Empty Hearts; Loaded Guns      
    
   You probably heard the good news on national TV yesterday. After 51 days of furious searching, a 24-year-old man was arrested in the senseless killing of four, random people in a Tampa neighborhood. Four different nights; four victims.

   Police say they have "extremely strong circumstantial evidence." 

   His motivation wasn't terrorism, racism, jealousy, family problems or gang violence. How to explain this? He is a local man with a good reputation from school days. 

   We sometimes blame evil. One might justify that - true or not - when people of God are slaughtered. 

   But when someone without faith murders strangers - some of whom also are without religious connections - maybe Satan gets too much credit. Maybe the answer sometimes is - nothing. 

   We have a book, The Fear of the Lord, in which John Bevere describes great revivals and even miracles where people displayed a healthy fear of God. In my formative years, it was normal to attend church, even if we weren't all that saintly during the week.

   Who hadn't read or heard of "God fearing people?" Even a nonbeliever might be inclined to obey civil norms in a culture that acknowledged God, and when presidents frequently referred to God, and secular movies and music didn't strive to offend God.  

Tomorrow: Is it evil, or nothing?                

       Jimmy  

   

Pitting One Tyrant Against Another     
    Suddenly, a great number of angels appeared and promised peace on earth.
But they didn't say when.

   The "little rocket man" just launched another ICBM, splashing it into Japanese waters. If this had been a horizontal trajectory, they say it could have reached anywhere in the U.S

   Chinese President Xi Jinping recently visited his North Korean neighbor, presumably at President Trump's request. Either Xi doesn't want to help, or he just needs to read "The Art of the Deal." 

   His China has underway the worst crackdown on human rights in two decades, says WORLD magazine. More than 1,400 political prisoners sit in Chinese prisons, including an American business woman being treated like an enemy of the state. 

   She is ethnically Chinese, so she is considered one of theirs, more than an American citizen. Good thing our three, shop-lifting basketball players aren't of Chinese origin.  

   Why the low-key international response to Chinese abuses? Oh, yeh ... their trade relationship with China.

   Bob Fu, of Texas-based China Aid, says the U.S. lost much of its leverage since giving China Permanent Normal Trade Status and allowing it to join the World Trade Organization. He calls China an "uncontrollable dragon...a country more and more resembling the police state in North Korea." 

   Sen. Marco Rubio: "We have learned that what (has been done) is to turn a poor totalitarian state into a rich totalitarian state. This is why it is so important that America remains engaged in the world and that human rights remain a critical component of our foreign policy."

~ ~ ~

   So, good luck Mr. President, being chummy with Xi and all. Now we know why the last three presidents handed you the ... "football." 

     Jimmy

 

Realities of Wind and Solar    

    Despite huge investments in wind and solar infrastructure, a measure of carbon dioxide put into the air - for each unit of energy consumed - has not changed in a generation.

    Governments and investors have spent an estimated 
$2 trillion over 10 years to draw electricity from the wind and the sun. In fact, such capacity in 2015 was more than 10 times what the International Energy Agency had forecast years earlier. 

   While the price of wind turbines and solar panels is falling, the cost of connecting these sources with users is not. Big investments are required to transmit electricity from source to consumer. 

   Generating plants must be built - burning fossil fuels - to maintain power when wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine. And when renewables are engaged as intended, these backup investments stand idle. 

   Another Catch 22: Power prices will continue to rise, possibly discouraging electrification in some places. Customers might then prefer alternatives like gas, adding more carbon dioxide emissions.

~ ~ ~

   What this tells me: If, if global warming is going to flood coastal areas, it will, regardless of our energy options. All the political yak-yak and Paris Accords will not prevail over nature. In our opinion.  

   We agree, take advantage of hydro, wind and sun, but even the liberal New York Times says, "Perhaps renewables are not the answer." 

~ ~ ~

Whose Power Is Cleanest? 

   Norway wins the prize, with 97% of its electric power generated by hydro, nuclear, wind or solar. Next come Sweden, 91%; France, 89%; and Switzerland, 86%. The U.S. gets 32% from clean sources.

   In actual carbon emissions, not percentages, the biggest emitters are the U.S., Canada, Russia, Germany, South Korea, China, India, Japan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, not necessarily in that order.

   New York Times               

         Jimmy 




                                           

Should Canada Annex the U.S.?     

                                                                             
    
  Canadians 
  have 
  universal 
  healthcare.  

   
  
   They have a better record on native relations, 
and no legacy of slavery. They became free, with 
less stress, and they gained sovereignty without bloodshed. 

   Before our Declaration of Independence, in 1775 a force led by Benedict Arnold attempted to capture Montreal and Quebec. Victory and friendly persuasion (French settlers resented the British), might win over the sparsely populated territory. 

   Montreal fell, but Quebec held on December 31. Certain Americans didn't give up on annexing Canada until after the War of 1812. Wasn't that when Francis Scott Key wrote ... something ... ? 

   Why did we revolt in the 1770s when we could have won independence peacefully 90 years later? Janie Cheaney lists reasons in WORLD magazine that include geography, culture, politics and practical considerations. 

   But mostly, "providential." 

   "Even America's detractors acknowledge," she says, that 1776 marked a break in human history, away from inherited power and toward self-rule. "The trailblazer takes the risks, the knocks, and afterward history flows in ways it wouldn't have otherwise (mostly for the better)." 

   "Our nation remains experimental, testing whether government of, for, and by the people can long endure (Lincoln)." 

   We still debate state vs. individual, she says, and the limits of free speech, religious liberty, free enterprise and moral debauchery. We still threaten to fly apart and we're "still here by the grace of God."
   
   God made every nation from one man (Acts 17:26) and has his purpose for each one. Let Canada be Canada. We were born to struggle, Cheaney concludes. 

      Jimmy  

The Good Shepherd     

Conclusion             

   Explaining God to his earth-bound disciples, Jesus said, "The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep ... the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."   

   "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."  

   Then Jesus made his point:

"I am the gate for the sheep;

whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. I have come that they may have life..." 

"I am the good shepherd,"

he continued. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father." 

   "I have other sheep (Gentiles) that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." 

   Do you belong to his flock? Faith leads to repentance, moral change, receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then comes ongoing belief, love, devotion and loyalty. We begin growing in his resurrection Life, already citizens of heaven.   

   When your time comes, he in turn will receive you into his eternal dwelling. 

~   John chapter 10  ~

   

   

Laying by the Door         

   Without external cause, something happens in the mysterious human brain that steals a person from his or herself. A life becomes a never-never land in which the person doesn't even recognize friends or relatives.

   This isn't dementia. It can happen relatively quick, and it can be reversed ... sometimes ... with medicine, or prayer. We know of a case.  

   One night about bedtime, he vigorously fought attempts to give him a sleeping pill, probably assuming it was harmful. He put on his jacket, picked up his bag and meant to walk into the chilly night.

    A friend laid across the door threshold and tried to sleep. That kept the man safe, until a professional could evaluate.  

    After several days of treatment, the psychiatrist could not make him well. But, glory to God, the doctor could say only that he believed in prayer. The man went home his old self, recuperated and lived many years. 

    Which brings us to Jesus. He taught in John chapter 10 that a good shepherd sleeps by the gate at night, protecting the flock and preventing wanderers from escaping into the chilly night. 

   His disciples were not shepherds, and perhaps didn't think much about sheep pens, openings, or gates, through which a shepherd led his flock out to pasture and returned them at night. 

   Herders named their sheep. The sheep knew their names and knew the voice of the shepherd. Jesus also explained that a good shepherd, as opposed to a hired hand, would lay down his life for his sheep. 

   Tomorrow: The shepherd revealed   

On Fixed Income               
     As of 2014, the latest update, the richest 1 percent of American taxpayers receive 20 percent of national income. Next are Britain and Canada - 14 percent each, then Denmark and the Netherlands - 6 percent.
 

Both political parties ruled at various times over the 34 years 

      since the share doubled from 10 to 20 percent. Most of that time, 

   the party that claims to represent average folks held Congress. 

   Reasons for disparity are not trade, information technology, unions or immigration. There is no correlation between changes occurring in these areas and the income gap.   

   Studies analyzed by the New York Times reveal that most growth for top earners happens in just three economic sectors: professional services, finance and insurance, and health care. These groups benefit from regulatory barriers that protect them from competition. 

   They include physicians, executives, managers, sales supervisors, analysts in finance, professional and legal-service industry executives, lawyers, consultants and sales reps. 

We add, since an annual income of $390,000 qualifies,     

  every major league baseball player - not minor leaguers    

          brought up for short stints - is well into the 1 percent bracket.   
Of course, their careers on the field are limited.              

   Elite professionals in the 90th percentile make 3.5 times what the median worker earns in all occupations. This ratio is common in all countries with similar economies.

   Some claim that laws benefiting the rich are a primary cause of income disparity. Also, people in the upper middle class can shape both legal and cultural norms to their advantage. They have political power, regardless of party. 

   Methods include subsidies for financial risk-taking, over protection of patents, and favoritism (state licensing regulations) for market incumbents, such as blocking para-professionals from providing routine services. 

         Jimmy 

     

 A Happy
      Thanksgiving   

Break Them Up?    

   A public generally cynical about corporations is chummy with Silicon Valley - which is defined as progress. But this progress means online monopolies, propaganda from unfriendlies, and technology that may erase millions of jobs.

   The New York Times, right or not, calls for greater regulation and breaking up those who control so much. A few people make decisions about how we communicate, shop, learn the news, and they threaten to control society. 
 

Norm Cohen, NY Times 

   Maybe our little humor (see Tuesday's Views) wasn't so off the wall. Presidents won't report to Silicon Valley. But in peacetime, and with checks and balances, they don't have near the power to manipulate our way of life that certain computer programmers have. If we let them. 

Thursday's Quote

The destiny of man is not measured by material computations. 

When great forces are on the move in the world, 

we learn we are spirits, not animals.

- Winston Churchill

Friday's Quote

Whoever loves money never has money enough; 

whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. 

Man knows not his time.

- Solomon

 Saturday's Quote 

Lord...may I learn from thee the nothingness of this world,

the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time,

 and the length of eternity. 

- Rick Santorum

Silicon Valley   
Searching for...ads?   

   Advertising began to appear along with search results and the news feed. There were $ billions to be made. The public hardly noticed, or didn't care, as the transformation happened quietly. 

   Computer use was always going to be confusing, the NY Times wrote, making it easy to exploit users. A computer-science pioneer says, "Program designers have a tendency to think of users as idiots who need to be controlled." 

   A professor at MIT years ago wrote about "bright young men of disheveled appearance, sitting at computer consoles ... as riveted as a gambler on the rolling dice. They exist ... only through and for the computers. These are compulsive programmers." 

   He was concerned that they lacked perspective about life. They were accustomed to total control of what appeared on their screens. "No emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage or field of battle and to command such dutiful actors or troops," he wrote. 

   Welcome to Silicon Valley, 2017, says the Times. And... 

   Current tech leaders have discovered that people trust computers and the possibilities. Examples of manipulations: push notifications, surge pricing, recommended friends, suggested films, and people who bought this or that.

   Facebook realized the need to get people to stay logged on. Growth becomes the overriding motivation - something treasured for its own sake, not for anything it brings to the world. 

   Market domination (lack of competition) produces extreme concentration of wealth and power, the article says, with unaccountable companies and people becoming a threat to our democracy. 

Tomorrow: Greater regulation?

Quote of the Day 

Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.

- NY Times reporter Maggie Haberman, on reports in court that the

Clinton campaign and the DNC paid for "research" by Fusion GPS.

   

All Hail Silicon Valley...or else     

   Comically, we've been thinking that future U.S. presidents will answer to the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook and Google. Out of the blue comes a feature in the New York Times. 
  
   It begins with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and others making cool sites that connect billions of people to friends and endless global information. It ends with Silicon Valley disrupting our democracy. Really? 

   Facebook allowed Russians to mess with our 2016 election disinformation. Google played a similar role. Don't they know, we don't need anyone to help us smear each other?  

   Amazon, with online monopoly, now invades offline commerce - Whole Foods. We users, with the world at our finger tips, joyfully follow along. 

   Google was born to "organize the world's information, making it accessible and useful." Facebook promised to "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." Mark, maybe first we should learn to get "closer together" with our neighbors. Smirk! By the way, thanks for letting us post our blog on Facebook.   

   Amazon's Jeff Bezos, now the world's wealthiest man, introduced "the most customer-obsessed company to ever occupy planet Earth." Who in all history even dreamed of such power? 

   So, we just deal with inconvenient worms, viruses and trackers. 

   The Times asks, "...do we have regulatory tools and social cohesion to restrain the monopolists?" 

   At first, these programmer/entrepreneurs were indifferent to getting rich on their ideas. Eventually, Zuckerberg gave in to Silicon Valley venture capital. He and other founders understood that investors hadn't signed on for charity.

Tomorrow: Advertisers take charge

 Quote of the Day 

Oppression doesn't come from a conspiracy of whiteness.

It is the default mode of anyone in power.   - unknown

     Jimmy   

   Our Future Foretold   

Last Sunday, we wrote of the Lord's future reign on Earth, followed by disappearing Earth and sky (the heavens), judgment, and a new heaven and Earth. All this from the New Testament.

Today, we see God foretelling these events, about 700 B.C., through the prophet Isaiah, chapter 51. 

We include two of some 400 verses in the Bible that are closely related to the book of Revelation. Our Jewish friends should enjoy these promises. Israel may resemble the Garden of Eden during the Millennium. Wow! 

The Lord will surely comfort Zion (Israel) and will look with compassion 

on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wasteland like 

the garden of the Lord.  - Isaiah 51:3

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath;

the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out

like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies.

But my salvation will last forever; my righteousness will never fail.

- verse 6

The ransomed of the Lord ... will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

- verse 11

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;

he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

- Revelation 7:17

Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk 

from the hand of the Lord and the cup of his wrath...

- verse 17

If anyone worships the beast ... he too will drink of the wine

of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of wrath.

- Revelation 14:9-10

This is what the Sovereign Lord says, your God who defends his people.

See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger;

from the cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. 

- verse 22

Good Grief, Charlie Brown    

   Remember our blog about sorting out fact from fiction? How easy it is to be fooled.

   Someone wrote "Go home," followed by a racial slur, on message boards outside the dorm rooms of five black candidates for the Air Force Academy. The campus was distressed, supposedly.

   Their outraged superintendent made a speech about diversity and tolerance that more than a million people saw on the Internet. We believed a white, racist cadet did this.

   It occurred at a prep school for the AFA, not the real deal. After an investigation, we learn that one of the black candidates wrote this, even on his own message board - as a hoax. He is no longer enrolled. Or, was it a she? 

All About Streaks 
   We see how many months a singer has topped the charts, how many years a state has gone without a hurricane, and how many weeks a book has been a best-seller.

   Or, how many games in a row an athlete has scored, or played without error, or struck out 12 left-handed batters in August, during Tuesday away games, in stadiums with artificial turf, east of the Allegheny River...before 9 pm. After age 28. Married with children. And......runaway statistics! Boo!  

   Well, Jimmy Donut has some streaks of his own. It's been:
* two months since he left the stove burner on
* 10 weeks and three days since spilling coffee on the counter 
* 23 days since he tried using the TV remote to change a clock
* 12 days since he forgot to publish Views 

   You're laughing? Let him who never poured his cereal into a juice glass cast the first stone. 

      Jimmy




   

                       

                             Little Cottage by the Sea    

   Come with us and visit the place where Donald Trump wrote his inaugural speech. 
              
   Mar-a-Lago ("Sea to Lake" in Spanish) was built in the 1920s by Marjorie Merriweather Post. Her family's fortune was built on Postum, a coffee substitute. She envisioned a wintertime presidential retreat ... "a little cottage by the sea" she told her second husband. 

   Wealthy people were building their own getaways on Palm Beach. Post scouted out 17 acres of scrub between Lake Worth and the Atlantic. She was known for philanthropy, her mega-yacht, her grand balls and her jewels. 

   Mar-a-Lago - 110,000 square feet - had 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms with gold-plated fixtures, and an 1,800-square-foot living room with 42-foot ceilings. 
There was gold leaf, Spanish tiles, Italian marble and Venetian silks. 

   Post spent $7 million - at least $90 million today.   

   In 1929, she hired the circus to perform there for a charity fund-raiser, inviting underprivileged children to attend. In 1944, she offered the grounds to WWII vets who needed occupational therapy. 

   By the 1950s, most of the grand houses were considered "white elephants" and were razed. Not Mar-a-Lago. 

   Post tried to donate the mansion in the 1960s, but all prospects, including the Federal Government, declined due to maintenance costs. She died in 1973, with the property still in limbo.

   It went on the market in the 1980s. Three potential sales fell through before Trump bought it in 1985 for a reported $8 million. That was a deal! 

   Mrs. Post's original wish for her "little cottage" came true this year. 

Smithsonian 

         Jimmy

    

The Whole Facts and
Nothing But the Facts    

   Here at Views, we don't want your vote, and we don't charge you a penny for our thoughts. So, is our publication unbiased and totally reliable?  

   With misinformation littering the world, it's hard to trust our sources, whether we want to engage city hall, or just know the truth for truth's sake.

   Former U.S. senator and Florida governor Bob Graham offers help in his book, America, the Owner's Manual: You Can Fight City Hall - and Win.

   "Above all, be credible," Graham writes. "The biggest danger of the Information Age is the proliferation of unreliable or biased data, particularly data on the Internet." 

   "First, don't rely on outdated information. Work with the most recent data possible."

   "Second, don't confine your research to your local community. The world of ideas does not reside in your zip code."

   "Third, take care in your use of biased sources. Although many ... organizations ... attempt to be balanced and unbiased, some groups and think tanks produce information that reflects a particular political agenda or ideological viewpoint. Reinforce data with research from unimpeachable sources."  

   "Fourth, investigate the credentials of your data source." Graham says a state official or a professor with multiple degrees and years of experience may be far more reliable than a lay person. 

   "Fifth, don't limit your research to traditional, usually secondary, source information."

   "Sixth, don't try to bury information that is unfavorable to your cause. Since you have found it, (others) have done so as well. Proactively present the 'bad facts' and show how other information undermines their significance."

   "Seventh, keep up to date. In this era of rapid change, even the best-researched facts must be monitored to ensure they ... haven't been overtaken by events." 

Tampa Bay Times

   It is challenging to find good information, and to know it when we see it. In any case, the founders expected us to be informed if the government - at any level - is really by, for and of the people.

      Jimmy 

Wanted: Hoover Sweeper for Space    
                                                             
    We value satellite phone calls, Internet, Skype and the benefit of GPS satellites, while we litter space with junk that could end the fun.

    Even if we stopped launching satellites now, litter would increase. The 29,000 large bits of junk would become more than 200,000 in two centuries. Of 75,000 tons, only seven percent is operational. 

   The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates there are 166 million items, baseball-size and smaller - all moving at five miles per second. Collisions create more pieces. 

   GPS satellites at 22,000 miles are above most debris fields, but not totally out of harm's way. 

   ESA hopes to launch a robot in 2024, for $400 million, to deal with an eight-ton satellite now tumbling in orbit 480 miles above Earth. It will be extremely challenging.

   There are some 500 similar "dead" objects in orbit. (500 X $400 million?)
Something built to remove junk could also destroy enemy spy satellites, so diplomatic and legal issues arise.

   Leftover fuel and overcharged batteries can make third-stage rockets explode, creating clouds of shrapnel. Of 240 events over the years, 236 were explosions. The other four were collisions.

   In 1986, a European rocket exploded into 498 softball-sized pieces and smaller bits. Ten years later, a fragment of that wreckage damaged a French military satellite.

   In 2007, China's anti-satellite missile test blasted a 1,650-pound weather satellite, creating more than 3,000 trackable pieces of junk. In 2009, a private U.S. satellite collided with an inactive Russian military satellite at a relative speed of 26,000 mph. 

   Can't call 911. Can't call AAA. Can't call Mr. Clean.   

                                            AIR&SPACE, Smithsonian  

      Jimmy

   

                                                  

Meanwhile, As the World Turns   

   Diplomacy had failed, and a surprise attack from the Western Pacific in 1941 drew America into wars on two continents. 

   Victory in 1945 was exhilarating, but evil was already planning its next move. Allies divided Korea in two - communist and free. In 1950, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, then age 34, persecuted Christians and invaded the free South, aided by two of our WWII "friends." 

   President Trump is on a diplomatic visit to that troubled area. He seeks fair trade agreements everywhere, and wants more pressure on annoying North Korea by his counterparts - not friends - in South Korea and China. 

   This may be our generation's 1941, a moment of truth. The atheistic hermit kingdom must not be allowed to threaten us with nukes, or (irony) share that technology with their religious friends in Iran. Leading from behind, strategic patience and kicking the can were all failing policies. Like him or not, we have a president who works for us in more ways than one.

One Wealthy Swamp
   In Washington, DC, 35 percent of all new mortgages and refinancing so far this year are for more than $500,000. We assume 100 percent of those homes are in the government/lobbyist/lawyer side of town ... the swamp.

   If the swamp is drained, where will those unfortunate residents live?  

😏

Doggone Drug Bust   
   Iditarod - the world famous dog-sled race - has a doping scandal. Four dogs in a team of huskies tested positive for an opioid painkiller after the 1,000-mile race last March. 

   The suspects are impounded. They were unable to post bail, and would not speak with investigators. No other dogs have come forward as witnesses. 

   These huskies did not bite on offers of cat meat in return for confessions and reduced sentences. If they continue their silence, PETA threatens to scuttle future races altogether on the pretense of preventing cruelty to animals. 

      Jimmy 

From Creation to Apocalypse    
All things come to an end, except eternity.    
   
     We hope you found our recent series interesting. If you missed anything, our blogs remain available on this site for many months.   jxdonut.blogspot.com

   What begins also ends. When we accept God's grace, his offer of adoption and sonship, that's a beginning. Next comes spiritual growth. Human death is one ending.

   There is the end of the church on earth, followed by seven years of tribulation, followed by the Second Coming. We believe the "sharp sword" John saw in the vision represents the Lord's voice.

   He spoke the universe into existence, and he will destroy unrepentant people and nations with his voice. He is supernatural, inexplainable, existing in another dimension.

   The Millennium. When we pray, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," this is the fulfillment. 

   John, the last living disciple, received the "apocalypse," English for the Greek word meaning revelation. This conclusion to the New Testament shows God prevailing, saints vindicated, and finally the end of our universe. 

   For those who think Revelation is too difficult to understand, look at this: There are more than 400 verses in Revelation - we counted them - related to much older books in the Bible, either by quotes or agreement in meaning. 

   In his Revelation, God draws from 31 of 39 books in the Old Testament, and 21 of 26 other New Testament books. There is validation on top of validation. It's pretty obvious John couldn't have known all this himself.   

   Yes, a scholar's commentary helps greatly. Reading our Heavenly Father's story from before creation to the new heaven and earth deepens our faith, and puts our lives in better perspective.

   The Bible exists by the Spirit of God, inspiring some 40 authors over 1500 years. The last book agrees with the first. It's not man's wisdom.

      Jimmy

   Beyond the Stars   

 Part 5 

Conclusion

   Revelation 20, speaks of the Millennium, the thousand years in which saints, called ... priests of God ... reign with Christ. 

   It will be an age of peace, safety, prosperity and righteousness. Nature will be restored. There will be order, perfection and beauty, says our commentary. People still will be free to rebel, but there will be consequences!!! 

   Then John sees - Earth and sky fled from his (God's) presence. On a great white throne, God judges the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

   Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

   Chapter 21: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...

   Now the dwelling of God is with men and he will live with them. The old order of things is passed away. 

   He who overcomes will inherit all this and I will be his God and he will be my son.

   John doesn't mention a back row, nor does he describe anyone as bored.

Chapter 22:

The invitation is open

    The Spirit and the bride say "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 

Are we thirsty? 

Dr. Leutzer

                                          We wrote this series after hearing a sermon 
                                           by Dr. Erwin Leutzer, Moody Church, Chicago. 

   Beyond the Stars   

 Part 4 

   We are there! In the Kingdom! Freely given love and knowledge like we can't here imagine. But, the new heaven and earth is still 1,000 years off. 

   First, the wrath of God must be satisfied. The Lord returns to earth to throw the beast and the false prophet into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. An angel imprisons Satan in the Abyss while the Lord rules earth over a Millennium. We will witness all this, and help rule those still on earth. Can you believe it?  

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   Revelation 19. John heard - the roar of a great multitude (you and me in the crowd?) in heaven, shouting: Hallelujah!     < louder than a stadium crowd? > 

   Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters 
< louder than Niagara Falls? >   and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 

Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 

   Then John saw heaven open, and - a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. (In Rev. 3, Jesus refers to himself as the faithful and true witness.)

   The armies of heaven (the Father's children, the Son's co-heirs) were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen... 

   The rider has - a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 

   Woe to - kings, generals and mighty men, horses and riders, small and great. An angel seizes the dragon, the ancient serpent (Genesis chapter 3), binding Satan for a thousand years.      Saints - spectators - in the front row? 

Tomorrow:  Conclusion, what comes next?