NC Renegades

Something has changed. I haven’t figured out the game plan, but something has changed. Can you feel it? I can feel it. Something has changed.

I’m not buying the story that this virus happened from people eating bat soup. It appears this was a bio-engineered weapon that someone either set loose on purpose, or they just lost control of it somehow.  Countries just don’t shut down and  lock down everything they can over something that they started out trying to portray as something no worse than the flu. With China shutting down manufacturing and locking down media it was only natural for the rest of the world to start assuming the worst.

Something just isn’t right about this whole situation. Things just are not passing the smell test. China needed to get protesters off the street and the Deep State desperately needs another way to try and get rid of Trump. Magically we have a killer virus that the media has now sank their teeth into and is doing everything they can to bring the pain.

Is this it? Is this the big event? Is the SHTF on the way? I don’t know. There are those that say Life as we know it is about to drastically change. So far here in small town North Carolina, nobody is extremely concerned over current events. If this is a SHTF moment, most people are woefully prepared.  

It looks like we are in for an extremely wild ride in the market today. Perhaps we are at war and just don’t know it yet. Maybe this is China’s way of creating turmoil and fighting us economically.

I have so many questions that I have no good answers for. I don’t know what is going on. But something is happening. Things I feel are about to change.

I’m sure most of you who stop by our little place on the internet are prepared and continue to prepare. I’m sure you can feel something is coming also. I don’t think there is anything we can do except prepare for what we can feel and perhaps somewhat see is coming.

What can you do? Carry on and Pray, It’s in God’s hands.

Wes

God Cares for You
By John Piper

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.(1 Peter 5:6–7)

Why is anxiety about the future a form of pride?

God’s answer would sound something like this (paraphrasing Isaiah 51:12):

I — the Lord, your Maker — I am he who comforts you, who promises to take care of you; and those who threaten you are mere men who die. So, your fear must mean that you do not trust me — and even though you are not sure that your own resources will take care of you, yet you opt for fragile self-reliance, rather than faith in my future grace. So, all your trembling — weak as it is — reveals pride.

The remedy? Turn from self-reliance to God-reliance, and put your faith in the all-sufficient power of the promise of his future grace.

You can see that anxiety is a form of pride in 1 Peter 5:6–7. Notice the grammatical connection between the verses. “Humble yourselves . . . under the mighty hand of God . . . [now, verse 7] casting all your anxieties on him.” Verse 7 is not a new sentence. It’s a subordinate clause. It starts with a participle: “Humble yourselves . . . [by] casting all your anxieties on him.”

This means that casting your anxieties on God is a way of humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. It’s like saying, “Eat politely . . . chewing with your mouth shut.” Or, “Drive carefully . . . keeping your eyes on the road.” Or, “Be generous . . . invitingsomeone over on Thanksgiving.” Or, “Humble yourselves . . . casting your fears on God.”

One way to humble ourselves is to cast all our anxieties on God. Which means that one hindrance to casting your anxieties on God is pride. Which means that undue worry is a form of pride. No matter how weak it looks or feels.

Now, why is casting our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties. Or that we can’t take care of them ourselves. And if pride has to admit that its fears are unmanagable, it still does not like to admit that the remedy might be trusting someone else who is wiser and stronger. 

In other words, pride is a form of unbelief and does not like to trust in God for his future grace. Faith, on the other hand, admits the need for help. Pride won’t. Faith banks on God to give help. Pride won’t. Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won’t. 

Therefore, the way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the promise of future grace in the words, “He cares for you.” And then unload your fears onto his strong shoulders.

Think about all of the media and political talking points that we have had to endure in this country. Socialism, identity politics, homosexual and gender issues, no borders and free everything to illegal aliens are only a partial list.

Now think about this: when faced with a real issue (COVID-19), reality sets in and what was “important” has now become irrelevant. Six states have now declared states of emergency: Florida, New York, Maryland, California, Washington and Oregon. I see a trend: with the tentative exemption of Florida, these are Democrat controlled states. The three states on the West Coast are having their chickens come home to roost as their socialist (sh_thole) cities succumb to their irresponsible policies.

This is just a portent for all of the states but we can at least see a silver lining in this crisis: the price of oil has collapsed and is expected to open in a few hours at $32.50 per barrel. The price is expected to go to $25 a barrel which will have a significant negative impact on our shale oil production. On the other hand, it does not matter if gas is cheap if everyone is quarantined in their homes.

David DeGerolamo

At some point in the near future (like now), all air travel must be stopped except for cargo shipments. But first, our “leaders” have to acknowledge their ignorance in handling this pandemic. Might be a while.

David DeGerolamo

Open the Windows of Your Heart
By John Piper

A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.(Isaiah 42:3)

Probably the most encouraging words I have heard in weeks came from a prophecy in Isaiah 42:1–3 about how Jesus will use his spiritual power.

Do you feel like “a bruised reed” — like one of those big top-heavy Easter lilies whose stem has been squashed so that the flower flops to the ground and gets no sap? Do you ever feel like your faith is just a little spark instead of a flame — like that little red dot at the end of the wick after you blow out the birthday candle?

Take heart! The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of encouragement: he will not snap off your flower; he will not snuff out your spark. 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . . to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). “The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2). “[He is] gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

It may be a grief to us that we are only a spark instead of a flaming fire. But listen! And be encouraged: Yes, there is a big difference between a spark and a fire. But there is an infinite difference between a spark and no spark! A mustard seed of faith is infinitely closer to being a mountain of faith than it is to being no faith.

Open the window of God’s promises and let the Spirit blow into every room of your heart. The Holy Wind of God will not break or quench. He will lift up your head and fan your spark into a flame. He is the Spirit of encouragement.

I suppose COVID-19 is as good a reason as any to initiate a police state as what has happened in Sacramento. If COVID-19 is just the flu as the right-wing pundits and politicians keep telling us, why are such draconian measures necessary? What will the response be when COVID-19 is found to be infecting the countless homeless in Democrat controlled cities in California?

I want to point out some facts concerning this action:

1. The police are wearing gloves and face shields.
2. People were told to go inside their homes and not come out without any warning, reason or recourse.
3. Placer County issued the orders to isolate the neighborhood. Imagine what the state governments will do when they realize this power at their fingertips.

Italy quarantined 11 provinces today. Their quarantine period is 28 days, not 14 days as the US government has mandated. At some point, our government will increase the quarantine period and they also will act as other nations have to contain this pandemic.

If you think you will go to a bug-out location when the time is right, think again. You do not know when or how long the “quarantine” will be. As someone recently said: “Statists have to state.”

David DeGerolamo

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Police-Enforced Quarantine Hits California Neighborhood – Residents Ordered to Stay Inside Due to Coronavirus

Sacramento police ordered all residents in a California neighborhood to stay inside on Thursday due to a coronavirus death in the area.

The local health department issued a statement after the police presence in the area.

This is a frightening development.

WIBW reported:

Sacramento County Sheriff deputies and Rocklin Police, some wearing protective gloves, converged on a residential street Thursday as a sheriff’s helicopter circled overhead, ordering people to get inside.

It was later learned that the first California coronavirus patient to die from the illness lived on this block.

The Placer County Health Department issued a brief statement shortly after the police presence, stating: “Law enforcement partners are currently responding to enforce a health officer’s order. We cannot share any additional information to protect patient confidentiality.”

The orders were given under sections of California Health and Safety Code that allows Placer Health to “enforce regulations requiring strict isolation, or quarantine if the action is necessary for the protection of the public health.”

More…

via Matt Bracken

How Can I Be Filled with the Spirit?
By John Piper

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can we experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our church and ourselves that fills us with indomitable joy and frees us, and empowers us, to love those around us in ways so authentic that they are won to Christ? 

Answer: Meditate day and night upon the incomparable, hope-giving promises of God. As Romans 15:4 shows us, that’s the way Paul kept his heart full of hope and joy and love. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” 

The full assurance of hope comes from meditating on the promises of God’s word. And this does not contradict the sentence nine verses later that says that the Holy Spirit gives us hope (Romans 15:13). This is because the Holy Spirit is the divine author of Scripture. His word is the means of his work. It is no contradiction that the way he fills us with hope is by filling us with his own word of promise. 

Hope is not some vague emotion that comes out of nowhere, like a stomachache. Hope is the confidence that the stupendous future promised to us by the word of the Spirit is going to really come true. Therefore, the way to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with his word. The way to have the power of the Spirit is to believe the promises of his word. 

For it is the word of promise that fills us with hope, and hope fills us with joy, and joy overflows in the power and freedom to love our neighbor. And that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit.