Author: Ken

Daze of Deception

Ken

UFOs are lying wonders. Recently, I ran across this series of YouTube videos (3 hours), “Daze of Deception: Part 1,” “Daze of Deception: Part 2,” and “Daze of Deception: Part 3” from Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel (Chino Hills, CA). We must be getting pretty far along into the Last Days for us to be discussing this stuff out loud in Bible preaching churches. My wife and I used to identify the phenomenon of UFOs as “lying wonders” (2Thesssalonians 2:9 KJV). In context, the “lawless one” (2:9 NIV) refers to the Antichrist, which Jack Hibbs identifies as Nephilim. This is Twilight Zone stuff that respectable evangelical pastors know better than to discuss from their pulpits. I wonder how many have much of an idea how to biblically discuss UFOs and UAPs? Without knowing about Jack Hibbs, I commented on this in earlier posts. (1), (2), (3), and (4).

If NASA really makes an announcement about UAPs before the end of 2023, I wonder how they’ll get around an admission of ET being from another dimension, undefined by our current understanding of the laws of physics? “NASA has not found any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and there is no evidence that UAPs are extraterrestrial.” Even the Roman Pontiff would be willing to baptize aliens, if they felt they needed it. If Jesus was just another alien, then there is nothing special about the Bible, and it would be unnecessary “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 1:3 NIV). All the wildfires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars (Ukraine), and rumors of wars (China, North Korea) are falling into place with Matthew 24. “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28 NIV). 

The Bible is our only credible explanation of what is going on. This will shake out the wheat from the chaff. “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NIV).

Maranatha! 

Stand Your Ground

Ken

Stand your ground. No retreat. Deny the enemy the opportunity of flanking and destroying the line. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1Corinthians 16:13 KJV). Since this is a spiritual war, every action translates into consequences for the progress or delay of victory. Satan and the forces of the Antichrist cannot ultimately win, but they can delay the Almighty’s final victory and their judgment. If you were Lucifer wouldn’t you want to put off the final day of your reckoning with your Creator and Judge? This was the thinking of the demon possessed pair that met Jesus. “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29 KJV). No matter how long the delay, the All Knowing Creator is not surprised or confused by the enemy. Lucifer will be a chained lion (Revelation 20:1-3) during the Millennium, but He presently “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1Peter 5:8 KJV). Spiritual warfare demands, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 KJV). We may admire the tenacity of soldiers such as Joshua Chamberlain at the Battle of Gettysburg, who stood their ground and even bayonet charged their foe; but, we know our victory is by faith assured, if we will have the spiritual backbone to “resist stedfast in the faith” (1Peter 5:9 KJV). God bless all soldiers of Christ!

Brainwashed By Propaganda

Ken

Brainwashed by propaganda to determine our reality is another way of saying, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Corinthians 5:17 KJV). Human government either will deny its purpose to promote the common good and punish the evil; or, it will seek the good of the few and punish those who object. Speak the truth that promotes your neighbor’s good as equal to your own. That is the love that holds society together. The cooperation of human beings is essential for any human government to exist. The cultural or moral values of the population shape the agreement upon which human government stands. Change the hearts and minds of the people, and human governments change. For this reason, it is most essential to stay focused on the underlying power of the Gospel to transform us into those who do the will of God. Good human governments will appreciate this and promote environments that encourage it. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2 KJV). LORD, may Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen and amen.

Our Jōb Moment

Ken

Our Jōb moment of why me is more common to man than we think. We are our Sovereign God’s possession to do with us as He pleases, but like David, we had rather fall into God’s hands than the hands of the enemy. “And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man” (2Samuel 24:14 KJV). In the end, Job quit defending his own righteousness and began acknowledging God can do what He thinks best. “I know that You can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2 NET). At the beginning, Jehovah had acknowledged Job as “none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth [turns away from] evil” (1:8). God has a higher opinion of you than you think. He is willing to preserve us from day to day temptations. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1Corinthians 10:13 KJV). He taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13 KJV). We are His children, and our Father knows best. Let us remember He is the High King of Heaven, acting in the best interests of His Kingdom, but He remembers our frame as dust. O LORD, be merciful to Your children, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (26:39). Amen and amen.

Why the Christian Worldview Isn’t Working

Ken

Church membership is quite noticeably declining because the Christian worldview isn’t working. The faith of the Scriptures doesn’t seem to explain what’s going on in the lives of church members to make the weekly pilgrimage to church worth it. Not enough Christian service? Too little outreach? Some churches preach and teach Bible prophecy, while others simply acknowledge the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with allusions to the New Heavens and New Earth. For instance, Hebrews 10:25 is often quoted as why disciples should assemble as a church. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25 KJV). Notice the compelling nature of church attendance was “as ye see the day approaching” (10:25). What day? The soon or imminent return of the One who said, “I come quickly” (Revelation 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20 KJV). Who has a good explanation for why Jesus hasn’t yet returned? This is only one example of a Christian worldview that doesn’t seem to be working. And, I do not think this was simply anticipating the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple worship in 70 AD by the Romans. If we were to introduce the concept of delay in spiritual warfare, as seen in the Book of Daniel (10:13), we could see how Christ’s Return would be just as imminent today, at any moment, as for the original recipients of the Book of Hebrews. But, we would have to reorganize our worldview. A little drastic change, now and then, is a healthy thing, don’t you think?

 

How the Jews Missed the Messiah

Ken

How did the Jews miss the Messiah? What began as a lack of carefulness to listen to Yahweh further escalated to despising Him and His commandments (Leviticus 26:15), which resulted in breaking their covenant with Him by the idolatry of worshipping other gods (Deuteronomy 29:25-26). Jehovah responded with the Babylonian captivity (29:28), but restored them to their land, when they returned to obedience of His law. After their renewed devotion to the law, somehow they became more impressed with their righteousness in the obedience, and forgot “their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 54:17 KJV). This initially was an imperceptible lacking in devotion to the person of Yahweh, which was falling out of love with God. Yet with a tender heart of love for Ishi (Hosea 2:16), they could have noticed the more cryptic prophecies concerning the Messiah. “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 KJV). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 KJV). “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2 KJV). In our NT retrospect, we can see the same heart attachment to Mashiach is just as necessary for us not to miss Messiah’s Second Coming. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28 KJV). Maranatha!

Elon Musk on Mars

Ken

Elon Musk would like to go to Mars and make us a multi-planetary species. Not just digital payments through PayPal, electric cars through Tesla, solar panels through SolarCity, internet communications through StarLink, or payloads to the International Space Station, but eventually, he is targeting the moon and Mars through SpaceX. Can he do it? The greater question is, Will God let him? If it serves God’s purpose, of course Elon Musk could do it. When the Almighty quelled the last great earthly rebellion against Himself at the Tower of Babel, He said, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:6-7 KJV). Yahweh’s Divine Council chose to thwart the Tower of Babel because He was laying out the future of the supernatural spiritual warfare between Himself and His adversary. What would the world be like, if we only had one language? Either it would be like Heaven, or more likely Hell. A promise for the godly: “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain” (Psalm 76:10 KJV). LORD, may Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen and amen.

Children of the Righteous

Ken

The children of the righteous are those children which God has given to a Christian parent or parents. “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him” (1Samuel 1:27 KJV). Faith will die out on the planet in one generation, if we fail to raise our children in the “nurture and admonition of the LORD” (Ephesians 6:4 KJV). God gave children to the parents, not the state or church. Just ask the parents of Moses. The awesome duty of Christian parenting is more than providing food, clothing, shelter, education, and socialization. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1Timothy 5:8 KJV). Our children’s impression of who God is comes from how they see us act, not just our talk. I am still amazed at what I hear my children say all these years later. They were listening more than I thought! Would you do things differently? Of course you would! But, our Heavenly Father has especially given us His promise that our children will meet us in Heaven. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). Do we believe it? Remember, Christian parent, you are not responsible to God for how He keeps His part of this promise. Do all you know how to do on your part, and leave the fulfilling to the God of the Impossible!

All Prophecy Has Already Been Fulfilled?

Ken

If I said, ‘All prophecy has already been fulfilled, as of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70,’ then you would probably correct me. ‘No, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the New Heavens and New Earth are still yet to be fulfilled.’ Then, the Book of Revelation is not just figurative and allegorical — teaching only principles and not predictive prophecy. You can see the difficulty of attempting to take away the stated purpose of the Book of Revelation. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John” (Revelation 1:1 KJV). When the Children of God become embarrassed about how long it has been taking the LORD for it to “shortly come to pass,” then we attempt to allegorize the Book of Revelation to ‘protect’ His image. But, if the any moment, imminent, “shortly come to pass” return of the Lord Jesus Christ can be accounted for by the delaying aspects of Spiritual Warfare, as seen in the Book of Daniel (10:13), then we can begin to appreciate why Jesus cautioned us, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32 KJV). May the LORD give us wisdom concerning His Return.

Taking God At His Word

Ken

To take God at His word is to accept His word on anything without further verification. If He said it, He meant it. “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19 KJV). Treat God’s words with the same respect you would want God to treat your words. If you say what you do not mean, then treat God in the same fashion. If that sounds horrifying, then give God’s Word the respect it deserves! When interpreting or arriving at a conclusion on the meaning of anything in Scripture — including Bible prophecies — the interpretation that justifies God the most in making it understandable is the goal. If the plain or literal sense is most understandable, then God’s Spirit has communicated His message to you. If it only makes sense figuratively, poetically, or allegorically, then so be it. Our goal is to best justify God for whatever He said — literal or figurative. If the biblical translation of the original text makes the meaning obscure, then the modern reader is disadvantaged in arriving at a proper interpretation. If the biblical settings of the OT or NT recipients of the original texts are not understood, again, the modern reader is disadvantaged. Philip was used in the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), because he understood the context and meaning of Isaiah 53, which was being read. Whether God uses a Bible translation, a Bible scholar, Philip the Evangelist, or a humble cross reference, such as the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, it is the Holy Spirit illuminating and teaching the text. “But the anointing [Holy Spirit] which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him” (1John 2:27 KJV). Glory to God!