SO, YOU’RE A DOCTOR

You are in the operating room.
The patiemt is ready, for a heart transplant.
It is time to begin the surgery.

Everything is in place.
It is amazing how every detail for the success of the operation is perfectly prepared.
Others have pioneered in the medical field to bring this patient and you together so you can save a life, and the patient can live a new life.


And then:
You realize the extreme complexity of everything before you.
You have to be in awe of it all.


Actually, you were placed in this setting without any effort or choice or decision of your own.
For a moment you think it is a dream, but no, it’s not.
You know it’s not a dream.

Then you wonder how you got here.
You wonder how everything was prepared so perfectly, just for you, for today.

Then you think:
Maybe it’s a dangerous time to think, to reflect.
You don’t have time for anything philosophical.
You must stick with scientific, medical.
You must not be distracted by anything.
The operation before you requires all of your undivided attention, now.


The thoughts will not go away.
The feelings are real—as real as the operating room and medical personnel and patient before you.

You are shocked, when the reality of your musings overrides the reality of your obligations.
Everything is suspended—time, the schedule, the operation, the people in the room, your own presence and qualifications—
You suddenly must have answers.

You need a manual–
— that tells exactly how all this meticulous preparation took place, just for me to participate in a professional role to save people.
— that tells me what I’m supposed to do, and exactly how to do it.



The ‘doctor’ in this story is like all the rest of us.
We find ourselves placed in this incredible setting, with so very many details already figured out and made ready, just for us, so we can do incredible things.

Then we stop and think:
How did all this happen ?
And how did it all get started ?

To perform this heart transplant, or design a computer, or build a spaceship to the moon, there must be some amazing people before me who pioneered in the field, successfully.

But how did people get such intellect and insight for such ingenuity, in the first place ?
As in, “In the beginning . . .

Like the doctor (without any medical training—or with the best in the world), we all face the wonder of it all.
How in the world (and everything in the world) did all this happen ?
How in the world does all this keep working in perfect order, for thousands of years ?

Did God really say what He said, in the Bible ?
YES, He really said everything in the Bible.
And the devil really said, “Did God really say, ‘Don’t eat that fruit. If you do, you will die.’ Not true. You will not die.”

Eve and Adam ate, and they died, and we’ve been dying ever since.

How could they ? ? ?

How could anyone today believe in evolutiom and teach and defend it for centuries ?
Again, the Bible explains all that,
“The fool says, ‘There is no God’.”

The doctor stopped, to think, and he knew there had to be God, to make all this, and make all this work, and make us able to transplant a heart.

CREATED WHAT ?

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

6000 years later, man (part of that creation) said, “No, God did not create everything.”
After that bold and foolish statement, then answer the question, “Where did all this come from ?”

In order to avoid accountability to God the Creator, man invented evolution to explain where all this came from.

Actually, evolution does not answer the question, “Where did all this come from ?”

Evolution just tries to explain what ‘someone’ said ‘could have happened’, after it all started—without God.

In the absence of ANY scientic evidence, promoters of evolution had to invent a more recent addendum to Darwin.
If given enough time, the existing can create anything.

Now we expand even beyond evolution, and teach, “Anything, everything came from nothing.”
Describing what happened a billion years ago, two billion years ago is laughable, ridiculous, blasphemous, from the pit of hell.
So we hear, and we believe another lie—and the fallout is destroying us.

The proclivity, the tendency, of human nature is to hear, to listen, to doubt, “Did God really say ?”

When you consider the magnitude of destruction and fallout from two centuries of universal teaching, believing, and acting like we’re animals (evolution personified)—
—the devastation rivals what happened the first time “the liar” presented that question of all questions to the first people, “Did God really say ?”

When we can’t answer the question, “Did God really say?” with a resounding ‘Yes’, He did!”, we open the door of every evil, old and new.
— the rise of communism, naziism,
two world wars, terrorism, can all be linked to the endorsement of evolution a couple hundred years ago.
— and the church, Christians, were silent a couple hundred years.

POWER OF A BILLBOARD

   AMERICA'S

NOT SEE HOLOCAUST

   PICTURE OF

ABORTED BABY PARTS

MY THREE NEMESES

FITNESS
Self-discipline
Doing what I must do

TEMPTATION
Self-control
Not doing what I must not do

WORRY
Self-resignation
Accepting what I cannot do7

? I AM CONTENT ?

Paul didn’t boast about being content.
He boasted about his afflictions, and listed them (long list).
And then he said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”
He lists the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Paul also said it’s so much better to die and be with Jesus.
. . . but better to stay here awhile longer for blessing the people receiving his letter and encouragement.

DO YOU FOLLOW JESUS ? – – – THE REST OF THE STORY

Question:
What do punishment, persecution, and sacrifice have in common ?
Answer:
Suffering

PUNISHMENT
Suffering, and it’s your fault

PERSECUTION
Suffering, and it’s not your fault

SACRIFICE
Suffering, and it’s your choice


More on sacrifice—like a foreign word in our everyday lives.

Suffering by choice, really ?

SACRIFICE
— Giving, till it hurts
— Living beyond my comfort level
— Suffering
— Self-dying
— Self-denying
— Self-drowning
— Self-humbling
— Self-crucifying
— Self-surrendering to follow Jesus, with consequences for saying His name
— Self-acceptance of identity “in the fellowship of His suffering”
— Self-application of His promises—many troubles + deliverance
— Self-contentment, even courage, because Jesus “overcame the world”.

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them allI.”


PUNISHMENT
Suffering, and it’s your fault

  • Jesus actually promised suffering for His followers, and deliverance.
  • But He did not promise to save us from all the evil in the world and the consequences of our sins.

PERSECUTION
Suffering, and it’s not your fault

  • Jesus said repeatedly that we are blessed and should rejoice when people do all kinds of bad things to us BECAUSE WE FOLLOW HIM.

SACRIFICE
Suffering, and it’s your choice

  • Jesus called his disciples to leave everything and follow him.
  • He told a rich, young man to sell all, give it to the poor, and follow Him (for riches in heaven).
  • When God told Ananias to baptize Saul (terrorist persecutor), He said, “I will show him (Paul) how much he must suffer for My Name.”

And that, dear friends, is “the rest of the story” if you follow Jesus.
Read your Bible ! ! !

EDUCATION – – – LEARNING

“The leaders of Iran have gotten a hard education”, but have they learned anything ?

NO ! ! !

The United States has spent a fortune on that education, but have we learned anything ?


What can be learned from the war in Iran ?

— Muslim leaders in Iran faithfully follow the koran:
(A) Negotiate when they are losing.
(B) Attack non-muslims violently when they gain control.
(C) Lie anytime to further islam.

— Muslim leaders in Iran will NEVER give up working on a nuclear weapon to destroy little satan Israel and destroy big satan United States.

— Muslim leaders in Iran believe it is their religion’s mandate to create world chaos to trigger their messiah’s arrival.

— Muslim leaders in Iran will never cooperate with anyone, and they will never surrender.

— Muslim leaders in Iran only respond to force—deadly force‐‐‐believing their death is most pleasing to their god.

DAMASCUS ROAD – – – BUTLER RALLY

Sometimes, many times, God intervenes dramatically in the lives of individuals He chooses and appoints for a special purpose, a specific task.

God arranged something spectacular to first get Saul’s attention, then change his heart and mission from terrorizing Christians to the number one spokesman for Jesus.

At the time of Saul’s conversion (and his name-change to Paul), God told Annanias to baptize him and said,
“I will show him how much he must suffer for Me.”


God arranged a dramatically close encounter with death for Donald Trump in Butler, PA, to get his attention.
God put Trump in the White House by way of an unprecedented mandate from American voters.

God had a mission, a definite task for Trump to accomplish.
Trump got the message.
Over and over he said,
“God saved my life so I can save America.”
Amen to that !

I believe the ongoing overwhelming opposition to Trump is confirmation of that mission.

CLEAN – – – RIGHT – – – PRESENCE – – – HOLY – – – JOY – – – FREE

Create in me a CLEAN heart, Oh God,
And renew a RIGHT spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your PRESENCE,
And do not take Your HOLY Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the JOY of Your salvation, and hold me up with Your FREE Spirit.”

“CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST”

Christians are not called to make the government the church (or make the church the government).

Remember how that ‘worked’ for the Holy Roman Empire.
Seemed great at first—the growth of the church—until it took over the government—until “the church” leaders used authority (power) of the government to kill anyone who disagreed with them, even Christians.


Christians are called to be “a peculiar people” that don’t fit well in this world.

Jesus did not fit well in this world, and He explained why.
“My kingdom is not of this world.”
“The world will hate you, because it hated me first.”
“Do not love the world or the things in the world.”


Christians are called to make a difference for good in this world.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
“Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
“Go, and do likewise.” (like the Good Samaritan)


Christians are called by Jesus from day one to be “salt” and “light”.

It is impossible for salt and light to not affect everything, influence everything around it (unless salt stays in the salt shaker) (unless light doesn’t have the light switch turned on).


Christians are called to tell everyone the good news of forgiveness for our sin because Jesus paid the penalty for all.

This good news also sets people, and nations, free from all kinds of evil.
Christians make a world of difference in this world—involved in the government and in the culture, to
promote the best policies for all citizens, and to help those who are suffering.

‐ – –

Christians–
— Citizens of heaven, forever
— Citizens of a nation, for this time

CHRISTIAN NATIONALISTS ?
— Yes !
— Worshipping God above all !
— Committed to making our nation better !