We sang a verse of "This Is My Father's World" at the PV Health Care Facility's songfest last Friday. It didn't seem to be familiar to all as I had expected, since I've always known it. But I can recall a time on my life journey when the words seemed incorrect to me. "All nature sings as round me rings the music of the spheres" just didn't real. "In the rustling grass I hear Him pass" was playlike. I wanted to revise it to say this was Satan's world, which the song refutes: "Oh let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, GOD is the ruler yet." Now I understand that Satan only has stolen property, and doesn't truly own anything. He will be destroyed in the final restoration. Thus the song ends "the battle is not done. Jesus who died will be satisfied with earth and heaven made one." His final return in glory to judge the world is the ending theme, written by a famous 19th century preacher.
Ariel Sharon is refusing to continue dealing with Yasser Arafat because of Palestinian terrorism that goes on unabated, whatever peace talks are scheduled. In fact the Israeli hawks and doves seem to be joined in agreement that Arafat has to go. He squandered some golden opportunities offered by Israel's former prime minister, Ehud Barak. So it now appears that nothing can please the Palestinians short of abject surrender by Israel on all issues as long as Arafat's in control. The death toll has risen way up near 700, mostly of his own people. Of course that weighs heavy on the conscience of us outsiders. And it appears to be a tactic to villify Israel as "child killers" in world opinion, despite the fact that some of the "children" are blowing themselves up in order to take Israelis along too. Where hate has festered for so long, it's final fruition is terrorism. I watched a Jewish/Black confrontation on Fox TV over the pledge of allegiance in this country. The black lady in Tennisee belonged to that state legislature and refused to join in it's regular ceremony of national loyalty because she said the words about "freedom and justice for all" were a lie. The Jew called her reasons "a spoiled brat attitude." And despite my sympathy for blacks, he got my support. She, like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, are certainly no asset to the black community. They are like Arafat, a liability instead. David Horowitz, the Jewish defender of our U.S. pledge of allegiance, mentioned that his kin had experienced oppression too, but that the slavery we stopped still exists in Africa. Then the black lady went into a tirade about him changing the subject. She wanted to deal with the so-called "stolen election in Florida." Let's allow her the right not to say the pledge, but we don't have to accept her reasons. (We're even free not to vote, which draws a fine in Central America) Her arguments sounded like "spoiled brat" talk to me. And there's so many fine black folks in the public arena to whom we can direct our attention instead. Sharpton says he wants to run for president, but I'd vote for Bill Cosbey, Colen Powell, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Condoleesa Rice or even Ophra Winfrey ahead of him. Now Al's in jail for 90 days over that protest down in Porta Rica concerning our navy tests there; also he's on a hunger strike, which gets him news as he tries to look like Mohandus Gandhi or MLKjr. Maybe Arafat will come visit him. Yuk!
The opinion page cartoon after McVeigh's execution showed levity depicting several devils down in hell with their pitch forks awaiting him. That "lake of fire" in Scripture isn't supervised by such beings. They are burning forever along with all the lost souls cast into that cosmic waste dump where there's nothing comic at all. This furor in PV over using polycarts could well serve to remind us that hell is real, where fallen angels and depraved souls last for eternity burning up. Gehenna (valley of Hinnum) was the ditch outside ancient Jerusalem's where refuse burned night and day, even dead bodies. Instead of dumpsters or polycarts, it was thrown over the walls. Thus "the smoke that goes up forever and ever" in Revelation. I recall my visit to Managua back in '85 where I thought I saw a body in the refuse outside that hugh city. The bar ditches were full as you left town. Oh the trash problem they had in Nicaragua then. Whew.
There's been even more reporting about capital punishment since the OKC bomber's execution. And so many decry the hunger for vengance, which the book of Revelation clearly shows as being delivered when Christ returns. "Vengance is Mine; I will repay" says the Lord. So taking it into our own hands is always wrong. Concerning the fall of that great whore called Babylon, we read (Rev.18:20) "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her." Since the state is also to serve the divine purpose, as Paul makes clear in Romans, the deserved execution of criminals can foreshadow His coming in judgement upon the world. When we try to shift the redeeming Gospel away from individuals onto public affiars, we loose it's power. Trying to "Christianize" society is to substitute Christianity for the Kingdom of GOD. Nothing is "Christian" in itself. There are only Christians. The state can be righteous, just and perhaps even Godly. But not Christly. I realize the need for delay, but not for a final ban on the death penalty. In this I'm at odds with the inmates at LARC where I found about two thirds in favor. One spoke out against the legal snafus and tecnical muddles as associated with the state's chemist, Joyce Gilcreast, and her DNA errors or false findings. Such are good reasons for caution and we rejoice over those released from death row when later proven innocent, as seen lately in our state. And so I think the call of my own denomination for Oklahoma to follow the example of Illinois in taking a year out is well advised. A "moratorium on the death penalty" sounds bizarre. Better, let's call it a jubilee year (with 14 already euthanized in 2001 putting Oklahoma at the national lead for executions). Even the federal government has euthanized another since the bomber, but it got almost no publicity because the crime was small in comparison. Now we're in sock over that mother in Housten who drown her five children. We've seen where the mother up at Bartesville is charged with killing her own baby, and that's awful. But five all at once? Overwhelming! Now another gunman's gone crazy in Edmond. Crimes used to make some sense, even though they were wicked. Now, alas the world's plunging into maddness. AIDS is so rampant the U.N. had a special day's global gathering; the middle east so red hot that our new president is already meeting with Israel's Sharon a second time and secretary-of-state Powell will be going there again. Another terrible earth quake has struck, this time in Peru where the mountains are highest in this hemisphere. And here in Garvin county someone said "It was the ice-storm at Christmas, the wind-storm Memorial Day and now watch out for the 4th of July?" My answer: "Come Lord Yeshua." With all the crime and natural disaster, our blessed hope is for His glorious appearing or parousia.
Of lighter note is this new "Home on the Range" I've written. Just dare you to sing it: Soon we'll have a dome o'er this state we call home, where Republicans once dared not stray. For the Democrat word that we constantly heard was they'd always be kept far away. REFRAIN Dome, dome on the range, where both parties can fuss all the time; and where seldom is heard a bi-partisan word in our politics far from sublime. Got to give our governor credit for this finishing touch on the capitol that makes our state like all the rest. It took a Republican to get the funds to finish up the job. Now we'll look as classy as the others, though we've always been the OK state.
Remember that prediction I quoted from someone in Garvin county: "Christmas brought the ice storm, Memorial Day the windstorm, so watch out for the Fourth of July." The lead story in Sunday's "Daily Oklahoman" was about OKC becoming the meth lab center of America and our Democrat showed the fall out right here: "Assault suspect gets new hearing date." Fourth of July was over and the next day dawning as a Stratford woman, who admitted she'd taken methamphetamine, tried to "batter" her way into the home of our assistant district attorney, Larry Balcerak. Opposite that report another headline said "Drug buys lead to multiple charges." So for all the consoling reports we've heard about drug use beginning to decline, it's still going crazy in our state and county, which is far worse than weather by far. Some have called drug abuse (or misuse) the result of "self treatment" by individuals facing inner storms, which appeared to be the case of that tortured and demented soul from Stratford who was banging Balcerak's doors with a T-ball bat and yelling that the day of the Lord was at hand. In New Testament Greek, the word used for drugs can also mean "sorcery," and that shows a demonic potential. Thus, the drugstorm that's hit us is like that storm at sea when the disciples awakened the Lord Jesus. We used to sing a song at church "Master the tempest is raging, the billows are tossing high...Carest thou not that we perish? How canst Thou lie asleep, when each moment so badly is threatening a grave in the angry deep?" Jesus answers them "The winds and the waves shall obey My will 'Peace, be still; peace, be still.' Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever there be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies! They all shall sweetly obey my will: Shalom, be still; shalom be still." His voice comes also today to reassure those who will listen to Him instead of joining the satanic drug sorcery so strong in Oklahoma. And how that Voice is needed in Ireland, Palestine, the Phillipines, the Balkins, even Washington D.C. where young interns can just disappear off the face of the earth. As the endtime approaches, these storms will grow far greater, so let's remember that One who is our shelter in a time of storm.
Fidel Castro had a fainting spell as he got up to address a crowd in Cuba and it caused him to speak of his own death, "when I begin that long sleep into eternity." That's the false notion so common in our "secular society" these days. As I've said before, man is incurably religious and those who think materialistically just have an alternate religion. They can't be irreligious, though most of them consider themselves such. Everyone serves some sort of god. Castro's deity is simply MATTER which Marxism declared eternal. Democratus and Epicurus fathered that notion in ancient Greece and the Stoics latched onto it. Then Hobbs in the 17th century and Locke in the 18th returned to it, before Marx formulated "dialectical materialism" in the 19th century and Comte's logical positivism became strong in the 20th. It's the opposite pole from idealism, which posits MIND as more basic than matter. I minored in philosophy at OU and have always felt the abiguity of idealism/realism, the subjective or objective way of understanding our world. Mind (psyche or soul) can never die for the idealist, though the Old Testament seems more toward realism. Immortal soul is a New Testament concept whereas the O.T. was resurrected body. In 1 Cor.15, the differing views are merged. Thus Castro will be awakened for what our book of Revelation calls "the second death." when Satan an the wicked are cast into that lake of fire burning forever. It won't be an eternal sleep. The arrogance of materialism is to feel that our tiny brains grasp the whole of existence without reference to that fifth dimension of meaning and purpose shown in the Bible.
I enjoyed being on Ron Jarman's channel 2 talk show Thursday evening. His lesson ministered to me and many others I'm sure. And then I saw Jack Pack's eight o-clock one of gospel music Sunday morning. You can also hear the service from First Baptist there later at eleven. So I'm glad we have a local cable station LFTF located at The Garden Spot on west Grant. That makes me recall when I was pastor at Hinton where our sanctuary, fellowship hall and S.S. building had a garden that linked them all together. It's ceiling was glass so that the plants and pool were there to behold as you walked through. How very many hymns mention the gardens that are so symbolic in the Bible: Eden, Gethsemane, Resurrection, the New Jerusalem etc. Even point toward last Friday's Rotary program about estate planning and the importance of a will when you die. But I told our speaker afterward that our denomination's leader died with too little to need one; John Wesley's estate consisted of only a well used Bible, a worn our set of saddle bags, a badly abused reputation and the Methodist Church. Though I didn't say so, it meant his real treasures were laid up in heaven (where he also wanted to take his horse). Friday was a thirteenth which Dennis Green mentioned jokingly at Rotary. In Washington it was no joke on that day when a problem arose for the Bush "faith based initiative" that's supposed to demonstrate compassionate conservatism: the Salvation Army, which has no qualms about getting government funds, had asked to be exempt from state laws that would require them to hire gays in their ministry. They are an evangelical church as well as a service agency, and would have to lower their standard to get this money. So Bush backed away from such an exemption Friday when it hit the news. It's a hard test for the Salvation Army that once held powerful services of street evangelism. I've seen the statue of William Booth in East London where he and his wife Catherine Mumford began the East London Revival Society in 1865. It was designated the Salvation Army in 1878 and spread to other nations (over here by 1880) with his sons as generals; then becoming international under his daughter, Cory. What a power the S.A. was then, though pressure to accommodate their mission to contemporary culture causes a shift away from talk about accepting Christ to that of "creating Christian community." I remember when Oklahoma's "Feed the Children" made a similar transition. It was founded by the evangelist Christian, Larry Jones, who held revivals in churches to gain support. Now it's a service agency. However, it was never a church like the S.A. still is. Of course the food's given in the name of Christ implicitly. It's like a song I sang new words to at the nursing home Friday, We knew it as "Where have all the flowers gone:" Where has all the glory gone, as long ago? Where has all the glory gone, from days of yore? Where has all the glory gone; not to GOD or to His son. When will Christ ever come? When will our Lord return?" Another big compromise on Fri.13th was that of the International Olympics committee which decided to award the 2008 games to China, despite that nation's terrible record. If sports are to honor sportsmanship, then it was a blatant lie to all the nations on this earth. The longer I live the more I realize that our planet's "progress" is being accomplished by deception and illusion, so that an Anti-Christ soon may appear. Such a power will only be overthrown when our Lord returns bringing fiery judgement upon it's wickedness and evil. Rampant crime is not only destructive; it adds a colossal cost burden. Did you see where over thirteen million was spent getting the OKC bomber convicted and executed? (And one bullet could have done it for less than a dollar). Or can you imagine the expense of this search for the missing intern, Chandra Levy? Though it's money we don't begrudge in the least, unless spent hiring any psychics. No waya Hosea! They are spiritual hookers in my opinion, and just add to our mess rather than help solve it. Really gripes me to seem them selling their wares on TV by offering "free readings" over the phone. That's where we get the term "phony." And I feel the same about all the occult stuff prevalent any more. Look how news space in the papers gets wasted on astrology. And then there's the "win a million" gambling enticements everywhere. So look up! Keep your eyes heavenward, on Jesus at the right hand of the Father until He comes back.
Genoa was the home of Christopher Columbus who discovered the New World in 1492. It's also the modern city in Italy that hosted the latest G-8 summit that's steering us into an ever more global economy and civilization. There were fifty thousand protesters too; one shot dead by police on Friday and then run over by a police vehicle. Next time G-8 plans to meet in a Rocky Mountain hideaway location to avoid the clamor of it's last three gatherings. But avoiding protest doesn't cancel the powerful emotions connected to their business of economic globalization. And anger is bound to be generated against those who come out on top in the dealing. Seems to me like a gigantic poker game (my dad played a lot when he was young, so I have the picture in mind). Words of that popular song also depict the game: "You've got to know when to hold, know when to fold, know when to walk away and when to run. You never count your money while you're sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting when the dealings done." I figure that means you'd better grab your winnings and get out of sight before some sore looser pulls his gun and takes a shot at you. But that's probably a poor comparison because "fair trade" is supposed to rule the G-8 rather than skilful gambling. Yet all those protesters obviously don't agree. And most of them blame us for not accepting that treaty to slow global warming that was signed in Japan last year. Bush says we can't accept it because it imposes more limitation on us than other nations. Of course we've been the world's leader in pollution, in far more ways than atmospheric sad to say. So the meeting at Genoa turned somber with that 23 year old being killed. More use of deadly force is surely in the offing and worldwide dictatorship likely in the making; not the kind of new world Columbus discovered for so much exploration, adventure and enrichment of civilization. But just the opposite according to endtime prophecy. This global Internet could certainly facilitate an Antichrist takeover. That name in the Revelation reminds me of Antioch, the ancient metropolis where pagans first called Jesus' followers "Christians" or "Christers." Next a pagan power so similar in name will seek to stamp them out. Keep watching, and praying.
Did you know there's a movement called Christian Reconstruction that seeks to replace our Constitution with the Bible? Theonomy is the name of law based on Scripture. And a theocracy is what our nation would be. Seems like going back to the Puritan Commonwealth and has a vague nostalgic appeal to me. Remember how Oliver Cromwell gained control in the first English civil war during the 17th century. But the Commonwealth republicv became a Protectorate (dictatorship) that imposed Calvinism under Cromwell as Lord Protector (who had refused to accept a crown in 1657). A century earlier that great French Reformation theologian,John Calvin, went to Geneva Switzerland and established his theocracy, using the Bible for it's law. So Cromwell was following Calvin's example, though the latter was a soldier rather than theologian. King Charles II got beheaded at the start, but then the monarchy was later restored with Puritanism a permanent part of England. I believe their tolerance of Jews is what gave the English such a place in the evolving democracy of our time. It was the smile from on high. This faith based initiative which Rep.J.C.Watts has gotten passed in the House moves in the direction of so called Christian Reconstructionism. Sounds good but just won't work; failed in Geneva, failed in England and will fail in America where churches were never meant to be subsidized by government. We've seen how lifeless and dead those state churches can be just looking at Europe. Now our denominations (plus sects and cults galore) will expend their energy seeking federal funds and trying to comply with regulations, instead of seeking first the Kingdom. Those who call it "tainted" money will learn to say "taint enough." And there will be jealousy over who gets the lion's share. Of course there's already rivalry to get grants from private foundations, but every group will feel entitled to government funding. Instead of reconstruction, it will be deconstruction, which is the key word of post-modernism (along with chaos theory). Come Lord Yeshua!