Sheep are many things. They provide wool, milk and meat. To some people they are there livelihood. In Australia there are vast herds of sheep. One of their exports to the world is wool. A sheep is dumb before its shearers. It doesn’t make a sound will it is being sheared. If a sheep sees something good to eat, it will go after it. Even if the food is in thorn bushes. The shepherd has a staff with a crook or hook on the end to pull sheep out of thorn bushes. You see sheep aren’t very smart. They have to be lead to water and food. But the sheep know their shepherd. They know the shepherd’s voice and follow. This is because the shepherd lives with them. The shepherd will protect them at all cost. Depending on the size of the herd, the shepherd will have 3 to 4 dogs with him to protect and guide the herd. It’s funny that Jesus used this parable to teach the disciples about what He saw when He began His ministry. Jesus referred to Israel as a lost herd of sheep that had no shepherd. He actually called His church sheep because they hear Jesus’ voice and follow. When the wolf came in the herd scatters. And unfortunately the church is scattered all over the place. And they aren’t listening to the shepherd. Jesus also said that He is the door to the sheepfold and no one enters in but by Him. The sheepfold is heaven, a safe place for all that belong to God. Jesus also said the My sheep hear My voice and will not follow anyone else. How will you enter into heaven if you don’t hear His voice or follow after Him?

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It is an idiom. The saying is, you are going to hell in a handbasket. It means that a person is rushing into a situation that is detrimental to their health and wellbeing. I know that people in this country are angry about a lot of things. One is the federal government. I agree that the entire congress and senate, judicial and executive personal should be gotten rid of. I was discussing the situation with a person I had just met and he agreed. The people that are in office don’t care for the American people. And the job of elected officials are to see about the needs of the American people. And not for their own gain or purpose. What happen in England was the same thing. The European Union didn’t care what happened the British people. So the British people voted to leave the European Union. Their vote was against their national government. The English Parliament is now reorganizing. Of course this is against the one global government and economy. For years, little by little, America has pushed toward the one world government. It was never a big move. It was always just a little at a time. Now China owns most of our debt. Japan owns Hawaii. Our national debt, the one the past administration said that was George Bush’s debt, has been quadrupled in size. Spending hasn’t ended. Medicare was solvent under the Bush Adminstation. Now it is bankrupt. All the money was diverted to the general fund to spend more money. Ulysses S. Grant was a better president and he stayed drunk in office for 4 years. Now, is not the time to panic. It is the time to seek God and His kingdom. It is because the only person who can change people to change situations, is God Himself.  

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Everyone remembers the past with fond memories. Things that happened when you were a child or even as an adult. You can see them as clear as if they just happened. But they are just memories. My wife and I went on a vacation. Our children are grown and we wanted to do something together. We get so little time together that we strengthen the bond between us again. As we drove to San Antonio, Texas, we kept remembering things we did with the kids and before we were married. I lived in San Antonio so many years ago. I won’t tell you how long ago. We walked on the River Walk near the Alamo. I just couldn’t believe how many young people were walking around. And how many babies they had. San Antonio as usual is hot. The weathermen predicted it would be over 100 degrees for the next few days. That means hot as hell. But the skies were clear and blue. I was very surprised how green the countryside was driving into San Antonio, Texas has had a drought for the past 5 years. But this year has been record rainfall. But there is a record amount of people visiting here. There has been so much development in town, I hardly recognized it. Since I lived here San Antonio has doubled in size. But I have always found that the people act like this is a small town. Everybody knows everybody. As long as I have visited San Antonio, I have enjoyed it. My wife and I will be here for the next few days. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it.  

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On the news was the shootings in Dallas. 5 policemen are dead and many wounded and the shootings in Baton Rouge. People are angry about whatever. Everybody is pointing the finger at everybody else. I want you to do something for me. Point your finger at something. Then look at your hand. There is one finger pointing at something and 4 fingers are pointing directly at you. It doesn’t start with someone else. It always starts with you. What are you going to do? Where is your anger going to take you? I have been so angry that I cursed God. I know what it is to have raging anger. And the only person I hurt consistently was me. Anger will eventually kill you. It has no use in anything we do. And it carries with it a great amount of pain. A pain that doesn’t subside very easily. So what are going to do? I know what I did and I would do it all over again. I had to get forgiveness for my sins before the anger and the pain subsided. This is the only place I found in some 40 years of my journey. I didn’t want to give up, but I just couldn’t stand the pain anymore. My life had to change and it did. People would ask what happened to me. Because they saw the difference in me. I know it takes courage to confess that you are wrong. But if you do, life will change as you know it. It will become better than you can expect. And all you have to do is ask God to forgive you and ask Him into your life. And the anger in your life will fade away. So what are you going to do?

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It is the title of a song written by Keith Green 40 years ago. He saw something that was going to happen to the Church. It is funny that I just wrote a series of blogs about this very subject. The series was called the Glitch. I was watching Trinity Broadcasting Network. The host was interviewing a retired pastor in London and he was talking about the same thing. He was using the parable of the 10 virgins. Some friends of mine from Peru wrote and performed a song about the same subject. It was called in English, where is your 1^st love? They wrote that song almost 20 years ago. What I am saying is that if you don’t know Jesus and Him crucified, you will not recognize Him when He returns. When Jesus returns He will gather the Church to Himself. It also says that when He returns people will hide themselves from Him. Because they will recognize the sin in their lives. What can you do about this? God has always been there waiting for you. God wants everyone to make it into heaven. That is why the gospel has been preached for 6000 years. It is so man can understand that he is separated from God and can come to Him. God isn’t willing the any person should be lost. God loves every human being on this earth. And the Church has gone to sleep in the middle of everything. This time in history Jesus talked about it. He called it the beginning of sorrows. There is nothing sadder than a person realizing that they are forever separated from God. Where there is no hope of ever coming out it. God isn’t willing that any should perish and has provided the way back to Him. His name is Jesus.

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When 9/11 happened, people became afraid of the unknown. The US began circling the wagons. And people went back to church to find answers. It filled the churches for about 3 months. The US took the fight to the enemy. The Glitch was coming in stronger. People began to see the US as their savior. The churches began to empty as fast as they were filled.  What is unfortunate is that 9/11 was just the opening volley. There has been a major disaster every year in the world since 9/11. If it isn’t a flood, it’s a fire. If it wasn’t a fire, it was tornados. Or it was hurricanes. Or it was a volcano or a Japanese nuclear plant exploding. After hurricane Katrina, I heard a few preachers saying that it was the hand of God. And I heard the religious community saying that it wasn’t God. You see those few preachers knew the truth. The others were just deceived. Let alone there were man-made disasters. I am speaking of our past national government. I have never seen any administration try to pull down this government as fast as these people. And the shame of it is that God put them into place because of us, because nobody is listening to God. It isn’t over yet. What is God going to have to do to get your attention? How would you like to become refugees like the Syrians? Did you know that the number 6 is the number of man? We have discussed the Glitch – the recurring error. The 1^st one was the love of money is the root of all evil. The 2^nd was replacing God with man. The 3^rd was refusing to listen to God when He is speaking to us. Despite what you think the only answer to any problem that man has is God Himself. This is the reason we were made to fellowship with God Himself.

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Saddam Hussein had overrun Kuwait. And he was threaten Saudi Arabia. America had to get involved in the conflict. President Bush formed a coalition of nations, both monetarily and militarily. It took two years but the Iraqi army was defeated. The 1990s became the decade of outreach. This new church had grown up. It was now time to put your money where your mouth is. Missionaries from every denomination was sent to every country in the world. The feeding programs were massive. The outreach was so great that African countries were sending missionaries to America. The work of God was endless. The glitch was growing. The fervor of the 1980’s was beginning to wane. People were getting dissatisfied with denominations. Independent churches began to rise up and met the need of the people. And these independent churches were Pentecostal with the Holy Ghost. But violence in this country was growing experientially. All because of no respect for life. This all came about because of the Roe vs. Wade decision of the US Supreme Court in 1973 which allow abortions. As it was in the 1^st century, Christianity came under attack. Christians were being attacked by demonic agendas. People began to wonder away from the Church. Until something horrible happened. The century had turn and a new president was elected. In his first term as a peace time president, he became a war time president. 9/11 happened. I’ll finish the story tomorrow.

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The 1980’s was a time of study. People were learning who they were in Christ and about who God really is. Many things happened in the world. The hostages were taken in Tehran, Iran. They were held for a year. When Ronald Reagan was elected president, he put a grip hold on the government of Iran. They released the hostages. There was a renewal in America. People were believing that America could great again. Several major events happened in America. After the hostages were released, President Reagan was shot after 70 days in office. Thank God he wasn’t killed. He recovered. In 1983 an event occur that change the world. The US Congress passed HR 535, the Year of the Bible. And the president signed it into law. For the 1^st time in 2000 years, a nation honored God. What happened next was amazing. The GNP rose to a rate higher than in the past 20 years, including the Vietnam War years. Churches were filled to capacity. God was honored and we received the benefits for it. We became a wealthy nation again. Then a scandal broke out in Washington, Iran/Contra. This was about the government secret plans to fund the Contra Indians in Guatemala to fight Sandinista Junta government in Nicaragua. It was a CIA operation to sell captured arms to fund the Contras. The glitch began to come in for money and power. That recurring error showed its ugly head again. Many people weren’t affected, but church attendance suffered. What happen next was the Gulf War and a new president. But God was beginning to mobilize his army throughout the world. I continue the story tomorrow.

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I have been tracking the activities of mankind for a while. I began to see a correlation between what was happening in Israel and the Christian Church. You would think that they aren’t related but they are. Pentecostalism wasn’t worldwide for hundreds of years. People became Christians but the power in the Church wasn’t there. Pentecostalism did break out in the 20^th century in America in the Azuza Street Revival. But it wasn’t worldwide. During the 6 Day war in Israel, the Israelites re-captured Jerusalem in 1967. Then began a spontaneous Revival from God Himself. People were being baptized in the Holy Spirit with tongues of fires upon their heads. Just as it was in the 1^st century with the Apostles in Jerusalem. The power of God came down from heaven to mankind. It went worldwide within a few years. In every denomination in the world was touched by God. Even denominations that don’t believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues received it. God didn’t leave out anyone. If you ask God for it, it happened in your life. The 1970’s became the decade of Great Revivals. Churches went up everywhere. People were coming to the Lord. Lives were being changed. This is where I came in. it was an exciting time. The presence of God was everywhere. People were excited and joyful. Even as the 70’s came to a close, the Church world was changing. If the Church was to be affective in our world they had to learn of God. So bible schools began to open all over the world. It was time to go to God’s school and learn. Even the Apostle Paul had to go back to school. For 14 years God taught him on the back side of the desert before he began his ministry. I’ll continue the story tomorrow.

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In the 1^st century, Ephesus was one of the largest cities of the times. Most people from every nation came to trade there. Anyone who had a mind for business made money. There were wealthy people in Ephesus. One reason that the Romans wanted to be there. They garrisoned the city and protect them for anyone attacking the city. It was almost like Rome itself. You could get anything you wanted. This is also why the Christian Church was based out of Ephesus. The Jewish people had revolted against Rome and their government was oppressive. So the Church moved to Ephesus. There still was a Church in Jerusalem, but it was very hard to function. The 1^st bishop of Ephesus was the Apostle John, brother of James, son of Zebedee. The Church in its beginning was great. They were powerful and effective. They had a large percentage of the population in the Church. The Church was wealthy also. It had money to do the work God called them to. They had the main Church and 6 satellite Churches. The seven churches in Asia where Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. This is where the glitch comes in. Somewhere in the middle of all this wonderful prosperity, the Church began to change. The focus became money and not God. They began to leave God out of the lives. They were too busy pursuing money. They lost a lot of their power. Once that went they lost their effectiveness. Persecution rose to a height that the people were killing Christians. In 90 AD, the city of Ephesus arrested John and put him on the Isle of Patmos to die. But God had other plans for John. There he wrote the Book of Revelation. It only took 40 years for the most powerful Christian Church to fail. You can read for yourself the story in the bible, the books of Ephesians and in Revelations. 40 years, in 1 generation there came a glitch in human history. And unfortunately it is a recurring error that happens throughout the history of mankind. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Not long after that the headquarters for the Christian Church moved to Alexandria, Egypt.

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