Life before REALville…
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ~ II Timothy 4:6-7
War for all its ugliness is, in many ways, a great purifier. When REAL men are put to the test on the final line of choosing life, liberty, and happiness over submission to the pure evil of abject tyranny, a glorious spark is ignited in their hearts by their Creator. That is the spark the coward will never know.
“Christianity has become toothless,” the billionaire posted recently on his X social-media platform. “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.” ~ Elon Musk
I wonder…what are the odds that we should be honored with the visit by the President of the Bonhoeffer Forum on the weekend we decide to see the movie Bonhoeffer? And…the very same weekend that the CLOTH will celebrate the installation of Cuddybackville’s new pastor of the very church he had a hand in saving? What, do we suppose, God could be trying to tell us?
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The new Cuddybackville Pastor Mark Weller was the Orange Strong Good Shepherd of the Year 2023 for a number of reasons. His heart for discipling young men through Baseball Church being one. But also, he took the hard stand against the attack that came from the pulpit, of all places, last year. In fact, it was the very same church that turned from God to bow the knee to Hitler in the movie we watched last night. Pastor Mark’s memorable quote from the ordeal, “Somewhere along the line the church has taken up the practice of safe Christianity.” Again, my friends, repeat after me, there is no Creator’s spark for the cowards practiced in the art of safe Christianity. Period. Exclamation point!
A Psalm (Heart) & Proverb (Wisdom) A Day Drives the Tyrant Away! PS 93:1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
PR 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
“So here are my thoughts on the incoming Trump administration. First, I want to address the reactions to it from conservatives. The way I have long viewed ‘reactions’ is somewhat like a sliding scale. On one end you have the doomsdayers and the extreme opposite end you have the hopium crowd. Both can tend to get annoyed with the others and even those who fall in the middle if they do not agree with their perspective.” ~ Corey’s Digs Soul Over Mind, Mind Over Matter
The one perspective missing from Corey’s well-researched and very sober down-the-middle reflection of our post-election world in this moment…is our Creator’s. This war is far from over. Our visiting pastor hails from Michigan. The state capitals of Michigan and New York have declared war against God, our state and federal Constitutions, and against the people themselves. What are we prepared to do? Church?
Standupnsing 
Thanks brother I love that pic!! Men calling out those who are members of the Laodicean church rather than slaves for the risen Lord.
It’s an eye opener to be rebuked by Elon who last time I checked is in favor of digital IDs, universal income to offset robotics production and brain chips. As far as I can tell he’s no fan of Christianity.
Bonhoeffer was a man for our day. May God sift through the dross to find men like him to emerge and lead.
Cowards are traitors, but they betray themselves the most. They sacrifice their conscience for filthy gain, for the approval of the despicable. Courage is a gift of God, and it comes when all one’s strength and resources are exhausted in the battle…It is the whispering of God’s angel which says: “Carry on, God is with you to the end.”
Courage knows no racial or ethnic boundaries. It is the “ordinary” man who exhibits the extraordinary virtues, especially that of courage. I gift you with this quote from President Truman: “Victory has come from millions of peaceful citizens, turned soldiers, who showed a ruthless enemy that they were not afraid to fight.”
And of course, a quote from the indomitable Sir Winston Churchill: “If at long last this story is to end, it were better it should end, not through surrender, but only when we are rolling senseless on the ground.”
Our story, the Christian American story, will never end, for God has told it, and it will reverberate forever in the hearts and minds of those who love Him and His Son, Jesus Christ.
God bless, Pastor Chip, you tell the story, and you tell it unashamedly, and well.
Sir Eric M