CELL – to SHELL – to PRISON CELL

Cell phones—the good, the bad, the ugly.

+Cell phones are amazing, and change our lives dramatically—information, communication, time-saving, even safety.

+Cell phones are amazing, and change our lives dramatically—dependence, isolation, avoidance, loss of face-to-face communication, time-consuming at the expense of normal activities with people.

+Cell phones are amazing, and change our lives dramatically—bondage, control, slavery, tyranny, all-powerful in all parts of life.

UNPRAYED PRAYERS ANSWERED, EARLY

“Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

I have experienced this literally, numerous times when I sit down to write at my computer.

After God gives me an anointed topic and wording, then I remember to pray for anointing, after the fact.

I can only thank Him and proceed.

STOP EVIL

The human heart is evil, and if not restrained by moral teaching of right and wrong, it produces evil actions.

In the absence of such restraint, in the absence of a heart change by surrender to a relationship with Jesus, the evil actions must be stopped by force, as quickly as possible, and by any means necessary.

Nazism and Japanese religious fanaticism were not going to be stopped by a change in their heart—only by force, which meant killing to save lives.

Mass shootings in America (that we see increasing right now) are not going to be stopped by a change in the perpetrator’s heart—only by force, which means killing to save lives.

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Mass shootings die when the people carry guns.

PERSECUTED IN PUBLIC SCHOOL

We have a plague in the public schools of America that causes damage and pain and death as surely as persecution around the world.

We decry the outlawing of Christianity in other countries, and the devastation to Christians—while we have done the same thing in our schools, with increasing devastation to our children.

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We must see the connection—we must make the changes.

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Yesterday I sent the following to a number of local friends:

“Who can we enlist to start a campaign with people carrying three signs around my school (Temple High School), and your school, and then another school? Three different signs, with this specific wording, one school at a time:

WE NEED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN OUR SCHOOL AGAIN

WE NEED PRAYER IN OUR SCHOOL AGAIN

WE NEED THE BIBLE IN OUR SCHOOL AGAIN”

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And, cards could be given to passersby:

“Your laws ignore our deepest needs.

Your words are empty air.

You’ve stripped away our heritage.

You’ve outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms,

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere,

And ask the question, ‘WHY?’ . . .

testimony to Congress by Darrel Scott, father of Rachel, killed at Columbine High School”

– – –

If a few people, and then thousands of people across the country, carried those three signs in front of their school, some would make the connection with what is happening inside, and God would make the difference.

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Please note my emphasis on school (not schools)—that’s where change starts.

ABORTION – – – TWO QUESTIONS

Ask anyone who wants to support abortion,

“Who was in your mommy’s tummy before you were born?”

Then you may have the opportunity to ask,

“How long were you in your mommy’s tummy?”

AFTER THE RAPTURE – – – WHO CARES?

Now that title is rather blunt, and perhaps provocative.

But I believe it may represent the thoughts of many, including Christians.

If I disappear to heaven before the really bad stuff happens here that the Bible describes—seriously, why should I care to understand the sequence of meticulous details to follow?

Now I’m not discounting the really wild and awesome stuff the Bible says is going to happen, or its relevance for us.

I just wonder why God would have written all that down for us to study, if we’re not going to be here.

Sure would be nice if we do escape all that bad stuff, but what if . . . ?

Back to the title—I do care, about now, about making a difference now, in people, in the parts that are for keeps, because now is the only time I can care.

In the meantime, “Occupy till I come” will keep me busy helping others and telling them how to get ready for heaven by believing in Jesus.

When I leave, time is up, time is over.

END TIMES ? – – – WHO’S RIGHT ?

Lots of scary stuff in the world today, in Biblical proportions, even getting attention of those who don’t usually regard the Bible.

Many educated folks lay out different detailed sequences of coming events, which may or may not be helpful, as they interpret Bible prophecy.

The average person has two choices—pick one scholar of theology and trust and follow—or, get tired of hearing about end times and ignore it all so you can go on with everyday life.

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But there is one universal catch—unmistakable and unavoidable no matter what your theology or lack thereof.

We may not know how or when the world will end, but we all know we will end—we just don’t know when.

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And, everyone in every culture in all history knows there is something after life ends here.

People try hundreds of different ways to get ready for that, but the only sure thing about all that—they can’t all be right.

What if I don’t pick the right one?

What if you don’t pick the right one?

– – –

Does somebody out there have the right answer, FOR SURE, for this one question?

Can I know how to get ready for the end—the end of my life here—regardless of the end of the world?

I have to know.

– – –

Consider this: the One Who started this life has something to say about this life, AND after this life.

“There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

“I am going to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.”

The One Who said that, would be Jesus.

He made all this, and He has something to say about all this, and He wrote it all down in a book, what we’re supposed to do about all this.

It’s not a mystery—it’s very simple—you can read it for yourself.

In fact, you’re probably reading this on the internet—so punch in John 3 and read the first 21 verses, for starters—it’s all about Jesus, Who died on the cross to forgive your sins and take you to heaven when you die, if you tell Him you accept.

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Preppers for this life are often laughed at—until . . .

The stakes could be pretty high, if they are right.

Preppers for after this life are also often laughed at—until . . .

The stakes will be much, much higher, if they are right. Actually, not if they are right, but if Jesus is right.

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So, THE question—are you in or out?—with Jesus, or not?—“He who is not with me is against me.”

That would be too big a gamble to be against Him, if Jesus is Who He says He is.

Your choice, now—no prepping after this life—after your end here.

There’s more, and you know it.

There’s a way, and you know it now.

WHY DO I WRITE ?

Why do I write on this site, for a decade now?

I love to write, and there is a purpose.

I write about lots of different things: personal, political, cultural, theological, spiritual, educational, heartfelt, humorous, thoughtful, timely, cryptic, sometimes trivial, hopefully with wisdom.

But my purpose is to frequently make good on my by-line.

“MAKING A DIFFERENCE . . .”

How?

By getting your attention through a variety of food for thought.

Creative

Enlightening

Inspiring

Challenging

Provocative

Soul Searching

Motivating

Making A Difference In Your Life . . .

. . . In The Parts That Are For Keeps

What is for keeps?

What is not?

+not our money

+not what our money can buy for ourselves

+not our pleasure

+not our job

+not our status (cultural, social, political)

+not our financial security

+not our retirement

+not our health

+not our government

+not our troubles

+not our plans

+not even our life

So, what if I make a difference in your life in any of the above?

Have I made a difference in the parts that are for keeps?

What are the parts that are for keeps?

Answer: Anything that will last after everything else is gone.

What is for keeps?

+people (you, me, loved ones, everyone)

What is for keeps?

+the Word of God

What is for keeps?

+where you go when you die

What is for keeps?

+what you do to get ready to die

What is for keeps?

+what you do to get someone else ready to die

What is for keeps?

+what you do to lay up treasures in heaven

FOR KEEPS !

+people (you, me, loved ones, everyone)—“God breathed life, and man became a living soul.” We all had a beginning—we’ll never have an end.

FOR KEEPS !

+the Word of God—“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God endures forever.”

FOR KEEPS !

+where you go when you die—“It is appointed to man once to die, and after that the judgment.”—to heaven or to hell.

FOR KEEPS !

+what you do to get ready to die—“. . . whoever believes in Him (God’s Son, Jesus) will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

FOR KEEPS !

+what you do to get someone else ready to die—Jesus told a story about two men—one went to heaven, one went to hell. The man in hell pleaded for a drop of water to soothe his tongue, “tormented in this flame.” Request denied. “Can’t do it.” Then he pleaded for someone to come back from the dead to convince his five brothers to “not come to this place of torment.” Request denied. “They have the Word of God. If they won’t listen to that, neither will they be persuaded even if someone rose from the dead.” So how do the people you know hear the Word of God and avoid hell? You tell them what the Bible says to get ready to die—Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sin—“All have sinned . . .”—“Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

FOR KEEPS !

+what you do to lay up treasures in heaven—spend your money, your time, your energy to help others in need and tell them about Jesus. “Whatever you have done for the least of these my brothers, you did it for Me.”

FOR KEEPS !—FOR FOREVER !

TOP TWO MOTIVATORS FOR ALL TIME

One—To avoid the horrible torment of hell.

Two—To help someone else avoid the horrible torment of hell.

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“. . . FOR ALL TIME”

The time is now.

Now is the only time we have to avoid hell.

Hell by default—Heaven by choice.

Heaven by Jesus only.

Don’t miss heaven for anything in this world, or anything in your mind.

MILLIONS OF YEARS – – – TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Think about this—which is easier to comprehend:

Millions of Years?

Trillions of Dollars?

Actually, I think it is much easier, even logical to imagine a trillion dollars, rather than trying to consider a million years, or a billion years as sometimes proposed.

You see, we all relate to a dollar, even a thousand dollars, whether we have it or not.

You likely know someone who makes a hundred thousand dollars a year.

In ten years that’s a million dollars.

I know several people who are millionaires—I’m not one of them, but I can relate to them as real people.

The leap to a billion dollars stretches us—but consider that adding millions together a thousand times gives a billion—like a thousand millionaires—comprehensible.

And we know of a number of billionaires in the world—even if we just hear about them in the news, we get it that they’re for real.

Now about a trillion dollars—that is adding billions together a thousand times—like a thousand billionaires—for real only at the national level.

Trillions of dollars of net worth in an entire country is possible.

Trillions of dollars of national debt seems absurd, but nevertheless it is also real—even if it is a real disaster.

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What about a million years—can we ever imagine such a thing, such an idea?

Do you know that historically, the proposal of millions of years to explain the appearance of everything we see around us, is a recent invention.

In a desperate effort to push evolution, which has no scientific basis or evidence, this became the magic bullet for everything unexplainable.

Some people thought they could bypass the absence of facts with the introduction of many, many, many years—and then many more years—to claim anything is possible to make life as we know it on earth and in the entire universe—if you just insert enough time.

What is really beyond my comprehension, besides the incomprehensibility of millions of years, is the persistent presentation as fact, and the near universal acceptance as fact, of evolution. (I’ll save my bottom line on that thought till the end.)

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Here is my favorite observation and reasoning about time that makes sense and stands up to facts and logic and common sense.

As I observed for thirty years the erosion on Payne Branch Creek that flows through my property, I could picture going back in time three hundred years.

So, subtracting ten times the amount of erosion that I observed myself, what could the creek have looked like then? Different, yes, but not necessarily too dramatically different.

Then I pictured ten times that amount of change over three thousand years.

Well, there is evidence that the creek had changed its course from time to time (as all creeks and rivers do), because there was a gravel pit about eighty yards away—gravel formed by tumbling rocks in running water.

I dug another gravel pit about a quarter mile upstream, and removed thousands of yards of gravel, some not so rounded from less tumbling before the creek changed course back then. And I found a couple dozen items of greater interest eight to twelve feet down, before I hit solid rock. These items go back well over four thousand years, when they were suddenly buried and preserved, for me to find now, and make the historical connection—sea urchin fossils—from the flood of Noah’s day.

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One more personal note concerning the comprehension of time and the age of the earth.

First of all, history goes back about six thousand years. We have evidence consistent with that fact. Man left written records and created artifacts that we uncover today, and the ground itself is filled with a treasure of stuff to dig up and consistently verify history. Anything before six thousand years ago is simply speculation and guessing.

Now the personal note—Daddy was born in 1905 and lived 79 years. He would be 117 years old now. I was born in 1950, and I’m 71 years old. Those numbers help me simplify and comprehend the age of the earth.

If you consider a life of 80 years, it would only take 75 lifespans to reach back to the beginning of history—and the creation of the world, by the Creator. I can imagine that.

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I promised my bottom line about the unreasonable push and acceptance of evolution. Evolution was invented and persists, to provide a system to avoid accountability to God and to His Word, the Bible.

If you want to have some scientific and historical fun, get a group of kids (10-15 years old) with calculators and Bibles and pen and paper, and let them figure the age of the earth. The Bible gives a complete list, by name, of all generations from Adam to Jesus. For many people, their ages are given when their child was born. For the rest, a reasonable average can be used.