NOTES ON THE CIRCUIT RIDES & THE PELOTON CONFESSING FELLOWSHIP: OUR FINAL COMMISSION UNTIL SHILOH COMES – (WITH VIDEO)

THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word [as an official messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct [those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible patience and [faithful] teaching.

For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable]. But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry.” – 2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5, AMP

KEY TERM: “I SOLEMNLY CHARGE YOU.” ‘Diamarturomai’ [Διαμαρτύρομαι]: “To attest or protest earnestly;’ to exhortatively bear full and complete witness [to the truth]; to admonish solemnly; to enforce; to (religiously) affirm.” WEBSTER (1828): “‘To teach, to warn; To counsel against wrong practices;’ to caution or advise; In ecclesiastical affairs, to reprove a member of the Church for a fault, either publicly or privately.”

QUOTATION. “‘A Charge to the Modern American Circuit Rider:’ A call upon individuals to actively reach out to underserved communities, utilizing modern technology and flexible approaches to spread their message, much like the historical Circuit Riders who traveled vast distances to preach in Frontier areas, but adapted to the current landscape of digital access and diverse social needs.” – EDITORS, AI Overview, ret. Nov. 24, 2024; edited

COMMENTARY. “Having, in the preceding chapter, explained to Timothy the duties of his office, as an Evangelist, the Apostle now proceeds solemnly to charge him, in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be diligent and faithful in all the duties of the ministry: ‘By preaching the True Doctrine, confuting gainsayers, rebuking sinners, and exhorting both the teachers and people under his care to conduct themselves properly in every respect.’

His words are peculiarly solemn, ‘I charge thee, therefore’ — This is an inference drawn from the whole preceding chapter; ‘before God and the Lord Jesus Christ — Now and always present with us, observing our whole behaviour; ‘Who shall judge the quick and the dead.’ — Bringing ‘every work into judgment with every secret thing,’and rendering unto every man according to his deeds, Romans 2:6; ‘at His appearing and His kingdom’ — That is, at His Coming, when He shall most manifestly exercise His kingly and judicial power in the sight of all intelligent beings. ‘Preach the word!’ — The pure Gospel Doctrine, in all its branches.

‘Be instant’ — Importunate, pressing; insist on and urge the Great Truths and Duties of the Religion of Jesus; ‘in season, out of season’ — That is, continually, at all times and places. The Greek, ευκαιρως, ακαιρως, may be rendered, ‘when there is a good opportunity, and when there is no opportunity,’ or, not only when a fair occasion is given, but even when there is none, one must be made. ‘Reprove!’— Ελεγξον, ‘convince’the consciences of men, and endeavour to reclaim them from their erroneous principles and practices; ‘Rebuke!’ — Them, for their impieties and immoralities, without fearing the face of any man; and exhort to zeal and diligence in the pursuit of every grace, and the performance of every duty; ‘with all long-suffering’ — Though thou mayest not immediately see the desired success; and doctrine — That is, still continue to Warn and Teach.

And the rather seize the present opportunity with all earnestness; ‘For the time will come’ — And is fast approaching; ‘when they’ — Even the Professors of Christianity! ‘will not endure sound doctrine’ — ‘Wholesome, salutary, healing Doctrine’ — Doctrine calculated to save them from their errors and sins, and to heal their spiritual disorders. ‘But after their own lusts’ — According to their own desires; ‘shall they heap to themselves teachers’ — As smooth as they can wish; ‘having itching ears’ — Fond of novelty and variety; which disposition the number of new teachers, as well as their empty, soft, or philosophical discourses will please.

Such teachers and such hearers seldom are much concerned with what is strict and searching, or calculated to excite them to aspire after a conformity to the Lord Jesus. Not enduring sound doctrine, they will reject the sound preachers, and gather together all that suit their own taste. ‘And’ — So greatly will their minds be perverted, that ‘they shall turn away their ears from the truth’ — From the true, genuine Doctrine of the Gospel; ‘and be turned unto fables’ — Unto vain, idle stories, and uncertain opinions and traditions.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

HISTORY

The Origin of the Circuit Ride Enterprise and the subsequent Birth of The Peloton Confessing Fellowship was not spectacular by any stretch of one’s understanding. But it was Miraculous and Messy nonetheless, a gradual stutter-step Discovery of Order from Chaos.

CRISIS. As with most new things, the beginnings of this, what shall I call it, ‘The Fellowship’ for now, was the progeny of a Personal Catastrophe. As many of you know, I had been working for ten years at Liberty University as a Professor of Digital and Media Communication, starting in 2006. I enjoyed enormous success as a teacher there, with many friends on the faculty and student body. I had been writing occasional Commentaries against Donald Trump, and JERRY FALWELL JR. was regularly reading my stuff. After he boldly and nationally declared to be endorsing Trump on January 30, 2016, I was fired the following March for unspecified reasons.

WILDERNESS. From 2016 through 2019 I desperately (and unsuccessfully) scattered about the country for employment. I was to discover that my opposition to Trump’s Presidency would bar me from any jobs in the Christian markets and ministries.That, and my age, having reached my 70s by that point. One years-long effort as a part-time consultant with an international coalition of Christians and Jews didn’t pan out despite my Herculean efforts to please the company. That was followed by a short term (3 months) position with an International Missions outreach between America and Europe, but before I was fired instructed: “You must stop writing about Trump; it’s not good for our [Christian] Mission.” Selah.

RUBICON. One late October afternoon in 2019, I was fired from that third (and last) job. I was asked to pack my things and get out within the hour. As I finished packing up the car, I looked up somewhat, what word fits here – anesthetized, numb to the shock of what had just taken place. I looked up to Heaven and asked a plight question: “God, what was that all about? Almost instantly I heard that Voice come to me with a statement that I have never heard from Him before or since (do not presuppose hubris here): “I’m proud of you.” Incredulous, I quickly reminded Him I had been fired three times in three years. He would speak that Word to me five more times before my head hit the pillow that night.

VISION. I cannot tell you why or how, but from that October until the following March 2020, ‘The Grand Idea’ somehow came to me captured in two small words about which I know virtually nothing: “CIRCUIT RIDER!” – ‘A clergyman who traveled on horseback from church to church, village to village, or house to house, especially within a substantially rural circuit.’ As I began to dig into the research on its history, I also for some reason began to pray for “A Priscilla,” the Biblical hero and wife of the tentmaker named Aquila, who largely financed the Apostle Paul’s ministry for much of his life and travels. She showed up on the First of March of that year, and she and her husband largely financed my new enterprise for almost five years. Since they have fallen on harsh times (Pray for them!), I am trusting the Lord to raise up a new company of Patrons to add to those who still remain, so that I can continue this work.

LAUNCH! Thus did it begin. Pulled up from the Dustheap of seeming failure and setback and great loss, increasingly the result of a Church that had no more use for a professor with a Theology like mine. Finally, then rendered utterly absent any more of the career-long favor and success I had enjoyed. NOTE: A ‘New Church’ was birthed, and a ‘New Nation’ was emerging from the strange fires of a ‘New Leader’ who would go on to seduce the vast majority of the White Evangelical Community beginning on June 21, 2016, in a FATEFUL BARGAIN struck in Trump Tower between the Forces of Antichrist and the Leaders of American Christendom.

Beloved, God birthed all of us straight out of that Great Betrayal with this SINGLE COMMISSION: ‘Hold the Line of Truthful Doctrine and Conduct to the End of the Age, No Matter the Cost!’

THE PROMISE. “As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day … We are assured and know that God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” – GENESIS 50:20, ROMANS 8:28, AMPC

Right about here I had the most powerful urge to shout, “Booyah, baby!” But of course, I am far too mature and sophisticated for such childish ways.

NEXT THINGS: “FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS”

Beloved, I believe with all my heart that God gave this PELOTON CONFESSING FELLOWSHIP Birth as part of His Last Days Remnant Army for Truth. ‘He’ has done this and thereby receives ‘all’ the honor for it. We are all greatly privileged to be Called to this Work. Though our numbers be small and our renown virtually unheard of, we are about to launch on the most thrilling and meaningful Great Adventure of our lives.

And the most dangerous. Selah.

PROJECT 2025. America’s first and last King shall govern according to a Political Template by this name. It will effectively become the ‘New Constitution’ to supersede the Old Order in ways that shall drastically reshape the way Americans live and ultimately impact and restructure the entire International Order of Alliances. Because of ‘The Second Advent’ of one:

Donald John Trump, American Antichrist, the King of Babylon the Great.

The following objective Review of Project 2025 is adapted from an excellent yet dispassionate Summary by BBC journalist MIKE WENDLING, US National Digital Reporter, and author of the book Alt-Right: From 4chan to the White House (2018). His article is published under the title, “Project 2025: The Right-Wing Wish List for Another Trump Presidency” (2018; edited).

ORIGIN. “Project 2025 is a product of the Heritage Foundation, one of Washington’s most prominent Right-Wing think tanks. It first produced policy plans for future Republican administrations in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was about to take office. It has produced similar documents in connection with subsequent presidential elections, including in 2016, when Trump first won the presidency … The Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, oversaw Project 2025 and is close to the vice-president elect, JD Vance, who wrote a forward for his new book Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America (2024) … The document itself sets out FOUR MAIN POLICY AIMS: Restore the family as the centrepiece of American life; Dismantle the administrative state; Defend the Nation’s sovereignty and borders; and Secure God-given individual rights to live freely.”

GOVERNMENT. “Project 2025 proposes that the entire Federal Bureaucracy, including independent agencies such as the Department of Justice, be placed under direct Presidential Control – a controversial idea known as “Unitary Executive Theory.’” In practice, that would streamline decision-making, allowing the president to directly implement policies in a number of areas. The proposals also call for eliminating job protections for thousands of government employees, who could then be replaced by political appointees … It includes a proposal to: ‘Declassify government records, root out wrongdoers, and fire corrupt employees.’ The (GOP) Platform pledges to slash regulation and government spending, and explicitly calls for closing the Department of Education.”

ABORTION. “The Document does not call for an outright nationwide abortion ban, and Trump says he would not sign such a law. However, it proposes withdrawing the abortion pill Mifepristone from the market and using existing but little-enforced laws to stop the drug being sent through the post. The Document proposes new data collection efforts on abortion and more generally suggests that the Department of Health and Human Services should ‘maintain a Biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family.”

IMMIGRATION. “Increased funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border – one of Trump’s signature proposals in 2016 – is proposed in the Document. Project 2025 also suggests dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and combining it with other immigration enforcement units in other agencies, creating a much larger and more powerful border policing operation. Other proposals include eliminating visa categories for crime and human trafficking victims, increasing fees on immigrants and allowing fast-tracked applications for migrants who pay a premium. Not all of those details are repeated in the Republican party platform, but the overall headlines are similar – the Party is promising to implement: ‘The largest deportation programme in American history.’”

CLIMATE & ECONOMY. “The Document proposes slashing Federal money for research and investment in renewable energy, and calls for the next president to: ‘Stop the war on oil and natural gas.’ Carbon-reduction goals would be replaced by efforts to increase energy production and energy security. The Paper sets out Two Competing Visions on Tariffs, and is divided on whether the next president should try to boost free trade or raise barriers to imports. But the economic advisers suggest that: A second Trump administration should slash corporate and income taxes, abolish the Federal Reserve and even consider a return to gold-backed currency.

DK’S TAKE. While we may find some of these measures agreeable and some even vital to our own Biblical Framework, we must constantly keep in mind TWO GOVERNING AUTHORITES: (1) God’s Law; (2) Constitutional Law. The First and Second are caught tight within the confines of PAUL’S LETTER TO THE ROMANS:

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ‘For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.’ Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same” (3:1-3, NKJV).

The Crushing Irony: It is THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH that is presently in the most Severe Violation of God’s Command to only honor: ‘Rulers who are a terror to evil.” Trump’s Administration Plans to do the Opposite, beloved! Selah.

OUR DUTY: ‘To Spiritually Resist this morally violent corruption of America’s God Ordained Constitutional Order’ in what some critics are righty calling a ‘bloodless Coup d’etat!’

“Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].” – EPHESIANS 6:13, AMP

LAST THOUGHTS

In light of all this seismic change about to take place beginning next January 20, 2025, along with the explosion of fulfillment of the Apocalyptic Scriptures of the Last Days, faithful followers of Christ will have a series of painful choices to make. Not the least of which is to obey a Dictator, ‘even the Antichrist,’ when his rule defies and contradicts the Word of God.

Here is a passage of monumental historic import now thrust upon us by the coming Tyranny of the ostensible “Christian” President, Donald Trump. Listen carefully beloved.

“So they brought them and presented them before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court). The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this Man’s blood on us [by accusing us as His murderers].’ Then Peter and the apostles replied, WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN [WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!].” – ACTS 5:27-29, AMP

THE CHALLENGE OF A LIFETIME. So, beloved of God, if it is true that Donald Trump is Antichrist and that he by his life and legislation is going to attack both Canonical and Constitutional Law in the coming years: ‘Whom shall YOU obey: God, or Man?’

The Scriptures record THE ANSWER: “And they overcame and conquered him [Antichrist] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.” – REVELATION 12:11, AMP

That’s the Litmus Test, dear friends. You ready to serve? I am, Oh dear God, I am! But then I am 80 and have lived my life. Tougher choice for y’all. ‘Still, we must now choose to be Philadelphians or Laodiceans.’ From my perspective, there is no choice at all.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/TfO1X5jbNa8