WesleyGospel Ministries

Yes, I’ll admit it—I start with the Bible!

I remember one time, a few years ago, a well-known atheist in the US was interviewing me in my office concerning the creation/evolution issue and the book of Genesis.

The conversation went something like this: “So you admit that you start with the Bible?” she asked me.

“Yes, of course,” I replied.

“And you are not prepared to change anything the Bible states, are you?” she asked.

“No,” I said.

“The Bible’s statements concerning creation, the flood, and so on are not subject to change—God’s Word cannot be altered. Models based on the Bible are subject to change, but what the Bible clearly states is not subject to change.”

“Ah,” she then responded, “That’s why creationists like you can never be real scientists. You see, real scientists like myself start with evidence and develop our theories. Then, as new evidence comes along, we modify our theories accordingly. You start with the Bible, not evidence, and you are not prepared to change your views. I start with evidence and am prepared to change or modify theories as new evidence comes along. That is real science.”

I then responded by asking, “You are an atheist, correct?”

“Yes,” she responded.

“And you don’t believe in God and don’t believe the Bible’s account of Genesis has any part in science and in discussing the origins issue—is that right?”

“Yes,” she again responded.

“Are you prepared to change that?” I asked.

She changed the subject. Yes, this atheist (like all of them) started with beliefs that she was not prepared to change. And those beliefs determined how she approached evidence in regards to the origins issue. No one ever starts with just evidence. We all have presuppositions that determine how we approach evidence.

Box! Box! Box! Box!

Yesterday I was just a boy
In days of youthful hero worship
My kind have been molded by images on the screen
Brought up to emulate the big guns

Just another guest on death’s best show
The influence cuts deeper than mom’s
Those electric waves
The demons fly

Now could we just be
Bred to kill or die

There must be somethin’ else
For the blame I place on myself
Behind the tired eyes
The tears go uncried

In the box
Doin’ time
In the box
Just like doin’ time
In the box
Doin’ time
In the box

Now that I’m grown
Abandoned childhood toys
But still what danger
Have I retained
To grab the brass ring
To go in for the kill
And covet the good you know ‘dem got for murder

It’s just another guest on death’s best show
The influence cuts deeper than mom’s
Those electric waves
The demons fly

Now could we just be
Bred to kill or die

There’s got to be somethin’ else
For the blame I place on myself
Behind tired eyes
The demons stir
The tears go uncried

In the box
Doin’ time
In the box
Just like doin’ time
In the box
Doin’ time
In the box

Minds are locked down

–Snot, “The Box”–

—

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
–Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)–

To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together.
–Jeremiah 6:10-11 (KJV)–

Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins…Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
–Isaiah 58:1, 6 (NIV)–

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens,
his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols.
–Acts 17:16 (AMP)–

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,
be put away from you, with all malice.
–Ephesians 4:31 (KJV)–

Note that “blessed are the meek” (Matthew 5:5) is not about nor a teaching against expressing anger or indignation against injustice–like sexual perversion and abuse for example, preaching sermons against sin, preaching repentance, or about preaching sermons against injustice, as is required in evangelistic ministry. This is about the way we carry ourselves in relation to others in the church, in business, in family, etc. There is a sense of self-control there. This is more related to people in pastoral ministry, because of their constant interaction with people acting annoying with petty irritations and nuisances. Not being easily provoked by people’s comments or crazy behavior. To say that Matthew 5:5 is a teaching against the whole idea of preaching with anger against flagrant societal sin, would be to condemn John the Baptist, Jesus Christ himself, Stephen, Peter, and Paul (Matt. 3:7; 23:13-39; Acts 7:51; 8:20; 13:10).

—

Watchman Nee, The Spiritual Man. (Teaches Quietism; all emotions are called “soulish”).

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer, pp. 491-492, 495. “This is the principle that stands out from the writings of this sect. Given that some practical resolution is to be made, action will be taken solely when we are urged thereto by God. As long as the Holy Spirit has not set the soul in motion, she will wait without doing anything whatever…abandonment, exaggerated to the point of reducing oneself to a passive state of expectation…in this way desires and abandonment were falsely considered as two dispositions incompatible with one another…Let us not think of God as a jealous, intractable, sullen king who will not tolerate any initiative and who wishes to reduce us to a slave’s mute obedience.”

Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water, ch. 5. (On Social Justice).

John Wesley, “A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Rutherforth,” Part III. (On feeling the fruits).

Dr. John R. Rice, Why Preach Against Sin? (Sword of the Lord, 1946, 1985), p. 6. “I preached so hard against sin that some pastors of the city criticized me severely.”

—. What Is Wrong With the Movies? (Sword of the Lord, 1938).

—. Adultery and Sex Perversion (Sword of the Lord, 1978).

Leonard Ravenhill, Revival Praying (Bethany House, 1962), ch. 14: “Be Ye Angry.”

—. “Be Ye Angry And Sin Not” (Last Days Ministries, 1985).

—

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
–Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV)–

Train up a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not depart from it.
–Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)–

Fathers, do not provoke your children,
lest they become discouraged.
–Colossians 3:21 (NKJV)–

As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord.
–Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)–

—

I’m tired of your open mouth
Crawling inside my skin
Endless pain we never quit
The fight within that pride’s begun

Saying it’s too late
What a man’s got, he’ll learn to hate

Forget the time I said I would
Replace that with I never will
Beyond the facts held in your face
Ignore the facts beyond your nose

Saying it’s too late
What a man’s got, he’ll learn to hate

Grow up!

Not without meaning
No response, no revealing

Just grow up!
Wrong!
Wrong!
Wrong!
Wrong!

–Chevelle, “Family System”–

Originally from here.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

This week, our Nation observes Anti-Communism Week, a solemn remembrance of the devastation caused by one of history’s most destructive ideologies. Across continents and generations, communism has wrought devastation upon nations and souls. More than 100 million lives have been taken by regimes that sought to erase faith, suppress freedom, and destroy prosperity earned through hard work, violating the God-given rights and dignity of those they oppressed. As we honor their memory, we renew our national promise to stand firm against communism, to uphold the cause of liberty and human worth, and to affirm once more that no system of government can ever replace the will and conscience of a free people.

For more than a century, communism has brought nothing but ruin. Wherever it spreads, it silences dissent, punishes beliefs, and demands that generations kneel before the power of the state instead of standing for freedom. Its story is written in blood and sorrow, a grim reminder that communism is nothing more than another word for servitude.

In the 34 years since the end of the Cold War, the world has witnessed both the triumph of democracy and the persistence of tyranny in new forms. New voices now repeat old lies, cloaking them in the language of “social justice” and “democratic socialism,” yet their message remains the same:  give up your freedom, place your trust in the power of the government, and trade the promise of prosperity for the empty comfort of control. America rejects this evil doctrine. We remain a Nation founded on the eternal truth that liberty and opportunity are the birthrights of every person, and that no ideology, whether foreign or domestic, can extinguish them.

As we mark Anti-Communism Week, we stand united in defense of the values that define us as a free people. We honor the victims of oppression by keeping their cause alive and by ensuring that communism and every system that denies the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will find their place, once and for all, on the ash heap of history.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of November 2 through November 8, 2025, as Anti-Communism Week. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

DONALD J. TRUMP

Now the king told the boogie men,
“You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shaken to the top”
The Sheikh, he drove his Cadillac
He went a-cruising down the ville
The Muezzin was a-standing on the radiator grille

Sharif don’t like it
Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Sharif don’t like it
Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
The Bedouin, they brought out
The electric kettle drum
The local guitar picker
Got his guitar-picking thumb
As soon as the Sharif
Cleared the square
They began to wail

Now over at the temple
Oh, they really pack ’em in
The in-crowd say it’s cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
And the temple band took five
The crowd caught a whiff of that crazy Casbah jive

The king called up his jet fighters
He said, “You better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the Casbah way”
As soon as the Sharif was
Chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to
The cockpit radio blare
As soon as the Sharif was
Out of their hair
The jet pilots wailed

(Sharif don’t like it)
Thinks it’s not kosher
(Rocking the Casbah
Rock the Casbah)
(Sharif don’t like it)
Fundamentally can’t take it
(Rocking the Casbah
Rock the Casbah)
(Sharif don’t like it)
You know he really hates it
(Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah)
(Sharif don’t like it)
Really, really hates it

–The Clash, “Rock the Casbah”–

—

Gerhard Weinberg, World War II: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford UP, 2014).