Snakes in the Grass |
By L.B.S. (from Canada)
So often, when I went for a walk this past summer and when I would least expect it, a garter snake would writhe out of my way. Last spring, here in Canada, they slithered to the surface of the earth while the snow yet blanketed the ground. Many of them spent the winter in tunnels beneath the earth that the Richardson’s ground squirrels abundantly provided. The snakes would find their way to the surface of the earth and bask in patches of warmth on bright sunny days. When the weather became consistently warmer, they would venture further away from their winter refuges, and I would inevitably find them on paths, in the garden, or snaking their way through the grass.
I know that the garter snake poses little danger to humans, but they inevitably give me a start whenever they unexpectedly cross my path. I neither have much fear nor much affection for those legless reptiles with their red darting split tongue and foul odor, but I have known of friends and family who have such great fear of garter snakes that the sight of one elicits an almost uncontrollable panic response.
I am not sure how I would react to a truly dangerous and poisonous serpent. Would I be afraid of cobras, copperheads, rattlesnakes, water moccasins or coral snakes? Most likely.
The Israelites and Snakes
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the account in the Bible where the Israelites became discouraged when they were traversing through their forty-year stint in the wilderness. They were unthankful for the care that God wrought in their lives, and they focused on the things they did not have instead of all the blessings that God provided. Because of their unthankfulness, the Lord sent poisonous snakes that bit the people and caused their death. When they finally acknowledged their sin, they wanted God to take away the serpents, but God did not do that. Instead, He told Moses to set up a pole and put a brass serpent on it, and the people who had gotten the “sting of death” were to look at it for the venom’s antidote. All a man had to do if he had been bitten by a serpent was to look at that metal snake on a pole and he would live. God provided a simple temporal salvation from certain death, and all it required was obedience to his directive.
The Bible says it so succinctly but with brevity that speaks volumes:
And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers 21:4-9)
The Israelites who had been bitten by serpents had the “sting of death,” but all they had to do was look up to a brass serpent on a pole and live! Did all who were bitten do that? Was it hard to look at a harmless brass snake on a pole and ignore all the problems that they had and all the snakes that were slithering all about administering that “sting of death”?
All they had to do was look at the snake on a pole; but in order to look at it, first they would have had to look away from all the real and present danger from all the real and imminently present dangerous snakes that licked the dust and writhed on scaly bellies. They would have to ignore everything around them and direct their gaze to that snake on a pole; but in order to do that, they must believe (have faith) that looking at the snake on a pole would save them.
The Antidote for the Sting of Death
Like the Israelites, we have all been stung with the “sting of death.” The Bible says, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56). It all started with a serpent, that old serpent, the Devil, in the garden of Eden. The poison was in his tongue, and it spewed venomous words. His words, “Yea, hath God said . . .?” (Genesis 3:1), those first subtly deceptive words meant to draw one away from the truth of God’s Word and into disobedience against Him, preceded the events that caused us to all be concluded in sin and destined to die an eternal death—except God Himself provides a worthy Savior who is plainly identified in Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Oh what joy to us!
The sting of death now has a prescription for an antidote, easily accessed by everyone who seeks it:
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (Galatians 3:22)
Just like those Israelites, we have a simple directive from God for our salvation. The following passage begins with the reference to Moses and the temporal brass serpent salvation and ends with one of the most famous verses of the Bible—John 3:16—and perfect eternal salvation:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14-16)
Today’s “Snakes in the Grass”
When I think about our present times, I think about “snakes in the grass” as being alarming, anxiety-causing distractions. Sometimes all we have to do is think that something is a “snake,” and the fear can be overwhelming. Look at what’s about us right now! We have wars and rumors of wars, we have pestilences, we have famines, and we have all kinds of weather events: droughts, floods, hot summers and lengthy winters, winds, and earthquakes and more; but we have always had those things. Here in Canada, we have troublesome and confusing laws and mandates—many times opposing biblical values— being implemented with alarming rapidity amid seemingly ineffective political opposition. We now also have horrific assaults being implemented upon our children: sometimes permanent bodily changes carried out by our “health care” system, sometimes exposure to things children should never be seeing or experiencing or learning about in our “educational systems” and other venues, and now there are murmurings of proposals that even children can access assisted suicide or be euthanized – possibly with consent as a mature minor or with NO consent to infants 0- 1 year. It reminds me of Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
It seems we are dealing with a whole lot of “snakes in the grass” to keep people fearful and on edge. And it also sounds a whole lot like Matthew 24 (Mark 13 and Luke 21 too) with its warning of wars and rumors of wars, pestilences and persecutions, and it says that if God allowed all that to continue, no flesh would be saved.
Something More Important
Granted, all those things are bad, but apparently those things are not the worst things. Jesus prefaces his description of catastrophic occurrences described in Matthew 24 with this, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Why would Jesus precede an inventory of dire events with this warning? Was it more important? As bad as those catastrophic events are, is their real purpose there to distract us from our only true hope of salvation? I would hope that you would read this chapter of apparent doom and gloom carefully and hold it in your heart. Take heed of the warning and look for God’s redemption in it and wholly trust in him.
Many people know of the idea that the earth will have a one-world government possibly set up by a conspiracy of the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and various globalist factions; and we hear of things like “you will own nothing and be happy” and it strikes fear into many a Christian heart. I cannot help but think that the following passage is a bit of a description of things to come:
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:7-8)
And I hope that I would be able to say like Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him (Job 13:15). And like Job, I must put my confidence in my Redeemer even though it would seem everything around me is crumbling. I hope I would also be able to declare, like Job, this conviction: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth “(Job 19:25).
Indeed, nearly a decade ago, I read a draft copy of local laws that were set to be passed in our area. When I researched them, I followed the authors all the way up to the United Nations and their Agenda 21 guidelines (now updated further). I admit I was incredibly fearful when I realized that the end-time events I had pushed to the back burner of my mind were real and happening. I even went to a municipal meeting and spoke up and told the councilors that these were really bad laws. The laws were mostly attacking property rights and the affordability of property ownership.
I do believe God helped stop those laws at that time, but whoever was behind it will keep trying. I finally realized that I should not be afraid of a godless one-world government. The Bible tells us that that government is going to fail and there will be a successful one-world government (if you will) established, but it will be our Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, who ultimately reigns, and we know that He will love and care for those who put their trust in him.
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9)
Yes, we might have hard and trying times, but may the Lord help us to trust Him and endure unto the end. We are warned that we are going to have many and varied distractions and deceptions that try to shake that trust, but I would hope to remember that they are “snakes in the grass” and though they be all around us, our focus must be on trusting our only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:4-7)
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)
Also by L.B.S.
The “Great Reset”? Or the GREAT Reset!
The Fear Factor and the COVID Conundrum: One Canadian’s Perspective
(painting from alamy.com; used with permission)
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Lighthouse Trails 2022 Year in Review – Part 2 – Top 10 Letters and Comments From Readers |
 While we receive numerous letters, comments, calls, and e-mails throughout the year, and consider them all important and of value, we believe the 10 letters and comments below illustrate very well what many of our readers are concerned about in these difficult days. Click the “Read more” link at the end of each article to read the complete letter.
1. Author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, John Mark Comer, Bringing “Renewed” Contemplative Spirituality Into the Churches
Today my neighbor who’s in an emergent church . . . told me his church started a sermon series called “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” Hmm . . . I’ve left enough emergent churches to know a sermon series probably has a book. … [Read more…]
2. My Experience With “Walk to Emmaus”
I was sponsored to go on a Walk to Emmaus in 2003 and was told that it would be a wonderful, spiritual experience and was told literally nothing else. My sponsor drove me out to this remote, secluded location (I still haven’t been able to figure out exactly where it was) took my wristwatch (I didn’t have a cell phone at that point) and left me with a group of total strangers, completely cut off from the outside world, having no idea what to expect. From that point on, my life was not my own. . . . [Read more . . .]
3. Our Son Might Go to Grace College in Winoka Lake, Indiana -Why Is LT Warning About It?
To Lighthouse Trails Editors: Are you able to tell me the evidence that you gained by putting Grace College and Theological Seminary on your page of colleges you warn about? Our son is considering this college, and this was disappointing to see. C. Dear C., The school is on our list because they have incorporated … [Read more…]
4. Saved in 2022 – Searching for Discernment
I was saved by Christ in June 2022. A Christian friend recommended The Chosen about 2 months ago. The truth is that I didn’t pay that much attention to the introduction to the series, this is something I need to be diligent about, “testing the spirits, proving all things and holding to what is good” I was grabbed by the “purity” of the show, no profanity, love the time period, as a new Christian, the stories “made sense” to me. I started to feel moved by the actor playing Jesus . . . [Read more . . .]
5. Salvation Army Pushing Yoga, Meditation, and Mystic Henri Nouwen
I am enclosing some magazine articles put out by the Salvation Army during the summer of 2022. One of them is from Peer magazine that is for teenagers and college-age kids. The article from that magazine is about [the Catholic contemplative mystic] Henri Nouwen. The other article, “Meditation in Movement,” is from … [Read more…]
6. Wycliffe Brings “Spiritual Formation” and Contemplative Practices to Its Members
Wycliffe has now added Spiritual Formation heresy to its ranks. Sue Russell, the Spiritual Formation “specialist” has two Webinars on the website. One is about “hearing God” and the second, entering God’s presence in “The Silence.” Yes, we are to enter in with reverence and awe and confession in Jesus name, but the phrase, “The Silence” is now the universal platform for all to enter in no matter what faith. I also personally talked to a missionary from Wycliffe who said he reads Dallas Willard and feels people just have “misunderstood” Spiritual Formation. … [Read more…]
7. The Salvation Army Continues on the Ecumenical Road
We have seen the link with the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church before especially in Bible studies. There was one study in particular where the leader recommended additional reading. Each item was from a Catholic mystic. We pointed this out to them, all to no avail. However, to start praying to the dead I thought would be against everything the SA would stand for. Obviously not! This is so sad that an outfit like the Salvation Army will use material like this without even realizing the dangers of another Gospel. Maybe the draw card for the SA is the ecumenical stance that the Catholics push. … [Read more…]
8. Sad Day for Church in the UK—(Wesley’s) Oldest Methodist Church in World Now Offering Same-Sex Marriage
Some further sad news regarding the Christian church in the U.K. This news is from the BBC today (June 30th): “World’s oldest Methodist church to allow gay marriage.” The article states: The world’s oldest Methodist building will now offer same-sex marriage after voting unanimously in favour. The New Room is a Chapel … [Read more…]
9. Amazed at What Comes From the Pulpits and More Amazed at Congregations That Blindly Follow
Just discovered a large (formerly good) church in our area that is into [contemplative spirituality] – very sad. You can often pick up clues by the churches’ websites. My guess is that you would be hard pressed to find churches that aren’t at least a little affected by these and other deceptions. Up until 5 years ago I played in a brass group for 10 years. We performed at a broad mix of denominations. I was amazed at what came from some of the pulpits; but I am more amazed at the congregations that just blindly followed. [Read more . . .]
10. Diana Butler Bass and Westmont College Steered Daughter Away From the Faith
Our daughter, unfortunately, attended a Christian college in the mid 90s (Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California), and they steered her away from the faith. I still don’t understand exactly what they taught. But I do know that her mentor and one of her professors (a Ms. Diana Butler—you’ve probably heard if her) really did a number on her. … [Read more…]
(Image from dreamstime.com; used with permission)
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“Canada . . . Now Euthanizing 10,000 . . . Citizens a Year” |
LTRP Note: The following is posted for informational and research purposes and not intended as an endorsement of the secular news source it is from. For several years now, Lighthouse Trails uses a phrase we coined called “the death religion.” It includes abortion, homosexuality, mysticism, transgenderism, pornography, evolution, pedophilia, and euthanasia. The fruit of all these is death and darkness – the opposite of what God offers through His Son – life and light.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darknessat all. (1 John 1:5)
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9)
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:5)
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:13)
By Tom Leonard
Daily Mail, UK
Winston Churchill famously reassured the U.S. that its long northern border was ‘guarded only by neighbourly respect and honourable obligations’.
And generations of US leaders have tended to agree – there’s nothing to worry about from solid and reliably uncontroversial Canada.
Until now, that is.
Anyone who ever thought that the compassionate response to extreme human suffering is a society that helps people find permanent release from their pain may want to look at some of the horror stories coming out of Canada recently.
To be clear, euthanasia laws in the US are nothing like those of its neighbor to the north. But American acceptance of the practice has been growing for decades despite warnings that legalized suicide is a slippery slope toward a calamitous debasement of human life. Click here to continue reading.
(photo at top from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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A Message to the Church From Former Political/Religious Prisoner, Philip Zodhiates—Persecution, Not Revival, Is Coming! |
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails has been reporting on this story for many years (see links below). Mr. Zodhiates was incarcerated for over two years in Federal prison and has demonstrated godly courage in the midst of persecution. He was released in 2022. If you would like to help support him, visit the 419Fund.com website. The following is an update Philip recently wrote, and we wanted to share it with our readers.
Dear faithful friend:
Blessed Christmas to you. I rejoice with you over the birth of our Lord and Savior who came to redeem us and bring peace between us and God Almighty through His shed blood on the cross.
I have been meaning to write for some time and apologize for the lack of communication. A number of folks have written and emailed for some sort of update from me to be disseminated through the 419 Fund, and I thought this would be an ideal time to not only express Kathie and my gratefulness and appreciation to you, but to also update you on all that is going on.
This past summer, the judge in my criminal case issued his refusal to vacate my sentence due to some very contrived and unjust arguments and threatened any attorney who helped me appeal the ruling with punishment, even, to my understanding, to the point of being disbarred. I had appealed to the judge to vacate my sentence due to the fact that my attorneys provided ineffective counsel because they did not reveal to me that the criminal statute under which I was convicted allowed for a parent to remove her child from the country if she believed her child was being abused in any manner.
As of the end of June of this year, my prison sentence was completed, probation and all. So now I am free to travel outside of the Western District of Virginia, and I have received my passport back from the government (although some countries do not issue visas to felons). Kathie and I praise the Lord for the freedom I now have. We only wish all of our legal battles were over. You see, the civil suit is still pending against me, our company, and our daughter.
We have encountered both difficulties and blessings since I have been at home. Physical difficulties have been especially rough for Kathie and me. I had been incarcerated for 27-1/2 months until I was finally allowed home for a weekend visit, and then two months after that till I was able to come home on house arrest. It was wonderful to be at home 24/7 with Kathie. I could eat delicious food again, sit on soft, comfortable furniture, and sleep on a bed with a normal mattress. But having literally lived and slept on a steel slab covered with a one-inch pad for 30 months, sleeping with no pillow, created a very painful “chronic holding pattern” in my back that I have been unable to rectify even with a chiropractor’s help, physical therapy, steroid injections, and ablation therapy. I cannot walk upright nor stand without severe pain. I am truly looking forward to my new body all the more!
At the same time, Kathie has been suffering severe pain, much of it emanating from the ill-advised oral surgery that some specialists now say she should never have had and which now needs to be reversed. This has all resulted from very complicated structural trauma resulting from an auto accident when she was 17. So, we two have been quite a pair! We have been able to start a small home church, which meets each Sunday and are praying for seekers and new believers to join us in in-depth study of God’s Word.
In spite of all of the difficult times of loneliness and suffering, though, I would not have chosen a different course. If you have heard me speak, you know that I consider the time of incarceration to be a blessing. God truly worked in both of our lives through the difficult circumstances, and we have developed a much closer relationship with the Lord, been refined in the process, and can now be used even greater in ministry. I would not otherwise have been able to spend the time in Bible study and meditating on the Word of God if it wasn’t for my prison sentence. Nor would I have learned of the rampant injustice and corruption of the court system and today’s American justice.
After coming home though, my probation officer gave me special permission to stay in contact with the many men whose lives the Lord had touched during my incarceration. Some have been released, some remain incarcerated. So, the ministry begun in prison does continue somewhat, as does the church that was begun, although it does not still meet every evening due to the COVID restrictions being lifted.
And as I’ve expressed before, the Lord has given me a message for the church that times of persecution are coming. Yet, they are not times to be feared. James says, “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).
What’s more, Paul says, “but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). He told Timothy, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution!” (2 Timothy 3:12). And to the Philippians he added, “unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). And to the Corinthians, he retorted, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest . . . it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is (1 Corinthians 3:13). . . .
Jesus Himself told us, “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20) . . . . During the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord also told us, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12).
I could go on and on. Neither Jesus nor any New Testament writer claims there will be a great revival in the latter days. Rather, there will be a great persecution and a great falling away from the faith. We are now seeing this beginning to happen. Each Christian must be prepared spiritually and mentally for this oncoming onslaught against every believer. We must refuse to compromise no matter the consequences. God never promises to keep us from suffering, persecution, and difficulties. Just the opposite! But, we must remain strong. As James says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
What God did promise was to carry us through the difficult times and the times of persecution. Kathie and I can testify to the joy and contentment He provides during these trials. If we are faithful to Him, He will be faithful to us and help us endure anything that might come our way. He will use these sufferings for our own benefit and as a testimony to others.
When I was in prison, on more than one occasion believers who were also incarcerated told me God put me there to help other believers prepare for the coming persecution and imprisonment of vast numbers of believers. This I am confident God has called me to do, and I have had the opportunity to share this with a number of church bodies, small groups, and families. I am eager to take this message across the country to many, many groups of believers, encouraging them to remain strong in the Lord and refuse to compromise to Satan’s temptation—no matter the consequences. God is with us each and every step of the way.

Kathie and I have also begun to do some traveling, as our health enables us, to not only share this message, but to personally thank all of you in person who have stood by us both, writing letters and encouraging notes and cards, praying for us, and helping financially with our vast legal expenses. Please provide me with your phone number and address if you would like us to visit you.
You can contact us through the 419 Fund (info@419fund.com) or call 540-649-1999. You can also write us at P.O. Box 1842, Waynesboro, VA 22980.
Thank you again for being such a wonderful Godsend to help uphold us with your prayers, encouragements, and support. And Merry Christmas to you. Please continue to pray for us, as we desperately need your prayers. Pray for a miracle with regard to the civil suit, for our pain to subside, and for opportunities to share our testimony that God is always faithful, to be prepared for the coming persecution, and never, ever to compromise the Word of God!
In His service,
Philip Zodhiates
Related Articles:
Philip Zodhiates – Remains in U.S. Prison For Helping Former Lesbian Mother
US Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal of Christian Imprisoned for Helping Child Flee Lesbian “Mother”
Child-Rescuer Kenneth Miller Released From U.S. Prison After 2 Years
Trial Set for Second Man Accused of Helping Ex-Lesbian Flee Country With Daughter
‘I promised God that if he would save my baby, I would leave the homosexual lifestyle’ |
Lighthouse Trails 2022 Year in Review—Final Part—Top 10 Articles |
 The Final part of the Lighthouse Trails 2022 Year in Review lists the top 10 articles we posted this past year from guest writers and Lighthouse Trails authors. Listed in order of when they were posted (earliest to latest).
1/ The “Great Reset”? Or the GREAT Reset! (By L.B.S.) By now many of us have heard of “the Great Reset” that the globalists intend to impose on the citizens of Earth, where they say, “You will own nothing, and you will be happy.” I contend that it is a proposition based on the assumption that the populace will consent to their positive sounding hypnotic rhetoric. [ Read more . . .]
2/ The “Deconstruction” Myth and Matter (By Shelton Smith) – In recent months there has been a rash of well-known professing Christians who have announced that they were “deconstructing” their Christian faith.* The term was new, but what it described is not new at all. Several of these individuals have been entertainers. One was a contemporary Christian music personality. One was the “lead” pastor of one of these new-breed, newly branded “contemporary” churches. [ Read more . . .]
3/ The Global Church Network: Is It a New Age Path to “Back-door” Ecumenism? (By Cedric Fisher) – when a rapidly growing entity fraught with heresy and New Age/Christianity, joined by over 2500 denominations and ministries, including many heads of denominations, notorious politicians, journalists, and other secular icons, rises up to loom over all the other church networks, it is significant. I took a closer look at this network. This article presents some of my discoveries. I concluded that it is a dangerous organization based on Leonard Sweet’s influence alone. Why are the heads of denominations, including the Assemblies of God, Church of God, Nazarene, et al, joined with this network? [ Read more . . .]
4/ Whoopi Goldberg, the Holocaust, and Managing Misinformation (By Chris Katulka) – The blaze has subsided since Whoopi Goldberg insisted the Holocaust “isn’t about race,” but the embers are still burning. Goldberg’s comment started a firestorm during a January filming of her television show The View on ABC. The comedian-turned-daytime-television-host then doubled down on her remark and called the Holocaust an example of white-on-white violence. [ Read more . . .]
5/ Steppingstones to World Power (By Tony Pearce) – As soon as Tuesday came along, after the funeral [of Queen Elizabeth], normal service was resumed. We had strikes being planned, a racial conflict apparently taking place in Leicester between Muslims and Hindus, news that Eco-Warriors are planning to bring the country to a standstill with a series of protests against the use of fossil fuels, and, of course, the cost of living crisis with the government throwing masses of money at with its mini-budget, pushing up inflation, as the Pound falls and interests interest rates rise. Apparently, the estimate of what the government is prone to spend on this lies somewhere between 100 and 250 billion Pounds, with people saying it’s actually going to rise to about 500 billion over the next two years. [ Read more . . .]
6/ Epidemic of Apostasy in Christian Colleges – Updated in 2022 (By LT Editors) – The following is the new 2022 2nd edition of our 2013 booklet: Epidemic of Apostasy—How Christian Colleges Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to Become Accredited. There is some important information in this updated edition, and we want to encourage everyone on this site to read it. Epidemic of Apostasy—How Christian Colleges Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to … [Read more…]
7/ The Shield of Faith in the Midst of Struggles (By David Dombrowski) – We should always remember that Jesus is the object of our faith as presented in the Gospel. That is why, even though Peter describes how our daily struggles are “the trial of your faith” (v. 7), ultimately the fruition of our faith will be the salvation of our souls: “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (v. 9). It is important, then, that no matter what our struggles may be at the time, our perspective needs to be focused ultimately on eternity with Christ. And, when we keep things in that perspective, somehow the testings and struggles of our lives will also take on a new perspective, and life as a whole will have more meaning and value. [ Read more . . .]
8/ Global Revival or Global Deception (By Warren B. Smith) – Who doesn’t want true revival—one filled with godly sorrow, heartfelt repentance, and powerfully met with God’s forgiveness, mercy, and amazing grace? But the word true is key. The revival must not be unduly influenced by our spiritual Adversary for his own deceptive purposes. True revival has to be truly God-given and truly inspired by our One True God and His One True Holy Spirit. [ Read more . . .]
9/ Top 10 Ways America Is Being Groomed to Normalize Pedophilia (By Linda Harvey) – Respectable pedophilia. Are you ready for this? I’m not and I will be screaming against it until the last breath. But it’s coming unless a massive parent brigade shows up in both schools and in another venue that must be deployed to overcome this depravity: churches. The truth of God, proclaimed by His saints and confirmed in the power, blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ, fueled by the conviction of the Holy Spirit can prevail over the tragedy of child corruption. We can do this. [ Read more . . .]
10/ A Message to the Church From Former Political/Religious Prisoner, Philip Zodhiates—Persecution, Not Revival, Is Coming! (By Philip Zodhiates) – Neither Jesus nor any New Testament writer claims there will be a great revival in the latter days. Rather, there will be a great persecution and a great falling away from the faith. We are now seeing this beginning to happen. Each Christian must be prepared spiritually and mentally for this oncoming onslaught against every believer. We must refuse to compromise no matter the consequences. God never promises to keep us from suffering, persecution, and difficulties. Just the opposite! But, we must remain strong. As James says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). [ Read more . . .]
Related Information:
2022 New Release Book/Booklet Pack now available
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“Clock Running Out as Father Fears Medical Castration of 10-Year-Old Son in California” |
By Darlene McCormick Sanchez
The Epoch Times
Time is running out for a Dallas father who asked the Texas Supreme Court to order his ex-wife to return his 10-year-old son to Texas from California, where he fears she will medically transition his son to a girl.
Jeff Younger told The Epoch Times on Tuesday that he filed an emergency stay with the Texas Supreme Court on Dec. 16 to stop his ex-wife from moving James and his twin brother Jude out of Texas, which considers transitioning minors to the opposite sex though chemical or surgical means to be child abuse in most cases.
“I had to go to the Supreme Court directly,” he said. “Welcome to what it takes to be a father in the modern world today. All I want to do is raise my son as a boy, and this is what it takes.”
A few days later, on Dec. 20, he received an email saying that his ex-wife, Anne Georgulas, was already living in Los Angeles County with their twin sons, James and Jude. Click here to continue reading.
Related Reading:
“Newsom Signs Bill That Removes Children from Parents Who Oppose Transgender Treatments”
“Wokeness Now Indoctrinating Your Kids Through Kellogg’s Breakfast Cereal”
Now in America: Mother Wins Rights Over Father to Transition 8-Year-Old Son into Girl
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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How Now Shall We Live? – A Prisoner for His Faith Shows Us |
 photo on right: Peter and his son, Georgi Vins
LTRJ Note: In the 1960s and 1970s, Baptist pastor Georgi Vins was a prisoner of faith in the U.S.S.R., along with many thousands of other believers. But prior to that (in the 1930s), when Georgi was just a boy, his father, Peter Vins, was also imprisoned in the U.S.S.R. for his faith. Eventually, Peter was executed in one of those prisons, leaving Georgi without a father. The following is an excerpt from Georgi’s writings about his father’s persecution (which can be found in Vins’ book Three Generations of Suffering.)
The Imprisonment of My Father, Peter J. Vins
First Arrest
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. (Hebrews 11: 24-26)
Every time I read Hebrews chapter 11, verses 14 to 26, I involuntarily recall that these were my father’s favorite verses. Like many Russian Christians of his time, he had a profound understanding of the biblical truth that it is better to suffer with God’s people and better to bear the vilification of Christ than to have transient sinful enjoyment and earthly treasures.
There are no greater riches than Christ, and you feel this especially keenly when they want to take Him away from you, when they forbid you to share these riches with people. But people need Him so much!
Jesus—is there any name more dear to a redeemed soul?
How fortunate those children are those who have a loving father and mother beside them! It is a great blessing if the parents who have given their children life have given them not only a good upbringing, education, and a vocation but also their own Christian life, if, in short, they have pointed to Christ—a man’s best friend! What good fortune it is to have parents who are one’s own, not only in the flesh but, in spirit and in faith!
And if the parents were found worthy to suffer for Christ and even, fettered, to drink to the dregs the cup of death, then for their son or daughter their feat of faith becomes a sacred example of lofty self-sacrificing Christian love and calls them to be faithful to the Lord.
The first time my father was arrested was in Moscow in 1930 [when he was 32], and I was two years old. At that time, he was participating in the work of the Assembly of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists as the representative of the brotherhood of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of the Far East. On his arrival in Moscow, my father was summoned to the NKVD* where it was suggested to him that at the Assembly he should support the candidatures of the ministers B. and K., who had been selected by the government bodies as members of the administrative board of the Baptist Union. My father was very surprised by the authorities’ suggestion, which was manifest interference in the internal life of the church and refused to support these candidatures. Within a few days, he was arrested. As for B. and K., they were elected just the same to the administrative board of the Baptist Union. B. revealed himself as a traitor not long afterwards when the President of the Baptist Union, Nikolai Vasilievich Odintsov, was arrested.
Beginning in the 1930s, pressure on prominent workers in religious societies was intensified, and apostates were advanced to positions of leadership with the aim of corrupting the church from the inside. My father spent three months under investigation in Butyrki prison and was then sentenced to three years in labor camp. At that time in Blagoveshchensk-on-Amur, his son, who had just begun to talk, would kneel down with his mother and repeat just four words: “Jesus! Bring Daddy back!”
During those years, Father passed under guard through many prisoners’ convoys, prisons, and labor camps in the Far East and the Northern Urals. In the Far East, he was taken in convoy to a labor camp situated on the shore of Svetlaya Bay.
One day in a town in the Far East, a column of prisoners was being marched from a transit prison to a goods station for embarkation. After the column ran, weeping women, seeing off their fathers, husbands, sons . . . A young Orthodox priest was marching in the column beside my father. His wife was hurrying alongside after the column. As she took leave of him, she cried, “Vasya! Don’t lose heart! The darker the night, the brighter are the stars!” The priest’s heartening reply rang out above the column of prisoners, “The deeper the sorrow, the nearer is God!”
For some time, Father was in camps in the Northern Urals. He was taken in a train load of convicts to Usolye (now Solikamsk) and then marched in convoy another 300 kilometers to the north, to one of the timber-felling camps of the taiga.
In 1967, I also visited these places, also under guard. Like my father, I was taken in convoy to Solikamsk and then not on foot but in open lorries under the guard of soldiers and watchdogs 200 kilometers further north.
As we drove along the old convoy roads, I remembered my father. Perhaps in the ’30s, he had walked along these very same roads.
At Liberty
In the summer of 1933, father was released. Mother and I traveled to Novosibirsk to meet him. Here he was faced with the journey to Biisk, which at that time was a small town lost among the forests of the Altai.
Father did not receive a passport when he was released but was directed to a place of residence in Biisk with the status of an exile. We traveled in a passenger train. I can still remember the overcrowded carriage, the shouting, and the swearing. Somehow, I was settled in the upper berth where I could go to sleep, and my parents slept sitting up. At the station in Biisk, we were robbed, reducing our belongings, which were meager enough anyway.
We settled down somewhere on the outskirts of the town, taking a room in a private house. It was a very beautiful spot. Around us was a pine forest and silence. In the winter, Father and I would take a sledge and wander through the forest. I dearly loved these walks.
There were believers in Biisk, but the prayer house was closed, and they used to gather in houses.
My parents were extremely poor. A conviction for religious beliefs and the absence of a passport were a great obstacle to arranging employment. Many places refused to enroll Father for work. Finally, my father and mother found work, but a long way from home—across the river on the opposite side of town. In the autumn slush and the winter frosts and snowstorms, it took them two or three hours very often on foot to reach their place of work.
My parents were often ill . . . I remember that first my father would lie in bed with a high temperature, and my mother would bustle round him and tend him, and then she herself would be ill and Father would be the doctor.
One day, Father received a letter from Blagoveshchensk, from his home community, where he had served as pastor from 1926 to 1930 until the day of his arrest. This kind message with its words of brotherly love encouraged and comforted Father in this most difficult period of his wandering. The Lord preserved this letter amidst numerous searches in the following decades. Through His faithful children, the Lord also sent daily bread in this critical period of our lives.
In January 1934, Father received a passport and permission to leave his place of exile. We moved to Novosibirsk. The meeting place there had not yet been closed. I remember how Father used to take me with him to the prayer house, which was situated on the outskirts of the town. It was very exciting for me to walk along the streets with my father. It seemed as though everyone was looking at me: see, I have a father too! I loved to sit beside him at the meeting and sing together about Jesus, who had heard my prayers and brought my daddy back!
The same year my grandmother, Mariya Abramovna Zharikova, a true and virtuous Christian, came to Novosibirsk. She stayed there for a while and then went off to Blagoveshchensk taking me with her for a while.
I met my parents again in 1935 in Omsk where they had moved. At that time, the prayer house in the town had already been taken away. The believers had built it on the bank of the River Om. Now mounted militia had been quartered there. The believers began to meet in a small private house on the outskirts of the town behind the station. In those years, there were still no trams in Omsk, and it was a very long and difficult journey to reach the meeting.
My father used to visit meetings of believers and continued to witness about Christ. Furthermore, he visited believers at home; he encouraged, comforted, and strengthened those who had weakened spiritually. With him went his friend Anton Pavlovich Martynenko, an evangelist of the Far East Union of Christians-Baptists, the father of a large family, who had already suffered exile in the Far East for the Word of God and had found a temporary haven in Omsk. Anton Pavlovich was tall, with an open, courageous face; he was a most wonderful Christian, always joyful, never downhearted, a true servant of the Lord.
During the day, they worked, my father in the administrative office of the town pharmacy and Anton Pavlovich as a carpenter on one of the construction sites, and they devoted every evening to the encouragement and comfort of the believers in that difficult time for the church. In 1935, a prominent worker in the Far East Baptist Union, V.P., arrived in Omsk with his family. He did not join in the believers’ meetings but stayed at home and tried to spread his mood of depression among others. My father and Anton Pavlovich had to talk a great deal with him, trying to encourage V.P. and lessen the influence on others of his spirit of fear and timeserving. But V.P. never fulfilled his role as a minister.
Second Arrest
In Omsk, we lived on the outskirts of the town. My parents took a room in a large wooden house belonging to an unbeliever.
One evening, there was an unfamiliar knock on the door. The owner asked, “Who is it?”
The answer came, “Police, open up!” It was NKVD agents. They asked for Father and produced a warrant for his arrest.
The officer in charge of the arrest and the search looked around the modest furnishings of the room: an old wooden bed, a table, a large wooden chest which served as a wardrobe, and a divan, which at night was my bed. Surprise and disillusionment came over the officer’s face. Turning, to my father, he said, “Peter Yakovlevich, I expected to see the luxurious flat of an American missionary, but here”—the inspector’s hand described a semicircle in the air, and the surprise on his face changed to a sneer—“is poverty!”
The search was carried out. They took a Bible, a Gospel, personal letters, and photographs. Father had a bag of dried crusts ready and waiting. He put on warm clothing, said our last prayer together in the presence of the inspector, and Father was taken away . . .
We could hear the car, which had stood slightly to one side of the house, hooting as it moved off. I ran out into the yard behind the shed and wept. Terrible grief pierced my heart. I heard my mother calling me loudly, searching. “Mother, I don’t want to live any longer!” My mother, weeping, led me away and soothed me.
After Father’s arrest, the owner of the house refused to let us stay in the room. We faced the problem of lodging—long searches. Many believers refused us living quarters—they were afraid. At last, a believer, Alexandra Semirech, took us in. She was a simple, sincere sister. She had two teenage sons and a husband who was an unbeliever, an inveterate drunkard, and a terrible brawler. They lived not far from the Cossack bazaar along Pushkin Street. They owned one third of the house. Of their two rooms, Alexandra Ivanovna and her family took the larger, and the smaller they gave up to us. The owner of the house was almost always drunk. Sometimes during the night, a brawl would start up. Then mother and I would get out through the window and flee to neighbors.
Several more brothers were arrested together with my father. Among them was Father’s friend Anton Pavlovich Martynenko, Butevich, the pastor of an Evangelical Christian community, and others. V.P., the former executive of the Far East Union of Christians-Baptists, was also arrested.
On Sundays, we took a parcel to prison for Father. In those days, Omsk prison was a long way out of town. However, in the ’30s, the town grew considerably and surrounded the great four-storied bulk of the prison on all sides.
There was a long queue to the window where parcels were handed in. Everyone was bringing something to a loved one. Anxiously, they asked if he was alive, when he would be released, when the trial would be, and many other things. The answers were general and formal. But if they took the parcel, it meant he was alive and still there.
Not many people cried. Their tears had already been wept out and grief had hidden itself in the depths of sunken eyes. Some did cry—the “novices.”
Last Days of Freedom
After his release, Father began trying to find work. But everywhere he was turned down. Other brothers were in the same position. Then they formed a carpenters’ team of fifteen men (all believers), and the whole team was contracted to a building office for work. Our family’s material position improved slightly.
By that time, meetings in Omsk had been forbidden. The small prayer house behind the station was closed. But there were about a thousand believers in Omsk. Some of them began to leave. Some, frightened, stayed at home and grew spiritually cold.
Part of the brotherhood, my father among them, continued to visit believers and conducted small meetings. The doors of our house were scarcely ever closed. Every day believers kept coming for advice and for spiritual support. The owner of the house (an unbeliever) greatly respected Father and did not obstruct the visits.
Some people tried to frighten Father and his friend Anton Pavlovich with stories about the new wave of arrests of believers throughout the whole country—to this Anton Pavlovich replied with a smile, “Here we are guests! Soon we will go home again—to prison!” They used every day of freedom for preaching the Gospel and encouraging believers.
At this time, nearly all the churches and prayer houses throughout the country were closed. Thousands of Christians of different denominations were thrown into prisons and labor camps for their faith. I was constantly hearing that this brother had been arrested and that those had been searched. Husbands and sons, fathers and mothers, Bibles and Gospels were taken away.
And so I came into communion with the persecuted church of Christ in Russia!
I was full of joy to see Father at home, but I sensed it was only for a short while. Soon a new parting was in view. Once again, warm clothing was prepared, again rusks were dried.
One evening, I observed my parents cutting up a small Gospel into several parts and sewing it in sections into a coat collar, into the lining and into warm quilted trousers. Now eight years old, I understood it all: the parting was near.
Often Father would take me on his knees and the three of us would sing his favorite hymn, “I love Thy house, O Lord!” A Siberian snowstorm raged outside the windows, the wind howled drearily, but in our little room, it was warm and cozy. We were happy: Father was with us. I sang together with my father:
I love Thy house, O Lord,
The palace of Thy love.
I love the Church of people
Redeemed by Christ!
 Peter Vins – 1937
Third Arrest
One evening, after coming home from work, Father had his supper and went out visiting. Immediately after he had left, a car with NKVD agents drew up outside the house. They came inside and showed my mother a warrant for Father’s arrest and for a search. Once more our last spiritual literature and letters were confiscated. The search was short. Meanwhile mother was preparing food for Father’s journey.
Father came home late in the evening. He was very calm. We too were calm. We prayed, Father embraced me and mother for the last time, and we parted forever, or rather until our meeting in eternity before the Lord!
That same evening Martynenko and other believers were arrested. It was 1937 . . .
He died on December 27th, 1943 at the age of forty-five in one of the Far East labor camps. Anton Pavlovich Martynenko and many others did not return either. God alone knows where their ashes lie.
Twenty years after father’s death, on December 24th, 1963, by my mother’s petition, father’s case was reconsidered by the Omsk regional court. In view of the absence of corpus delicti, my father was posthumously rehabilitated!
Again and again, I re-read Father’s short letters:
Tell our dear ones to pray that the Lord will strengthen the brethren and myself to be His faithful witnesses.
It is doubtful that we shall be released, although our only crime is faithfulness to the Lord.
It is better to be with Him in prison than at liberty without Him!
In the short days of freedom, he loved to sing a hymn of the suffering brotherhood which was very widespread in the years before the war:
For my suffering brothers—for mankind,
Help me, God, to yield up everything,
And from the abyss of sinful passions
Raise me up to the eternal truth of heaven.
For mankind, for mankind,
Help me, God to yield up everything,
So that more swiftly and more bravely
I may save brothers who perish!
Over the last forty years, many thousands of believers have passed through the prisons and camps of our country. Their only “crime” is faithfulness to the Lord!
*People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs. The name of the Soviet secret police from 1934 to 1946
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2022 NEW RELEASE BOOK/BOOKLET PACK |
The 2022 New Release Book/Booklet Pack consists of three books and seven booklets for just $45.00. For more information or to order, click here.
BOOKS:
A Christian Perspective on the Social Justice Movement: 15 Essays by some of today's discerning voices. (10 LT Authors)
Up From Slavery - An Extraordinary Story by an Extraordinary Man! (Booker T. Washington)
Three Generations of Suffering: A Chronicle of One Family's Persecution in an Atheistic Society (Georgi Vins)
BOOKLETS:
Psychedelic Seduction (Richard & Linda Nathan)
Epidemic of Apostasy (new edition) (LT Editors)
God's Peace Through It All (Warren B. Smith)
The Chosen: 10 Critical Concerns (LT Editors)
All for One and Theft for All (Carl Teichrib)
My Conversion and My Journey Out of "the Holiness Movement" (Harry Ironside)
Global Revival or Global Deception? (Warren B. Smith)
*Each of these titles may also be purchased individually on our store. |
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