A Church Alive & Well!

The man of sin will have his rod, he will do clever tricks, he will put the mark of the beast on every business system that he sanctions, and those who do not have that mark on them can never do business under the regime of the man of sin. Suppose you find that the people who are “counted in” under the mark of the beast succeed, and you do not succeed, you may be tempted to negotiate the thing and say, “Well, I don’t know, If I did this thing it would save me; I had better compromise a bit.” We must never do that. ~ Oswald Chambers, The Rod of the Wicked

The above scenario is in a book that’s 2,000 years old. It predicted the day we are living…the moment we are living in, right there in black and white in the 27^th book of the New Testament of the Bible, Revelation 13:16,17

Most of you know I listen to Scott Kesterson’s BardsFM and Fishers of Men every day. He interviews people who, by and large, are men and women of faith who are engaged and pushing back in remarkable ways against the forces of darkness and tyranny…medical tyranny ushered in through Covid, brought to us by the Revelation 13 man of sin.

Scott is from Oregon so he’s very familiar with enemy strongholds like the one that has literally taken complete control of Portland. Last week he quoted a women from the area who told him that when Antifa came to Portland the pastors tucked inside the walls of their churches to preach to their choirs while Antifa took their message directly to the people on the street from the father of lies. And this week he shared the following take from a pastor very much in the fight who used the term Temples of Dead Stone to describe the vast majority of churches today…

“There’s a pastor, prophet, seer, helping establish a new church…about 5,000 people in it. And they were having their meeting, all the elders of the church. He sees Jesus’ presence in the church, and he sees Jesus walking out the door, and he stops and he says, ‘Jesus, don’t leave!’ And Jesus turns to him and says, ‘You are the only one who will know.’” ~ Scott Kesterson, Fishers of Men

This week I sent the following email out to church groups, our CLOTH and Orange Strong membership as well as Facebook:

Dear Moms, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, and Friends of Liberty,

God has put on my heart to share the following message with all of you. A soft response to the Drag Queen Story Hour planned in Montgomery on April 1^st was affirmed last night by a Libertarian-leaning mom who is a highly valued member of Orange Strong, “Men dressed as female clowns reading stories to children isn’t as bad as half-naked drag queens gyrating in adult entertainment fashion.” To you all I respectfully share the following: “The laws by which we are to govern and be governed, as found in the Constitution, were never meant to be divorced from the authoritative voice of the Declaration, which is the Word of “Nature’s God.” America is a Christian nation!” ~ Inseparably Linked, David Barton – Founders’ Bible

The enemy that has infiltrated and conquered every cultural mountain in our country has one desire above all desires. To separate God from his children. Whether or not one believes in God, you have to ask yourself why only one species of creature on the entire earth seeks the un-natural…with such zeal. Our rebellion as a nation against “Nature’s God” has reached the level of insanity. 63 million babies murdered in their mothers’ wombs since Roe v Wade… and now moving to legalize post-birth infanticide. I believe our country is in judgement. Whether it is the clown or the drag stripper who causes the Matthew 18:6 “little ones” to stumble, I’ll leave you all to ponder that for yourselves.

Respectfully,

Chip, Orange Strong

Here’s a response I rec’d from Susan in response to my post on the FB group Warwick at Its Best: “Go take this shit “babies murdered in mothers wombs” somewhere else. Seriously.”

Where is the cry of the Orange County shepherds???

I realized something this week…if the teachers stopped teaching in a healthy society the body of that society would respond to fill the gap. If doctors stopped treating people in a healthy society, the body of that society would respond to heal the wound. (“A sick man asks, ‘Who’s your doctor?’ A healthy man asks, ‘Who’s your farmer?’” ~ Matt Kleopfer) If the police stopped keeping the peace in a healthy society, the body of that society would restore the order. BUT, when the pastors “tuck inside their walls” they quite literally doom a healthy society…which is exactly what has happened to us… As the brother behind the wall of dead stone attempts to assure the sister, “Don’t worry….God’s got this!”

The church was made to be the immune system of a healthy society! Amen?

Kudos to Brenda Hanson of We the People from CattaraugusCounty, NY! I believe Cattaraugus County has declared itself a Constitutional County. I found Brenda’s letter posted by Pastor Stephen from the Black Robe Regiment of Western New York (officially NOT in hiding)

BE OUTSPOKEN, BE BOLD!

Where are the shepherds? Where is the church? Why is there a hush rather than a trumpet?

Aren’t we called to rescue the perishing?

Slogans and memes and half-hearted attempts at evangelism and sermons that make everyone comfortable will not free those held captive by Satan’s modern and sophisticated dread sway. Evangelism is not evangelism at all if it fails to confront the poisonous ideas of the culture. In a world drowning in poison, I will address one: the idea that a person can choose or create their gender and that such a choice should be severed from parental influence.

We in the church applaud historical Christian figures – the Amy Carmichaels and George Muellers of the past – who laid their lives on the line to put an end to child sacrifice and plundering, those who rescued unwanted and deformed infants from ancient garbage heaps, and those who opposed the genital mutilation of females with broken pieces of glass. We admire such bygone boldness that not only led to the salvation of individuals, but also changed cultures.

We in the church shake our heads in sad dismay when we thumb through the pages of the “Voice of the Martyrs” magazine and see pictures of temples in high places where strange sacrifices to impotent gods are made. We support the missionaries who travel to these far-off lands to bring the gospel light.

But we forget or we ignore that in our own civilization the shadow of a high place has been cast over culture and church. We fail to fully grasp that we now are the far-off land that needs the gospel light.

At what point did the church decide that cultural retreat was acceptable in the eyes of the LORD?

At what point did the church agree to the idea that cultural engagement was unholy?

At what point did our personal faith render our cultural influence meaningless?

At what point did bridges built between church and culture become one-way streets in which influence and ideas advanced toward – rather than from – the church?

Evidence points to the sad reality that God’s power has been limited by God’s people.

When did silence in the face of evil become love?

“Truth always carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation nevertheless. If our reflex action is always accommodation regardless of the centrality of the truth involved, there is something wrong.” ~ Francis Schaeffer

I think there is something wrong.

Is God so small that we must shrink back from the controversial issues of the day? Humanity is being impaled on the spears of bad ideas. Are we to watch from our Christian fortresses, influencing a person here or there – patting ourselves on the back when we do so – but refusing to engage the system itself?

How much Christian love are we expressing when we sit on the shore watching the ship of Millennials and Gen Z dashed upon deadly rocks of lies about their fundamental identity? If not we, then who, will tell them that they are made in God’s image, fearfully and wonderfully knit together, and that He who from the beginning made them male and female has a plan for them in which they can experience a cohesive life, unified in mind, body, and spirit? If not we, then who, will teach them to value their bodies rather than loathe them? If not we, then who, will confront school administrators, healthcare providers, and bureaucratic policy makers about the darkness of ideas that decimate and literally mutilate the next generation? If not we, then who, will oppose bad ideas at the institutional and societal level? If not we, then who, will seek to rescue our culture? In a laser-focus on the individual, the church has abandoned the culture. I suggest such abandonment will lead to the devastation of many an individual.

From every pulpit in the land should be proclaimed the truth. A trumpet of warning ought to sound. Where are the watchmen? There is a war, and it involves the minds, bodies, and spirits of the next generation, and the very foundations of both the culture and the church. The soldiers of the enemy are marching into the minds and lives of our children and grandchildren, stirring confusion and creating self-hatred and hostility toward what is true and honest and pure and just and lovely and of good report. The culture is teaching our children to make unhealthy and often irreversible decisions. People of power in education, healthcare, government, and media are encouraging young people to deny reality, science, and God’s created order. Would they tell an anorexic to continue dieting? Would they give razor blades to a cutter? If affirming anorexia and cutting is a sin, why is it then loving to affirm gender confusion? To lie to another human about their identity is not loving. Neither is remaining silent while others lie.

If God’s shepherds – and thus his people – remain silent while the next generation are led to the slaughter, it is not just the culture and her institutions that will be judged, but it will be we – the ones who were supposed to sound an alarm and engage the enemy. Confronting the culture, rooting out ideas that lead to death, and shining light in society’s dark corners is the call and mission of the Bride of Christ. If the Great Commission is to be great, it must involve not just the personal, but the whole of society. It is this, and nothing less, that fulfills God’s command to love Him first and our fellowman as ourselves.

And what of me? Will I be courageous? Will I do good? How much do I love Yahweh and my fellow man? Do I love Him and them enough to speak what must be spoken and to do what must be done? Is my personal faith in the Creator Redeemer God deep enough that I will engage the culture, or will I merely shelter in place?

This great God of creation and redemption, who inhabits eternity and sits forever on the throne of His sovereignty has given me life. He has saved me. He has made me pure, holy, and whole. I am a saved person in a broken world. Why am I still here? How shall I now live? He must expect something great and beautiful, bold and powerful from me otherwise why bother to leave me here?

Under Your banner, LORD, and to your glory may I go forth today. I live at your pleasure. Show me my duty. Give me valor and vision to live a righteous life in this world. When I die, may I be remembered as someone who demolished, rather than forged, chains and strongholds.
-Brenda Hanson, “We the People” of Cattaraugus County, NY.

If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animated contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. And may posterity forget that you were our countrymen. ~ Samuel Adams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJyxxEhIYmQ

By faith my friends! By faith alone, we will pass from this world to the next…a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. ~ Hebrews 11:1-16