Making a Difference in your Life, in the Parts that are for Keeps!
Pioneers spent amazing amounts of time growing food, preparing food, washing clothes—and yet they visited and helped each other freely.
They just did what they had to do, and seemingly didn’t worry about it like we do.
We have dozens of time-saving devices, and yet we are challenged to fit in helping, scheduling time for, people in need.
We decry that we can’t, or don’t, stop spontaneously to visit friends or neighbors, or even relatives.
Pioneers had no trash to deal with.
We spend a lot dealing with ours.
The days of the Great Depression suddenly threw people into hard times, harder than the pioneer days for many.
A striking comparison of then and now:
An objective psychological evaluation showed that young people growing up today have six times the stress of young people growing up in the Great Depression.
Hopefully this will be a series of short samples comparing life in pioneer days with life nowadays.
This started for me years ago when I told my friends I would fit better in pioneer days—my values, work ethic, frugality, faith, would work there (like Homestead Farm in Elm Mott, TX today)—except for some basic survival skills like butchering animals, skills that didn’t get passed on to me from previous generations that got it.
However, my friends responded with, “Yeah, but the pioneers had to deal with life and death on a daily basis.”
It was actually a few years before I had this response, “Yes, the pioneers had to deal with life and death on a daily basis, and so do we—plus a lot of garbage they did not have.”
It does not take long to think of several examples.
Music
Politics
Theology
Fashion
Culture
Opinion
Icons
People
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We do well to observe and remember—the most contemporary, held in highest esteem, may well be temporary.
It takes more than tracking polls of popularity and trends with the most followers, to discern what is going to last.
It takes historical perspective to find and keep a rock foundation for life and family and country, to prevent hysterical perspective from following ‘new’ promises of utopia with old consequences of tyranny.
Sadly, devastatingly, accurate historical perspective is seriously out of fashion today—open opportunity for oppression.
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Is there anything still to be found in today’s contemporary world, that is not temporary?
Yes, it is to be found, but not found in the world.
What about Values?
What about Truth?
What about Family?
What about Marriage?
What about the Bible?
What about God?
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Most of that list is despised in most places now.
But, the Light of Truth will shine brighter even in this present growing darkness, if . . .
. . . if anyone who holds those six foundations holds them high, holds them without compromise, holds them against opposition, holds them “with persecution.”
If you are one of the ‘anyone,’ Mark 10:1-31 gives the rest of the perspective on the title above.
CONTEMPORARY – – – TEMPORARY
The Potsdam Declaration was the ultimatum that gave Japan the choice to surrender—OR ELSE!
Eleven days later, and fourteen days later, Japan experienced “prompt and utter destruction” as clearly stated in the ultimatum.
The day is coming when China will give an ultimatum to the United States.
Practically all developing factors clearly point in that direction.
The question: Will the ultimatum give choices, namely surrender, with terms?
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Choices—America has had our choices,* particularly in the last sixty years.
Those choices have consequences, though sometimes slow in developing, yet as certain as history records before us.
Do we think we can get away with our choices, since nobody has given us an ultimatum yet?
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Another question: Are the enemies we see growing stronger the only ones who could give us an ultimatum?
In 2016 our choice was Trump—with a promise kept, with three Supreme Court Justices, and Roe was overturned.
But has America’s heart been overturned?
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Ultimatum 2.0 (2020)—our ‘choice’ (with evil’s help) was evil—consequences abound for everyone to see.
Ultimatum 2.2 (2022)—‘last chance’ for our choice—or ‘not a chance’ for our choice.
Guess we’ll see soon enough, but too much is at stake to wait and see and hope things swing back in the right direction.
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You see, God works in the affairs of men and nations, as Ben Franklin said, and God gives ultimatums.
God gives commands, warnings, judgments, in addition to natural consequences He has set in motion from the beginning.
In God’s judgment coming on the U.S., there may well be no more ultimatums with choices, just prompt and utter destruction.
Ninety percent of what makes America great is already unraveling for all to see.
What holds us together is no more.
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How many does it take to make a remnant?
How much commitment does it take to make a remnant?
Who knows?—God knows.
THE FLOOD
How many people did it take?—Eight
How committed?—Hundred years building, scoffed, rejected
SODOM
How many people did it take?—Ten (found four, sort of)
How committed?—Saltified, Drunk, Incestuous
ISRAEL
How many people did it take?—Few Faithful Prophets
How committed?—To Death (not enough, invasion, captivity)
CHURCH
How many people did it take?—Hundred twenty, plus the Holy Spirit
How committed?—Most martyred (church grew, Israel disappeared)
REMNANT FOR AMERICA
How many people will it take?—More than right now
How committed?—Serious persecution must first reduce the numbers, eliminate the comfortable ‘christians.’ Most of us may have to start from scratch in the committed Christian life. “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
*—Prayer eliminated in American public schools, by choice.
—Bible eliminated in American public schools, by choice.
—Ten Commandments eliminated in American public schools, by choice.
—Protecting babies eliminated in America, by choice.
(Comments addressed to Temple, Texas City Council meeting 8-18-22)
My name is Larry Michalk,
I’m here to address the DEI issue—Diversity, Equity, Inclusion—driven by the LGBT agenda.
As government leaders, the Bible says you are
“ministers of God, for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do good.”
—That is, keeping law and order, and commending good in businesses and organizations.
Pursuing DEI reverses these roles of government.
—It leads to praising evil, like gay pride—and punishing good, like Christian businesses who don’t cater to everything that LGBT demands.
This may gain popularity for a time, as seen on the foxdog site—but it quickly leads to destruction.
It is clear from history that any healthy society does not start down this road and survive.
From diverse—to inclusive—to divisive—to demanding—to destructive—to deadly anarchy—to tyranny.
Not opinion—just historical fact.
I spoke to this council four years ago about this serious matter, knowing the issue would not go away, and here we are.
I said that until recently the Bible was the guide in issues such as this, and it quickly settled the debate.
Just because the Word of God may be somewhat out of fashion these days for those of you who support DEI, by no means does that mean it is out of power.
We cannot rewrite or improve on what it says.
We ignore it at our peril, as a nation, and as a community.
The Bible says, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
You cannot pursue DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), and retain God in your platform for this city.
This council must choose between the two- – -Temple must choose.
And, each of you cannot claim God in your personal life—and vote for city policies God hates.
Senior year of high school – or – Senior years of life.
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Best year ever? – or – Best year(s) yet!
Last year? – or – More years?
Eager for end of the year? – or – Live every day, every moment of the year(s).
Cram for finals of the year? – or – Ready for final of the years.
Graduation year? – or – THE graduation year!
Application for job next year? – or – Application accepted in advance, for that year.
BFF? vs year of goodbys? – or – Temporary goodbys and BFF for real for ‘years’ forever.
Senior summary for me:
Old writers never die—they just start a new story.
“Hindsight is 2020” means we couldn’t/didn’t see clearly to get it right the first time.
With some things in life, we can’t afford to ‘wait and see’ for 2020 vision—and we must make the right decisions, now.
From 1-11-20:
2020—A CLEAR SPIRITUAL VISION
“In 2020 it will become harder to be a Christian—but it will be easier to tell who is a Christian.”
Then, a year later, and now two and a half years later, I made another connection between those two statements.
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It is becoming easier to tell who is a Christian—because it is getting harder to be a Christian.
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Everywhere I look, and with all my Christian friends, we are seeing unprecedented escalation of evil—both in the world, and in our personal lives.
All this, and we haven’t even experienced the coming persecution yet.
Lots of Christian leaders are talking about it, while many others are failing to stand for truth.
It’s time to spend time in I Peter.
Try it—we’ll all need it soon, and now.
It’s easy to expound on one’s interpretation of the end-times time-line—from this side of the future.
The farther you go out on a limb, the more convinced you become that you are right just by repeating your position.
The position becomes more important than what is really important.
Classic—increasing emphasis on accepting Jesus in order to escape ‘great’ tribulation, overshadows accepting Jesus to escape hell—indeed, overshadows accepting Jesus because you are a sinner in need of His salvation.
Pitfall—increasing numbers of speakers (teachers, preachers) spending increasing amounts of time on the end-times, expound with the assumption that their ‘time-line’ interpretation is obvious—and by default obvious to their listeners (preaching to their choir?).
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What about the non-Christian listener?
What about the new listener?
What about the not-so-end-times-savvy listener?
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When does the average person get brought up to speed on foundation steps to arrive at the ‘o b v i o u s’ time-line?
And speaking of speed, I observe end-time speakers literally talking faster each time they go over the sequence again (sounding more and more like everyone believes and agrees).
One ‘little detail’ (BIG DETAIL) where no one offers sufficient or satisfactory answers is to the question, “Why should studying facts of the tribulation matter to Christians—if Christians are not going to be here?”
That question is quickly swept away with a cursory response, so focus can get back to the neatly charted time-line.
The question does not have a neat answer.
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We know that percentages and majority do not determine truth.
Only a small percentage of Christians and pastors believe we will escape the tribulation.
Likewise, a majority among popular scholars today, who teach that we will, does not determine end-time truth.
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It’s not easy to write about this, without affirmation, because it may well be unpopular, or worse.
We see many in the church, many churches, falling into many false and dangerous ways these days.
The only warning I hear about end-times teaching is the lack of it in most churches.
Could it be that the overwhelming, prevailing, current teaching emphasizing an ‘obvious’ time-line may have flaws endangering souls?
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