On April 23, 2022

VISION OF THE CIRCUIT RIDE COVENANT: THE COMISSION, THE CHARGE, THE MESSAGE, THE PROMISE – WITH END NOTES FROM THE BOOK OF ELI – PART III: THE MESSAGE

SCRIPTURE. “But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins! Arise and tell them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed and break down at the sight of their faces, lest I confound you before them and permit you to be overcome.” – JEREMIAH 1:17 AMPC

COURAGE. “Noun [Latin , the heart.] Bravery; intrepidity; that quality of mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear or depression of spirits; valor; boldness; resolution. It is a constituent part of fortitude; but fortitude implies patience to bear continued suffering.” – NOAH WEBSTER, ‘American Dictionary of the English Language,’ 1828; edited

Selah.

FIRST THOUGHTS

Of all the issues swirling around us today, there is one that drives my dismay and subsequent outrage more than any other: The effusive presence of ‘Timidity’ in today’s American Church. That, for all intents and purposes, is the Real Pandemic, the deadliest Virus known to Man and God.

And it has a name.

COWARDICE. The good Mr. Webster (1828) joins Wikipedia (2022) here to nail this Spiritual Infection to the very Tree on which our Savior was hung: “Want of courage to face danger; pusillanimity; fear of the unknown. Even more concisely, a trait wherein excessive fear prevents an individual from taking a risk or facing danger. It is the opposite of courage. As a label, ‘Cowardice’ indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge.”

It is for me at least, the vilest thing that can happen to a man, especially a Christian leader. God clearly holds precisely the same view, since Cowardice is never, ever from Him.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” – 2 TIMOTHY 1:7, AMPC

The eminent 18^th century English Baptist theologian JOHN GILL drills down for us to its insidious, anti-Christian core.

“‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear’ – A pusillanimous, cowardly spirit, so as to be afraid of men or devils, of what they will say or do; and so as to be discouraged in, sink under, or be deterred from the work of the Lord, the preaching of the Gospel, opposing the errors of false teachers, and reproving men for their sins, and doing other parts of the ministerial function; such a spirit is not from God, and such a fear brings a snare.” – ‘An Exposition of the Old and New Testament,’ 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

THE CAUSE. Significantly, the means by which we can best assess the presence of Cowardice in a nation, institution, group or individual is when it must face, ‘The Bully.’ We frequently read or view interviews of kids who are tragically bullied to the point of suicide, since there seems to a “Bully Spirit” all too alive and well in America these days.

And yes, it too has a name.

DONALD TRUMP. “According to a biography of Donald Trump [by M. Kranish and M. Fisher, 2017], the current president was a little bully who loved to pull girls’ hair and once threw rocks at a toddler in his playpen. Trump was a loud-mouthed classroom know-it-all who could never admit he was wrong and boasted of giving his music teacher a black eye. He was also a show-off who yearned to hear the crowd’s applause…but who would smash his baseball bat in fury if he didn’t win. Arrogant, over-bearing, thin-skinned, mean, and not exactly great with the ladies — sounds familiar, huh?” – ANDREA JEFFERSON, ‘Political Flare,’ Oct. 4, 2019; edited

FAMILY OF ORIGIN. “Much is said about how childhood trauma and triumphs can influence your health, relationships, and self-esteem in adulthood. However, childhood is far more than just your experiences. For example, your Family of Origin influences the factors determining whether your childhood was healthy or unhealthy…This origin is important because it plays a significant role in the way you are raised. Your origin usually has certain religious, philosophical, and moral beliefs, and it is through these lenses, you are brought up, disciplined, encouraged, and even defined. How you are raised can extend past numerous generations or may only cover one or two generations.” – CORRINA HORNE, ‘Regain Us,’ Apr. 18, 2022; edited

LISA BELKIN. Chief National Correspondent for ‘Yahoo News’ on June 16, 2016, boiled down the advice Donald’s father gave him to a single, brutal epithet: “Be a killer, be a king!” The former president’s entire life is predicated on exerting ‘Dominance’ at any price, by whatever means necessary. He is the ultimate Machiavellian Prince, the Premier American Bully, the guy who can just ‘get things done’ – the very same sorts of cultural myths spoken of Adolf Hitler a century ago.

THESIS. Why all this dark talk of such a painful subject, beloved? Because I propose that the United States of America and her Church are in a virtual self-inflicted ‘Death Spiral,’ that accelerated precisely at the point where they both voted with their feet to elect a Bully-Leader named Donald John Trump in 2016.

But that’s not all. The betting tables in Vegas see Trump as the odds-on favorite to take the Oval again in 2024.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN’s Editor-at-large, published a chilling analysis on March 12, 2022, titled, “Yes, Of Course Donald Trump Can Win in 2024.” Presuming Joe Biden will keep his promise to run again in 2024, Cizzilla predicted this.

“When I meet people and they find out I am a political reporter, they inevitably — and immediately — ask some version of this question: ‘Is he going to run again? And can he win?’ The ‘he’ there — just in case you’ve spent the last six years on another planet — is Donald Trump. And the answers to those questions are ‘probably yes’ and ‘definitely.’ As in, YES, Trump is probably going to run for president again in 2024. And, YES, he would have a very real chance of winning.” Selah.

To be blunt: At both Church and State levels, we have demonstrated for five years running that we are unwilling or unable to stand up to this mendacious beast of a man, who continues to poison the pews and the politics of America everywhere. I see no evidence anywhere that this is fundamentally changing.

AMERICA’S CRISIS OF COURAGE

John Hopkins University Professor of Advanced International Studies, ELIOT E. COHEN, writing for ‘The Atlantic’ a piece by that very title, helps us to open this Pandora’s Box of society-wide fear of anything or anyone who barks louder than we do.

Dr. Cohen’s open is very much like a cannonball shot ‘cross the foundering bow of our Nation and Church. Notably, it was published November 8, 2017, just a few months into Trump’s first year in office.

“The American Crisis is, at its root, a ‘Crisis of Character.’ Yes, many other forces and phenomena are in play…But it is ‘Character’ that remains the issue that confronts us in almost every story about national politics that one encounters daily.

As historian Allan Nevins put it, ‘Moral Courage’ is allied with the other traits that make up Character: Honesty, deep seriousness, a firm sense of principle, candor, resolution.” And of Moral Courage there is an unquestioned ‘deficit’ today—in the halls of Congress where the Republican Party has yielded what once were its values to ‘an Adventurer’ in the White House; in a White House presided over by Bully and a Braggart who infects even upright generals with his breathtaking dishonesty; in universities where administrators and faculty yield to student mobs baying to be protected from uncomfortable ideas and unpopular individuals, and elsewhere…

If Americans hope for their politics to recover from its abysmal condition, they need to find it in their own past, and they need to begin with ‘Courage—the virtue,’ Churchill is reported to have said, ‘that makes all others possible.’ Over the coming years, it is in civic education about and for political courage that a way out of this crisis lies.”

THE CHURCH. Sadly, beyond tragically, this Moral Crisis doesn’t stop at the Capitol. Indeed, I continue to argue that it began with the Church’s own breathless ‘Loss of Christ’s Moral Compass.’ It has frankly been quietly pitched overboard, our Church leaders believing that no one – not even God – will notice.

You already know my dark view of the Current Narrative in our Churches today -that whatever else a Christian must become, ‘The Nice Guy’ encapsulates it. Listen to one write who detests that unbiblical model as much as I.

“Everybody likes The Nice Guy. He is the Guy that does not disagree with you. Whatever you say, whatever you do, he is okay with it. The Nice Guy does not stand for anything. His only mission in life is to ensure he offends no one. The Nice Guy is ready to conform to every prevailing view or perspective. The only thing the nice guy fears is having enemies. He will do anything, go the extra mile to avoid any conflict…

A significant part of Christianity today is modeled after The Nice Guy. We want to be the good guys that everyone loves. We want to be the Guy that stands in the middle to avoid the hatred of those on the Left and those on the Right. To do that, ‘We have stopped standing for anything!’ A Nice Guy cannot have convictions; he must play along. Because we want the love and affection of everyone (we believe the more people love us, the greater our ability to spread the Gospel); we avoid offending anyone.” – PAUL OWOLABI, “The Death of Christian Courage,” The Renewed Mind, Feb. 2022; edited

So it is that virtually the entire Christian Church in America, filled to the gunnels as my Navy Dad used to put it, with a multitude of spineless ‘Nice Guys’ and equally fluffy Pastors who have gone belly up to the rapid rise of Trump’s filthy Christian Nationallism, leaving the Nation and the Sanctuary stripped bare of the Moral Oxygen necessary to counter The Bully in our midst.

If continued, I promise you this shall prove our Spiritual Death Warrant. In this spiritual context, then, perhaps it is true after all that ‘nice guys do finish last.’

THE TEACHING

Just for starters, does that sound like a ‘Nice Guy Template’ for a servant of God? Just sayin.’

It is significant to note that I first ‘received’ this passage in a very personal way during my first year following Christ. I had little clue as of its meaning, nor especially of its considerable weight. I do now, beloved. I say againwqw, I do now.

KEY IDEAS. As always, let’s dive into the central concepts that define this powerful set of requirements as to what and how I am to teach as a Circuit Rider.

GIRD YOUR LOINS! An ancient saying that refers to serious, often urgent ‘Preparation’ for some important task or mission. From the Hebrew word, ‘Azar’ [אָזַר], translated: “To belt or compass about; to fully equip; to bind by surrounding with any appropriate substance, as with cloth [or armor, as with preparing oneself for battle]; also, to gird on a harness; to gird on a sword. – cf. Eph. 6:10-20 (The Armor of God)

ARISE! Notice the context of urgency here; exclamation points are in several translations of the original Text. Taken from, ‘Qum’ [קוּם]: “Stand up and become bold! Also, ‘Rouse or rear up!’ Also, to rise from a sitting or reclining [slumbering] position for action, to declare something of great importance or achieve an important purpose; requires first listening to God’s Word, then taking action that may cause ‘a noise or tumult.” – cf. Prov. 28:1 (Boldness of a Lion)

TELL THEM ALL! Here we have the meat of the Lord’s clear Command to us to declare ‘all’ the Counsels of the Lord, not partially. From the Hebrew, ‘Dabar’ [דָבַר]: “To speak or accost (in a commanding manner); to exhort; to speak into one’s heart and give answer [to a question or controversy]; speak roughly against (falsehood); to destroy speculations.” – cf. 2 Cor. 10:5 (Destruction of False Doctrines)

BE NOT DISMAYED! Unlike the candy-coated sermons we hear in Church today, is the true King’s stern command to His servant to avoid trembling or collapsing from the fear of men’s facial expressions (of rejection, or even hatred). Lest He confound you publicly! From the Hebrew, ‘Chathath’ [חָתַת], meaning: “To be terrified, alarmed, confounded; to panic; to be shattered or fall to pieces; become beat down, demoralized, destroyed [and prevented from your Divine purpose]; to be deeply discouraged.” – Isa. 41:10 (God is With You)

COMMENTARY. “‘Thou therefore gird up thy loins’ — Prepare to do the work to which I call and appoint thee. For, it being the custom of the Eastern people to wear long garments, which they girded about their loins when any business required great activity or expedition; by thus speaking, the Lord enjoins His prophet to use all possible vigour and intention of mind as well as of body, that he might execute, with diligence and despatch, the office which God had assigned him. ‘And arise and speak all that I command thee! Be not dismayed at their faces’ — Discover no fear, and conceal no message! ‘Lest I confound thee before them.’ — He tells him it is better to bear the reproaches of men than the reproofs of God, who would call him to a strict account how he discharged his duty.” – ALBERT BARNES, ‘Notes on the Old and New Testament,’ 1884; edited

DK’S TAKE. From this, again, we gather a completely ‘different’ Jesus and true Christian disciple than the One presented in Church. As I have put it several times in months past: “God means business!” beloved. This is not a game nor comfortable little club for our comfy enjoyments and closeted protection.

No! He expects us to ‘Risk all’ for Him when He calls us to a matter of importance. In Sum: It is beyond high time that the Church ‘grow up!’ How well the Apostle said it to his frequently rancorous, rebellious flock at Corinth:

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 13:11, AMPC

‘PUT THEM ASIDE!’ From the Greek term, ‘Katargeó’ [καταργέω], meaning: “To render inoperative, abolish; to make idle (inactive), make of no effect, annul, abolish, bring to naught; sever, separate from; to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with (entirely).”

We simply cannot be a true Witness for our King, nor run His race triumphantly without doing this. To literally ask God to “strip us” of all hindering sins or habits or pastimes or my favorite, any ‘toys’ that we no longer can afford to indulge. – cf. Hebrews 12:1

And oh, how we American love our ‘toys,’ do we not? Time to chuck ‘em, once and for all!

THE CIRCUIT RIDER’S MESSAGE

THE WESLEYAN DOCTRINE. History records that the earliest Circuit Riders were commissioned by God to carry a ‘Message of Reproof and Reform,’ since the Colonies were falling increasingly away from the Gospel, as I reviewed in earlier commentaries.

Here is a rather concise summary of the Circuit Rider pioneer, John Wesley’s simple theological framework, from the EDITORS of the online historical journal, ‘Sound Doctrine.’

“Wesley’s Primary Doctrines were: (1) Personal Salvation by Faith; (2) the Witness of the Spirit, which he defined as, ‘the testimony of the Spirit as an inward impression on the soul of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit that they are the children of God;’ and (3) Sanctification.” – “John Wesley: 18^th Century Circuit Rider,” ret. Apr. 18, 2022; edited

Theologian MARVIN D. DE BLASIO elaborates on these Central Doctrines in his article for ‘The Asbury Journal,’ 66.2, 2011, pp. 18-34.

“The Post-Aldersgate Wesley [conversion on May 24, 1738] developed a soteriological understanding that identified a ‘child of God’ with distinct qualifications, namely ‘Justification by Faith,’ the experience of Grace, and the indwelling Spirit. A Theology of Conversion also emerges with definitive markers that constitute ‘a new standing’ from non-Christian to Christian…Justification by Faith remained a strict soteriological principle in the mind of the mature Wesley. As well, the experience of Grace continued to be upheld as producing distinguishing marks in a ‘child of God.’ Accordingly, a Christian’s new filial relationship with God provides a newly found self-understanding…and this work of the Spirit will affect one’s relationships in quest for ‘Complete Holiness’ [i.e., the ‘perfect love of Christ’;].

Conversion in the Post-Aldersgate Wesley is thus a self-understanding that a ‘Transformation’ is occurring by Grace, affecting both the inner person and outward actions. This conversion is certified in those who have been Justified by Faith and have thereby received “the Spirit of Adoption.’ Such are the children of God.”

DK NOTE. To make sure we understand the vital importance of the Wesleyan Doctrine, its most salient and powerful feature is the elegant ‘Balance’ it strikes between (I) SOUND DOCTRINE and (II) SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION. Thus, it joined the two in theological synchrony, as it was originally taught to us in the beginning by Christ and the Apostles.

Hear the Messiah’s Admonition on this Crucial Balance, at a time early in His ministry, before Pentecost, when it had not yet been fully struck.

“A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).” – JOHN 4:23-24, AMP

Here is what WILLIAM MACDONALD writes in sharpened commentary on this vital Doctrine. It drives a Royal Spike into the heart of today’s historic Departure from such central Orthodoxy.

“[God] is perfect in all His ways. Therefore, those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth. There must be no sham or hypocrisy. There must be no pretense to being religious, when inwardly one’s life is corrupt. There must be no idea that in going through a series of rituals, God is thereby pleased. Even if God instituted those rituals Himself, He still insists that man approach Him with a broken and a contrite heart.” – ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, pp. 1485-1486; edited

THE AMERICAN DOCTRINE. Now permit me to show you just one example of the New Imbalance in most of today’s churches, especially the Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations. Ever looking for the esoteric, the fantastical, the ‘miraculous’ or yes, the patriotic – at the lethal expense of The Canon.

On July 11, 2020, at the peak of some of Donald Trump’s most heinous desecrations of the true Gospel of Christ, TAYLOR BERGLUND writing for the sensationalized, hyper-spiritual magazine, ‘Charisma’ magazine, published a frothy piece titled, “Sound the Alarm: A New Spiritual Revolution is Here.”

The monthly magazine was founded in 1975 in a joint venture by founder and publisher, STEPHEN STRANG, and the auspices of Calvary Assembly of God in Winter Park, Florida. ‘Wikipedia’ notes: “Its perspective is influenced by the Charismatic Revivalism and other contemporary streams of Charismatic Christianity such as ‘The Toronto Blessing, International House of Prayer, and the Apostolic-Prophetic movement’” (“Charisma Magazine,” Oct. 12, 2021; edited).

Heard enough yet? There’s more, much more.

After daring to compare this ostensibly new “Spiritual Revolution” to Wesley’s Circuit Riders and the First Great Awakening, Berglund reviews the birth of these New Circuit Riders based on a Prophetic Dream received and reported by a Youth With a Mission operative named, SARAH WARD.

The following information is taken directly from several official websites associated with the label, “Youth With a Mission Circuit Riders.”

“ANGELIC ENCOUNTER. Circuit Riders began after Ward had a prophetic encounter on July 7, 2010, while praying in her bedroom in Kona, Hawaii. ‘It was in the evening time, and I just felt like the Lord wanted to speak to me. The entire atmosphere of my room changed, and I looked up and there was actually an angel standing in my bedroom.

The angel appeared to be wearing colonial clothing and a messenger bag like Paul Revere. (Ward says the angel was not Paul Revere, but that name and appearance were impressed on her mind during the Encounter.) Though Ward says her background is in the prophetic, she says she had never experienced a Visitation like this before.

The angel said, ‘I represent a people who will ride into the night to declare and prepare the Way of a Revolution that will lead to Reformation. He said that in his bag were documents and messages of that nature, and some of them were about the release of the glory of God. He said there were those who would go and sound an Alarm of Awakening. Then the next thing he said was, ‘The Lord is going to release His Circuit Riders again,’ and when he said that, suddenly I’m not in the room anymore. If you asked what I was seeing, I guess it was an Open Vision. I saw this ‘Statue of a man on a horse’…and lines of fire crisscrossing America and going into the nations. This phrase ‘fiery-eyed revivalist’ appears. Then suddenly I’m back, and the angel is still standing there in my room. He said, ‘These Revivalists will declare the Gospel…You’ll understand more of this later.’ And he disappeared.”

THE MESSAGE. Though I have some real issues of an angel dressed like Paul Revere, beloved, let’s assume for the moment that The Vision occurred as reported. My first and possibly my last question is: ‘What Doctrines’ are these young Circuit Riders carrying to the nation?”

I looked up the YWAM online introductions to this New Movement, and here are a few things I found, for you to judge by the Word and Spirit of God, as to its authenticity, in the National Context of ‘Church Corruption’ on a massive scale.

LEADERSHIP. “Amy Ward is a lover of Jesus that has given her life to see the kingdom of heaven released on earth. She carries a strong prophetic anointing and releases the heart of God over people and places in all spheres of influence. Through the gift’s of God, she brings spiritual and practical alignment so that people and organizations can function to their full capacity. Her greatest desire is to see people encountered by God resulting in a real authentic and fruit bearing relationship with Jesus.”

TEACHER. A young Liberty University graduate with a degree in Business emphasizing entrepreneurship and brand marketing. A frequent leading teacher and podcast presenter who serves as a leader on staff with Circuit Riders, tethered to Youth With A Mission worldwide. Could not find a formal bio on him anywhere.

BELIEFS. “We look to Jesus for our model of what it looks like to be cultured in the ways of the kingdom. Our entire community is a community of those who look to each other in encouragement and celebration. Encouragement and celebration around the areas of setting and shifting culture – culture that sets us apart as ones who truly love Jesus. Many of our cultures are used as points in our messages found in our podcasts, and gatherings held by Circuit Riders.”

STATEMENT OF FAITH. “As citizens of God’s kingdom, we are called to love, worship, and obey our Lord, to love and serve His Body, the Church, and to present the whole gospel for the whole person throughout the whole world. We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired and authoritative word, revealing that Jesus Christ is God’s son; that people are created in God’s image; that He created us to have eternal life through Jesus Christ; that although all people have sinned and come short of God’s glory, God has made salvation possible through the death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ; that repentance, faith, love and obedience are fitting responses to God’s initiative of grace towards us; that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth; and that the Holy Spirit’s power is demonstrated in and through us for the accomplishment of Christ’s last commandment, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’ (Mark 16:15).”

TRAINING. “We want the lifestyle of Jesus to be our lifestyle. It’s both spiritual and practical. We want His culture to be our culture, His priorities to be our priorities, His mission to be our mission to save the lost, revive the saved and activate every person to live a missional lifestyle. Join the Circuit Riders for a 10-day training intensive to grow in your relationship with Jesus, find your mission and be practically equipped to live it out.”

FEAR & TREMBLING. Should this be a true work of the Holy Spirit, I would dare not touch it in any way. But my concerns center mostly on a single issue: DOCTRINAL PREPARATION. And before you shout that the Lord’s first disciples were at least as young, remember who taught them:

The Very Son of God, The Messiah, for three years running – not in a 10-day intensive.

MESSAGE. So yes, just what ‘Message’ are these admittedly zealous but very young, minimally trained ‘Circuit Riders’ bringing to the college campuses and larger culture. I have presented a healthy slice of their online published information, but could find nothing beyond their Belief and Faith Statements about ‘the content or curriculum’ of the Training sessions.

ROOTS. Second, their roots in the entire theological framework of the Kansas City Prophets, Peter Wagner’s Course on Miracles, the Toronto Blessing, the International House of Prayer, and the Apostolic-Prophetic movement give me the gravest of concerns. We have been all over that ground in past commentaries, and I remain convinced that such loose doctrinal soil is not a good ‘planting,’ if you will.

A WARNING. Now I tell you the truth, when I began researching for this column, I did not know a thing about the mountain of Doctrinal concerns related to YWAM. So here are some facts for you to ponder in this Hour of Deception.

The following is taken from the EDITORS of ‘Apologetics Index,’ a respected international online journal (ret. Apr. 19, 2022; edited)

“The ministry has 30,000 to 40,000 full-time unpaid workers, 25,000 young people trained every year, and independent bases in 1,200 to 1,300 locations around the world.

YWAM says it is not an organization, but rather a network of linked, independent ministries (referred to as a ‘family of ministries’). It refers to itself as a ‘Movement.’ There are no headquarters, and while it has a ‘global networks of leaders and elders,’ there is no Board of Directors. The Movement’s decentralized nature is part of the problems addressed in this article…

In the 1970s and 1980s (and even some into the 1990s), a heretical belief system known as ‘Moral Government’ was pervasive in YWAM. It was taught to tens of thousands of students at YWAM bases throughout the world. YWAM’s promotion of the Moral Government teaching was documented by respected theologians, including ALAN W. GOMES, of Talbot School of Theology, in a book published in 1981, titled ‘Lead Us Not into Deception: A Biblical Examination of Moral Government Theology.’

The heretical Moral Government teaching is largely in YWAM’s past. Yet Moral Government teaching morphed into another heterodox doctrine promoted within YWAM today, known as ‘Open Theism.’ What is Open Theism? It entails the belief that God does not exhaustively know all of the future. Specifically, He doesn’t know what decisions human beings will choose to make acting out of their free wills. In other words, God’s knowledge is ‘limited’ by humankind’s free moral choice. He cannot 100 percent predict what any free moral agent will do ahead of time.”

I suppose that shall have to suffice for now. Dearest God, I truly had no idea, beloved.

LAST THOUGHTS

PERSONAL NOTE. To be absolutely clear, when God set me on this course beginning with my firing from Liberty University in March 2016, I promise you before Him and His Court, that I have never entertained notions of becoming some sort of ‘Heresy Hunter.’ And I reiterate here, that I am not!

But what I must quickly add to that, is that since my Conversion in October 1979, He clearly instilled within me a rather penetrating concern, ‘a fire’ if you will, for Doctrinal Truth. I pray daily that this is the proper ‘Fire’ that compels me to speak and write.

CODA. To our Primary Proposition: It takes enormous ‘Courage’ for us all to stay the course with Christ in this Day of Antichrist. Many of you have already sacrificed much to do so. Courage. All of which puts me in mind of a spiritual and intellectual mentor of mine and many others: DR. FRANCIS SCHAEFFER.

The reason I love this man so much to this day, that despite whatever mistakes he made during his decades long Journey with the Messiah, he fought lovingly, fiercely and consistently for ‘The Truth of God’s Doctrines.’ He simply understood that without Truth, our Witness dies. A Church dies. A Nation dies.

As we see all around us, beloved, virtually everywhere we look.

Therefore, I close with a somewhat obscure and moving little essay titled, “Courage and Truth” (July 7, 2020) by H. KIRK RANIER, an engineer turned blogger who penned this reflection on Dr. Schaeffer, perfectly suited to our conversation.

“‘Christians are often lacking in Courage.’ We tend to give the impression that we will hold on to the outward forms whatever happens, even if God really is not there. But the opposite ought to be true of us, so that people can see that we demand the ‘Truth’ of what is there and that we are not dealing merely with platitudes. In other words, it should be understood that we take this question of Truth…so seriously that if God were not there we would be among the first of those who had the Courage to step out of the queue.”

Now that is Radical, even outrageous, beloved, but fiercely True. Courage is, among other things, the very spiritual force that fuels our compulsion to ‘Gird up our loins,’ and speak, or yes, even shout to the madding crowds, even if yours was the only voice! Even if it cost you your earthly life.

ELLIE WIESEL wrote of this in blood and fire and smoke in his riveting account of surviving the terrors of Shoah at Auschwitz, in ‘Night’ (1960).

“For the Survivor who chooses to ‘Testify,’ it is clear: His duty is to ‘bear witness’ for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”

We must speak, beloved! Even cry out in a loud voice, that there is ‘A Great Dying’ going on in the land. But joyously, stunningly, there remains One who can Rescue us from it. We all remember a cry reputed to be from BONHOEFFER:

“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.”

Yet I pray: ‘But if we do speak, Lord, will there be anyone to hear?’ I tell you I clearly sensed His Royal Refrain: “That is not your concern, son. Yours is simply to show ‘real love’ by your obedience.”

COURAGE, dear friends. Courage. We shall need it for what is coming. Happily, it is immediately available upon sincere commitment and prayerful request. You need only ask.

Ever your servant, DK

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