Sing to The Lord!

The earliest that any of our children sang was 20 months old, and that child was Chris.  I was singing worship songs to my tired baby to calm him and hopefully rock him to sleep, but after resting very quietly on my arm for a while, he surprised me by looking up and singing the song back to me in its entirety.  Baby Chris could hardly talk, but he remembered and matched the tones in the song and formed the words as well as he could.  He sang:

“I love you Lord, and I lift my voice

To worship You, O my soul rejoice!

Take joy, my King, in what You hear

May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.”

I have no doubt that my sweet baby’s first song was a sweet sound in the ear of The Lord.  

As Chris grew, he showed interest in more complex musical techniques, teaching his little three-year-old sister a song and then making up a harmony to go with it.  Soon they were performing “Once There Was a Snowman” for the rest of the family.  After that, he began writing his own songs, like “I’m Truckin’ Up My Doggie,” which had to do with his little stuffed animal climbing up the walls of his room with his help.

Children need to sing and play.  Babies in the womb usually get a music appreciation course of some kind, hearing the types of music their parents enjoy, whether it’s classical, hard rock, mariachi, or Christian music a la’ K-LOVE.

Babies love sensory songs like Pat-a-Cake, and little children like action songs like Ring Around the Rosie, which give them an early opportunity to practice multitasking.  Lisa was stuck on Farmer in the Dell, but wanted me to provide her more siblings so we would have enough to play the game right.

As homeschoolers, we found it expedient and efficient to internalize lessons with songs. So we had songs for the phonics cards to clarify that “‘A” is for apple pie” and “‘B’ is for bed.”  Since our cards were not the same as the ABC’s in Bedtime for Frances, we were not able to use the part about “‘C’ is for crocodile combing his hair,” (which would have been fun) but had to be content with the “little cap I put upon my head.”

And all our children used the same tune to learn the spelling of their own name in song.

Various curricula we used over the years came with songs, such as the one about the names of all the states on the northern border and the names of the Books of the Bible.  There were also memory verses like “Go to the ant, thou sluggard.”  I’m pretty sure the kids who learned those songs still know the states or the books or the memory verses just as well as they remember the songs from The Sound of Music. Penny and the Magic Medallion, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, or Godspell, if they were lucky enough to be in one of those musical productions.

Our kids did sing in the shower, which always sounds great, and those who washed and dried the dishes harmonized in the kitchen.  We sang as many rounds as we could think of in our station wagon or van on the way to church on Sunday mornings. I’ve heard that the acoustics in an empty grain silo rival that of a great cathedral, but we have never ventured out to a farm for such a heavenly musical experience.

We did have to draw the line at singing during dinner.  Singing with your mouth full is just as gross as talking with your mouth full, but it is even riskier concerning accidental aspiration.

And it wasn’t long before we had our kids in the front of the church singing for the edification of the Body of Christ.  

Chris, Robyn, Valerie, and Susie singing for an Easter service

Pastor Joe liked to hear them sing the verse (that nobody knows) to “God Bless America” or all the verses of “The Star Spangled Banner” on the Fourth of July.  Eventually, the Haley Kids were all adults who sang selections from Handel’s Messiah together from year to year.

We were recently given a book that attempts to explain why, in the view of the author, Christians should sing all of the Psalms in church.  But there are some we just don’t feel are appropriate for a worship service, especially if it is open to walk-in guests.  Those are the ones that sound like a prayer invoking God’s wrath upon His enemies.  Make no mistake:  God will pour out His wrath upon His enemies, but it’s not our job as New Testament Christians to request it; rather, it is our job to pray as Jesus prayed:

 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

~Luke 23:34

But other Psalms are fine to sing, and we do that a lot at our church.  There are prayers of other kinds, songs of boasting in the Lord and recounting His goodness, songs of confession and repentance, and songs to boost your spirits when depressed.  Two weeks ago, I mentioned the Sunday School song “Jesus Loves Me.”  This is a song declaring God’s love for us personally.  It is critical to our well-being to know absolutely that we are loved, and that simple truth is the beginning of the way out of depression.

If not, all that we have left is to eat some worms and die … Just kidding.

So do you think Jesus would have said the glass was half-full or half-empty?

This passage says it all.  Jesus is neither “optimist” nor “pessimist.”

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

~John 15:9-12

If Jesus saw a partially filled glass, He might say, “I can fix that.  Let me fill this up for you with some of My joy.”  He actually desires that fullness in us.

So when we had a friend in the hospital with Covid pneumonia, yes, she had Bible verses printed in large letters and mounted on the wall where she could see them and they were very helpful.  But then I pushed the “record” button on my smart phone and sent her a voice text of me singing, at her request.  And a second song, “The Battle Belongs to the Lord,” sweetened her stay and helped to strengthen her lungs as she sang along.  After several weeks in the hospital where it’s a constant battle just to breathe, the ability to think about God’s faithfulness to fight our battles is pleasurable.

The only time when I found it hard to sing in church was just after my mother died.  I would get too choked up to sing.  But the music going into my ears was soothing, even if I couldn’t articulate it.  And the few months of 2020 when we were ordered to stay home and watch church on TV, we made sure to sing along even in our living room.  The worship needs to come out of our mouths -- that’s the way God intended it.

So who should sing?  Only those who have a gift?  

To be sure, some of us have an extra measure of natural ability, but the Bible says that we should both:

“Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”

~Psalm 33:3

And:

“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!” 

~Psalm 100:1

Skillful music is good, but joyful music is good too, even if you don’t think you can sing.  The King James Version says, “Make a joyful noise … “  Can you make noise?  Can it be joyful?  

It looks like I’m going to be giving a friend some voice lessons soon.  She said she thought she would like to learn how not to offend the Lord’s ear so much.  But how could we offend the Lord?  We are His children, and just as I loved to hear Chris’s first baby worship song, even if he didn’t understand what the words meant, our Lord delights in the songs of His children.  

Sing to Him with all your heart, and keep those vocal cords exercised.  We’ll need to use them in Heaven!

“At My Command!” -- Jesus As Our Commander-in-Chief

I told my mother, when I was a kid, that I never wanted to get married, because I was afraid I would have to say, “Yes, sir!” all the time.  Not sure where I got that.  The wedding vows did have a clause about “love, honor, and obey,” so maybe I had heard about the requirement and questioned it. I doubt that my mother had modeled it that well.

Actually, lots of women these days take issue with that part of the marriage vow and intentionally change the wording so they don’t have to be obedient if they don’t want to.  In fact, I would guess that very few still use the classic wording.  Most women don’t mind obeying … as long as the order was something they wanted to do in the first place.  (I am so guilty!)

And, back in my day, even the Girl Scouts had a law that said:

“A Girl Scout obeys orders.”  

But that law was dumped while I was in high school.  I mean, who wants people ordering them around?  Obedience was replaced with some kind of generic “respect” for others in 1972, when the promise and laws were re-vamped.  Respect -- how does that measure up to the original standard?  Have you ever heard someone say “With all due respect … “ as a prelude to explaining why they totally disagree with you, and probably won’t do what you ask of them?

Honestly, obedience is just not the most popular concept in our modern world.  Speed limit signs are just suggestions, and “STOP! FREEZE!” commanded by a police officer means run away as fast as you can, maybe even stopping briefly to shoot at the pesky peacekeeper.

Then about three days after my 18th birthday, I joined the U.S. Air Force, where I swore an oath to obey all lawful commands.  Sometimes, when our flight was in formation, as part of a squadron of tech school trainees, an individual would shout out “Flight!  At my command! …” and then he or she would skillfully and seamlessly take over the direction of the unit from the previous airman or sergeant in command.  And of course, hearing the new orders, we would obey.

Military life is based on having meticulously trained men and women who are willing and readily available to obey orders by their commanding officers.  It would be a disaster if a unit of marching servicemen, duly ordered to execute a specific maneuver, would all suddenly sit down in disgust with arms crossed, unwilling to obey.  Those foolish and rebellious soldiers would be drummed out of the service very quickly, and their supervisor would also be called into question.

Even the order to get the Covid jab, regardless of what the civilian population does, has been interpreted as a lawful order, and those who have failed to comply, whatever their reasoning, have been involuntarily separated from the armed services.  My military descendants have understood the risk to their career and expressed that their bodies are not their own while they are in the service.  It matters not that the jab is not stopping Covid outbreaks in their workplaces, as they are keenly aware.  It’s all about obeying the commands of their superiors.

During my time in service, I worked at Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) Headquarters at Andrews AFB in Maryland, and Pacific Air Command (PACAF) Headquarters at Hickam AFB in Hawaii, on command-level computers.  Here’s the Air Force Systems Command insignia.

Alas, this MAJCOM is now defunct.

There are presently nine MAJCOMs (major commands) in the Air Force, each of which is tasked with a major portion of the mission of the Air Force.  For instance, Air Force Materiel Command is in charge of research and development of weapons systems.  Most of the MAJCOMs I was familiar with growing up, like Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command, and even Air Force Systems Command, became defunct in 1992 when the command structure was re-vamped during the Clinton years.  PACAF still remains.

There is also a Chain of Command.  This means you should always take an issue first to the person directly in charge of you -- your supervisor -- and you must never ever skip to the next one up the chain without starting with that supervisor. That is the way it is done.

There are 839 references to Command in the King James Bible.  Most of the commanding is done by kings, pharaohs, and of course, old Moses. The other one mentioned quite often is God. Remember the Ten Commandments?

There are also masters commanding servants, fathers commanding their children, and teachers commanding their students.  There’s a difference between commanding and demanding.  Commanding implies an inherent agreement between the two parties that the commander has authority to give the orders and the recipient of the command will obey.  Demanding doesn’t imply that agreement between the parties.  And mandates upon an unwilling population spell trouble.  But commanders have authority to give commands and the vast majority of commanders are also under someone else’s command.

We were reading in the Book of John the other day, and it struck me how Jesus is a really awesome military commander.  The centurion in Matthew 8 noticed it long before I did, and Jesus commended him for his faith.  

His thinking was something like this:

“This man, Jesus, is a commander like I am, but He is much higher in rank.  Like me, He has been given authority from His commander, but His commander is God Himself.  So, He can give an order for my servant to be healed and it will be done, without my troubling Him to even step into my house.”

And that was exactly what happened.

We know Jesus is the Lord of Hosts.  We know He had the power and authority to command legions of angels to come to His rescue when the Romans were putting Him to death.  We even know that He will be leading the charge when He comes back to Planet Earth on a white horse to do battle against all His enemies -- with the rest of us in tow.  But the centurion’s words were:  “I know that You are a man under authority.”  This was important.  And I had missed the significance.

Jesus was on earth on assignment -- deployed by command of the Father.

Let me repeat that:

Jesus, our Lord, walked the Earth for three years, on assignment, deployed by command of the Father.

“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do…”  

~John 14:31

I never really thought of Jesus as Someone who could be commanded.  But He is!  And what was His mission?  Well, there were at least two major parts of it.  Just look at this:

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” 

~John 10:17-18

Jesus was not walking the earth on a lark, nor was He taking a dare.  He was commanded to go by His Father, the King of Kings who sits on the throne.  And He was commanded to lay down His life and then to rise from the dead.  He was given the commandment and had the power to execute it.  Only Jesus, God’s own Son, had the power to do that.

Here’s another part of Jesus’ mission.

“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 

“And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”

~John 12:49-50

It was to speak God’s words of everlasting life to a dying world.  This commandment was executed by the willing Christ mere days before He was arrested and ordered to be killed.  Jesus knew they were out to get Him that week, but still, as a soldier running to the roar of the cannons, He did not flinch from saying what had to be said.

Would that we could be so consistently bold in our witness!  We are usually far more afraid that people won’t like us if we say something, than we are obedient to Jesus’ command to speak life.  God commanded Jesus, not just that He should speak, but what He should speak.  Sometimes, we just need to open our mouths, so that God’s words can come out.

To us, the Church, Jesus says:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” 

~John 14:15

That makes so much sense!  Jesus showed the Father that He loved Him when He obeyed His commands.  That’s what we should be doing.  And what are His commands?

“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” 

~1 John 3

We have a commandment to believe in Him, and to love one another.  And one more important one:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” 

~Matthew 28:18-20

Yes, we, as good soldiers, are to be training instructors under His command.  (Also known as “drill instructors.”)  We are tasked with training others -- in all nations! -- to also obey His commands.  And we can do this confidently, knowing our Commander is not on the other side of the Universe with drones.  He is with us, leading by example.  And He loves us!

Here’s something else to consider.  What if a voice says “At my command!” but they have no authority to command you?  We must never yield to their direction.  For instance, in Canada, it is now the “law of the land” that certain teachings in the Scriptures are myth, and that anyone teaching that the Word of God is Truth is subject to hefty fines.  This is particularly speaking to “conversion therapy,” which is where Biblical counselors can convince a person out of their delusional thinking concerning their sexuality.  It is now illegal in Canada to try to change someone with gender confusion back to the way God created them to be.

The problem is, this is not a lawful command.  We as soldiers need to see that it does not matter even if it was passed in the Canadian legislature by unanimous consent.  It is directly counter to the Commands of the Living God. To a man, God commands:

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

~Leviticus 18:22

This past Sunday, many of the churches of America stood with their Canadian counterparts against government tyranny and preached against this blasphemy.  Here’s one example, a sermon by James White of Apologia Studios: Christ's Lordship Over Sexuality

Here’s a quote from a Daily Wire article about White’s sermon:  

White also issued a stern warning to governments willing to pass laws in opposition to God’s created order. “A governmental bureaucrat that comes along and says ‘That’s what you have to believe’ is putting themselves directly against the authority of Christ… and they need to be told that.”

“If, at some point in the future,” White continued, “you, because of your boldness and your committedness to Christ, are brought before a magistrate… then your duty is to look that individual in the eye and say ‘Sir, with all due respect to your position, you do not have the authority to contradict the very Word of God that He has preserved for His people down through the ages.’”

“‘That Word tells me what is right and wrong. That Word tells me that God created us in His image — male and female. Jesus confirmed that… and if you dare stand against Him, you will stand before Him someday, and you will have no one to intercede for you.’”

Yes, this would be our duty.  Our duty is to obey our Commander-in-Chief and to take commands from Him only.  Beware, my friends -- this may be coming to a community near you.  Apparently, it has been quietly going on in W. Lafayette, Indiana, with the introduction of Ordinance 31-21 under consideration, which is aimed directly at the one church that has an active ministry to homosexuals but totally without the church's input.  We must oppose this.

Finally, what awaits the faithful soldier who loves Commander Jesus and obeys Him?

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

~Rev. 22:14

It is Eternal Life in the New Jerusalem.  Not a temporary barracks, but a forever home.

“Our Commander Yeshua, we love you because You first loved us.  We are at Your Command and no one else’s.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For You are mighty in battle and we look to You as our tower of strength against the enemy.  We thank You that You are ever present in our lives, and will be with us until that day when we see you with new eyes in the Father’s house.  Amen”

Positive Thinking v. God's Promises

Last week, we experienced the sub-zero chill factors so typical for this time of year, with accompanying reduced daylight hours and overcast skies.  On Saturday, Pastor Joe’s weekly email had a note about the large number of church members who had died in the last three months.  There are eight of them altogether, more lost than at any time in the history of our church in such a brief time, and he named each one of them.  One of these members had an open casket funeral at the cemetery this week, and Eric and I chose not to attend because of the blustery winds.  I know -- wimpy of us, wasn’t it?

The picture I used for last week’s post was a black and white cartoon, with angry-faced people in masks.  There were no likes at all on my Facebook page, and no comments generated on the post.  Granted, some people may not have seen it because I published it late at night.  But some people did read it -- it was just not my most popular post.  I was pretty depressed over a recent loss when I wrote it.  And in a world that is already confused, despairing, depressed and full of anxiety, who wants to read about someone else’s depression, right?

Today’s self-help guides are full of helpful hints to overcome anxiety, stress, and / or depression.  They usually include getting some fresh air on a hike in the woods, drinking plenty of water, and practicing yoga. Nutri-System always has some of these to read.  I often scan them to find out if there’s anything new.  Sometimes it just seems like they’re grasping at straws, on the level of “Try loosening your shoe strings so they won’t cut off the oxygen to your brain.”  Usually after reading them, I wonder if anyone ever does get any insights that actually pull them out of the depths of despair.

Some people are attracted to churches and religious organizations that specialize in these things.  They don’t really teach the whole counsel of the Word of God -- they just emphasize how you can get over your depression by learning how to do positive thinking.  Basically, they believe that if you can just train your brain to start thinking positively, only good things will happen to you.  And if you want to sound even more spiritual, you can say, “If you have enough faith, God will grant all of your petitions.”  The corollary to that is, “If God doesn’t grant all of your petitions, you don’t have enough faith.”  Yikes!  That leaves it all up to me!

There was a man named Robert Schuller who found out by polling the neighborhood where he would build a church that nobody wanted to hear about “negative” subjects like sin and death and judgment.  So he instructed everyone in his organization to avoid those words and only reek of positivity.  He branded his “new doctrine” as “possibility thinking.”  

“Inch by inch,” he said, “anything’s a cinch.”

Contributors to his Hour of Power TV show received a free inchworm pin to remind them of this cute slogan.

Hans Christian Anderson explains inchworms to a young friend.

And adherents of the new doctrine would accomplish great feats because of the mind-over-matter technique and testify to its effectiveness.  With the money collected for one such great vision, the church built an impressive Crystal Cathedral because that appealed to the  members.  It was important to them to attend an exceedingly beautiful church, so they threw money at the project.

What can you say to this?  The testimonials to Possibility Thinking somehow didn’t really mention God much, but they worked Him in where they could.  We were pretty sure this wouldn’t fly very well in Bangladesh.  

Robert Schuller is now dead.  The church was deep in debt when he died, they filed for bankruptcy, and the building was sold to the local Catholic diocese.  How many lives were also bankrupt by then, by not hearing the full truth of the Word of God in their pretty building?

On Friday, I posted on Facebook that sometimes I feel weak.  And then, in times like this, I have to sing “Jesus Loves Me” to myself to comfort me.  

That struck home with many people, much more so than last week’s blog post.  I had comments from people who concurred that this song, as simple as it is, ministers to their hearts as well.  This is the positivity people need.  

Yes, I know the Bible verses.  In fact, on Wednesday, the Holy Spirit reminded me of several in a row, to speak comfort to someone in our church who was feeling overwhelmed because he knew several of those who had died.  And he, also having been a member of our church for many years and a teacher of The Word, bounced back with just as many verses and promises and “Amen’s” in return.  This greatly encouraged both of our spirits!

But you have to start somewhere.  Sing it quietly and slowly, and mean it:

Jesus loves me.  This I know

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong.

They are weak, but 

He

Is

STRONG.

YES, Jesus loves me.

YES, Jesus loves me.

YES (OH YES!) Jesus loves me.

The Bible tells me so.

Once you have grasped that amazing truth, you have a springboard into all the rest.  As Christians, we have the best medicine for any kind of mental anxiety in the Promises of His Word.  There are whole books that are collections of just the promises, sorted according to your need. That’s a shortcut method, because it doesn’t really have the context of the promise that you would get by actually reading the Bible, but it is often helpful.

Friday night, Eric and I prayed for wisdom and then did a search on cargurus.com for a used car in our area that would meet our criteria since the transmission had gone out on our van, and we came up with one in Lafayette.  Saturday morning, we ran into town in our noisy Grand Am to meet the car at a used car dealership, and we were greeted by an ambitious guy with tats above his eyebrows.  Though we were a bit unsure of whether he was the one we were praying for, we took the car on a test drive and thought we could live with it.  

Then we noticed that one of the man’s tattoos was a Bible verse in John.  One comment led to another, he gave us his testimony, and soon we had a long discussion.  He said he had hated himself and his life and cried out to God to save him.  He didn’t even realize he was praying, but God did indeed save him.

He asked Eric to tell him what his last sermon was about, and since Eric’s last sermon was at a funeral, Eric told him about the difference in meaning between the word “hope” in the King James Version and its modern usage.  In the Bible, the word means a confident expectation.  We don’t have to just hope we’re good enough to get to Heaven -- our blessed hope in Jesus is an absolute certainty.  Our hope in the Resurrection of the Dead and our home in Heaven is always our comfort.  This world, Christian, is NOT our home.  

And even if it is an overcast winter day here, remember Jesus will be coming in the clouds!

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him … Rev. 1:7

We did buy the car, by the way.  We told the guy we considered this a Divine Appointment.  God provided … again!

Pastor Joe’s email did not stop at the list of those who died.  He said this, and I think I will just copy and paste, because it was very good and I told him I planned on stealing it:

“I can’t help but think that with all the end time prophetic events in the process of being fulfilled, if those who have recently gone to Heaven, most all unexpectedly and in some cases quickly, are an indicator that the church as a whole is about to be raptured. Therefore, the Calvary Chapel loved ones who have recently passed may be the “first fruits” of the rest of us who will follow at the coming of Christ.”

To which I say, “Amen!  Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”  This is indeed our Blessed Hope.

Covid Divisions: The Herd Mentality

This I know:  that if something is happening to me, it is also happening somewhere else.  Shortly after I posted a prayer last week about broken hearts and broken relationships, I experienced a huge and heartbreaking broken relationship with a very good friend  An insider observed: 

“It’s sad to see what we will allow to divide us.”  

Checking with other friends, I’m finding that it’s a common problem.  It’s not just differences of opinion anymore, about whether Critical Race Theory should be taught in schools, it’s not about whether you identify as a girl or a boy or something else, it’s not just whether Trump won the 2020 election or whether he is really a Christian, it’s not about such old differences as Roe v. Wade or whether Christ was God in a body or just a nice guy.

Now, families can be split into factions, family members can passionately yell at one another, and then they can unfriend each other on social media, all because of differences of opinion on Covid -- its prevention and treatment.  I knew you could find yourself in Facebook jail.  I knew you could be gaslighted by CNN or federal and state governments and agencies.  I knew you could possibly find yourself fired from your job.  But now families and best friends can find themselves on opposite sides of this argument, and be helplessly unable to continue talking to one another without hysterically accusing each other of intentional homicide.

Whatever happened to “We have agreed to disagree?”  Why is it that all the recent articles and videos about Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers are talking about how terrible of a person he is because he sought out good advice on how to deal with his case of Covid and was feeling great in a few days, rather than following the official NFL protocol.  Can’t we just talk about football?  

In an interview on the Pat McAfee show, Rodgers said:

“If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore; it’s propaganda and that’s the truth.” 

Why all the hysteria?  What’s the big deal?

This meme says it better than any other explanation I’ve seen.  Bertrand Russell got things wrong -- including the Main Thing.  He was a famous atheist.  But this, he got right:

Is it becoming clearer?  

Some voices shall not be heard, 

because they’re not members of the herd.  

And so, it is no longer a question of herd immunity, since this may never even be achieved, with new variants coming out regularly coupled with ineffective shots and immune erosion.  No, and it maybe never really was about that.  It’s about inciting the herd to stampede and trample those who think differently.  In the book 1984, an exercise was described called the Three-Minute Hate.  Those who hated less loudly or fiercely during this collective exercise were singled out for investigation by the Thought Police.  

Fear is amplified when less oxygen reaches one’s brain.  This holds true both for people who wear masks all day, and for people struggling to breathe in a hospital with Covid pneumonia.  The fear factor is strong now in our country, and you see it in the eyes of the masked, when they get too close to someone with a naked face.

Still it’s nothing new -- Satan only has a few tricks up his sleeve and he keeps repeating them -- but fear and suspicion, leading to hate, has become the order of the day.  Who would have thought we would be at the point of near Civil War over a recommended treatment plan for a disease?  

But think back to what we’ve read in the Scriptures.  How was it possible 2,000 years ago for a nation to progress from trying to forcibly make Jesus their king, to a near riot trying to get Him executed?  Why did it seem acceptible, reasonable, and even urgent to demand clemency for Barrabas -- a convicted murderer and insurrectionist -- instead of Jesus, the Son of God?  It was the herd, the mob mentality.  

“Why are we doing this?”

“Because everybody else is.”

The problem with a stampeding herd is that those poor cattle don’t know where they’re going, and it is rarely going to turn out well for them, regardless of how badly it turns out for those in their path.  Even if one cow could even notice that they were heading towards a cliff, the wild running of the rest would make stopping impossible.

What shall we do, in these days of fear?

We must be fearless, and no matter what the herd thinks of us, we must do what’s right.  We must not be bullied into the unreasonable reasoning of the herd.  Continue to think, to understand, to get the truth, and to be wise.  

And then pray.  Pray for the sick, pray for the widows and orphans, pray for those who persecute you, pray for reconciliation and restoration with those friends and family members who have rejected you, pray for those who are alone.  And most especially, pray for God’s mercy on our wayward nation.

I began to check up on my friends, so many are getting Covid now.  One in particular didn’t answer when I asked her how she was in a text.  So I asked again and found out she wasn’t sick, just heartsick. She was all alone in a tyrannical state with no friends, family or even church family with the exception of her mother. Her church hadn’t had in-person services since March of 2020.  Furthermore, she felt her mother had rejected her.

Ah, that I understood, having just had that experience myself.  Yep, everything that happens to me happens for a reason.  I had been musing about Jesus and the stampeding herd who wanted him crucified.  

“He was despised and rejected of men,” the Bible says, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”  And I knew Him as “The God Who Sees.”  

So we shared our common experiences, encouraged ourselves in the Lord, and prayed for one another.  And we remembered Proverbs 19:11:

"The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression."

The time on the phone was sweet.

Feelings of rejection from other people, especially when you feel outnumbered by the herd, can be devastating.  But we have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.  He has promised never to leave us nor to forsake us.  He has promised to be with us always, even till the end of the age.  He did not come into the world to judge us, but so that we could be saved through Him.  

JESUS CARES!  We can be confident of that, fellow Christian!  Never doubt it.

Finally, here’s the truth about ivermectin in a really short documentary  Don’t look it up with a Google search or on YouTube.  The truth has been shamelessly suppressed.  But be aware, and pass it on.  Oh … and read my last several blog posts.