Sunday Scripture
Tag: #TreasureInJarsOfClay
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
EDIT
Since our girls are all grown with families of their own now, we sometimes celebrate Christmas on days other than December 25. It may just be a day before or the day after, but in 2020 we had out of town business plans in late December so we planned our family Christmas for December 13. We decided it would be fine as this would give our girls a little extra time this year to celebrate Christmas in their own homes, visiting in-laws, travel, etc.
So on December 13, we started off with prayer, a BIG country breakfast, and a reading of the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth according to Matthew. We played a couple of games, including Spoons, caught some kisses under the mistletoe, had a gift-exchange between the grandkids, and a 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 and prayer that each of our children and grandchildren always remember the reason why we celebrate Christmas. It’s not about Santa. It’s not about traditions. It’s not about the food and it’s not about the gifts. All these things are fine to enjoy, but Christmas is about Jesus Christ. One of the most important things we will ever do is share our faith with 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, it doesn’t matter what day you celebrate Christmas, the most important thing is that He is your Lord and Savior.
Christmas 2021 was celebrated on December 26.
Christmas 2025 was celebrated on December 27…
…and also on January 4, 2026!
My Creed is Jesus Christ
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.
And, here is a 1966 newspaper clipping of my 6th grade confirmation class. This was at Southport Methodist Church in Southport, Indiana, which was the church our family attended and of which we were members while I was growing up in Indianapolis. I have a lot of 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.
Two or three years after this photo was taken, our church changed its name to “Southport United Methodist Church.” I continued my membership there into my young adult years, with increasing periods of inactivity off-and-on during my late teens and early twenties, 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 earlier. 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 church. However, after a while, a couple of things began to bother 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 liked my old church and the people, but God had different plans for me.
In 1988, I was convicted to be baptized by full water immersion at age 33, and become a member of Providence Baptist Church in Riverview, Florida. It was a series of events that led 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 (aka Calvinism) theology. I respect the heroes of the Reformation such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards. I like John Bunyan, a Puritan who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, and Charles Spurgeon, a renowned 19th-century Baptist preacher. I agree with and appreciate his position on water baptism, or credobaptism—also known as believer’s baptism.
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?” “Because I believed it to be an ordinance of Christ, very specially joined by Him with faith in His name.” So, even though he didn’t believe baptism was essential for salvation, he did consider it an important step of obedience.
The Bible contains many verses about baptism, some of which may seem to imply 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 should be baptized by full water immersion. I understood that baptism is a step of obedience, and an outward sign of an inward change. In my case, I had repented of my sin and turned to Christ just a few years earlier but was not convicted about full-water baptism until age 33.
Whereas, at age 12, I was corralled into a Methodist Confirmation Class along with a group of other 6th graders simply because of our age. Once the class was deemed concluded, I was “sprinkled” along with a group of my classmates in a Sunday morning church service. I was later convinced that neither the sprinkling nor my salvation at age 12 were valid.
Comparing my voluntary and obedient baptism as an adult to my own personal experience as a 12-year-old reinforces my belief that baptism is not a requirement of salvation. I believe people who get baptized because they’re told they “have to be baptized in order to be saved,” are under a false assumption.
I also agree with Charles Spurgeon’s viewpoint on baptismal regeneration, the unbiblical practice of baptizing unbelievers and infants. Charles Spurgeon stated, “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. He’s one of my favorite Reformed preachers. The late Dr. John MacArthur, the late Voddie Baucham, Alistair Begg, Paul Washer, and Sinclair Ferguson top my list of favorite present-day preachers.
At the same time, I also like Arminian preachers and evangelists such as the late Dr. Charles Stanley from First Baptist Atlanta, Ray Comfort from Living Waters, Greg Laurie from A New Beginning, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers from Love Worth Finding, and of course, the late Dr. 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 really like this quote from Arminian pastor Leonard Ravenhill:
“Think like a Calvinist, live like an Arminian.” #LeonardRavenhill
I also like this quote from Martyn Lloyd Jones: “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.”
So, whether you lean toward Arminianism or Calvinism, it’s really a non-essential issue, as far as I’m concerned.
I find debates between Arminianism and Calvinism interesting to a point, but don’t like it when it turns into a soteriology argument. Those who find themselves in frequent debates on this subject would make much better use of their time by sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world. Our job is telling, God’s job is saving.
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.’”
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
Treasure In Jars of Clay 