A Call To The Remnant

Scottish Warriors for Christ- http://www.facebook.com/acalltotheremnant

Posts Tagged ‘beauty from the ashes’

𝗜𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗘𝗗, 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗗𝗢?

Posted by appolus on October 28, 2026

𝘈 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦

“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” — Psalm 11:3 (NKJV)

There is a question that rises from the eleventh Psalm with a peculiar urgency for the generation in which we live. It is a question born in the midst of danger, spoken when the wicked had bent their bows and made ready their arrows against the upright in heart. It is a question that echoes down through the centuries, through the ruins of fallen kingdoms, through the ashes of persecuted churches, through the lonely valleys where the righteous sought refuge, and along the wilderness paths worn by the feet of those who would rather abandon everything than abandon their Lord.

We are living in days when this question demands our most serious consideration. The foundations of righteousness within our societies have been profoundly compromised. Truth is increasingly treated as a matter of personal preference, moral restraint is despised, and the ancient boundaries that once distinguished righteousness from wickedness are being systematically dismantled. There have been dark and terrible periods throughout history, and we should not imagine that ours is the first generation to witness the collapse of moral order. Yet the speed and reach with which the modern world is departing from biblical truth ought to awaken every serious follower of Jesus Christ.

We have become accustomed to thinking of persecution as something that happens elsewhere, in distant lands under oppressive governments, or as something belonging to the darker chapters of Christian history. We read of the martyrs, the exiles, the persecuted Waldensians, the Huguenots, and the believers who fled from one country to another, and we admire their courage from the relative comfort of our own homes. But what if the hour is approaching when we ourselves shall be called to walk in their footsteps? What if the foundations upon which our societies have been built are not merely weakening, but have already been destroyed? What if the wicked have already bent their bows, and the arrows are being prepared against those who refuse to bow before the spirit of this age?

I believe that such a time lies before us. Not because I claim to know the day or hour of our Lord’s return, but because the prophetic Scriptures speak plainly of a great and terrible persecution of the saints, a persecution of such severity that our Lord Himself declared that unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.

“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” — Matthew 24:22

These are not the words of an alarmist. They are the words of Jesus Christ. And if we believe them, then we must begin to consider what they mean for the people of God. For the question is no longer merely what the righteous can do when the foundations are destroyed. The question is whether the righteous are prepared to leave those ruined foundations behind.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗻

God’s remnant people are scattered throughout the nations of the earth. They are not gathered together in one geographical location, nor do they dwell within the borders of some earthly sanctuary. They live among the nations, raising their families, laboring in their occupations, purchasing their homes, and growing old among the people of the lands in which they were born. In this respect, they are not unlike the children of Israel who dwelt in Babylon.

The exiles lived in a foreign kingdom. They built houses, planted gardens, raised children, and conducted their daily affairs beneath the authority of a government that did not acknowledge the God of Israel as they did. Yet Babylon was never their ultimate home. They were a covenant people living in a land that was not their inheritance. And so it is with the remnant of God today.

We dwell in the nations, but we do not belong to the spirit of the nations. We live among the people of this world, but our citizenship is in heaven. We may love the lands of our birth, yet we are citizens of another Kingdom, subjects of another King, and heirs of an inheritance that cannot be corrupted or taken away. The tragedy is that many Christians have forgotten this distinction. We have lived so long in the relative security of our earthly surroundings that we have begun to mistake our place of residence for our place of belonging.

We have put down roots in Babylon. We have built our homes, accumulated our possessions, established our careers, and woven our lives so completely into the fabric of our nations that the thought of leaving them seems almost unthinkable. Yet the Word of God declares:

“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.” — Hebrews 13:14

No continuing city. Not London, Edinburgh, New York, or any city or nation upon the face of this earth. Our true home lies beyond the kingdoms of men, and the remnant must recover this understanding before the hour of flight arrives.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗻

There is another remarkable lesson to be learned from the children of Israel who dwelt in Babylon. For seventy years they had lived in exile. They had built houses, planted vineyards, established businesses, raised families, and watched their children and grandchildren grow up in a foreign land. Babylon had become familiar to them. What had begun as captivity had, over the passing generations, become home.

Then the day of deliverance arrived. God stirred the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue a decree permitting the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the house of the Lord. The door was opened, the road home lay before them, and the God who had promised their restoration had moved upon the heart of a pagan king to make their return possible. Yet the astonishing truth is that only a portion of the exiles returned.

The precise proportion is not recorded in Scripture, but it is evident that a great many remained in Babylon. The book of Ezra records the return of a comparatively small company, while substantial Jewish communities continued to dwell in the lands of their captivity. Consider the implications. For generations they had prayed toward Jerusalem. They had remembered Zion. Their fathers had wept by the rivers of Babylon, hanging their harps upon the willows as they remembered the land from which they had been carried away.

“By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.” — Psalm 137:1

Yet when the opportunity came to return, many remained. Why? Scripture does not tell us the individual motives of those who stayed, but we can readily imagine the enormous difficulty of leaving behind homes, livelihoods, possessions, and established communities to undertake a dangerous journey toward a ruined city. Jerusalem lay in desolation. Its walls were broken down, its temple had been destroyed, the journey was long, the future uncertain, and the work awaiting those who returned was formidable. Babylon, by comparison, offered familiarity and established ways of life.

And so the call to return became a searching test of earthly attachment and spiritual longing. A remnant arose and went. They left behind the familiar and journeyed toward the city of their fathers, trusting that the God who had opened the door would also sustain them upon the road. Here is a question that ought to trouble the comfortable Church of our generation: When the hour comes for God’s people to leave their own Babylon, how many will be willing to go?

How many will discover that their possessions have become chains, their comforts have become masters, and their attachment to the familiar has become stronger than their willingness to obey? How many will recognize the hour of departure, yet hesitate because the cost of leaving seems too great? The historical return from Babylon was a particular covenant restoration, not a command that every Jew living abroad was necessarily disobedient if he remained. Nevertheless, the contrast between those who departed and those who stayed offers a solemn lesson about the power of earthly attachments.

The remnant of God must cultivate a heart that is free to follow the Lord wherever He leads. We must not become so comfortable in Babylon that we are unable to leave when the call comes, nor become so rooted in the kingdoms of men that we forget the Kingdom to which we truly belong. The greatest obstacle to flight may not be the armies gathered at the gates, but the earthly attachments that hold the heart captive long before the gates are closed.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝘀

David writes:

“For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.” — Psalm 11:2

There is something deeply prophetic in the picture painted by these words. The wicked are not merely disagreeing with the righteous. They are preparing their weapons against them. The upright in heart have become their targets. And immediately following this description comes the question: “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”

Consider the nature of these foundations: truth, justice, righteousness, the recognition that there is a moral order greater than the desires of men, and the acknowledgment that good and evil are not merely the inventions of society, but realities established by God. What happens when these foundations are overturned? What happens when the institutions that once restrained wickedness begin to accommodate it, when righteousness is increasingly regarded as evil, and evil is celebrated as righteousness?

Isaiah declared:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.” — Isaiah 5:20

We have witnessed a profound departure from biblical righteousness within the societies of the modern world. The restraints that once gave public recognition to the moral law of God have been weakened or cast aside in many places. And while no earthly nation has ever been truly righteous, the increasing rejection of biblical truth presents the faithful with a searching question. How long can a society abandon the foundations of righteousness before those who remain faithful to them become intolerable to it?

Jesus warned that His followers would be hated by all nations for His name’s sake. I believe we are moving toward the fulfillment of that warning in a manner the modern Western Church has scarcely contemplated.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴

There is a historical tragedy that ought to arrest our attention. Consider the Jewish people of Germany during the rise of National Socialism. For generations, Jewish families had lived in Germany. They had established businesses, entered professions, served their communities, contributed to German culture, and regarded Germany as their homeland. Many were deeply assimilated into German society. Germany was not merely where they happened to live. It was home.

Then came the persecution. First came exclusion, humiliation, and the erosion of civil rights. Then came increasingly severe restrictions upon employment, education, property, and participation in public life. The world they had known was disappearing. Many recognized the danger and fled. Hundreds of thousands of Jews emigrated from Germany before the Nazi regime prohibited Jewish emigration in 1941. Others desperately sought escape but found the doors of refuge closed against them.

Many remained. Some could not obtain permission to enter another country. Some were trapped by financial restrictions that stripped them of the means to begin again. Others were elderly, infirm, or responsible for relatives who could not travel. Many could scarcely comprehend that the country they had considered their own could descend into such murderous hatred. Ultimately, for those who remained under Nazi control, the consequences were catastrophic.

We must never speak lightly of their circumstances or imagine that escape was simply a matter of courage. For many, the opportunity to flee was denied altogether. Yet their history confronts us with an almost unbearable question. What would we have done if the country in which we had lived all our lives became a place of danger? What if we were required to leave behind the home we had spent decades paying for? What if our savings could not be transferred, our possessions could not be carried, and the work of a lifetime had to be abandoned? What if the only way forward was to walk away with almost nothing?

Would we go? Would we recognize the danger before the doors were closed? Would our attachment to the familiar prevent us from acting while the opportunity remained? Would we cling to the hope that things might improve, even as the foundations crumbled beneath our feet?

These are not comfortable questions, but they are questions that God’s remnant must be willing to confront. For there is a kind of spiritual preparedness that cannot be acquired in the hour of crisis. It must be cultivated beforehand.

𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗪𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴

Consider again the extraordinary faith of Abraham.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” — Hebrews 11:8

He went out. Those three words contain an entire theology of pilgrimage. Abraham left behind the familiar and stepped into the unknown because the Lord had called him. He was not anchored to the soil of his homeland. He was anchored to the promises of God. And the writer of Hebrews reveals the great secret of his faith:

“For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” — Hebrews 11:10

Abraham could leave earthly foundations behind because he was looking for heavenly ones. He could live in tents because he was waiting for a city. He could become a stranger in a strange land because his ultimate belonging was not determined by earthly geography. And this is precisely the faith that the remnant must recover.

We must learn to live with our possessions held loosely and our hearts fixed firmly upon Christ. We must learn that our homes are temporary, our earthly citizenship is temporary, and the present order of this world is passing away. We must learn to be ready to go, not in panic, confusion, or in response to every rumor or fearful prediction, but in that quiet, settled dependence upon God that enables a man to obey when the time for obedience arrives.

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿

Our Lord did not leave His disciples without instruction concerning flight.

“When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.” — Matthew 10:23

And in His prophetic discourse concerning Jerusalem and the tribulation, He declared:

“Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” — Matthew 24:16

Then He added:

“And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” — Matthew 24:20

Consider the weight of those words. Jesus spoke of a flight so urgent that those upon their housetops were not to return to retrieve their possessions. Those working in the fields were not to return for their clothes. The circumstances would demand immediate departure. There would be no time to gather the treasures of a lifetime, no time to negotiate the sale of a home, and no time to settle every earthly affair. The command was to flee.

Our Lord specifically instructed His followers to pray concerning the conditions under which their flight would take place. The warning concerning Judea had a particular historical setting, and early Christian tradition records that believers fled Jerusalem for Pella before its destruction in AD 70. Yet the prophetic discourse also contains the solemn warning of tribulation so severe that the days must be shortened for the elect’s sake.

Those who understand these words as pointing beyond Jerusalem to a final worldwide tribulation must consider their implications with utmost seriousness. Flight is not an embarrassment to Christian faith. It is something our Lord Himself commanded under particular circumstances, and the believer who flees in obedience to Christ has not abandoned his testimony. He has obeyed his Master.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗴𝗲

David fled into the wilderness and found shelter in caves. Elijah fled from Jezebel. Joseph took Mary and the infant Jesus into Egypt when Herod sought the child’s life. Paul escaped Damascus by being lowered through the city wall in a basket. And the faithful described in Hebrews wandered through deserts, mountains, dens, and caves.

“Of whom the world was not worthy.” — Hebrews 11:38

What an extraordinary description of those who had been driven from the ordinary securities of life! The world regarded them as fugitives, but heaven regarded them as precious. They were destitute, afflicted, and tormented, yet the testimony of God was that the world was not worthy of them.

There is another remarkable passage that speaks directly to the question of refuge in the last days.

“Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God.” — Revelation 12:6

A place prepared by God, a place in the wilderness, a place of preservation during a period of extraordinary spiritual conflict. The identity of the woman is understood differently among interpreters, and many identify her specifically with Israel. We must not claim more from the passage than it reveals. Yet for those considering the prophetic preservation of God’s people, the picture is unmistakably significant.

God is not without resources. He is not dependent upon the favor of earthly governments. He is able to prepare places of refuge beyond the reach of powers that seek to destroy. And the prophet Isaiah declares:

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past.” — Isaiah 26:20

What a remarkable invitation. The Lord calls His people to hide themselves for a little moment, until the indignation is past. There is a time to stand in the public square and bear witness. There is a time to endure suffering without compromise. And there is a time to withdraw, to hide, and to seek refuge. The Lord who calls His people to faithfulness is also the Lord who knows how to shelter them.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗻𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱

In the eighteenth century, persecuted Protestant believers from Moravia and neighboring regions found refuge upon the estate of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Saxony. There, a settlement known as Herrnhut began to take shape. These were displaced believers who needed somewhere to go, and Zinzendorf possessed land and resources that could be placed at their disposal.

What emerged was not merely a place where refugees could survive. It became a community of prayer, fellowship, spiritual renewal, and extraordinary missionary endeavor. Those who had fled persecution became those who carried the Gospel across the earth. The refugees became missionaries, and the place of shelter became a place of sending.

Herein lies a lesson for the Church today. God’s remnant is scattered among the nations, but the scattered saints will need places of refuge when persecution comes upon them. There must be those who are prepared to receive them. There must be believers who possess land, property, wealth, and resources who understand that what has been entrusted to them may have a purpose far greater than their own comfort.

Where are the Zinzendorfs of our generation? Where are those who will open their lands to the persecuted? Where are those who will establish places of shelter, not as monuments to themselves, but as acts of love toward the suffering Body of Christ? Where are those who will make provision for families, for children, for the elderly, and for those who have lost everything because they would not deny the name of Jesus?

I believe this work of preparation must go forward, not as a fearful retreat from the world, nor as the construction of isolated kingdoms governed by men, but as an expression of Christian love and foresight. These places should be established with wisdom, lawful stewardship, and accountability, ready to serve the vulnerable without exploiting them.

For the day will come when the fleeing saints will need somewhere to lay their heads. What a testimony it would be if, when that day arrives, the Lord has already raised up men and women whose resources have been consecrated to their preservation.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀

There is a tendency among Christians to read the prophetic Scriptures as though they describe events belonging to some distant and almost unimaginable future. Yet the words of Jesus are too solemn to be treated as mere theological curiosities. He warned of deception, betrayal, hatred, and a great tribulation. He warned that the persecution would become so severe that, unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.

In Revelation, we read of the beast making war against the saints.

“It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” — Revelation 13:7

And in Daniel we read of a power that shall persecute the saints of the Most High. These are grave warnings. I believe the prophetic hour is far nearer than much of the comfortable Western Church is prepared to acknowledge. The foundations of righteousness are being undermined, hostility toward biblical convictions is growing in many settings, and the spiritual character of the age increasingly demands conformity to values that stand opposed to the Word of God.

We must not mistake these observations for proof that we can calculate the remaining years. Our Lord has not entrusted that knowledge to us. But neither should uncertainty concerning the precise hour become an excuse for spiritual slumber. The wise virgins prepared before the bridegroom arrived. Noah prepared the ark before the rain began to fall. Joseph stored grain before the famine descended upon Egypt.

The remnant must learn the difference between fearful speculation and faithful preparation. The coming persecution of the saints is not something to be dismissed because its full dimensions have not yet appeared. It is something for which the Church must be spiritually prepared.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗲 𝗕𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱?

And so we arrive at the question that ought to search every heart. What are we prepared to leave behind? Our homes, our possessions, our savings, our country, our familiar surroundings, and the accumulated comforts of an entire lifetime? What if the Lord calls us to leave with little more than the clothes upon our backs? What if the roads are uncertain, the destination unknown, and the future hidden from our sight? Will we go, or will we look back, as Lot’s wife looked back toward Sodom?

There is something deeply revealing about the warning of our Lord:

“Remember Lot’s wife.” — Luke 17:32

She had physically departed, but her heart remained attached to the place she was leaving. And this is perhaps one of the greatest dangers confronting the remnant. We may have separated ourselves spiritually from the world while remaining deeply attached to its comforts. We may reject the wickedness of Babylon while finding ourselves unable to imagine life beyond its walls. We may proclaim that Christ is our all in all, yet tremble at the prospect of losing the things we have accumulated.

The hour of flight will expose where our treasure truly lies. Therefore the time to prepare is now, not necessarily by selling everything or abandoning our homes, but by surrendering our claim upon them before the Lord. By understanding that nothing we possess is ours in an eternal sense. By learning to depend upon Christ rather than the circumstances in which we live. By becoming pilgrims in our hearts before we are required to become pilgrims with our feet.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀

And now we return once more to David’s question.

“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”

The wicked may bend their bows, the nations may turn against the saints, the foundations of righteousness may be cast down, and the familiar world may become a place of danger. The people of God may once again be driven into deserts, mountains, wilderness places, and unfamiliar lands. But there is one foundation that the wicked cannot destroy.

“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 3:11

There is our hope, our confidence, and the Rock upon which the remnant stands. We may lose the ground beneath our feet, but we shall never lose the foundation upon which we stand. For our foundation is not the soil of Scotland, England, America, or any other earthly nation. Our foundation is Jesus Christ.

The same Christ who lifted us from the miry clay and established our feet upon the Rock. The same Christ who promised never to leave us nor forsake us. The same Christ who declared that heaven and earth would pass away, but His words would never pass away. And beneath the feet of every weary pilgrim are the everlasting arms.

“The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms.” — Deuteronomy 33:27

The ground may tremble, but His arms remain. The nations may rage, but His throne remains. Our earthly homes may be taken from us, but our heavenly inheritance remains. And though we may walk upon roads that lead to places we have never seen, we shall never walk beyond the presence of the One who redeemed us.

𝗔 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁

I write these things because I believe the Church must awaken to the realities of the hour. We have spent too long assuming that the relative peace and security enjoyed by generations of Western Christians will continue indefinitely. We have become too comfortable in Babylon. We have forgotten that we are strangers and pilgrims, and we have given too little consideration to the possibility that the day may come when the faithful must leave behind everything they have known.

The prophetic Scriptures warn of a persecution that shall test the saints with extraordinary severity. We must prepare our hearts for that hour. We must learn to recognize that our earthly security is temporary. We must cultivate the faith of Abraham, who went out not knowing where he was going. We must remember the believers who fled Jerusalem, the persecuted saints who wandered through mountains and caves, and the refugees who found shelter at Herrnhut. And those who have been entrusted with resources must consider how they might provide refuge for the saints who will be displaced.

Let the remnant learn to travel lightly through this world. Let our hearts be fixed upon Christ, our possessions remain subject to His purposes, and our love for our earthly homelands never exceed our love for the heavenly country. Let us not imagine that fleeing is necessarily a denial of courage, for sometimes the greatest courage is required of the man who closes the door of his home for the last time, takes his family by the hand, and begins walking toward a destination he cannot see.

He goes because the Lord has called him. He goes because the foundations of the world around him have collapsed. He goes because he knows that remaining would mean surrendering something infinitely more precious than his earthly possessions. And though his feet may tremble upon the unfamiliar road, the Rock beneath his soul remains unmoved. For he is not merely fleeing from persecution. He is following Jesus.

That narrow road, whether it leads through peaceful valleys or terrible tribulation, ultimately leads to the city whose builder and maker is God. There shall come a day when the fleeing is over, when the persecuted shall find rest, when those who wandered in deserts and mountains shall stand before the throne of the Lamb, and when the weary pilgrim shall finally enter the city that has everlasting foundations.

There shall be no more exile, no more persecution, no more fearful departures, and no more wicked men bending their bows against the upright in heart. For the kingdoms of this world shall give way to the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Until that day, let the remnant be ready. Ready to stand, ready to endure, ready to flee, ready to receive those who flee, and above all, ready to follow the Lamb wherever He leads.

For the ground beneath our feet may be shifting, but the foundation upon which we stand shall never move. We are strangers in Babylon, pilgrims upon the earth, and citizens of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” — Hebrews 12:28

𝗔 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁

The time to learn the faith of Abraham is before the command to depart. The time to prepare places of refuge is before the persecuted arrive. And the time to loosen our grip upon Babylon is before the hour comes when we must leave it behind.

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How Then Shall We Gather

Posted by appolus on July 17, 2026

Over many years I become convinced that many of our assumptions about church life deserve to be re-examined, not in light of tradition, but in light of Scripture.

The New Testament draws a distinction between office and gift. Elders (or overseers) are appointed to oversee the flock, guard sound doctrine, and ensure the health of the church (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5–9; 1 Timothy 3:1–7; 1 Peter 5:1–3). Deacons serve in practical ways so that those entrusted with spiritual oversight are not diverted from prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1–4).

By contrast, Ephesians 4:11–16 and 1 Corinthians 12–14 describe the ministry gifts Christ has given to His Body. The emphasis is not on one man performing nearly all the ministry, but on the whole Body functioning under the headship of Christ. “Each of you has…” (1 Corinthians 14:26) presents a gathering in which believers contribute according to the gifts Christ has distributed, with everything being done decently and in order.

One of the striking features of the New Testament is that the most detailed description of a church gathering is found in 1 Corinthians 14. Paul concludes the chapter by saying, “The things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). If that is so, then the pattern deserves careful attention.

Today, the vast majority of Protestant churches follow a liturgy centred on a single speaker, often leaving little or no opportunity for the participatory ministry described in 1 Corinthians 14. Yet nowhere does the New Testament explicitly replace that pattern with a sermon-centred gathering led by a “senior pastor.” The expression “senior pastor” itself does not appear in Scripture, while elders and deacons are plainly appointed.

This raises an important question: have we gradually exchanged the apostolic pattern for one shaped more by later history than by the Scriptures themselves?

The issue is not whether preaching is biblical—it is. The issue is whether the gathered church is meant to be the ministry of one gifted man, or the orderly ministry of the whole Body under the oversight of faithful elders.

If the New Testament itself has altered the apostolic pattern, then let us gladly submit to that. But if it has not, then surely our responsibility is not to defend tradition, but to return to the Scriptures and allow them to shape the life of Christ’s church.

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The Dividing of Soul and Spirit (part 1)

Posted by appolus on July 2, 2026

The Soul, the Spirit, and the Self-Life- This subject sounds overly theological, but it’s not, its of vital importance to sanctification.

It is my conviction that there exists a definite distinction between the soul and the spirit of man. While these terms are often used interchangeably by many Christians, I believe the Scriptures reveal a clear distinction between the two. This is not merely an academic matter, for it touches the very heart of sanctification and the Christian walk.

Scripture reveals that God created man as a threefold being:

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

All that God created was originally good, including man’s body, soul, and spirit. Yet through Adam’s fall, every facet of man’s being was corrupted by sin. The spirit of man died toward God and became incapable of true communion with Him. The soul became enslaved to the self-life, seeking its own rule and preservation apart from God. The body likewise became subject to corruption, decay, and death. Thus, the whole man—spirit, soul, and body—came under the dominion of the old Adamic nature and stood in desperate need of redemption.

It is my conviction that the spirit of man is that faculty by which man communes with God. Prior to conversion, the spirit is dead toward God:

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

At regeneration, God imparts new life to the spirit:

“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

The regenerated spirit, indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is intended to govern the whole man.

I believe that soul and spirit, though closely intertwined, are nevertheless distinct. The Scriptures indicate this distinction:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The soul of man, though originally created by God, became deeply joined to the fallen life of Adam through the Fall. The mind, will, and emotions, once intended to serve God through the spirit, now naturally align themselves with the self-life and the flesh. Thus, the soul left to itself does not submit to the things of God, but seeks its own rule, satisfaction, and preservation. The Cross therefore deals not merely with outward sins, but with the entire self-life, bringing the soul under the government of the regenerated spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)

The believer immediately discovers another principle at work:

“For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.” (Galatians 5:17)

I have intentionally rendered “spirit” with a lower-case “s.” The original Greek manuscripts did not distinguish between upper and lower case letters in the manner of modern translations. Consequently, capitalization is an interpretive decision made by translators and is determined by context. It is my conviction that Paul is describing the conflict within the believer between the flesh and the regenerated human spirit, which has been redeemed and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Thus, this conflict is experienced within the believer as the flesh seeks to regain dominion over the regenerated spirit, while the regenerated spirit, under the government of the Holy Spirit, wars against the self-life and the flesh.

Expressions such as “soulish worship” are often used to describe religious activity that originates from natural enthusiasm, emotionalism, or human effort rather than from the Holy Spirit. Such worship may stir the emotions while leaving the spirit untouched.

However, it is important not to conclude that all emotion is soulish or fleshly. The regenerated spirit itself possesses holy affections. The woman who was forgiven much loved much, and her tears upon the feet of Jesus were not fleshly sentiment but the outflow of a spirit transformed by grace:

“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47)

Likewise, Paul writes:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

The spirit God has given His people is characterized by power, love, and a sound mind. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, the believer possesses the very mind of Christ:

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

The Christian life, therefore, is not emotionless. Rather, the Holy Spirit produces holy affections that are centered upon Christ rather than self. The regenerated spirit possesses love, power, and a sound mind, while the mind operating within the soulish realm continually seeks independence and self-rule.

The flesh itself remains incurably corrupt:

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” (Romans 7:18)

Ultimately, the believer awaits not the perfection of the flesh, but its replacement, for corruption cannot inherit incorruption:

“It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:42)

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:50)

Thus the great battle of sanctification is the battle between the old self-life and the life of Christ within. The Cross deals not merely with acts of sin, but with the very principle of self-rule:

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.” (Romans 6:6)

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The Christian life is therefore not the improvement of the old man, but the progressive triumph of the life of Christ within the regenerated spirit. The mind of the flesh, operating through the soul, continually wars against the mind of Christ present within the spirit through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Cross daily brings the self-life into death, that the life of Christ might be manifested through the believer.

This conflict constitutes the great battle of sanctification. The believer learns increasingly to walk not according to the flesh, nor according to the impulses of the soulish life, but according to the Spirit. As the self-life is brought to the Cross, the life of Christ gains greater expression through the believer.

Ultimately, the corruptible body will not be perfected but replaced, for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Then the redeemed spirit, fully liberated from the presence of sin and clothed with an incorruptible body, shall forever manifest the life and glory of Christ.

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Testing and Faithfulness

Posted by appolus on May 21, 2026

There is an unfathomable mercy in the way God deals with men. We enter our lives in Christ with our plans, our expectations, our presumptions about ourselves, our strengths, our usefulness, even our spirituality. Yet sooner or later the hand of God permits the furnace, the trials and the tribulations and all the confidence of the flesh, often masquerading as spirit, begins to collapse beneath the weight of an often crushing reality.

Scripture declares, “The Lord tested Abraham” not to destroy him, but to reveal what could only be wrought through trial. The great saints were not men preserved from breaking; but, through brokenness, they were led into a deep fellowship. Much is spoken about victory, but very little about the wildernesses through which God forms a man.

Moses is not merely led into the wilderness, he is led to “the back of the desert.” There, stripped of ambition, hidden from the eyes of men, he encounters God in the fire. Typically, its in the fire, that the Lord can truly reach us. And there the Lord speaks the only promise that ultimately matters: “Certainly I will be with thee…….and this to you will be a sign.” (Exodus 3:12 NKJV).

The tragedy of modern Christianity is that many seek the promises of God without desiring the awful (full of awe) presence of God. Yet the true servant of God reaches the place where even the promised land itself means nothing apart from Him.

Moses stood before the Lord after Israel had fallen into corruption and idolatry after only 40 days, and when God declared that He would send an angel before them, Moses answered with holy boldness: “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15 NKJV).

That is the language of a man who has gone beyond religion, beyond ministry, beyond ambition, and has discovered that God Himself is the inheritance. Moses himself would not enter into the promise. In the end, for Moses, it was not about the promise, rather, it was about the presence. Can we say that? Or to one degree or another is our relationship with God still transactional?

Moses and David stand before us as two broken men stripped of every confidence except the mercy of God. Moses stands amidst the ashes of Israel’s idolatry, with judgment hanging over the camp, and does not presume upon previous promises, but ratger cries out and appeals to the mercy of God “If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way.” He does not demand the presence of God because Israel had been chosen, nor because he is their appointed leader. He pleads as a man conscious that unless God Himself goes with them, then none of the journey has any true meaning.

David also understandsthis. Before the throne, before the crown, before the full appearing of the promise, there was the long years in the wilderness. The rejection. The persecution….the testing….and then…. Ziklag, that dreadful place where everything had turned to ashes.

Scripture says, “David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4 NKJV). He cried until there were no tears left to cry. And even his own men, those broken rebels and rejects, who had followed him, spoke of stoning him. Yet there, in that crushing hour, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 NKJV).

Later, in the hour of Absalom’s rebellion, David flees Jerusalem barefoot and weeping beneath the shadow of his own failure and the rebellion of his son. Yet when the priests bring the ark to follow him into exile, he refuses to cling even to that sacred symbol. “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back” (2 Samuel 15:25 NKJV). There is something profoundly beautiful in that surrender. There is in both men the same holy trembling before God, the same refusal to presume upon divine mercy.

Neither man attempts to compel heaven by office, anointing, history, or sacred things. Moses cries for the presence of God; David leaves the ark behind. Both understand that the outward symbol is empty if the Lord Himself withdraws. This is the profound difference between true faith and religious presumption. Presumption demands that God stand with man because of position, ministry, inheritance, doctrine, or past experience.

But the man who has truly seen God no longer bargains with Him. He casts himself wholly upon mercy. Moses pleads, “Show me Thy way.” David says, “Let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.” Here is the deep work of the cross in the soul, a man emptied of self-defense, stripped of spiritual pride, no longer seeking to use God, but surrendering himself utterly to Him.

And this is where grace is truly discovered. Not in the triumph of self-confidence, but in the collapse of it. Not in demanding that God vindicate us, but in yielding ourselves to His sovereign will. David does not defend himself before God, Moses does not presume upon Israel’s standing.

Both stand upon mercy alone. Such men discover that grace is not merely God giving blessings , it is God giving Himself. For when every outward support is shaken, when religious certainty, symbols, strength, and reputation are stripped away, the soul discovers that its only hope has always been the presence of God Himself.

And this is the mystery few understand until they walk through suffering themselves: there are revelations of grace that cannot be discovered in ease. The Apostle Paul speaks of “the power of Christ” resting upon him in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV). Not merely visiting him, not giving him fleeting moments of blessing, but resting upon him.

The Greek word carries the idea of Christ’s power tabernacling over a man , spreading itself over him like the holy covering of God. It is the presence of God coming down and abiding, like the cloud over the tabernacle, like the fire in the wilderness. There is a communion found only in the fire, where the clouds descend low upon the soul and the presence of God becomes more real than earthly comfort, reputation, or success.

I know something of this myself. In the midst of stage four cancer, with my body ravaged by disease and chemotherapy, the power of God came down and rested upon me. I was not merely touched by a passing sense of His nearness; I walked in the cloud of His presence by day. I walked in the fire of His glory in the night watches. I discovered grace not as a doctrine, but as a living, sustaining, overshadowing reality. It was a masterclass in grace, and I would not trade that holy nearness for anything this world could offer.

The three Hebrews discovered this in Babylon, for it was only in the furnace that they found “One like the Son of God” walking in the midst of the flames (Daniel 3:25 NKJV). And so the saint learns at last that the ultimate gift of God is not escape from the trial, but Himself in the midst of it. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee… when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned” (Isaiah 43:2 KJV). That is the inheritance of the tested man: not the absence of suffering, but the abiding presence of God in the midst of it.

Scriptures: Exodus 3:12; Exodus 33:12–17; Exodus 34:8–9; 1 Samuel 30:4–6; 2 Samuel 15:24–26; Psalm 51:16–17; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Daniel 3:25; Isaiah 43:2.

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SPIRITUAL INDIGESTION

Posted by appolus on May 16, 2026

There are foods I used to eat in my youth growing up in Scotland that seemed to carry very little consequence. Rich foods. Greasy foods. Things deep fried in oil and soaked with heart clogging grease. They tasted very good going down, and for many many years I was “strong,” enough to bear the effects.

As I got older I compensated. I kept medicines nearby. Tums, Pepto Bismal and so on. I would take something before the meal and then something afterward to manage the indigestion which was getting worse. I learned to manage the consequences while still indulging the appetite.

But time has a way of exposing reality.

Eventually my body no longer tolerated what once seemed harmless. The medications lost their power to shield my system from the effects. I had my Gall Bladder taken out. What once brought pleasure began to bring immediate distress. I came at last to a simple conclusion: “I cannot eat this food anymore.” Not because the food ceased to taste good, but because the cost became too great and was often immediate.

So it is with the flesh.

There are indulgences of the old nature that I may have tolerated in earlier years of spiritual life. Words spoken in pride. Reactions born of self. Ambition clothed in spirituality. Vanity. Bitterness. The subtle and oftentimes less than subtle exaltation of self. For many seasons these things may have appeared manageable. The conscience was disturbed, yet not deeply enough to produce true abandonment. I continued indulging the flesh to one degree or another while attempting to quiet the inward consequences through religious activity, self delusion, explanations, emotion, or outward devotion.

But the Holy Spirit is faithful.

As Christ gained ground within me, the inward man become increasingly sensitive. What once scarcely registered now grieved my soul almost immediately. A wrong spirit leaves an inward bitterness. A spiritual indegestion. A careless word clouds fellowship with God. A movement of pride becomes unbearable to the heart that longs for Christ alone.

This is one of the marks of true spiritual growth.

The worldly man sins freely because he feels little. The immature believer can still indulge the flesh while imagining recovery will come easily. But the man who walks with God discovers something terrible and wonderful at once: the flesh and the spirit can never dwell together in peace. Quenching the Holy Spirit has real consequences in our lives.

The deeper life…. is not learning how to better manage the flesh. It is coming to the Cross concerning it.

There comes a point where I no longer ask, “How far may I go and still recover?” but rather, “How may Christ be fully formed within me?” And to be honest, I never once thought “how far may I go,” but in practice it amounted to the same thing.

For the Spirit of God does not merely oppose the outward acts of the flesh; He wars against its very principle. Self-life in all its forms must eventually come under the sentence of the Cross.

And thus I have learned, often painfully, that some things simply cannot continue. Not because they are no longer pleasurable to the natural man, but because they now wound the inward fellowship with Christ too deeply to be tolerated. The pleasure one gets out of indulging the flesh, has ever diminishing rates of return for the man or woman who is determined to walk in the depths with the Lord.

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.”
— Galatians 5:17

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SOUL FOOD-TAKING THOUGHTS CAPTIVE

Posted by appolus on April 20, 2026

Our small house church is reading a book by George Watson entitled “Soul Food.” I highly recommend it. It is really about the battle against self, and taking up the cross. I actually wrote this a number of years ago, but the issues of the heart never really change.

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

It’s a terrible thing to be held captive by our own thoughts. How exhausting it can be when we allow them to consume and overwhelm us? Its the voice of self. Self always has a victim, typically itself, and a perpetrator. It lifts itself up, and tears others down while burning every bridge.

The thoughts of self begin to eat away at us. They rob us of sleep and leave us tired and weary and walking the floor at night. Self, our own self, is our deadliest enemy, and typically it morphs into self-righteousness. Look at me Lord, I am not as wicked as these others. They should be more like me. There is no justification in this.

I thank the Lord that He freed us and gave us the ability to take every thought into captivity and focus on Him. You can always tell when a saint is focused on the Lord, they elevate Jesus, they lift up, they do not tear down.

If a specific situation or trial has taken hold of your mind today, know that there is a way of escape. You are no longer slaves to the flesh, no longer slaves to your own thoughts. Our own thoughts and “imaginations,” elevate us and sit us on the throne of our own hearts.

If you have been set free by the Lord then you are free indeed. You now have the power to take those thoughts captive; they must bow to the Spirit of God in you. You will know this man because he is humbled in his own sight and his cry will be “be merciful to me.” The other man will loudly tell you what he has and is doing.

“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

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Hireling versus Shepherd

Posted by appolus on February 6, 2026

There is a profound contrast in Scripture between Saul and David, and it is not merely the difference between two kings, but between two kinds of men, two kinds of callings, and two kinds of authority.
Saul is chosen by men. He fits the visible criteria. He is tall, impressive, outwardly commanding. He looks like a king. Yet when the moment comes for him to step into what God has spoken, he is found hiding among the equipment. The one selected to lead is crouched among baggage.

He has already spoken of his small tribe, his insignificant family, and while those words sound humble, they reveal a man measuring himself by human categories and shrinking beneath the weight of them. His humility is not rooted in trust, but in fear. When pressure comes, he preserves himself.

David is altogether different.

David’s story does not begin on a battlefield or in a palace, but in obscurity. He is the youngest. He is forgotten by his own father when Samuel comes to anoint a king. Yet long before any man sees him, the eye of the Lord is already upon him.

Scripture reminds us that God knows His own before they ever draw breath, that He forms them and calls them while they are yet in the womb. David is such a man. The hand of God, the presence of God, and the purpose of God are upon him from the beginning.

This is no man hiding among the equipment.
While Saul hides, David fights. While Saul shrinks from visibility, David embraces responsibility. Alone in the fields, with no audience and no reward, David lays his life on the line for the sheep.

When the lion comes, when the bear comes, David does not calculate his odds. He does not preserve himself. He runs toward danger, because something in him already understands what it means to be a shepherd. The sheep matter more than his own safety.

This is the true shepherd, contrasted with the king men choose.

Men look for height, strength, charisma, and persuasive speech. God looks for the heart. Men crown what impresses them outwardly. God entrusts authority to those who are faithful inwardly. Saul is anointed first, but David is formed first.

David’s courage does not begin after anointing, it precedes it. His confidence is not in himself, but in the Lord who has already delivered him before anyone was watching.

This distinction is not confined to ancient Israel. It is painfully relevant today.

In every generation, men continue to choose leaders who are tall, handsome, articulate, and compelling. They gather crowds, build platforms, and command loyalty. Yet many have never been touched or shaped by the Spirit of God in secret. They are appointed by men, affirmed by numbers, and sustained by applause.

When the crux of the matter comes, when the cost is high and the wolves are near, they preserve themselves. They protect the institution, the reputation, the platform, rather than laying down their lives for the sheep.

David stands as God’s rebuke to this pattern.
God is not impressed by appearance. He is not moved by charisma. He does not entrust His flock to those who hide when the cost becomes personal. He looks for shepherds who have already proven, in hidden places, that they will bleed for what is His. He looks for hearts that run toward danger when others retreat, for men who fear God more than visibility, and obedience more than survival.

The tragedy of Saul is not that he was small.
The glory of David is not that he was strong.
The difference is this: Saul belonged to himself.David belonged to God.

And that difference still determines everything.

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The ground upon which the Lord works, is Holy Ground.

Posted by appolus on February 4, 2026

I was speaking with a brother the other day, a man seasoned by many years. He has been a pastor for more than three decades and also served for many years as a police officer. Before all of that, he once drove a concrete truck.

He told me about a day in Texas when the truck broke down while carrying ten yards of concrete. The drum stopped turning. Time passed, and before the load could be poured, the concrete had set solid inside the bowl. It took him nearly a week with a jackhammer to break it free. Concrete must keep moving until it is ready to be laid, otherwise it hardens without mercy and becomes unusable.

So it is with our hearts. When the Spirit’s work is resisted, delayed, or neglected, what was meant to be formed and poured out becomes hardened instead. What should have been usable for God’s purpose becomes difficult to break and costly to restore.

He spoke about the slump. Concrete must meet a precise measure. If it does not rise to the required standard, the entire load is rejected and discarded. There is no partial acceptance. If it does not meet the specification, it cannot be used.

So it is with the work God is doing in us. God does not measure by appearance or intention, but by what meets His standard. What does not rise to the measure of obedience and faith cannot be blended in or excused, it must be dealt with before the work can continue.

I shared with him what I had learned in construction. Samples are taken from the pour, allowed to harden, and weeks later crushed beneath great pressure. Only then is its strength revealed. Only then is it known whether it can bear the load for which it was made.

So it is with our faith. What God has formed in us is not proven in comfort, but under pressure. The crushing does not create the strength, it reveals whether the strength is truly there to bear the weight God has assigned.

There is also the matter of composition. Water, sand, aggregate, and cement must all be present, and each must be measured carefully. Too much or too little of any one part weakens the whole. The mixture determines the endurance.

So it is with the life God forms in us. Truth, obedience, suffering, grace, and patience each have their place, and none can be removed without consequence. When we favor one at the expense of the others, the strength of the whole is compromised, and what remains cannot endure the load it was meant to bear.

He then spoke of the freshly poured surface, smooth and carefully troweled. Sometimes someone comes walking toward it. You can see it happening and men shout warnings, but at times the person keeps going and walks straight through the concrete.

When that happens, the work is ruined. Either it must be torn up and done again, or the footprints remain forever, a permanent mark where none was meant to be.

Here the lesson becomes clear. When the Lord is doing a work, it is holy ground. When He is forming, shaping, and strengthening something, it is not to be trampled by careless feet.

God determines the mixture of our lives. He measures joy and sorrow, strength and weakness. He allows the testing and the crushing, not to destroy us, but to reveal whether we can bear the load appointed to us.

The strength that grows in us is not accidental, and the endurance is not self-made. It is the result of a careful and deliberate work of God. And even then, He does not leave us to carry the load alone. He bears it with us.

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Philip Yancey- Cautionary Tale

Posted by appolus on January 10, 2026

Phillip Yancey ……..

I am less interested in his fall than I am in the response. Many who have read anything I have written over the years will note, much of it has been on grace, and of course, Phillip had much to write on that subject. This is my response to much of what I hear, and much of what I hear plays into “cheap grace,” and it’s multiple shades.

Grace That Saves vs. Grace That Reigns: A Cautionary Reflection

The issue before us is not whether sin is real, nor whether grace is necessary. Scripture is clear on both. The question is what kind of grace we are talking about, and what kind of Christianity it ultimately produces.

In recent years, public moral failures among respected Christian figures have often been framed almost exclusively as inevitable expressions of “shared human brokenness.” While this language sounds humble, it subtly shifts sin from a moral failing into some kind of inevitable human failing. In doing so, it does not merely acknowledge weakness, it lowers the expectation of transformation for the redeemed.

Scripture never denies that believers can sin. But it emphatically denies that sin remains our identity, our default, or our governing power.
“How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2)

When Christian theology repeatedly insists that believers are always on the brink of collapse, always fundamentally the same as before conversion, it may sound realistic, but it is not apostolic. It is Romans 7 isolated from Romans 6, and Romans 7 elevated over Romans 8. It treats ongoing struggle as the final word, rather than the cross, the resurrection, and the indwelling Spirit.

The familiar phrase “we are just sinners saved by grace” is often offered as a summary of humility, yet it is theologically inncorrect. Scripture does not primarily identify believers as sinners with an added provision. It calls them saints, new creations, those freed from sin, those led by the Spirit, those no longer under condemnation.

Grace in the New Testament is not merely pardon after failure. It is power for obedience. It is the power to overcome.
“For the grace of God has appeared… training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.” (Titus 2:11–12)

When long-term, concealed patterns of sin emerge in the lives of Christian leaders, the appropriate response is not surprise, but neither is resignation. Scripture does not reduce such failures into “this is simply what humans do.” It speaks instead of accountability, sobriety, discipline, and, in some cases, disqualification.
“Be not many teachers, for you will incur a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1)

An extended pattern of deception is not merely a momentary lapse. It reflects a sustained resistance to conscience and to the sanctifying work of the Spirit. To explain such outcomes primarily in terms of “low anthropology” is to misdiagnose the problem. The issue is not that we expected too much of human nature, but that we expected too little of regeneration.

Grace does not erase distinctions between light and darkness, faithfulness and betrayal, maturity and self-indulgence. Nor does it dissolve moral responsibility under the banner of shared frailty.

The New Testament does not warn believers against being shocked so much as it warns them to be sober. It is not unspiritual to be sobered by contradiction between confession and conduct. It is a recognition that truth was professed while obedience was withheld.

Grace does not merely arrive after the wreckage. Grace, when obeyed, prevents the wreckage.
“The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

To insist on this is not moralism, nor denial of weakness. It is fidelity to the gospel’s claim that sin no longer reigns, that believers are not trapped in inevitability, and that holiness is not exceptional but normative Christian life.

Grace that only forgives after the fall but never empowers before it is not amazing grace.
It is cheap grace.

And cheap grace inevitably reframes defeat as realism and victory as naïveté.

Posted in Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Is your mind redeemed?

Posted by appolus on October 14, 2025

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)

In nature, when water flows over sandstone, it slowly carves a channel. At first it is shallow, but as the water continues, the groove deepens, until it becomes a permanent path. When the rain returns, it always follows the same course.

The human mind works much the same way. When we experience pain in the body, for example an injury to the elbow, the signal travels from the point of pain along a neural pathway to the brain. The more often that signal fires, the more established that pathway becomes.

In the same way, when someone wounds us through word or deed, a kind of spiritual signal travels from the point of the injury to the soul. Over time, that pain forms an inner pathway, a reflex of hurt, fear, or anger that becomes easier to travel each time it is triggered.

And so, just as the sandstone is shaped by the flow of water, the soul becomes shaped by pain. It cuts deep grooves into the inner life, and our thoughts begin to flow along those old tracks without effort. We do not even choose it, it becomes instinct.

Yet there is a remarkable truth found even in the world of medicine.Surgeons sometimes use a method called mirroring, where a patient focuses their attention on the healthy limb instead of the injured one. The brain begins to believe that healing is occurring in the damaged area, and the pathways of pain are slowly rewritten.

In the same way, Jesus is our healthy limb. When we take our eyes off our wounds and fix them on Him, we begin to heal. As we behold Him, His forgiveness, His grace, His mercy, we begin to mirror Him. We start to think as He thinks, to love as He loves, and to forgive as He forgave.

And this healing does not simply restore us to our original condition. It lifts us higher, it transforms us. For we are not merely conquerors over pain and sin, we are, as Scripture says, “more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:37)

Paul writes, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) This is an invitation to transformation, to a spiritual rewiring of our inner life. The Holy Spirit begins to pour living water through us, and slowly, the current changes course.

Where fear once ruled, trust begins to flow. Where bitterness dug deep, forgiveness takes root. Where sorrow carved its mark, peace begins to move like a river.

Paul also says, “Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Each time we catch a thought before it slides into the old groove, we redirect the flow toward Him. This is the renewal of the mind, the Spirit reshaping what pain once defined.

Each surrendered thought deepens a new channel of grace. Each moment of obedience erodes the old pathways of pain. Soon the soul begins to flow naturally toward Christ. The old grooves may still be visible, but they no longer control the current.

Ask yourself:
What grooves in my mind were carved by pain or fear?

Do I still let my thoughts run down those channels?

Or am I letting the Spirit redirect the flow toward peace, mercy, and faith?

Posted in christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, intimacy, Jesus, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

In the eye of the Storm

Posted by appolus on July 12, 2025

In the fierce heart of every storm, there lies a sacred stillness , a place untouched by the chaos that rages all around. That stillness is Christ. He is not on the edge, not watching from afar , He is at the very center, the calm within the tempest, the anchor of our souls.

When we run to Him, we do not escape reality , we enter into a deeper one. We step into perfect peace, not because the storm ceases, but because the Prince of Peace reigns within it. But if we flee, if we try to outrun the storm in our own strength, we hurl ourselves into its fiercest winds. The resistance grows, the fear swells, and we are battered by every gust.

Brothers and sisters, run to the center. Run to Jesus. For in Him, the storm loses its power, and the winds fall silent in the shadow of His presence. He prepares a table for us in the heart of every storm. He causes us to lie down in green pastures , beside still waters. He anoints us with oil and restores us. This goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.

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Victory in Christ

Posted by appolus on April 12, 2025

Who, I ask you, who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trial? Shall agony? Shall persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or the edge of the sword?
It is written—For Your sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

And yet—yet! In all these things, not outside of them, not after them, but in the very midst of them, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

I am fully persuaded—utterly convinced—anchored with a faith that will not be shaken,
That neither death, nor life,
Nor angels nor demons,
Nor rulers nor tyrants,
Nor the present agony nor the looming shadow of the future,
Nor the height of ecstasy nor the depths of despair,
Nor anything that has ever been created in heaven or on earth or beneath the earth
—none of it, nothing—
shall be able to sever us, to tear us, to pry us loose from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Oh, do you see it, saints?
We are more than conquerors—not just survivors, not merely enduring, but victorious with eternal weight—in every circumstance.

Whether clothed in splendor or stripped bare in affliction,
Whether seated in honor or cast into the pit of shame,
Whether celebrated or scorned,
Whether fed at a banquet or starved in a wasteland,
Whether on the mountaintop or in the furnace—we overcome.

And we do not boast in our own strength. No! We walk humbly before men when they praise us. And we fall humbly before God when they revile us. For in the kingdom of God, victory and defeat are not what the world claims they are.

The cross proves this.

For at the hour when Jesus hung stripped, beaten, nailed to a tree—when the world saw only ruin,
He was in fact winning the greatest victory ever known in heaven or on earth.
He triumphed over sin. He broke the power of death.
He shamed the powers of darkness and bore the full weight of the wrath of God.
And He did it not by avoiding the humiliation—but by embracing it, enduring it for the joy set before Him.

And now, because He conquered, we too conquer.

Because He stood, we stand.

Because He rose, we rise.

So let the sword come. Let famine rage. Let persecution howl. Let all hell be loosed against us.
We will not be moved.
For we are more than conquerors—not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And nothing—nothing—shall separate us from His love.

Posted in Jesus, the crucified life, the deeper life, the persectuted church, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Beauty from the Ashes

Posted by appolus on September 3, 2014

What I love about the Lord our God is that He makes beauty from the ashes. Now, certainly it takes eyes to see what the Lord can and does do. When our eyes are on the Lord then darkness flees in the light of His beauty and whatever His beauty shines on becomes beautiful. When we look through the eyes of the flesh oftentimes all things are perceived darkly and in this there is no beauty. To praise God in the depths of the dungeon is a glorious thing, more glorious that praising Him on the mountaintops. See the power of God fall upon Paul as He praises God in the midnight hour in the depths of his afflictions.

There is a deep spiritual lesson here as we witness Paul praising God and being full of joy where there should be no joy. See the saints down through the centuries praise God in the depths of their situations, even as flames licked around their mortal bodies. Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God makes us to lie down in green pastures. He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, in their presence mind you, and goodness and mercy and love and joy follow those saints all the days of their lives.

What a witness it is to the world to rejoice in God when nothing is going our way and we seem to have all the troubles and the burdens of the world on our shoulders, but of course, if we shall, we lay it upon His shoulders and we cast our cares upon Him and our burdens become light in the beauty and grace of His presence and there is rest for our souls. Paul would rather talk about his infirmities that God be glorified. May God be glorified in our own conversations with each other and the world.

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