Pictured above is my latest book. I just finished it. It’s not really out yet, but if you want to buy it I can get it for you. Let me know by email and I will send you a copy. My address is: painterguy@usfamily.net. I have already blogged most of the info in this book on my prophecy blog, but I can at least give you my outline now.
INTRODUCTION
JUST BEFORE THE RAPTURE
PART ONE: ON EARTH AFTER THE RAPTURE
Immediate Effects of the Rapture
Different Theories Emerge
Collapses
Setting up A Global Government
A New Global Religion
A New Global Religion — Part Two
The Rise of the Antichrist
The Rise of the Antichrist — Part Two
The Ezekiel Invasion
The Third Temple
PART TWO: IN HEAVEN AFTER THE RAPTURE
The Judgment Seat of Christ
The Marriage of the Lamb
Carb Counting
My VA doctors say I am a type 2 diabetic, so I need to keep my carbs down to at least 150 a day. If I do that I am fine and I feel good. If not, I’m in trouble. Anyway, though its not fun, I find that it help not only my physical being but my spiritual life as well. Suffering in the flesh always helps a Christian. (read 1 Peter 4:1)
ABook I’m Reading
I just started reading Lincoln’s Last Trial, by Dan Abrams. I’m loving it. I’m finding out a lot about Lincoln that I didn’t know before. He was a great lawyer and an honest one. Anyway, it is a great read and I may read more of Dan Abram’s books.
And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same (Matt. 5:47)?
Jesus, in this verse, in the context of verses 44 through 48, is saying to us that we are to be different. The Christian is to be different than the non-Christian. We are to love our enemies (v. 44), not just our friends. And here in verses 46 and 47, He says that if we love and greet our brethren only, what good is that? Everyone does that. Rather, we are to be perfect, just as our Father in heaven is perfect (v. 48). And we can do that because we are His children (v. 45).
I have been blogging from the book, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Today I will relay briefly what he says on this text. Lloyd-Jones starts out by bringing to us Christ’s command that we are to be perfect, even as our Father is perfect. And we may discern that this command seems impossible; but yet, at the same time, by the very fact that we are commanded to be such, implies that it is possible. It is impossible to the natural man, but very possible for the Christian man, the spiritual man.
Why is that so? What makes the Christian so different? So unique? So powerful? It has to be because we are the children of our Father in heaven, and because we have in us the characteristics of God Himself. We have in our new nature things that are never found in the non-Christian.
Here, from Lloyd-Jones’ book, are nine unique qualities that the true Christian has in contrast to the non-Christian.
1. In His attitude toward the law. The natural man may observe the law and be moral in his behavior, but he never goes beyond it. The Christian is more concerned with the spirit than with mere obedience. And he always delights in the law of God in his inner self.
2.His attitude toward morality. The natural man’s attitude about morality is generally negative in that he is focused on not doing certain things. In contrast, the Christian’s attitude is more positive; he hungers and thirsts to be righteous like God.
3. His attitude toward sin. The natural man thinks of sin in terms of things that are done or not done. The Christian is more interested in his heart—whether he is right with God or not.
4. His attitude toward himself. The natural man admits his sin, but he will never morn over it. Yet the Christian is always sorry for his sin.
5. His attitude toward other sinners. The natural man may regard others with tolerance and pity. But the Christian goes beyond that and sees them as victims of sin and held captive by Satan.
6. His view of God. The natural man may see God as someone to be obeyed and feared. But the Christian loves God because he has come to know Him.
7. His motive for a living. The natural man may desire to do good, but generally like to keep a record of it. The true Christian gives without counting the cost and does it sacrificially.
8. How he faces trials. The natural man may face trials without complaining, and powers through them with an iron will. But the Christian deep down knows that all things work together for good to them that love God. And he even rejoices in trials.
9. His attitude toward his enemies. The natural man may know how to resist striking or expressing anger toward his enemies, but he cannot love them. The Christian, however, by the Spirit of God, can indeed love his enemies genuinely, and even pray for them.
So, we see that the Christian is unique and different than the natural man. He is different because of what God has done in his heart and life. He has made him a new person with a new nature. He indeed has been changed by the work of the gospel; and he understands the gospel: that he is utterly sinful, but that God sent His only Son to die for our sins, and thus bring His forgiveness to us, and a new life. And we live now with hope for a bright future. And His Spirit lives in us, filling us, teaching us His will, even guiding us along the way. And He, from day to day empowers us to love all the people we meet and have dealings with, even our enemies.
I’ve been reading Live Free or Die, by Sean Hannity. I’m only half way through the second chapter, but already there has been plenty to think about. Here are…
A List of Radical, Left-Wing Policies and Ideas That Must Be Defeated in Order to Save America From Certain Doom
That we need to place our faith in big government.
That evil results from an imperfect social system.
That certain elite people can advance mankind toward societal perfection.
Obamas appointment of activist, liberal judges.
Obamas unconstitutional executive orders
Obamas downsizing the military (that has so far been remedied)
Obamas world apologizing tour of America
Waging war on coal and coal miners (being remedied)
Haranguing the cops (still going on)
Conferring legal status on many illegal aliens
Democrats becoming the party of socialism
Democrats becoming the party of open boarders
Democrats becoming the party of sanctuary cities
Democrats becoming the party of the elimination of ICE
Democrats becoming the party of underfunding the military
Democrats becoming the party of abortion on demand
Democrats becoming the party of infanticide
Democrats becoming the party of environmental extremism
Democrats becoming the party of gun confiscation
Democrats becoming the party of higher taxes
Democrats becoming the party of radical identity politics
Democrats becoming the party of suppression of free speech and religious expression
Democrats becoming the party of anti-Semitism
Democrats becoming the party of intolerance, smears, lies, character assassinations, and the Russian dossier.
Democrats becoming the party that is obsessed with their hatred of President Trump and his supporters.
Democrats becoming the party that has abandoned any sense of fundamental decency, fairness, or common sense.
It is looking pretty bleak, and getting worse all the time, especially in the democrat party. Much of it has been reversed by the present administration, but just surface things—like the economy. There is still so much to do, especially toward getting our country back to believing in God. That duty falls on each Christian. The President can enact policies, but unless we do our duty as Christians the country will fall very quickly.
Bahrain is a very small Island/ Country just west of Qatar.
Work. It’s Monday, not a lot going on as far as work. I have a small job on Wednesday; I just have to paint three doors, Tarrytown green. Fun.
Mice. Following up on my latest article about my mouse problem: I haven’t seen any mice for a few days. But I am convinced that I did have one or two mice—and I was not hallucinating. My evidence, besides seeing them, was finding a few black, small droppings under the stove, in back of the juicer, and on the bathroom floor in the corner. Gross! I am more motivated now to clean and make sure I have nothing laying around where they can nest. I would be mortified if I found a nest with baby mice in it. And I asked around to all the other apartments in my building, and no one has seen any mice. Why is it just me?
Bahrain. Just too days ago, Bahrain came on board with UAE. Now we have two nations at peace with Israel, which confirms my previous article on the fact that bible prophecy is now happening; and so, the Ezekiel Invasion (Ezek. 38, 39) is coming soon—which also means that the Rapture is coming soon. It is so exciting to see these things falling into place.
My church looking at racism. I tend not to want to talk about or hear anyone talk about racism. I think that is mainly in our past. And for the most part I think it was dealt with back in the 60’s. But our pastor has chosen to tackle it. Well, so far, I think he is doing a great job. His main motivation is evangelism in our community, which has a mixed race. So, we figure that our church should really have a mixed race of people. And, for the most part, we do.
His text was from Revelation 7:9: “After these things I looked, and behold a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…”
So, he got from that verse that in heaven there will be a mixed race of people: all nations, tribes, and languages. It is a beautiful picture. We should not see heaven as a blend of the races, say all brown people. No. It will be multi-colored. Very colorful! And we will love and accept each other as we are. So, the main message is that we need to humble ourselves, face up to, and talk about where we are concerning how we feel about each other—people of other races. Sin wants to hide; but redemption demands honesty, humility and transparency.
But we also need to be careful and wise. Riots are not the way to deal with anything. Anger will not solve anything. And we know now that there are anarchists that want to take advantage of any hurtful situation in order to destroy our country. We don’t need another civil war. We need prayer and revival, and we need law and order to go along with it.
My reading. I just started reading Live Free Or Die, by Sean Hannity. Good grief. I had no idea that the book would be so deep. I mean, it is like a text book with tons of research. It’s a book I could definitely read more than once. There is so much in it. It is not that hard to read, just so much in it. Oh well, I will just read it slow, a little at a time. It is good. A lot of good information about our great country.
I just finished reading her book. I wish I would have highlighted more lines, because she had a lot of good things to say—much wisdom. But anyway, I’ll do my best at giving you my overall thoughts and just a few details from the book.
In the first couple chapters Nikki recounted the events of the Charleston murders and how she was affected. You could definitely see her tender and caring heart through the pages—how she had a hard time holding her tears back as she went to every funeral and spoke. This happened when she was still governor.
I’m not sure most people knew this, but Trump really wanted Nikki Haley as his Secretary of State. But she turned him down. A week later he had another offer—U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. At first, she was reluctant, but she eventually agreed, which had a lot to do with her husband Michael and her family; they all were quite excited about the idea.
She recounted how the critics were doubting her ability to do the job and how she actually liked being underestimated, how it motivated her to prove them wrong. She wrote how she spent long hours reading and preparing for the job and how her family was helping her prepare.
One of the strong points of her ambassadorship was how she stood up in front of all the U.N. for Israel—how she said that she was “taking names.” She wrote how there were other countries who agreed with her on many of her bold stances but how they wouldn’t say anything out of fear. She is a lot like Trump in that they are both fighters and act and speak boldly without fear.
I really like reading how she had continual conflicts with and stood up to John Kelly and Tillerson. She recounted how their ideas of saving the country was to stay in the Iran Nuclear Deal and in the Paris climate agreement and by keeping the US embassy in Tel Aviv. She wrote how they secretly came to her and were trying to convince her that what the President was doing was wrong and that they were right. Well, you know how that ended. The President got his way and Kelly and Tillerson were fired. She said, “It was a pleasure and a relief to work with [Mike Pompeo], a Secretary of State who actually supported the President’s agenda and didn’t seek to undermine him.”
Toward the end of the book Nikki Haley wrote how she did her best to improve the situation in a couple African countries where in the refugee camps the women were constantly raped and women and children were murdered and burned alive! She told of how she stood up to the dictators and told them that she was aware of what was going on. She also wrote about what has been going on in Venezuela. But I was surprised when she said, “The day will come when the people of Venezuela and Cuba join the hemisphere of freedom.” I wish I had that same hope.
I can’t think of anything in particular to write on that would be enough for a blog. But there are a few things I’m thinking about that, put together, would give you an update of what’s going on with me. Let me first tell you about the books I’m reading. The book I just put down a minute ago is Nikki Haley’s book, With All Due Respect. It will never be a best seller, but I enjoy reading it. I liked her before I started reading it, but now even more. She has a good character and I loved how she stood up to the people at the UN over their disrespect for Israel. I also love how she stood up to Kelly and Tillerson over their divisiveness against President Trump. It was refreshing.
Another book I’m reading is a very large book, The Presidents Fact Book, on all the Presidents and also their wives. It is very interesting and kind of fun to read. It’s a book that I might read again, because it is so loaded with valuable information—a good book of history; and we need to learn history before it is lost, because so many crazy people these days want to destroy our history.
As I refill my coffee cup, let me share my thoughts on a possible next book to write. Actually, I’m just finishing my latest two books: one entitled, After the Rapture: What Happens On Earth and in Heaven After the Rapture; and another book on my life story, which I don’t have a title for yet. I’m presently self-editing them, then I will write an intro for both of them, and then go through the publishing process.
So anyway, I’m already thinking of what my next book project will be. My most enduring thought is to do a book on a book of the bible. I don’t consider myself a biblical scholar, so it wouldn’t be a book of any great depth. My thought is that I need to be more in the word, so I thought that a writing project would help me get there. One thought would be to writing on the book of Revelation. I kind of wanted to write on the Tribulation anyway, so maybe that would be a good option.
Another idea is to delve into a book like Ephesians. I know that would be quite beneficial for me—for my spiritual life. I think I might enjoy getting into the Greek, doing word studies; and also, getting into the history of those times; and just determining what the main themes of the book are. Mostly, I would hope that the writing would bring me closer to Him, and that my thoughts would be constantly on Him and His wonderful words of grace and truth.
I find that since I am more and more retired, and that my painting jobs are fewer, I have more time now to do whatever. I pray that that whatever is well spent. Retirement time can be foolishly wasted. I pray that that won’t be true of me.
I have been blogging from the book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The book is actually a copy of his sermons and well worth reading. Today we will cover this familiar text and see what Jesus says about it.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. (Matt. 5:38-42)
This Mosaic teaching about an eye for an eye, etc., was from Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. According to Lloyd-Jones, the main intent of the teaching was to control anger and the desire for revenge, and to make sure the punishment fits the crime.
Now the Pharisees taught that it was the right and the duty for each person that was violated to get his own revenge. However, it is important to understand that God gave the prescribed punishments to the judges to dish out and not to individuals. They were the ones to make sure that the punishment fit the crimes. Also, we are not to understand that the judges were always to take God’s prescribed punishment, “an eye for an eye,” etc. literally, but was meant only to teach fair judgments.
So, the Pharisees taught that we should enact our own revenge toward anyone who is evil toward us. That if they strike us, we should strike them back with the exact same force. But what does Jesus teach in regard to how we should act toward someone who is evil toward you? He says that we are not to resist them. What does that mean? Here are the points that Lloyd-Jones gives us:
1.The teaching is only for Christians. We can’t expect a non-Christian to act like a Christian in this way of not resisting evil. They will not understand it, nor do they have the Spiritual power to do it.
2.The teaching here applies to the relationship one has with another person, not to the government.
3.The teaching is directed toward my own attitude toward myself. Jesus tells us that we should not take personal revenge or have anger toward another for whatever they do to us. We should leave revenge to God and to the authorities. I should not be concerned with losing personal possessions and even damage to self. Our attitude as a Christian must be to deny self, to be dead to self.
I just finished reading Inside Trump’s White House, by Doug Wead, a best-selling author. Doug’s intentions were not necessarily to write a best-seller, but to write a book for the history of the Trump presidency. Hence, he set out to record events as they actually happened. And this is why he interviewed just those in the White House, especially the President’s family and closest advisors. This book was similar to Bill O’Reilly’s book, The United States of Trump, but there were some differences. Whereas O’Reilly shared more about Trump as a man and what he thought of him and his motives (good and bad), Wead stuck more with just the observable facts, mainly from his interviews. The following are the main points of the book that I gathered from my reading.
The interviews. I think the best interviews came from Ivanka and Jerod, Don Jr., Tifany, and Eric. Ivanka and Jerod were so kind and hospitable. They invited Doug to their home and they talked for hours. A great resource. Jerod, Doug found out, is especially gifted, and he had some great insights to share. President Trump has used him well. It was said that if the job was impossible, he would give it to Jerod—and he would get it done.
Don Jr. and Eric had great things to say about their Dad. Don said that “he is totally focused on doing what is right…he loves the American people…he is working constantly to find more jobs to help more Americans.” Likewise, Eric talked about his father’s greatness, that he is one of America’s greatest presidents.
Tiffany, the youngest, is quite brilliant and beautiful. She is in the middle of law school, but finds time on the weekends to come to the White house and visit her father and family.
On how Trump won the Presidency. The book said a lot about this, because it was predicated to be a blow-out for Clinton; but instead, it was a miraculous turnabout for Trump. I do think that it had much to do with prayer and God’s will. Also. Many worked so hard to bring it about. The President gave his daughter-in-law Lara the Task of North Carolina, and she did a fabulous job—won it. And both Brad Parscale and Melania were so positive. When others had lost hope, Melania “would have none of it.” She consistently said to the President, “You are going to win.”
Trump’s achievements. The book is full of praises for all of the President’s achievements: more jobs, great trade deals, destroying ISIS, many more conservative judges, the wall going up, and the great economy. And he is more of a foreign policy President than he thought he would be. He is a great negotiator and a peace maker. He has worked hard to free hostages, and he has won the votes of many African Americans—up to over 30%.
Trump the man. I loved the way Mr. Wead brought out all of the President’s good qualities—through his interviews. We will start with what Pastor Brunson had to say about him (remember, he was a prisoner in Turkey whom the President worked hard to free). He said to Doug, “The president is very friendly…he has a big heart…he is genuinely caring about people.”
Generally I have noticed that the president thinks the best of people, especially world leader. He always tends to think of a person’s good qualities. But we know that when they cross him, watch out! He will get them back.
Last, and most interesting to me, the book brought out that Trump has a deep religious side. He gets it from his mother and also from his church growing up, where Dr. Vincent Peal was the pastor. Peal wrote the book, The Power of Positive Thinking. The book not only emphasizes our thinking but the power of prayer. He also was greatly influenced by Paula White. Someone much like Peal, she seems to have the same positive prayer philosophy.
For a few years now Trump has been calling on Paula to come and pray for things. He asked her to pray regarding him running for President, and he also has asked her to pray for his children and for business deals. And you remember, he had her bring many Christian leaders to Trump Tower to gather around and pray about the election. But it was pointed out that he never asked Paula to pray for him personally.
This is not from the book, but I hope and pray that the President would begin to ask more for prayer for himself and that he would also try praying himself. I don’t think too highly of Dr. Peal. I think he has led many astray in his teaching. The emphasis in Christianity should be on our relationship with God and our humility, not on positive thinking and positive praying and what we can get from God.
Overall, the book was a great read and I hope it sells well.
Stephen Nielsen 