Welcome to Leaving Laodicea
The Survival Manual for the Coming Underground Church
Global Upheaval
For years I have followed Hal Lindsey and have listened to his take on world events. Now, at 90, he still has his finger on the pulse of what is happening all around us and how it fits into Biblical prophecy. This short post is no exception. I received the following yesterday and wanted to share it with you. It is titled, Global Upheaval, and speaks of the sinister, satanic foundation behind much of what is happening globally today. Read and be blessed— and forewarned.
Global Upheaval
The world changes. Sometimes it changes quickly. The two world wars of the 20th century created massive upheavals, as did the Black Death pestilence of the 14th century. Some upheavals are caused by new technologies, such as the printing press, the internal combustion engine, the telephone, or gunpowder. Sometimes political revolutions cause fast and massive change, and sometimes big changes come from simple ideas, including bad ones.
Today, several of those things are happening at once. With Covid-19 as a trigger, we see revolutions all around us. Technical revolutions that should have been for our good have been subverted. Ideas that history has repeatedly proven wrong and dangerous, are rising with a new sense of inevitability
One of the unique things about this year is that these massive societal upheavals are global. Most of history’s revolutions have been localized, but the changes going on now are going on everywhere. And they are all moving in a specific direction— the direction laid out in the Bible thousands of years ago.
For decades now, government and corporate surveillance of citizens has been growing, but mostly hidden. The pandemic has made the invasion of privacy suddenly seem laudable. To keep the virus in check, the world is rapidly building the infrastructure of the Antichrist. That means building a surveillance infrastructure that will allow governments to watch every move their citizens make and be able to use Artificial Intelligence to interpret those moves.
Covid’s economic destruction is wreaking havoc on capitalism everywhere, making citizens of all nations increasingly dependent on government. That’s what antichrist will need— a population full of people depending on government rather than their own hard work and creativity.
To bring new benefits and more relief to the public, governments are printing money hand over fist. This can only go on so long before it brings its own disaster. The mark of the beast as described in Revelation 13:16-18 means that, in the future, world leaders will give control of the entire global economy to the Antichrist and his cohort, the False Prophet. They will do that either because of a global economic collapse or their fear of one. (But it won’t work for long because the Bible describes at least two more economic disasters after Antichrist comes to power.)
Bible prophecies also say that near the time of Christ’s return, there will be increased levels of anti-Semitism and of the persecution of Christians. Back in the 1960s and 70s, ideas like free speech and inclusiveness were primary tenets of campus liberalism. Not anymore. Today we have something popularly known as “cancel culture.”
And if you want to be canceled fast, just quote one of the Bible’s less popular passages— Old Testament or New. Another way to do it is to identify with Israel, or tell the real story of Israel’s formation. People are losing their jobs because of Sunday School lessons taught 20 years ago.
How should we respond to these things? Like Christians. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” But you will not respond in love if you are hysterical with fear. So, follow an instruction given in the Bible hundreds of times— “Fear not.” In John 14:27, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Live in His peace. Love your neighbor. Pray with expectation. He’s coming soon!
467: We Are Living in Bonhoeffer’s Germany
In the 1930s, if you were a Jew in Germany, you would be faced with unforeseen challenges, that would only get worse. And if you were a Christian during the same period, you would have to make the same choices many of those brave men made, to follow Christ or the Reich. This choice is now thrust upon each of us who are called by the name of Christ. Will we follow His commands or cower to the oppressive power of the State? And just like Bonhoeffer and the members of the Confessing Church, we must stand or fall together. So yes, we are living in Bonhoeffer’s Germany.
Recently, the Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 decision, denied an appeal for a Nevada church to allow additional worshipers to join in-person services based on building capacity during the virus. Nevada has placed a 50-person cap on all places of worship, no matter the capacity of the building. But that cap doesn’t apply to casinos, movie theaters, and restaurants. Does something seem amiss?
And in California, churches must meet outdoors and limit the number of participants. Plus, there are no potlucks or fellowship dinners allowed. No singing, even in small, home groups. And all of this is happening while riots and demonstrations are permitted and encouraged by the same government officials, yet ordinary citizens must comply with Covid19 restrictions. Why? Because our governmental officials state the demonstrations are “too important” to regulate. So how are we to respond to this hypocrisy?
Our response is simply saying, “Enough!” This is exactly what some churches, including Grace Community Church in California and their pastor John MacArthur, have done. They have publically said, “Enough!” But they have said it with grace and respect. And they have not said it quietly or behind closed doors. Boldness seems to be the great need for the church today.
Remember the poem found in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem that speaks of the times in which we live. It is titled “First They Came.”
First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Grace Community Church published a position paper on why they will not adhere to the Governor of California’s decrees to limit worship and curtail freedom of religion. It is a paper that communicates the rationale behind civil disobedience from a Scriptural perspective. We, at the Church Without Walls, have modified and adopted this statement as our official position. In this message, we will talk about the ramifications of standing for Him alone, even if you have to do it alone.
Join us as we stand in faith together.
466: How to Seek God’s Face
One of the four requirements found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a cryptic command to “seek” God’s face. Note, not His hand, nor His blessings or grace, but simply to seek God’s face. What does that mean? And how is that done?
Think, how do we begin the process of seeking God’s face? What does the Scripture say about that? Is it something I should be doing? Are there any requirements or things we first must do to be ushered into the presence of God? What is it like to “behold the face of God”? Is that even possible? If I do seek God’s face, won’t I die? And if I actually do experience the presence of God, how will that experience change my life?
It’s maybe not as simple as we were led to believe.
In Psalm 24, we find the requirements God demands to have unhindered intimacy with Him, or to seek His face. These are not suggestions, but are aspects of our sanctification that allow us to “be holy, for I am Holy” by experience (1 Peter 1:16), and not just theologically or positionally in Christ.
Note the question and answer in Psalm 24:3-4:
Question: Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?
Answer: He who has clean hands (outward holiness) and a pure heart (inward holiness), who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
Also, note the distinction between outward and inward holiness. It’s the same distinction we find in the Sermon on the Mount. For example, let’s look at Matthew 5:21-22:
Outward: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'”
Inward: “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.”
And there is so much more we can learn about God’s requirements or standards that must be met to have the kind of intimacy with Him described as “seeking His face” and finding it.
America’s Civil Wars – Then and Now
The following is a sobering, all-important message from Dr. James Dobson regarding the future of our nation and the quality of life for our children and grandchildren. I have decided to post it here in its entirety. You need to read the entire article.
And be warned, the future of our children and grandchildren are at stake. What will we do?
From Dr. James Dobson, August 2020 – www.drjamesdobson.org
Dear Friends,
As I write this newsletter, voters across this nation are only a few short months away from the next general election. What an ominous time this is for our 244-year-old republic. Its future hangs in the balance. The choices we make on November 3rd will send this nation down one of two dramatically different paths. The wrong decision will be catastrophic. I agree with former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, who said recently that the next election will be “the most important since 1860.” He also warned that if we appease or ignore the violence and anarchy occurring in the streets, it might be the end of civilization as we have known it. Those are sobering words coming from a man who has stood at the pinnacle of national power.
Mr. Gingrich referred to the significance of 1860 because that was the year Abraham Lincoln was elected president. I’m sure the Speaker would agree that the following election of 1864 was also critical to the future of the nation. Lincoln and his opponent, Maj. Gen. George McClellan, were in a hotly contested campaign for the White House that could have gone either way. The “war between the states,” as it was called, had been raging for three ghastly years, and the entire nation was staggered by reports from the bloody battlefield.
Lincoln was running for a second term, and he campaigned on the promise of finishing the war and preserving the Union. These were momentous times for the young nation. During the first week of January 1863, the President signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves.
Democrats and their presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. McClellan, initially campaigned on a “peace platform,” pledging to end the war and send soldiers home. As the election approached, he talked more about negotiating to let the South establish a separate government whose cornerstone would be slavery. If McClellan had been elected, there would have been no foreseeable end to the inherent evil of buying and selling human beings and treating them like cattle. Thus, the Civil War was a struggle for the soul of America.
The summer before the election, the war was going badly for the Union. Lincoln, in fact, was convinced he was going to lose the election. He wrote the following memorandum on August 23, 1864, asking his Cabinet to accept the grim prospects for his re-election. These are his words
This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the President-elect as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such grounds that I cannot possibly save it afterwards.
No wonder Lincoln dealt at times with depression. Clearly, the Union was a hair’s breadth away from losing the war. But then, the tide began to turn. One historian wrote, “The political landscape shifted dramatically when Gen. William T. Sherman took Atlanta in early September. This major military shift, coupled with the severe internal strife within the Democratic Party, solidified Lincoln’s chance at victory.”
As you know, Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans won the election of 1864 in a landslide. McClellan was defeated by more than 500,000 popular votes and 191 electoral votes. An estimated 78 percent of Union soldiers cast their ballots in favor of Lincoln. McClellan took just three states: Kentucky, Delaware, and his home state of New Jersey. Less than two months after Lincoln’s inauguration, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He is said to have been the “last casualty” of the Civil War.
50 Things You Need to Get Before It’s Too Late
We are living in troubling times. And, unless you are purposely sticking your head in the sand, you can see things begin to unravel at a frightening speed. So what are we to do? Prepare. It’s really that simple. We each have the choice of being a blessing or a burden to others. We are a blessing if we prepare and have something to bless others who have nothing. Or, if we continue with our dogmatic denial, then we become a burden on those who did prepare… and nobody wants to be a burden, do they? So, in this vein of thinking, let me give you a master list of 50 things you need to get now before it’s too late and it gets to the point they will either not be available, or you will be unable to secure them. Why? Because you waited too long.
Consider this a master list or a set of goals to work towards. You probably won’t be able to get all of these things today, or even next week. But every journey, no matter how long, begins with the first step. So take that step today.
These are not in any particular order.
1. A Generator (we will talk more about this in a future post)
2. Berkey Water Filter (the best water filter to have)
3. Rainwater Collection System (if you don’t have an alternative source of water near your home)
4. Emergency Medical Kit
5. Rice
6. Pasta
7. Canned Soup
8. Canned Vegetables
9. Canned Fruit
10. Canned Chicken (these canned items are the best way to start building your pantry)
11. Jars of Peanut Butter (lots of them)
12. Salt
13. Sugar
14. Powdered Milk (these last three items will have to be stored properly. We’ll cover this in a later post)
15. 15 Bags of Flour (or more, once everything else has been taken care of)
16. Yeast
17. Lots of Extra Coffee (even if you don’t drink it. Others do, and they get nasty when they don’t)
18. Buckets of Long-Term Food (I would suggest Augason Farms)
19. Extra Vitamins
20. Lighters or Matches (and a lot of them)
Day Two: Sending Me to You in the Form of Him
Today is the second day of a 40 day adventure with the Lord.
Yesterday, day one, was a good day. I experienced much peace and was able to pray more than I have in a long time. It seemed like my prayers were effortless and more natural and I had a deeper sense of His presence with me. I know this is only the beginning, but I am greatly encouraged. I was able to spend more time in prayer and meditation on His Word as my mind seemed to be more in tune with spiritual things, rather than carnal things. I find it amazing that after just one day, I can already see changes in my life.
Today I arose early, a little before 6:00 am. For some reason, I couldn’t turn my mind off. I was thinking about our conversation yesterday, how the Lord wants to speak with each of us, with me and you, in a more personal, intimate way that maybe we have not allowed Him to do in the past. I am convinced He wants to reveal His heart to us in ways we’ve never understood or experienced before.
This is what my desire is with Him. And this is what I have been praying this time with Him will accomplish.
Then I started thinking about my fear of the Holy Spirit. No, you heard that right. To be completely honest, I’ve always been a little frightened of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because I don’t understand Him. I find it difficult to get close to Him. I can’t get an image of Him in my mind and He’s hard for me to relate to.
God the Father, not so much. From the Old Testament, I see Him as unapproachable, fire and smoke and thunder from Mt. Sinai erupting like an active volcano (Ex. 19:18). When I think of His voice, I see it booming from the heavens, loud, frightening, much like I viewed the Wizard of Oz when I was a young child. To me, He seems more like a boss, or a ruling monarch, and less like a father. I know much of my caricature of God is based on my own dysfunctional and somewhat abusive relationship with my own father. And I know I’ve imposed character traits and motives on Him that belonged to my earthly father, and that’s unfair and wrong. But that’s something we’ll have to talk about at another time.
465: The Forgotten Discipline of Fasting
Often the church chooses to let go and forget the disciplines that served her so well in the past. We feel they have served their purpose and then callously throw them aside for something more trendy, modern, and popular. And this is especially true of the forgotten discipline of fasting.
I mean, who really wants to fast? And isn’t fasting some Medevial Christian ritual that we stopped doing centuries ago? Plus, if I fast, won’t it mark me as some sort of fanatic or Christian extremist? If I fast, won’t I really be just starving myself? That can’t be healthy. And I’m not sure there are any real-time benefits for fasting (other than losing weight). Why? Because I don’t know anyone who fasts. In fact, I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who fasts.
So what’s the big deal?
Jesus expected His disciples to pray. He said, in the Sermon on the Mount, “when” you pray, and not “if”.
Matthew 6:5 – “And when (not, if) you pray…”
Matthew 6:6 – “But you, when (not, if) you pray…”
Matthew 6:7 – “And when (not, if) you pray…”
But look at what the Lord says about fasting. He assumes it is something His disciples would do, like praying, and not something that was optional.
Matthew 6:16 – Moreover, when (not, if) you fast…”
Matthew 6:17 – “But you, when (not, if) you fast…”
And, like with His teaching on prayer, Jesus speaks about the motives behind fasting and not if His disciples should practice it. That was a given. It was assumed.
There is much to learn about this all-important forgotten Christian discipline called fasting. Join us today as we dig deeper into the amazing world of fasting.
The Curtain is Closing for America
One out of every six people in the world is missing. If 1.5 billion children had not been systematically killed over the past 50 years, the total population of the planet would be 9 billion instead of the current level of 7.5 billion. And of course, I am not even counting the children and the grandchildren that the missing 1.5 billion would have had if they had been allowed to grow up. There have been other great genocides throughout human history, but there has never been one that has literally wiped out one-sixth of humanity. Virtually every nation in the world has eagerly participated in this horrific genocide, and that arguably makes us the most evil generation to ever walk the face of the Earth.
So what would the appropriate punishment be for killing 1.5 billion children?
Not a lot of people think about this. In fact, most of those that approve of all this killing think that they are totally going to get away with it.
These days, even most Christians seem to think that there won’t be any consequences for all of the great evil that we see throughout our society. According to them, it really doesn’t matter that virtually every form of evil imaginable is exploding all around us, because America and the rest of the globe are heading into a golden new era of peace and prosperity that will be greater than anything we have ever seen before whether there is repentance or not.
I am sorry, but it simply does not work that way.
The other day I got an email from one of these believers. He was all upset that my articles were not more “positive”, and I guess he wanted some sort of an explanation.
1.5 billion children are dead and great wickedness is running rampant everywhere we look. Does he actually believe that this is going to lead to a positive ending to our story?
The modern era of abortion began in 1970 when some U.S. states began to pass laws legalizing the practice. The following comes from Wikipedia:
In 1970, Hawaii became the first state to legalize abortions on the request of the woman, and New York repealed its 1830 law and allowed abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy. Similar laws were soon passed in Alaska and Washington. A law in Washington, D.C., which allowed abortion to protect the life or health of the woman, was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1971 in United States v. Vuitch. The court upheld the law, deeming that “health” meant “psychological and physical well-being”, essentially allowing abortion in Washington, DC. By the end of 1972, 13 states had a law similar to that of Colorado, while Mississippi allowed abortion in cases of rape or incest only and Alabama and Massachusetts allowed abortions only in cases where the woman’s physical health was endangered.
The landmark judicial ruling of the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade ruled that a Texas statute forbidding abortion except when necessary to save the life of the mother was unconstitutional. The immediate result was that all state laws to the contrary were null. The Court arrived at its decision by concluding that the issue of abortion and abortion rights falls under the right to privacy.
Day One: Learning to Hear His Voice
Today is the first day of a 40 day adventure.
No, this adventure is not about a mission trip to Haiti or a hike down the Appalachian Trail. This 40 day adventure is a time set aside to discover more about the Lord and to specifically learn to hear Him speak. That’s right, it’s my desire during this adventure to draw closer to the Lord than I’ve ever been before and to learn to hear His voice. I’m not talking about hearing Him speak to me through His Word, which is wonderful. But I long for something more personal, more intimate. I long to hear Him speak to me like He has others in Scripture, and as He has also done for me several times in the past. In fact, those times of hearing His voice are some of the high points in my spiritual life.
I know what many of you may be thinking.
“Oh, here we go again. It looks like somebody else is wanting to move beyond the sufficiency of Scripture. I guess Scripture’s not enough for Steve and now He wants more than God has already provided for him. Maybe he wants an encounter like the one described in The Shack or to hear God speak like Sarah Young claims in Jesus Calling or something like that. Doesn’t he know that God only speaks today through His Word?”
No, I don’t know that. In fact, I see many places in Scripture where God speaks to His children in other ways than through the Scriptures. Let me give you a few examples.
In Acts 9, we find Jesus verbally speaking to Paul on the Damascus Road. It wasn’t just a command or some proclamation declared from heaven. It was a conversation where both He and Paul spoke to each other. And in this conversation, Jesus did not only speak through the written Word, which for Paul would have been the Old Testament. Instead, He verbally communicated His personal message and will to Paul. And that personal message could not be found from reading, for example, the Psalms or Isaiah.
Acts 9:4-6 – Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
“Got it,” you say. “But that’s the apostle Paul. He was an apostle and could, therefore, hear God speak to him verbally in ways He doesn’t do today, to anybody, ever. You and I are not apostles. We don’t even have apostles anymore. So how God spoke to Paul back then was just for Paul— and not for us today.”
464: The Disciples of Jesus and John
As we look deeper into the relationship between the disciples of Jesus and John the Baptist, a few questions come to the surface. Why did John still have disciples after he proclaimed Jesus is the Son of God (John 1:34)? And why is there a perceived tension between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of John? In fact, you can almost feel the tension when John’s disciples confront Jesus and chastise Him for not doing what they, and the Pharisees, were doing regarding fasting.
Matthew 9:14 – Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Or, to put it another way, “Why are we doing things right, and You are not teaching Your disciples to follow us?”
But there is more here than meets the eye. When John proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God, only two of John’s disciples followed Jesus. The rest, it appears, remained loyal to John and continued with him in the ministry of baptism. How is that even possible?
John 1:35-37 – Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
We will also see the blessings that come from following Jesus into the great faith adventure, like these two did, rather than remaining in our comfort zone with John. There is much to learn about the difference between the good, and the best, for each of us.
So join us today as we seek to follow Jesus more.
Something About Us
This is a collection of the many questions I have struggled with and the answers I have found regarding the relationship between authentic faith in Christ and much of what is portrayed today as Biblical Christianity. Especially with the coming darkness looming over all of us, including the church.
Come with me. It should be a wild ride!
To find out more about us and what we believe, just continue reading…