Category: Violence

Times are changing


What can we do? Not much really, except pray and turn our hearts back to God. Our world, this nation, and every nation on Earth needs to turn toward the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Why should we do this? Because we have pushed Him out of our lives! We have taken prayer and Bible reading out of our schools and we are reaping the consequences of that decision.

Some people may not notice that this is happening, but if you ask anyone who grew up in the sixties and seventies they can tell you that our world is definitely NOT the same anymore. So many problems, so much anger and violence, so many wars and things which are happening all over the world. These we see and hear about on the news programs or on the Internet on a daily basis and they change our perception of people in our world.

We look at people in a different light. We think about them in ways which are wrong, because we are allowing outside influences, like the news, change our perception. God knows each of them and you. He doesn’t change His ways and we should try to be more like Him. No, we will never be perfect in this life but we should strive toward that goal through Him and by knowing Him.

Why am I saying this? Because…the world is the way it is today simply because we are coming to the end of the church age or the age of God’s grace. He hasn’t given up on us, but His plans are in motion to bring about His purposes in the world. Many people can’t seem to believe that this is where we are today, but if you have read the Bible and the prophecies concerning the end of the age, then most of it makes at least some sense.

No, we can’t understand His ways or why things are happening the way that they are, because they seem so wrong to our way of thinking. But, God sees the picture outside of our time and space and He knows what is going on and how it will work out. This is the message to all who read this post: God has it all in His hands and His ways are better and more perfect than ours because He can see the outcome before the beginning.

Seek Him and trust in Him in all of your life’s journeys, no matter how small or big they might seem to you…because God is bigger than your problems! It might not seem so right now, but He is!

What do you hear?


From the television and almost all of the news sources, mostly…JUNK! The world is going down the tubes fast, and all anyone seems to care about is their shows on TV or what is happening on Facebook. What difference does it make? Facebook, Twitter, Survivor, and so on are all just there to distract us from what is happening in the world. Yes, there are some on all of those social media sites which are talking about actual news, but what news?

What about our freedom? Freedom to worship ANY way you want to in America! We have that freedom right now, but it seems that there are so many on one side who can’t stand ANY mention of God or Jesus! I am not trying to force anyone, anywhere to worship the way that I do, but it seems that there are many who just can’t stand to read or hear about Jesus at all. If you want to worship a rock, I don’t care! That is your option, even God gave you the choice to do so even if He doesn’t agree with it.

We have a choice and it was given to us by God Himself. You can choose to believe it or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I pray that you will come to Him before your life is over, but it is your choice regardless of where you live, at least as far as I am concerned. Many of the countries in the world are not nearly free enough to have the choice of Who they worship, as we are in America.

Christians, whether you agree with their faith or not, are being killed not just persecuted and yet the Christians there are not converting to Islam. They would rather die for their faith, just as the martyrs have done for hundreds of years. I pray that we in America don’t see this kind of persecution, but it may happen yet.

What can we do? Pray for those in areas where Christians are being persecuted severely like in Iraq and Iran and Turkey. I don’t know what to tell you about things that we could do other than pray. Since God is in control and He can send Angels to comfort and help those people, prayer is powerful because God is able to deliver them by His power.

The world is tearing itself to pieces and it isn’t over, this is just the beginning. It actually hasn’t gotten to the point that most are fearing will come yet. Read your Bible, study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, pray about what you are reading. We are at the beginning of those times! Watch and pray that you will have the strength to endure until He comes again to take the church out of this.

Peace in our time?


“Since its inception in the 7th century, Islam has used the sword to advance its territory. It goes on to this day. The goal is to bring the world into submission to Sharia law. This is what motivates all these “terrorist” groups. ISIS is getting a lot of attention, but what is going on with Boko Haram against the people of Nigeria today is just as horrible. This practice of using force to compel conversion is a distinctive to Islam compared to the world’s other major religions.” (borrowed from another site afa.net)

Our world here in America and elsewhere is becoming much more dangerous, especially to Christians. Why? Because we don’t believe the same as other religions. Yet, people in America want tolerance from Christians toward everyone else’s beliefs and their lifestyles, but they can’t stand our beliefs. Talk about a double standard!!

It seems that people can’t comprehend the reason that Christians believe the way that they do, and I don’t understand this at all. The Bible, which is our guidebook and our Holy Book, is available almost everywhere. Most of it is part of Jewish belief as well since their Torah and much of our Old Testament are the same. Even Islam recognizes the Book and the Patriarchs and Jesus, although they don’t give them the same reverence that we do.

Peace in our life-time has been a common theme that many have tried to bring about for many hundreds of years, yet it is something which is either fleeting in its brevity or almost impossible due to cultural and religious differences. Is it possible? Yes, but it cannot be done through force and it will not come at the hands of a man, it will come about when Jesus returns and rules from Jerusalem.

Why do I say it this way? Because it is a fact. God has prophesied it in His Word and therefore that is the way that it will be. There is no argument and there is no other way that it will happen. Many people will fight against it and they will fail in the end. Like it or not, that is the way the future will be.

Christianity is not forced upon you. You will and always have had a choice to follow Jesus or not, but peace on the Earth will only come when He is ruling from Jerusalem. I am not speaking of the Anti-Christ, but the real Messiah, Jesus.

Yes, I know, many who might read this will not agree with me which is fine. I don’t expect nor require anyone to agree. I am just stating something which is prophesied to happen and it is going to happen. Whether you believe that I am delusional or not really doesn’t matter at all, I have been called worse.

God knows the hearts of men, regardless of their religion or their doctrine, and it is He that will judge each of us according to our faith and that which we have done or not done in this life. The things which have been done for His Kingdom will last, anything other than this will be destroyed. Your possessions and your money are all part of this world and it doesn’t matter how much you have of either. When  you die, regardless of the manner of your death, your “stuff” will be here for someone else to sell or enjoy. You will be in eternity and your decisions in this life for or against Jesus will determine where that eternity will be. So make the right choice.

Post traumatic stress disorder, where do we go from here


There are few things that many of us will ever accomplish in life, especially the things that many of our military servicemen and women do every day. But, there are also the trials of being in the service. Trials which only those who have been there can know. The only trials which some of us may know a little about are the kind which come during times of stress and pain and danger to us or to others around us. It is true that those of us who have never been in war-time situations will never really understand them, and truly that is a good thing in some respects.

In our country, America, we are privileged to have armed men and women who, in some instances, consider it an honor to serve their country so that we don’t know armed conflict in our streets the way it is elsewhere. I served in a branch of the service years ago, in the Air Force, but being an only child I didn’t go to war or to serve in far away places. My mother became disabled and I got out of the service because I was needed more at home.

The men and women who come back from service today come home with injuries which are evident to some but then some injuries are not so evident. Yes, there are many who come home with limbs missing, some with TBI (traumatic brain injury), many come home with moderate to severe PTSD. It is this ailment which is the type which many of us civilians can relate to. Some who are in relationships which are abusive know of this condition, some who are in police service or fire service know about it too, yet their struggles are also un-heard or disregarded just as the veterans who have served and come home still feeling the effects of trials and trouble and pain.

I will admit that I have only suffered from PTSD while being a fire-fighter/EMT during my time of service in that occupation, but even though it has been twenty years or so since that time I still feel its effects sometimes. With God’s strength and His help I have been able to overcome many of its demons, but there are many who are not that fortunate. Many of our servicemen and women are plagued by it all of the time, many women are haunted by it due to an abusive relationship that they either can’t get away from or maybe are afraid to get away from. Police and firemen/women are haunted by things which they have seen during their duty tours. The biggest problem that the public has with this is that PTSD is un-seen from the outside. It is a mental disorder and one that many people, myself included, don’t want to bring to light or are ashamed to do so because of the stigma which mental disorders seem to have in our society.

We are fine, in a way, when seeing a veteran come home with a missing limb or some deformity which is visible to the outside world, but when the issue is inside everyone seems to treat you as if you are crazy! You have lost it. You should be locked up to protect society from your rantings and possible outbursts which might kill someone. This is what our society has become over time. We look at war as we see it depicted by Hollywood, but we don’t believe what we are seeing or that it could somehow break down someone’s mental fortitude. The problem is that there are things which we don’t know about in wartime or in peace, on the streets and in homes which are so violent and cruel that our minds never were designed to process those kinds of feelings and the pain that comes with them, the fear that is there but we can’t or won’t show it.

God did not create mankind with the mindset to be hateful and cruel. This came to us as a result of Satan’s influence and the fall that was experienced a long time ago, which we are still feeling the effects of today. Many of our veterans are suffering from this brain injury, the kind which doesn’t go away with pills or treatment because it is part of your memory and unlike a computer our brains don’t have a delete key. We can’t just purge these sights and sounds and pains away. You just can’t do it, whether it was caused by abuse from a spouse or parent or in the middle of a fire-fight in the middle of Ramadi or in a gun fight on main street or even when you were on the scene of a murder or a fire in a small town or a big city. These things were not supposed to be this horrific, but it is part of our world today.

The only cure, the only person that can help is Jesus. The Word of God which became flesh and dwelt among men to know their pain and suffering so that He could understand more fully and be the Helper and the Physician to heal our hurts. Help me in the process of helping those who are in need of it. The homeless vet or battered wife or husband, the cop or fireman or woman who has seen much more violence and hate than they should. I don’t have the resources to do much, but prayer can go a long way toward helping more people than we realize. At least do that for all of them.

Violence is not the answer


I am a pastor and a Christian and I happen to be caucasian, but beside the fact that the person who was shot was African-american, what good is going to come out of this violence in Missouri? If the kid who got shot was white, would there be such violence and rioting going on? Yes, there would have been some crying and maybe a lawsuit, but what good is going to come out of the days of violence that is going on now?

I have to ask, “What would Jesus do in this situation?”

I know that my culture is different and my history is different, but what is the point to all of the fires and looting and shootings or whatever else is going on up there? Will this ease the mother’s pain? It won’t bring the young man back, but it will polarize the country yet again over a racial issue that shouldn’t be an issue at all. Not today! Stirring up a nest of hornets is not something which anyone would rationally do, and stirring up racial anger and hatred doesn’t accomplish anything except cause more hatred and anger.

There is no rational reason for any of this, except to gain publicity for some people and cause more pain for others. Seek God and His answers for this, not an answer that would thrill Satan himself! The anger and violence that is being shown in the news looks more like some of his doing than righteous anger that some are calling it.

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”, this should be the cry behind those seeking justice. It shouldn’t sound like a call to war, which is what it looks like. I am praying for a peaceful solution to this and all of you should be too.