A Word From Johnny Enlow

Another good word posted on the Elijah List today from Johnny Enlow.

"The New Audacious Wineskin and How to Prepare for the Coming Economic Changes"

Johnny Enlow, Santa Clarita, CA

An Audacious Wineskin

As I was seeking the Lord about the increased earthquake activity, particularly in the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the sudden record rain storms in Texas and other places, I heard the Lord say, "The new wineskin is here and its name is Audacious."

Scripture tells us that it's imperative to find a new wineskin before the new wine comes in order to ensure that the new wine is not wasted. Another major upgrade of Kingdom wine is about to be poured out and it's critical that we shift out of mentalities based in caution, fear, or passivity and into a way of thinking that will carry the new anointing we need in order to be world-changers. The new wine that's coming is a powerful upgrade from what has previously been poured out and will bring a greater level of transformation and reformation of society than ever before.

The Lord then began to further explain what it means to be or carry an "audacious wineskin." God has been sifting and shifting many of His leaders so that they are no longer striving and driven. He's been emphasizing the words wisdomand rest for these leaders. However, wisdom and rest doesn't mean passivity and caution, but rather becomes that which allows us to shift into a new radical normal. (Photo via Pixabay)

Matthew 11:12 speaks of the Kingdom of God "suffering violence" and "the violent taking it by force." The Lord began to show me that very intense days are before us, but it will be a good intensity that's evidence that kingdoms are clashing. The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing on the earth right now, and the repercussions of that are this: If you don't know how to spiritually perceive, you can incorrectly deduce that the opposite is taking place. You can wrongly perceive the collapsing of a demonic structure as "the world falling apart." The best, and perhaps the only way, to stay in a state of spiritual clarity is by stepping into the new audacious wineskin.

Audacious Defined

I found the following definitions for the word audacious,"showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks, recklessly brave, very bold and surprising or shocking, extremely original, without restriction to prior ideas, highly inventive." These are all worth thoroughly examining. The Holy Spirit will be encouraging an audacity in each of us in the months leading up to Rosh Hashanah, and it's important that we respond.

I believe I was shown that one of the main reasons for the delay in ISIS being dealt with is that this demonically-inspired movement has raised the bar in intensity for something we must, at minimum, match with a proper Kingdom response. At some point, every time we read of another ISIS attack, instead of it wreaking fear and anxiety in us – something at least as intense in the spirit should arise in us that declares an end to that darkness.

We should feel an arising in us that snuffs out that kind of demonic activity. ISIS is symbolic of so many other things that also require a Kingdom audaciousness. Something needs to rise in us that beheads fear, hopelessness, anxiety, and passivity.The Kingdom age is upon us at full throttle, and we must make the shift into a new wineskin.

Outrageous, Courageous and Even Presumptuous

In addition to making us audacious, I believe God is also giving us permission to become outrageous, courageous, and even presumptuous.

Outrageous is defined as "highly unusual or unconventional, extravagant and remarkable, very bold, unusual and startling." God is preparing us for an unprecedented season of Kingdom expansion. You must fear NOTHING and become outrageous in the demonstration of who He uniquely made you to be.

Courageous is defined as "brave, fearless, valiant, heroic, lionhearted, unshrinking, venturesome." This is Kingdom DNA He wants activated in us to a whole new level. I sensed from the Lord that even the niche of the Body of Christ that we represent has become much too placid and reticent and dominated by surprising levels of fear. The prophetic edge has a unique call and assignment to be the most audacious, courageous, and outrageous – but many have been blunted by the enemy's assault in recent years where he specifically targeted prophetic- and apostolic-minded people.(Photo via Pixabay)

Presumptuous is a word that's generally viewed negatively. It means "showing a lack of proper social reserve or modesty." This can sound extreme, but it's that which King David exhibited when he danced before the Lord intensely, until his clothes came off. Saul's daughter Michal, judged him as "lacking proper social reserve or modesty" and, by doing so, she shut off fruitfulness from her own life.

Furthermore, I sensed the Lord speaking to me that He was ready to work with some of His kids who "presumed" upon Him. These would be those that would "presume" He is for them and not against them – those that would "presume" He wants to advance them in their call and destiny. He said those that enter into this kind of presumptuousness would step into doing mighty exploits that would short-circuit the enemy all over the place, while advancing the Kingdom.

The Coming Economic Changes and How to Prepare: Don't Hoard

I believe I've been shown that the archangel over the Mountain of Economy is being activated in a special way this Rosh Hashanah – and that's no small deal. This will be an initiative of our Father as He responds to the prayers of so many of His kids over the course of many years. Because of that, we shouldn't dread or be apprehensive about what we've been asking for.

For instance, the recent news headlines regarding some of the world's most influential banks receiving billions of dollars in fines for fraudulent currency trading, as well as other financial misdeeds, is actually a good thing. Greater accountability is coming to world economic manipulators, and we will see that increase in the coming year. Exposure is another preliminary stage before new systems and structures can be instituted.

The Lord also showed me that one of the key ways to prepare for the coming economic upheavals was to make sure we don't hoard or have a hoarding mentality. We must not revert to an orphan mentality, as if we have to figure out everything on our own or how to protect ourselves financially. Sons and daughters trust in their God, and it's that mentality that will carry us through the coming bumps in the road. His counterintuitive instruction to us is to become even more radical givers and investors.

We must become more carefree about the economy and its potential to devastate. The key is not in pulling out of the stock market, nor is it in loading up in gold or silver. Ultimately, there's no hedge, other than absolute trust in God matched with audacious, outrageous, courageous, and even presumptuous generosity and boldness. (Photo via Pixabay)

The righteous are bold as lions, and in this shifting season – this will be your greatest hedge against economic calamity. Fear nothing else – only obey audaciously and do not hoard. If you're not sure if you're actually hoarding, then just ask the Holy Spirit and He will tell you. He is wanting all of us to grow in our Most High Trust Account, because it's the only account that brings with it peace of mind. No one who believes they have a Joseph call can enter into that call without investing significantly in their Most High Trust Account. The coming Josephs will be channels of resources more than dams of resources. Dams hoard, but channels freely and easily dispense and disperse funds.

So, may the audacious, outrageous, courageous, and even presumptuous sons and daughters of the King of kings now begin to break off every shackle of fear, caution, or gloomy-mindedness and may they arise and shine with the out-of-the-box magnificence, generosity, and creativity of the King they represent.

Johnny Enlow
Johnny and Elizabeth
Email: Contact@JohnnyandElizabeth.com
Website: JohnnyandElizabeth.com

Heritage Days Night Of Bluegrass - June 12, 2015

      We are really getting excited around here about the Heritage Days Festival, June 12-14.   To help you see why, and possibly entice you into coming, I'm posting one of the press releases that is going out this week to over 30 newspapers in our area.  I will continue to post the others as the week progresses.

A NIGHT OF BLUEGRASS WILL OPEN 

MARTINSVILLE’S HERITAGE DAYS FESTIVAL

Come out and enjoy “A Night of Bluegrass”, featuring four bands in four hours at the Linn Park Amphitheater in downtown Martinsville on Friday, June 12.  The Night of Bluegrass will kick off Martinsville’s 2015 Heritage Days Festival scheduled for June 12-14.

Firebox

Coon Holler Kids

The Night of Bluegrass will feature four popular bands, including Salt Creek, Coon Holler Kids, Cornfields& Crossroads and Firebox.  Members of Salt Creek, play a variety of string instruments and have won numerous fiddle and banjo competitions.  The Coon Holler Kids are a group of young, talented musicians from the Clinton, Indiana area, who are dedicated to keeping the spirit of traditional Bluegrass alive for the next generation and beyond.  Cornfields and Crossroads is a high energy band based out of Indianapolis.  Each time they perform, their goal is to lighten the hearts of music lovers through traditional, contemporary and gospel bluegrass music.  Firebox, based out of Central Illinois, specializes in the traditional bluegrass sound, styled after the bands of the late 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. 

There will be food vendors at the Park, so bring your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the evening.  The first band will start at 6:00 p.m.

The 2015 Festival is packed full of entertainment, artisan vendors, demonstrations of period-life skills, a Native American Reenactment, and Artifacts Display, barrel train rides for the kids, a community worship service, an Equine Parade and a Draft Horse, Mule & Haflinger Show on June 13 & 14 and all of your favorite food vendors.  All evening entertainment will be held at the Linn Park Amphitheater (intersection of Mill and Cumberland) and the daytime activities, including the parade and horse show will be held at the Martinsville Fairgrounds. 

For a detailed schedule of all Festival events, go to: martinsvilleheritagedays.com   Except for food, ALL events of the Festival are FREE.

Mychal Massie: Stand Up or Get Run Over

I say 'Amen' to this good word from Mychal Massie.  The time is now!

Stand Up or Get Run Over

by Mychal Massie on June 2, 2015 in Daily Rant, Race & Politics

As we straddle the days between Memorial Day, D-Day, and Independence Day, it is paramount that I challenge you, (yet again), to stand up.

I view truth as a variant form of a palindrome. The truth is the truth regardless of whose mouth and/or pen it comes from. And, with that said, the purveyors of same should disinterest themselves pursuant to how the truth is received by those who embrace evil as good, and good as evil.

I am tired of people telling me that because of my color, only I can say the things I say and make the points I make pertaining to blacks. Following their logic only white Southerners would have had the right to speak out against slavery or Jim Crow.

This is particularly true of those who claim to be Christians. Liars abhor the truth and they will go to every length available to subvert and discourage the presentation of same.

Specific to that point, it is my opinion that oftentimes people avoid speaking the truth as a means of removing themselves from being involved. Perhaps they are afraid of being ostracized; perhaps they are just timid.

But there comes a time when in the life of every man, woman, and child that they must stand up for the truth or face forever the bullying and demagoguery – and that time is now.

Many are attacked as much, but none are attacked more or called more names for speaking the truth than I am. But in the absence of fact and intellectual standing, that is all those who bastardize truth can do.

While liberals are prolific distorters of truth and pernicious revisionists, i.e., liars – it is blacks, liberals, and homosexuals who rely upon threats and intimidation. I should here say if their positions were just, there would be no need for such actions. The truth would stand on its own merit and not depend upon their vitriol and threats.

We cannot sit silent shivering in fear of what we may be called or of what people will say. The future of America is dependent upon our confronting lies with truth. Evil only triumphs when good men do nothing. If we do nothing; if we depend upon others to speak for us, we will doom what future we have left.

As Martin Luther King famously said: “Yet there are in [America] millions of people of goodwill whose voices are yet unheard, whose course is yet unclear, and whose courageous acts are yet unseen. These persons are often silent today because of fear — fear of social, political and economic reprisals. In the name of God, in the interest of human dignity, and for the cause of democracy these millions are called upon to gird up their courage, to speak out, to offer leadership that is needed.”

“If the people of goodwill [in America] fail to act now, history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people. Our generation will have to repent not only for the words and acts of the children of darkness but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light.” (Dinkier Plaza Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia; 1/27/65)

Those who espouse extremism and who have committed themselves to the deconstruction of our great nation foment discord and froth boorish vitriol in the hope of intimidating us into silence.

They are fully aware of that which so many truly concerned people fail to recognize. Said being, the only way for them to be victorious is to keep us silent and afraid. Faith in God Almighty and our collective voices are our greatest strengths.

When we rose up against government anarchy in 2010 (vis-a`-vis the Tea Party revolution), we not only triumphed – we sent a clarion message to those in power and their radical minions. But instead of staying on point we retreated to our living rooms trusting politicians to carry on for us.

I warned at the time that was a critical mistake and my warnings have been borne out. We cannot afford to relax. Good soldiers are always on guard and prepared for the next attempted assault on our freedoms.

As Ronald Reagan said: “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We’ll preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we’ll sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness. (A Time For Choosing; The Speech; 10/27/1964)

Americans on bent knees to God carried the saber of resolve to ensure our standard of life. We must not let their commitment be in vain.

Annoying & Destructive: Raccoons

      Raccoons are such destructive, irritating animals!  If you live in the country you are very familiar with the destruction they can cause--mostly at night because coons are usually nocturnal animals. They seem to get into anything and everything.  They dig up my newly planted flowers.  They eat the cat's food and even carry their bowls away--especially if they are shiny metal.  If they can get into a barn they will tear feed bags open and overturn buckets.  It looks like a disaster area when they leave.  If possible, they climb onto bird feeders.  Many of the plants I have planted near the feeders have been smashed as the coons fall on them in their attempt to get past the squirrel baffle attached to the pole of our main feeder.

      This aggressive and determined coon broke the baffle in two, climbed the pole, and was eating bird seed in broad daylight.  So annoying!

Dan Smith

     Here is one remarkable man--Dan Smith.  Even though he is in the midst of battling pancreatic cancer he took the time to install the donor plaque on the new Linn Park Amphitheater.  Isn't it beautiful?

     Dan is an inspiration to hundreds as he shares his adventure in healing with his Facebook friends.  He has many people praying for him and carries a list of all the churches (over 100 the last I heard) whose prayer chain he is on.  

    The doctor told him yesterday he has handled the aggressive chemotherapy they are giving him better than anyone in his 13 years' experience.  Of course, Dan gives all the credit to the Lord Jesus who is hearing and answering prayers.

       If you would like to read his meditations go to his Facebook page and ask to be his friend.  He loves sharing with others.

For The Saluting Marine

Such a touching and inspiring video!  I wish I had seen it yesterday so I could have shared it on Memorial Day but no matter.  It is worth watching any day.

Marine Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers out again for Rolling Thunder...with ...

This video tells why Tim Chambers--the man in the above video--does this.

What We Accomplished on Tuesday

Here is what the area looked like when the land was given to the City as a park.  This is the old blacksmith shop, the front of which, was totally covered in vines.

This is the same area after we planted the garden Tuesday.

Eight hard-working volunteers came on Tuesday to plant the garden.  Now we only need to mulch it, label the plants, and get the old wrought iron fence sandblasted, powder coated and installed and the garden will be finished.  Quite a difference from 3 years ago, don't you think?   Last year we had the garage painted to match the new Amphitheater and will use the bay of the garage next to the Garden as a concession stand for our events.  It is exciting to see the plans we have been working on for 3 years come to pass!  We are very pleased with the results!

Dr. Ben Carson

    I get so tired of hearing about racism and particularly about how racist whites are, don't you?  How often do we hear how racist blacks are, and yet it is angry, bitter, black men whose anger toward 'whitey' is fed by the news media (and our President & his wife) who are destroying their own neighborhoods.  I am certain most people are not racist.  The problem is we are not allowed to applaud black men & women of integrity.  I believe Ben Carson is one of those--a man to be applauded because of who he is and what he has done--not for the color of his skin.

    Every time I read something about, or listen to him speak, I am impressed!  I believe he would make an excellent President because he listens to God, he prays, and he is not afraid to speak his mind. This article is from Breaking Christian News and was re-posted on The Elijah List today.

"God Gave Me a Prophetic Dream That Changed Everything"

Ben Carson, West Friendship, Maryland

"I really began to understand early in my life the incredible power of prayer and our connection to God, and what a difference it made throughout my entire medical career." –Dr. Ben Carson

(Washington, DC)—Dr. Ben Carson, retired pediatric neurosurgeon and recently announced Republican presidential candidate, gave a moving personal speech at the National Day of Prayer event in Washington, DC, May 7.

One key story he shared was of a prophetic dream that changed the course of his life while he was a pre-med student at Yale.

Failing his chemistry course, a prerequisite for medical school, he had one last opportunity to pull off a passing grade. But the night before his final exam, still not comprehending the material, he cried out to God for a prophetic move.

"'Lord, medicine is the only thing I've ever wanted to do,'" Carson recounted his prayer at the breakfast. "'I thought that was what You wanted from me. And yet, it looks like I'm going to fail chemistry and I'm not going to go to medical school. (Photo via Charisma News) 

"And I said, 'So would You please tell me what it is You really want me to do. Or, alternatively and preferably, work a miracle,'" he continued, eliciting chuckles from the audience.

After praying, Carson had picked up his Chemistry textbook, determined to learn the whole course overnight. But his efforts were futile, and he fell asleep.

His slumber, however, bore more fruit than his attempts at all-night cramming ever could. While he slept, God answered Carson's prayers with a prophetic dream.

"I was in this large auditorium," Carson described the dream. "Just me, and a nebulous figure working out chemistry problems." When he awoke early the next morning, the dream was fresh and vivid in his mind as he looked through his textbook.

"When I went to take the test the next morning, it was like The Twilight Zone," Carson said. "I opened that [test] book and I recognized the first problem; it was one of the ones I'd dreamed about. And the next, and the next, and the next."

"I aced the exam," he said to rousing applause.

"I really began to understand early in my life the incredible power of prayer and our connection to God, and what a difference it made throughout my entire medical career," Carson said at the end of the story.

To continue reading click here. 

Dr. Carson is a prolific writer and author, having published eight books, including his autobiography, Gifted Hands, and two titles that were New York Times Bestsellers, America the Beautiful, Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, and One Nation, What We All Can Do to Save America's Future, which was on the New York Times Best Sellers List for twenty weeks, five of those weeks at #1. Gifted Hands was the subject of the award-winning, made-for-television movie under the same title as the book in which Cuba Gooding, Jr., played Dr. Carson in the leading role.

Linn Park Garden & Brick Path

  Progress is being made!  The brick path has been laid.  There still needs to be locking sand poured in the cracks and a sealer put on it after the bricks have had a chance to settle for a week or so, but already the path is beautiful!

We had an impromptu work day on Saturday where several people appeared at different times to work on preparing the soil.  We have another workday scheduled tomorrow.

Today Sue & I talked with a landscaper to determine the best plants for the garden and then visited nurseries accumulating most of those plants.  I then came home and dug up & divided several of my plants to add.

Here is a picture of the path and the area ready to plant:

This is the Day!

    This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it! --my intention and declaration for today.

What a Busy Time!

We had a Binga fundraiser for Heritage Days last Saturday night, Mother's Day Brunch which my sister who came from AZ especially to help Mom celebrate, organized then out of town guests arrived on Monday and a Texas Roadhouse 10% fundraiser on Tues. while they were here.  In the meantime Dahnke's started work on the path to the Amphitheater using the engraved bricks that were donated to help pay for it.  We are going to make a garden of flowers and shrubs around it and want to finish it in time for Heritage Days (June 12-14) so on Wednesday after our guests left, Sue (one of our garden committee members) and I laid out the edge of the garden with a garden hose to see how large to make the garden.  We want it to be a beautiful attraction but also manageable since there aren't many on the committee to care for it.

Thursday I decided I might as well work on the 3 gardens we had planted in the fall.  They were beautiful this spring--filled with tulips and daffodils, and the daylilies which were coming up--but they needed something to keep them beautiful through the summer.  I re-edged them all and then planted 9 more Knock-out rose bushes to fill in (we already had 3).  After placing them and moving several of the volunteer iris and peonies which were growing there when we made the beds and were now coming up between some of the daylilies given to us last year from the 5 Acre Daylily Farm, I went to the local garden store and bought a bunch of annuals--mainly Wave petunias to add more color.  When I got them all planted Yvonne Dahnke delivered a truck load of mulch.  Country Guy came in to help me and now the gardens look beautiful again!  Of course, they will be even more beautiful when the new plants are established and the tulip and daffodil leaves die back.

Yesterday Norma & I spent the day putting up posters for Heritage Days & the Martinsville Fair.  We went as far as Villa Grove & Tuscola--over 50 miles away.  One reason we went to that area is because the Heritage Days Horse Show was held in Brocton for almost 30 years.  We wanted to inform everyone who might  be interested that we are carrying on their tradition.

Randy Dyer, the chuck wagon guy, is coming through M'ville today and asked me to meet him to see the chuck wagon and to talk about where he could set up to cook an authentic chuck wagon meal for the crowd on Saturday night during the Country Music Concert at the Festival.

Next week is our second grandson's high school graduation so our daughter and family are coming for that, as well as our daughter-in-law's family who have been our good friends for over 40 years.  They will be staying in Marshall with Doug & Amy, but we will want to spend as much time with them as possible.

As I said this is a very busy time and I'm loving all of it!

Diet Pepsi will soon contain sucralose, aka Splenda

      As many of you who read this blog know, I am very much opposed to artificial sweeteners so it will come as no surprise that I am posting this article from Dr. Mercola's website about Pepsi's switch to sucralose to replace aspartame.  It is just as bad for you!

 

Could This Headache Causing Neurotoxin Be on Its Way Out?

May 14, 2015 

By Dr. Mercola

Diet Pepsi is getting an image overhaul, and as of August will no longer contain the artificial sweetener aspartame, PepsiCo. has announced.1,2

The decision came in response to dwindling sales, mirroring consumers' concerns about aspartame's health hazards, which includes research3,4,5,6,7,8 showing that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogenic agent.

It is clearly a move in the right direction and we have provided much of the impetus as our site comes up number two in Google for aspartame and many publications, like the LA Times,9 credit us for the increased awareness.

It's hardly a major victory, however, as the company plans on replacing aspartame with sucralose, aka Splenda.10,11

The irony of this has not gone unnoticed. On April 26, US Right to Know tweeted the following message: "#DietSodaScam: @PepsiCo switching from aspartame to sucralose is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

Indeed, sucralose is associated with many of the same adverse effects asaspartame, including:

Respiratory difficulties	Migraines/headaches12	Seizures
Gastrointestinal problems	Heart palpitations	Weight gain

Continue reading here.
 

Cowards & Provocateurs by Roseann Salanitri

      As usual, I wholeheartedly agree with Rosann Salanitri. This article was posted today on The Daily Rant.  We are going to have to develop a backbone and stand for our beliefs no matter what, or we are going to lose the freedom to do so.

Cowards & Provocateurs                                                                                      by Roseann Salanitri on May 13, 2015 in Faith & Family, Race & Politics, RoseAnn Salanitri

Recently I had the privilege of speaking at a National Day of Prayer event at our state’s capital.

The event was well-organized and there were several speakers, all of whom were assigned specific subject matters. Mine was religious liberty. Regardless of our assignments, the Spirit of God and His overriding message regarding cowardice soon became evident. The message from on HIgh: stop whining and start speaking truth.
Whether the subject be abortion, loss of religious liberty, or same-sex marriage (which is a misnomer, as Rev. Craft established), the existence of these things in America today serve as an indictment against believers who conduct themselves more as cowards than warriors of the faith.

Consider this: no-one, not even mighty Uncle Sam, can strip you of the right to believe what you want to believe and worship God as you see fit. Acting like you have no choice but to do what government bullies demand equates to not standing up for what you believe to be right. Since the Garden of Eden, God has blessed the human race with liberty of conscience, but with our ability to think came the responsibility to live according to our convictions.

What are Christians required to do when there is a conflict between God and government? The Apostle Peter put it best when he said that we must obey God rather than men. Unfortunately, that has not proven to be the case in America. Today we sacrifice boldly speaking God’s truth – afraid of appearing intolerant or like some kind of fundamentalist. We are more concerned with the approval of men than the approval of God. Additionally, we lack the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the government bullies. Have we forgotten our school yard lessons: that bullies can only exist in the midst of cowards? And have we forgotten that cowards are the first to be thrown into the lake of burning fire – before liars, murders and the sexually immoral?

But what makes a modern day coward a coward?

A modern day coward may seem like a “nice” person according to earthly standards. The problem is that they value “niceness” above truth, which often demands boldness and they fear men more than God. The Bible tells us that the fear of man is a trap. They also value comfort more than righteousness. It is comfortable to live nicely without controversy and without challenging the powers that be. BUT – it is not always godly. You see, a coward knows right from wrong and chooses to keep silent in the midst of wrong. To be sure, there are many clever-sounding excuses one can develop to defend cowardice: I have to make a living; I don’t want to offend my neighbor; we need to “love” everyone; it’s a woman’s choice, etc., etc., etc. If you know the truth but are afraid to speak it, is it compassion or is it cowardice? If it is compassion, it is misplaced. If it is fear, it is cowardice.

Recently Pam Geller was involved in an event in Texas that featured cartoons of Mohammed. As was expected, this event was noticed by Muslim extremists who sought to murder as many people at the event as possible. They were unsuccessful and were quickly sent to their Maker. Afterward, the media interviewed Donald Trump. Trump’s position was that Ms. Geller deliberately and unnecessarily provoked the attack. Trump’s analysis may have seemed reasonable. But was it?

Although there is no good reason for provoking the anger of those who are peacefully going on about their own business, Ms. Geller’s actions may have been biblically defendable and admirable.

Most realistically believe that Muslim extremists are already among us – just waiting for their opportunity to launch an assault – whether it is on a massive scale or orchestrated by some lone wolf somewhere. Additionally, the extreme faction of the Muslim religion continues to grow unabated – all while we sit silently by – not wanting to offend anyone. We also sit silently by when we watch young men burned alive before us, or Coptic Christians beheaded, or when news clips of children’s heads on sticks are displayed in parks. Normally our reaction is that Obama must do something – that our military has to stop these atrocities, but seldom do we realize that we are to do something personally about stopping the evangelism that glorifies these devils. And that, my dear friends, requires us to speak out against the religious system that sanctions these abominations. That is exactly what Ms. Geller did. She did not sit idly by complaining about how these extremists are gaining ground; she spoke out against it in a very provocative manner.

Ms. Geller’s admirable credentials as a provocateur are not unusual. History is filled with people who stood up for what they believed to be right – and sometimes they did it provocatively. Consider the prophet Daniel. As a captive in ancient Babylon, Daniel was under a government edict not to pray to anyone except the king. Not only did Daniel disobey this edict, he did it in a rather provocative manner. He kneeled beside an open window where everyone could see him, and prayed to his/our God. He could have prayed silently in some corner where no one could see or hear him . He chose not to. As a consequence, he was thrown into the den of lions. We are told that angels entered the lions’ den with him and protected him there. His deliverance served as inspiration to those in authority, as well as the masses. In other words, God used his provocation.

Steven is another example of a provocateur that made a difference. In worldly terms, Steven’s story did not go so well. He was stoned to death for daring to challenge his religious leaders and preach in the name of Jesus. But the death of Steven did not end in tragedy, as some would conclude. His strength and boldness helped to instill the strength and boldness truth required into a culture that sorely needed it. Steven didn’t fear death, and so those who found themselves in similar circumstances knew how to stand strong under intimidation – even unto death. Christians owe them a great debt. Once again, God used his provocation.

Of course there are many others – including Moses who lost his status as Egyptian royalty out of compassion for a Hebrew slave. His contemporaries may have thought him foolish or perhaps even a provocateur, but his righteous bravery delivered an entire people from bondage.

In more recent history, there was Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Martin Luther King, Jr. – as well as a whole multitude of others, such as Margaret Thatcher, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, and Rosa Parks – just to mention a few. None of these men and women were cowards, and yes, they were all provocateurs of a kind. Many of them suffered, but we are all better because of their boldness in the face of adversity because God used their provocations. Today, as in days of old, we need boldness to stand against the evils that are permeating our way of life at every level. But boldness does not exist in the character make-up of cowards. It only exists in those who do not fear the reprisals of men or government. Donald Trump may think they’re provocateurs but personally, I think they’re heroes. And they should not be shunned; they should be welcomed and encouraged.

Think About This - From the Patriot Post