Old Man of the Sea Part 2

                                                     OLD MAN of the SEA -- PART 2


This is a continuation of an interview with a bible reading Christian who
faithfully read scripture and studied religions of the world for nearly a
century while living and working in the United States.

Pastor: We'll get back to the drilling update, but I want to move on to an era
of great change in this country--World War I, prohibition, the rise of great
Christian Evangelists, the Great Depression, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
New Deal. Were you involved in World War I?

Old Man of the Sea: Yes and no. I was in the Pennsylvania National Guard
towards the end of that war. I was aide-de-camp under General Black Jack
Pershing at war's end, and was included in the group charged with working
out details of Germany's surrender and the following peace keeping. Being
a country boy, I didn't like the idea of all that water. It was a slow trip in those
days. I finished my enlistment and went home. In those days, the fighting on
foreign soil was done by Regular Army and support units. The National Guard
was kept for just that purpose--to guard the nation. In my opinion it has been
wrong to use National Guardsmen and Reserves to fight on foreign soil. That
has disrupted many families and ruined careers of people, many who served
previously and have been "held over".

Pastor: Do you think the military draft should have been continued?

Old Man of the Sea: Of course. Then our reserves and guardsmen could have
continued their civilian lives, helped raise their children and helped stabilize our
communities. Without the draft, millions of young people were denied the
privilege of serving their country, missed out on free training, a free opportunity
to see more of the world, and most importantly, received some badly needed
discipline. The fall out from service people killed and seriously injured will be
with us for a generation. People have been stressed terribly, and divorce has
been one result.

Pastor: What is your feeling about the bible's instructions on war? Christ
and the Apostles didn't really give us much scripture on that.

Old Man of the Sea: That's true, but they were concerned about teaching
God's completion of spiritual fulfillment and how Christians should live. One
of the problems today is what I call New Testament Churches. The Old
Testament is kinda put on the scrap heap and largely ignored. Funny about
that, because Christ often quoted from it. People who kinda ignore the Old
Testament apparently don't realize there wouldn't be a New Testament
without it. Beginning with creation, that collection of writings takes us through
His choosing of His people, the nation of Israel, His directions for morals and
living, family life and protection. The Jewish people were told how to form
military units, and all about strategy and tactics. Can I talk a bit about the place
of the military in Christianity?

Pastor: Certainly. I know some Christians don't believe we should ever go
to war.

Old Man of the Sea: That disturbs me almost as much as saved people
claiming they don't have to do anything until the rapture. It shows these people
have not read or understood the Old Testament. How could they not understand
that His people had to fight to get the promised land, and then fight to free it
from oppression? Now, if any of you Christians out there think warfare is not
part of your faith, look up Word War II and what Hitler tried to do to and did to
Jews. Look in the Old Testament Joshua 5.

Old Man of the Sea: I want to quote scripture here.

Pastor: By all means, continue.

Old Man of the Sea: Joshua 5:13-14 "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by
Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite
him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him,
'Are You for us or for our adversaries?' So He said, 'No, but as Commander of
the army of the Lord I have now come." Now that you've checked me out,
do yourself a favor and read Chapter 6, where the Lord's Commander of the
Lord's army directs Joshua in how Israel can and will capture Jericho. If the Lord
has an army and a magnificent Commander, that's good enough for me! His
people had to fight for freedom and to keep it. Read the Book of Judges, and
you'll see even a woman, Deborah, was a military leader. You should take notice
while reading about the Lord's military directions, that Israel fought only for the
land given it by the Lord and then to protect it. The Lord never directed Israel
to initiate aggression. If you have a sharp eye, pick up on Judges 8:21, where
you see that the people Gideon had to fight and defeat had camels with crescent
ornaments around their necks. I want to talk more about this later.

Pastor: Certainly. After all, we have more war years to cover. But we entered a
very interesting time after the Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. The Roaring
Twenties actually began after the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the
Prohibition Bill in January of 1919. The temperance movement was strong and
liquor was considered a major sin. At the same time, we had the clash about
evolution being taught in the schools and the rise of great preachers like Dwight
Moody and Billy Sunday.

Old Man of the Sea: The period of time between the end of the war and the
1930s was very confusing to a young man like me. The war had opened the eyes
of Americans about the rest of the world and its relationship with us. Veterans
then, as now, were not treated very well. It seemed our nation used them and then
threw them on the scrap heap. We now turned to religious and social issues,
pausing only briefly to note great advances in aviation, Lindberg completed the
first solo flight across the Atlantic and that was followed by the first trans-Atlantic
solo flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart.

Pastor: I have always loved reading about the Roaring Twenties because it
seemed to be a non-stop period of fascinating action and people.

Old Man of the Sea: That it was. We had a great stirring of Americans as Billy
Sunday conducted revival meetings across the country. He held over 300 meetings,
and over 100 million people attended. He was a Presbyterian and a fundamentalist
preacher who was embraced by most church people. Also at that time we had the
little parades of the temperance people.

Pastor: That was an interesting and inspiring sight. I'm old enough to have had
the experience of seeing one of those little demonstrations. I'll never forget the
sight. I was driving down a street in Atlanta, Georgia, early one evening when I
heard their "music". One man was beating on a big bass drum, which certainly
drew the attention of everyone. The women wore big, black bonnets and provided
the remainder of the "music". I was spellbound, because I had only read about
this phenomenon, and it was a lot more striking to see it in person.

Old Man of the Sea: There was a very strong revival movement. Billy Sunday
was a man who had strong real-life experiences before he became a revival
preacher. His father was a brick mason from Iowa who died a private in the Union
Army. He spent time in an orphans' home, then finished growing up on a farm.
He worked as an undertaker's assistant before becoming a professional baseball
player. After eight years in baseball, he worked for the YMCA. This was his
training for the revival. High school and world-wise training.

Pastor: It's interesting there was such a strong revival movement considering
that period of our history also brought us previous unimaginable wildness in
society.

Old Man of the Sea: Yes, as I said, it was very confusing. It seemed
prohibition split our society. There was a predominant part of us that wanted
to get closer to God, while at the same time there were those who wanted to
have a good--I should say--spectacular time. Prohibition brought about the illegal
sale of liquor--the hard stuff--speakeasies, rum runners and gangsters. I don't
believe we have ever had such a glorious or inglorious period in our history.
The rum running in cities was parallel to the moon shining in the rural areas,
especially the South. That, of course, was the actual beginning of the popular
NASCAR racing today that has become a big industry showcasing Americans'
love of cars.

Pastor: So while large numbers of people were going to church and trying to
eliminate whiskey from society, another large number simply went underground
to continue liquor consumption, and in so doing, sort of recreated a large part of
American society?

Old Man of the Sea: Exactly. This is probably the real beginning of the
separation of Christians

Pastor: You mean separation of Christians from the general population?

Old Man of the Sea: Not at all. I mean separation of the strongly committed
Christians from those Christ referred to as weak or lukewarm Christians in
Revelation. The prohibitionists made a major mistake when they tried to
legislate moral values. They actually acted unchristian because their elimination
of all alcohol also denied Christ's miracle of changing water to wine, and went
against the use of wine for communion and special observances. These are
biblical guidelines, not man's rules. Some Christians simply expressed their
defiance through wildness, while others kept to the biblical interpretation of
alcohol use. We were all pretty mixed up.

Pastor: I recall my parents talking about speakeasies, the flappers, zoot
suits and gangsters. For them it was a pretty scary time, especially in the
cities.

Old Man of the Sea: You bet. You never knew when a big, black sedan might
come speeding up, with men firing tommy guns at some target, and then
speed away. The illegal sale of liquor brought about bootlegging, which was
a highly profitable business. Prohibition, meant for good, actually spawned
great evil. The money from bootleg whiskey created an atmosphere where
prostitution, numbers and protection rackets flourished. The big time gangs
and the mafia rose to prominence, and with it, came increased political
corruption. Money is power, and power is money. A thinking man would try
to understand how a political job that pays less than $200,000 could possibly
cause someone to raise millions to get elected. Then he would have to wonder
what happened to a Christian country to accept this type of government.

Pastor: Let me interrupt our story about the Roaring Twenties to ask you
if you believe America is a Christian nation? There has been some controversy
about this lately.

Old Man of the Sea: When the United States was formed, the leaders of all
the founding colonies were Christian, either Protestant or Catholic. Slaves had
a variety of mostly tribal religions. We are a nation founded by Christians. All
the way up through World War II, we were predominantly a Christian nation.
Even in the military, we had chaplains. They were expected to be able to conduct
services for both Catholics and Protestants. Dogtags were stamped with your
denominational preference.

Pastor: Do you think that has changed?

Old Man of the Sea: Consider what we see today. Christian principles are
trampled continuously. Symbols our founding fathers considered set in concrete
are taken away. The very symbol of Christianity--Jesus Christ--has been banned
from public places. We now have a holiday season instead of a Christmas
season. Christian prayers are not allowed in our schools. Our kids can't pursue
Christian subjects in school, but it seems there are no such limits on them
getting cultural instruction on foreign religion. We are told to accept other
religions, and to assume their god or gods are acceptable as well. They forget
the First Commandment, Deut. 5:7, "You shall have no other gods before Me."
That piece of scripture tells me there is no other god or god-object acceptable
and equal with the God of Abraham, Israel and Jesus Christ. So, yes, I fully
believe America is no longer a Christian nation. When you crossbreed a bunch
of non pure animals, you get a bunch of mutts, many of little value to society.
With humans, it's even worse, because there will always be the desire to be the
leader at any cost. Obviously, with the acceptance of Christian bans and the
encouragement to join with others who follow different beliefs, America is
rapidly becoming a nation pulling against itself. I bet you're sorry you asked that
question.

Pastor: I'm not sorry, and I'm afraid you hit the nail squarely on the head.
Rather than freedom to practice Christianity, pastors now have to be careful
not to offend anyone. Jesus Christ must step back so others can come forward.
Let me return to life during prohibition. Did you have any experience with
speakeasies and gangsters?

Old Man of the Sea: A little bit, and surely enough for me. When I visited
relatives in Buffalo and Chicago, they took me to speakeasies just to see what
they were. You had to have a password to get by the"guard". Some were quiet,
but others definitely lived up to the roaring part of the era. They were very
colorful, with women sporting the flapper costumes and hairstyles of the time.
They mostly drank too much and had loose morals. It's interesting to see women
with those 20s hair styles today. I never saw any gangster action, but you saw
certain tables of obvious "important" people who received special attention and
the general customers didn't approach. Usually they were sort of surrounded
by men in zoot suits or expensive black suits, and at least some carried pistols
in shoulder harnesses. There was always gambling. Not a comfortable place
for a Christian.

Pastor: Was there a carryover from the cities to the country?

Old Man of the Sea: The only carryover I saw was the moonshine business,
and of course, some wildness by the heavier drinkers. There always has been
a big difference between city and country life. Most of the old timers in the
country may have kept a bottle of whiskey in the barn, but they hardly ever
touched it. They had tough work to do every day, and no one would do their
work if they were drunk. There was somewhat of a carryover in music, because
we now had phonograph records and radio, and people brought the zany dances
like the Charleston back with them after visiting in the city. For several years it
was kinda like Chinese New Year.

Pastor: Did you take part in any of this?

Old Man of the Sea: No, except for visiting the speakeasies while visiting
relatives in the city. It was about this time I decided I'd better get some more
education. There was no online study, there were no computers, and college
was expensive, even in those days. I found you could do pretty well through
very well done books on most subjects like math and typing. I also found a
huge amount of books on religion, and could fill in information about other
"faiths". I found a great deal on how to live a clean life in some of the books,
but none had the real thing except Christianity. I also discovered that a few
of the religions either supported evil doings, or were outright evil. I want to
talk about this more, because I believe it is very important now.

Pastor: Certainly, we can do that, but I'd like to go through a few more
things back in the 20s first. Were the preachers of the time much different
than those of today?

Old Man of the Sea: I didn't get to city churches, but country preachers
seemed to fall into two groups. Those raised in the city followed the
instructions they received in seminaries. They were more stiff and cool,
and many weren't spiritual. You never knew what a country preacher would
be like. They were very different in many ways, and were a lot warmer and
understanding of country people's problems. And they sure loved country
cooking. I didn't learn much from the city types, but frequently picked up
some good "stuff" from the country boys.

(We'll continue this chat with the Old Timer in our next sermon.)

Rev. Walbear

Old Man of the Sea -- Part 1

                                       OLD MAN of the SEA -- Part 1


This was written nearly two years ago but it is the first time appearing here. This is Part ! of several in this series from an interview.

Old Man of the Sea (Part one)

  Before I begin this message, I want to ask you a question. It is some time before
Christmas. Will you greet people with "merry Christmas", or "happy holidays"? Give
it serious thought. What better way to offer a "soft" witness?

  Sometimes things seem to come about through coincidences, but I'm a firm
believer that these occasions are orchestrated by God. Recently I had the
opportunity to dwell on the subjects of religion, culture, history and business
with someone who had this lifetime experience through just short of 100 years.
Getting this information face-to-face from a person who didn't have to read it
in a history or other book, who had LIVED through it, was fantastic. Better yet,
I could ask questions.

  There will be direct references to scripture as it may apply throughout, so
don't think this is simply a personal historical travelogue. I will not interrupt his
story except when I ask a specific question. Subjects will not be addressed
chronologically for the most part, and be certain to check out the scripture
references.

  Pastor: You have been a man of the bible for many years?
  Old Man of the Sea: Most of my life. We had a big family bible written in German.
I learned enough German to speak it, but it was hard to read it in the bible because
the printing wasn't like English. I got myself a small bible in English I could carry in
a pocket if I wanted to. As I got older, and very busy, I always read scripture every
night before I went to bed.

  Pastor: Was the bible and church very important during your early years?
  Old Man of the Sea: We lived on a farm several miles from town and the location
of the family church. Those were horse and buggy days, and sometimes my folks
had to decide between taking a day to town to sell our produce or going to church.
We had a big family, and needed the money from things like milk, eggs, meat and
produce in season. My mother would get out the big family bible on the weeks we
didn't go to church.

  Pastor: So you didn't receive much bible instruction from a pastor or teacher?
  Old Man of the Sea: We called them preachers in those days. No, I didn't get
much teaching from anyone, really. My Dad told me God could work miracles. I
saw things happen sometimes that were hard to believe, and Dad always said God
was working and people better watch out.

  Pastor: Did your family pray often?
  Old Man of the Sea: As a family we did. I had older brothers and sisters who
were already out on their own when I was little.  My mother always quoted
Matt. 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am
there in the midst of them." Whenever there was a problem or need, there would
be prayer. We kind of had our own little church.

  Pastor: Do you think there was a different value of morals in those days?
  Old Man of the Sea: We lived in a rural, small town area. Today people would
say we lived in the sticks. I don't believe good and evil change much, but there
was a strong Christian moral value in much of that rural area, much more than
I can see anywhere today. There was also a strong sorta backlash against
people who seemed to flaunt being bad. Young people weren't so taken with
sex. There was more of a courtship attitude. Girls were more modest, and boys
more respectful. We weren't all angels, but we were held to a much higher
standard than today's kids.

  Pastor: What about jobs and business? Did the average person give much
thought to the actions of business or employers?
  Old Man of the Sea: Just about everybody wanted a job. Of course married
women mostly were housewives. That didn't change much til after World War II.
Pay for young women was pretty bad. Many quit school and went to work to
help support their family. Same with the boys. Most jobs in those days were
for unskilled labor. Lots of kids from the country had to walk to town every day
to their jobs. Hours were long and there were no benefits. The stores were
more honest. Most were small businesses and the owners knew most of
their customers.

  Pastor: There weren't any labor unions, no welfare as we know it, no
unemployment and no social security. What happened to the people who
worked all their lives but couldn't save up for retirement?
  Old Man of the Sea:  Ever hear of the Poorhouse? Local government came
up with the solution through creating "poorhouses". That was a type of
residence maintained by the county for people with no income. In those days
families were stronger, with grandparents and poorer relatives depending on
the family for survival. It was mother, father, kids, grandparents and maybe an
aunt or uncle living together.

  Pastor: Was that true in cities, too?
  Old Man of the Sea: I don't know much about that, but when we visited relatives
in the city, it was the same. They were more crowded, but seemed to have about
the same security as we did. The Christians I knew in that era believed in the
family structure taught by God's Chosen, the Jews. Families mostly took care of
their own. There was some discrimination against divorced women. In those
days divorce was really frowned on, and those women had a really hard time.

  Pastor: What about big business? Did the average person have much
knowledge about big business and its leaders?
  Old Man of the Sea: Nothing like today. There wasn't much information for us
because there was no television, no "national" newspapers, few magazines
with anything, no national radio networks or mass media on it. What we thought
about it was that it was far beyond our ability to do anything about it. We just
hoped there would be jobs and enough wages to live on. We hoped the big
money men would heed scripture as we prayed. Deut. 25:4 "You shall not
muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Luke 10:7 "And remain in the same
house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy
of his wages." and I Tim.5:18 "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an
ox while it treads out the grain', and ' The laborer is worthy of his wages". For
the most part, that didn't happen. Wages kept most of us at or below what is
termed the poverty level. There was no such thing as workers' rights, no sick
benefits, no job seniority. If you got old and slowed up, you were out. If you
got hurt, you were out. Without a family or church you were in bad shape.
The bigshots were bottom liners, as you call it today,and weren't beyond
cheating big time to swindle you out of money.

  Pastor: How do you mean swindle you out of money?
  Old Man of the Sea: I can give you a sample, if you want, but there never was
any legal proof. Like today, the poor couldn't afford a lawyer, and lawyers'
reputations weren't very good back then, either.

  Pastor: By all means, tell us about it.
  Old Man of the Sea: This family owned a decent sized farm in the gas and oil
drilling area. Most of western Pennsylvania was the hot sport of drilling at the
time, and there was big money in it. As a young man I worked in that area until
I was hurt and had to have an operation on my back. It was hard and dangerous
work and rough work. Anyway, this farm was in an area where speculators were
leasing property. The owner of the local town's largest industry asked this family
if he could see their deed so he could get an idea of the land's location. The
family gave him a copy of the deed, and he took it with him to read. When he
returned it later, they didn't examine it closely. After a short time they were told,
by a lawyer, of course, that the mineral rights to their property was not on the
deed. Those rights were now the property of the bigshot. None of their kids were
old enough to investigate, and the husband and wife were not very well
educated, so they did nothing. A later generation did check the courthouse, but
there wasn't any legal trail to follow. The landowners had long since died. From
what the old timers told me, this happened a lot.

  Pastor: I understand the leases that were written didn't give property owners
very much.
  Old Man of the Sea: That's right. Of course it's only been the past few years
that property owners have received a fair shake. Up until then, gas and oil
companies only paid 5$ or 10$ an acre for a lease.

  Pastor: I want to talk to you more about modern drilling, but we're getting away
from the main thrust of this interview, which is the bible and Christianity.

  (To be continued)

THE QUESTION

 THE QUESTION

    "Why are so many good people having problems and difficulties in every
day living now?" That's the question that seems to pop up with most people
I talk to recently. It's a tough question, but there is an answer. Unless you
have considerable financial resources or enjoy good health, the nasty bug
seems to be working overtime.

    I do have the answer, but the path you have to take to get there requires
some serious study. When I entered college, I was a pre-law candidate. As
such, I was prepared to dig in to the field of history. That is one of my favorite
fields of study. The United States is founded on laws, and legal matters are
based on the history of reason and decisions of interpretation and 
understanding of previous situations (cases).

    But, we have to take a further look at history, predating the United States,
Europe and Asia, to learn from the many decisions of culture and religion. There
is a statement that man repeats mistakes when he doesn't learn from previous
mistakes and experiences. History bears that out. We need to be as certain
as possible that our history records are accurate.

    In my study of history, I found some of the most accurate physical evidence
of authenticity in the bible. We have found evidence of such historical items as
chariot wheels in the area of the Red Sea crossing, locations of major ancient
cities, artifacts and manuscripts. This evidence ties in nicely with the historical
writings of many historians, past and present. There is an added gem in using
the bible as a historical reference, because we can see what the future has in
store for us through prophecy.

     Prophecy does not give us a particular day, hour or year for most things, but
it does give us an idea of certain eras of time. To attempt to boil down such
information, it is necessary to do some intensive study of scripture. No one who
has ever read scripture has ever said it's an easy study, except, of course, those
who lack basic intelligence.
    
    To provide a foundation to build the answer to the "Question", I will quote some
scripture, using both the Old and New Testaments. You may note the important
directions are usually repeated three or more times. Just as an aside to get you
thinking, do you wonder why more and more professing Christians do not know
the two most important Christian rules? Christ said His Eleventh Commandment
was only second to the First Commandment. It is "love thy neighbor as thyself".
(John 31:34) We are living in an era where loving your neighbor is missing.

    What I hear so many Christians saying has no love in it. They are pushing
only those issues that enrich themselves and treat others less fortunate than
themselves the same uncaring way you find in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
It would be amusing rather than tragic if these "Christians" actually had any idea
of their total lack and practice of Christ's teaching.

    To begin our historical foundation, we latch onto the beginning of Christianity, with
the prophecy of His coming. Isaiah wrote (roughly 600B.C.), in 9:6, "For unto us a 
child is born, Unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace." For our second look at prophecy, go to Zech. 9:9. "Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming
to you; He is just and having salvation." Note that forecast of salvation!

    Now to the New Testament, and Luke 1:32, 33. "He will be great, and will be called
the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David."
There are three prophecies many years apart and prior to Christ's birth. This prophecy
is true. History reinforces that Christ lived and died, rising for our redemption. If you
dispute Christianity, that's your decision. But look at what follows from scripture if
you want to know what's happening now.

    The Thessalonians were concerned about the second coming of Christ, and
Paul explained certain things had to occur before Christ would return. (Silvanus and 
Timothy were with Paul). 2 Thes. 2:3, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for
that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is
revealed, the son of perdition," There is always a certain amount of "falling away",
but apostasy has increased by leaps and bounds in the past 50 years. Here are
some examples:

    Many thousands of "Christians" have joined the recently created new domination
that has bound Christians with Muslims. Chrislam has both Christians and Muslims
sharing the same pew, with both the bible and Koran. Muslims do not recognize
Christ as the Son of God, and belief of the divinity of Christ is called "shirk" by the
Muslims. The word means "filth". How can any Christian share Islam? The Muslims
worship Allah, not God, and their Koran calls for the death of anyone not converting
to Islam. Now, that's falling away, and there are many mega churches already
embracing Chrislam.

    Also joining in the falling away movement is the movement known as the New
Apostolic Reformation. It is a methodology of spiritual warfare and theocratic
domination. Quite a number of our wannabe leaders belong to this group, who
have a "seven mountain" platform that features total control of business, the media,
government, arts and entertainment, education, family and religion. There is a lot
more to this dangerous group which includes some elected leaders, such as
governors. Territories and leaders are already established. They are revisionists,
and although they claim to be Christians, they follow their own agenda, and not
Christ's.

    Speaking of revisionists, we can look at the Lutheran church. It is split, with one
branch following scripture, and the other branch actually rewriting some of the bible
to accommodate their ideas. Several denominations have defied Rev. 22:18, 19,
which states, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the  prophecy of this
book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written
in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the
things which are written in this book." When people who claim to be believers jump
into quoting scripture, they usually are not committed, and they join the billions of
"believers", who also include Satan. Be careful of who you follow.

    The apostate teaching is alive and well in many independent churches. Many of
the pastors attend a "short course" to become a pastor, and only teach what they
have learned at the school. I have yet to see one that actually knows anything
about scripture, and they are ignorant of spiritual things. One more scriptural
historical quote, and we find the answer to the Question. If this is boring you,
remember you don't learn the important stuff in school without studying and practice.

     Go now to Matt. 13:3, another parable. These were given to make you think
and try to understand. Do not get fooled by the introduction to this parable, as
you were probably fooled by the Parable of Talents. Neither is about money, sad
to tell wannabe leaders who covet even more financial riches. Matt. 13:3,8 "Behold,
a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the
birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have
much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth,
But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered
away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up  and choked them. But
others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some 
thirty."

    Here we finally see the answer to the Question. The "falling away" occurs before
Christ returns. If you are interested in the End Times Prophecy, this is for you. The
seed that is scattered is the Word of God. If you attend a church, you can probably
identify those "believers" who are on the wayside and watch birds devour the seeds.
Perhaps you can identify those who receive the seeds as "stony", and who do not
have much earth (interest or understanding). As soon as they "get heat in the
kitchen", they cant take it, and having no root in the Word, they fall away. Some seed
fell among thorns and were choked. This is for "believers" who keep the wrong
company and join in things such as drunken parties or drugs.

    But, be of cheer, because if you are one of good ground in the Word, you will
yield a crop for the Lord, and it won't be money. The crops here are the result of
the same talents in the other parable. They are called heavenly rewards that will
be waiting for your arrival in heaven. Almost everybody has the talent for witnessing
if they are really saved. There are dozens of other talents, and you can find them
in the New Testament. 

    People now are living in the era of "falling away". There are so many fakers and
so many organizations of apostate teachers that it is difficult to recommend any
domination or church. Satan has a very good plan, and except for Christ's return,
he would win. This falling away is, at the least, the prelude to the period of
tribulation. You see and hear of the terrible persecution and slaughter of people
all over the world--some in America, too. You have a choice of being a "good
earth" Christian or one of the pretenders. Those who fail the test of the sower
will miss the Rapture. They will be among the many who will have to go through
phase two of the tribulation. At that time it appears people will have to choose
between accepting the apostate religions and false leaders, or face torture and
death. 

    We all have a choice. This message is based on scripture--lots of it. If you
disagree with me, it is not my problem. I only write what the Holy Spirit gives
me. Christ tells us to open our eyes and ears. He tells us to open our mouths
to accept Him as Savior. Simple and easy instructions if you aren't "full of
yourself". 

Rev. Walbear


(The picture is from the Christian's journey, Pilgrim's Progress written by John Bunyan)