Real Talk 2019

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Photo by Ryan, Pike’s Peak at sunrise 12-13-19

Hello everyone and God bless you all!  We are just about half way through December and 2019 is almost history, so I’d like to share my Christian American perspective on where we are at right now in our time.  It’s a perspective based on God’s Word, supernatural experiences, and my walk with Jesus.  It is also a perspective based on living as an American (born and raised) my entire 41 years on earth.  This post is just me sitting down with you all and having some real talk about 2019.

It is amazing that 2020 is just around the corner!  Another decade has gone by as we march towards the end.  Here in America, a lot has changed in that time.  Parts of our country have become so depraved and immoral that they are now unrecognizable as America.  Cities that have become havens for lawlessness and homelessness.  “Sanctuary cities” is what they like to call them.  Some have become so bad there are drug needles and human feces in the streets and crimes go unpunished.  Don’t believe me?  Check out San Francisco, L.A., and Sacramento.

There are local governments run by radical socialists who openly hate America and our Constitution.  We also have radical Muslims running local governments who openly admit to hating Jews, Christians, and America (I know not all Muslims are like that).  People say we are headed for a second Civil War.  If you ask me, we have already been in a Civil War for quite some time.  We just haven’t arrived at the point of bearing arms on the battlefield yet.  Although sadly, there have already been real casualties in the streets.

2019 in America has been a tinderbox of violence and hatred stirred up by a liberal propaganda machine they like to call “the news.”  24/7 lies are what they peddle.  They do it because they hate God and they hate America.  They want a new world order, which is their sick illusion of grandeur that a socialist one world government will somehow bring them a glorious utopia.

They might want to go ask Venezuelans how that is working out.  Our neighbor is from Venezuela and he has been trying to get his parents out of there for years.  It is so much worse than people know.  Did you know people had to eat zoo animals to survive?  Did you know educated teachers became prostitutes?  There is no utopia with socialism!  There is poverty and violence built on a foundation of lies and greed.  Socialism is just a bridge to tyranny.

Socialism is not a share the wealth program.  It is a consolidate and control the wealth scam to funnel all the power and wealth into the hands of the power hungry greedy few who want to dominate you forever, and they will do it through violence.  What do you think Antifa is?  They are socialist violence.  They operate just like Hitler’s brown shirts.  That is socialism friends.  They will literally beat you in the streets, point a gun at your head, take all your wealth, and then welcome you to their “utopia” as you are standing in line for week old bread wondering what happened to your country.

In 2019, there are people in America and Europe who are purposefully tearing down national borders and sovereignty to make their new world order dream come true.  They want a one world government and their motto is “order out of chaos.”  The chaos they are creating is by design and it is designed to destroy the current order we have been living in since World War II.  Keep paying attention to prophecy because we already see all the players being positioned for World War III and the coming one world government of the evil one.  Those who promote the new world order are serving the evil one and they are building it for him.

It is dangerous to speak the truth in 2019.  Those in power who own the social media outlets are one with those who want the evil one’s new world order, and they are doing everything they can to shut down free speech.  We are living in a time when people call evil good and good evil.  A time when people think that truth is whatever you want it to be.  A time when people not only hate God, but want Him and His Word out of society completely.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5

“Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter.”

Isaiah 5:20

They want you to believe that God’s Word is a lie, but their belief in things like 100 genders is the truth.  And if you don’t believe their truth, they say you are a hateful bigot deserving of punishment.  I don’t care what they say, God’s Word is truth!

When we were in L.A. we saw a Mexican dude standing outside of a girl’s bathroom at LAX.  He had a wig and his hairy man legs were sticking out of a mini skirt.  I don’t care what anybody says about it, his gender is male no matter what he calls himself.  And if he had tried to go into the bathroom with my daughter, he and I would have had a problem.  There would be no violence, but you better believe he is not going in there with my daughter.  You got that liberals?  Quit trying to destroy our society as you throw a fit over God’s order!  Male or female folks, and that’s the truth.

“This is the written account of Adam’s line.

When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.  He created them male and female and blessed them.  And when they were created, he called them “man.”

Genesis 5:1-2

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Jesus praying in John 17:17

People need to understand that the destruction of our society’s morals and values is by design.  All of the race baiting on the news, the gay agenda, the laws to murder more babies, the leftist and gay agenda in the schools, the political hatred from the left, and all the socialist anti-American talk.  It’s all by design to destroy us!  Those in Hollywood are complicit in it too.  I just saw this morning on Twitter that Netflix made a sick mocking comedy about a gay Jesus!  Total blasphemy!  I’m telling you folks, we have got to be very close to the end!

The gay agenda has become such a political weapon that now they even mock Jesus Christ and blaspheme His Holy Name with their homosexual filth!  All I can say is God will not be mocked and they will reap what they sow.  Jesus is coming soon and next time He comes He won’t be riding on a donkey.  My advice to them is to repent before it’s too late!

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matthew 4:17

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Galatians 6:7-8

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

“Behold, I am coming soon!  Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”

Jesus speaking in Revelation 22:7

What will 2020 be like in this country?  It will most likely be rough politically, which will cause great conflict and stress in our society.  The socialist controlled democrats have been throwing an absolute violent fit since the American people firmly rejected their doctrine of lies in 2016.  We have seen people being attacked in the street for being white, wearing a red hat, being a Republican, being a conservative, and being a Christian.  The liberal dominated media stirred up that hatred folks!  Accusing guys like me of being racist when they are the ones who are racist and completely obsessed with skin color!  They declared it open season on God fearing American patriots and they quite literally encouraged people to commit acts of violence on us!

Those divisions of the flesh are from the evil one and he is the one causing all the violence and bloodshed through the liberal media propaganda.  You are not a racist just because you love your country and want to protect it!  They talk all that filth on stations like CNN because the globalists own the media and they are using hatred to get the new world order they want.  They are continually stirring up violence to cause the chaos they need to instigate a societal collapse.

They don’t want national sovereignty.  They want America and the nations of the world to fall!  They want to rule the world with a dominating global government!  That government will be run by the evil one for 7 years in the end and he will use the mark of the beast to enslave the people who are left during the Tribulation (also known as the time of Jacob’s trouble).  Do not accept that government and do not take the mark!

They already have the RFID microchip technology to do it and people are already getting it implanted in them just to do things like ride the train easier or get paid at work by scanning the chip in their hand.  I believe that will be the technology behind the mark because they can put all of our information on a chip and control us through it.  They are already using technology to track, control, and spy on us and they have been for a long time.  Yes, in 2019 we are seeing the build up to prophecy being fulfilled!

“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This calls for wisdom.  If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number.  His number is 666.”

Revelation 13:16-18

Now the dems want to continue with their ridiculous circus they call an impeachment trial as they continue their attack on Americans.  They have no grounds to impeach our President and they know it!  Their lies and false accusations will come back on them badly.  God hates false accusations.  The “impeachment” is just their chance to keep throwing a fit to make themselves feel better about getting beaten so badly in the election.  They are trying to remove our duly elected President and start a Civil War!

I pray their socialist agenda is wiped off the face of the earth and I am ready and willing to fight for my rights and freedom!  I don’t want a Civil War, but if that’s God’s will, so be it.  I’m never going to let a bunch of depraved atheist liberal socialists take my country, my freedom, or my life.  Me and mine will fight the good fight to the very end and I will protect those I love.  I’m never going to stop cutting down their lies with the mighty Sword of God’s Word either!  We must stand firm in God’s Word and speak the truth, or the only thing society will hear are the lies coming from those who hate God!

“Fight the good fight of the faith.  Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

1 Timothy 6:12

2019 has shown us that God’s Word is true!  We are seeing evidence of the end times all around us.  We have seen increased persecution of God’s Word and those who believe it.  We see the depravity that God’s Word told us we would see.  We see the hatred for God and we see that people’s love has grown cold.  God warned us these times were coming and we must stand firm to the end.

We even see more people messing with witchcraft and worshiping the evil one.  We have TV shows where people enter haunted houses and interact with demons.  More people are seeing demonic masquerading like glowing orbs and other manifestations.  As one who lived in a demon possessed house, I warn you with all my heart to flee from that evil and run to Jesus!!!  The spiritual war is going to continue to heat up and you better choose the right side!  Don’t mess around with evil, it will eventually kill you!  The evil one is a thief and a liar and he only comes to kill, steal, and destroy your soul!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Jesus speaking in John 10:10

Nobody knows what will happen in 2020, but I know and trust the One who does.  Jesus saw me through 2019 and I trust Him to see me through to the end.  If you don’t know Jesus, now is a real good time to meet Him!  The Bible is clear that we are going to see more madness as we approach the end.  Hold fast to Jesus and don’t let go!  Jesus is the only One who can save our souls!

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

“for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Colorado Sunrise

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Photo by Ryan, Sunrise 12-12-19

Good morning everyone.  It has been a rough week.  I had somebody speaking lies about me and falsely accusing me yesterday regarding what I preached on my blog a couple days ago, so I was dealing with that all afternoon.  It was very discouraging and I’m not even going to get into it.  On top of everything else with Celiac, my heart feels tired and beat down from it and I am asking the Lord to bring healing and peace to the situation.  Today, I am just going to show you some photos of the beautiful sunrise we had this morning.  I claim love and forgiveness over all false accusers and their false accusations against me and I am at peace in Jesus.  This is a new day the Lord has made and I choose to rejoice in Him and be glad, no matter what lying false preaching accusers say!

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 5:11-12

I took all these photos with my good Canon PowerShot SX50 HS camera.  Enjoy!

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After I took those photos, I went to the front of the house and got some really cool shots of the full moon setting in the west.

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Here is looking back east at the sunrise from the front of the house:

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“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his

hands.”

Psalm 19:1

Thank You Lord for declaring Your glory in Your creation!  Have a blessed day everyone!  You are all in my prayers!  Don’t ever forget, Jesus loves you and He died for you to set you free from sin and death!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

“for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

Grace and peace to you all!

 

An Eventful Morning

Pic quote Matthew 22 v 37

It has been an eventful morning.  Our kids have a late start on Wednesdays, so I was taking our daughter to school this morning.  As we came out of our neighborhood, an older lady pulled in front of us out of the neighborhood next to us and she was driving all over the road.  She was swerving left and right and she just about hit a truck in the oncoming lane when we turned right at the round-a-bout.  It was quite a scene and I called the police.  Definitely not what I expected when I got up this morning!

I stayed on the phone with the police dispatch and stayed a safe distance behind the lady as we approached town.  I gave the dispatch lady the description of her car and the plates and explained it appeared she was older and was having trouble controlling the car.  It was either that or she was drunk.  My conversation with dispatch was over once the officer pulled her over.  The officer called me shortly after that and asked me a few questions.  He also said that she was indeed an older lady and she was not drunk or anything.  I let him know I was glad she was okay and explained that maybe she has arthritis and was having trouble turning the wheel.  He agreed and thanked me for calling.  He seemed very compassionate and helpful as are most of the police officers in our town.

You just never know when or how God is going to use you!  Sometimes He calls you to action right after you get up in the morning!  I am really glad we left at a later time today and I’m glad God used me to potentially stop a serious accident.  Praise God she is okay and she didn’t hit that truck!  Please pray for her.  I hope she has someone to help her if she needs it.  She just wanted to do some shopping in town and she wasn’t going to let her age or ailments stop her.  I can relate to that!

Always be prayed up and ready to go in God’s armor.  It might be early in the morning and you might be tired, but we need to be ready to obey as God leads.  May we always look out for our neighbors and love them.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

Grace and peace to you all!

 

Colorado Bobcat

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Photo by Mr. Wolfe, Colorado Bobcat near our home

Hello everyone!  Just a quick post tonight.  A neighbor posted some cool photos of a Bobcat the other day and I thought you might like to see it.  Bobcats live here in Colorado, but it is very rare to see one, especially so close to Denver.  I have mentioned that this area use to be a Native American hunting ground and it is still very wild.  This Bobcat was walking through the golf course just up the street from our home.  They are bigger than people think.  Mountain lions and bears use it as a travel path too.  Never know what you are going to run into out here in Colorado!  It is a beautiful part of God’s creation, but you don’t want to get tangled up with that big kitty.  If you see one, it is wise to respect it and give it plenty of space.

Bobcat 2

God is awesome!

“You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.”

Psalm 104:20

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

It’s About Why He Was Born!

manger scene Thomas Kinkade
“The Nativity” by Thomas Kinkade

I was thinking about Christmas and reading about the birth of Jesus in the Book of Matthew today.  I am always struck by the power of the angel’s statement to Joseph regarding the reason he was to call him Jesus.  Remember, Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and giving Him glory for who He is and why He was born!  It is the greatest birthday celebration in the whole world!

I have been blogging on WordPress for over a year now.  I started in August of 2018, so last December was my first Christmas as a blogger.  Unfortunately, I ran into quite a few legalistic believers and false preachers during that time that were very hateful and judgmental about Christmas.  As a matter of fact, in all my time blogging, those are the people that have given me the most trouble, not unbelievers!  In the most loving way I can say this, I am not putting up with it this year or any other year.

There are a lot of people out there that claim to know Jesus and they pretend to have fellowship with us, but they are actually legalistic wolves that believe they can earn their salvation through works.  All they want to do is tear at you with their vile lies and point their bitter judgmental fingers at you while they try to beat you over the head with verses they don’t understand.  And they don’t understand them because most likely, they don’t have the Holy Spirit.  Beware of such “believers.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas are false believers (although it makes me wonder).  Some are real believers that have somehow got mixed up with legalism, but others are straight up false preachers.

They came at me with their misunderstandings of Jeremiah 10 and condemned me for having a Christmas tree.  I have never carved an idol in my life, that’s not what a Christmas tree is, and I sure don’t worship it!  It’s a decoration for crying out loud!  Some people are so legalistic it’s ridiculous.  Such people still think they can fulfill the Law on their own and they are not trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.  They act as if they are still under Old Testament Law as if they could be righteous on their own.  Jesus fulfilled the Law because we can’t!  No one will be justified by observing the Law.  Read Galatians and Romans.  God’s Word will prove it to you!

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Here is our Christmas tree. The star at the top represents the star of Bethlehem. We string it with lights because Jesus is the Light of the world. The ornaments show the love our family has for Him and each other. God is love and Christmas is all about His love for us!

Other people don’t like the word Christmas and want to argue about the origins of the word.  One of them even told me it “grieves her heart” to here the phrase “Merry Christmas.”  She was a former Catholic and her reasoning for being grieved was based on some weird Catholic painting depicting King Herod’s orders to kill the boys in Bethlehem (not sure why someone would want a painting like that).  She tried to tell me Christmas is celebrating Herod’s slaughter (still one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard).  Then a couple of her friends jumped in the conversation pointing their fingers at me with all kinds of accusations and judgments.  It was quite strange and crazy, and I still shake my head at that one.  We know about King Herod trying to kill Jesus and we know he ordered the murder of all the boys in Bethlehem aged two and under (Matthew 2:13-18), but that is absolutely not why we celebrate Christmas.

Others want to argue about the date of Christmas as if we don’t know that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th.  That’s not the point in our time.  The point is we celebrate Jesus and He is glorified worldwide through the celebration of His birthday!  Christmas puts the focus on Jesus and shares the Gospel with the world!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

I don’t understand why a believer in Jesus Christ would not celebrate the birth of their Lord and Savior, but if that’s you, I don’t judge you.  I am not here to argue with legalistic people.  I am here to preach the Gospel!  I love Jesus Christ with all of my heart and I’m going to celebrate Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth!  Judge me if you want to.  Jesus is my Lord and Savior and He deserves all the glory and praise!

I say “Merry Christmas” and if that offends you, tough cookies.  All of the people who subscribe to my blog now have never treated me that way and I thank you all for that.  The false preachers who attacked me learned pretty quick not to mess with me and they are gone now.  I preach the truth boldly and I will not back down.  If you are reading this blog for the first time and you are a legalistic Christmas hater, you will probably want to stay off my blog in December.  Your hateful comments will just get blocked, you won’t like talking with me anyway because I will preach the truth to you, and your misunderstandings of Scripture will never defeat the truth of God’s Word.  Your legalism will never defeat my freedom in Christ either (Galatians 5:1)!

Romans 8:1-2 burns bright in my heart!  I am not a slave to the law of sin and death!  I am righteous through His blood alone and I celebrate and worship Him because He died to save my soul and set me free from sin and death!

Now that I have been clear on that, let’s take a look at the birth of Jesus and what the angel of the Lord told Joseph:

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave him the name Jesus.”

Matthew 1:18-25

That is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus!  He was born to save us from our sins!  His Name in Hebrew is Yeshua, which literally means “the Lord is salvation.”  The root verb of His Name means “to deliver, to rescue, and to save.”  He is God in human flesh!  God with us!  Jesus rescues us, delivers us, and saves us from sin and death!  The greatest gift God ever gave to mankind was coming to earth as a beautiful little baby boy to save the world!

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Don’t ever forget why Jesus was born and why we celebrate Christmas!  Jesus is Lord and He is our only Savior!  It is His birthday and just like the Magi did, I want to honor and worship Him as I celebrate His birth!  Jesus Christ is Lord!  May He be celebrated and glorified throughout the whole world!

Grace and peace to you all, and Merry Christmas!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

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What A Difference

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Photo by Ryan, Sunrise 12-5-19

What a difference a day makes!  Yesterday, I was in pretty bad pain and I had to get a cavity filled on top of that.  Guess what?!  By the time I got to the dentist the pain in my body was completely gone!  Also, the cavity filling went great!  I didn’t even need a shot for pain before the procedure!  I don’t know what you all are praying, but God is answering!  I have pretty much no pain this morning and it’s incredible!  My tooth is fixed, the pain is gone, and it’s a brand new day!  Thank You Jesus!

I haven’t been without pain in the morning in a very long time!  I’m kind of sitting here in shock.  I’m not used to feeling this good!  I really pray the pain stays away for good!  Every day has been a fight for me for many years and I wake up gritty ready to fight the pain every morning.  Not today!

I just want to give the Lord big praise!  Thank You Jesus for answering our prayers Lord!  Thank You for taking the pain!  Thank You for blessing the cavity filling!  Thank You for always being with me and never leaving me!  Thank You for Your comfort and love!

Have a blessed and beautiful Friday everyone!  God answers prayers and miracles really do happen!  Trust in Him and believe!

“My heart is steadfast, O God;

I will sing and make music with all

my soul.

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise you, O LORD, among the

nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

For great is your love, higher than the

heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,

and let your glory be over all the

earth.”

Psalm 108:1-5

Here is one of my favorite Christian bands and one of my favorite worship songs of all time.  I love playing this on my guitar and singing to the Lord!  Hallelujah Lord, Hallelujah!!!

Grace and peace to you all!

Take A Knee

Knight Amen

I love that poster quote!  The evil one may think he has me beat with all this pain and suffering I’m going through, but when I’m on my knees to the Lord I am strong!  It has been a rough week.  I couldn’t write yesterday because of the pain, then I had an eye appointment I barely made it to.  Today, I have even more pain and I have a dentist appointment to get a cavity fixed.  Pain on top of pain.  Show of hands, who likes going to the dentist?  That’s what I thought, nobody does.  No matter what pain we are going through, we must give it to the Lord.  He is the One who sustains us in times of trouble.

Our dentist is great and I have no need to worry, but it will be tough laying back in the chair with the pain I have in my body.  The filling is nothing compared to that.  I appreciate your prayers.  My appointment is at 3 p.m. Mountain.

Pain is strange at times.  When you live with a chronic illness that includes chronic pain, you get used to different levels of pain.  The pain you have one day might be less or more pain the next day.  What is minor pain to us may seem major to someone who does not suffer chronic pain.  On days when the pain is minor it can feel like there is no pain at all, even as you sit in pain.  I am always hurting.  It’s just a matter of how bad.

Today is fairly bad and I am praying up and doing everything I can to make it to my dentist appointment.  I have to get this cavity fixed, so I have to set my face like flint and get there despite the pain.  His grace will be sufficient because Jesus is enough for me.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

I get on my knees to Jesus and I cry out to Him!  I lift my prayers to Him because He is my help and my refuge!  He is my Lord and Savior!  His Holy Spirit gives me strength and peace in the storm and I know He is with me by the Spirit!  I am a child of God, redeemed, forgiven, and free!  Nothing can snatch me out of His hand, and as I rise up and say, “Amen,” the devil is crushed under my feet!

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

Romans 16:20

Trust in Jesus no matter how bad the pain!  He will see you through to the end!  May His will be done!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

A Serious Question

Pic quote Words of Jesus

A couple weeks ago on Twitter, there was a Christian asking a serious question.  He wanted to know if Christians (meaning born again believers in Jesus Christ) would go to hell if they committed suicide.  The question really bothered me because Christians should know the answer to that based on our core belief in Jesus.  This will be a longer post (1,700 words) due to the seriousness of the question, so get ready to dig into God’s Word on this one.

First off, the answer to that question is NO, they would NOT go to hell.  People most likely think they would go to hell because of Catholic lies they’ve been told regarding salvation.  People who base their salvation on works are never assured of their salvation.  People who base their salvation 100% on God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ are 100% assured of their salvation!  The only reason a person loses Heaven is by rejecting Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son.  A believer in Jesus Christ has not rejected Him and suicide cannot separate us from Him.  Nothing can!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16-18

Works based false preachers are still living in fear of death.  Jesus set us free from that slavery!  It is the evil one who holds the power of death and that is why people are afraid of death.  Jesus destroyed the devil’s work!  There is no fear of death for the born again believer in Jesus Christ!  Someone who trusts in their own works for salvation will always fear death and they will always worry that something they do wrong will send them to hell.  That is not the Way of faith in Jesus Christ!  Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life and because of Him I have no fear of death!  He was right there with me when I stopped breathing in 2012 and there was absolutely no fear!  There was no pain either. Just perfect peace, and it was more beautiful than I can explain.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil–and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Hebrews 2:14-15

“…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

1 John 3:8 (2nd sentence)

“There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

1 John 4:18

“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9

If you believe in Jesus Christ, then stop living in fear of death!  If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you will never be condemned!  If you believe in Jesus Christ, then you are NOT appointed to suffer wrath!  You are appointed to receive salvation through Jesus!!!  Praise God and rejoice in your salvation!!!  Give Jesus the praise and glory He deserves!!!

If someone has accepted Jesus Christ by faith, then they are saved and nothing can snatch that person out of His hand.  The Holy Spirit resides in the born again believer and the Holy Spirit is God’s seal on us that proves we belong to Him and proves our salvation is guaranteed!  No matter how the believer in Jesus dies, the believer will be in Heaven with Jesus forever.  We are redeemed by His Blood shed on the cross for us and nothing can change that or take that away.  Once you are His, you are His forever.

Pic quote John 10 v 28

Pic quote Eph 1 v 13 v 14

Our salvation is not dependent on human effort, but only on the finished work of Jesus Christ!  When will people understand this?!  Jesus saves us!  We cannot save ourselves!  That is the whole reason Jesus died for us!  It is terribly sad if the tragedy of suicide happens, but if the person believed in Jesus, then they are saved.  His blood covers all of our sins; past, present, and future.  Suicide does not change God’s promises or His faithfulness to a person who believes in His one and only Son.  You cannot snatch yourself out of His hand once you have given your life to Jesus Christ by faith.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:19-23

Depression is a major problem in every society because depression exists everywhere on earth.  It is an unfortunate reality of living in a sinful fallen world.  Nobody is immune to it.  I struggled through a very dark depression for several years while fighting Celiac and it’s by God’s grace that I’m still alive.

A few months before I published my testimony and started this blog, I went to see our Pastor at our old church.  The disease had really taken its toll and beat me down.  When I walked into the church that day, I had pretty much given up hope and I just wanted to die.  I just wanted to be home with Jesus and be free from the pain.  I actually cried out many times for the Lord to take me.

I talked with the Pastor about the disease and all the suffering.  I told him about the crushing sadness and hopelessness and I broke down in tears.  He listened and prayed for me and gave me some words of encouragement and it helped give me a better perspective on things.  He also introduced me to a Christian counselor and I talked with him a couple times too.  It’s okay to talk to somebody.  We need that fellowship, so please get help if you need it.  Don’t suffer alone.  God loves you and you are not alone!

Sometimes life can knock us down so hard that it seems impossible to get back up, but suicide is never the answer.  We go to Heaven through our faith in Jesus alone, but we should go home when He calls us home.  Just make sure you don’t condemn the brother or sister who was suffering depression.  Those believers that have fallen to suicide for whatever reason are safe in the arms of Jesus.  They don’t lose their salvation and there is not a single verse in the Bible that says they would lose it.  Our salvation is secure and finished through Jesus!  We are justified, redeemed, forgiven, and saved by His blood alone!

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

Romans 5:9

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

Ephesians 1:7-8

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Galatians 2:21

Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian preacher who was imprisoned and tortured by the Soviets during World War 2.  In his book, “Tortured for Christ,” he talks about a day when he and his fellow brothers were being tortured by the prison guards.  The beatings were so bad during the torture session that one of the brothers in Christ couldn’t take it anymore and he jumped out of a window to his death.  Richard talked about the love and compassion of Christ and how his brother in Christ was forgiven.  The brother is not in hell.  He is in Heaven because He overcame by the Blood of Jesus through his faith in Jesus!  Is it your right to judge the man’s pain and how he reacted?  Is it your right to judge his devotion to Jesus and doubt his salvation?  No, it is not.

The true heart of the question regarding Christian suicide and hell comes down to whether you trust Jesus for your salvation or you trust yourself and your own effort to save you.  Legalistic false preachers who preach a works based salvation are never secure in their salvation because they are not saved.  Your works will never save you!  I have said it before and I will say it again, you either believe in Jesus or you don’t.  If you believe in Jesus, then trust in Him 100% with all your heart and take Him at His Word when He tells you nothing can snatch you out of His hand!

Nothing can separate us from Jesus once we believe.  Nothing can snatch us out of His hand once we believe.  Not even death.  Jesus is the resurrection and the life and He will raise us up at the last day just as He promised!

Grace and peace to you all!

pic quote john 11 v 25

 

 

 

A Ray Of Hope

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View from my chair on the back deck

Hello and God bless you all from sunny blue sky Colorado!  It is 59 degrees today and I’ll take that in December any day!  I have been suffering terribly today, but I don’t want to focus on that.  I am in pain almost every day.  It’s okay to talk about it and sometimes I do, but today I want to share the blessing God gave me through the pain.  I pray this is a blessing and an encouragement to you all!

Every now and then I do posts like this.  I am here to preach the Gospel and a big part of that is forming friendships along the way.  I always enjoy seeing all of your pictures from around the world.  It gives me an inside glimpse at what your lives are like and it helps me understand you better.  Hopefully these posts help you get to know me better too.

So, to the blessing!  After fighting pain all morning, I decided to sit on the deck just before lunch.  The sunshine out there is phenomenal!  The backyard faces south, so the back deck becomes a very hot sun deck very quickly.  I have one little chair out there and it is amazingly therapeutic to sit there and soak in the sun after battling pain that literally put me on my knees all morning.

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We live in a big gulch, almost like a small valley, and our house sits on a sloping ridge on the northern side.  This whole area used to be a Native American hunting ground for bison, deer, and elk.  People have even found arrow heads and pottery out here.  We don’t see bison or elk around here in our time, but we have plenty of deer along with bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and all the little critters too.  Our town has a rich Wild West history, as does the entire state of Colorado.  I have lived in this beautiful state for about 34 years now, and there is no place on earth I’d rather be than right here a mile high.

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There is a steep main road that leads up the giant hill to our neighborhood at the top.  During the founding of the town in the 1800s, the road was a train track.  It was so steep for the train that they had to use a second special train to push it up the hill.  It is so calm and peaceful in our little valley.  I love watching the cars drive by while I listen to the birds play.  It is very quiet and it’s like the cars drive by in slow motion at times.  I love it when the big rigs drive down the hill.  Some of them have the older brakes that make the cool semi truck sound, and I have always liked that.

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You can see Pike’s Peak rising in the background.

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I haven’t shaved for a few days because of the pain, so here is me enjoying God’s blessings despite the pain.  My daughter always says, “Daddy, shave your scruffies.”  That always makes me laugh.  My bony face is the face of Celiac.  I only weigh around 135 pounds and I stand 6 foot 1 inch tall.  I need to gain a good 30 pounds to be back at my normal weight, but I can’t because of my damaged small intestine.  Nothing is impossible for God, so I pray and trust Him with the outcome.

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For my Chi-town homies, you will notice I’m sportin’ the Cubbies World Series shirt today.  I’m a Colorado mountain man with a bit of Chicago in me too.  I went to High School in St. Charles.  That is where we lived during the 4 years in the haunted house.  Our neighborhood was right off the Fox River.

My parents and most of my relatives live in Illinois.  I have been to Chicago many times and have been to many Cubs games.  I even met Harry Caray at Wrigley Field once.  We also went to many Blackhawks games at the old stadium (back in the 90s).  Many times we would take the Metra train into the city, which was fun.  I was at the playoff game, which became the last game they played at the stadium before they tore it down.  Listening to the National Anthem in that place was awesome!  Good memories!

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We back up to a big open space.  The picture above is the little rock park our kids grew up playing at.  We would just jump the fence and walk over to it.  They loved jumping around on the rocks and they still do.  In the summer they love riding their bikes through the open space.  There is a long system of trails throughout the whole neighborhood and they connect with the town.

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Looking west towards the Rockies.
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Zoom shot between the houses.

The photo below is where I’ve been writing most of my posts lately.  I have an office downstairs, but I like looking out the window in the kitchen.  You’ll notice I never blog without the Sword of the Spirit (to the left of my laptop).  It might be a little handheld Bible, but that is one big sharp Sword!  The kids like it when I make the “sword being unsheathed” sound effect when I pick it up.  I always tell them, “keep your Sword sharp kids.”

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Trusting in Jesus is how I live my life.  It is a life lived by faith one step at a time and I praise God for all He has done for me and my family.  Through all the suffering, He has always proven Himself to be faithful and loving.  The Lord really comforted me out in the sun today.  There is nothing like a good 30 minutes of high altitude Rocky Mountain sun to do the body good!  Thank You Lord!

“Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“We live by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians 5:7

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Hebrews 12:2-3

I am choosing to fix my eyes on Jesus.  He is the One that carries me through the pain and He will see me through to the very end!  May His will be done!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

Dear Atheist

Sunset 11-30-19
Photo by Ryan (Getting gas at 7-11 last night), Last Rocky Mountain sunset of November 2019

Good morning everyone and God bless you all as we begin December 2019!  I have been up since 5 a.m. reading blogs and chatting with friends here on WordPress.  One of the blogs I read this morning is written by an atheist.  She talked about atheist “nontracts” that she said were similar to the Gospel tracts Christians use to evangelize at times.  She discussed the contents of the atheist informational tracts and one of them was called, “Dear Christian.”  It is a tract that is supposed to challenge the Christian’s beliefs and “open” the Christian’s mind to “free thinking.”  I found it very interesting, but there is just one thing, man’s philosophy cannot answer the truth of the spiritual realm that is found in God’s Word.  No amount of philosophy will ever change what I have lived through!

I have posted comments to the atheist’s blog in the past, but she never approves my comments or responds.  I am assuming that is because she has no answer and my testimony really freaks her out.  What do you do when you are an atheist who encounters a guy who used to be an atheist, but he isn’t anymore because of the intense spiritual events he lived through?  What do you do when that guy preaches the Gospel to you and tells you all about the spiritual events he lived through?  What happens is you are confronted with the truth and you have a choice to make.  You can dismiss what I tell you and think I’m crazy and ignore me, but the fact remains that these events happened to me and my family whether you believe it or not.  What is crazy is fighting God with your mind as you try to act more intelligent than God with your human philosophy.  Man’s philosophy leads to spiritual bondage, not freedom.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 5:1

Man’s philosophy is slave thinking, not free thinking.  Here is the comment I left under the atheist blogger’s post.  She did not post my comment on her blog and she did not respond.  This could be called, “Dear Atheist.”

Interesting.  I used to hate God and I hated Christians.  Let me ask you this, what happens when all your philosophy gets blown away when God opens your eyes to the spiritual realm?  When I was in 8th grade (back in 1991), we moved into a house that we soon found out was possessed by a demon.  We suffered poltergeist torment the entire 4 years I was in High School and it changed our lives forever.  Lights going on and off at random, our dog getting kicked out of thin air, my sister waking up one night to a dark figure standing in the corner of her room, it made a breathing noise in my left ear, took clothes out of my parent’s closet and laid them over my Dad while he slept, crayon marks all over the walls and high ceilings, it knocked framed art off the walls, it lit a candle in my sister’s room, and many other terrifying things it did to us…for the entire 4 years.

I ended up coming to Jesus my freshman year in college at the age of 18 (1996) and I went home that Christmas break and rebuked the demon out of our house in the Name of Jesus.  I have been following Jesus and preaching the Gospel ever since. Philosophy is an endless circle of dialogue that never gets anywhere and won’t save your soul.  We all need a Savior and His Name is Jesus.  I didn’t want to believe it either and I used to get real mad whenever Christians would preach to me.  Living in a haunted house and being terrorized night and day for 4 years changed all that.

My life continued to be supernatural after I accepted Christ and in the summer of 1998 I had two encounters with angels in Denver.  14 years later in 2012 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I ate a sandwich on oat bread on 4-28-2012 and went into anaphylaxis for the first time in my life.  The torturous pain lasted all day and that night I went into anaphylactic shock and stopped breathing.  I died for a short time, left my body, and I was with Jesus.  I did not see Him, but He walked over to me and said, “It’s okay.”  I was at perfect peace and there was absolutely no pain.  I came back in my body in the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit and my wife witnessed the entire miraculous event as she was praying over my body.

I am 41 now and I have been following Jesus and preaching the Gospel for 23 years now.  All I can tell you is Heaven and hell are real and people better make the right choice.  God and His angels are very real and so are Satan and his demons. Your philosophy does not hold up to the Truth of God’s Word and it never will.  Maybe someday He will have to show you the spiritual realm and prove it to you like He did for me.

I published my testimony on Amazon.  It’s called, “One Man’s Very Strange Supernatural Life.”  If you would like a free copy of my eBook, please contact me and I will send you one directly from Amazon.

God bless you,

Ryan Callahan

You could be an atheist philosopher and talk in circles until you are blue in the face, and nothing you say would ever change the Truth God has revealed to me!  I hated God, Christians, and the Bible, until God showed me it was all true.  I am a living testimony and witness that God exists, Jesus exists, the Holy Spirit exists, and so do angels, demons, Heaven, and hell, and no amount of atheist questioning is ever going to change that Truth!  I am free in Jesus and I give Him praise for saving my soul!

We are all sinful and we all need a Savior.  You can try and fight it and hate God, but you will lose in the end.  I often wonder if I would have accepted Jesus had I never lived in that house in High School.  I don’t know, but it definitely sent me running to Him much faster!

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:23-24

The philosophy of man is just an endless circle of questions that are never answered.  It goes on and on with no definitive answers because it is man’s attempt to understand himself without our Creator and it will fail every time.  It is man’s attempt to define right and wrong without addressing the problem of sin, and it will fail every time.  It is man’s attempt to find meaning in life without believing in and loving God, and it will fail miserably every time.  We were created to be known and loved by God, but sin corrupted our flesh.  We cannot understand ourselves, what is right or wrong, or find true meaning in life without God!  Without God we are lost, poor, weak, naked, and blind.  Every atheist will find that out when they take their last breath.

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

Jesus speaking in Revelation 3:17

Jesus Christ is alive and I am a living testimony of that Great Truth!  He has rebuked a demon through me, He has shown me His mighty angels, He was right there with me when I died in 2012, and He put me back in my body and brought me back to life by the power of the Holy Spirit!  We receive His salvation by faith and I pray in His Holy Name that everyone would accept Jesus before it is too late!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

Jesus loves you!  Jesus died for you to forgive your sins and set you free from sin and death!  I am warning you that without faith in Jesus, you will die in your sins and pay for them yourself in eternity!  Receive Jesus by faith and you will be forgiven and receive eternal life!

Grace and peace to you all!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16-18

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Jesus speaking in John 5:24

“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus speaking in John 6:40