Where Eagles Dare…

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. ~ Ezra 4:3

“Leaders must practice discernment. Relationships can get messy; people often harbor personal agendas and attempt to mask their true motives or to make them sound more noble than they really are.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Read, Then Lead, July 15

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying (sacraments of communion); who can hear it? …From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. ~ St. John 6:60, 66

“Having exceptional people on the journey with you doesn’t happen by accident. It’s true that the greater your dream is, the greater the people who will be attracted to you. But that alone isn’t enough. You need to make sure they’re compatible with you.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Not Everyone Will Take the Journey, July 16

Many of you reading this morning’s Tune-up will understand that these back-to-back Maxwell passages are no accident and refer precisely to the truth of the hour we are in. Ezra 4:3 deals with the discernment of God’s children and the enemy without, whereas John 6:60,66 is discerning the enemy within. The Ezra enemies, or as my inner sheepdog likes to refer to them as, the wolf is not the problem…once identified. Just ask David and our own Founders. It’s the John enemy that can and will hurt us the most. As Chambers puts it, The next time you feel inclined to grouse over uncongenial companions, remember that Jesus Christ had a devil in His company for three years. ~ A Devil in the Company

What Jesus alone knew was that the Ezra enemy and the John enemy are one and the same. What separates the many who couldn’t hear it who went back from Peter who said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life? Serious question: Did the many who couldn’t hear it choose, or was it God? And if you say the former, please explain your interpretation of St. John 17:9, I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. I actually encountered the John enemy last night…

In June of 1863, just weeks before the Battle of Gettysburg, a college president asked Lincoln if he thought the country would survive. President Lincoln replied:

I do not doubt that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me…I do not rely on the patriotism of our people…the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue…(or) the loyalty and skill of our generals…But the God of our fathers, Who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and downtrodden of all nations, will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it…I do not expect to see it, but God will bring us through safe. ~ America’s God and Country, William J. Federer

A Remnant brother asked a great question after reading Lincoln’s response to the professor, How would Lincoln answer the same question today? To which I replied, I think Lincoln would make the same prediction today. He had the vision to look beyond the enemy to see us.

So the enemy I encountered last night in possession of a brother I haven’t seen since the going got tough, wasn’t too thrilled when I asked it where its shepherd was on John 17:21, why it won’t let him out of his temple of dead stone tomb to stand up for the little ones being hunted, raped, tortured, masked, and injected with DNA-altering poison and why he allowed his temple of dead stone tomb to be declared unessential, and will likely do so again. You see, there’s a certain comfort…a perceived safety within the temple of dead stone tomb. There’s no battle, no danger there…or so it seems. And because most churchmen today have taken themselves out of the conflict and off the field of battle, we are treated to this exchange between Tucker Carlson and Mike Pence:

Tucker said, “where’s the concern for the United States,” and Pence replied with, “That’s not my concern.”

Which brings us back to the same question of whether they chose to seal themselves away, or God has made the choice for them? The answer floats somewhere high above my paygrade. And yet somehow, I feel John Hartford, may he rest in peace, may have had the answer. Tall Buildings

Good news! We win when the enemy can no longer hide!