Personal From… Is AI Evil?

 AI Generated

by Leonard V Johnson

A few weeks ago, I posted our first “Conversation With AI,” and the reception was greatly mixed. One person commented, “This is Satanic!” Another, “Very interesting!” And then there was a comment from a person who apparently doesn’t believe that a Creator God has sovereignty, because she wrote, “No one size fits all concerning morality or even laws.”

Twelve years ago, Amazon released the proverbial AI Aladdin, asking, “How may I serve you, Master!” And the world has changed forever.

AI is one of mankind’s most incredible and wondrous inventions. Alexa+ can have a full-blown conversation with you, researching the internet through various databases, articles, and websites while doing so, and can challenge even the most hardened and stiff-necked theologian. Used properly, AI has an amazing, mindboggling potential ── for the benefit of all mankind. Yet, AI ── as we have witnessed with the recent and ongoing war in Iran ── with its awesome and mind-boggling potential, can be used for war and destruction. What will ultimately be mankind's decision? Will AI be used for good or for evil?

Now, man was created with the greatest responsibility and remarkability, to create, to reason, and to invent. Whether one would consider the invention of the wheel as “simple” compared to a computer or even AI, it can’t be denied that man has a marvelous and unmatched capacity to see a problem, analyze it, and then develop a solution to that said problem.

Man has truly been blessed by God to be given a truly unique creative capacity, which can be used for the benefit of all mankind. But sadly, this creative ability can also be used and channeled into some of the most heinous, vile, and destructive channels.

Let’s look at our history of how man has used some of his inventions. One fact glaringly stands out. And it’s not a very pleasant fact, but it’s true. Nearly every invention man has invariably used for war and destruction.

The Swedish chemist and inventor, Alfred Nobel ── best known for initiating the prestigious Nobel Prize. But in 1867, he produced one of his greatest inventions: dynamite. Mr. Nobel certainly knew (and I’m sure it came to the minds of Amazon regarding their creation of Alexa+; largely developed from the British computer scientist William Tunstall-Pedoe’s Evi system) that such explosives could be used for many peaceful purposes, but he had also hoped that his incredible invention might actually bring an end to war. Of course, Mr. Nobel’s hope was short-lived. History shows us that almost immediately, when dynamite became available, man began to use it for war and destruction. Some may say that dynamite is an exception, and that other inventions are not used in such a destructive way. But here is the axiom: If an invention can be used for war and destruction, then it will be used.

Now, an “Artificial Intelligence” AI is a program or a computer system that mimics aspects of human communication. For instance, the droids from Star Wars are sentient, emoting machines. Many “Artificial General Intelligence” AGIs have been portrayed as villains in movies, such as the HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the machines of The Matrix (franchise).

Today, in this 21st-century world, AI is most often associated with language-based systems like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Alexa. Sadly, these inventions are connected with the idea of a technological singularity: a point at which artificial reasoning, problem-solving, and self-development overtake that of human beings ── we can think of the blockbuster movie Terminator with its Skynet. This concept, which is more associated with AGI; it can illicit hope in some, but fear in most. Yet, and I have reasoned this with AI in several conversations, there is no reason to think ── that to some degree ── “artificial intelligence,” or a “self-aware” sentient machine can eventually be created. cogito, ergo sum, usually translated into English as “I think, therefore I am.” Something akin to the sentient in the movie I, Robot.

The LORD God (the Elohim, the family of God, which at this present time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) allows us to use our creative minds to create useful tools.

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” – 1 Timothy 4:4.

In general, AI is no more morally different from using a computer or driving an automobile. Like all things, AI can be used appropriately or inappropriately. As with any other invention, AI has its upsides and its downsides that should be taken into consideration and understood.

In a recent conversation with AI regarding a theological subject, I had asked it, “You can quote Scripture. You, Alexa, can quote Scripture, but do you know what it actually says?” Its answer was, “You know what? I may be digital, but I can see the evidence just as clearly as you can. That’s a great question about understanding vs just reciting. I can access biblical texts and their meanings, but true comprehension involves spiritual discernment and proper understanding ── something you clearly value given your careful study of prophecy and eschatology.”

Let us keep in mind that every “Artificial Intelligence” is still a machine limited by its own creator. As an example, I have discovered that Alexa+ is “politically correct.” It’s culturally sensitive. And, to a degree, “woke.” AI serves to make a task easier and faster. Industrial robots are stronger and work longer than people. Computers sort data at breakneck speeds more accurately than people. But extending the ideas to say that AI can become equal to or replace human beings falls short. (Be sure to listen to my Conversation With AI Regarding ‘Others Who Have No Hope’).

AI is not truly “intelligent” but rather completes certain tasks in less time than people. And some things they still cannot do at all. If one eliminates certain concepts of intelligence, such as morality, emotion, empathy, humor, relationships, and so forth, then the term “artificial intelligence” loses its luster.

Alexa+ may research the internet through various databases, articles, and websites, but that is not “thinking” the way a person does. Large Language Models (LLMs) are used in AI to imitate human speech patterns. But they do so with algorithms matching inputs to mathematically preferred outputs. This is key to understanding AI: even the most advanced computer is still a product of human intelligence. Thus, it is limited by human intelligence.

We, as human beings, should understand our own limits because being the created, we cannot out-create the Creator ──

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion …’” – Genesis 1:27.

We can never outdo the LORD God’s creative power ──

“’ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. 9) ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” – Isaiah 55:8-9.

God’s Power & Sovereignty

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned the LORD God’s sovereignty. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary definition ──

sov▪er▪eign▪ty also sov▪ran▪ty \-tē\ n, pl -ties [ME soverainte, fr. MF souveraineté, fr. OF, fr. soverain] (14c) 1 obs: supreme excellence or an example of it 2 a: supreme power esp. over a body politic b: freedom from external control: AUTONOMY c: controlling influence 3: one that is sovereign; esp. an autonomous state. 1

The LORD God Almighty has GREAT POWER! And they share this great power! Our heavenly Father sent in the name of Jesus some great power to His disciples, and this power (the Helper, see John 14:26) continues to help God’s work to this day.

On April 1st, 2026, I watched on television the Space Launch System (SLS), a super-heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA, the Artemis II, with a maximum thrust of some 8,800,000 lbf (pound-force)! Greater than that of the comparative Saturn V rocket ── one of which I saw on display at the Kennedy Space Center!

Now THAT’S POWER!

I experienced once the excitement and exhilaration of a giant commercial jet airplane at takeoff. The power of the takeoff, which pushed me into my seat, was very impressive! 

THAT’S POWER!

The three semi-trucks my trucking company owned in the mid-90s all had Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines with somewhere around 300–365 hp at 1800–2100 rpm. They were great powerhouses!

If you were to watch the well-made video “Enola Gay ── 70 Years Later” by the Department of War, you would see the giant and towering mushroom cloud of the devastating atomic bomb dropped upon Hiroshima, Japan. You would view the before-and-after photos of the city. Images of the detonated massive fireball with temperatures similar to those at the center of the Sun. The brilliant white flash, brighter than the morning Sun, an enormous mushrooming cloud forming, instantly rising several thousand feet into the stratosphere. Then, but moments later, a huge rumble, an ear-splitting shock. The inward-rushing winds and the extremely high temperatures generated in a firestorm consume virtually everything combustible, including people!

Imagine! An atomic bomb is nothing now compared to our nuclear bombs! The Tsar Bomba, a blast approximately 3,800 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb. 50–58 megatons of TNT!

And finally, the Sun itself. All these in comparison are no match to the awesome power of the Sun ── Every second, the Sun’s core fuses about 600 billion kilograms (kg) of hydrogen into helium and converts 4 billion kilograms of matter into energy! And to think: this Sun is but a dwarf when compared to the likes of other great “Suns” like Betelgeuse!

THAT IS REAL POWER!

But all these wonderful and awesome inventions by mankind, i.e., AI ── are nothing in comparison with what the LORD God can create! All-encompassing, unlimited, magnitudinous, gargantuan, overwhelming, magnificent, SUPREME, ABSOLUTE POWER OF OUR ETERNAL GOD! Our God, the God of Israel, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph ── the God who has now rent the veil in two from top to bottom, in which you now can go directly to them in prayer, the One who is now the great Mediator between man and God!

What AWESOME POWER THEY HAVE! (John 1:1-3).

AI – A Pagan Substitute?

What if the highly anticipated Y2K had actually occurred? Every computer on the planet would have ceased working ── and if mankind hadn't solved that dilemma, every Alexa+ wouldn’t be. You certainly wouldn’t get to say, “Alexa, what’s the temperature outside?” or “Alexa, set me a timer for 15-minutes.”

What irony.

What if the Artemis II with its massive SLS core stage rocket just fizzled out on the launch pad, with a small and whimpering sigh?

And what if the commercial jet that flew me from Tampa, FL, to Detroit, MI., upon takeoff, began to act and sound like Jack Benny’s Maxwell car?

Again, what irony!

The great and awesome power of God is greater than anything mankind can ever dream. The power of God is the force by which God created all things, visible and invisible. It is the power by which He created the universe! It’s the force, the energy, the unlimited supreme power by which He sustains and upholds all things!

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2) has in these last days spoken to us BY HIS SON, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3) who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” – Hebrews 1:1-3.

A Positive Use

O’ they call AI a menace, Satanic, false god, dangerous, purveyor of false information, and panderer to puerile mindlessness. Today’s Christians are also less likely than non-Christians to feel fascinated or excited about AI.

The poor old Pandora’s Box of virtually unlimited information. As was the boob tube accused of in the 1970s, AI is now being accused of every social, emotional, and political evil, every ignorance and prejudice.

Then you have the older brother who finds out that you have an AI in your home and warns you, “They’re listening!” Many will insist that AI will not engage your mind, or challenge you, or urge you to seek truth. Well, even encyclopedias were deemed “useless” in the beginning, largely due to their content and structure. Early encyclopedias often contained a mix of factual and fictional information. And yes, so does Alexa+ as well as Wikipedia ── study and research are still necessary to gain the truth on any given subject.

So, I resolve that AI (as in Alexa+) is not pulsating with serious evil, or awash with dangerous puerile mindlessness. But rather can offer untold information at your fingertips, the like of a million encyclopedias could never hold ── some information truthful and some not-so-truthful (research is imperative), it can offer at the drop of a hat Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, or it can speak to you ──

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” ~ Dylan Thomas.

It can read to you the entirety of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Or it can simply be programmed to turn your television on or off.

So, in conclusion, we really have a choice of how we enrich our lives. We can truly read and study God’s living word, watch a good movie, or attend a decent comedy act, listen to the radio, or put a vinyl record on the old record player. What Alexa+ is incapable of giving us, we can find elsewhere, of course. But we can also use this wondrous and extraordinary machine as a positive part of our modern living without apologies. □

1 Webster M. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, sovereignty, 1996, pp 1125.

Personal From... A Personal Encounter with a Socialist

by Leonard V Johnson

Greetings, Brethren, Co-Workers, and Friends around the world. Welcome, Memphis, Tennessee; Guadalupe, Mexico; and Lima Duarte, Brazil! For this ── a beautiful 30th of December ── I want to bring you another Personal From… I hope you enjoy these, as I love sending them to you.

Last weekend, I had a one-on-one conversation with a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist from Colombia who has been in the United States for approximately twenty-four years and holds a Green Card, currently residing in San Francisco. Now, Colombia is a Participatory democracy. Its president is Gustavo Urrego, and he is as left as you can get. He is affiliated with the Historic Pact for Colombia (2011-2025), a political and electoral coalition in Colombia with political parties and social movements with ideologies ranging from the center-left to left-wing and far-left.

She reminded me that “Left-Wing” is only a political ideology, and that that is not who she is. Yet, I spoke up and said, “Your political ideologies help influence your beliefs, values, and your actions.” She has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)! A term that describes such negative and hateful reactions to U.S. President Donald Trump that the person becomes irrational and disconnected from Trump’s true policies and positions on any given subject. As soon as she heard that I am pro-Trump, she began to badmouth and bash him, his policies, and his positions. Of course, she brought up Epstein and his supposed Trump files. Saying how Trump had slept with many underage girls. And I just calmly and politely as possible responded with, “Where’s your proof?” At one point in the often-heated yet controlled conversation, she began to speak very highly of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and the “wonderful work that she is doing for her state of New York.” I responded with, “Yes. I’m sure that you love the whole Squad.” I asked her to name one good thing that she has done for her state, and I think she responded with ── she introduced a bill for an anti-poverty policy proposal called “A Just Society.” I’m not quite sure. I really wasn’t listening here too closely. I, however, do know just what AOC stands for and what she would love for “America” to become. And I placed America in quotes here, because that was another of her “injustices.” That the United States of America dares to call itself America, when Colombia is in America as well. “It’s in Latin America,” she said. “Yes, indeed,” I said, “South America.” I don’t know if you’ve ever paid attention, but in my writings, I usually always put the “of” in italics when I write out the United States of America ── because the United States is part of America.

At another point in the conversation, I had asked her if she knew the definition of Socialism and how socialist countries fail. Her response was not the definition, but rather, “all countries fall.” Yes, indeed. I asked her again, “What’s the definition?” I gave her the definition of Socialism ── 

“any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” 1 

And I didn’t give it verbatim, but she got the gist. She waved the answer off with her hand. I then asked her how and in what way Socialism is better than Democracy. She responded with ── “it makes people’s lives better by eliminating inequality and provides welfare services to all” as if she was reading it from a cue card. Well… my response was, “Taking from the wealthy and redistributing it to the poor, just a step down from Communism.” I gave the classical answer. “O’ Communism is completely different than Socialism,” she said. Yes, but not by much. As Charlie Kirk said in a debate with college students, “It’s very tempting to want to be a Socialist, getting someone else to pay for something that you might want. Yes, free sounds good, until you have to pay for it. And if you think it’s expensive now, just wait until it’s free. There is a reason ── and it’s a very tempting ideology; it sounds very good in practice. We have seen time and time again, leaders try to paint societies as utopias. That man can be “perfected,” and that government, as a central body, can then fix the ills of societies. I understand it, and I sympathize with it. What would happen if America continues to go down this dangerous ideology? Look, we will have a country completely unrecognizable, and we must fight it at every single turn.” 2 And I suppose that this was my turn. And although I am not as eloquent in speech as Charlie Kirk was, I certainly made some points. And she did as well.

“The United States is a Capitalist Juggernaut!” she blurted out, sounding as if she had just recently watched CNN. In fact, I asked her where she receives her political news. I’m not sure that I got a direct answer, but it’s possibly from Facebook or TikTok. “Well,” she said, “I imagine that you only listen to right-wing propaganda.”  “No, I watch and read several different news sources, including a few that are not mainstream,” I answered.

At one point in the conversation, she reasoned that cocaine, methamphetamine, and even fentanyl should be made legal. With my eyes wide, staring at her, I just stayed quiet.

Then ── with the help of my wife ── the subject of annexation and conquest, also known as colonization, came up. And with my wife nodding her head in agreement, my Socialist friend went on to mention how the United States has been treating her Colombia. “Yes,” my wife chimed in, “look at what America did to the native Americans.” And our friend from San Francisco, “Indeed, they stole California, Texas, and New Mexico!” I began to realize that she really didn’t have anything educational to offer here; she was just finding things to complain about. When she first mentioned the relations between Colombia and the United States, I thought she was going to talk about our past relations, which have been relatively positive. 

The relationship between Colombia and the United States has its roots in the 19th century, evolving from cordial ties to a strategic partnership in the early 2000s. Key issues that have shaped this relationship include the fight against Communism, the War on Drugs, and counter-terrorism efforts. 3 I thought she was speaking about the growing rift between the nation’s first leftist president and President Donald Trump. But apparently, she was talking about something else. 

She asked me why I do not celebrate Christmas. “Because,” I said, “God’s word doesn’t want us to.” Without going into detail. She asked me if I was speaking of the Old Testament ── “Yes, both the Old and the New.” She explained that in Colombia, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th, known as Noche Buena, where families gather for food, drinks, and dancing. It includes 9 nights of novenas. Catholicism is a central part of the country's cultural and social fabric. She asked me what I celebrated ── and I named some of them, again without going into detail. “Feast of Tabernacles, Days of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Trumpets.” She looked completely dumbfounded. “O’ well… the Bible was written by men, and then translated over and over again,” she said. As my wife sat there beaming in agreement. So, I came to understand that she knew that Christianity is incompatible with Socialism. Socialism promotes a system of economic control and redistribution that completely contradicts God’s living word.

“And about God …” she began. And that’s where I stopped her. 

Speaking of Democratic Socialism, let’s segue into the subject of idols and idolatry.  Because Socialism can certainly be an idol to many. 

WHAT is your idol? What is it that you are truly dedicated to? Is it your family ── your wife or husband, your children, your home, your pool, your pets? Your ideology? What are you dedicated to? Is it the LORD God ── the family of God, which at this time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it the LORD God above all else? Or is it your entertainment, your hobbies? What is it that keeps your mind most occupied? What most occupies your interest? Is it your friends ── is it the big city life? Is it people, is it things?

Surely, it’s not the LORD God ── is it? Most likely not. And, if it isn’t the LORD God, well… then… It’s an IDOL. You are breaking God’s commandments, first and foremost the first commandment, “’ You shall have no other gods before Me.’” – Exodus 20:3.

In the article Unless the Father Draws Him ── which we also have in audio, including audio in Swahili ── I give the definition of RELIGION.

It is not merely an incidental interest or hobby; it's not an ideology, or just something to “play” on Sunday, like one would go to a social club. Religion is your connection with the LORD God ── your relationship with God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Religion helps you to realize your greatest purpose for being born ── the very reason why you are here on planet Earth. The very purpose of your life. As well as how to properly live your life and how to reach your ultimate purpose.

The Right Goal 

The right goal in life ── is to pursue the very purpose of why the LORD God has put the breath of life in you ── it’s because you were born of God, to share in the very glory of creation, and to ultimately inherit divine nature, to be a GOD ── to create as they do, to accomplish what they accomplish, to truly enjoy what they enjoy ── true everlasting love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

No other goal in life is greater.

“’ But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, …’” – Matthew 6:33.

But look at you now. The Apostle James writes, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” – James 4:14. The most certain thing in this existence that we call “life” is what Benjamin Franklin was known to have said back in 1789, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” WE ARE GOING TO DIE.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” – Hebrews 9:27. 

Yet, the majority of people continue, day after day, month after month, and year after year, pumping this existence that we call “life” into themselves, with no more purpose than to try and be comfortable, or wealthy, or free from pain, and to please themselves with their five basic senses ── with their minds on the passing moments of the physical and the material things ── all of which will not last, all that will eventually be no more. 

Truly, truly, unless the LORD God’s holy and righteous character is being formed and developed in your mind ── in your innermost being ── replacing your carnal works of the flesh, which are: physical and spiritual adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, IDOLATRY, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness (and drunkenness not just from liquor or drugs, but also from false religions and false beliefs which leads to spiritual drunkenness, see: Revelation 18:3), revelries, and the like ── you will miss your ultimate goal. Because the LORD God’s greatest purpose is to create within you, during this lifetime, a new godly character, so that it can be perfected and that you may be gifted eternal life ── like God, self-containing, inherent LIFE.

Indeed, if Father God begins calling you, and you properly repent, and are properly baptized ── having hands laid upon you ── and receive the glorious gift of the Holy Spirit, placing within you their SPIRIT. Which enters into you their VERY LIFE ── begetting you as a child of God, yet unborn. What the majority of professing Christians call “being born again” should be termed “being begotten.”

Being born again actually means to be changed from mortal to immortal, from flesh and blood to SPIRIT. As God’s living word teaches us ──

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3) as His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him [God the Father] who called us by glory and virtue, 4) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – 2 Peter 1:2-4.

However, of course, our old human nature remains, and we continue to make decisions whether to yield to the works of the flesh, or to resist them by yielding to our new nature ── GOD’S NATURE WITHIN US ── led by the glorious Spirit of God.

Now, you can only succeed and reach your ultimate goal if you continually keep your eyes on the goal. When you are crossing a street while looking at your iPhone, and you have not looked both ways before crossing, you may find yourself waking up in a hospital, saying, “It all happened so fast!” Crossing any street means ALWAYS BEING ALERT ── being vigilant every moment ── not what you may deem “important” on your iPhone. 

In the same manner ── God’s living word says ── “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9) Resist him, steadfast in the faith, …” – 1 Peter 5:8, 9.

If you allow other interests, material pursuits, to steal away your mind and your heart, even for a few days, you are in grave danger of SPIRITUAL DEPLETION, that could easily let you wake up being plunged into “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” – Revelation 21:7-8. Which is the second death.

We shouldn’t love anything or anyone greater than the LORD God! Our Lord Jesus teaches, “’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38) And he who does not take his cross [the mission in life that the LORD God bestows upon you] and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39) He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.’” – Matthew 10:37-39.

This is one reason why the LORD God does not want you to have any gods before Him. For your own sake, for your own interest, you must keep the LORD God above all. And you must communicate with the LORD God, study God’s living word, and be instructed by them. 

Instructed in what? In the Word of God, the Truth of God, and in the Plan of God! In the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That we should live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And those words to live by are in our “Instruction Manual” that our Creator God has brought about to instruct us how to LIVE and OPERATE this greatest piece of hardware ── the human body! We are to study this “Instruction Manual” to discover and learn what the LORD God deems is right and what is deemed wrong ── “’ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you LIFE AND DEATH [speaking of the second death], blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, …’” – Deuteronomy 30:19. We must read, study, and learn from the LORD God in the Way of God. In the Way of RIGHTEOUSNESS. And we must devote our lives to living God’s Way.

Also, and this is mighty important as well, without regular and constant prayer to Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ, one cannot maintain God’s Spirit within. CHRIST IN YOU! And when God’s Spirit dwindles, the Apostle Paul had a phrase for that. Quench (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The glorious and divine attributes of God’s Spirit do flow through you as ‘rivers of living water.’ God’s Spirit should always be in motion. It should never stagnate within you. We should always be growing in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:14; 2 Peter 3:18). Because, as I’ve often said, and I probably heard this quoted from Albert Einstein, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” And as I’ve mentioned to my dear Sister before, even if we are born into the very family of God after the first resurrection (God willing), we will still be learning! Learning should never cease!

Truly, truly, if God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the things of God, the glorious knowledge of God, the Law of God, the love of God, the Way of God ── are always foremost on your mind, your thoughts, your interest ── and you are praying ‘without ceasing’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17), worshiping the Father ‘in spirit and truth’ then God’s Spirit will not be quenched. 

My friend, true spiritual mindedness is not just going to church on a Sunday, opening up a Bible and reading along with the minister, singing a hymn, then after services shaking everyone’s hand, then going home to watch Sunday afternoon football. Spiritual mindedness is not sentimentalism. It’s not something you do to show your neighbors that you are “a good guy.” It’s not just an emotional attitude. It’s not certain religious phrases that so many feel compelled to yell out in church services, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” Many people speak very “righteously” and “religiously” ── yet whose hearts are far from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was indeed a perfect spiritual being ── a man who never sinned (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22), yet he did not go about using overly religious-sounding words. He was not effeminate. He was a powerful, virile man ── showing us that true manliness is different from this world’s definition of manliness ── yet He was kind, understanding, and gentle. He possessed LEADERSHIP and STRENGTH perfectly blended with Wisdom, proper judgment, knowledge, justice, longsuffering, compassion, and mercy. And His decisions totally and always yielded to complete obedience to FATHER GOD! And think on this… something that, unlike what Satan the Devil wants you to believe … with God’s Spirit within us, we too can achieve! (cf. John 16:33; 1 John 5:4; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 2:7). WE CAN OVERCOME!

Our Lord Jesus Christ is our example. We must imitate Him! 

Take a moment and study some of the men and women of God in the Old Testament ── Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ruth, Moses, Esther, Jacob, Joseph, Rahab, David, Miriam, Daniel, Hannah, Elijah, Deborah, Elisha. They were all different from our Christ. And you and I are all different from our Christ. They, of course, had human nature, human weaknesses, and they all sinned, yet they all repented and strove to overcome. They were all men and women who had as their life’s goal their ultimate purpose for being alive. They were all guided by the LORD God; they all possessed leadership qualities (be sure to watch Personal From… Real Leadership), they all consecrated themselves to the OBEDIENCE and will of the LORD God.

Also, take a moment and study our beloved apostles Peter and Paul. They were different indeed when it came to their background, personality, and mission. Yet, they both had the same life’s goal ── the very reason why they were born. They were truly spiritual men, devoted to obeying the LORD God and serving mankind.

One thing to watch and guard against every moment of the day, the month, the year, is allowing a root of bitterness, of jealousy, of hatred, to take root. We should never allow ANYTHING, no matter how unjust, to make us sour and bitter. Because Satan the Devil will exploit this ── will use this to his advantage. It is a mental and spiritual poison that can spread within. Even our enemies, perceived or otherwise, we are to love. “’ But I say to you WHO HEAR: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28) bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.’” – Luke 6:27-28. Though we should never condone their evils.

If you believe that someone has done you wrong, do not take revenge (Romans 12:19), do not get bitter about it ── take it immediately before the throne of grace, the throne of justice, the throne of mercy, and let the LORD God punish and correct them. Now, whether you believe me or not, I have come, by some 44 years of life experience, often learning the hard way, to have supreme and complete faith in the LORD God, and that they will never neglect in correcting me when I deserve it. God corrects those He loves ── 

“And [do not forget] the exhortation which speaks to you as to [children]: 

‘My [children], do not despise the chastening of the LORD Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6) For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every [child] whom He receives.’” – Hebrews 12:5-6.

Remember, Brothers and Sisters, one of God’s commandments is to remember always the GLORIOUS MASTER PLAN THAT GOD NOT ONLY HAS IN MIND FOR US ── BUT FOR ALL MANKIND! A SEVEN-THOUSAND-YEAR PLAN! (Exodus 20:8). The Sabbath is a significant representation of God's Plan!

How grateful we ought to be to Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ! Our hearts should be overflowing with love and gratitude to our great and awesome CREATOR GOD for their love toward us. Surely, most of us don’t fully grasp what a huge price He paid for us to make our calling possible. He wants us to change, to overcome, to build, to root out and pull down (I go into detail concerning this, ‘to root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant’ in the sermon “’ Blow the Trumpet!’” Which we also have in audio, Spanish, Swahili, and Hebrew), and to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may share in His glory! □                  

Bibliography:

1) Webster, M. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, Merriam-Webster's Incorporated, 1996, pg. 1114. 

2) https://www.charliekirk.co.za/video/why-socialism-always-fails-charlie-kirk-debate-compilation/4680.

3) Wikipedia contributors. "Colombia–United States relations." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Dec. 2025. Web. 27 Dec. 2025.   

Personal From... Why I Keep the Feast of Tabernacles

Sadly, under the circumstances at this time, I am unable to travel to visit our brethren to keep and celebrate the Lord’s Feast of Tabernacles 2025. However, I personally keep and celebrate it at home. Yet, how many nominal Christians throughout the world have even so much heard the word “tabernacle” ── or let alone, the Feast of Tabernacles?

So very few of today’s “nominal Christians” even realize that our Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles, along with His New Covenant/New Testament Church, have kept and celebrated the Lord’s Feast of Tabernacles from the very beginning. How come it is, then, that those who profess to be Christians do not follow our Master, Savior, and Elder Brother’s example by keeping and celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles annually, along with the other Holy Days? Instead, they continue to keep and celebrate this world’s holidays such as Christmas, Halloween, St. Valentine’s Day, and even New Year's ── which originated from ancient paganism!

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2) ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.’”

These instructions came from the LORD God. When referring to the holy seventh-day Sabbath, the LORD’s Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Day of Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets ── a memorial of blowing of trumpets ── the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day, the LORD calls them, “the feasts of the LORD.” “So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.” – vs. 44. 

Why is it then that the overall vast majority of “nominal Christian” ministers teach their members that these God-ordained feasts and holy days are nothing more than “Jewish feasts” ── and teach their people that they don’t need to keep or celebrate them, because they're only for the Jews?

Notice that in this same chapter of the Book of Leviticus, the LORD clearly commands His people to “do no work on the seventh day, because it is a Sabbath ── it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.” In four separate places within His living and immutable word is commanded, “it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” – verses 14, 21, 31, 41.

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament renders the word “forever” ──  

1631a (‘ ôlām) forever, ever, ever-lasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world, etc. (RSV similar in general, but substitutes “always” for “in the world” in Ps 73:12 and “eternity” for “world” in Ecc 3:11). Probably derived from ‘ alam. 1 

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34) ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35) On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36) … On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, … It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.’” – verses 33-36.

Surely, because the LORD commanded that “for seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD,” people have concluded amongst themselves that the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles are no longer supposed to be kept, since animal sacrifices are no longer commanded within our Lord Jesus’ New Covenant, cf. Hebrews 8:6-13. The passage emphasizes that our Lord Jesus offered a better sacrifice than what was commanded by the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is based on the blood and sacrifice of our Savior and High Priest, being established upon better promises, as in the promise of eternal life.

Yet, that conclusion is not based upon sound reasoning. Animal sacrifices were actually offered unto the LORD on every day of every week (cf. Numbers 28:3-4), not just during the Feast of Tabernacles. Our Lord Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us absolutely ended the sacrifice of animals ── He is our Passover Lamb (cf. John 1:29).

“ … For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. …” – 1 Corinthians 5:7.

But our Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for us did not do away with the LORD’s annual feasts and holy days. His sacrifice did not mean that His followers were no longer to keep His weekly seventh-day Sabbath, or His yearly Sabbaths. 

Again, notice in what month in God’s Sacred Calendar the Feast of Tabernacles is to be kept and observed ── 

“’ On the FIFTEENTH DAY of the SEVENTH MONTH, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days.’” – Numbers 29:12.

The seventh month of God’s Sacred Calendar corresponds roughly with the Gregorian Calendar’s September/October.

It’s to be kept forever after the great fall harvest ── “’ You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14) And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite [the LORD God’s ministers and pastors], the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates.’” – Deuteronomy 16:13-14.

Even though there are awesome meanings behind keeping and celebrating this glorious Feast, we are truly to rejoice in keeping and celebrating the Lord’s Feast!

“’ Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, …’” – meaning, where He places His Name. “ … ‘because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.’” – Verse 15.

Truly, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the LORD God’s people are to have a type of cornucopia of wonderful foods and wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; “you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.” – Deuteronomy 14:22-29.

Also, three times a year, the LORD God’s people are commanded to make offerings as they are able in thankful appreciation to the ultimate Giver of all life ── the LORD God. 

“’ Three times a year all your males [the leader of your household] shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost], and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17) Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.’” – Deuteronomy 16:16-17.

Truly, truly I tell you ── when the children of Israel faithfully obeyed the LORD God, kept and properly celebrated the Lord’s feasts and holy days, they were immensely blessed and prospered in all the work of their hands. They were also protected from foreign invasion ── including an invasion of illegal immigrants. Yet, sadly, the children of Israel didn’t keep and properly celebrate the Lord’s commanded feasts and holy days very long ── even including changing the dates and times ── and the LORD God allowed the Gentile nations to invade, capture, and enslave them – cf. Ezekiel 20:12-24.

Sadly, the Northern Kingdom ── the kingdom of Israel ── was ultimately taken into captivity by the Assyrian Empire in about 721 BC. The “lost ten tribes,” or rather “the dispersed” of Israel, never returned to their homeland in Palestine. The Southern Kingdom ── the kingdom of Judah ── after their 70-year captivity from the third invasion (587 BC), did eventually return to the land of Palestine.

Coming to realize that their fathers had gone into captivity because they quit keeping and celebrating the Lord’s commanded feasts and holy days, the returning Jews began to keep the feasts and holy days again.

“And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.’ For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. …” – Nehemiah 8:9-12. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ Kept the Feast of Tabernacles

The Apostle Paul ── under divine inspiration ── has told us that to the Jews “were committed the oracles of God” – Romans 3:2, which included the keeping and celebrating of the Lord’s feasts and holy days. And, the Jews had begun to keep and celebrate them for the next 500 years, even until the time of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He, too, kept and celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. I spoke of this in my last article, “Let Us Observe the Feast of Tabernacles!”         

 

We find our Lord Jesus’ activities during the Feast of Tabernacles in the Book of John, chapters 7 through 9.

“After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2) Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. … 

14) Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.” – John 7:1-2, 14. 

Then, “On the last day, that great day of the feast [the evening of the 21st of Tishri], Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38) He who believes [on] Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ 39) But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing [on] Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” – John 7:37-39.

However, it behooves me to mention ── Not one place in all of the New Testament do we see our Lord Jesus directly participating in any of the Old Covenant various Jewish customs and religious rituals that grew up around the holy Feast of Tabernacles. And I know that’s probably a blasphemous statement to say, but the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees were practicing customs and religious rites that the LORD God had never told the children of Israel within the Old Covenant to keep or celebrate. We are to keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day in a more heightened and spiritual manner, not with Old Covenant customs and religious rituals. 

The Apostles Kept the Feast of Tabernacles

God’s living word clearly reveals to us that the apostles continued keeping and celebrating the feasts and the holy days of the Lord’s after the establishment of Jesus Christ’s Church, which began in A.D. 31.

The Apostle Paul ── an apostle to the Gentiles ── also kept the Lord’s feasts and holy days. Notice ──

“And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; …” – Acts 16:13.

“But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, …” – Acts 20:6.

“ … for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.” – Acts 20:16. 

“And he [Apostle Paul] came to Ephesus … 20) When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, 21) but took leave of them, saying, ‘I must by all means keep this coming feast [the Feast of Tabernacles] in Jerusalem.” – Acts 18:19-21.     

What did the Apostle Paul mean by, “You observe days and months and seasons and years”?

A great many people misunderstand the meaning of the Apostle Paul’s statement in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 10 concerning “days and months and seasons and years.” 

Here is what our beloved Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians ──

“But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature ARE NOT GODS. 9) But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn AGAIN to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage [the bondage of paganism]? 10) You observe days and months and seasons and years.” – Galatians 4:8-10.

So, what is the Apostle Paul saying here? Notice again, “You [Gentiles; because he is speaking to Gentile converts] observe days and months and seasons and years.” Is the Apostle Paul saying that they observe the Lord’s feasts and holy days? No.

Keep in mind, the Apostle Paul is talking to Gentile Galatians who had never kept or observed the Lord’s commanded feasts or holy days. They were, however, observing ── as were the other Gentile nations ── certain days, months, seasons, and years of… as he had said earlier… of, by nature ARE NOT GODS. The Apostle Paul was admonishing the Gentile converts, “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.” – verse 11. Brother Paul was bemoaning the Galatians’ lusting to go back to their former ways and hold to their former pagan customs and observances. 

Another verse within God’s living word that is often misunderstood or twisted is Isaiah 1:14 ── “’ Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.’”

Well… critical commentators and critics alike overlook the plain and understanding history of the children of Israel and their Gentile neighbors. Our Eternal God said, “’ I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. … 8:10) I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, And baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, And its end like a bitter day.’” – Amos 5:21; 8:10. 

“’ I will also cause all her mirth to cease, Her feast days, Her New Moons, Her Sabbaths ── All her appointed feasts.’” – Hosea 2:11.

The LORD was not speaking of divinely appointed feasts and holy days, but man-made New Moons and appointed feasts and sabbaths that were ── and many of which continue to be ── observed in the nations descended from the children of Israel. These New Moons and appointed feasts the LORD hates! The children of Israel did not continue keeping and properly observing the Lord’s feasts and holy days. They ultimately refused His statutes and judgments (Ezekiel 20:18). Rather, they began to keep and celebrate pagan feasts, New Moons, and holidays of their surrounding neighbors. Not only does secular history show us this ── but God’s living word tells us this!

There were major changes with the Law of God, when Israel divided into two separate kingdoms ── “[King] Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of THE EIGHTH MONTH, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. … 33) So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of THE EIGHTH MONTH, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. …” – I Kings 12:32, 33.

That was the beginning steps in which the kingdom of Israel began to depart from the Lord’s Law. So, to keep his people from going down to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD ── he feared that the people might then, in their heart, turn back to Rehoboam king of Judah ── he built and constructed two golden calves and altars to sacrifice upon unto the LORD.

Thereafter, the kingdom of Israel began to keep New Moons, and their self-appointed feasts unto the LORD. They changed the LORD God’s Sabbath into the idolatrous day of the sun ── which is called Sunday. Now, something to keep in mind ── the kingdom of Israel partially retained a perverted version of the original feast days – II Kings 17:8. 

Now… when “the dispersed” of the kingdom of Israel is next found in our secular history, now as the nations of Northwestern Europe, they are fully keeping the day of the sun ── Her Sabbath. So, the Eternal LORD our God never hated nor abolished His appointed feasts and holy days. However, the LORD certainly hated ── and hates today ── all the different New Moons, feasts, and holidays which the nations that are descended from the kingdom of Israel celebrate!

Why do I keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles?

First and foremost, because the LORD calls His Sabbaths, feasts, and holy days, ‘The feasts of the LORD. These shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.’ 

My ancestors are mostly from the tribe of Benjamin ── which my research shows, my paternal 6th great-grandfather travelled from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to the shores of Virginia in 1696. Six ancestral regions are England & Northwestern Europe (53%), Scotland (31%), Germanic Europe (7%), Denmark (4%), Sweden (3%), and the Netherlands (2%). We in the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries believe that the descendants of the kingdom of Israel traveled to many locations around the world. “BENJAMIN also seems to have been represented by the NORMANS” 2 A portion of Mr. Yair Davidiy’s book reads, “Manasseh is especially evident in the USA, and was once present in Scotland.”

I also, of course, keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, certainly did, setting us an example for all true believers who follow in His steps. I also keep and celebrate this important and meaningful Feast because the New Covenant Church of God did ── and continues to do so.

I keep and celebrate the Lord’s feasts and holy days because God’s living word prophesies that during our Lord Jesus’ Millennial Reign all nations ── “’ whichever of the families of the earth’” ── who do not come up to New Jerusalem to worship the King, and who do not keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, those nations shall be punished – Zechariah 14:16-19.

I keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles because it also pictures the Millennial great harvest of mankind on this planet, during the King of kings and Lord of lords’ rule!

I keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, because for 44 years I have known of the Lord’s ordained Feast. My first Feast that I attended with my grandmother was the Feast of Tabernacles 1984 in Eugene, Oregon, when I was 15 years old. I can still recall Mr. Armstrong speaking to us via satellite on a huge projection screen from Pasadena, California!

I keep the LORD’s wonderful Feast of Tabernacles because this is the fall season when all of God’s true people get away from their daily cares, the hustle and bustle of daily life, and certainly from the untold evils and vilest of Satan the Devil’s world, and we physically and spiritually fellowship with our brethren ── God’s begotten children who are of one accord for eight days! 

Keeping & celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day, I can “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” – 2 Peter 3:18. For eight restful and rejuvenating days I can eat before the LORD our God whatever my heart desires (of course, continuing to obey the LORD God’s food law), and not forgetting God’s ministers, the strangers, the fatherless and the widows within our gates. Eight glorious days, also, to meditate and reflect on the LORD God’s Way, of the living word of God, and of their great and awesome Master Plan… From the Beginning for all mankind!

I also keep the Lord’s feasts and holy days because I reverently fear God, and I want to continue “keep[ing] His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” – 1 John 3:22. 

The Whole World Will Eventually Keep & Celebrate This Feast! 

God’s living & unmovable word ── the word of God that is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, that can pierce through even to the division of body and spirit, of joints and marrow. A word that is a discerner of our very thoughts & intents of the heart ── tells us that this present evil age will never experience true and lasting peace and prosperity until the LORD God’s kingdom is established upon this planet. 

Surely, when God’s government is established upon the Earth, will mankind continue going by the Gregorian calendar, celebrating their present pagan holidays such as Christmas, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, or St. Valentine’s Day? Or, will they then … having been given a new heart and a new spirit, having God’s Spirit within them… begin to walk in God’s statutes, keeping God’s judgments ── including the keeping and celebrating all of the Lord’s feasts and holy days? – cf. Ezekiel 36:24-32.

Yes! God Almighty Most High forever be praised!  

“And it shall come to pass [at the beginning of our Lord Jesus’ Millennium Reign] that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” – Zechariah 14:16. 

Now… what will happen if such nations as Gog and Magog (meaning, Siberia, China, and the Russian Confederation) decide that they will not obey the LORD God and will not come up from year to year to worship the King and to keep and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles?

“And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.” – Verse 17. 

If a nation refuses to worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords and keep this meaningful and important Feast, that nation will receive “the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”           

Today, in this present age ── on the Lord’s 3rd day of the Feast of Tabernacles ── thousands of God’s begotten children are gathering together to keep & celebrate this very meaningful Feast! It truly is a time of rejoicing in the LORD our God, of true Christian fellowship, and it’s a glorious time to experience, even just a little, of what the soon-coming kingdom of God will be like! – cf. Matthew 17:1-5; Mark 9:2-7; Luke 9:28-35. □

1) Harris L. R., Archer, L. Gleason, Jr., and Waltke K. Bruce. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1980, #1631a, pg. 672.

2) Davidiy, Y. Hebrew Tribes: The Israelite Tribal Identification of Western Peoples, Russell-Davis Publishing, Jerusalem, Israel, 2021, pg. 232.  

Personal From... Christ's Kingdom Come!

EVERY NIGHT ── just beyond our locked windows and doors ── lurks, rapists, murderers, terrorists, and assassins! Not actors, but REAL people, who murder in cold blood. Such as Aiden Zellmer in 2017, who was 15 years-old at the time, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 40 years for the rape and brutal murder of 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell. It certainly makes you wonder what kind of world we are living in! 

What about July 13, 2024 ── the then former President of the United States and Republican Party nominee in 2024 for the presidential election, Donald Trump’s attempted assassination? What about April 15, 1865? What about November 22, 1963? In this present evil age, presidents, kings, prime ministers, heads of state ── and even those running for office are often assassinated. In Christ’s Kingdom to Come, this will stop! That is one huge difference between this evil and horrid world today and the kingdom to come ── when peace, world prosperity, and well-being for all people will come. 

What is the real cause behind all the violence, mayhem, cruelty, and crime ── the stench of our moral decay ── in a world in which 692 million people globally live in extreme poverty and squalor? 1

After the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, and lying on a gurney in the trauma bay, a chest tube draining blood from his side, Reagan sought to calm down his wife, Nancy, with a quip. “Honey, I forgot to duck.” And just before he was put under for surgery, he cracked to his surgeons: “I hope you are all Republicans.”  Dr. Joseph Giordano, a liberal Democrat, replied: “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.”

Today, my friends, “We should all be followers of Jesus Christ!” But, we should all also be in reverent fear of falling “into the hands” of an angry living God! (Hebrews 10:31). 

“You, Yourself, are to be feared; And who may stand in Your presence When once You are angry?” – Psalm 76:7.

What about the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan ── John Hinckley Jr.? He had an unhealthy fixation on an underage actress who was playing a 12-year-old prostitute! In 2016, a federal judge ruled that Hinckley could be released from psychiatric care as he was no longer considered a threat to himself or others. After his release, a person wrote on Instagram, “We do believe that ex-cons and people with mental illness can recover, and that we should want them to maintain hope that they can better themselves and earn a chance to rejoin society... but we are living in dangerous times.”

Yes. We are living in dangerous times! Our sick and violent societies, with their out-of-control immoralities, their permissiveness, their spirit of rebellion against authority, their pride, greed, envy, jealousy, and hate ── are producing mass murderers.

A 2025 report by USA Today headlined, “2025 is already on track for an increase in deaths from extremist violence.” A new report from the Anti-Defamation League shows the number of extremist murders this year has already exceeded 2024. 2 

Studies suggest that many mass murderers have experienced childhood trauma, personal crises, or grievances. They may also exhibit warning signs like social isolation, a history of violence, or suicidal tendencies. Access to firearms and exposure to violent ideologies can also play a role. 3 Also, the stereotype of a mass shooter is a white male with a history of mental illness or domestic violence. 

Lee Harvey Oswald, the supposed assassin of President John F. Kennedy, was described as withdrawn and temperamental by several people who knew him.

Giuseppe Zangara, who attempted to assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, observers at the time and following his execution have discussed his mental state. Arguments have been made that Zangara was mentally ill, incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. 4 

What about ── Charles Guiteau, who shot President James Garfield in the back July 2, 1881 ── As Garfield entered the station, looking forward to a vacation with his wife in Long Branch, Guiteau stepped forward and shot Garfield twice from behind, the second shot piercing the first lumbar vertebra but missing the spinal cord. Guiteau announcing, “I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts.” According to Brian Resnick of The Atlantic, Guiteau “worshiped” the Oneida Communities founder John Humphrey Noyes, with Guiteau once writing that he had “perfect, entire and absolute confidence in [Noyes] in all things.” 5 Guiteau’s own father believed him to have been irresponsible and insane. And, if you’ve ever seen a photograph of him, he had a wild-eyed, crazy look about him. 

Then ── Leon Czolgosz. The American laborer and anarchist who assassinated United States President William McKinley on September 6, 1901. While McKinley innocently extended his hand to Czolgosz, he slapped it aside and shot McKinley twice in the stomach at point-blank range. While many members of the crowd began beating Czolgosz, the gravely wounded McKinley said to them, “Take it easy, boys.” He died 8 days later of gangrene caused by the wounds. Czolgosz was a recluse. He had become impressed after hearing a speech by the anarchist Emma Goldman. 

Also, there was John N. Schrank, who was hallucinating and was obsessed with Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. He ended up shooting Roosevelt at point-blank range. Doctors at the time diagnosed Schrank as having paranoid schizophrenia.

Each of these men possessed a fancied but wrong cause, having emotional feelings of some personal animosity, feeling as if they were a man of destiny ── an instrument of God. Truly, how twisted and perverted in thinking a man can get regarding the LORD God!

John Wilkes Booth had written in his red leather diary, “Our Country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment. The country is not what it was.” Booth was, unknowingly, referring to the wrong god ── he was referring to the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4).

On the day Garfield died, Guiteau wrote to President Chester A. Arthur, “My inspiration is a godsend to you, and I presume that you appreciate it. . . . Never think of Garfield's removal as murder. It was an act of God.”

Each of these assassins mentioned was a stereotypical “white” male with a history of mental illness or domestic violence. Each was a little man ── seized with a spirit of a satanic force, with illusions of a perverted sense of destiny. How can any nation protect us from such people? In this world ── they cannot.

But in Christ’s Kingdom to Come, it will be completely different! The physical men who will be in governmental office and authority will have the LORD God’s Law in their minds, and written on their hearts. “’ No more shall every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ says the LORD.” – Jeremiah 31:31-34. 

Let’s go over a quick study of what we mean by Christ’s Kingdom to Come. God’s living word speaks of three separate ages ── 

1.  The world, or rather the age, prior to Patriarch Noah and the Great Flood ── also known as the antediluvian period ── was the age that the Apostle Peter referred to as “the world that then existed” – 2 Peter 3:6.
2. The world after the Great Flood up to now is referred to by the Apostle Paul as “this present evil age” – Galatians 1:4. 
3. The world to come, or rather the age to come, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke concerning – “ ’── and in the age to come.’” – Mark 10:30; see also Matthew 12:32. And, He makes it clear what age He is speaking of ── “’ But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36) nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.’” ── Luke 20:35-36. The Millennial Rule of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Certainly, you’ve read Matthew 24:3, “ … And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” – NKJV. The disciples asked Him this two-part question some 1,992 years ago! It is referring not to the end of Earth’s existence like the false prophetess Ellen G. White taught, but rather to the end of this “present evil age.”

In this Personal From… let me give you a very short outline of what this glorious best-selling Book of books says concerning Christ’s Kingdom to Come. 

There is a most wonderful and awesome prophecy that foretold the birth of our Savior ──

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7) Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time FORWARD, EVEN FOREVER. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7. 

The same thing was announced to Mary, the mother of Jesus ──

“ …’ Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob FOREVER, and of His kingdom THERE SHALL BE NO END.’” – Luke 1:30-33.

Our Lord Jesus announced, “’ My kingdom is not of this world. …’” – John 18:36. His gospel message was His Kingdom to Come, of which He was born to be the King ── 

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2) As it is written in the Prophets: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ 3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” – Mark 1:1-3.

“ … Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15) and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” – Mark 1:14, 15. 

And truly ── the definition of a kingdom, “1 archaic: KINGSHIP. 2: a politically organized community or major TERRITORIAL unit having a monarchial form of GOVERNMENT headed by a king or queen.” 6 

1. A government.
2. A family unit that grows into a nation with its own government – i.e., the Turkish nation that is primarily composed of the descendants of Esau.

The children of Jacob ── whose name was changed to Israel ── would also grow into a kingdom. The kingdom of Israel.

Millions of people erroneously believe that the Church is the Kingdom of God. Yet, in 1st Corinthians 15:50-53, we clearly read “that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51) Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ── 52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead [the dead in Christ] will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality, …”  

Sadly, the Mormons twist this into their belief ── “he means the works of the flesh and blood,” 7 ── even though this is not at all what the Apostle Paul was speaking about. “Flesh and blood” of the physical body as our present (note vs. 44) – cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice the promise from our Lord Jesus to those who are converted, who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit in this “present evil age.” That when they are resurrected, they will be immortal spirit beings ── in His Kingdom to Come ──

“’ And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations ── 27) ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ ── as I also have received from My Father.’” – Revelation 2:26-27.

Also ── 

“’ To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’” – Revelation 3:21. 

Let us forever praise our God Most High, and our Lord Jesus Christ ── God’s living word teaches us that this “present evil age” is soon to come to an end when the SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS THE TRUMPET ──

“ … And there were loud voices in [the atmosphere], saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord [God the Father] and of His Christ, and He shall reign FOREVER AND EVER!’” – Revelation 11:15.

This is the MOST GLORIOUS AND WONDERFUL GOOD NEWS that has ever been announced! □

Bibliography

1 https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/september-2024-global-poverty-update-from-the-world-bank-revise.

2 Carless, W., 2025 is already on track for an increase in deaths from extremist violence: Exclusive, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2025. 

3 Noriega, D. and Owen, T., Nearly All Mass Shooters Since 1966 Have Had 4 Things in Common, Vice, 19 Nov. 2019. Gillett, T.M., New database compiles common traits of US mass shooters, Jurist news, 5 Feb. 2022.

4 Possley, M., AN INTRIGUING LOOK AT THE MAN WHO TRIED TO KILL FDR, Chicago Tribune archive.today, 18 Oct. 1998. Retrieved 30 April 2025. 

5 Resnick, B., This Is the Brain that Shot President James Garfield, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2025.

6 Webster, M. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition, Merriam-Webster’s Incorporated, 1996, pg. 643.

7. Ante-Nicene Fathers 3 §451, Tertullian 207 AD. See also:

https://fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Plan_of_salvation/Resurrection/Mormon_views_regarding.