How can I know that we're *REALLY* in the last days?

Question: Pastor Keith, I've heard it my entire life that "We are in the last days, repent now, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!".  To be honest, I'm quite tired of hearing it and I just don't believe it.  Too many years of "Chicken Little" have soured me on the whole idea.  Can you offer me any proof or any persuasion at all, that the "last days" are really here?

Answer: Oh yes I can!

Why I use the methods that I use

There are some Pastors who are so concerned that they'll offend someone, that they water down the truth, withhold information and sometimes just plain LIE about a subject.  I sincerely feel bad for anyone who wastes their time with a person like that.

I'm going to spend a couple of minutes and explain to you WHY I do what I do....

Replenish the earth?

I haven't done this in a while, so it should be fun!

Every now and then I have people ask me questions that make me go "Ah-ha!".
I love those kinds of questions and I have one today.

Question: Why did God tell Adam and Eve to replenish the Earth?  If God had just created the Earth, isn't it safe to say that it was never "plenished" to begin with?  Obviously this proves that there were people before Adam and Eve, right?

Answer: Man oh man... Is Satan ever alive and well and filling the minds of the lost and unsaved with nonsense!  The good news, is the devil isn't learning any new tricks.  True, he may gain a soul here or there, but we all know he can never win!  :)

Bible Nuggets 3 - Be of Good Cheer!

Did you ever notice that Jesus only ever said "Be of good cheer" when he was saving someones life?

Up to and including mentioning our redemption in John 16:33?
I literally just noticed it myself.

The only reference to "Be of good cheer" that doesn't fit is Acts 23:11 when Jesus was witnessed speaking to Paul.  Hmm... You know what?  I bet that was Jesus way of telling Paul that He wouldn't let the Jews who banded together kill him?  LOL....

I joke all the time that "the Bible is an inexhaustible supply of revelation and information".
Who knew?!  ;)

SILVERWORKS DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRY IS A GO!

PUBLIC NOTICE:

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY - SILVERWORKS DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRY IS A GO!

Beginning today, July 8, 2017, I am super fired-up and in the process of putting together all of the pieces to make this engine GO!

Watch this space for updates!  ^_^


UPDATES

JULY 9: Sent out individual emails to about 100 Apologists all over the USA, looking for a local referral!

JULY 10: Sent out an additional 100 individual emails to another 100 Apologists across the USA (and one to Australia), looking for a local referral.

JULY 12: Several replies received, very few know anyone in Florida.

JULY 14: Received a few more replies.  Very encouraging replies!  Still nothing.

JULY 17: Sent about 50 emails out to various members of Christian related Academia.

JULY 27: Still receiving a small number of replies, received a very nice email today encouraging me.

AUGUST 1: Things have gone quiet, but fear not.  I'm on God's time table!  ^_^

AUGUST 9: One month in, still sending out feelers, no new responses yet.

AUGUST 19: Had a wonderful chat tonight with someone ready to hear what I have to teach.

AUGUST 27: Things picking up.  Lots of people reaching out to me for more information.

SEPTEMBER 27: Still no movement on an Apologist, but still moving forward!  :)

OCTOBER 27: Lots of oddballs coming out of the woodwork, but still moving!

NOVEMBER 27: Still scratching my head, but I know it's coming!

DECEMBER 27: Interesting things afoot!  Happy New Year!  ^_^

SURELY SOMEONE KNOWS SOMEBODY?

Starting a new church?

Anyone who has been following me, either here on this blog or in the flesh can tell you in no uncertain terms, that I am (justifiably) sick, tired and disgusted by almost every single church/denomination in existence.

Why could I possibly be sick, tired and disgusted?  Let's start with false teachings, fleecing, poor teachings, poor understandings, altar calls & false tongue speaking, just as an example.

For years I've been told over and over again to start my own church, but as with all things, if I don't feel lead to do something by God, I'm not doing it.  For proof of that, I still have not released my book yet.

So with that said, I'm putting together this blog post in an attempt to help you decide whether or not a church that I would set up, would be more in line with what YOU believe to be TRUE and not what some wayward soul, who only wants your money would set up.

Please take a moment and ponder these statements:

Prophesy or Predictability?

Back in June I discussed those lovely friends of ours, you know, the people from the religion of peace?  How there was surely more to come in their endeavor to destroy all those who don't subscribe to their brand of "god"?

At the end of that blog post I wrote that what I believed would come next, was mass Christian casualties.

50 Homosexuals Murdered - More to come?

Last month I started to put together a blog post discussing the deterioration of the moral fiber of the people of the United States of America.  "The people" INCLUDE certain segments of "christians" as well.

In that blog post I was working on (but never posted), I wrote that I fully expected that the Radical Islamic Terrorists (you know, those nice people from the "religion of peace") would begin to kill homosexuals (or the other variants that they love to give as long lists of letters and numbers).

Why would I write about or expect that to happen?  LOL....

Christianity needs to change?

Did you read the subject without the question mark?
If you did, you're not alone, but you're in a lot of trouble.
Good thing you're here, let me help you out!  :)

There are 3 types of people in the world:

1. Christians who believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God
2. christians who believe the parts of the Bible they want to believe
3. Everyone else

REPOSTED: My Easy Trip from Youth Minister to Felon

On June 12, 2014, Christianity Today posted an article by a youth pastor who had sex with one of his students.  Due to an overwhelming amount of backlash, they had a "change of heart" and removed the entire article.  What they left behind was a link to the edited article at the Internet Archive.  However, that link is less than useful because it will only let you read the first 2-3 paragraphs.  In any event, I believe that deleting that article was a GRAVE ERROR!

The article, which was written by an ANONYMOUS former youth pastor, is about the effects on him, his family, his local church, their families and the ANONYMOUS young girl he had a relationship with.  Due to the overwhelming quantity of ANONYMITY involved in this article, I believe that it can and SHOULD BE used as a WARNING to others who would involve themselves in youth ministry!

Christianity Today says that part of the reason they regretted posting the article, was because "The post adopted a tone that was not appropriate given its failure to document complete repentance and restoration."  That's nonsense.  The author is currently serving a prison sentence and is unable to effectively communicate PERSONALLY with ALL of those that he harmed.  I sincerely believe that this writing is an EXCELLENT FIRST STEP towards that goal AND I have made it available here IN ITS ENTIRETY, for you to decide for yourself.

Was Jesus a Liberal and a Socialist?

In a brief interaction with a liberal Christian the other day, I came upon this statement:

Claim: Jesus was a LIBERAL and a SOCIALIST!

I hear this claim every now and again, and every time I hear it, it gets me upset...  If you do any amount of research on this topic, you'll find elaborate, fanciful and overly creative articles written by people who go WAY TOO FAR, just to answer a simple question...

Here is the very simple reply and answer that I offered to this claim:

I'm not sure where you are in your walk with God, but to claim that Jesus was a liberal and a socialist, is like claiming that Karl Marx was a great philanthropist and humanitarian. 

Jesus feeding the 5,000+ men, women and children was not an act of socialism, it was a MIRACLE, performed to show EVERYONE that He was indeed God. 

Jesus saying "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.", wasn't an act of liberalism, it was a lesson to those of us who would pronounce judgement, without seeing that our own SIN is *just as* vile and contemptible before a Holy God. 

Each group (political, denominational or otherwise) tries to hijack Jesus for their own use and purposes, instead of just allowing what He did and what He said to speak for itself (in context of course). From time to time I've been accused of the same thing, but I always take the time to show people where they can find the answer (or correction) to their incorrect or perhaps *false* understandings. 

Please take your time while reading Scripture and ensure that you have a Pastor in your life to help you to better understand the verses that prove challenging and NEVER allow your own personal bias to influence your walk with God. If you take the time, the Holy Spirit will be more than happy to tell you the things that you NEED to know... :)

Now you have an example of what to say if/when you're faced with this false claim... 

My Platform for Presidency of the United States

Have you ever stopped to think of what YOU would do IF you were elected President of the United States?  Well I hadn't until today...  I believe that there are many things that the citizens of the United States NEED and Obamacare, IRS Attacks, Forcing religious entities to pay for employee abortions and supporting Socialism are not among them!

So these are some of the things I would do IF I was President....
Would you vote for me?  ;)

All comments are welcome, but please avoid vulgar language.

Are you a Christian or a Disciple?

WARNING: God's Word has been known to be offensive to those living outside of God's perfect Will.  Read to your own edification!

QUESTION FOR CHRISTIANS

Do you call yourself a Christian?

Why?

Does Jesus tell you anywhere in Scripture to "Go out and become a Christian"?

Did you know that the word "Christian" can be found only 3 times in the whole Bible...?

And 2 of those times, it's used in a discussion surrounding suffering or death!

Yet many of you will use that "title" alone in order to describe yourself.  Something that you either deem as a badge of honor, inferring your rebelliousness to the world at large or simply just to show people how "good" or "righteous" you are...

But I'm here to tell you today, that Jesus Himself was more concerned about DISCIPLESHIP than He ever was about you attending church, joining a religion or making up or following your own ways and practices, thanks to what the United States calls "Religious Freedom".

Pastoral Self Importance - STOP IT!

As a Discipleship Minister, I'm often placed in a position where I need to reach out to local churches, in order to help create a smooth transition from my care as a Shepherd, over to a long-term Shepherd.  At any given time, I have between 5 and 25 people from around the world who seek out my guidance on discipleship.  Once I get people to a certain point, I encourage them to find a local church to get additional fellowship.

To date, I've had ZERO PERCENT SUCCESS at accomplishing what should be a ridiculously simple task...

WHY?
Good question!

Agendas, Propaganda and Lies... Oh my!

NOTICE: As I referenced in my last post on the subject, this is my second (and hopefully final) post regarding this particular issue.  

Next, I'm putting this at the beginning of this post, because those of  you with ADD might not make it all the way through.  There is no hate of any kind contained within this post.  Twist and turn all of my words if you'd like, but you're not going to get away with saying that my words or my intent are hateful.

Gay Pride - Oxy-Moron or Perfect Description?

I've been teaching many of the individuals that I've been discipling, that MANY WORDS have had their meanings changed over the years.  Some simple, non-biblical words that have been changed would include: COOL means NICE, BAD means GOOD, FAT now means PRETTY (even though they use a PH to spell it), DOPE means SMART (as in looking smart), TIGHT means COOL, FINE means HOT, etc. (oy, what a mess we've allowed our language to become!)

My Daughter Still Doesn't Understand Me...

NOTE: This teaching has what I'll call "authenticity" attached to it.  Within, is a recounting of something that recently happened to me and I have kept the language inadequacies of one of the parties intact.  Not for the sake of making fun of anyone, but to try to keep the story both "real" and "authentic".  So if you do get offended, please don't be.  There is nothing written here with the goal of malice.

Silverworks Ministries - Statement of Faith

So while I was straightening out the issue with the Radio Series, it occurred to me that I should put our Statement of Faith here on the Blog.  For the love of God, PLEASE, ALWAYS read a Ministries Statement of Faith before you devote your time, your family and put your money towards it.  Make sure that it not only fits Scripture, but that they're not calling out Scripture erroneously...

About Pastor Keith & Silverworks Ministries Beliefs

Discipleship Series Offline

I just discovered that most of the discipleship series is offline...

Don't worry, this isn't Satan at work, it's technology changing and me not knowing about it!

All of the episodes are safe and sound, give me a few days and they'll all be back online again!

While you wait, why not listen in to our Show Special on "Freedom in Christ"?

Episode 25 - Freedom in Christ

Just for clarity, I actually expected this to happen at some point or another (for various reasons)...  I've started to get them back up.  As they are uploaded, they will appear in the box below.

Also, I'm taking this opportunity to get the whole "Podcasting thing" worked out, so I would appreciate it if anyone would care to offer me any advice.

ADDENDUM: DISCIPLESHIP SERIES IS BACK ONLINE!

Update on all things "But is it Biblical?"

Back in October I told everyone to look forward to a new season of our radio show and a revamped website.

The website has stalled, because Wix has some major problems with their HTML5 websites.  For those of you in the technical-know, AJAX is not very "deep link friendly".  So people who still insist on using Apple products will continue to have a substandard experience when visiting our website.  Apple's phones may be pretty, but they're not very Technology Friendly.  Given the time constraints right now, moving our site would be a burden.  For those of you who are interested, all Apple related hits to ALL of my various websites account for only about 16% of all the hits.  That includes all revisions of the iPhone, Mac & Apple TV.  At 16%, their voice is certainly louder than one might actually think.

As for the radio shows next season.... Well, Pastor Jeff and myself have been inundated with secular work.  Since that's what God is using to keep our families fed, clothed and warm, we've got no choice but to wait for an opening AND a signal from God to do so.

For those of you who may be wondering WHY Pastor Jeff and I still work normal jobs, it's because we refuse to give up our rights and we remain what is often called a "Free Church".  We don't want 501(c)(3) status.  We want to be able to speak the truth, and although we don't often do this next thing, we want to retain our right to be able to call out individuals within the government who are doing something wrong.  If you accept non-profit status, you give up these rights wholesale.  Unless you want to live your life as a "diplomat" and find "politically correct" and subversive ways to do so, then it's not worth it.  As you know we're anything BUT PC here at Silverworks Ministries.  It's not so much that we're proud of that fact, as much as it is that we're sick of listening to people who say one thing and mean another.  You know?  Haven't you noticed that we never ask for "donations"?

2 Timothy 3:12-14 - Those who try to live a godly life because they believe in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil people and phony preachers will go from bad to worse as they mislead people and are themselves misled. However, continue in what you have learned and found to be true. You know who your teachers were.

In the mean time, I would like to remind you to PLEASE, stay IN the Word, stay God focused and God centered and no matter WHAT this world throws at you, don't give in, and remember these words:

Deuteronomy 33:27 - The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms;

Until we resume, we are always available for emails or other Biblically related questions...
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need some help or guidance...

Blessings to one and all!

Luke 21:25-28 - "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."