Luke 11:5-8, “And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”
A few months ago my x-wife told me that she scolded our adult daughter for quitting church. According to my x-wife our daughter got into an argument with the pastor's wife, and our daughter got her feelings hurt, so she stopped going to church. My x-wife got into an argument with our daughter over the matter and they weren't talking at the time.
I kindly told my x-wife that she needs to learn to become A Friend At Midnight, instead of making matters worse with her big mouth. She didn't like that, but she needed to here it anyway. I learned a long time ago that the worst thing you can do to a person who is having a rough time is to criticize them. Remember, five minutes of praise will do more for a person than a lifetime of criticism. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 25:20, “As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.” Taking the high ground and browbeating someone who is already down and frustrated, the Bible says is like taking away their coat in sub-zero weather. It is also like pouring vinegar (or alcohol) into an open would. Ouch!
The best thing that you can do when someone is having a bad day, angry, frustrated or down is simply stay quiet and let them talk it out. If you do speak, try to relate to them to comfort them. If someone told me that they quit church, I would immediately let them know that I've been there more times than I can remember. People will do that to you! Scolding someone who has quit church is a sure way to guarantee that they won't come back anytime soon.
It is in our sinful nature to be critical, judgmental and to be hypocritical Pharisees. To be honest, some church people really annoy me! Fundamentalist Baptists are the worst when it comes to being snobs, judgmental and bigots. Pensacola Christian College (PCC) is shameful proof of what I say. You must dot your i's and cross your t's exactly as they do. You must walk a fine line. If you veer even a little bit to the left or to the right, you'll be on the outside looking in before you realize what happened. Sadly, they are a cult at PCC.
A godly church only recognizes the inspired King James Bible as the authority. The pastor's only power is to influence the people with the authority of God's Word. When a man (or group pf men) usurp authority in a church, it has now become a religious cult. That is what's wrong with Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Church of Christ, Lutheranism, Judaism and the Jehovah's Witnesses (these are all deadly manmade cults).
I decided a long time ago that I am going to be A Friend At Midnight. A friend at midnight always tries to encourage his friend when he or she is down and hurting. If somebody hurts your feelings, I am going to befriend you with comfort, unconditional love and encouraging words. I am going to help bear your burden (Galatians 6:1). And if I think you are wrong, I won't say anything critical. If I believe you need to be rebuked, I won't do it until a few days later. I don't want to force you to choose between your burden and me as your friend.
Pastor Jack Hyles taught me that principle. He said if your teenage son comes home past curfew, you shouldn't scold him when he walks in the door. If you do, you'll force him to choose between the good time he just had, and you. Dr. Hyles recommended to wait until the next day, and I agree. We should be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath (James 1:19).
When I am having a bad day, or a bad week, the last thing I need is for some jerk to make things worse by pouring salt into my emotional wounds. The best friend is one who always tries to encourage you. I have a ministry friend who reads my articles and blogs. He is aware of my bloody spiritual battles with PCC, Bob Jones University, Marty Herron, Jeff Redlin, and the pathetic Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. These are ungodly neo-evangelical phonies and institutions who shame the name of Jesus Christ. My friend has often encouraged me in my fight, sharing his own hurt feelings and wounds because of evil clergy like Chuck Phelps.
I challenge you dear reader to become a friend at midnight to the people in your life. That includes your family, friends and acquaintances. Our text Scripture passage is about a neighbour who came to his neighbour's house at the midnight hour, knocking on his door to beg for a loaf of bread for a friend who stopped by in his long journey. Not many people are a friend at midnight. Nowadays you need to be very careful about who you choose to hang around, because they could land you in prison.
I feel so sorry for that neighbour in Georgia who got into the pickup truck with his neighbour across the street (a father and his adult son). The incident happened in 2020. The father and son saw a young black man running down the street and assumed he was up to no good. So, they grabbed their guns and jumped in their pickup truck to go after him. Their neighbour, William Bryan, just happened to be standing outside in front of his house, so they yelled for him to get in the truck with them, but the poor guy didn't know what was going on, he just trusted his “friends.”
Long story short, in a scuffle over a gun the young black man was shot and killed. The father and son got life in prison, and William Bryan got 35 years. It's not fair! William shouldn't have gone to prison. He even testified against his neighbours, for their racist language during the events, but it didn't matter because the kangaroo court crucified him too. Anytime you have Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and a mob of African Americans at the courthouse demanding justice, it's a kangaroo court. Those men didn't stand a chance at fairness.
The sad truth is that hoodlums are committing crimes with impunity all across the country, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. People are sick and tired of crime. Those men never should have followed Arbery, but the sad truth is that calling the police doesn't work anymore. The police are effectively useless because of the corrupt court system. I literally recorded a thief in May of 2024 stealing my Amazon delivered package from my front porch, and showed the security video to the police, but they said there's nothing they can do. The video clearly identifies the criminal. But the worthless police told me that since Amazon replaced the stolen item, I am not the victim, Amazon is. What worthless cops! Welcome to the Corrupt States of America. I am really starting to hate this damned country.
The Baptist church that I have been visiting is having a patriotic service soon. I won't be there, because I cannot stomach being patriotic to this cesspool of iniquity anymore. Our government is as corrupt as can be. Americans are as rotten as ever. There is so little love in people anymore. I've been robbed four times in 16 months. I was cheated recently on a banjo that I purchased. The man who built the banjo cost me hundreds of dollars and couldn't have cared less to make things right. So, I returned it for a refund, because he wouldn't do the right thing and fix the poor intonation. He also refused to sell me a different banjo. People just don't care anymore about others. It is so sad. I am at the place where I don't go out my front door anymore unless I absolutely have to, because of how insane society has become in the United States. Staying home sounds good, real good.
I also rarely go out to eat anymore (about twice a year), because of the thieving restaurants that rip you off with 15% gratuity and then expect a 10% tip on top of that. It's as unethical as can be! I hate their greed these days. Even McDonalds has become insane in their ridiculous prices. It cost me $18 for a Big Mac meal and Fish Fillet sandwich. That was a few months ago, and I don't plan to go back for the rest of the year. McDonalds are greedy!
And let me tell you friend, the economy and inflation are going to get MUCH worse. I have known that for the past 20 years, since I first learned about the criminal Federal Reserve banking Ponzi Scheme (since 1913), which is intended to steal wealth from the American people. It is no mere coincidence that the banks force you to slave away for 30 to 40 years to pay off your house's mortgage. They calculated and made it that way! To add insult to injury, our treasonous leaders are complicit to the crimes! That is why they assassinated President John F. Kennedy, because he wanted to pass Executive Order 11110 getting rid of the Federal Reserve. They murdered him first! Add to that mandatory home insurance, mortgage insurance, property taxes, et cetera, and you're financially in the dog house my friend! I digress.
I encourage you to be a friend to your family, neighbours and friends. But in so doing, be very careful whom you choose to hang around as friends, because you could get life in prison if they commit a crime. The old adage is true: Be nice to everybody but trust no one. At a minimum we can all season our words with grace, as the Bible teaches, when somebody is down and needs our words of comfort.
I am reminded of Job in the Old Testament, whose friends were total jerks at the lowest point in his life. ...
Job 16:1-4, “Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.”
Job's three friends were self righteous hypocrites. They falsely accused him of committing sin that caused his calamity. They accused his children of sinning. They were dead wrong! Instead of being friends at midnight, they were as rotten as could be to Job, pouring burning acid in his deep hurting emotional wounds. Job's ten children had all been killed. Job's wealth was gone. The poor guy lost everything. And then his friends condemned him.
We can learn a very important lesson from Job's horrible friends about WHAT NOT TO DO when your friend is hurting. Don't browbeat people, criticize them or make matters worse by telling them what they should of, could of or would of done. Be a friend at midnight!
A Friend At Midnight
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