NOTES ON LOSING NEVERLAND: SALVATION VS. SUPERSTITION IN THE AMERICAN CHURCH – PART IV: SHELTER

SCRIPTURE. “Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital]. It may be you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” – ZEPHANAIH 2:3, AMPC

QUOTATIONS

LOUNSBROUGH. “What we build certainly might look like a Refuge, but if it wasn’t designed by God it’s something more akin to a leaky tent in the middle of a category 5 hurricane on a Monday morning. Nothing about it is good.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough, Clinical Psychologist and Author, ‘The Eighth Page,’ 2018; edited

ELLIOT. “Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your Hiding Place, your Stronghold, your Shepherd, your Counselor, your Friend, your Redeemer, your Saviour, your Guide? If He is, you don’t need to search any further for security.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, Author & Missionary, ‘Suffering is Never for Nothing,’ 2019; edited

FIRST THOUGHTS

A STORM IS COMING. As surely as you can read the words on this page, it’s coming, beloved. But it is not a storm of normal consideration nor average proportion. No, this Tempest shall prove to be the Storm of all storms, coming to us in rapid, successive episodes that Jesus calls “birth pangs,” or “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8).

And it shall Culminate on the Last Day of human history as we have known it.

Most folks agree with this Grand Hypothesis, whether Christian or Pagan or Buddhist or Muslim or Jew. While each of those Sects would offer up differing interpretations about the Why’s, the What’s and the Wherefore’s, all would agree: A Storm is brewing, and has already begun – as our daily news accounts increasingly rage at us for their attentions.

‘Storms.’ You know how much I love Definitions, so let’s do it one more time: “Noun. The primary sense of ‘Storm’ is a rushing, raging or violent agitation. A violent wind; a tempest. A violent assault on a fortified place. Violent civil or political commotion; sedition; insurrection; also, clamor; tumult; disturbance of the public peace. Affliction; calamity; distress; adversity.” – NOAH WEBSTER, 1828; edited

Now we know that there are all sorts of storms – Political, Economic, Ecological, Medical, Intellectual, and Communal – just to name a few of the more common types most of us face from time to time. Yet underlying and undergirding every single one of them is a Super Reality that governs each one:

SPIRITUAL BATTLE OF THE AGES. As many wiser than I have written for millennia, underlying very Natural struggle there is a Spiritual War between the Forces of Good and the Forces of Evil. Kind of like Star Wars here, but not.

A favorite German theologian-poet ERICH SAUER, whose two-volume magnum opus – ‘Dawn of World Redemption’ and ‘Triumph of the Crucified,’ both published in German in 1937, is eloquent testimony to this Ultimate Reality. His “Gap Theory” notwithstanding with which I disagree, his powerful pen is a wonder to read.

THE FIRST STORM. “‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth.’ By the Word of His power He called forth systems of suns and stars. ‘He spake: It came into being; He commanded: there it stood’ (Psa. 33:9; comp. ver. 6). Everything that God does has Himself eternally as its goal; it comes to pass ‘for His name’s sake’ (Psa. 23:3). for Himself throughout (Eph. 5:27), and ‘to the praise of His glory’ (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14), so that ‘God may be all in all’ (I Cor. 15:28). For since God, by virtue of His perfection, must always wish the highest, and since He Himself, by virtue of His Deity, is the highest, He must always have that which is within His own nature as the goal of His will. Therefore, must His work be so ordered that it may lead to Him and have its end in Him. Thus, the purpose of the Creation of the world must consist in the unfolding, setting forth, and displaying of the Glory of God. Himself is its beginning, middle, and ultimate objective, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega (Rom. 11:36; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2) …

And yet! Into this Universe, which was appointed to the highest, which the Creator had called that it should become a vessel to reveal His Glory, there has entered ‘a Breach’. The united harmony of the spheres is destroyed by a harsh discord. SIN has appeared, and criminally set itself against the holy, loving plans of God to reveal Himself. Through the Sin of Mankind this lower earth is devastated (Gen. 3:17, 18; Rom. 8:20), and, in the heavenly world above, as the history of temptation in the Bible premises, A FALL had taken place among the angels prior to the Fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1-7; 2:15).”

DK’S TAKE. Since those Primordial Super Events, the entire History of Mankind has been one, massively Great War between those Unequal’ Forces of Good and Evil, between Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and the original Anti-Christ, Satan, the Son of Perdition and Belial, whose goal is to supplant God and become God.

This Fundamental Theological Ground must be grasped if one is to further comprehend the everyday struggles we face today as Christians, against all those who have declared themselves to be, Anti-Christian. Selah.

The Point: We are ever At War, beloved, nonstop, 24/7, every moment. Or as mi Abuelita MARIA RODRIGUEZ used to say it: “Recuerda siempre, el Diablo nunca duerme.”

THE SECOND STORM. “The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. The Lord regretted that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was [deeply] grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy (annihilate) mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth—not only man, but the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air—because it [deeply] grieves Me [to see mankind’s sin] and I regret that I have made them.’

But Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord.” – GENESIS 6:5-8, AMP

I have always been fascinated by Antiquity, though one must become somewhat speculative when associating dates with their historic events. Still, I wanted to know about how many years transpired between The Creation Event and The Great Flood, or Deluge.

Here is one reputable attempt by physicist, research engineer and former president of Montana Bible College, MARK AMANRUD, most recently published on his ‘Blog’ in 2015; edited.

SUMMARY. “A reasonable estimate of the time from Creation to the Flood can be calculated. A minimum time would use the Samaritan Text, a ten year ‘converting ages to years’ deduction, and a 1.44% calendar reduction. This gives 1,278 years. A maximum time would use the Septuagint Text and a ten year ‘converting ages to years’ increase. This gives 2,252 years. A best guess estimate would use the Masoretic Text, a five year ‘converting ages to years’ increase, and a five-year calendar decrease. This gives 1,656 YEARS. This best guess estimate is about halfway between the minimum and maximum time periods.”

I’m not done. I also wondered, responsibly I trust, about how many people were on the earth at the time of the Flood. Another Christian physicist from Stanford University, LAMBERT DOLPHIN this time, calculated the following based on a myriad of formulae I could frankly not understand. – “World Population Since Creation,” April 9, 2019; edited

What he discovered, I found even more stunning.

“The following Chart assumes the human race began with two persons, Adam and Eve, relatively recently. Population growth was very rapid for 1656 years until the Flood of Noah reduced the population to eight persons (4 couples). I have arbitrarily chosen the population at the time of the Flood as 9 BILLION, though as shown above this may be too conservative. Very little data on world population is available until recent times, so a few intermediate points have been selected. I have guessed the world population at the time of Abraham at 5 million. For example, there seems to be broad agreement that the world population at the time of Christ was between 200 and 300 million.”

DK’S TAKE. So why all the fuss about these numbers? Because God loves exact numbers, and because I love Antiquity, the study of which invariably gives us Perspective on our own times. Specifically, the current world population is around 8 billion, with most projections of 9 billion souls around the YEAR 2030. Is that significant somehow?

Perhaps, beloved, perhaps. As Solomon wrote:

“The thing that has been—it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been, in the vast ages of time [recorded or unrecorded] which were before us.”- ECCLESIASTES 1:9-10, AMPC

Just some thoughts for us to ponder as we move to the next section.

THE LAST STORM. “And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man: the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

It was the same as it was in the days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins]; but on the [very] day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” – JESUS OF NAZARETHY, LUKE 17:26-30, AMP

Now then, down to brass theological tacks. This iconic passage has been quoted, read, talked about and preached on thousands of times for countless generations. But in our own Year of Our Lord, 2021, I want to bring some fresh light it, since we are now tightly enclosed in God’s prophesied Last Days.

One of my preferred theologians powerfully explains how that relates to this Present Hour.

WILLIAM MACDONALD. “Turning back to the subject of His Coming, the Lord taught that the Days immediately preceding that Glorious Event would be like the Days of NOAH. People ate, they drank, they married, and were given in marriage. These things are not wrong; they are normal, legitimate human activities. The Evil was that men ‘lived’ for these things, and had no thought or time for God. After Noah and his family entered the Ark, the Flood came and destroyed the rest of the population. So, the Second Coming of Christ would mean Judgment for those who ‘reject’ [throw away or cast off] His offer of mercy.

Again, the Lord said that the Days preceding His Second Advent would be similar to those of LOT. Civilization had advanced somewhat by that time; men not only ate and drank, but they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. It was Man’s effort to bring in a Golden Era of peace and prosperity without God. On the very day that Lot, his wife and daughters went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed the wicked City. So will it be in the Day when the Son of Man is Revealed. Those who concentrate on pleasure, self-gratification, and commerce will be destroyed.” – ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, pp. 1436-1437; edited

Regardless of what ‘Label’ they wear as their Identity, beloved.

DK’S TAKE. I have written for two years running of the ferocious American Hunt for the American Dream, that largely consists of Material Gain and the Pleasures it brings. There is a presumption these days that somehow a burgeoning economy and military might can “Make America Great Again,” the vastly popular mantra of the MAGA Church and Commercial Centers.

The Scriptures warn rather severely about such a Vision.

“No king is saved by the great size and power of his army; a mighty man is not delivered by [his] much strength. A horse is devoid of value for victory; neither does he deliver any by his great power … Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.” – PSALM 33:16-17; 127:1, AMPC

America is in no better condition than Proto-Israel was in Noah and Lot’s Days. Indeed, as I understand the Scriptures describing these Last of the Last Days, we are vastly, likely irretrievably ‘worse.’ Jesus said it would be.

THE DAY AMERICA DIED

Something happened to me and to the entire America Order on WEDNESDAY JANUARY 6, 2021, at the American Capitol in Washington, DC. Try as I may, I have not been the same since that Darkest of days, transcending even the pain of November 11, 2001, because unlike 9-11, this time the Enemy was Us.

I don’t know quite how to express it, beloved, but for me at least, a political junkie and patriot and follower of Christ for most of my life: I fear ‘The Light of God’ went full out of us.

THE SPEECH. Nearly 50 years before this Epic Tragedy, then-California Governor RONALD REAGAN gave his momentous “Shining City on a Hill” Speech, delivered to the First Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in that same City on January 25, 1974.

One small snippet stood out midst all the rest of the eloquent address, prophetic down to the spiritual and political marrow of our now floundering Nation.

“Standing on the tiny deck of the Arabella in 1630 off the Massachusetts coast, JOHN WINTHROP said, ‘We will be as a ‘City Upon a Hill.’ The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

A STORY AND A BYWORD. The Origin of this saying is found in the ancient text of Job in the 17^th Chapter, verse 6: “But He has made me ‘a byword and mockery’ among the people, and I have become one in whose face people spit.

The Keyword here is defined in the Hebrew this way:

‘MESHOL’ [מְשׁל]: “A satire; an allegory [of derision]; a proverb about which people speak; a pithy maxim of a metaphorical nature; a simile or a parable [that lasts for generations]; a person or thing [or event] cited as a notorious and outstanding example or embodiment of something; object of general reproach, derision, scorn.”

COMMENTARY. “He — That is, God, who is generally designed by this pronoun in this book; ‘hath made me also a by-word of the people’ — Or, a Proverb, or subject of common talk. My miseries are so great and unprecedented that they fill all people with discourse, and are become proverbial to express extreme misery. ‘And, or rather, but, or although, aforetime I was as a tabret’ [tambourine played by women] — That is, I was the people’s delight and darling, the matter of their praise, and received by them with applauses, and, as it were, with instruments of music. Thus, he aggravates his present misery by the mention of his ‘former prosperity.’” – ALBERT BENSON,

COUP D’ETAT. I believe that the ‘Strange Fire’ (cf. Leviticus 10:1-3) that was lit on January 6 was caused by many factors, not the least of which was the incendiary rhetoric and dark vision of DONALD TRUMP. But beneath that, in the dying embers of the American Collapse, was what a New York Times piece on November 29, 2017, by IAN BURUMA titled:

“The End of the Anglo-American Order.”

In that regard, I believe that a Coalition of Subversive Forces – including, notably, leading members of the American Church, QAnon, Trump Nationalists, militant, right wing fringe groups such as The Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Boogaloo Bois and others – planned, engineered and carried out the attempted treasonous, seditious and Biblically violent:

‘Overthrow of the Government of the United States of America.’

Stunningly, recent reports from the Congressional Committee investigating the Insurrection reveals members of Trump’s Executive Team, United States Congressmen and women, and MAGA reps were actively co-planning the Event with these seditious groups. – cf. PETER WADE, “A Danger to Our Democracy,” ‘Rolling Stone,’ October 25, 2021

Writing for the ‘Philadelphia Inquirer’ the day after the Event on January 7, WILL BUNCH laments the tragedy this way:

“On the bloody morning after, America woke up (apologies to the ‘90s alt-rock band Lit) with the wrecked car still parked in the front yard of the U.S. Capitol, as a nation that finally fell asleep with its clothes on around 3:45 a.m. is now — head throbbing — promising the world that the unfortunate events of January 6, 2021, were the absolute rock bottom. In the wake of a full-blown Insurrection that halted U.S. governance for more than 6 hours Wednesday, the national mood was one of nauseated, hungover contrition.” – “America Hit Rock Bottom on January 6, 2021”

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But what Contrition, beloved? Where was the thunderous outcry from the 380,000 or so Christian Churches nationwide? JASON LEMON of ‘Newsweek’ declared that over 400 “Evangelical” leaders denounced the Insurrection. But closer examination revealed that they were overwhelmingly from the Progressive wing of the Church, while noting Pew research findings confirmed that Conservative Nationalist believers still supported Trump by 78-81%.

So yes, beloved, something broke on that day, reminiscent of Erich Sauer’s ‘Catastrophic Breach’ that cracked through the Foundations of the Cosmos. So was our Darkest of Days like that, a seismic rending of old fault lines that underlay the Anglo-American Order spoken of by Mr. Buruma.

And now we are deeply, perhaps forever ‘Divided’ over which side of the American Breach we pitch our tent. And it is becoming increasingly violent by the day.

THE TEACHING

This is what I sense we must learn about the FIRST STEPS toward preparation for that third, Last Storm, beloved. I will likely publish a Major Follow-up on this last installment next month with even more specific Preparations for these Final Days of human history, to encourage ‘Responsible Readiness’ for what is coming.

But first, to the KEY TERMS in the passage before us.

INQUIRE OF HIM. From the Hebrew, ‘Baqash’ [בָּקַשׁ], meaning: “To seek or search out by worship and prayer [and study]; to strive after [zealously]; to ask, beg, beseech, desire, make inquisition, procure, request, require; to go in search or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place; to [earnestly] ask a question; to seek for truth or information by asking questions [on all matters of justice, righteousness and humility].”

MAY BE HIDDEN. Here the word is ‘Sathar’ [סָתַר]: “To conceal or hide oneself [from danger]; to escape God’s notice; to shelter [in place]; to be absent from; to cover or keep (from harm); to secret, withhold or withdraw from sight or attention; to depart from or to; to hide the face from, overlook; to be pardoned; to remain unseen, as with a mystery.”

THE LORD’S ANGER. Finally, we get to the heart of God’s Grace to all who truly seek and follow Him, as over against what the Apostates shall face. From the Hebrew, ‘Aph’ [אַף], or: “Great anger expressed in the appearance of the nostrils; gives special emphasis to the emotional aspect of anger and wrath [in this case, God’s Divine Fury]; fierceness, violent passion; by implication, rage or outrage; violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury; usually accompanied with a propensity to take vengeance, or to obtain satisfaction from the offending party.”

COMMENTARY. “‘It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.’ Shall these too then scarcely be ‘Hid in the Day of the Lord’s Anger’ (that trust in Thee), in the Secret of Thy Presence from the pride of man; ‘Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues,’ Psalm 31:20. And in Isaiah, ‘A Man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest’ [or storm], Isaiah 32:2; and, ‘There shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain,’ Isaiah 5:6.” – ALBERT BARNES, ‘Notes on the Old and New Testaments,’ 1884; edited

Here there is the delicious and absolute Promise of God to His penitents, that they shall NOT have to face His Wrath. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, NKJV). To argue that we are, is to both neutralize Christ’s Death on the Cross for us all, which would make Him a liar.

No thanks. You may if you wish, but I’ll take a pass.

SHELTER. Though this term is not specifically in the Text, let’s use Mr. Webster (1828) again for its indelible meaning for us.

“To cover from violence, injury, annoyance or attack; to defend; to protect from danger; to secure or render safe; to harbor; to cover from notice; to disguise for protection; to betake to cover or a safe place.”

To seal such a precious Covenant tightly shut as it were, is a favorite, somewhat mysterious passage from an Old Testament Prophet.

“Come, my people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the [Lord’s] wrath is past. For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place [heaven] to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also will disclose the blood shed upon her and will no longer cover her slain and conceal her guilt.” – ISAIAH 26:20-21, AMPC

As I have argued for some years now, God’s Remnant shall pass through many ordeals described by Christ as “Birth Pangs” (Matthew 24:8). But we shall not pass through The Time of Jacob’s Troubles,’ designed as God’s special Plan of Testing and Redemption for The Jews of God’s Israel.

That is the Canon, beloved, and I dare not change it by one small jot.

FINAL THOUGHTS

STATE OF THE CHURCH. I don’t intend to do still another general survey describing the current condition of the American Church; it’s ‘Dismal.’ There, I stated what is obvious from hundreds of such studies of us during the past three decades.

DISMAL. “Dark; gloomy; as a dismal shade. Sorrowful; dire; horrid; melancholy; calamitous; unfortunate; as a dismal accident; dismal effects. Frightful; horrible; as a dismal scream.” -NOAH WEBSTER, ‘American Dictionary of the English Language,’ 1828; edited

PETER WEHNER. “The election of the elders of an Evangelical Church is usually an uncontroversial, even unifying event. But this summer, at an influential megachurch in Northern Virginia, something went badly wrong. A trio of elders didn’t receive 75 percent of the vote, the threshold necessary to be installed … What happened at McLean Bible Church is happening all over the Evangelical world. Influential figures such as the theologian RUSSELL MOORE and the Bible teacher BETH MOORE felt compelled to leave the Southern Baptist Convention; both were targeted by right-wing [Trumpian] elements within the SBC. The Christian Post, an online Evangelical conservative newspaper, published an op-ed by one of its contributors criticizing religious conservatives like [McLean Bible Church Pastor DAVID] PLATT, Russell Moore, Beth Moore, and ED STETZER, the executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, as ‘Progressive Christian figures’ who ‘commonly champion Leftist ideology.’ In a matter of months, four pastors resigned from Bethlehem Baptist Church, a flagship church in Minneapolis. One of those pastors, BRYAN PICKERING, cited mistreatment by [pro-Trump] elders, domineering leadership, bullying, and ‘spiritual abuse and a toxic culture.’” – “The Evangelical Church is Breaking Apart,” ‘The Atlantic,’ October 25, 2021; edited

THE THEOLOGY. “They hate the one who reprimands [the unrighteous] in the [court held at the city] gate [regarding him as unreasonable and rejecting his reprimand], and they detest him who speaks [the truth] with integrity and honesty.” – AMOS 5:10, AMP

COMMENTARY. “‘They hate him that rebuketh in the gate’ … Openly and publicly in the Courts of Judicature: Wicked judges hated the Prophets of the Lord, such as Amos, who faithfully reproved them for the perversion of justice, even when they were upon the bench: Or the people were so corrupt and degenerate, that they hated those faithful judges who reproved them for their vices in the open Courts of Justice, when they came before them. The former sense seems best, and more agreeable to the context: ‘And they abhor him that speaketh uprightly’; not only hate him, but abhor him, cannot bear the sight of him, or to hear his name mentioned that speaks out his mind freely and honestly, and tells them of their sins, and advises them to repent of them, and leave them.” -JOHN GILL, ‘Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

Thus did the Forces of American Christianity help plan and execute the Bloody Insurrection of January 6. So that we are all on the same page, a COUP D’ETAT is defined as:

“The sudden, often violent overthrow of an existing government by a small group. The Coup d’etat, also known as Coup, is typically an illegal, unconstitutional seizure of power conducted by a dictator, a guerrilla military force, or an opposing political faction.” – ROBERT LONGLEY, ‘ThoughtCo,’ October 5, 2021; edited

OUR DUTY. Let me quite honest with y’all: After over 60 years of political activism for both Left and Right causes beginning in the 1950s, I am no longer trying to save a Nation. I frankly think it’s too late for that. Rather, I am trying to now save souls, one soul at a time.

Read something about doing that in an old, leather bound Book some years back. Went something like this:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” – MATTHEW 28:19-20, AMP

Since my personal calling is primarily to ‘The Church,’ however, my particular Mission is to more narrowly make every effort to follow JUDE 1:22-23 (NKJV) – “And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”

THE FIRST STEP. As I close, beloved, this is where the theological, practical and existential rubber indeed meets the American Road today: DEPART from the current, insidious corruption and compromise of the highly politicized American Church. It is effectively the First Step of Repentance, noticeable to all.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of [Babylon], my people, so that you will not be a partner in her sins and receive her plagues; for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment].” – REVELATION 18:4-5, AMP

THE REWARD. That is to say, Come out of the False Nationalist, Monetized Church! Jesus did not call us to Politics, Power and Mammon, but to Redemption and to Rescue of the Lost. In so doing, you shall be ‘excused’ from God’s Fiery Judgments, lovingly fitted into that most Sacred of Sanctuaries, wherein is found DIVINE SHELTER:

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!’” – PSALM 91:1-2, AMPC

‘Flee then,’ beloved, from Revolt to Repentance, from Fire to Freedom, and from Pain and Peril to Peace and Calm, even as the Storms rage and pound against the very Lintels and Brightwork of God’s Mighty Ark.

He shall not let it in to destroy you, as you are forever Shuttered In with Him, hid warm and dry ’neath His mighty Shadow, in which there is no darkness nor gloom, but only Light, even the Light of the entire world, forever and ever and ever.

Ever your servant, DK

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