The Great Reset

“You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy.” The World Economic Forum

Hmmm 🤔

Interesting you never hear or see anything about the World Economic Forum in the mainstream news. Long story short, in the last quarter of 2020 I came to the conclusion that the mainstream news media can no longer be trusted. In my opinion, the average network news program toggles between the truth, half truths, and propaganda, with the token “heart warming” story at the end of the program. Nowadays I try to get my news and information from a variety of sources, including podcasts, Twitter, Rumble, American Family Radio Network, Newsmax, Redacted, YouTube, etc.

So in 2020 I started looking into The Great Reset after seeing some random posts about it on social media. I found several people speaking up about The Great Reset here and there, but I wanted to find out exactly what it was and specifically, and I wanted to learn about it from a Christian perspective. So I started listening to the first of four YouTube videos by Keith Malcomson, a pastor from Ireland. Initially I wasn’t sure about him, so I checked out his church (Limerick City Church) and their mission statement, what they believe, etc. I found his church to be of sound doctrine concerning the essentials of faith, and proceeded to listen to his first, then second, then third video.

I was convicted to go back and listen to the first three videos all over again when he came out with the fourth video in late December. The first three videos were made in October and November.

1. Part 1, published 10/16/20, THE GREAT RESET, The Coming Economic Crisis.

2. Part 2, published 10/30/20, THE GREAT RESET, The Coming Economic Crisis.

3. Part 3, published 11/24/20, THE GREAT RESET, The Coming Economic Crisis and The Rise of a World Socialist State.

4. Part 4, published 12/21/20, THE GREAT RESET, The Coming Economic Crisis and The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

First, a quick review about the first three Industrial Revolutions, which I’m sure we were taught in high school but most of us have long forgot. As a side note, I do remember thinking back then, “Do we really need to learn about this kind of stuff?!” And now, all these years later I wish I would have taken the time to actually learn about this sort of thing back then.

Actually I wish I would have done a lot of things differently back then and taken a lot of things more seriously.

Ah, hindsight.

But thanks to an quick internet search, here’s a simple outline of the first three Industrial Revolutions:

1. The First Industrial Revolution: “The first wave of the Industrial Revolution lasted from the late 1700’s to the mid-1800’s. It industrialized the manufacture of textiles and began the move of production from homes to factories. Steam power and the cotton gin played an important role in this period.”

2. The Second Industrial Revolution: “Historians have labeled the years from 1870-1914 as the period of the Second Industrial Revolution. While the First Industrial Revolution caused the growth of industries, such as coal, iron, railroads and textiles, the Second Industrial Revolution witnessed the expansion of electricity, petroleum and steel.”

3. The Third Industrial Revolution: “The third revolution began in the late 1900’s and brought forth the rise of electronics, telecommunications and of course, computers. Through the new technologies, the third industrial revolution oped the doors to space expeditions, research, nuclear energy, and biotechnology.”

The coming Fourth Industrial Revolution, as envisioned by the World Economic Forum (WEF), is problematic:

The Great Reset is about a global socialist elite power network (The World Economic Forum) that seeks to control us economically, politically, biologically, physically, and spiritually. They are anti-salvific at its core. They will not stop with technology being around us; they want to make it a part of us. They want technology to envelop us and be embedded in us. The WEF is the driving force behind The Great Reset. The WEF wants to change our way of living from capitalism to socialism, control everything we do, and usher us into their version of Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Here’s a quote from a 2016 article titled, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution, What it Means and How to Respond.” by Klaus Schwab, the leader of The WEF: “Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.”

Hmm… Interesting choice of words.

In June of 2020 Klaus Schwab spoke at a summit meeting outlining The Great Reset master plan and of the advantages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting attendees included powerful and wealthy world leaders, including members of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations. Klaus Schwab stated that Covid-19 was a catalyst in advancing The Great Reset agenda and that, “COVID-19 has accelerated our transition into the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We have to make sure that the new technologies in the digital, biological and physical world remain human-centred and serve society as a whole, providing everyone with fair access.”

Hmm…. Interesting choice of words once again.

It’s about “Build Back Better,” Joe Biden’s catch-phrase, that he coincidentally borrowed from the World Economic Forum, and the Trojan horse of the merging of capitalism with socialism under the guise of Steak Holder Capitalism. It’ll still be socialism.

It’s about a Wealth Redistribution Plan that touts a digitalization of our entire economy, a cashless society, (CBDC’s) Central Bank Digital Currency, and a standard income based upon socialist idealism and control.

It’s about a revamping of our entire educational system into a Global Digitalized Education System where teachers no longer teach but are mere facilitators of the woke philosophies of the WEF.

It’s about the Green Agenda and Climate Change, Trojan Horses of the population control agenda.

It’s about the World Health Organization (WHO) controlling people worldwide by the use of vaccine passports; a QR coded digital permission system that will allow or restrict people to travel. Obey their rules = freedom to travel. Disobey their rules = no travel allowed. i.e. quarantines, lockdowns, etc.

It’s about Event 201, Agenda 2021, Agenda 2030, and Globalization 4.0 involving the digitalization of everything with the goal of merging of the physical, the digital, the technological and the biological; a trans-humanism society of designer evolution.

It’s about evil forces who’re attempting to destroy God’s creation and plans, and attempting to replacing it with man’s creation and plans. Worshiping the creation rather than the Creator.

“For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature ratherthan the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 1:25

Folks, we are nearing the Last Days.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44

To be clear, I believe The rapture is imminent; no other biblical prophecy needs to be fulfilled before the rapture happens. The good news for born-again believers is that we’ll be taken up to heaven at this point. The bad news for everyone else is that they’ll be left behind at this point.

After the rapture, a satanically empowered man will gain worldwide control with promises of peace. This man is the Antichrist. He will be aided by another man, called the false prophet, who will head up a religious system that requires worship of the Antichrist. The seven year tribulation will follow. During the tribulation, there will be terrible wars, famines, plagues, and natural disasters. God will be pouring out His wrath against sin, evil, and wickedness. The seven year tribulation will be the darkest moment the world will have ever seen.

Today is the day of salvation: “Today, if only you would hear his voice, Do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7–8).

“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

To learn more of The Great Reset, here are the links to the videos that I referenced above. Pastor Malcomson goes into great detail explaining The Great Reset, from a Christian perspective

Merry Christmas 2020

We celebrated our 2020 family Christmas 🎄 a couple of weeks early this year as we had out of town business plans in late December. We decided it would be fine as all three of our daughters are married with children and this would give them a little extra freedom this year to celebrate Christmas at their own home, visit in-laws, travel, etc.

So on December 13, we started off with a BIG country breakfast. Then we played a couple of games, caught some kisses under the mistletoe, had a gift-exchange between the grandkids, and a timed white elephant gift exchange for the adults.

We also sang “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with singing 🎶 parts for each of us. It was fun!

We also talked about the folklore of the hidden meaning of the lyrics to The Twelve Days of Christmas. While some may dispute the origin and intent of the song lyrics, the popular folklore is that it’s a song of Christian instruction with hidden references to Christ and the Christian faith. Dating as far back to the 16th century, a time during the religious wars in England, the folklore is that the song was actually a device to secretly teach the basic principles of Christianity to children.

Thus,

1 The partridge in the pear tree represents Jesus Christ.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments.

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity.

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels.

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation.

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes.

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments.

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles.

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed.

It’s my hope that each of our children and grandchildren will never forget the true meaning of Christmas:

It’s not about Santa.

It’s not about traditions.

It’s not about food and it’s not about gifts.

All these things are all fine to enjoy but,

Christmas is about Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season.

And,

The most important thing we will ever do is pass our faith on to our loved ones. I pray for each one of our family members to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, in God’s perfect timing.

The truth is,

Jesus did not come into the world to do good works or just to leave an example for us to follow.

“…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners… 1 Timothy 1:15

The Return

Have you heard of The Return? It’s been heavily advertised lately on TV and various social media’s so if you haven’t yet, I would be surprised. It’s headlined by Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Rabbi/Pastor/Author, as “a national and global day of prayer and repentance” in Washington DC on Saturday, September 26, 2020, and touts over 50 guest speakers.

Do we all as sinners need to repent? Yes

Do we all who have wondered away from God need to return to Him? Yes

Do we all need to pray? Yes

All very good and all very well and true, but……

Christians need to be careful of who they’re following. Jonathan Cahn claims to have special revelation similar to that of biblical authors and has made lots of money writing books, (The Harbinger, The Mystery of the Shemita, The Harbinger II, etc.) all of which contain a mix of fiction, truth, mythology, suspense, and prophecy. That is problematic as well as his claim that America is the new Israel. America is not the new Israel nor does America have a special covenant with God as Jonathan Cahn claims. What he refers to as deep mysteries of biblical truth is more mythology than theology. His promotion of “new prophetic truths” makes his theology more akin to false teaching.

Quoting Marsha West of the Berean Call: “Only Israel was directly established by God and had a binding covenant mediated through Moses who God chose and appointed. America has neither a Moses nor a binding covenant. We are not the new Israel and never have been. The moral laws of God that do apply are found in the Bible and they apply to all people in all nations.”

At this event called The Return, of the 55 guest speakers, there are only 8 of which I am familiar with as Christian leaders. I’m assuming they’re lacking some level of discernment rather than actual Jonathan Cahn followers. America is blessed with solid Bible believing pastors and teachers, and that’s who we should be learning from, not authors of fictional prophetic books. And while repentance, returning to God, and prayer will always be the right direction for us as individuals and as a country, it is problematic when it’s led by someone who’s taken the mantle as a modern day prophet and refers to America as the new Israel.

So, will I pray on September 26? Yes.

Will I follow Jonathan Cahn? No.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24

The Ark

I used to love action-adventure movies! I remember when the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie first came out back in the early 1980’s. I was fascinated with it and also with the two sequels as well. I still have all three movies on VHS tape, but no longer have a VHS player. 😂

In the early 80’s my spiritual life was just picking up from where I left it, somewhere back in the 1970’s. Like a lot of people, I was raised up going to church, made a profession of faith at a young age, then drifted away from Christ in my teens and early twenties, and pursued my own way of living.

Then in the early 1980’s I began my journey back toward God. Looking back now, I can see how spiritually immature I was. I remember thinking that The Raiders of the Lost Ark movie was a Christian movie. After all, it was about the Ark of the Covenant, right? Wrong. Actually the movie wasn’t biblical, and it wasn’t about the Biblical account of the Ark of the Covenant. In reality it was just an action-adventure film.

The Bible reveals that the Ark of the Covenant was built by Moses. as commanded by God, to hold the Ten Commandments, which was in the form of two stone tablets, as told in the Book of Exodus. It was a symbol of the covenant between God and His people.

Recently I came across the following quote from Charles Spurgeon’s devotional, Morning and Evening, and it introduced me to another way of thinking about the “Ark.”

“Reader, can you find rest apart from the Ark, Christ Jesus? Then consider that your religion may be in vain.” #CharlesSpurgeon

Charles Spurgeon speaks here of Christ as the Ark: Christ as the source of our happiness and the source of true rest in Him. Christ, whom we can not live without and the one who feeds our souls. Christ, to whom our soul can sing!

I found this “Ark” when I turned back to Christ in repentance and faith back in the 1980’s. What a difference He’s made in my life ever since. It was not until I saw the sin in my life and called out to Him to forgive me, that change began in my life. Looking back, I really don’t recall growing in Christ in my teens and early twenties, but I do recall growing in Christ after I repented of the sin in my life, and discovered the joy of knowing Christ.

Spurgeon further elaborates along this line of thought when he says:

“Are you satisfied with anything short of a conscious knowledge of your union and interest in Christ? Then woe to you. If you profess to be a Christian while finding full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and pursuits, your profession is probably false.” #CharlesSpurgeon

A gentle but sober reminder that growing in Christ should be the Christians primary source of satisfaction, interest, and place of rest. If this isn’t true in your life, ask yourself why not. Actively seeking and growing in God is the business of believers, and if you’re not, well, that’s probably a big red flag….

“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.” 2 Peter 1:10

If You Have Love For One Another

I was in junior high school when I first remember learning of the Holocaust. I didn’t understand what it was all about at the time and I didn’t really grasp the horror of it all until some time later when I was looking at a magazine. I think it was Life Magazine. I saw several full page photos of the victims. It was shocking and made me wonder how could anyone do that to anyone, let alone to an entire group of people. So I did what a lot of us do when we see something horrible and we’re not quite ready to process it; I set it aside in the back of my mind.

Memories of the initial horror of seeing those holocaust pictures in the late 1960’s were revisited recently when I came across a New York Times article about the holocaust. As horrific as the killing of thousands of innocent Jewish people was, I was sickened to learn in this article that the Nazi’s gathered groups of disabled people and murdered them as well. This was especially hurtful to learn as I’ve long held a special place on my heart for the disabled. My dad was crippled by polio in the early 1950’s, my sweet little brother Doug, was born mentally retarded (now called mentally disabled) in 1957, our beautiful daughter Megan was born with Spina Bifida in 1986, and our sweet granddaughter Remi, was born with Down Syndrome in 2021.

The holocaust was born out of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. He was a German political leader in the 1930’s who rose to the rank of Fuhrer in the 1940’s German Nazi party. He believed that the Jews were Germany’s enemies, and that they were an inferior race. Full of hate and racism, he sought to get rid of the Jews by killing them, and create a country full of “perfect” people of which he, of course, would be their leader. Interestingly he did all of this while claiming to be a Christian, and denouncing Christianity at the same time.

It’s also interesting how he got so many people to follow him.

Thinking about all of this made me wonder if Hitler’s hatred for the Jews may have been fueled by his misguided so-called Christian beliefs. Regardless, whatever Hitler thought and did was wrong on so many levels. His basic beliefs were skewed to say the least. I suspect if he had a Bible he didn’t read it. If he’d actually read and studied the Bible, he might have learned that the Jews weren’t responsible for Jesus’s death on the cross, but it was us; it was actually our sins that nailed Him on the cross:

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14

Secondly, all of us are disabled in some way or another. None of us are perfect; there is no such thing as perfect people or the the perfect race. We all have flaws and imperfections, physically, emotionally, and spiritually; including and especially sin.

Anyone who thinks they’re perfect and are constantly seeking perfection, are guilty of the sin of pride, and that’s regardless of whether they realize it or not.

Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the unplowed field of the wicked, produce sin. Proverbs 21:4

Only God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are perfect, and it is not until we receive Jesus in repentance and faith does God change the way He sees us. If Hitler had read the Bible he would known this as well:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30

Fortunately I’m not Hitler’s nor anyone else’s judge, but the Bible tells us that when we become a believer there should be a change in our life, in the way we think and in the things we do; life before Jesus and life after Jesus, there should be a difference. In John 13:35 Jesus tells of one distinguishing characteristic of the believer:

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

My Creed is Jesus Christ

The first church I became a member of was Southport Methodist Church.

Here’s a picture of me and my 5th grade Sunday School class sometime around 1964 or 1965. I’m on the second row, second from the left. This was the church our family attended while I was growing up in Indianapolis. I have some very fond memories from when I attended this church, especially when I was young. It was here that I first trusted in Christ around the age of 12, although I don’t believe it was a saving faith.

Around 3 years after this picture was taken, the church changed their name to include “United.” I continued my membership there into my young adult years, with increasing periods of inactivity on and off during my late teens and early 20’s, and then a resurgence in my mid-twenties. God got my attention one night after listening to Billy Graham speak on TV a few nights before. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about all the sin in my life, and I cried out to Him in repentance and faith. I believe it was at this time that I was born again, as it was from this point forward that my life began to change. I began reading my Bible and started going back to my old church. However, after a while a couple of things started bothering me. My Sunday School class studied books that seemed more philosophical than biblical, and many of the pastor’s sermons were light on Bible verses and heavy on modern day stories.

Around this same time, I was listening regularly to Charles Stanley from First Baptist Atlanta, on the radio. His sermons were jam packed with Bible verses and Bible stories. This style of preaching was new to me and I found myself very drawn to it. While I enjoyed my old church, God had different plans for me.

In 1988 I was convicted to be baptized by full water immersion at age 33. I became a member of Providence Baptist Church in Riverview, Florida. It was a series of events that lead up to both my change in church membership and in my relationship with God. I wrote about this experience in a previous chapter titled, Another Gospel. In short, God was calling me to draw closer in my relationship with Him.

Nowadays I do lean more toward Reformed (Calvinism) Theology, which makes me more of a Reformed Baptist I suppose. I respect the hero’s of the Reformation such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards. I like John Bunyan, a Puritan who famously wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. I also like Charles Spurgeon; I agree and appreciate his clear position on water baptism, aka believer’s baptism/credobaptism.

Spurgeon wrote, “Conscience has convinced me that it is a duty to be buried with Christ in baptism, although I am sure it constitutes no part of salvation.” In his testimony, he says, “I had no superstitious idea that baptism would save me, for I was saved” even prior to being baptized. Thus, baptism was an act of obedience for Spurgeon. He answers his own question, “Why was I thus baptized?” by saying, “because I believed it to be an ordinance of Christ, very specially joined by Him with faith in His name.” So, even though he did not believe baptism as essential for salvation, he would reject the notion that baptism is non-essential.

Though baptism did not save, it symbolized or was emblematic of salvation. Spurgeon says, “I regarded baptism as the token to the believer of cleansing, the emblem of his burial with his Lord, and the outward avowal of his new birth.” That word avowal conveys the idea of baptism as a public profession or declaration to the world that a person belongs to Christ.

Clearly, the Bible contains many verses about baptism, some of which may seem to infer that baptism is required, however based on the whole of the gospel, I too, do not believe that baptism is required in order to be saved.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

In my own personal experience for example, I was a 33 year old adult when I was convicted that I needed to be baptized by full water immersion. I understood that baptism is a step of obedience, and an outward sign of an inward change. At age 12 I had been “sprinkled” at my old Methodist church where I first trusted Christ, however was later convicted that neither the sprinkling or my salvation at age 12 was valid. Comparing my voluntary and obedient baptism as an adult, to people who get baptized because they’re told they “have to be baptized in order to be saved,” reinforces my belief that baptism is not required for salvation.

I also agree with Charles Spurgeon’s viewpoint on baptismal regeneration, the unbiblical practice of baptizing unbelievers and infants. Charles Spurgeon emphatically stated that, “We will confront this dogma with the assertion that BAPTISM WITHOUT FAITH SAVES NO ONE.”

Over the years, I’ve read many wonderful quotes and biblical teachings from Charles Spurgeon’s writings. In fact, I’ve been using The Spurgeon Study Bible since 2019 for my personal Bible study, and have grown in my faith by using it. He is one of my favorite Reformed preachers of old. John MacArthur, Voddie Bachman, Paul Washer, Sinclair Ferguson, and Alistair Begg top my list of favorite present day Reformed preachers.

At the same time, I also like Arminian preachers such as the late Charles Stanley from First Baptist Atlanta, Ray Comfort from Living Waters, Greg Laurie from A New Beginning, the late Adrian Rogers from Love Worth Finding, and of course, the late Billy Graham, who is probably the most well known evangelist of the 20th century.

I believe God uses both Arminians and Calvinists to preach the gospel message and to teach us about the Bible. I like this quote from Arminian pastor Leonard Ravenhill,

“Think like a Calvinist, live like an Arminian.”

“I am a Calvinist: I believe in election and predestination; but I would not dream of putting it under the heading of essential. I put it under the heading of non-essential…. You are not saved by your precise understanding of how this great salvation comes to you.” #MartynLloydJones

So, whether you lean toward Arminianism or Calvinism it is a non-essential issue.

Now, I do find debates between Arminianism and Calvinism interesting to a point, but it bothers me when soteriology becomes an argument between believers. Those who find themselves in frequent debates on this subject would make better use of their time by instead sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world. Our job is telling. God’s job is saving. I believe God saves, with or without our help, however what a blessing it is to be used by God to help spread the gospel.

I like the response that Charles Spurgeon once gave to someone who asked him about his theology. Though he preferred to think of himself as a “mere Christian” he also said “I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist,” and “I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist, but if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, ‘It is Jesus Christ.’”

A Cord Of Three Strands

We spent our 40th wedding anniversary unexpectedly in Polk City, Florida at our little mobile home that we work out of when in Florida. The date was March 15, 2020. It was definitely not where we planned to be on this date. Like most everyone else during this time period our plans were interrupted by a what we now refer to as a “Plandemic” called Covid-19. Otherwise we would have been on the first day of our 10-day cruise to the southern Caribbean celebrating our 40th Anniversary.

The Royal Caribbean cruise was to have left from Ft Lauderdale on March 15, returning 10 days later with stops in,

Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas

St Johns, Antigua

Roseau, Dominica

Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis, and

Philipsburg, St Maarten

The trip that was. 😔

March 15, 2020 💍 40th Anniversary, Polk City, FL

So, instead of being on a wonderful cruise, that we’d been planning for over a year, we found ourselves hunkered down in that little living room on this day watching President Trump on TV. He was basically telling everyone to shut everything down: all of the cruise ships were ordered to cancel their cruises; everyone except “essential workers” were ordered to stay home; and all of the businesses were ordered to shut down, unless they were deemed an “essential” business.

Thankfully our business was deemed an “essential business” and we were able to stay open. Special thanks goes out to our daughter Mackenzie who stepped up to the plate and helped her dad stay in business. Our other two daughters, Michelle and Megan were also very helpful during this time as well. I really don’t think we could have stayed in business without all of their help. We were then, as we are today, so very thankful 🙌🏻 for our family. ❤️

But, during this time,

Countless people had much more than just interrupted travel plans and work related issues.

Much much more…

Countless people died as a result of being put in hospital ICU’s and having their lungs shredded by ventilators.

Countless more people died from being administered Remdesivir at those same hospitals.

And then,

In 2021, the Covid-19 vaccines entered the scene and deaths increased.

And,

Vaccine injuries increased.

And,

Censorship of doctors and scientists who spoke out against Covid-19 and the Covid-19 vaccines became the norm.

Truth be told, it wasn’t until a few months later that we realized the so-called Covid-19 pandemic 😷 wasn’t what we were originally told it was. I’m thankful for alternative news sources and am especially thankful for Keith Malcomson, a pastor from Ireland who helped open my eyes to the truth in November of 2020.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, we had some very serious issues going on then as well as now, and it’s not just in the USA, but worldwide.

A world where our governments, our leaders, corporations, and an elite class of self appointed world leaders can not be trusted.

So, we find ourselves living in a very different world than when we first married, in 1980.

But, together with God, we’ve found in Him a cord of three strands is not easily broken. We will together continue look to God for protection and provision, and trust in His providence as we look to the future.

“And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12

Keep This Coupon

I have an old box of childhood mementos I’ve kept since childhood. The memories I recall whenever looking in this old box are fun. Probably one of weirdest things I kept was a bunch of old coupons. I literally kept them because they said “Keep this Coupon.” 😂

Wait. Did I really think that one day someone would contact me and tell me I won something?! I have no idea! Ha!

Or, was I just a child and simply being obedient? After all, they do say,

“Keep this Coupon.”

Actually in some ways I do remember being fairly obedient as a child, to a certain point. I respected authority and generally did what I was told to do. Although I certainly had my share of stubbornness in my childhood and was quite independent in my teen years.

The Bible has lots to say about obedience:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.’” John 14:23

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

“Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.” Proverbs 10:17

Simple obedience, even from a child’s perspective, is really a choice. It is a choice to submit to authority and to obey the rules.

The problem with obedience is that it’s human nature not to obey; we want to do things our way, so it’s really more of a heart issue.

So,

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

And,

“Trust and obey,

for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey.”

#DonMoen

Simple obedience.

It’s a choice.

Even a child can do it.

Still collecting coupons in 2019! 😂

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Making Room

Sometimes God brings little surprises when we least expect it. In early 1996, Harold and I had assumed our family was complete, but God had other plans. After a visit to the doctor’s office the doctor said, (with a heavy foreign accent) “It not menopause, you pregnant.” Harold said, “What?!” 😂

A few months later:

December 23, 1996, Mackenzie Anne Crandell!

Time of birth: 5:14 p.m.

Weight: 8 lbs. 8 oz.

Length: 21.5 inches

Color of hair: brown

Place of birth: Lewisville, Texas

Age of parents: Mom 42, Dad 48

Harold and Mackenzie 👶🏻 on Christmas 🎄 Day 1996.

Our little “surprise” came home from the hospital at 2 days old.

With big sister, Michelle, age 15.

With big sister, Megan, age 11.

Mackenzie in her homemade wooden cradle one of our friends made for her.

Me and Mackenzie on New Year’s Eve. Her crib and clothes are in the background. We were in our bedroom (stall) 😂 and there wasn’t much room to walk around but we made it work.

Stall? Yes, I said stall.

So this was in our barn/cabin/home that we lived in temporarily for several months while we were having our house built in Krum, Texas. It was actually a drive-through barn with 12 horse stalls. We converted 4 of the the stalls into a living area: 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, and 1 bath/kitchen area. It was crowded, but we made it work.

The new house that we were building was only a 3 bedroom home, as we only needed 3 bedrooms, or at least so we thought at the time when we first started the home! 😂

So, we ended up converting the formal dining room into a nursery and it worked out fine! The wood on the double French doors matched the wood on her crib and I loved the way it turned out. Who really needs a formal dining room anyway?!

Seven years later Mackenzie finally got to move out of the dining room and get her own bedroom when we moved into a new home in Denton, Texas with 4 bedrooms. 🏡

The point I want to make is this; babies, surprises or not, are all gifts from God; and we’re to make “room” for them in our lives, no matter what the circumstances.

Childred are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3

Even more so, the Baby, whose birth we celebrate on December 25. Be sure to make “room” for Him 🙌🏻 in your heart; be it Christmas time or anytime.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Johnny Walker

Los Angeles was “a nice place to visit,” but it was too expensive, too far away, and it never ever seemed like home. So after living there for about a year, I put in a bid to transfer to back to Florida. Within a few days my request was approved to work at Delta’s Jacksonville reservation office.

So, in June of 1991, we gave our second-hand furniture back to Goodwill, and packed up our personal belongings and had them shipped them to Jacksonville, Florida via Delta Cargo. The four of us left Los Angeles by car, headed back to Florida.

We made it to Jacksonville, got our furniture out of storage from Tampa, and moved into a nice (and practically new) lease/option-to-purchase home in Orange Park, a suburb just south of Jacksonville

Megan and Michelle in Orange Park in 1991.

After living in an apartment in LA for the past year, I thought we finally have a nice place to call home; a place to settle down, one that could be ours long term. Until my first day at work…

I walked in and found myself somewhere between disbelief and shock. It was nothing like the Los Angeles office. The carpet was worn, the walls needed paint, and they were still using the old big box single-screen computer monitors. My first thought was, they’re going to close this office. 😳

I mentioned it to a couple of other employees that I had just met, but could tell they had no idea what I was talking about so I dropped it. I decided just to be thankful that we were back in Florida, and that Harold had already found work at a car dealership, and that we were living in a nice home. I decided not to worry about Delta closing the office.

Do not worry about anything, but In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6-7

Orange Park was actually a great place to raise a family; nice schools, parks, and a good church, Ridgeway Baptist. We also found Nemour’s Children’s Hospital in nearby Jacksonville for Megan’s clinic visits.

Megan won a first place trophy at the Spina Bifida 5K Fundraiser!

Some of our favorite places to visit while living in this part of Florida included Green Cove Springs and St. Augustine. Green Cove Springs is an little old town with a couple of restaurants, shady oak trees and a nice playground. St. Augustine is an old beach town with lots of cute shops and restaurants. It was simply beautiful at Christmas 🎄time.

So, just like I predicted the first day I stepped foot into the Jacksonville Delta Air Lines reservation office a year and a half earlier, Delta management announced that they were planning to close several offices over the next few months, and the Jacksonville office was one of those offices. I hate to say, “I told you so, but….”

I put in my bid to transfer to one of three cities to work in Delta Reservations:

Atlanta, because it was the main headquarters.

Miami, because it was in Florida.

And Dallas, because it was in the Bible Belt.

In preparation for the move we gave up our leased home and moved into an apartment nearby on a short term lease. Michelle and Megan both made some new new friends right away which made the move a little bit easier.

Michelle, Megan and their friends at the Orange Park apartment.

Michelle and her friends often hung out in little groups outside our apartment listening to music on boom boxes. One day, just for fun, Harold put a boom box on his shoulder and we walked outside within eyeshot of the kids, turned up the volume and started walking/dancing around to the music. We thought it would make for a good laugh for everyone but it backfired. Michelle was so embarrassed; she started crying and ran down the street away from us! I think this event officially branded us in Michelle’s mind as weird parents. 😳

A month or so after moving to the apartment, we decided we’d better make a weekend visit to Miami, just in case that was going to be our next home. Miami was pretty but it was way too hot and way more crowded than we expected. On the way home from Miami I started to have second thoughts about putting it on my bid.

When we got back home, we found our apartment had been ransacked! Several things had been stolen, including some clothes, a cute little lamp and a set of my mother’s rings. The thief even helped themselves to the food in our pantry! I filled out a police report and resolved I’d never see our stolen items again.

A couple of weeks later, I saw my cute little lamp, now broken, sticking up out of our next door neighbor’s trash sitting outside her door! I called the police to add this information to my original police report. Long story short, the police recovered most of what was stolen, including some things I didn’t even realize were missing. The thief was our next door neighbor’s daughter. She told the police that she came over to our house and unlocked our balcony door right before we went out of town, and climbed over our adjoining balconies and helped herself to our stuff while we were gone. It was a strange experience and it made me sad that a neighbor would do this to us.

After all of that, I was really looking forward to moving. I prayed for God to please send us where He most wanted us to go.

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Finally, the bid results came in: Bible-Belt here we come!

So after two years in Jacksonville, we were excited to be moving to Lewisville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, in July of 1993, furniture included! While our two previous moves were voluntary and only allowed us to bring our personal effects, this move included all of our household effects since they were closing the office. A professional mover came and packed everything and drove it by semi-truck to Texas.

Which brings me to my last story about our time in Jacksonville, and the title of this blog. Soon after moving to Orange Park we kept seeing a young man in his late 20’s or early 30’s, walking up and down the main road. He was thin and obviously homeless. I never saw him begging, he was almost always, just walking. I felt sorry for him so I started buying an extra cheeseburger whenever we’d go to McDonalds and then we’d look for him to give it to. I told the girls that we wouldn’t give him money, but a sandwich would be ok. I tried to talk to him a couple of times but he wasn’t much for talking; he was just so very sad. Sometimes we couldn’t find him and so we would just have an extra sandwich. So then I decided it might be better to put together some bags of snacks and bottled water, and keep them in my car to give to him.

Michelle said that the kids at school called him “Johnny Walker” so that’s what we called him. The rumor was, he lost his job, his wife left him, he drank too much, and he became homeless. I don’t know if they named him after the whiskey, “Jonnie Walker” or if it was because he was always walking. I decided I preferred the latter.

To this day, I still wonder about “Johnny Walker,” but out of this experience, God inspired me to start putting together some bags with snacks, water, toiletries, and a gospel tract to give to the homeless. I stock up at the Dollar Store once or twice a year and fill the bags all at once and then keep one in my car, to give away as needed. People nowadays call them “Blessing Bags” but to me they’re my “Johnny Walker” ❤️‍🩹bags.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Treasure In Jars of Clay

My life story and journey of faith.

Category: Personal

The Great Reset

Merry Christmas 2020

The Return

The Ark

If You Have Love For One Another

My Creed is Jesus Christ

A Cord Of Three Strands

Keep This Coupon

Making Room

Johnny Walker