triggered that little tantrum. Actually, it was a short video entitled Elon Just Called Out Christianity by “Fight For Truth.” The bottom line is that American Christianity has basically become “toothless” (Elon Musk’s conclusion). Is this true? And if so, WHY??

    Is it gutless and spineless pastors running popularity contests in seeker-sensitive churches? Well, that’s probably part of it. Sunday morning Christian rock concerts and TED talks don’t exactly transform anybody. But putting on your Sunday best and then sitting quietly (unless singing as directed) is not the sort of thing real men relish. So the church venue has already been badly – perhaps fatally – feminized, and real men are generally (eventually) repulsed. I hung on for years, not because I thought it was good for me, but because I thought it was somehow honoring to God. Or something.

    But most probably not. Tom Wadsworth has pulled back the curtain on this one. He has done a well-researched video series on Why the Early Church Did Not Have Worship Services. The early church met in houses to build each other up. They did not gather to have “worship services” in any sense. They took the great commission seriously. We’ve converted Matthew 28:19-20 to an evangelism mandate, but it’s about making disciples, not winning the lost. Real Christianity takes patience, courage and maturity, ALL of which are sorely lacking, and NONE of which is fostered by American churches. Can we fix what’s badly broken, or is it too late?

    I suspect that for our institutional churches, it’s too late. The folks running those programs like things the way they are: a liturgy, a paid professional managing things, with a nice building and paid staff. They generally want bigger audiences, better music, and more contributions. And I strongly suspect that a lot of the MEMBERS want the status quo. People are inherently religious even if estranged from God, and what better place for lost people to congregate than in an American church? Safe venue, clean and polite people, non-offensive message, entertainment, and it’s all superficial. No one pries into your business or meddles with your life. Speak a little Christian lingo, maybe put a bumper sticker on your car, and they will assume you’re saved. It’s understandable, but it is NOT Biblical Christianity.

    But for families, I think there may still be hope. The man is still the head, to be submitted to and respected. He needs to provide love and leadership as best he can. The wives are still called to be helpers “meet” (that’s Elizabethan English for “suitable”) for their husbands, respecting them, following them, and supporting them as best they can. Husbands need to lead by example and love their wives, and the wives need to repent of their witchcraft and submit to their husbands.

    Sadly, the whole culture pushes back against it. And many men no doubt simply don’t want the domestic strife that would most probably result if they tried to provide headship over a wife who is used to getting away with being assertive, impatient, unkind or unsubmissive.

    I’m out of ideas. I don’t know where or how to begin. Maybe if enough of us are broken, God can use us. I sure hope so.

    –

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    The Incident

    It’s now four days after “the incident” and we’d properly expect for some of the smoke to clear, and for there to be at least a reasonable framework for understanding what allegedly occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania. I’m not going to add to the growing list of conjectures. Rather, I’d like to invite us all to step back and, instead of being distracted by theories and the details, try to look at the bigger picture.

    The lens I have chosen is the one discussed previously: 1 Kings 22 (also 2 Chron. 18:9-27) and the destruction of King Ahab. I suggest this could be a “double prophecy” because Micaiah mentioned “… all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” We know from scripture that this was NOT the destruction of the kingdom – the people of Israel then came under the “shepherd” of Jehoram (also called ‘Joram’), who proved to be another wicked king. The Lord had said, “These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace,” but it appears from the Biblical record that there was another master, no return, and no peace. Perhaps the Lord had someone else in mind.

    Some of you may be familiar with a certain Brandon Biggs, who gave a prophecy in March 2024 which some believe was partially fulfilled on July 13th. If you listen to his comments in context, you will quickly realize that several of the things he predicts have not happened, at least not yet. Biggs went on at some length explaining how America is NOT “under judgment” but God is simply “sending correction.” Biggs thinks there will be a new wave of patriotic fervor, and that the faith of our Founders will be revived. “There may be hard times in the immediate future” (my summary of his message) “but God will give us victory.” Amanda Grace and Steve Cioccolanti both agreed.

    Let’s all re-read Micaiah’s comments:

    So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.‘ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.‘

    Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

    – 2 Chron. 18:21-22 NKJV (emphases added)

    Cioccolanti, Biggs and Ms. Grace may have authentic God-given gifts … OR they may be empowered by “the Dark Side.” I am almost completely ignorant of their activities, but strongly suspect the Rider on the White Horse has paid them a visit and they are among those about whom Jesus warned us. They come in Jesus’ name, they claim Jesus is the Christ, and they are deceiving many. (Matthew 24:5)

    Pastor Greg Laurie has also weighed in. I posted the following comment: “Trump does not need to be comforted or guided by a pastor. He needs to be confronted by a prophet. And I daresay he would NOT be amenable to that experience. America is under judgment. We had a 40-day window for national repentance, but we don’t WANT national repentance. We want to continue in our sin but have our bank accounts and standard of living preserved. We want less wars, less violence, less invasion over the border.

    “But do we want the end of abortion? Do we want prayer in the schools? How do we feel about the sexualizing of our KIDS from music and the popular culture? Because a prophet would tell Trump how God sees this national wickedness. 1 Kings 22 my friends – the spirit of deception has been released and America will not recover because America will not repent.” I submitted this comment twice and it was deleted twice – something in there that the YouTube algorithm does not like. (Probably the part about the “sexualizing of our kids.” God doesn’t like that part either.)

    The fact that Mr. Trump’s ear was (allegedly) hit speaks prophetically of damaged hearing. We no longer have ears to hear, even though we may think otherwise. We certainly don’t hear – and apparently don’t care to hear – what God is saying. If the blind lead the blind, they both go into the ditch. If the deaf lead the deaf, I’d expect a similar result. Mr. Trump may speak of a glorious re-birth of America; perhaps a few tough years ahead while we un-do the damage done by Obama and Biden, and then peace and prosperity in our little corner of the global village.

    I don’t think we have years remaining – in fact, I think “months” is an optimistic and unrealistic expectation. “Weeks” (and not many of them) is realistic. Prophets Biggs and Cioccolanti see a rebirth of patriotic fervor, as if that’s either what God wants, or it’s a blessing God desires to bestow. I would say: “Neither!” We are foreigners and pilgrims, ambassadors for Christ sent to a Christ-rejecting world. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are called to unswerving and uncompromising fealty to Christ and His kingdom. Contrary to the socialist designs of Mr. Francis Bellamy, our singular allegiance is always and only to Jesus Christ.

    We have conflated love of God and love of country. How this is connected to the “incident” in view becomes clear through another lens: IDOLATRY. Elijah’s combat with Ahab and Jezebel was over this single issue. Would it be God or Ba’al? For us, a similar question: will we trust our salvation to Jesus Christ … or to the glowing promises of restored prosperity and national pride offered by Mr. Trump and the RNC? Trump (allegedly) took a bullet for us. Jesus took a merciless Roman flogging and a fatal crucifixion.

    The issue before us is not “liberal v. conservative” or “Democrat v. Republican” or any of the other societal divisions being foisted on us. We’re seeing the enemies of God (in all political parties) aligned against Christ’s kingdom of righteousness. Tucker Carlson pointed out the battle lines clearly in his presentation to the RNC. He said, “What group do they dislike most? What group are they absolutely terrified of and hoping to eliminate? Well, it’s Christians. That’s who it is, it’s Christians.” This, Tucker says, is not a new battle. It’s been seen over and over again throughout history. (More here.)

    The final lens through which I am viewing the events of July 13th is the recent Nineveh eclipse. If this is not in view in Luke 21:25, then “signs in the sun, moon and stars” is, for me, an impenetrable enigma. I am of the settled opinion that God warned us – through both natural signs AND His scriptures – and we as a nation have ignored the warning. According to Flavius Josephus (an eyewitness), in the days leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, God sent SEVEN warnings. God has warned America and we have turned our backs and turned up the volume of our favorite distractions. God’s final warning was on April 8th. We reached the end of His patience on May 18th.

    God dealt with His errant people in the days of Amos:

    “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places, I withheld rain, I blasted you with blight and mildew, I gave your gardens and vineyards to the locusts, I sent you a plague after the manner of Egypt,

    “I killed your young men with the sword and made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils, and I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah – yet you have not returned to me,” says the Lord.

    “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

    – Amos 4:6-12 NKJV paraphrased

    Under God’s various chastisements, the people still would not return. In the New Testament, God tried a different approach: “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” In Romans 2:4 we see that GOODNESS is intended to engender repentance. And we can see that God has been very good to America.

    But instead of engendering repentance, we have responded with completely unwarranted contempt. We seem to think we can enjoy the gifts and disobey or ignore the Giver. Like ancient Israel, we’re advised to prepare to meet our God. That meeting is not far off.

    I expect a LOT of our Christian and political leaders will jump on this “resurgence of patriotism” bandwagon in the coming days. Our pulpits may be aflame with appeals to a return to our “bedrock Christian principles” upon which the nation was founded. There may be new passion for righteousness and a return to political civility. But it will be short-lived, partly because we don’t really mean it, and partly because there’s practically no time left on the clock. God sent America a Nineveh warning. We shrugged it off. Amos had a word for his people, and it’s also a word for us:

    Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you,

    Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    Are These the Days of Micaiah?

    Just over sixteen years ago, Chris Anderson of Anglemar Fellowship posted an article on his web site entitled The Other Side of “the Days of Elijah” in which he reviewed the significant sequence of events in Elijah’s life, suggested a parallel to today’s world, and told us what he thought we could expect. As you, dear reader, are no doubt aware, Elijah lived in the days of Ahab and Jezebel, probably the two most wicked people to govern the kingdom of Israel. Elijah warned the king and queen, then went into hiding in the wilderness for over three years while drought and famine consumed the land.

    The “Elijah in the wilderness” motif is well-known among many of us who have been disenfranchised by the organized church. We’re in a “famine of the word” though many people don’t seem to notice, or don’t really seem to care. As in Elijah’s day, idolatry in many forms runs rampant, and wickedness in high places is clearly seen. Chris believed in 2008 that we were on the threshold of change. He wrote, “A time is coming when we will indeed be released to confront the Ahab churches and the godless society they have allowed to fester under their watch. There will be a culture wide Mount Carmel showdown. There will be some kind of repentance, false prophets will be slain, and the true rain will indeed fall that has been prophesied.”

    Elijah came out of the wilderness and had his victory over the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. But with Ahab and Jezebel still in power, he turned his prophetic office over to Elisha and checked out. We might expect that it would have been Elisha who subsequently confronted Ahab, but it was Micaiah the prophet who was mentioned in conjunction with Ahab’s death. The story is in the last chapter of 1 Kings and features one of those “behind the scenes” looks at the spiritual reality that played out in their day, and may play out in ours:

    Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.  And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.  Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ 

    The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 

    Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

    – 1 Kings 22:19-23 NKJV

    I find the situation then eerily similar to what’s happening today, with the leaders of NATO and the U.S. inexplicably embracing a view of Russia, China and Iran that borders on delusion. The western political narrative is that Russia is weak, hollow and impotent. They repeatedly assert that China, Iran and North Korea are paper tigers not to be feared. “Ukraine is winning,” is the oft-repeated analysis of the war. Their disconnect from the obvious is painful to watch, but discounting danger and denying the possibility of risk, the West blunders on, continuing to provoke anyone who resists American hegemony anywhere in the world.

    This makes no sense … UNLESS there is a “lying spirit” in the mix; someone effectively deceiving the leaders and policy-makers of the U.S. and its NATO allies into believing Russia can be attacked without fear of any meaningful reprisal. And if this is the case, our only reasonable conclusion is that God Himself has marked the U.S. for destruction. Since the U.S. seems to be the “glue” holding NATO together, the end of the U.S. would most probably mean the end of NATO and a new political reality for Europe. This is our eschatological expectation, as the absence of an American global superpower in the last days has been well-noted by prophecy students for a long time.

    Ahab sent Micaiah to prison, to be given bread and water until Ahab’s presumed safe return from Ramoth Gilead. Since Ahab died in battle, we can assume Micaiah died in prison. As for Elijah, his return is anticipated in the closing verses of Malachi:

    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

    – Malachi 4:5-6 NKJV

    As we know, John the Baptist came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” and Jesus said John fulfilled the expectation (Matt. 17:13). However, nothing in the gospels suggests that John was particularly effective in or concerned about familial reconciliation. Rather, he had some fierce things to say to the religious leaders of his day who claimed sonship under Abraham and righteousness under the law. He also rebuked the king for adultery, and paid for it with his life.

    I’m not clear on exactly what Chris means by “Ahab churches.” Ahab’s defining characteristics seem to be displayed by his desire for Naboth’s vineyard, his inability to control his wicked wife, and his false bravado. “But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.” (1 Kings 21:25) And as we know, it is the “prophetess Jezebel” who is explicitly connected to corruption in the end-times church (Rev. 2:20).

    End times fulfillment remains enigmatic. Will some of us who are “in the wilderness” be brought against the churches and the culture “in the spirit and power of Elijah” to expose sin and effect healing? Will this activity be a harbinger “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” when God will strike the earth with a curse? Will there be reconciliation between fathers and their children, which is the expectation Malachi set? And will some of us then be taken to heaven as Elijah was, while the evil leaders who have been confronted and exposed seethe in impotent anger?

    OR: are these the days of Micaiah? Will some of us who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” be called upon to pay the price Micaiah paid? (Rev. 12:17)

  • Anakypto Afterthoughts

    Worship Service

    The American/western way of “doing church” strongly cultivates the idea that God-pleasing worship consists of specific activities performed in a sacred space by a community of believers. This is common knowledge: we “go to church” in order to worship God with other believers. We have a liturgy – an order of specific activities – generally performed or managed by professional clerics.

    We are directed to “worship the Lord in song” and then we all sing, or we are encouraged to “worship the Lord with our gifts” and then the collection is taken. We have a “communion service” which is a symbolic meal – a ritual to commemorate the events of Luke chapter 22. Central to all of this is a sermon or “message” – presumably insights gleaned by the professional from his/her deep study of the Word. This all is ostensibly done to worship God and equip the believers to go out into the world – the “mission field” – and serve the Lord where they are sent.

    Within this model, we worship as a community, and then we serve as individuals. We worship in a sacred space, and then we serve in the secular world. This unscriptural dichotomy is visually reinforced by the picture above, and is certainly still regularly expounded from many American pulpits.

    If you search for “worship service” or “spiritual worship” in scripture, you will discover Romans 12:1-2 where Paul wrote:

    I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

    The phrase “reasonable service” above is translated from the Greek word latreia (Strongs G2999) and means “worship service.” We are worshiping in the New Testament sense when we demonstrate by our transformed lives that God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect. And this is not done while sitting in a building singing songs or listening to a lecture; neither is some sort of corporate setting necessary. The modern ideas of liturgical “worship services” are foreign to the New Testament.

    The point of this post is simple: ALL of life is supposed to be worship. To compartmentalize, or divide between “sacred” and “secular” is to make a division that God does not intend under His new covenant with us. To live IS Christ, as Paul said. We are to live out His presence in us in all places and at all times. In our speech, in our actions, in our “social media” and television choices and all other things. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.“

    Modern church culture – strongly supported by the professional Christians among us – has foisted on us the idea that we must be gathered together in a Christian community and participate regularly in liturgical exercises in order to acceptably worship God. They may point to historical records of the activities of the early church, such as Paul taking up a collection, the Corinthians celebrating the “Lord’s supper”, the disciples singing songs or hymns, or Peter preaching. In some modern churches, baptism is part of the “worship service.” This, they assert, is what God wants from us and expects from us.

    But it isn’t! This distinction is a conscience-killer. When you don’t see ALL of life as worship, then suddenly it’s okay to spend an hour scrolling social media or watching violence on TV. As long as God gets His two hours on Sunday morning, we can be (allegedly) “free in Christ” to do anything for the rest of the week.

    I am not proposing legalism or Christianity-by-guilt-trip. But if Colossians 1:27 is our reality, and not just a philosophical abstraction, then when you are watching garbage on TV, you are forcing Jesus to watch it with you. Everything you do, every place you go – the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart – “everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.“

    This post could be an encouragement, a rebuke, or a wake-up call. Matthew 7:23 should be a sober – and perhaps frightening – warning to many of us. Your own “religious professionals” may comfort you in this area, but they may be among the most vocal protesters when Jesus holds them accountable.

    “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

    Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV

    I’m not complaining, criticizing or judging. I’m just observing that the church no longer seems to be impacting the culture in any meaningful way, and suggesting one possible reason why. We continue our downward spiral. The “Nineveh warning” of recent history was largely unnoticed or ignored, and national repentance has not been forthcoming. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom seems to be sorely lacking. We don’t live in His presence. We’re like the people of Ezekiel’s day who said, “The LORD has forsaken the land and the LORD does not see.” But He DOES see.

    Perhaps it’s because we have neglected worship. Maybe we’ve lapsed into serious idolatry. It could be that the Great Tribulation of Rev. 2:22 will be visited on most American Christians. Maybe, despite the exuberance of our “worship services” there is really very little true worship going on. Perhaps in the midst of all our religiousity, we have forgotten God, and that’s why all this is happening.

    If you’re interested in a more in-depth and historical video presentation of this topic, I offer the work done by Dr. Tom Wadsworth entitled Why the Early Church Didn’t Have Worship Services.

    Closing With Clarity: And hopefully with charity. I’m just looking for the truth. Just as the “Federal Reserve” is not federal and has no reserves, a “worship service” appears to be other than either worship or service. What is it? It’s fellowship, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Get together regularly with your friends, sing songs you all enjoy, listen to an encouraging message, meet new people. It’s all good … but is it transformational?? Are you, by virtue of these activities, becoming more of the person God wants you to become? Are you more gracious, more compassionate, less worldly, less bitter? Is your life characterized by hunger for holiness? Love, joy peace, patience, kindness and the rest?