Poet Alexander Pope and The New Pope

Poet Alexander Pope And The New Pope

"Blessed is the man who expects nothing for he will never be disappointed."
--Alexander Pope

Are you seeking great things for yourself?
(J.R. Miller)
"Are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them!" Jeremiah 45:5
This lesson is not an easy one to learn, for we all want to erect our work for God on the summit of a mountain, where it will be seen by all the world. We easily forget that sometimes the greatest work we can perform for Him, is to do the little things He gives us to do, quietly and sweetly.
"Are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them!" Jeremiah 45:5
Ministers often seek . . .
  great gifts,
  great eloquence,
  great congregations,
  great popularity and influence!
How many ministers are seeking after great gifts--thirsting after popularity, applause, and acceptance among men! They are not satisfied with being simply and solely what God may make them by His Spirit and grace--with the blessing which He may make them to a scattered few here and there. This inferior position, as they consider it, so beneath their grace and gifts, their talents and abilities--does not satisfy their restless mind and aspiring desires. Their ambition is . . .
  to stand at the very head of their peers,
  to be looked up to and sought after as a leader and a guide,
  to have a larger building,
  to have a fuller congregation,
  to have a better salary, and
  to have a wider field for the display of their gifts and abilities.
Gladly would they . . .
  stand above all others,
  brook no rival to their 'pulpit throne', and
  be lord paramount at church and abroad.
And what is the consequence of this proud, ambitious spirit? What envy, what jealousy, what detraction do we see in men who want to stand at the top of the mountain!
"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all!" Mark 9:35
"So the last will be first; and the first will be last." Matthew 20:16
-Grace Gems
            In a time in world history when pure evil has taken over, I truly believe it is refreshing to see the largest denomination, the Roman Catholic church, enthralled with the value system of the new Pope Francis I, the first American Pope, former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Argentina, South America. (Supposedly, he, even as a Cardinal, managed at age 76 to take care of himself, even preparing his own food, riding in a public bus instead of a chauffeured limousine.)
            This writer will never forget his first visit to St. Peters, Rome, the grandeur of the great Vasilico, the splendor of gold and art treasures.
            Can we, American Christian evangelicals even imagine what absolute fools someone like Joel Osteen or Robert Schuller would make of themselves if they could reach such heights in religiosity? Can we even imagine what absolute fools the southern Baptist hierarchy would make of themselves? The tragedy, American Catholics have so degraded themselves voting 64% in the last election for Obama, the world's chief promoter of abortion and same sex marriage. They voted 54% for him the first time he sought the office of President. Catholics in this nation could elect a President. (70 million Catholics in U.S.A.) Those who believe that the church age is over, those who have seen the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and other liberal denominations fall right into the Devil's trap of political correctness, caring more about what the world thinks than what God knows or The Bible teaches (lesbian women Bishops, male gay Bishops and Pastors, acceptance of homosexuality in most main line churches, even the acceptance of the abomination of same sex marriage, ambiguity with abortion), compromising in every way with the truth of scripture. IF knowing and believing, yielding to the world flesh Devil, the darkness of the world (Ephesians 6), more willing to tango with academics and politicians for their acceptance of them, than wrestle with Satan, fully invested in the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6).
            Jesus and his disciples owned nothing. Nothing makes me more sad than a fat preacher or anyone who claims to be in fulltime service to our Lord, living the lives of "the rich and famous." One business man told me that he had a hard time getting on the golf course during the week because of preachers. I don't want any republican who calls themselves a conservative talking to me about conservatism unless he is a conservative from bottom to top. By that, I mean, conservative even stingy in every action of life. I don't put myself up as an example of anything but I am a true conservative. I do not own one article of clothing not purchased second hand, one item of furniture not purchased second hand, food is never thrown away in my house. I turn every bottle-container upside down. I got my frugality honestly, my own father would jump over a gate to keep from wearing out the hinge. He never bought any farm equipment new, always everything second hand, renovated-reconditioned. This enabled him to give more to keep the poor country church going. How often WE ate "biscuit pudding" (desert made from weak, old biscuits mixed with the spices, fruits available, etc. used in pudding, served with whipped cream). All clothing scraps were used to make bed quilts. Not one thing of any value was thrown away, in their home or my home.
            How refreshing, the highest religious figure in the word, not so lazy as to walk places, not so greedy as to think about the less fortunate-disabled. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).  This writer has traveled the world, always interested, as a Christian, raised in the church, in religions of the world. I was so fascinated-depressed by the monkey temples, the sexuality temples, mosques, monasteries, voo-doo huts. None of this is as sickening to a convicted-convinced-committed-born again Christian as what one can hear on a television in his own house. I do not believe you will find anything, anywhere, as disgusting-diabolical as someone, like the prosperity preacher, Mike Murdock, Wisdom Center ministry, Fort Worth, Texas preaching a prosperity theology-seed faith discipleship. Like Benny Hinn, Jim Bakker and his wife, others, living good off the gifts of those desperately seeking blessings. Many never realize that God's greatest blessings come to those who, as Charles Spurgeon said, "Spend much time on their knees before God."