Sometimes The Best Thing To Do Is Absolutely Nothing

2nd Samuel 1:10-14, “So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword. And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou?  And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?”

I could show you umpteen examples from the inspired Holy Bible where people would have been MUCH better off had they simply done nothing. In our text Scripture passage from 2nd Samuel, an Amalekite confesses to King David that he has killed King Saul. He was lying of course, Saul commit suicide, but the Amalekite did attempt to kill Saul. He sincerely thought by slaying David's enemy that the king would be pleased and reward him handsomely, but to his horror David was enraged and instead ordered him to be executed for treason. Had the Amalekite done absolutely nothing when Saul begged for him to kill him, the Amalekite would have been just fine. The lesson here is clear: Be careful about doing what people ask you to do.

I cannot think of a better example of what not to do then the way the south handled the issue of slavery. For decades there had been protests and talk up north from activists and preachers about freeing the slaves down south. This constant antislavery rhetoric from the Union made southern Confederate slave owners paranoid, big time! I mean, the slaves were their cash cow, their life's blood. Without the slaves who would work the cotton and tobacco fields?

So, when Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was elected as U.S. President on November 6, 1860, the south panicked. The best thing that they could have done was absolutely NOTHING! But under the misguided leadership of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), the south decided to secede from the northern Union, and that is what compelled President Lincoln to start the Civil War.

Several hundred thousand men and teenage boys were killed by each other. Approximately 250,000 to 420,000 boys under the age of 18 were involved in the American Civil War, with estimates suggesting that around 100,000 Union soldiers were 15 years of age or younger. That is a shocking statistic! Sadly, many of them were killed in a needless battle over slavery that didn't even need to be fought!

In a shocking letter written by President Lincoln to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, Lincoln states:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.

Hon. Horace Greeley:
Dear Sir.

I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.

Yours,
A. Lincoln.

Wow! All that President Lincoln cared about was saving the northern Union. The Confederacy fought a costly and egregious war that never even needed to be fought in the first place, all because they were enamored with unwarranted paranoia and fear over nothing. If the south had just done NOTHING, no slaves would have been freed. The south created their own dilemma by wrongly reacting due to their fear (False Evidence Appearing Real). Pastor Jack Hyles was absolutely right, who said: “It's not our actions that destroy us; it's our reactions.”

I admit that I am guilty of having often done this very same thing throughout my life, allowing my stupid fears to cause me to make bad decisions that caused even more pain, loss, suffering and grief. I am a worrier by nature, which makes it all ten times worse! So, knowing this about myself, I have to be careful not to make hasty decisions. I have painfully learned that oftentimes the best thing to do is absolutely NOTHING. Or as Dr. Jack Hyles used to wisely say, “Don't make decisions when your decision maker is broken.”

For every time in my past that I regret having not taken action when I should have, there are far more times that I regret having taken action instead of just doing nothing. This is why we all desperately need God's wisdom, to know how to respond in different given situations.

When the Apostle Peter drew His sword and cut off the servant's ear in defense of Jesus, Peter would have been better if he had done nothing. Peter had previously told Jesus that he would prevent Him from being crucified, for which Jesus called the apostle, “Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Peter had good intentions, but he was very wrong (Proverbs 14:12). It was absolutely necessary for Jesus to be crucified that God's free gift of salvation could be offered to humanity. Peter had tunnel vision, failing to grasp the big picture of what was going on.

So, when you're in a situation and not sure what to do, sometimes doing nothing is the best thing. Let the other person make the first move. It all depends on the particular situation, but I think in many cases we'd be better off doing nothing. You don't have to always react to someone's words or a situation. Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Throw The Cross Into It

Exodus 15:25, “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.”

That tree dear reader symbolizes the cross upon which Jesus Christ died for you and me, and for the sins of the whole world. Throw the cross into it!

One of my loyal ministry followers told me that his father commit suicide today. My heart broke with sympathy and empathy for my Christian brother. Oh my. We never know what's going on in someone else's mind. There but for the grace of God, go you and I.

I comforted my friend, letting him how sorry I am for his father's death. I am so very sorry for his inexplicable loss, pain, grief and suffering. My best friend during childhood, Greg, commit suicide with his father's shotgun in Tennessee. He was only 22 years old. I wept bitterly at the funeral for Greg. I placed my pocket New Testament in his coffin. Although I miss my friend, no one can take away all of the cherished memories I have of my childhood and teenage years spent with my best friend. We went to the Bill Rice Ranch in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, together with our church's youth group as teenagers. We attended the same public and then Christian schools together.

Greg strayed away from the Lord, dropped out of church, started drinking booze, and then the family moved from Chicago to Tennessee. A few years had passed and then one day I learned that he had killed himself. I was heartbroken. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) was absolutely right, who said: “Behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking.” That is why for the longest time now my favorite Bible verse has been Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

I was reminded today of a beautiful sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) titled: "Throw The Cross Into It." I shared that sermon with my grieving ministry friend today.

In the sermon Brother Hyles talks about a woman who was one of his church members in Garland, Texas. She called him in panic one day to let Pastor Hyles know that her husband had just commit suicide, and she found his body. Brother Hyles rushed to their home and arrived before the police did, and he saw the man's brains lying on the floor. Dr. Hyles opened the Bible and showed the man's distraught wife Exodus 15:25, “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.” She threw the cross into her tragedy! The cross is the answer to everything.

The multitude of Jews in the Wilderness came across some much needed water, but it was toxic. In Exodus 15:25, Moses cried out to the Lord, and God showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the bitter water at Marah, making it fit to drink. This event demonstrated God's provision and guidance for the Israelites in their time of need. Dear reader, we have the precious old rugged cross of Jesus Christ to throw into all of our burdens, bodily pain, bitterness, loss and inexplicable trauma that happens in life. 

Pastor Hyles shares another story about a woman in his church in Texas who became bitter against God when her baby died. He showed her Exodus 15:25, but she refused to put the cross into it, holding onto her anger and bitterness against God. Weeks later Brother Hyles said that he and his wife read in the local newspaper that the woman had murdered her husband. The bullet had entered into the top of his head and exited at the bottom of his neck, which indicated that she killed him while he was on his hands and knees begging for mercy and forgiveness. Then she drove off speeding over 80 mph and died in a crash.

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

Alas! and did my Savior bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For sinners such as I?

Refrain:

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away,

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

Whatever your burden may be dear reader, throw the cross into it. If you are fighting bitterness, throw the cross into it. Whatever your loss or heartache may be, throw the cross into it. If you are going through a divorce, throw the cross into it. If you were the one who filed for divorce, commit adultery or had an abortion, throw the cross into it. THROW THE CROSS INTO IT!

My heart is with my brother in Christ whose father killed himself today. I have been thinking lately about famous country singers' Mel Street, Faron Young, Naomi Judd and Tom Hall, who all sadly commit suicide. There but for the grace of God, go all of us. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Famous movie producer Ridley Scott (Aliens, Blade Runner, Gladiator) had a younger brother named Tony Scott, who was a movie producer in England. At age 68 Tony jumped off the 185 foot high Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles to his death. Ridley was heartbroken. Life is so short and unpredictable. We don't know what another day may bring (Proverbs 27:1).

“You can't keep from becoming bitter, but you can keep from staying bitter. Throw the cross into it!” - Pastor Jack Hyles, “Throw The Cross Into It!”

Don't let bitterness rule your spirit concerning enemies, family and disgruntled former friends who have hurt you. Let God fight your battles dear child of God. Exodus 14:14, “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Throw the cross into it.

I love you dear reader with God's unconditional love, whoever you may be. We all go through difficult times in life, and seemingly unbearable tragedies at times, but the cross is the answer! John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Exodus 15:25, “And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.”

People Everywhere Are Checking Out

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

This woman is so right, people these days are losing interest in everything. Jesus foretold in Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” People are checking out. People are surviving from paycheck to paycheck. Inflation is sky high. The educational system is trash. People are depressed.

I ran across this intriguing YouTube video today. This woman speaks much truth.

Millions are starting to lose interest in everything

I use a nifty free website called Note GPT that converts any YouTube video into text. Here is some of this woman's text:

There is a shift that is occurring where people are beginning to lose interest in everything and it's causing them to retreat from society. People are radically changing the way that they are living their lives. I know that I have felt this. When you look around our society, you see that everything is really operating on this fear-based narrative.

We are living in a world right now where we're just waiting on the next big event to happen, and we have an extreme amount of financial pressure and economic stress that is overshadowing almost everything that we do. The amount of work that is having to go into life just to maintain it, and to survive; people are getting overwhelmed and exhausted and are completely checking out.

I mean, when you look at the statistics, more people than ever are living paycheck to paycheck. Nobody has any money in savings. People feel hopeless that they'll never be able to own a home. They're having to move into their vehicles. Our food system is trash. Our education system is trash. 

And just the awareness is discouraging that the people who have been in charge and are controlling this system, that we are currently operating in; it's not going so well. And I think more people are waking up to the fact that when we are living in this overwhelming state of fear, we are easier to be controlled and manipulated.

When we're comparing ourselves to other people, it's easier to sell us stuff. We are never happy and we're constantly on this hamster wheel of working really hard just to like, meet our most basic needs. The world is currently operating on a level of corruption that we have really never been aware of before, or a lot of us have not been aware of just how corrupt a lot of systems are operating; and not just within the U.S. but globally as well.

We are constantly on our phones and screens and social media. We're becoming more and more disconnected from each other, and it's making social interactions more challenging for us and for other people. We're losing the ability to have a community and form connections with other people. 

We have been disconnected from nature and outdoors, which is a place where a lot of people can find peace and calm from this place of fear. It is causing people to have this overwhelming sense of anxiety and depression, and we have major mental health concerns that are going on with the majority of people, and that is a red flag that something is wrong.

We can only handle so much stress before we completely shut down, which I think is what is happening to a lot of people. We are becoming overwhelmed and from that place of overwhelm, you know you have to fight-flight or freeze, and we have been in fight and flight for a long time and freeze is where a lot of people are going to, where they are just completely checking out and this is the shift that is leading us into a deep awareness of what is going on, and that awareness is an uncomfortable place to be there; in that place where you are seeing past the veil you know has been over us for so long.

Please keep in mind that she is speaking from a carnal viewpoint, not a Christian one. The first half of her video caught my attention because I could relate to her intriguing comments, which I think we all can. Something is amiss in American society today. People everywhere have lost interest in living. Where are the little league baseball games at the local parks? Where are the bands today? Where are the Christmas carolers in December? The pleasant American culture that I grew up in during the 1970s and 1980s has deteriorated beyond recognition. Everybody is enamored with gadgets and social media. We've never been more connected while being disconnected. I liked it better back in the 1970s before there were any microwaves, credit cards, computers, cellphones, Red-Light Cameras, A.I. generated music, et cetera.

As born again Christians, God doesn't want His children to follow the fear, worry and stress of this temporary crazy world. Jesus encourages us in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Everything's alright in my Father's house. The Holy Bible tells us how to handle this troublesome life down here on earth...

Colossians 3:1-4, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

That is why when by God's grace I wake up each morning, I seek the LORD early. I listen to the King James Bible or some Bible preaching. I check my ministry emails and get to work writing. By the good and faithful Lord's grace. I begin each day by setting my mind and affection “on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) wisely said that as he grew older he ran to the Bible like a starving man. I fully agree! If we don't pray and abide in the Scripture daily, we are telling God by our behavior that we don't need His help and guidance. I desperately need God!!!

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee ev'ry hour,

most gracious Lord;

no tender voice like Thine

can peace afford.

Refrain:

I need Thee, O I need Thee;

ev'ry hour I need Thee;

O bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee.

Hear song

I really like the pedal steel guitar in this song, 'The Old Rugged Cross.'

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Pastors Are Gifts From God, But Many Have Not Sought The Lord

Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” 

The Holy Bible teaches that pastor are God's gift to the local New Testament Church. A pastor's primary duty is to FEED God's flock with knowledge and understanding. This is not possible with the Alexandrian counterfeit Bible PERversions!!! The modern Bible are corrupt, teaching a false type of repentance. There are a raging theological debate in the churches, and has been for centuries, over the true meaning of Biblical repentance for salvation.

Does a person have to forsake sinful behavior to have their sins forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life? If you have to forsake a life of sinful activity to be saved, then how can it be a gift? Obviously it cannot, yet pastors like Charles Lawson at the Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, teach just that! Pastor Lawson wrongly accuses Dr. Jack Hyles of leaving off repentance! Woe unto Pastor Lawson, who is an admitted 2-point Calvinist. Lawson is wrong on repentance and therefore, wrong on God's simple plan of salvation. Unless Dr. Lawson repents of his wrong repentance, he will spend eternity burning in the Lake of Fire.

Although pastors are a gift from God, they sometimes become “brutish” (not thinking straight) and actually do more damage than good to the cause of Christ. Jeremiah 10:21, “For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” I believe Pastor Lawson is as good a man as you'll find, as far as good men go, but he is wrong on repentance, and he has the heart of tens of thousands of Americans via his YouTube sermons and website.

There is no middle ground! Many of the Baptist churches have foolishly adopted a middle-of-the-road position on the Gospel, allowing BOTH Arminian and Calvinist theology to co-exist, which is IMPOSSIBLE. Either turning away from sinful behavior is necessary to be saved, or it is not! Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

This is not a Baptist issue, it is a serious doctrinal matter affecting ALL churches!!! Here is an excellent MP3 sermon by (non-denominational) Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold titled, “Calvinism And Grace Are Not Compatible.” Jesus was not a Baptist! Although I am an independent fundamental Baptist, and proud of it, there is not such thing as “The Baptist Church.” I learned that truth from Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980). There is only local New Testament churches!

Many web visitors have referred to me as their “pastor,” and I love and appreciate you all. Before I was even conceived, God called me to preach! The same was true of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5).

Why I Don't Believe In Marriage Counseling

1st John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

I humbly think that too many of us as God's children merely go along with what society tells us is normal. One example is to seek marriage counseling when marital troubles arise, as if counseling will fix all of your problems. I couldn't disagree more. As you just read in our text passage of inspired Scripture from 1st John 2:27b, “ye need not that any man teach you...”

The King James Bible teaches that the indwelling Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide throughout life, so that we need not for any man to teach us.

Our corrupt American society has been indoctrinated with so many falsehoods; such as, the ridiculous idea that every child is supposed to go to college after high school. The ugly reality of the situation is that last I checked, 36.4% of Americans now have college degrees. Prey tell me, what's the value of having a college degree when everybody has one one? Back in the year 1910 only 2.7% of Americans had a university degree, and it meant a lot back then. But today, a college degree is about as worthless as toilet paper. In fact, toilet paper still has some value because you can do something worthwhile with it, but a college degree is worthless! Yet, American media continues to brainwash families to think that you have to go to college.

John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

If two adults, especially children of God, cannot sit down and work out their personal disagreements and issues, then bringing in a third party isn't going to fix the problem. In fact, it will likely just make things worse. We've been indoctrinated as Americans to believe a bunch of junk that's simply untrue. Marriage counseling is not a magic solution to your marital troubles. Spending $125,000 for a worthless college degree is not a smart move.

Another example of American indoctrination is the crazy idea that we need to be tested, prodded, poked, jabbed and examined like lab rats in case we "might" have something wrong with us. In truth, it's just a clever way for the greedy medical industry to make billions more dollars! Since I am over age 50, my doctor has been pressuring me for years to get a colonoscopy. I have turned her down, and will continue to turn her down, indefinitely!

Look, I believe in the dignity of the human body, created in the image of God. There's no way in Heaven or Hell that I am going to allow anyone to shove a camera up my rear end to examine my intestines unless there's a darn good reason! Testing to see if I “might” have a problem is not a valid reason to humiliate me as a human being. If I get colon cancer one day, then I do, damn the torpedoes; but no one is sticking a movie camera up my rear! Pardon my rude speech, but I cannot express this any gentler to make my strong point. To hell with all their testing! And in fact, they tell you up front that allowing them to do a colonoscopy can result in false positives. That is, they may scare the hell out of you for nothing, because the test makes mistakes. I am sick and tired of the incompetency of the medical industry. They cannot even get their billing department in order at the hospital I go to!

I am 100% against subjecting myself to the medical industry's cruel methods. Just for a standard series of blood tests that I recently got per my doctor, what they call a “full panel,” the medical center charged Medicare $1,000. Good night in the morning! They really take advantage of Medicare. In 2023, I had a CT scan with dye, which only took about 15 minutes. The hospital charged Medicare $12,000. Wow! Just 4 hours in the Emergency Room for severe pain in my right flank, and under my left shoulder blade, cost Medicare $16,758. That is medical financial abuse as far as I am concerned. I don't know why the government allows it.

My point dear reader is that whether it be bogus marriage counselling, selling yourself into financial slavery for the rest of your life to earn a worthless college degree, or allowing someone to shove a camera up your ass to look around, these are all gimmicks in our wicked greedy society today in the United States. I learned a very long time ago to think for myself!!!

Medicare Advantage Plans Scam

I knew several years ago when I kept seeing thousands of TV commercials trying to lure Medicare recipients to sign up for Medicare Advantage Plans that something was crooked about the whole thing. As a general rule, anytime someone comes to you with a great deal, or a fantastic offer that you cannot live without, DO NOT TRUST THEM!!! Apart from God's free gift of eternal life, nobody ever comes to you with a “great deal” unless somehow they are going to profit more than you from it.

My suspicions have been fully justified in recent years. I checked into the matter. What Medicare Advantage Plans essentially are is private insurance companies trying to rip you off!!! It was reported in the news this week that Medicare Advantage Plans have been denying most claims, leaving suffering patients in a world of hurt without proper medical treatment. Medicare Advantage insurance companies defend themselves by using the lame excuse that when a claim is denied, you can appeal their decision to deny your claim; but they damn well know that ONLY 25% of Medicare recipients appeal denied claims. That is how these ungodly crooked insurance companies steal Medicare's money and hurt suffering people!!!

RUN from Medicare Advantage Plans!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!

I have stayed with Medicare parts A and B (which you are given by default), and Lord willing that's what I will die with someday. So far they've paid 100% of all my medical bills. It will be a cold day in Hell before I ever switch to some accursed greedy private insurance company's Medicare Advantage Plan! The crooked greedy insurance companies are the only one's receiving the "advantage"! Please don't buy into these obvious scams!!!

You've Got To Be Smarter Than The Average Bear

Hey, if you need help with your marriage, here is Pastor Jack Hyles' 22-part Bible study series on marriage...

Marriage

Bible Studies on Marriage (MP3):  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

There's no advice your marriage needs that you cannot get from listening to Brother Hyles' 55 years of pastoral wisdom and having counselled with several thousand people.

I am against bringing a third party into one's marriage problems. Your dirty laundry is nobody's business except your own. If two adults cannot solve their own immaturity and problems in a marriage, especially for two redeemed children of God, nothing is going to help your marriage.

The Bible plainly says in 1st John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” Don't buy into the propaganda that you need a stranger to solve your marriage difficulties. They have their own problems to deal with.

Are You Ready To Meet God?

Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

There was a very sad accident which happened in Colorado Springs in 2009. An 18-year old woman, Whitney Hendrickson, was slowly burned to death in a fiery accident, which involved an out-of-control vehicle that struck hers as she was fueling it.

I have often wished I had been there that horrible morning. Without hesitation, I would have rammed her vehicle with mine to free her. Or I would have jacked up the vehicle with my jack and pushed the vehicle and jack over away from the pump. I would have done something! Damn the torpedoes! Even dousing her with water from a hose until the fire department arrived could have saved her life. There were evidently no men present. A man takes action!

The poor girl was pinned between the gas pump and the burning minivan. As she saw the flames moving toward her, she cried out for help, saying “Help me! Help me! I'm going to die.” Sadly, there was no one to save her. Life is so short. She had no idea when she woke up that morning that it would be her last day on earth. My deepest sympathies goes out to that young woman's family. I am still reminded of Whitney from time to time, 17 years later.

Spencer Eden/KDVR-TV | March 17, 2009

March 17, 2009 - A Colorado Springs convenience store gasoline pump caught fire and exploded, killing a woman.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — A convenience store gasoline pump caught fire and exploded Tuesday, killing a woman and injuring at least one other person, police said.

Witnesses told The Gazette newspaper the pump caught fire after hit was hit by a pickup that had in turn been struck by an SUV. Police said the incident was under investigation.

The woman was pumping gas when the fire erupted, and she was trapped between the pump and a minivan, witnesses said.

"She was standing there screaming 'Help me! Help me! I'm going to die,"' Greg Alderman told The Gazette.

Police Lt. Dave Whitlock identified the woman who was killed as 18-year-old Whitney Hendrickson of Colorado Springs.

The SUV driver, 29-year-old Kelli Renae McKay of Colorado Springs, was treated at Memorial Hospital for bruises. She was cited for suspicion of careless driving involving a death, a misdemeanor, Whitlock said.

A passenger in the minivan was unharmed as was the driver of the pickup.

Alderman, who works across the street from the 7-Eleven store where the explosion occurred, said he tried to get to the woman but the heat was too intense.

Michael Horvat, who also works across the street, said he ran to the store with a fire extinguisher but an off-duty firefighter yelled at him to back off. Just then the pump exploded.

"She was frozen in there, between the gas pumps and her car," Horvat said. "She was holding her face. Flames were all around her. She never got out."

SOURCE

I wrote this article because this accident is a clear reminder to all of us that life is predictably UNPREDICTABLE. We have a tendency to take so many things for granted in this life, including life itself.

Consider this poor woman who lost her life. Any hope of having a future husband or children or grandchildren, any hope of ever hearing those first words “Mama” or “I wuv you mommy,” any hope of watching her children graduate from school, or of receiving a big hug from one of her own children, is now gone forever. How sad. How tragic!

This is why I get so peeved at our government leaders for needlessly sending our children to die on foreign soil for agendas that have absolutely nothing to do with America's freedom. Alan Greenspan, who headed the Federal Reserve Board for 19 years, stated that the Iraqi War is mostly about stealing their oil. That's not a good enough reason to forfeit our children's lives. Many parents will never be grandparents because their child died in Iraqi for the New World Order. And if that's not bad enough, President Bush Jokes about War In Iraq! It is all so evil. Just remember, Obama, Bush and the Clintons will all spend this coming Christmas with their children. If your pastor supported the War in Iraq, you need to find a much better church.

May we keep in mind the untimely death of this unfortunate young woman, and numerous others we read about every day in the news, so that we may redeem the time, preparing to meet our God and Creator. Life is what happens to us while we're making big plans. Life has its disappointments, heartaches and times of sorrow for everyone—some more than others—but God is still on His throne in Heaven and now is the time to get right with God. Friend, do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Time on earth is running out for everyone.

The Reality Of Sin, Righteousness, Judgment And Hell

After I read this tragic story, I couldn't help but think of the Scriptures and the BILLIONS of unbelievers that are headed for the Lake of Fire in their sins. Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

And again in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8 we are warned, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I don't know if this young woman was saved or unsaved, and I make no statement concerning that. I certainly hope with all my heart that she's enjoying Heaven now with the saints.

What caught my attention mostly was the fact that this young women saw death approaching. She saw the fires moving closer and closer. Fear overwhelmed her, as it would anyone. How tragic that multitudes of people in the world today refuse to see the fires closing in around them! They are blind to the reality of sin, judgment and Hell fire! Oh, that men would hear and believe the Word of God, repenting toward God for salvation.

Jesus taught in Matthew 24:37-38 that the people before the flood were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage (going from one failed marriage to another). Jesus said that it would be the same way in the Last Days. We are living in those times today (2nd Timothy 3:1-7). People today are not listening to God. This is why we have a city nicknamed “Sin City” (Las Vegas), and abortion is legal, and Salem in Massachusetts prides themselves as the “City of Witches,” and lewd internet smut is a legal $50 billion per year business, and homosexuals are getting married and adopting children, and America's legal system is extremely corrupt and oppressive, and idolatry is commonplace, and our churches preach another gospel from a false bible perversion. Woe unto America! We are a spiritual sick and diseased nation.

Jesus said that when the flood finally came, THEY KNEW NOT what had happened until it was too late. Not one person heeded Noah's preaching of the imputed righteousness that is found only in Christ. Only Noah and his immediate family boarded the ark. Noah preached for 120 long years, but not one person obeyed the Gospel to believe it; not one person got saved; not one sinner escaped God's wrath when judgment came. And after perishing in the flood they sadly went to burn in Hell forever. Psalm 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Tragically, preachers no longer cry aloud against sin, no longer warn men of the coming judgment of an angry God, and no longer stress the awfulness of eternal punishment for all Christ-rejecters in the fires of Hell. Every mainstream so-called “Christian author,” such as Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Max Lucado, et cetera, spend 99% of the time AVOIDING the unpleasant and offensive topics of sin, judgment, God's wrath, hellfire and eternal punishment. Yet, the great need of our day is to hear these topics preached loud and long so that men may fear God and come to repentance.

All of the popular televangelists today are a bunch of greedy fakes! Beware of the minister who focuses on health, wealth and prosperity. Beware of any professed “Christian” who wants to sell you something; but never warns of the coming judgment in hellfire, never exposes the awfulness of sin, never talks about winning souls to Jesus Christ and never talks about God's wrath upon the wicked. America's great need of the hour is preaching preachers!

The tragic accident in Colorado Springs could have happened to anyone. It was horrific to say the least. Burned alive! Proverb 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” The important question is, are you ready to meet God? Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Luke 13:5, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent (change your mind to get born again), ye shall all likewise perish.” —Jesus Christ

Just Decide Once And For All That God Is Good

Psalms 145:9, “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”

1st Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1st Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to put God on trial for the problems and loneliness in my life after my wife cruelly abandoned me in 2006. God didn't do that to me! I decided that I am not going to place God on trial every time bad things happen to me, every time some wicked pastor kicks me out of church, again. God didn't do that to me!

The $64,000 question dear reader is: Do you believe that the King James Bible is inspired by God? If you do, then you must concede that God is good, faithful and that He cares. When I get down on myself and frustrated with life, which we all do at times if we're honest, I always remember that I decided long ago that God is good, faithful and that He cares. I refuse to place God on trial in my mind.

I'll be the first to admit that God never seems to answer my prayers. I told the LORD years ago that I would always tell the truth. I won't cover for God. I am not saying that God has never answered any of my prayers. I am saying that it “seems” that God never does. There's a big difference! I read in a book something that Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said which I have never forgotten. He said that if we could see all that God sees, we would never again question why the LORD answers our prayers the way that He does. I agree with that!

The Holy Bible gives us a clue from Jesus' Words in Luke 18:1, “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” And then Jesus tells the parable of The Unjust Judge who ignored the widow because he simply didn't care. But God ignores our prayers because He does care, because our IMPORTUNITY pleases God. Faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). Importunity requires a greater faith!

Dear reader, just settle it once and for all that God is good, faithful and He cares.