William – Really Right

Ex-Mormon and I Takedown Bible Study Leader

Yep. The highlight of my day was going to the church’s men’s Bible study last night. One guy that regularly attends is a former member of the LDS Church. He made a comment concerning Jesus binding the strong man and stealing his goods. (We’ll get to the text in a moment.)

The Bible study leader was dumbfounded. He couldn’t get past the wooden literalism that Premillennial Dispensationalists have when reading the Bible. Pre-Mil people don’t have the discernment to know when the Bible is using figures of speech, metaphors, and so forth or is intended to be read as written. Literally means in accordance with the literature but such a concept is outside of their biblical understanding.

The leader was tripped up on the idea that Jesus could possibly steal anything. Why? Because Jesus was honest, and God and a good teacher. Also, binding is a violent act, another obstacle to understanding the text. Biblical Jesus is not the weakling, milquetoast guy that modern people envision him to be. Of course, the context didn’t help. He just got more confused.

Later, I told him that Jesus binding the strong man—the Devil—and stealing his stuff—us—was the unanimous understanding of the passage by the Reformers, but those guys have no credibility with him. Nope, he is nondenominational and proud to have never been a member of any church. He thinks he knows the Bible but like all such people in nondenominational churches, he knows the milk of the Word backwards and forwards but seems to miss that we are commanded to get into the meat of the Word.

Sorry, but the meat of the Word gets messy and difficult; challenging our most deeply held ideas about God and our relationship to him.

We—the ex-Mormon and I—left him last night totally stuck after being confronted with the Truth but unable to comprehend it.

I will now quote the passage and then toss it to Logos software to give you their take. I’m doing this sight unseen (I don’t know what Logos will say but I’m confident I’m right.)

Yep, now you can test both the Scripture and AI in the same exercise. Sounds like fun to me. Here we go.

The Text

25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house

Matthew 12:25–29.

Logos AI analysis

Jesus uses the image of binding a strongman to respond to accusations that he casts out demons through Satan’s power—the strongman represents Satan himself[1]. The parable poses a logical challenge: how can anyone plunder a strong man’s possessions without first restraining him (Matt 12:25–29)? The strongman’s house symbolizes the world under Satan’s control, his possessions are the spirits and people enslaved to him, and Jesus’ exorcisms constitute an assault on that domain[2].

Rather than being in league with Satan as the scribes claimed, Jesus came to Satan’s “house” to bind him and liberate the souls held captive there[1]. Satan’s kingdom collapses not through internal division but through the invasion of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ ministry[2]. The binding itself remains theologically complex—while the text doesn’t explicitly clarify the timing, it’s fundamentally connected to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and eventual return as judge[2]. In the immediate context of his earthly ministry, the binding may relate to his baptism and wilderness temptation, or more broadly to the kingdom’s inauguration through his work[2].

The metaphor invites reflection on God’s role as liberator—mirroring the exodus when God bound Pharaoh and freed Israel, Jesus’ ministry inaugurates a new exodus, liberating God’s people[2]. Some modern charismatic movements apply this parable to believers’ spiritual warfare, teaching that Christians must bind strongmen in their cities, though Jesus never instructs his followers to do this[1].

**Biblical passages related to this theme:** The Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and through death Christ destroyed him who held the power of death—the devil (Heb 2:14–15). Jesus declares that the judgment of the world has come and the prince of this world will be cast out (John 12:31).

[1] Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014–2021).

[2] R. Alan Culpepper, Mark, ed. Leslie Andres and R. Alan Culpepper, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2007), 115–116.

Yep, like Doug Wilson said, “Jesus binds Satan and steals his stereo.”

Conclusion

Folks, this illustration is exactly why I attend this church. They need the light of the Gospel. God put me here for this and a few other reasons. If we are to break the false doctrine of popular prophecy thinking, somebody has to disrupt the paradigm. Breaking said paradigm is done by exploiting the cracks in the prevailing presuppositions and demonstrating the inability of their template of providing real answers.

Michael Heiser is right in saying the stuff people skip over are the important parts that are there for a reason. Premillennialism skips the parts that don’t fit their system or recast them into something foreign to the text. Forcing them to account for the things they can’t forces them to either adjust their worldview or deny God’s Word.

I hate that modern folks compartmentalize everything because then they can’t see the relationships between things or the way that Idea A and Idea B are contradictory and can’t simultaneously be true. By holding both in isolation, they attempt to affirm both, which is a logical contradiction.

The frustrating thing at this Bible Study is the claim that they are right about everything because the Holy Spirit showed it to them. That’s laughable. The Spirit can only use what you have studied. If you block stuff because it is difficult or potentially doesn’t agree with you then you aren’t grappling with the text. We are told to be ready and always have an answer for the hope that is within us.

Lastly, the pastor has renounced Premillennial Dispensationalism from the pulpit but the folks in the pews haven’t got the message yet. They have ears but don’t hear and eyes that can’t see but they claim to be more enlightened than Christians in previous generations. Such a claim is laughable but was made earlier last night with much affirmation. Sad.

Idaho Proposition 1 – 2026

Idaho’s Proposition 1 is a literal gut and amend of all abortion related laws in the state. Idaho voters are being asked to dump their very prolife laws and replace them with the same abortion laws as California implemented under Governor Gavin Newsom.

Folks, I am honestly afraid this damnable piece of evilness may pass. Let me explain.

In Idaho, there is a motto amongst liberals that “May Matters.” This is because Idaho is a one-party State, in this case Republican. The dirty secret is that the Idaho Republican Party is heavily infiltrated with Democrats posing as Republicans. Both Parties compete under the Republican banner. Whoever wins the Republican Party nomination in the May Primary is a shoo-in for election in the November General Election. Plus, this being a non-presidential election in November, the upcoming election is expected to see a very low voter turnout.

For those readers in California, think about the way they try to sneak-in the unpopular school bonds via a low turn-out election.

Folks, the only place I have seen anything about Proposition 1 is on Facebook. In Idaho, there are no voter materials mailed to voters by the Secretary of State or local election officials. No voter information, no sample ballots, no list of candidates. Zero Info is generated and/or distributed by government concerning upcoming elections.

All you get in your mailbox is slate mailers from special interest groups, many of whom claim to be affiliated with the Republican Party but are not.

Thus, most folks are in the dark about Prop 1 unless they are very interested in the abortion issue and are active on Facebook.

I think you are beginning to see why I might be concerned.

Here is what happened yesterday. I mentioned the upcoming vote on Prop 1 to two different couples at my church. Both these families are regular attendees at the church and neither had even heard of Prop 1. This spurred me to mention that fact to the pastor. He had never heard of Prop 1 either. To his credit, he did make on an on-the-fly mention of voting “No” from the pulpit.

This problem, dear readers is the crux of the issue, there is no centralized way to communicate information to people these days. We all get our news (or choose not to know) in different ways. Long gone are the days of Huntly, Brinkley, or Uncle Walter Cronkite telling you, “That’s the way it is.”

This is why I’m worried about the defeat of Prop 1. It is currently sneaking under the radar as it was designed to do. Certain echo chambers are sounding the alarm, but their reach is limited to those wanting to know and not communicating to the unwashed masses.

Folks, I will be out of town on election day, so I have registered for an absentee ballot. BTW said ballots are scheduled to be mailed September 18^th. I will definitely be voting “No” on this measure, but it is clear that I need to make a lot more noise about this locally.

Prop 1 makes abortion legal for all 9 months of pregnancy, outlaws parental notification, and allows anyone to perform then not just doctors. like I said, just like California

Moving Day…Sort of

In preparation for some future activities, I have started a diet. I have a bunch of clothing in my closet that simply didn’t fit anymore. As stated in previous post, I lost 13 lbs. in July. As August begins, I am continuing to lose more weight. I am finally able to get back into large sizes as opposed to only extra-large. To celebrate I decided to move much of my clothing—the stuff that is way too large—to the closet in the spare room.

As my dog watched on, I emptied all my clothing from one dresser and a few drawers in the other onto the bed for sorting. Except for a small drawer of ties in the first dresser—most from Rush Limbaugh—that dresser is empty.

I am five pounds from the lowest weight that I ever had while being married. I hope to be back to that weight in about two more weeks. Oh, and yes, I plan to keep going even lower. Once I get back to the weight range that I was in while serving in the Navy, I will stop the diet and try to stabilize my calory intake.

On Death, Dying, and Taking Out the Trash

This blog is, at least in part, a swipe at the Baby Boom generation (~1946-1964). Yep, the ungrateful brats that F***ed-up the country for the rest of us. BTW I am barely considered a Boomer so I can say that and not get accused of dissing the gray-haired generation. Said comments also are applicable to those older than the Boomers. I don’t know what to call that generation. Contrary to Tom Brokaw, they aren’t the “Greatest Generation” because they were too young to participate in WW II.

Whether my comments are applicable to the younger crowd, maybe The Chief can let me know when next we speak.

Our society has been described as disposable. We have disposable diapers, razors, disposable food containers, and the like but we also treat humans as disposable. Abortion is “products of conception” which are fit to flush down the toilet. “Special needs” children get locked-up and are rarely seen in public. We have “old folk’s homes” where we send elderly people to await death. We have political parties in our country that support slavery, exploitation, child labor, and a host of other ills just as long as they occur in other countries and not are not seen in ours. Nobody in the West could afford an iPhone or Tesla car if the rare earth metals were obtained ethically. Much manufacturing in China would cease if not for slave labor. Then there is the eugenics behind organ harvesting on an industrial scale.

Below I take on false views held by many self-described Christians.

“The body is garbage,” claimed a nameless person mentioned by Rev David Chilton in one of his sermons recorded in the 1980’s. (Chilton didn’t believe that but dealt with folks that did.)

Yep, the spirit is what is important, the body is just the prison of the soul. Ever heard comments like that before? While such may have been spoken by the Apostle Plato, such language was never uttered by the Apostle Paul, or any other writer of Holy Scripture. Such division of body and soul is not biblical but Greek. Yet, many people believe it is true.

In this category, I include my own parents as well as my grandparents. When someone died in my immediate family circle they were cremated and forgotten. Typically, there is no memorial service, wake, or any other remembrance. No gravestone because there is no grave.

In addition, the possessions of said relatives are not offered to family members as keepsakes. Nope. When my grandfather died, my dad gave a few firearms to a cousin and then called Goodwill or some similar charity group to clean out the house. He kept nothing and offered nothing to the rest of us. Like I said before, it’s just dumping the trash.

Oh, so what happens when you ask to be present when the ashes of dear so-and-so are disposed of? Nothing. (I did think you needed a government permit to scatter human remains but I know my folks never followed that directive.) When the time came to scatter said ashes, do you know what happened? Zippo. The phone is silent. The email is mute. The snail mail was never sent. Years after the fact you might overhear a comment stating that over there is where some beloved person’s ashes went. It matters not if you ask to be present. Crickets.

Folks if you thought cancel culture was just on the Left, try dying in my family. There is zero hope of being honored or remembered. Your existence is swiftly erased with extreme prejudice.

When my aunts died, did I get notified? Generally, no; not if they were part of my grandmother’s generation. Occasionally, if they were of my parents’ generation then my folks might mention it. Either way, incinerate and forget them was the practice.

Lest you think this idea that the body is garbage is unique to my family, may I point you to the Neptune Society. They offer cremation services for the masses.

Or Oregon offers composting of dead people. Yep, they literally make you into worm food.

My problem is that biblically speaking, burning bodies is sacrilege. The body is to be honored. More on that shortly.

Lest you think my family are the only ones that advocate disposal of loved ones; here is how this often is manifests amongst folks that claim to be Christian. Grandma dies. We hold a service for her—which is good. But then someone says, “What’s in the coffin isn’t grandma, she’s in heaven not here.” Then they make a reference to Paul’s saying that “absent from the body is present with the Lord”.

If by saying this, they deny that the person in the coffin is actually grandma then they are wrong. Both the body and the spirit are grandma. The body is not a corrupted husk that contained the real grandma. Nope, that’s Greek thought not biblical thought.

Folks, this is the classic definition of loss of big picture. Jesus was not raised as a spirit. The Church has a name for people that believe that way, “heretic.”

Jesus was raised bodily. Yep, his resurrected body was different, it was a perfected body, but a body, nonetheless. In another sermon, David Chilton makes reference to a young man saying that he can’t wait to get to heaven because then he can’t sin anymore because he will no longer will have a body. This is not biblical.

God gave Adam a body and said it was “very good”.

It is unnatural that the body and spirit are separated at death. This is the result of sin. Please understand, I am ok with claiming that immediately following death, the deceased person gets their new, resurrected body. And following a judgment, believers are in the presence of God in that eternal form. Some folks think you need to wait until the end of something, usually not the end-end for this to occur. Some biblical passages seem to imply that the judgment is immediately after death not after one’s body spends thousands of years in the ground. Whether the body and spirit are reunited shortly after death or later on, it will happen. You will spend eternity in a body not as a disembodied spirit.

The normative in Scripture is that the body is treated with respect and reverence. A body is buried with honor and an expectation of an afterlife. The classic example is in the latter part of Genesis. Joseph, the guy with the coat of many colors, makes a final request just before his death. When you leave Egypt and return to the Promised Land, take my body with you and bury me there. Joseph had been dead for the better part of 400 years before his remains were returned to the land of his birth. People knew that this body was Joseph and he was given the honor due to a prince of both Egypt and Israel.

In like manner, every time a Christian is buried, he is testifying that he has a hope in a future resurrection. This is why churches have had graveyards in close proximity to their places of worship. Like many things, the present practitioners have forgotten the historic view; the faith of their fathers. Heck, for that matter, why don’t modern churches use church architecture for their construction? Why are they all theater-in-the-round or gymnasiums with folding chairs?

Those European Cathedrals that took centuries to build had a purpose in the way they were constructed. I bet you don’t even know why Holy Water and Gargoyles were included in the church’s design. The Gospel is silently built into how and why each building was designed, hence the name “church architecture.”

Oh, the answer to my rhetorical questions above, Holy Water is in the back of the church as a symbol that it is by baptism that we gain entry to the church. Gargoyles symbolize demons fleeing the presence of the Church. Remember Jesus saying that “… the gates of hell shall not prevail?” Again, church architecture has meaning, but folks don’t know the Gospel well enough to know what they are looking at.

Like many in our society, what I say or whatever reasons that I might give for Christian burial will not move the needle with folks. They are much more comfortable arguing feelings than facts. Facts can only be employed if both sides agree to let something external to them be their authority and rule for conduct. For Christians this should be the Word of God but often it is not. When every man does what’s right in their own eyes then civil dialogue is not possible. This is just as true discussing death as it is politics.

My folks want to be cremated, have no memorial service, and no acknowledgement of their lives. Oh, this also means no closure for grieving family members, but they don’t care. Such an attitude gives a new spin to the comments of Jesus when he said, “Let the dead bury the dead.”

Folks, there is such a thing as “Christian burial;” it’s too bad most Christians don’t believe in it anymore.

What I’ve Really Been Up to this Summer

Yes, I know that occasionally I take the big risk of telling my readers what has really been going on in my life. Most of my family just read posts like this to find excuses to get mad at me or offer unsolicited criticism. I write this stuff anyway because this is a personal blog and a way for me to record my experiences and feelings.

The following are not in order of priority or chronological order, just stuff that has happened recently.

My best Man from my wedding in 2003, had a heart attack about two weeks ago, and if not for someone present that was medically trained, he probably wouldn’t be on the planet any longer. He had a heart attack on Friday and a quadruple bypass about Tuesday of the following week. He is recovering. A lousy way to celebrate his birthday, but at least he lived to see another year.

One of my other good friends has a father that is approaching the end of his cancer journey, what a euphemism for saying that his dad’s expiration date is coming soon. My friend has a cascading number of difficulties from this and other things happening in his life. My brother, I love you and pray for you frequently. Call if you wanna talk.

My biological son has gone radio silent on me during the last few months. It’s nothing that I did. The woke mind virus has led him to a new religion that can’t tolerate Truth or the idea that God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t answer my phone calls or text messages. His stepbrother says that he is still on the planet and walking upright. I guess Discord counts as proof of life in some circles.

My father-in-law’s girlfriend died a couple months ago. I text him a few times each week and we call about once a week. Sadly, there is little info that I can relay to him about his grandsons. He is keeping busy and adjusting to finding new things to do in life since his GF is gone. He is a likeable guy but is reluctant to yield his life to Christ.

This next one will cause people’s heads to explode. I offered yesterday to adopt a three-year-old child. Yep, really. Father is a gangbanger and mom is stuck as the sole supporter of both the husband and her child. Any money he gets reportedly goes to support his activities with friends including his use of illegal narcotics. (No word whether he likes spending her money on pepperoni pizza for his friends.) Yep, I’m leaving out lots of details but I’m offering mom and child both a new start in life. Understandably, she is reluctant to give up the child but it’s one of the few ways to deny her husband a claim on the child at any time in the future.

I have plans to use my passport later this year to see my girlfriend. Just be aware that my Facebook status is a lagging indicator of where things are in our relationship. ICE will be delivered but I need to pick up the pace in accumulating the 13 coins required to move things along. Oh, special note to Greg, it will take more than a basket of papayas to resolve the situation on this trip. I may need to trade her dad a cow. (-: Yep, there is a backstory for these comments.

A few weeks ago, I almost got put on alert for evacuation due to a nearby fire. I was having flashbacks to the Paradise fire due to the wind and smoke that was hitting my area. I had half of the suitcase packed and a mental list of stuff to load in the car on the way out of town. The combination of wind and smoke drove the visibility to under a mile. I did plan to leave room in case I needed to get someone else across the bridge and away from the fire. The evacuation zone was three miles from my house. The size and amount of ash on the ground the following day was memorable. Only one structure, a barn, was reported lost. Lots of folks were evacuated to the fairgrounds right across the river from me.

My leak in the water filtration system is back again. It’s a cheap Chinese part that is used for air draws during the self-cleaning cycle that is run each day. The leak rate is steady at one drop every six seconds. Said leak is manageable, but I have no idea if it will get worse over time. I lack funds for repair until mid-August. It’s at least a three hour round trip for the service guy to drive here and back.

I applied for an absentee ballot for the November election. Ballots will be mailed on September 18. Plenty of time to do my civic duty.

I also made some changes to my will. Yep, exciting stuff. New executor and a new beneficiary, recipient, or whatever added. What’s that line from Star Wars about, “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” I will look again at revisions in 2027. The Trust will probably get a huge rewrite to reflect life choices.

Also, I am enjoying the wonders of another diet. Depending on what I use as a baseline, I can claim to have lost 13 pounds thus far in July. I’m five pounds away from tying my lowest weight in the last 30 years. I plan to keep going for a few months and see where I end up.

Oh, I am retiring my wife’s cell phone next week. It requires charging every four to six hours of use. The internal app claims the battery is fine, but it is not working as it should. I’m getting my first foldable phone. I hope I like it. I also got the new watch to go with it. I really like my Garmin, but it can’t tell when I’m awake or asleep. If I watch a movie before bedtime, it counts it as sleep time. If I’m awake at night it still counts it as sleep. Texting, chatting, and any other use of the phone in the middle of the night counts as sleep time. When I wake up in the morning and check my cell phone, it counts as sleep time until I literally remove the Garmin watch from my wrist.

Lastly, Bob, the love dog, is getting older and a bit slower. We still do two walks a day. Some mornings we go outside for bonus time in the yard. I don’t have a fence around the property, so I have to keep an eye on him or he wonders off.

Anyway, that gives you an idea of my summer thus far.

Oh, one last story. A random kid (about 20 years old) dropped by the church on a Thursday afternoon a few weeks ago. Thursday night I attend a Bible Study at the church. The guy leading the study is on staff at the church. The young man attended the Bible study. Following it’s conclusion, the leader announced that the kid needed a place to stay. It was one of those times when I knew it was my turn to do something, so I stepped up. I put the kid up in a hotel room. At the time I was grumbling to God about the cost but did it anyway. The following Thursday, I learned the rest of the story.

The next week, the kid was at the Bible study with his wife and young child (about 7 months old). This is what happened as a result of me putting him in the hotel.

The Thursday night that I put him up in the hotel was literally the first night for the new managers of the hotel. As a result of me ponying up some money for one night at a hotel, the kid got a job working at the hotel. They even provided him with a place to live. Now he has his wife and son living with him. He is attending our church, and as an added bonus, the owners of the hotel are also attending our church. Wow.

When God tells you to do stuff outside of the box, go for it or miss a blessing that you can’t foresee.

Book Review: The Battle for the Bible’s Truth

Have you ever wondered why tens of thousands of First Century Jews converted to Christianity while virtually none do today?
Why does the Gospel of John start with “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God?”
Why is there about a 900-year discrepancy between genealogies in the Old Testament—depending on which version of the Bible that you read?
What or who was Melchizedek?

These are just some of the issues touched upon by Douglas Van Dorn’s book “The Battle for the Bible’s Truth: Genesis 6, Jesus, and the second Century Plot to Deny the Messiah.”

The set-up for the book is this: imagine that you are a Jew in the Second Century.

In 70 A.D. the Romans sacked and burned Jerusalem and destroyed your center of worship (the Temple) and thus your religion as it had been practiced for more than a thousand years. 1.2 million Jews died in this uprising.
Then in the Bar Kokhba rebellion, Christians failed to join the Jews in a second rebellion against Roman, 65 years after Jerusalem fell, because they rejected Bar Kokhba as a false Messiah.

At this point in history, the Jews and Christians finally split for good. However, Jews are still losing people to the upstart Christian sect. The remaining rabbis are desperate to consolidate power and stem the tide of converts following Jesus because of their understanding of the Old Testament promises.

In what today might be called a “Hail Mary” play, they decided to change the Old Testament Scriptures to stop the bleeding and erect barriers to any further losses to Jesus.

As Van Dorn shows, the Second Century rabbis did deliberate edits that two centuries later were being adopted by Christians. Today, nobody knows the difference and the falsehoods created by the rabbis are considered in many circles as Christian Orthodoxy today.

By comparing various texts and manuscripts, Van Dorn shows that the errant text is the Jewish one—the Masoretic—which is the basis of many English versions of the Bible including the King James Version (KJV).

I won’t spoil the book—which I highly recommend—however, the rabbi’s edit which is clearly the easiest to see is Deuteronomy 32:8

When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance,

When he separated the sons of Adam,

He set the bounds of the people

According to the number of the children of Israel.

In context, the phrase “according to the number of the children of Israel” is nonsense. In the Table of Nations—which follows the Flood in Genesis 10—Israel is nothing but a glimmer in the eye of Abram’s ancestors. There is no Abram or Israel in existence. Thus, to state that there is a relationship between the Table of Nations and the children of Israel is nonsense. The older translation is “the number of the sons of God.” This edit (the children of Israel) was unknown before the Second Century A.D. This shifts the passage from teaching about principalities and powers (i.e. heavenly, spiritual beings) and instead substituting men.

Substituting men for spiritual beings is a constant refrain in the Second Century edits. They tried to obscure or obliterate references to the pre-incarnate Christ. This was done deliberately to keep Jews from seeing the Messiah in their own Scriptures. Furthermore, the correct textual understandings were anathematized by teachers of Judaism.

By the Fifth Century, the rabbi’s ruse was adopted wholesale by the Christian Church and has been the majority view ever since.

Van Dorn is trying to expose and correct the record. The book is easily read and written at a level that is accessible to the masses. The type is larger than I was expecting and is only about 150 pages. It retails at Amazon for about $20.

A good companion book would be the “Unseen Realm” by Michael Heiser.

Heiser is concerned primarily with the supernatural view of the Old Testament. While there is some overlap, the emphasis of each book is different.

I highly recommend Van Dorn’s book to any and all.

Why I Left Premillennial Dispensationalism

Ideas have consequences. That is somewhat what this post discusses.

I gave my life to Christ in about 1974. I was attending the Baptist church. Not just any Baptist church but one on the conservative side of a conservative denomination. First Baptist Church in Woodland California was part of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC).

Baptists define themselves in terms of “Don’ts.” They don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, and expect us not to go with girls that do. Mixed bathing; not blacks and whites, but males and females was forbidden. They also don’t like infant Baptist, wine for Communion, and Christian rock music.

The church was all-in on Hal Lindsey and Jesus is coming any second to Rapture the Church. Initially, I was enthused that we were living in the last days. The signs were everywhere that Jesus’ immanent return would soon occur. I dutifully watched the news and expected to see the final prophecies fulfilled on the evening news any day.

One night after youth group, I remember my sister coming home in tears. When asked why she was crying, she responded that it was unfair that Jesus was coming back any second and how unfair he was because she would never have the opportunity to become a mother. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. The incident with my sister was one of the most memorable things about that church.

Meanwhile, some siblings of my mother got involved in charismatic churches. Yep, if you don’t have the experience of speaking in tongues then you don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. The guy that wrote the Gospel, oh, I mean the Four Spiritual Laws also wrote a tract about The Spirit Filled Life.

Tongues or no tongues became an issue for me to explore further. My Baptist church said tongues was bogus, but the charismatic folks were much happier and bubblier compared to the Baptist church members. There was something different about them. Eventually, I moved more toward the charismatic side of evangelical Christianity. I was mostly in and around the Assemblies of God denomination.

In high school I had an interest in a girl that went to a different church. (The Church of God of Prophecy.)

At the time, I didn’t know how different. At their evening service, I was asked to read a verse out of Acts. I read the correct verse but literally had the Bible taken away from me mid-sentence because it wasn’t the Authorized King James Version. Literally the only difference between my version (probably NIV) versus the KJV was one word had a “th” on the end of it. I was then directed to read from the correct version of the Bible. Later, I was informed that they were the only true church and all others were false. Needless to say, I stopped dating that gal quicker than Colin Kaepernick could take a knee.

Following my enlistment in the military, I ended up in the Sacramento California area. I began attending Capital Christian Center. This was one of the largest churches in the area. I tried to make Capital my church home, and it was for a while. The service that ended my membership there was preached by then pastor, Glen Cole.

Capital Christian Center — Sacramento, CA

Cole did a fire and brimstone sermon on all of the social evils that we, as American Christians, were confronted with at the start of the 1990’s. He hit many social issues very hard. I was elated that finally someone was kicking the church in the butt, and we were finally going to battle. But toward the end of the sermon, he got to the part about what to do about it and the whole thing imploded. Cole’s solution was that we need to spend more time in church, presumably waiting for the Rapture. Yep. We need to double down on withdrawing from “the world” and spending more time in church. His church literally has some type of service or activity every day of the week. His solution to all the evils of the world was more time in church activities.

Folks, I was devastated. What a cop-out and huge letdown.

Rev Glen Cole — Capital Christian Center Sacramento, CA

You see, what became apparent to me over time was that Premillennial Dispensationalism expects for things to get worse and worse. In fact, it is a theological requirement that things must get worse. Only when the sh*t really hits the fan will it be bad enough for Jesus to return.

They believe this so strongly that they discourage efforts to address social issues and righting wrongs. Essentially, to oppose evil is to keep Christ from returning. This is why large blocks of evangelicals don’t vote or excuse themselves with talk of not voting for the lesser of two evils. They say with their lips that they oppose evil but with their deeds they do nothing to stop it’s progression.

I’m sure someone like Thomas Sowell would state it more eloquently than I just did, but that’s the bottom line. Evangelicals expect things to get worse. Ever hear the phrase about polishing brass on a sinking ship, same idea. This is why Gary North called eschatological pessimism, “pessimillennialism.”

Folks, that was the last straw for me. The idea that we are wasting our time doing good, when such efforts could somehow delay the return of Christ, and somehow we needed to step aside and let everything around us literally go to hell, just did not sit right with me.

Thankfully, I found an alternative to Premillennial Dispensationalism. Christianity prior to 1830, had never heard of Premillennial Dispensationalism. It turns out that for most of the history of Christianity, such a scheme never existed. I found solace in the faith of the Reformers. The Reformers were bold and understood that Christianity has the power to transform not only men but cultures and nations.

The fruit borne of Premillennial Dispensationalism is rotten. Their scholarship is sloppy and they cherry-pick verses based on preexisting presuppositions that are not found in the text. Only by imposing their ideas onto the text can such ideas be seen. Yikes! You’d think after decades of using the New York Times, CNN, and other media outlets to prove their ideas, they might at least try to support their theology from the Bible. Don’t hold your breath. What’s that saying about not ruining a good story with facts?

Premillennial Dispensationalism is like learning how a magic trick is done. Once you understand their sleight-of-hand, the trick loses its hold on you. From that point forward you can no longer be duped by its practitioners. The difference between them and the magician is that the magician knows better while premils really believe they are manipulating unseen forces to reveal truth.

False Prophets in my Lifetime

The following is a partial list of false prophecies about the Rapture, battle of Armageddon, or Return of Christ in my lifetime (post 1960).

Date	Person	Group or other info
1964 – October		Seventh Day Adventist
1972	Herbert W. Armstrong	Worldwide Church of God
1975	Herbert W. Armstrong	Worldwide Church of God
1975		Watchtower Bible & Tract Society expected Armageddon
1981	Chuck Smith	1948 plus 40 year generation minus 7 year tribulation
1982	Pat Robertson	televangelist
1982 – June 21	Benjamin Creme	Buddhist related
1988	Hal Lidsey	The Late Great Planet Earth 1948 plus 40 year generation
1988	Edgar C. Whisenant	88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988
1989	Edgar C. Whisenant	The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989
1991	Louis Farrakhan	Nation of Islam
1993	Edgar C. Whisenant	23 Reasons Why a Pre-Tribulation Rapture Looks Like it will Occur on Rosh-Hashanah 1993
1994 – September 6	Harold Camping	general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
1997 – October 23	James Ussher	17^th Century Bishop expected the end as it was 6,000 years after creation
1999-2009	Jerry Falwell	predicted in 1999 that the Second Coming would probably be within 10 years
2000	Frank Cherry	Founder of the Black Hebrew Israelite religion
2000	Ed Dobson	The End: Why Jesus Could Return by A.D. 2000
2000	Timothy Dwight IV	President of Yale University foresaw Christ’s Millennium starting by 2000
2000	Edgar Cayce	psychic
2000	Sir Isaac Newton	scientist
2000 – April 6	James Harmston	The leader of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
2011 – May 21	Harold Camping	general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
2011 – October 21	Harold Camping	general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
2011 – September 29	Ronald Weinland	The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012 – May 27	Ronald Weinland	The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012	Jack Van Impe	televangelist
2012 – December 21	New Age Nuts	Mesoamerican Long Count calendar ended
2013 – May 18	Ronald Weinland	The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012	Jack Van Impe	televangelist
2015 – September 28	Mark Blitz & John Hagee	Blood Moon Prophecy
2017	David Meade	Predicted the end on YouTube
2018	Henry Morris	Morris claimed that Worlds War I was the first sign of Christ’s return which would occur before that generation died
2019 – Ronald Weinland		The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2020	Jean Dixon	psychic
2020 – July 22	Chad and Lori Daybell	Multiple murders
2021	F. Kenton “Doc” Beshore	1948 plus70 to 80 year generation
2025 – September 23-24	Joshua Mhlakela	South African preacher
2025 – October 7-8	Joshua Mhlakela	South African preacher

This was the warning about the Rapture that happened last year. If you’re reading this, sorry but you were left behind.

The list also does not include the voluminous number of prophecy pimps in modern pulpits claiming all the signs are in place and it could be any minute. In the Old Testament God’s people were to execute false prophets, in the New we just buy their books. WTF?

Review: Nobody’s Mother

If you like subversion in the Bible or authors such as Brian Godawa and Michael Heiser, then do I have an interesting book for you. (Subversion is using divine attributes claimed by pagan gods such as Baal that the Bible says are only true of the one living God.)
If you have ever been bothered by the New Testament passage about women being saved through childbirth, again this is the book to explain this verse.
If you want to understand how the Apostle Paul interacts with the goddess Artemis in the New Testament, then this might be a book for you.
If you want to have more background on the Ephesian church mentioned in Revelation 2:1-7 then this book will be helpful.

The full title of the book is “Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament.”

It is written by Sandra L. Glahn. Glahn is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Yep, I actually read a book by someone at DTS. It’s probably the only title I have read during the current century by anyone associated with DTS.

The book is six chapters. Chapters 2-5 are solely about Artemis in art, literature, architecture, and artifacts. Another name for Artemis (Greek) is Diana (Roman).

Artemis

Artemis is not the guy from “The Wild, Wild West.” Nope. Not Artemus Gordon. (Baby boomers think Artemus and Artemis are pronounced the same.)

In the original TV series, Ross Martin played Artemus Gordon and Robert Conrad played James West. It ran from 1965-1969. A movie was made in 1999 featuring Will Smith as James West and Kevin Kline as Artemus Gordon.

The Wild, Wild West television show ran 1965-1969.

Artemis is a female god who is a virgin by choice but also the goddess of midwifery. Yep, a virgin that specializes in delivering babies. She is the sister of Apollo and hunts with a golden bow. It was common to ask her to assist in delivering a baby without harm to the mother. In cases of a difficult delivery, she was called upon to offer women a painless death.

Glahn claims in the book that Wonder Woman was modeled after Artemis.

The temple to Artemis was in Ephesus and was regarded as the greatest of the ancient 7 Wonders of the World. It was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens. Ephesus was the Roman provincial capital of Asia. It was also a center of Emperor worship. Chapter 1 of the book is an introduction and chapter 6 is mostly an analysis of Paul’s writings; especially to the Ephesians and Timothy.

Glahn focuses much of her discussion on 1 Timothy chapter 2; mostly verse 9-15.

9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

1 Timothy 2:9–15.

Also worth noting are her comments on 1 Timothy 5:13; specifically the words “gossips” or “tattlers” (KJV) and “busybodies.” See page 124.

13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

1 Timothy 5:13.

As usual, the translators are afraid to give you the true thrust of the meaning of the Greek words. Glahn argues for tattlers=“those who talk nonsense” and busybodies=“those practicing magic” as the more accurate rendering. I the context, I think she is correct.

The book is an easy read. It is well researched and organized effectively. Part of it may be considered controversial in its treatment of a woman’s place in the church. Her comments on this topic are limited to 1 Timothy 2 so don’t base any doctrines off of her conclusions.

Final Thought

I’ve had the book for almost two years but just got around to reading it. Per her book, Artemis was second only to Zeus in popularity in the Greek speaking world. Artemis is currently popular in modern society as the goddess of the transgenderism cult.

Supreme Court Tells Congress to do Their Job

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in elections even if they are received after Election Day.

The court was split 5-4 on the ruling, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing the majority opinion. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Barrett’s opinion held that Election Day, in the context of federal law, set a deadline for when voters must make a choice regarding their preferred candidate. Relevant laws, however, impose no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid.

Supreme Court rules on mail-in ballots received after Election Day

Please note the part that I highlighted in the above article. “Relevant laws, however, impose no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid.”

Translation: to fix this Congress must make a law.

The problem for us is that Congress—especially on the Republican side—doesn’t go to Washington to fix anything. The 535 most worthless individuals in our country serve in the House and Senate. What’s even worse is that these guys probably do represent their districts. They are just as corrupt and unprincipled as most of their constituents.

Too bad most of the Protestant Church is too busy waiting for the fictitious Rapture to do what our Lord commanded them to do which is disciple the nations and subject every square inch of the planet to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. Sadly, the Church—like the biblical parable—would rather burry their talents in the ground than actually use them to transform our culture and honor our God.

Folks, I despise the idea that Presidents govern via Executive Orders. These are not Constitutional. If our Congress was worth a damn, they would make all of President Trump’s Executive Orders into Law and then blow up the Executive Orders so no future President can ever use them again. Oh, and they should also let Trump up the Supreme Court justices to 13 members—all assigned by Trump. Anything less is just smoke and mirrors.