What You Owe The LORD

 A teacher once offered a prize for the shortest and most complete essay on "Why the Spanish Navy Made Such a Poor Showing in the Spanish-American War." The winning paper was short and right to the point. It contained two statements: 1. The Spanish Navy failed because it lacked three ships. 2. They were disciplineship, battleships and marksmanship. It would not be out of order to paraphrase this account by saying that the church today is making too little progress because of the lack of three ships. They are Discipleship to Christ, fellowship with one another, and stewardship to God.

Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. 1Cor. 4:2

The Christian life is two-fold, what God does for us and what we do for God and others. Stewardship includes our daily living, time, talents, money, and everything in every phase of life. Sharing with others not only saves them but helps us to be happier. "It's not what you'd do with a million If riches would e'er be your lot, But what are you doing at present. With the dollar and a quarter you've got."

Some of us will never have a million dollars to spend. But an essential angle of our lives is how we are spending the smaller amounts that we do have.

Several years ago, I was asked to preach on tithing. The church was struggling for money, and the ministry and oversight felt I needed to preach a sermon on giving. First, it may come as a surprise, but early Quakers did not believe in tithing. They believed you were responsible for 100 percent of your money to God. We are to be good stewards of the blessings God has given us. Many believe giving ten percent is all God requires. God wants us accountable for not just our money but our time, influence, our abilities, our Faith, and our service.

Each of us has 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. If you work 40 hours a week, you have 128 hours left. If you sleep 8 hours a night, you have 72 hours left. How do you use those 72 hours? If you come to church every Sunday, 2 hours are given to Sunday School and Worship. If you attend Bible Study, you have another hour. That 3 hours each week you give to study and preparing yourself spiritually. 

Romans 14:12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Some may say that we have had difficulty doing things in the past two years because of mandates. Even though we live in the days of wearing a mask, carrying a medical passport to enter some businesses, government mandates, travel restrictions, and many other things brought upon our free lives by the so-called pandemic, there are still many things about us over which we do have control. We as individuals still have many things that the government has made no attempt to control or supervise. More than that, to me, it is cheering to note that we have some things over which no government or group of men will ever be able to control. There are some things about man over which he is supreme ruler, controller, and supervisor. A man may be forced to do some things, but man cannot be forced to do all things.

2 Timothy 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

In our service to God, you and I can be just as faithful as we want to be. On the other hand, we can be just as unconcerned as we care to be. Soon, the government may tell us how much gas we can buy, who can fly and who cannot, who gets medical treatment and who does not, but as yet, they have not rationed our contacts with lost men. These days, we are in danger of hiding behind and blaming the government for many things that need not be blamed. The devil is ever-present with excuses that will defeat the church and, in turn, the souls of men. He cares little, if any, how he breaks up the church's program. If the church cools off, lets down, or gives up in its efforts to stem the tide of lawlessness and sin, it will not be a government program that will cause it. The devil may try to make us think the government is to blame, but the final analysis will show it to be a lethargy, and unconcern, a cooling off, a letting down, a state of lukewarmness, coming over our own lives. We can be as faithful as we want to be in our service to God.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Whether we realize it or not, we live in the last days of this Gentile age. One of these days, the trumpet will sound, and time shall be no more. The stroke of midnight will peel out over land and sea any day now. Jesus told us that He was coming back. And when asked what would be the sign of His coming, he gave us several things that would precede His return. II Thessalonians 2:3, "For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first." Men on every hand are cooling off, letting down, and giving up the fight. Thousands of church members have no vital concern and little vision of a perishing world. But even though others may give up the fight and lose the keen edge from their Christian experience, you and I need not go down that road. We may be living in the last days, but we are still stewards of our service to God. We are promised that even though "a thousand may fall at our right hand, it need not come nigh us." And the old song says, "Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race. But to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace."

We are told in Jude 24 about Him who is able to keep us from falling. Yet we are cautioned about even the very elect being deceived in another place. We are urged to watch and pray, lest that day comes upon us unawares. We are encouraged to take heed lest a promise being left us of entering into that rest, we should fall short of it. Then we are told to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip (leak out). 

Few, if any, of us will be tempted to murder, rob, steal, or kidnap. Our temptations will come from other angles. The enemy of our soul will try to get us to round the corners a bit here and there. He will try to get us to let up, slow down, and not put forth much effort to be faithful servants of God. We may be prone to lay the blame here or place it there, but in the final analysis, we are stewards, managers, and caretakers of our service to God. It is our privilege to be just as good a Christian as we want to be. We can work just as hard in God's vineyard as we want to work. We can be just as faithful in our prayer lives as we want to be. There is no limit that our Faith cannot reach. All the resources of heaven are ours for the asking. God would quickly dispatch a legion of angels to help us in our efforts to surpass others.

1 Peter 4:10-11 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

We are warned to guard ourselves and to be careful lest we slip, lest we miss it, lest we fall short. The Priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan were not condemned because they mistreated the unfortunate man. Their condemnation lay in their being too self-centered and too wrapped up in their own lives. 

In Christ's interpretation of the parable of the sower, he plainly states three things that defeat the progress and growth of the Word in the hearts of men: 1. The cares of the world. 2. Deceitfulness of riches. 3. The lust of other things. The religion of Jesus is not all negatives and prohibitions and must-not. There is a positive side. We are stewards of our service to God. It is ours to choose how faithfully we will serve Him.

There is no limit on Faith. Jesus did not say that we could have just so much and no more. Instead, he taught us to believe and exercise our Faith for the unusual. Only two things recorded in the Bible made the Master marvel. One was the great Faith of the centurion; the other was the unbelief of the people of his own country. In the latter case, it is recorded that there He could do no mighty works. That group of people tied down the hands of the blessed Son of God. In another case, he refers to the Faith of his disciples and helpers with the words, "Oh, ye of little faith." But in the incident of the centurion, he says, I have not seen so great Faith, no, not in Israel."

Faith springs from the heart. It is impossible to believe from the heart until all handicaps and hindrances are put under the blood of Jesus. We increase our Faith by using the Faith we now have. But we are stewards of our faith life. It is possible to be saved and sanctified, a member in good standing in the church, and yet not have much Faith that achieves. The heart can be full of doubts on the point of really getting down and believing God for the unusual and the seemingly impossible.

Might it be that our Faith has not grown deeper because we have used it so little? Could it be that the Faith of many is growing hide-bound, matted, root-bound, shriveled, dwarfed? Are we not content with too little? Do we not give up too easily? To illustrate this, I would quote a paragraph given at a church conference some time ago. "Members received, none. Members dismissed, none. No weddings, No funerals, Missionary budget, unpaid. District Budget, unpaid. Home Missions Budget, unpaid. Pastor's salary, unpaid. Pray for us, brethren, that we may hold our own this coming year." Does it require any faith to manage a church in that manner?

If a sports team worked like most churches, they would never win a game. But we, as Christians and members of the Body of Christ, have the greatest thing in the world to offer a faith that does the impossible. Should we not come out of the corner where the devil has tried to drive us and exert our Faith for some actual, unusual, challenging tasks? Like so many other things, Faith grows, develops, roots, and strengthens so much faster and better when used and put to some actual exercise.

Let me throw this out. What are the plans for Sugar Plain for the next five years? Are we going to be like most rural churches and die from old age? If new people are not reached, we will die. As a member of this church, what are you doing to make it grow? As a member of this church, how much do you support the church's programs? 

I do not believe it pleases God, who has promised us so much to have us accomplish so little for Him. "Has he not said, and will he not do it?" But are we not stewards of our Faith? Is it not for us to determine whether our Faith will be little, much, or great? If we allow ourselves to be full of doubts, Faith cannot work as it should. Ought we not as stewards of this manifold grace of God to stir ourselves until we get on believing ground and cry, "It shall be done of My Father which is in Heaven?"

Why Are Christians Still Here?

 I believe Bible-believing Christians have a significant role in the world today, which is to live according to Christian values and to protect our Christian way of life. I have watched Christian values change dramatically since 1963. American elected leaders have weakened the Christian culture with their anti-Christians value system. Over the years, our government leaders have eliminated Christian morals in every aspect of our nation. I find it appalling the direction our elected leaders are leading this country. Our nation has legalized the murder of innocent babies. Our judicial system protects and grants privileges for perverts. Our Supreme Court has destroyed the family unit of one man and one woman marriage. Our nation has bullied governments into legalizing abortion and homosexuality and sending generous aid to radical Middle Eastern governments, severely persecuting the Christian Church. Right now, in many state legislatures, there is the discussion of Critical Race Theory being pushed in our education system. Our children are being taught lies about their race, their gender, and their value as human beings.

We have within our country those who want to remove everything related to Christ from public view, just as the Communists did during the Soviet enslavement of Russia and China. It is not politically correct to speak of Christian values and morals or talk about America's Christian roots. What is acceptable is the denial of Biblical moral principles and all traditional identities: national, cultural, religious, and even sexual. Bible-believing Christians are classed as terrorists, Nazis, KKK, and deplorable. 

What is even more appalling is the number of so-called Christians who tolerate, condone, support, and approve of our nation's direction. May God have mercy on us.

Focus On The Middle East Not Ukraine

 I have said that end-time prophecy will focus on the Old Babylonian Empire for several years. The Synagogue of Satan has the World's focus on Ukraine and not what is happening in the Middle East. While our focus has been misdirected to a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East is seeing a change in the regional leadership.

The Middle East is changing. As the Biden administration has made good on its promise to focus less on the historically troublesome region and more on Russia and China, Middle Eastern states are taking notice. Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are forging new relationships and hedging their bets, driven by a shared concern that a Washington, D.C. hyper-focused on Ukraine and COVID mandates in the U.S. and possible war with Russia and China will leave the Middle East to deal with security threats on their own.

The Saudi-UAE cold war with Iran has been hot for most Middle East nations. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen suffer from the outside powers competing for influence. Ten years ago, the region began a change in leadership when the World's global forces faced off in Syria. Today, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is negotiating with all parties to weather the storm in Idlib, Syria, and find an acceptable solution. There are two countries that must fall to complete the change in political power in the Middle_East--Iran and Syria.

Ever since, the region's balance has tilted in Iran's direction, increasing the latter's appetite for more power-grabbing outside its borders, creating a domino effect of sectarian violence in the region.

The rise of Iranian proxies in countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria has pushed Saudi Arabia and Iran into a bitter cold war. The tense political environment has been further complicated by these two regimes' religious and ideological competition, as both aspire to impose their brands of Islam on the Muslim World. 

However, instead of building a solid coalition with their natural allies, the Saudis fought other Sunni forces even more ferociously than their Shia foes. Turkey, the new power in the region, has been specifically targeted.

Riyadh's opposition to the "Arab Spring," which started in Tunisia in late 2010 and spilled over to other Arab countries, was vicious and intractable. Seeing that the uprisings were about to dismantle the old authoritarian order, the Saudis joined forces with the UAE to impede its expansion at all costs.

These two countries supported proxies that carried out a coup d'etat (e.g., Egypt). They advised them to utilize counter-revolutionary movements and terrorist groups to shift the uprising from peaceful demonstrations into armed conflicts in Libya, Yemen, and Syria. Hidden in the background of this conflict is Israel. The Saudi-UAE connection to Israel has recently been exposed as these three nations join forces against Syria and Iran. They are moving into the picture to set the stage for the final conflict in Turkey.

Turkey has gained a political position in the competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Gulf has been trying to contain Tehran's aggressive foreign policy orientation. However, the disastrous U.S. intervention in Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent "de-Baathification" policy implemented by America's viceroy in Iraq, Paul Bremmer, surrendered Iraq to pro-Iranian forces. Since the overthrow of Sadaam Hussian, there has been a regional conflict as to who will be in control. 

The country central to all the conflict in the Middle East is Israel. Israel is motivated to change the regional power, but Iran, Syria, and Turkey must be removed from political power and influence for this to happen.

To understand the conflict in the Middle East, one needs a history lesson.

The war between Israel and Palestine is more than a century old and still is not under control. Many International Organizations, historians, and prophecy watchers are now under the impression of Israel's bigger plans of Greater Israel being carried out. It has always been doubted that Israel has tried to fulfill its Zionist Plan for the Middle East but now is slowly acceding territories to make it happen. Greater Israel is being proposed, and why is it not acceptable to the Palestinians and the Muslim World?

Greater Israel: What is it? 

1. Greater Israel is an expression with a biblical and political meaning that has differed and evolved. It is called the Zionist Plan for the Middle East. 

2. The concept of a "Greater Israel," according to the founding father of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, is a Jewish State stretching "from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates."

So, it would have included:

Historic Palestine South Lebanon up to Sidon and the Litani River

Syria's Golan Heights, Hauran Plain, and Deraa Hejaz Railway from Deraa to Amman, Jordan, and the Gulf of Aqaba.

This implies that Greater Israel is the inclusion of Palestine in Israel. 

3. Many historians state that this is why Israel is slowly and strategically grabbing more and more land from its neighbors, especially Palestine. 

4. While many other Zionists also say that Greater Israel included the land from the Nile in the West to the Euphrates in the East, comprising Palestine, Lebanon, Western Syria, and Southern Turkey.

5. However, it is also essential to keep in mind that the design of Greater Israel may not strictly be a Zionist Project for the Middle East. Many experts and academics have recently stated that it is an integral part of U.S. foreign policy to extend U.S. hegemony to the middle East and fracture and balkanize the Middle East.

6. Such a policy being pursued by the U.S. in the region goes along with the Yinon Plan. This plan is an Israeli strategy to ensure regional superiority. It is a continuation of an earlier ploy that Britain used in the Middle East. 

7. As per the Yinon Plan, Israel needs to reconfigure its geopolitical surroundings through the Balkanisation of the surrounding Arab states, turning them into smaller, weaker states.

United Nations on Greater Israel:

1. As stated in a U.N. report in 2017, 'Israel is currently proceeding with the plan to annex large chunks of Palestinian territory while keeping the Palestinian inhabitants in conditions of severe deprivation and isolation.

2. As per the research, Israel is planning to annex large chunks of Palestinian territory "while keeping the Palestinian inhabitants in conditions of severe deprivation and isolation.

Why is Greater Israel not acceptable? Reaction from Muslims

The idea of Greater Israel has sparked aggression all over the globe, and the Muslim community is seen to have turned violent due to that. Very recently, the Israeli troopers raided the Temple Mount Mosque, and Muslims all over the Globe protested on streets and social media. 

The protests were held in Germany, London, Australia, and India. 

The reason for such a Muslim reaction is:

Many Muslim countries consider the Jewish state of Israel and the Zionist ideology as an attempt to colonize their lands. They also know about the vested interests of Western first-world countries like the USA, Britain, France, etc. The Islamists believe that Israel has been created to occupy their lands in the Arabic regions and form Greater Israel as a more expansive dream.

There is also a religious connection between Palestinians and Muslims. It is due to the existence of the Mosque on the Temple Mount. For Islamists, it was their first direction before Mohammad offered prayers in the direction of Mecca.

It is believed that before Prophet Mohammad went on his heavenly journey, he led many prophets along with him to this place. This is why Muslims all across the World are connected to the Palestinians. 

The Palestinian Muslims have been reduced to a nonentity due to the lack of support from countries like the USA, France, and Britain. This also adds fuel to the fire in the Muslim community. 

I am not a supporter of Islam or Zionist Israel, for the record. I realize this puts me outside the theology of 90% of Evangelical Christians. It makes me a conspiracy theorist regarding the Zionist role in end-times prophecy. My advice is to keep your eye on the Middle East and stop being distracted from the Russia and China narrative.

Turn in your Bible to the second chapter of the Book of Revelation, verse 13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,

How Turkey becomes a significant player.

President Erdogan no longer hides his Ottoman aspirations and regards Israel as a foreign implant in the world community of Muslims. The Turkish dictator is acting on his words, and he recently threatened to "liberate" Jerusalem. The Turkish dictator runs several Muslim charity projects in Jerusalem that were set up to radicalize the Arab community in the Holy City. Erdogan has also attempted to infiltrate the Waqf, the Palestinian and Jordanian custodian of the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem. Islamic Religious Endowments organization) best known for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on and around the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Some form or another of the endowment has governed access to the Temple Mount since the Muslim reconquest of Jerusalem in 1187, with the latest version instituted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan after its conquest and occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1948 war. Accordingly, the King of Jordan currently supplies all of the funding needed to operate the endowment, which is the civil administration for the holy site.

Suppose one looks at the broader picture of Turkey's activities in the Middle East and beyond. In that case, it becomes clear that Erdogan is actively pursuing his dream of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire.

 Turkish military aggression

The Turkish strongman launched two incursions into Syria under the pretense of "fighting terrorists," meaning the Syrian Democratic Forces led by the Kurdish YPG militia, which hasn't attempted to attack Turkey or conducted any terrorist activity in the country.

Erdogan also let his forces bomb parts of northern Iraq, where the Kurds enjoy limited autonomy, and the remaining Yazidi minority in the area of Mount Sinjar, again under the pretext that he was fighting terrorists.

 Intervention in Libya

At the beginning of 2020, the Turkish president blackmailed Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who has connections to Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. In exchange for weapons, drones, and the deployment of Syrian mercenaries, Turkey received energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean Sea from the besieged government in Tripoli.

The agreement between Erdogan and the GNA drew international condemnations. It increased tensions between Turkey and its Greek neighbors and Israel, which has agreements with Greece and Cyprus regarding deep-sea drilling and a gas pipeline to Europe via Italy.

Experts say there are now almost 4,000 Syrian mercenaries fighting alongside the forces of the GNA, and the odd coalition is currently preparing for an assault on the coastal city of Sirte in Libya.

 Confrontation with Egypt

The preparations for the assault on Sirte served as a wake-up call for an Egyptian government that never showed much interest in the messy civil war in Libya.

Recently, the Egyptian Parliament rubber-stamped a plan presented by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to bring the Egyptian army into the Libyan war.

El-Sisi insisted that attacking Sirte would be to cross a red line and warned he would send in the Egyptian army to foil the plans of Erdogan and el-Sarraj.

The coastal city houses much of Libya's oil industry and has been the scene of fierce fighting when ISIS tried to set up camp in the North African country.

Egypt is also concerned about Turkey's plans to conduct a seismic survey in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and has warned Erdogan to back down because this plan would infringe on "Egypt's sovereign rights."

Turning a blind eye to Turkish meddling

Then there is Yemen, where Erdogan serves as a patron for Islamist fighters who need medical treatment or rest from the battlefield.

Turkey also seeks to expand its influence over Somalia, where the Turkish army has set up a base, and Qatar, where the Turkish military also has a presence.

This all is possible thanks to both the United States under President Donald J. Trump and the European Union effectively turning a blind eye and letting Erdogan off the hook on numerous occasions when he undertook belligerent operations to advance his Ottoman agenda.

Israel prepares to confront Turkey.

On the other hand, Israel recognizes the danger Erdogan poses and has included Turkey in its new defense plans for the first time. The Israeli government knows about Erdogan's plans for Jerusalem and Turkey's ties to Hamas and the other Palestinian terror movements.

Some have argued that Erdogan's military adventurism in the Arab World is part of an effort to bolster domestic support amid an economic meltdown in the country. But they are wrong.

 Restoring Ottoman glory

The Turkish hot-head may not be the most significant strategic thinker in the contemporary Middle East. Still, he has a clear vision regarding Turkey's role in the region and the World, and that vision centers on restoring the Ottoman Caliphate.

For this reason, Erdogan very conspicuously chose the date of July 24 to inaugurate Hagia Sophia as a mosque and provoke the Christian World. 

That was when the Lausanne Treaty was signed one hundred years ago. Erdogan has repeatedly made clear he thinks the Treaty that put an end to the Ottoman Empire and created Ataturk's secular and modern Turkey is no longer valid. He has said the same about the Sykes-Picot agreement that divided the Middle East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. He's acting upon his words. Iran was also vehemently opposed to the "Arab Spring," which led Tehran to unleash its support for terror groups in the region. Consequently, these conflicts escalated into sectarian civil wars.

Despite the heavy Iranian intervention, the Saudi-UAE axis moved ahead to undermine Sunni forces. In the case of Syria, the axis' meddling is a textbook example of how to implode a revolution from within. This was primarily done by strengthening the most radical elements while weakening the more moderate forces.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which specializes in researching conflicts and armaments, documented that from late 2012 to early 2013, 37 military cargo flights destined to extremist forces in Syria originated from various parts of Saudi Arabia. There were also 36 additional flights from Croatia to Jordan, which carried large amounts of weapons from the former Yugoslavia but were purchased by the Saudis. At that juncture, Jordanian authorities also claimed to have seized several lorry loads of arms destined for Syria that had come from Riyadh, which can only reveal that a land route had been operational.

The Saudi-UAE axis was blatant in grooming extremist elements. When he was the U.S., Vice President Joe Biden publicly criticized the actions. At Harvard's Kennedy School in 2014, he said, "the Saudis, the Emirates [UAE], etc. were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war [that] they poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of military weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad, except the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and Al Qaeda."

The ensuing internecine feuds within the opposition the rise of the most extremist elements—who vehemently resisted any attempts at political resolutions—bear the hallmarks of the Saudi-UAE modus operandi. Steered by a reckless leader, Riyadh has further weakened the Sunni sphere, and the geostrategic costs of the Saudis' erratic behavior are mounting. 

Riyadh creates havoc in its neighborhood by venturing into an unwinnable war in Yemen and blockading Qatar.

In the interim, the situation in Syria worsens every day. While Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the international community to be aware of its responsibilities in Syria, the U.N., the E.U., and the Arab States continue to sit on the fence, waiting for the dust to settle. On the other hand, Washington is waging an economic war on Turkey and is intensifying its support for the Syrian branch of the internationally-recognized terror group, the PKK.

Ankara is sparing no effort to stop a full-fledged Russian attack in Idlib by neutralizing the most radical groups funded and supported by the Saudi-UAE axis. For their part, the legitimate Syrian opposition is pinning its last hopes on Turkey to prevent a bloodbath that could represent a severe blow to their aspirations for freedom and liberty.

In its defense of the Idlib population, the Turkish presidency proves that right makes might and not vice versa.

People in the Middle East and North Africa are taking note of Turkey's principled and humanitarian-driven foreign policy and continue to dream of a day where a new and better order will govern their realm. In the meantime, one should neither forget nor forgive the dark Saudi role in fostering extremism and creating more avenues for foreign intervention in the region. 

Turkey has always considered the Saudis as friends. However, during these times, and as the adage goes, it is undoubtedly better to have intelligent enemies than stupid friends.

For those who are unaware, Gog and Magog are located in Turkey and were once part of the Old Babylonia Empire.