Come Home

I love Don Francisco’s music.  He has a way of putting things that is powerful and loving at the same time:

I don't care where you've been sleepin'

I don't care who's made your bed
I already gave My life to set you free
There's no sin you could imagine
That is stronger than My love
It's all yours if you come home again to Me (1)

Luke Chapter 15 (NKJV):

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,  and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants,  ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;  for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” (2)

Are you having problems living like a child of God?  Have you fallen short and wandered away from the Lord?  Are you hanging out with people who are pressuring you to do what you know is wrong?  Is there a favorite sin that you just can’t give up?  Do you find yourself saying, “God is just going to have to understand about this.”  Do you feel bad about the things you are doing, but you do them anyway?  Are you ready to give up?

Don’t despair.  Jesus still loves you, and He will never give up on you.  He has already died to pardon you from the sin you feel trapped in.  Repent, and pray.  He has already forgiven you.  All you have to do is ask Him for it.

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1John 1:5-10 NKJV) (3)

(1) Francisco, Don. I Don’t Care Where You’ve Been Sleepin’. NewPax Records, ©1978     https://genius.com/Don-francisco-i-dont-care-where-youve-been-sleeping-lyrics

(2) https://biblehub.com/nkjv/luke/15.htm

(3) https://biblehub.com/nkjv/1_john/1.htm

A Modest Proposal About China

News reports vary regarding the origin of the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) epidemic.  The evidence strongly suggests that a laboratory (Wuhan Institute of Virology) in Wuhan, China was conducting research on bats, which carry the virus.  The possibility that the virus was transmitted to the community from the laboratory appears likely, but it is still under investigation.  We know that people were allowed to leave Wuhan, and Hubei Province, and to travel outside China to flee the COVID-19 outbreak.  As a result, over half a million people world-wide have died, and trillions of dollars’ worth of damage has been done to the economies of other nations.  The final cost in lives and wealth is still growing.

Reports (Japan Times, New York Post, Fox News) seem to indicate that the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic out of China was not deliberate and was due to mismanagement on the part of the Chinese government.  Let us hope that is correct.  Time will tell.

On television, I have heard some commentators call for China to be “consequenced.”  That is newspeak for punished.  If after the dust settles, we learn that China deliberately unleashed this plague on the world for nefarious reasons, then I agree that they should be punished  economically by the rest of the world.  However, given the way the economy of the United States (and other countries) is entangled with the Chinese economy, I urge that we proceed with caution economically.  If we are not careful, we might hurt ourselves as much, or more, than we hurt the Chinese.

Instead, I think we should support the efforts of the Trump Administration to create a trade environment with China that is fair to both sides.  Then, I think we should begin to create and pursue a long-term strategy setting economic and geopolitical goals that will strengthen our economy while gradually reducing our dependence on Chinese goods. Whatever other nations do, America needs to act in ways that will return our businesses and jobs to the United States.  It is time that we do a cost/benefit analysis, and then plan and act accordingly over the next 20 years.  China is a superpower that was built by foreign business and foreign consumers.  If we built it, we can take it away.

In the near-term, America must produce all goods in the U.S.A. that would be needed for survival should we have a war, natural disaster, epidemic, or economic problems.  If we go to war, if Yellowstone blows up, if California finally has “the big one,” or if there is another pandemic then we need to be making our own bullets, tires, boots, blankets, steel, medicine, computers and bandages.  Whoa, how did we ever let it get this bad.  It needs to get fixed … now!

One last thing, China has priors:

1.    the Asian flu (H2N2) in 1957

2.    the Hong Cong flu (H3N2) in 1968

3.    the “Russian” flu (H1N1)1977

4.    the 2003 SARS pandemic (SARS-CoV-2)

The international community must find ways to exert diplomatic pressure on the Communist government of China to correct its public health problems and the effectiveness with which they deal with them.  For example, we might send their non-essential diplomatic personnel home, close all cultural exchange activities, and suspend further enrollment by Chinese students at our universities.  We might suspend participation by our athletes in Chinese events, and temporarily halt tourism to China.  I am sure there are lots of other things that I didn’t list.  World-wide diplomatic efforts should continue until China can show to our  inspectors (not the UN’s) that their sources of disease have been cleaned up.  We need to act together.  The rest of the world has a stake in this, too.  The United States, the European Union, Russia, the Middle East, and China’s Asian neighbors cannot afford to spend trillions to fix China’s mistakes.

He is Risen!

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
(John 20:1-18 NASB) *

*   https://biblehub.com/nasb/john/20.htm

Never, Ever, Ever Give Up

Anybody have any toilet paper?  I don’t know about you, but I think that running out of toilet paper is a serious thing.  Maybe the French have a good idea, and we should all start using bidets.

I enrolled in Economics 101 when I was earning my BA.  I withdrew almost immediately after I had a chance to take a look at the text and the course syllabus.  I’m afraid I will never be an Economist.  I can, however, use common sense.  I think the economy will rebound after the Coronavirus lockdown is lifted, because people have not been able to buy the things they need.  They haven’t been able to get together with friends and relatives.  You get sick of your own cooking.  How about going out for some pancakes?  Anybody want to take in a movie?  Or, how about sending the kids back to school?

For a while, some people will have less money to spend because they have been laid off or lost their jobs.  The income of many others hasn’t been interrupted.  Regardless, people are going to spend what they can for the things that they have not been able to get.  Ultimately, this will put people back to work, and then they will spend their earnings for what they have not been able to get.  Eventually, things will even out and get back to “normal.”

An artificial scarcity of consumer goods has been created by the restriction of buyers’ access to those goods.  The problem has been made worse by hoarding.  The higher the price, the more product producers will make available.  However, the more something costs, the less consumers will buy of it.  People will be trying to balance their need for groceries against their need to pay their mortgage.  As the wild card of artificial scarcity diminishes, the push-pull of supply and demand will eventually create an equilibrium.  Until then, we hope the government will be on guard against price gouging.

I urge everyone to be patient until it is safe to go out again.  Then, I urge everyone to just buy what you need.  Don’t panic.  Those who hoarded toilet paper will be stuck with too much.  They won’t be competing with the rest of us when it becomes available again.

God bless each one who reads this, and God bless the United States of America.

Let Go and Let God

The current pandemic COVID-19, caused by the Coronavirus, is a serious, life-threatening illness, and I urge everyone to take every measure available to them to protect themselves.  In writing this post, I am not attempting to diminish the threat that COVID-19 poses to all people, regardless of their age or physical condition.  If you are sick, contact your doctor or local emergency room by telephone and follow their instructions.  COVID-19 is potentially fatal, and not to be trifled with.

News reports I have heard said that people are suffering from anxiety, fearing that they, or their loved ones will be infected.  Many people are worried about their livelihood.  In the short term, such fears are justified and understandable.  In the long term, this will eventually pass.  Things will return to “normal,” whatever that is these days.  We have gone through challenges before.  We have survived.  Sometimes things come out better than they were before. (Book of Job)  So, hang in there.  Take it to the Lord in prayer.  Lay your worries at His feet, and trust Him.  He will provide.

Several times in my long life I have had everything I worked for taken away.  God always provided a way back. (Romans 8:28)  It also taught me not to get too attached to the things of this world.  Lay up your treasures in heaven. That treasure cannot be stolen or destroyed. (Luke 12:27-34)

Please Take a Moment to Pray

Please join us prayer that God will restrain the spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) pandemic, help those who are infected, and bring the whole horrid mess to a rapid end.  To those infected, and to those who have lost loved ones, we extend our sincere sympathy and best wishes for a rapid and complete recovery.

A Tribute to Jack Van Impe

We learned today that Dr. Jack Van Impe died on January 18, 2020.  He was 88 years old.  We know, however, that when the earthly bodies of the saved die, their soul is immediately  present with the Lord (2Corinthians 5), and we know that Jack is with Jesus now.  We thank God for the time Jack was here, and for all the people he brought to Christ.  He and his wife, Rexella, made each listener feel like we were their brothers and sisters in Christ.  His reward will be great, and we are confident that he will be one of the first to lay his crowns at the feet of Jesus.

He shared his ministry with his wife, and they focused on warning people that the time is short, that Jesus’ return is imminent … and then asking people to accept Jesus as their Savior.  Every one of their TV broadcasts and other recorded messages that I saw ended with an alter call.  Dr. Van Impe was uncompromising in calling the church to holiness.  He fearlessly defended Christianity against all opponents.

Of his work that I am familiar with, I will testify that he was at his best as a Biblical expositor, especially in the area of Bible prophesy.  I highly recommend two of his DVD recordings: Revelation Revealed Verse by Verse, and Daniel, Final End Time Mysteries Unsealed.  They are available from the ministry for a small contribution. ( jvim.com )  They may also be found on eBay.

Prophesy was always a mystery to me.  Then my wife introduced me to Jack and Rexella’s TV program.  It took a long time, but thanks to Jack Van Impe, Hal Lindsey, and the Holy Spirit I think I’ve finally got it.  I am in their debt.

The old guard like Billy Graham and Jack Van Impe are being called home.  Let us pray that the Lord will raise up worthy successors.