Month: June 2025

A few days ago, I was watching T.V. and saw the arrest of Narcisco Barranco by ICE agents in Orange County, Ca. He was a landscaper and had a weed whacker in his hands when accosted by ICE agents who said he swung the weed whacker at them. He did not. This was a small man being tackled by three large agents who pepper sprayed him and proceeded to hurt his shoulder and punch him multiple times in the face with no care that they were being filmed. Mr. Barranco was jailed and went without medical attention or food and water for 24 hours. I found myself tearing up at the display of these fascist wannabe thugs. And then I find out that this man’s three sons all serve in the U.S. Marines. Does anyone care enough to even check on people before their hate for anyone not like them is demonstrated? And the evil we’re seeing is just beginning.

And then later, as I’m in my car the song “America” by Simon and Garfunkel starts playing. I’m again emotionally touched. It starts with “Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together.” Simon is speaking not just to his girlfriend but the hopes of those coming to this “melting pot” called America. This place which when “America” was written was a place of disillusionment. Dr King and RFK were assassinated and the war in Vietnam was killing our finest. Simon shows the doubt and distrust mounting in America with his lyrics, “The man in the gaberdine suit was a spy and be careful his bow tie is really a camera.” Like where we are today. Fear and distrust are rapidly growing. Simon writes, “I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why.” As if there is still a part holding on to the notion that this country will heal. That the good will overcome the evil. Yet today we see an unchecked reign of hate and evil trying to shackle and even kill those not “like us” to Make America Great Again. Like it is sung in West Side Story, “Life is all right in America. If you’re all white in America.”

Paul Simon ends his song “America” saying “Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike. They’ve all come to look for America.” He still displays some hope, but the promise of America is fading. I still look for that America. My grandparents came from Italy with the hope of America. They made a life through hard work and were not always accepted. My uncle was allowed to caddie on their town’s local golf course but could not golf there as he was Italian. A man who fought in the Pacific Theater in WW2 and received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. So, I understand and am deeply ashamed for how the sons of Mr. Barranco must feel. Their father is a man just trying to work in the country of his dreams and raise a good family. And he did. His sons’ service is proof of that. Yet even now this story is fading. Being mixed with the other similar stories and being too easily accepted as common place. I so pray this stops. That all people of good conscience stand firm and make their voice heard. He who treats his fellow man this way does not love God. If you display hatred toward your brother, you walk in darkness and this darkness is from the evil one. And this darkness has blinded your eyes. Treat strangers well that dwell in your land. Why are these words ignored? They still all come to look for America. I, too, am looking.

America! A song that maybe should be our National Anthem says, “God shed His grace on thee. And crown thy good with brotherhood. From sea to shining sea.” I still have hope. My hope is in Him. But my heart breaks. Blessings.

Sunday morning, I wrote what I initially was hearing from the Lord about our strike against Iran the prior day. But there is something that has been “stuck in my craw.” That saying comes from the part of a bird’s preliminary stomach where things are first digested. If a rock is ingested and gets stuck there, it causes irritation. Digestion is not possible. The same holds true with what we receive and try to assimilate from things spoken or heard. There are some people who were quite elated with Trump invoking God in his thanks. That is seen as pointing to a person’s right standing with God. To me, what is still resonating is his awkwardness in saying “I want to just thank everybody and in particular, God. I want to just say we love you God and we love our great military. Protect them.” I want all to have a walk with the Lord and especially those making decisions that affect our country. But I feel he had a problem getting those words out. They sounded quite foreign. Maybe he was uncomfortable saying that and, who knows, maybe there was some conviction. I hope so. For his sake. For our sake.

 
It says in 1 John 3:17 that “Whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” We’re told not to love in our words but in our deeds and in truth. John tells us that whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. And he who does not love his brother is also not of God. Those words are for all of us to pay strict attention to. But as I look at what is being done by Donald Trump, especially in this second term, I see nothing of the love of God in how those who are marginalized, the needy, the homeless, the sick, are being treated. God has no part in these decisions he is making or authorizing. And when one surrounds themselves with people so bereft of decency and conscience, how can that person speak His name without it sounding foreign? Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.” And it says in Proverbs 29:16 “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, But the righteous will see their fall.” I pray they all come to a knowledge of the Lord, for if they do, it will surely benefit us. But the knowledge being presented by those surrounding Trump is the antithesis of all Christ taught. They walk in darkness and continually stumble in their blindness but think it is a normal gait. And we must bear the consequences of their folly and evil. We must continue praying for His revelation for all to see because the Lord requires it of us and it will surely go better for us if they come to see the light. And hopefully this light will penetrate the walls of so many “places of worship” that venerate Trump no matter how diametrically opposed he is to the ways of Jesus.

We are reminded throughout the Word that we are to have boldness. In speaking His word and standing for what is right. Speaking His word boldly in truth. Without even the hint of a foreign sound when we say His name. It should sound like the name of one we are familiar with. One we worship. One we sit before and fellowship with. Not one whose name we use to make it sound as if we know Him but live a life foreign to His ways. 1 John 4:20-21 is to the point. “If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” What was heard from trump’s speech should have “stuck in the craw” of many. In a way it says, “that’s not the Father I know.” In fact, what came to mind after hearing Trump invoke God’s name, was what was said at the 1988 Vice-presidential debate between Senator Lloyd Bensten and Senator Dan Quayle. Quayle had just compared his own experience and qualifications to that of John F. Kennedy. Senator Bentsen replied, “I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator Quayle, you are no Jack Kennedy.” .” Similarly speaking, Trump cannot just summon up God’s name as if he has a relationship with Him. We must realize that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true. Pray for increase in all things. Pray without ceasing. Blessings.

I wrote what I was hearing from the Lord on 6/12. I continued inquiring as I still felt led to ask where these sheep were that He said heard His voice. Not enough were standing up. And then I see Sen. Alex Padilla of California being treated as one of the FBI most wanted by Trump’s handpicked Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. She lied as to what transpired and MAGA quickly fell in step with her account. And to this day little has been done to rectify this behavior. Bragging about shooting your puppy should actually have been enough to disqualify her for that position. I found myself in Isaiah 41 where the Lord acknowledges that the poor and the needy seek water and find none. Their tongues fail for thirst but He will hear them. So, I ask why so many that say they represent Him care so little about what is happening to the poor and marginalized in our country. So again, in Isaiah 41, the Lord says let the idols they bow before present their case. Can they tell the latter things or things that are to come? They are nothing and their work is nothing. They are all worthless. Images of wind and confusion.

So, I asked again, where are those sheep that hear Your voice? And He said there are more with you than against you, and led me to 2 Kings 6. There the King of Syria was making war plans against Israel. The King of Israel was fearful and sent for Elisha the prophet. The servant of Elisha saw the magnitude of the Syrian army and was afraid. Elisha told him, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. “Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be opened and he then saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around them. The Lord was with them. Elisha then prayed that the Lord would strike the Syrian army with blindness. The Lord did and Elisha led them away. His servant asked if the Syrians should be killed and Elisha said no and to set food and water before them and made a great feast for them. They were then sent away. This is hard to reconcile, and in this the Lord is reminding me that my prayers for those who I see following the evil of Trump and doing wrong to so many must be increased and adjusted. And the Lord tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that He does not want any to perish and that all should come to repentance. I realize that but for His grace where would I be. But I still need to see some change. For people to stand up for what is right. To see those who worship, and quote a god I do not know, spend time in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. That all would desire to come to a knowledge of His truth. I am still filled with questions. Yet I am reminded, that just as what the Lord showed me with Elisha, He also told John in Luke 9 that he who is not against us is on our side.

The Lord tells us in Psalm 37 not to fret because of evildoers. The wicked shall perish. But we(I) must commit our ways to the Lord. To trust Him. He shall bring forth our righteousness as the light and our justice as the noonday. Please quicken this time Lord. Blessings.

On June 11th, I was watching some of what was transpiring in California. In praying about this I heard the Lord say, “My sheep hear My voice and the voice of another they will not follow.” (John 10) Then what was happening? I believe in peaceful protest, and though I understand the anger resulting in setting a car on fire, this will be the only thing some see. But I’m speaking to those who are in lockstep with our government rushing to set in motion things we’d see in extreme autocratic governments. Somehow following and allowing a man, Donald Trump, crazed and hellbent in doing whatever he can to achieve his evil quest. Unlike his first term, there are no guide rails to stop him. He’s is surrounded by sycophants who are fully invested in this demonic folly. Proverbs 14:7 warns us to “Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips.” Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” So, who are we following? The Apostle James asked where do wars and fights come from among you? This seems to be all we see. Fighting. Hate. And following those who encourage this.

We are at a breaking point. This is where we are called to stand and immerse ourselves in prayer. Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks NOT in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” So, I asked the Lord again, where are Your sheep? For so many have aligned with this evil in crushing those already downtrodden and are looking for a seat at a table You would overturn. And in all this they wear the label that says “Christian.” I am heavily burdened by this. Yet I pray people wake from their stupor and cast off that which will only ensnare them. That He have mercy even as I see judgement coming. Look to Him only. Those that claim to represent Him you’ll know by their fruit. Do not be unequally yoked with those who follow or embrace Trump as God’s man. He is not. Nor are those who kowtow to him and grovel before him for whatever crumbs keep them at His table. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 1:6, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Blessings.

1 Samuel 21 introduces us to a man named Doeg the Edomite. A self-serving man. Malicious and cruel. One spoken of by Jewish scholars as a man who played sides. Driven by ambition with no regard to others. He was also regarded as a scholar. He was chief of King Saul’s herdsmen and some say chief of King Saul’s guards. King Saul used Doeg as sort of a mercenary. Doeg was described as one who acted out of fear and desire for favor. This resulted in actions of violence and injustice. Doeg happened to be present when David, who was on the run from King Saul, was given help by Ahimelech the priest. And Doeg told King Saul of this, which caused King Saul to order the killing of Ahimelech and his priests. No one would lift their hand to kill the priests, but Doeg did. He killed 85 priests of the Lord for King Saul. Doeg curried favor with King Saul and no task was considered too evil for Doeg if it would give him the position and power he wanted. He also went to Nob, the city of these priests, and killed all the women and children and nursing infants and all their animals with the edge of the sword. No mercy.

Now allow me some latitude. I’ll take the name Doeg and rearrange the letters and come up with DOGE. And I’ll take a man that has his faculties driven by the same greed and malice as Doeg and further fueled by Ketamine, Ecstasy, Adderall, and psychedelic mushrooms in Elon Musk. A man with fascist roots who, with more money than anyone in the world, still needs validation. Still wants more power. Still looks to wreak havoc and hurt those who are innocent. And he aligns with one even more evil than King Saul in Donald Trump. One he helped become more powerful. Just as the cutting of a sword by Doeg, Musk has cut funds that will cause the death of innocents. Those in need of medicine or food will come away empty handed. Like a sword dispatching slaughter to the blameless by Doeg, we see a man brandishing a chain saw with maniacal glee to gut programs that speak life to many that have not. Gutting programs that bring help and safety. Without remorse. But just as Doeg gained no real favor with anyone, Musk is starting to see his popularity wane. Yet he won’t go away. And he has his hands in even more now with his access to so much personal information on citizens in the United States and government programs. Some thought this would be good, but they may rue the day they gave him access to so much information. And he still has billions in government contracts and the threat of spending money against all those who oppose him. Like all power-hungry psychopathic maniacs, he may not see a good end. Like all, he has to repent and submit to Christ and I hope he does.

According to some Jewish tradition and Mishnaic legends, it is said Doeg will go the way of Cain, Absalom, and Haman and have no share in the world to come. Some Jewish teaching said God sent three angels of destruction to Doeg. The first caused him to forget his learning. The second burned his soul. The third scattered his ashes. Just like the Edomites, cursed for his pride. Some say he was killed by the sword and some say he died a leper. Either way his end was not good. In Psalm 52, David says of Doeg, “Why do you boast in evil O mighty man?  You love evil more than good. Lying rather than speaking righteousness. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall say, Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.” We need to pay attention to David’s words in Psalm 37. He tells us evildoers will eventually be cut off. Though the wicked man plots, the Lord laughs at him. A little the righteous man has is so much better than the riches of the wicked. And what we see from people like Musk, or Trump or their blind acolytes, will one day be gone. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. We must stand in the midst of this ongoing and growing evil. Stand against that which is from the enemy and looks to rob, kill and destroy. And say as David did in Psalm 42: “Why are you cast down O my soul? Why so disquieted within me? Hope in God. For I shall yet praise Him.” Blessings.