Collusion

Collusion by Bill Wilson

An August poll of 1,335 adults by Technometrica Institute of Policy and Politics (TIPP) indicated 79% of Americans believe President Donald Trump likely would have won reelection if voters had known the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop—that it was real and not “Russian disinformation,” as intelligence officials aligned with Joe Biden falsely led the public to believe. TIPP revealed that the vast majority of those following the issue said they believe that the laptop is real, while only 11 percent still believe it was created by Russia. On October 19, 2020, 50 current and former CIA operatives wrote a public letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop story was a Russian operation. The media believed them. Censorship followed.

Technometrica President Raghavan Mayur said, “Terming the laptop ‘disinformation’ by the FBI, Intelligence Community, Congress, and the Biden campaign, along with Big Tech, impacted voters. A significant majority—78 percent—believe that access to the correct information could have been critical to their decision at the polls.” He said that in fact, 47 percent said that knowing before the election that the laptop contents were real and not “disinformation” would have changed their voting decision—including more than two-thirds (71 percent) of Democrats. The poll also found that 51 percent give the media failing grades (D or F) for their coverage of the topic of the laptop. 

Enter Meta/Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who let it slip on the Joe Rogan Show that the FBI was signaling to media giants that they should be careful of information on Hunter Biden’s laptop. He said, “The background here is the FBI I think basically came to some folks on our team [and] were like, ‘Hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there’s about to be some kind of dump similar to that, so just be vigilant.’” 

This prompted the FBI to issue a statement saying the agency  “routinely notifies U.S. private sector entities, including social media providers, of potential threat information…to help them protect their platforms and customers from abuse by foreign malign influence actors.” Translated in practical terms, this means censor information.

Just the mere insinuation by the FBI that they want companies to “protect” customers from abuse by foreign actors would generate a massive censorship of anything that smacked of what the FBI was against—in this case, the Hunter Biden Laptop story. Who would want to invite the FBI or CIA wrath upon their company by carrying stories that these deep state agencies would not want them to carry? 

Well, these billionaire kids and leftist media were complicit in the deep state’s plan to bury the truth. And they remain so today. John 3:20 says, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Now the truth is coming to light. The FBI and CIA are shown to have conspired to undermine a sitting president. Those affording the CIA and FBI credibility are practicing a foolish game of self deception and are colluding with a tyrannical regime to undermine this nation and the freedoms it affords to its people.

A Self-Examination

 

A Self-Examination by Dr. D. James Kennedy

Examine yourselves, seeing whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.     2 Corinthians 13:5

When I told a lady in the church that my sermon was going to be on self-examination, she said, “Oh, that’s going to hurt!” Well, lassies and laddies, I assure you that I come not to hurt you, but to help you, and if you cannot stand the interrogation of a mere mortal like me, how will you do in that great day when you are compelled to stand before the Great Assize of God? If you cannot stand the probing finger of your own conscience, how will you stand the shafts of the divine inquisition?

We need to examine ourselves and prove ourselves. We need to examine our hearts and minds. Do we live lives worthy of our calling? Have we allowed sin into our lives? Have we been unkind to anyone? Are we serving the Lord? Is there fruit in our lives?  Does Jesus reign as Lord of our lives?

May we pray along with David in Psalm 139: Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.

The Perseverance of the Saints

The Perseverance of the Saints by Dr. D. James Kennedy

I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. — John 10:28

We believe that God will enable us to persevere to the end. He began a good work in our lives and will continue that work until the end. Jesus Christ is perfectly able to care for His own. Under His wings, the saints can rest secure.

We have all heard stories of people who have been kept safe in the midst of horrible danger. We might never see the car that almost hit us or the angel that kept us from violence, or the temptation God steered us away from. We do know that God is protecting us and that His hand will lead us home.

He protects us from spiritual as well as physical danger. We should never presume upon God's grace, but we can count on His faithfulness. In Philippians 1, Paul tells us that He who began a good work in us will complete that work until the day of Christ Jesus. 

What a great promise!

 

James Webb Telescope

 

THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE – AWESTRUCK BY THE GLORY OF GOD    by Jeff Pallansch 

NASA recently released its first images from the James Webb Telescope. They are astonishing, not only for their aesthetic beauty, but also in what they reveal to us about our universe.

Along with providing early snapshots of the universe coming into being, the images remind us just how immense it actually is, and the greatness of the One who simply spoke it into being. 

By zooming in to what looks to us as a black, empty speck in the sky, the telescope reveals a large array of galaxies adorned in splendor billions of light years away. 

 Astronomers tell us that if you were to go outside and hold out a single grain of sand at arm length, there would be thousands of galaxies in the potion of the sky behind. This is astounding when you realize just how large galaxies actually are.

To put the size of a galaxy in perspective, consider this analogy. If we were to compress the distance from the earth to the sun into the thickness of a standard sheet of paper, how many sheets of paper do you think we would need to span our Milky Way Galaxy?  

As a brief aside, let me note that, within this framework, each piece of paper represents a distance that is 37 times greater than the farthest humanity has ever traveled from earth.

So how many sheets of paper would it take to span the Milky Way? If it were a book, how thick would it be? To represent the diameter of our galaxy, the book would need to be 310 miles wide![1]

So, when we take in the images from the James Webb Telescope and see thousands of galaxies within a tiny speck of our sky, we realize we are dealing with something beyond our ability to comprehend.  

I am awestruck as I pause to consider just how great and powerful our God is and how small I am in comparison. It is amazing to think that the God who spoke all this into being wants to speak to us today through His Word.

 Furthermore, He tells us to come to Him with our cares because He cares for us personally (1 Peter 5:7).

As you take in the images from the James Webb Telescope, here are some passages of Scripture to reflect upon.  

Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”[2]

Nehemiah 9:6

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Psalm 147:4-5
He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.

Isaiah 57:15

“For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

Psalm 8:1-4

“Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens. . . .
When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?” 

Psalm 36:5-7

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies. . . .
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Colossians 1:15-20

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”

Psalm 136:3-7

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.

who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

Hebrews 11:1-3

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

Revelation 4:11
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.”

1. https://blair.pha.jhu.edu/scale.html ↑
2. These quotations of Scripture are from the NIV.↑

Never Give UP

 Never Give Up by Bill Wilson

The loud daily din of the news media opining away about the evils of anyone who doesn't agree with their form of liberalism takes a toll. The constant stream of fake news leaves people with confusion over what to believe. The visceral emanating from the mouths of elected representatives of the people characterizing those who disagree with them in foul terms, wounds the nation. Celebrities have gone wild in portraying as outcasts those who disagree with their humanist ideals. We are living in a time where civility has become rare. In the midst of this, be encouraged. We as Christians have a mission and a purpose. Take heart. We are to overcome evil with good and not grow weary in doing it. 

Every phone call you make. Every letter you write. Every email you send. Every word you speak. Be encouraged. The Lord said in Isaiah 55:10-12, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Neither be offended. The Lord says in Ezekiel 3:17-19, ”When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.” No matter how long, no matter how difficult things become, do what the Lord tells you to do. As you do these things unto the Lord, you have made a transfer, so to speak, from yourself to others. It is now on them to act responsibly with the information. You have done your part.

God sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins that we might have life everlasting. It’s up to us to share the many facets of living out our salvation. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 exhorts: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

Keep going. Keep doing. You never know when your action may be that last full measure needed to advance God’s plan. Never give up.

Christ Confidence

 Christ-confidence by Dr. D. James Kennedy

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

Self-confidence is not the virtue that modern man has made it into. In fact, there have been no doubt hundreds, if not thousands, of books written on self-confidence and how to obtain it. Do you have self-confidence? The Bible has little to say about it other than the fact that it is a curse, not a virtue.

The word “confidence” is a combination of two Latin words: con (with), and fides (faith), so “Self-confidence” means “with faith in yourself,” and that is misplaced faith. Our faith should be in Christ. What we need is not self-confidence, but Christ-confidence. If you have self-confidence, you are always going to run into somebody bigger than you are, stronger than you are. You are going to run into a problem that is bigger than you can handle; your self is going to give way and the result of that is often despair and despondency.

But if you succeed, that’s even worse. What do you get then? You get pride. The Bible tells us “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). It can be deadly for the spiritual life. Sadly, in America today, we have hundreds of books teaching people how to have self-confidence, and thousands of parents are teaching their children to “Be proud.”

Fish Odor

Others' Day

 

Others’ Day by Dr. D. James Kennedy

And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.      2 Corinthians 5:15

General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, wrote a telegram when he was on his death bed and had it sent worldwide to every officer in the Salvation Army. It consisted of just one word: “Others.”

After I mentioned the telegram in a sermon, a young lady came up to me several weeks later and said, “You know, when you preached about Booth’s telegram, I decided right then and there that I was going to make that day “Others’ Day.”

“Good idea,” I thought. She said, “And so I tried to focus throughout all of that day on the needs and wants of other people.  “I was so blessed by the end of the day that I decided to make it ‘Others’ Week.'” Then she said, “By the end of the week, I was so filled with joy that I couldn’t believe it. It was the happiest week of my life.”

I am convinced that one reason so many people are lonely is because they are so self-centered. If they would only turn their eyes outward and consider that the world desperately needs comfort, they would find that they wouldn’t be lonely at all. They wouldn’t be rejected at all if they really showed the love of Christ to others. The key to Christian service is being focused on “Others.”