Lost Crusader #125 Closing the Lid on the Ark

 “After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat…”

Hebrews 9

I said last week I would tell you why we should know about the contents of the Ark, and so I shall. First, let’s dispel the idea that the Ark is lost. No, I do not know where it is and have no desire to speculate. I know this, God knows where it is and its His so all is well. A second point is that the Ark is a type and shadow (a symbol) of something real. That is what the writer of Hebrews was trying to get across. Finally, there is a modern application.

You remember there are three things in the Ark. A pot of manna, Aaron’s rod, and the tablets of stone with the ten commandments written on them. These things are all symbols of man’s rejection of God presented in a downward spiral of depravity. Rejection of God’s supply, rejection of God’s leadership/sovereignty, and rejection of God’s law/design for humanity.

During the Exodus, Israel was guilty of all three. However, they too are but a symbol of typical humanity. God chose them as examples/teachers for the rest of us. What do the memorials of their rebellion stored in the Ark teach? God’s mercy for wayward people.

The Ark was essentially a wooden box covered with gold. The lid of the box was solid gold on which stood two angels. The Spirit of God was said to reside (as much as anywhere God could reside) in space between the angels. Thus God was continually looking down on the contents of the Ark—the sins and rebellions of humanity.

Once a year the High Priest entered the Holiest of Holies and sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice on the Mercy Seat between the cherubim, covering the sins of the people. Scarlet sins seen through the red blood looked white as snow. And so, that is how people appeared with the blood covering.

The writer of Hebrews explained what this means to us now.

“But Jesus Christ being come an high priest…by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us…”

The blood of Jesus offered once, now continually covers the true mercy seat in the tabernacle of heaven, “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” and purging our consciences from dead works.

The Ark was a symbol of God’s presence, our rebellion, and His mercy to the rebellious who, should they turn to Him, He will gladly receive as His own.

Maranatha

The Colonel #87 Hunting Monsters

 “America goes not abroad in search of foreign monsters to destroy.”

          Secretary of State John Q. Adams

 

You might remember that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different result. That statement leads me to believe Americans are insane. Will we ever learn that there are people in the world who do not share our concept of liberty? And that’s okay.

You cannot distill republican government to a piece of paper and hand it to people who have never known anything but tyranny. They just don’t get it, and again, that’s okay. Leave them be.

If America must support freedom fighters, I suggest going to the aid of Canadian truckers—instead of trying to seize millions of dollars in privately raised foreign aid meant for them.

Russia and the Ukraine have a long history. It’s not our fight. We have other more pressing priorities—like our self-inflicted wounds—massive debt, tyrannical regulatory agencies, a failing educational system, and medical despots mandating our behavior.

In a fight between liberty and tyranny, we should support liberty, but it’s a matter of priorities. We can strengthen our own institutions or go running around the world trying to transplant liberty upon infertile soil. If we choose the latter, we will find ourselves dragged into local wars and intervening in places like Vietnam, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. Oh, wait, we’ve done that already and look at the thriving democracies left in our wake.

We don’t need to sacrifice the blood of our youth and spend billions of dollars, that we don’t have, on fights we cannot win. It’s not a matter of military might. It’s a matter of the hearts and the resolve of those on whose behalf we are intervening.   

We should know by now that America can’t buy hearts with our money and blood—we seemed to be able to with welfare but that’s another story. If we want to deploy troops, our southern border is the place to do it. Although I hear Brandon is calling on the Guard to secure Washington DC from truckers. Seems a waste when he has Spartacus just across town in the Senate.

I enlisted during Vietnam. I didn’t agree with fighting a war we had no intention of winning, but I did it anyway. I came home, over 58,000 men and women did not. And for what? Honor? A sense of duty? There was that. But what if we had just been satisfied that the French couldn’t hold it and let the people there decide?

America didn’t stage a revolt until we tired of tyranny. Let others learn the same lessons we did, face the same perils we did, and overcome like we did. Then, they will be ready for liberty.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Know Jack #337 Field Research

 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us…”

St. John the Beloved

I know writers who say that they write every day. I think it’s great—I don’t do it. Writers who write each day probably spend a good deal of time writing about writing. Maybe that’s why I see so many people advertising books designed to tell all the secrets of successful writing. They must be writing what they know.

I’m all for writing what I know. I’m just never comfortable with what I know, and how much I know. (Contrary to what you may have heard, I do not know it all.) Some days are for getting out and living—or staying in. Today I worked a jigsaw puzzle with my sweetheart, which is a way of escaping into nothing but shapes and colors.

I’m currently editing four books for other authors, writing a novel of my own, and digging through receipts and forms to pay my taxes. I also have two books to go over with the proofreader before launching them. Oh, and an audiobook under review before it’s launch.

Write what I know? I know I need a mental health day!

Today it was a puzzle. Some days it’s just sitting by the river, a drive in the country, or a day trip someplace fun. For me, getting out and living a little free of the daily grind is field research. You get out in the field of life and search about for something to do—preferably something you haven’t done before.

I generally get my own reading in (every writer should be a reader), maybe watch an online lecture, or do what most people think of as research in the evening. Right now, that includes reading up on voodoo, hoodoo, Santeria, New Orleans landmarks, and Louisiana geography for the book I’m writing. In November it was Union Pacific routes, gubernatorial pardons, army posts in 1869 and the overland route from Wyoming to Nebraska.

There’s an awful lot of reading and study that goes into daydreaming and writing down what you’re fantasizing about. So, taking a much needed break to experience life is important. Some smart as—person will remind me that I’m writing now. So, I’m not really taking the day off, I’m still writing every day.

That’s true in a way. But blogging, for me, is more like talking to myself, I do that whether I’m writing or not. Sometimes I even listen to myself.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #124 Opening the Ark Part 3

 “After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant…”

Hebrews 9

The final object inside the Ark is Aaron’s rod. A quick rundown for those who may not be familiar with the story. The elements of the tale are a very common course whenever people try working together over time. The people decided that Moses and Aaron were taking too much authority upon themselves. They began to complain, and a showdown was staged in which the ground opened up and swallowed Moses’ detractors. People then complained that that was pretty harsh.

So, God told Moses to have the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel bring their rods and leave them in the church overnight. God said He would give them a sign about who He wanted to lead the service. In the morning, Aaron’s rod had budded, put on blossoms, and grew almonds.

Aaron’s rod was packed away in the Ark as a reminder of the people’s rejection of God’s leadership. This test is as old as mankind.

This was the lesson of the tree in the Garden. We will see it repeated in the days of Samuel. Daniel was likewise tested, albeit with a better result. In a spiritual sense rather than a political one, this was the case with Jesus and Israel’s leaders.

However, we should not think of this rejection of God’s leadership only in the context of groups. It is a very popular modern phenomenon. I hear it in the voice of everyone who says, “I’m spiritual, not religious.” Which by the way, was just what Israel said about the folks who the earth swallowed up.

Christians are called to be disciples of Jesus. That word “disciple” looks and sounds a lot like discipline. There’s a reason for that. Christianity is a discipline as much as any academic field of study. It even requires the same methods, extensive reading, experimentation, critical thinking, and evaluating outcomes.

Spirituality goes nowhere without discipline and focus. We are all spiritual, we are not all students of disciplined thought and action (which is the very root definition of religion). So yes, you maybe spiritual but not religious, there’s token to remind people of this in the Ark.

Why should we care what is in the “lost” Ark? You will have to read the next blog or do your own research to find out.

Maranatha

 

 

The Colonel #86 Big Brother Lives!

 National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin - February 07, 2022 | Homeland Security (dhs.gov)

Are you unmasked, unvaxed, and an unapologetic critic of the bumbler in the White House and his favorite doctor? The link above will take you to a Department of Homeland Security National Terrorism Advisory where you are being discussed. You should read it.

According to our budding Ministry of Truth,

 

“The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis-dis-and mal-information (MDM)…”

 

“The proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions: For example, there is widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding unsubstantiated widespread election fraud and COVID-19. Grievances associated with these themes inspired violent extremist attacks during 2021.”

 

Misinformation, the current administration’s favorite term for all criticism, may land you in more than Facebook jail. MDM is ranked as the number one threat to national security. Foreign terrorist attacks are down to number three.

The DHS has its own policy paper, Combatting Targeted Disinformation Campaigns: A Whole Society Issue., To help society determine right speech, DHS has its own classification system of dangerous speech it believes must be combatted.

The U.S. Attorney General has called for FBI action on the threat posed by irate parents at local school board meetings. Wrongthink that runs contrary to CRT, mask mandates, social (isolation)distancing, and public school standards on gender fluidity will not be tolerated much longer.

We are at the point where to simply voice a dissenting opinion is equated with a terrorist assault on Brandon, the government, and national security. Dissent always makes those in power uneasy. American administrations have jailed people for peacefully speaking their minds. It’s not a stretch to think this administration will do the same.

The real question is, will anyone dare oppose it this time? Or will Big Brother truly be loved by all?

Sic Semper Tyrannis    

 

 

 

Know Jack #336 Y in the Road

 Who is smarter a math teacher or an English teacher?

An English teacher. They know all the letters and the math teacher is still trying to find out what “x” is.

Meanwhile writers are dreaming up how to get “x” out of the jam he’s in and all the time wondering “y” they bother dallying with the alphabet in the first place. It probably wouldn’t make the top answers on the survey, but I think why a person writes is more important than who, what, when, where, or how.

That’s not only true of writing, it’s true about most things in life. As such, it would seem that somewhere along the way, a writer should take time to think about why they are doing it. If you have been writing a while, it has surely cost you something. It has me and the price has been steep.

I don’t regret the time I’ve spent writing or the price. In a sense, I am never more alive than when I’m fastened to a keyboard and dead to the world. Writing is as much a part of me as the sound of my voice, the gray in my thinning hair, or the conspiratorial look in my eye.

I write because I was made to do it—I don’t mean like being compelled to write “What I did on My Summer Vacation” essays. Although if my memory serves me well, I did get a bit creative on many of those. I’m talking about being born that way. It took a lot of wandering, and a lot of education that had absolutely nothing to do with a classroom, but I found a way to do what I love.

I still don’t know what I’m doing, but I fake it much better than I used to do. That’s the beauty of writing. You can blame everything on creative license or being experimental. Talent is great, but persistence, passion, and daring will do more for your stories. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Maranatha

 

 

 

Lost Crusader #123 Opening the Ark. Part 2

 “After the second veil, the tabernacle which is called Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna…

Hebrews 9

There were three things inside the Ark of the Covenant. We looked last time at the tables of stone containing the actual Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from Sinai. The second thing we find is a golden pot filled with something called manna.

A couple of months into the exodus from Egypt, Gods’ people began to complain that there was nothing to eat in the desert. God heard their complaints and gave them bread each morning. It was a little round thing that was white and like coriander seed that tasted like wafers made with honey. It covered the ground every morning. They could gather all they wanted, but they had to eat it that day—leftovers became worm-infested. This went on for forty years.

When the people first saw it, they asked, “What is this?” Which was translated as “manna”. Moses said it was the bread God gave them.

A pot of this ended up in the Ark as a reminder of their rejection of God’s supply. Gratefulness with contentment is a supreme act of worship and God’s desire for His people. It was so during the exodus and is still the truth today.

There are megachurches across America today that preach another gospel—the gospel of getting ahead in this world. I’ve heard sermons preached telling people that they are God’s special creation (they are) and therefore it is God’s plan that they are prosperous (not the whole truth). They are assured that God’s plan for them is that they get promoted at work, that money is supposed to gravitate to them, and that they may claim whatsoever their heart's desire and God will supply them with it (not true).

Material prosperity is not outside God’s will. That said, neither is it assuredly God’s will. Christianity is an exercise in individualism. God’s will, His timetable, and His plan for any person is a matter between them and God. Turn two chapters over from our text and you will find miraculous rewards given some for their faith and torture, death, and destitution the reward of others. The latter group are the only people in all of scripture to have earned the title “of whom the world was not worthy”.

Whether you are given much or little, God expects you to be content with what you have at every moment. That does not preclude working hard to win a promotion or praying to improve your lot in life. It does preclude complaining about your present state as though God has somehow shorted you of something you deserve.

Can a Christian constantly be reaching for more, and praying for more? Absolutely, with this in mind. When God’s people wanted meat, He gave them quail to eat until it came out their nostrils (the Biblical phrase). At the same time as they were stuffing themselves, God sent leanness into their souls. They got what they wanted immediately and lost something far more valuable for their efforts.

Jesus once taught that upon coming into an assembly, you should not seek out the best seat in the house as though deserving of it, but rather to choose a lesser place and let the host promote you to a seat of honor. It’s a matter of how you approach life.

Godliness with contentment is great gain. Contentment requires an inner humbleness that only comes about by practice. You get ushered into the presence of God in much the same manner you get to Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice. There are no shortcuts, no talismanic prayers turning God’s word back upon Him, no special status for your lineage or talents—if you cannot be content with God’s present supply, you are not likely to be content with more.

As it turned out, even bread from heaven couldn’t satisfy those with no faith in God. They all died in the wilderness leaving only a pot of manna as a testimony to their rejection of God’s provision.

Maranatha

The Colonel #85 States of the Union

 “Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest."

Calvin Coolidge

Our system of government in America draws its authority from the consent of the people. It was not handed down by a governing body and imposed upon the people. Now, some will say the Constitution was essentially written by a committee and presented as a fait accompli to the states, not directly to the people, and thus imposed from the top down.

That ratification voting was done by state legislatures does not take away the will of the people. State legislatures of the day, Virginia is a good example, saw themselves as a shield of the people against potential federal tyranny. When leading Virginians corresponded during the ratification convention, they referred to their homeland not as their state, but as their country—an entity distinct and separate from the federal government whose overreach they feared.

Men like Patrick Henry, George Mason. and Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee III adamantly opposed ratification until the Constitution was amended to provide protection to the people and the individual countries (states) joining the union. Thus, the present-day Tenth Amendment limits the federal government to the delegated powers outlined in the Constitution and reserves all other powers to the states and people.

The state representatives in the legislatures were as close to the people as representatives could get and as such as responsive to their constituents as elected men might be. As recent subjects of a king, these representatives were zealous in the preservation of personal liberty.

American colonists were unhappy that they had no representation in Parliament. The reason given for denying representation was that the members of Parliament represented all British subjects. That sounds very much like the present members of Congress who turn a deaf ear to their district “for the good of all”.

Your representatives in Congress are to be the voice of the people of your district, not the entire country. Your Senator is the voice of your state, not the fifty states. Neither is meant to be the voice of a political party. If they are not faithfully representing the people who sent them to Washington, they need to go and go quickly.

The abysmal failure of modern red state governments in mounting a defense of personal liberty is appalling. Democrat-led blue states have successfully engineered nullification of federal law in agreement with their liberal constituents. Republicans and Independents need to be asking where their representatives are.

For good or ill, local and state governments are our best means of united action and the place for the people to take charge in order to effect change. We the People must come together once more in the face of tyranny and take the actions necessary to take charge of the government—up to and including revolution.

It starts at home. Federal lackeys in governor’s mansions must go. The good ole boys and girls making a living in statehouses and Congress must be held accountable for every vote and questioned constantly.

Public outcries can be ignored for a season, but new elections are always just around the corner. This has failed on a national scale but is still possible on state and local levels. Certainly, the decision to take charge or bow down takes place at the source of government—the spirit of the people.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Know Jack #335 The Strange Truth About Writers

 “Writers aren’t people exactly. Or, if they’re any good, they’re a whole lot of people trying so hard to be one person.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Like the Facebook meme, writers really do have voices in their head that have good ideas. Some of the voices sound very familiar—almost just like the writer’s own voice—but new ones crop up all the time. Hearing one of those voices inviting you to step through a secret portal into The Zone where writing flows on a current so swift it carries you away, is a kind of writer’s Nirvana.

Unlike most real people living outside of locked facilities, writers live in multiple worlds as multiple people. And, they keep coming up with new worlds and new people all the time as comfortable identities grow stale.

This fractured personality can frustrate others. They may be trying to make dinner plans while their writer is thinking about (or has just gone off to) a café where the food transforms the diners into chimera-like beings.

Writers while not writing are usually listening to one of their other parts whispering a great storyline, or a new scene idea.

Many professionals describe what they do as their practice. I used to practice nursing. There was always something new to bushwhack you if you got complacent or were silly enough to boast aloud that you had seen it all.

Writing is like that. You practice and practice grammar, spelling and punctuation skills but the real test is entering into an alternate time and space, donning a new persona, and convincing others it was real.

Jumping back to the present world again when dinner’s ready takes practice too. A writer learns to manage a somewhat stable consensus of everyone in his head. Convincing antagonists is the worst. They’re rebellious on their best days.

I’d like to say more, but I’m off to Louisiana. Okay, Landry. I’m on my way just chill.

Maranatha

Lost Crusader #122 Opening the Ark. Part 1

 “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called Holiest if all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid with gold round about with gold, wherein was…the tables of the covenant…”

Hebrews 9

In the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, there is a rather dramatic scene in which the Ark is opened and everybody who looks into it dies a horrible death. Leading up to the scene the viewer is led to believe there is a secret weapon or some powerful talisman.

Students of the Ark know better. There was something of significance in the Ark, in fact, there were three things in the Ark that all served a single purpose. We will look at the other contents in upcoming blogs, today we look at the tables of the covenant.

The movie did get one thing right, when Jones was asked if he meant the Ark held the stone tablets containing the actual ten commandments, he said yes. The real. original, second edition, ten commandments were inside the Ark.

However, they held no magical power, they were nothing but carved stone. Their power lay, as with all the contents of the Ark, in what they represented rather than the things themselves.

The stone tablets of the covenant held within the Ark were there to serve as a continual reminder of man’s rejection of God’s law. The first time around Moses hadn’t descended from the mount before the people were having a high time breaking the first commandment.

Those on those tablets are the broad principles for living a life pleasing to God. Jesus summed them up in two categories, love God, and treat your neighbor as you wish to be treated. The Ark may have disappeared taking the tables of the law with it, but the need for people to live by the principles outlined on them has not diminished a bit.

The great difficulty created by the stone tablets of the law was that the words were carved in stone. “That’s just your opinion,” was immediately obvious as nonsense. When somebody said, “nobody’s perfect” all you had to do was glance at the tablets and that was clear.

Men had the law of God, they rejected the law of God, choosing in its stead to live by human opinion and flawed human example. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” So, it has been since the Garden and continues to be today.

There’s nothing strange or hard to understand about why people reject the commandments as guidelines for living. The commandments illuminate our failures to live as we were created to live. That’s pretty hard to take, especially when the remedy is to own our failures and ask forgiveness for them.

Perhaps the greatest modern affirmation of human rejection of God’s law is the ever-popular—“I’m spiritual, not religious”. Which is tantamount to declaring we are a law unto ourselves, prescribed by us, responsible to none other, and subject only to our own whims, fully rejecting the law and authority of God.

The Ark of the Covenant holds the evidence written against on tablets of stone reserved for Judgment Day.

Maranatha

The Colonel #84 Equality vs Equity

 “Nature untrammelled by values, rules the Conditioners and, through them, all humanity.”

C.S. Lewis – The Abolition of Man

Equality is a value many Americans of every color, race, religion sex, and lifestyle share. It is valued and sought after by those people because they believe that we are all created equal. Every life is of equal value, every life is worth saving, every life is due an equal degree of dignity and respect.

Equality in regard to our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means an equal opportunity to pursue those goals.

However, those who seek to alter the nature of America have seized the language of the day to replace equality with equity. They sound so much alike most people think they are the same thing. They are not.

Equality, as stated, provides the same opportunity for every person to pursue their goals—to work hard at a job, to start their own business, to spend their own earnings, and buy/make the things that make them happy. They are also given the same opportunity to fail, and to make mistakes.

The opportunity is given to all, but there is no guaranteed outcome. Your life is what you make it. Most sane people of moderate intelligence know life offers no guarantees. Which is a sad commentary on the American government and our neighbors who demand not equality, but equity.

Equity has nothing to do with equal opportunity, equal effort, equal education, or equal personal worth. It is the adult equivalent of a participation trophy. Equity means there must be equal outcomes.

Let’s say my neighbor, we’ll call him Fred, and I both go into the book-selling business. We both open nice looking shops in equally good locations. Fred stocks all the bestsellers and books students in the area are assigned to read. He’s open from 8am to 8pm six days a week and greets every customer with a smile and personal service. If Fred doesn’t stock the book you want, he will order it for you, no extra charge.

I open my bookstore on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 2pm, there’s nothing on my shelves published in the last two years. I will peek out of my office if you come in to browse and if I don’t stock it, you don’t need it.

Equity demands Fred and I make the same amount of money from our bookstores. Personal effort, learning best practices for the business, investment in time, stock, and service mean nothing—the outcome must be equal or Fred is cheating, receiving undue privileges, or the system is slanted to give Fred an unfair advantage.

Equity demands that the government step in, write new rules, build me a bigger building, hire me extra help, and requires that Fred share his earnings with me so that we receive the same outcome.

The reason Fred must do this is because I am the victim of oppression or prejudice and so cannot truly have had an equal chance to succeed. To help everyone understand this concept the government will institute an educational system that no only teaches equity, but implements it in grades, test scores, and school activities. It’s called Critical Race Theory and it's either here or coming to schools in your neighborhood soon.

Sic Semper Tyrannis