Mike Fross

Regular guy.

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@MadelnCanada Mesmerizing

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@wadethomasjr Thank you for sharing this testimony!

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@Stearnzy I’m sorry.

[Herman Bavinck @Herman_Bavinck_]

Paul fights against dead works while James wages a campaign against a dead faith.

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

What a testimony!

[Michael Clary @dmichaelclary]

Meet Stephen.

Here he is in 2020, volunteering for Bernie Sanders at the U of Cincinnati campus.

At the time, he was an atheist, secular humanist, Democratic socialist, depressed, alcoholic, porn addicted drug abuser.

His life was a disaster.

[Troy Frasier AKA Revived Studios @RevivedThoughts]

Have you thought recently about just how much good Christians have done for the world throughout history?

It was Christians who stopped the gladiator fights back in the Roman Empire. They thought forcing prisoners to fight to the death in front of cheering mobs was evil. That feeding people to animals was not a good sport. Something that apparently had to be explained to the Roman Empire.

It was Christians who ended the raiding of Vikings and barbarians. Vikings would show up in villages around Europe, leaving those who fought against them in some of the most horrifying tortures ever done to humans. Yet Christians went to them and shared the Gospel until they settled down and became civilized.

It was Christians who preserved the works of antiquity. They put the great writings of Rome and Greece into their libraries and monasteries during the dark ages so that they could be recovered centuries later.

It was Christians who ended slavery. But you say, "Christian countries were slave-owning!" Yes, for 300 years, after the Renaissance, they believed the secret to Rome and Greece's success was slavery. The average European never met the slaves that were on their colonies. When Christians like John Newton and William Wilberforce explained how bad the conditions were, they worked to end it. It was not an easy battle, and in places like America it was tough, yet always at the forefront of abolitionism were Christians.

It was Christians who ended eugenics. All the top scientists said that some races were lower than others. Motivated by Charles Darwin's "Origin of the Species" whose subtitle is often forgotten, "Preservation of favoured races in the struggle for survival." They treated people that they deemed inferior terribly. They sterilized them against their will. They did this all over the world. In Japan, Korea, China, Europe, and America. This led directly to what happened in World War 2. Yet who stood up to the madness? Well ask the pro-eugenics side? In Nietzsche's words, Christians were the enemies that constantly helped the poor and slowed down evolutionary progress.

It was Christians who believed women were not supposed to have their feet bound. 1 in 6 women who had their feet bound died in China. And I say women, but they did it to them while they were children. It was Christians who worked to end this terrible practice.

It was Christians who stopped twin killing in North Africa. They were taught it was because the kids were demons if they were born as twins and they were dropped off behind trees to die after being born. But Christians, specifically Mary Slessor, worked to save those children instead.

It was Christians who went around the world sharing the good news and telling people NOT to eat each other. So much of the world that was once inhabited by cannibals no longer is because Christians arrived and shared the Gospel.

It was Christians who believed people should learn to read and championed literacy among the masses. They wanted people to read God's Word so they built schools to teach them.

It was Christians who believed in higher education for their ministers. So they founded Yale, Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Princeton, and so on. These schools may be fallen now, but higher education has Christians to thank for its very existence.

It was Christians who created hospitals. In their rush to take care of the poor, they realized it was easier if doctors could meet them in one spot instead of going from place to place.

It was Christians who realized orphanages met the same purpose. Specifically George Mueller, whose impressive orphanages in the 19th century taught the world children shouldn't just be thrown into factory and mine work.

It was Christians who pioneered pretty much all notions of modern charities. Although they often fail to care for those that they are supposed to, the ideas of non-profits and charities that have done so much good for the world through organizations and corporations, again comes from Christian countries.

So much violence ended, so much good given, and yet this world has never said thank you. Even now, it is Christians who are at the edge of the battlefield in debates like abortion and transgenderism and transhumanism. And they will be mocked, scorned, and derided.

And years from now when those battles are over, no one will remember to thank them or give them credit for their fight.

But God sees the battles Christians have won the world has forgotten.

In the meantime, stand strong. You are one of many soldiers in a long war.

[Rick Davis @TheRhetorRick]

Hey folks, I have an idea that I think would fix lots of problems in our culture today. It's pretty complicated, though.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Construction worker, Wally Wellington, demonstrating how bricks could have been moved in ancient times. He claims that a pyramid could be completed using primitive tools in a 25-year construction schedule with only 520 workers.

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@versatileyankee And then: maintain the heck out of it!

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@Grassman0718 @Broncos @budlight Stupid sucker

[Troy Frasier AKA Revived Studios @RevivedThoughts]

"Something just seems wrong with the church today."

I felt this way for years. I had gone to Bible College and learned great theology. I read the Bible daily. And when I read the Scriptures and then looked around at the world around me, things just did not match what I expected.

And I put most of my frustrations on the church.

At the time, my wife and I had moved to China. Before that, we had worked with at risk youth in a center near Orlando. The situation had been very hard, one of the hardest places we ever worked. We had looked for a good church in that town, but had struggled to find one.

When we moved to China, we expected to do ministry and maybe find opportunities to help the church in China. We had heard so much about their faithfulness from people, we couldn't wait!

What we found disappointed us. The international school we worked at was a nightmare. In many ways working there was as bad or worse than the At Risk Youth Center. The man who hired us was cheating on his wife with another teacher. Our school went through four principals in a year. And a desire to teach the kids about Jesus was almost non-existent.

I had grown up thinking that under persecution Christians would thrive. I assumed that out in China, where we could go to jail for sharing the faith, we would find strong Christians.

And it wasn't like we weren't in any way persecuted. The security state sent black vans to check on our school regularly. Drones once flew around the building, peering into every window on us. Within minutes of that happening we were all rushed into a room and shut out.

For when these things happened, we were forced to hide as our presence was illegal. We had been coached on what to say if asked about why we were in China at airports. We were told be careful answering casual questions even at a coffee shop or on vacation, as people are paid to turn in foreigners like us.

Wouldn't this kind of dangerous environment be where you expect to find faithful Christians?

Yet we found a ministry in shambles and children being taught none of what they should be taught about God.

What about the Chinese church? I am sure there are places where it is amazing. But where I was at in North China, they were struggling. They were desperate for resources and although many of them had lived amazing lives, it wasn't easy. I often hear people say, "Well, the church in America does.." or "The church in the West does..." but what I learned was that we all struggle in the same ways. Many of the same problems plaguing churches here are plaguing churches there, too.

I remember a Christian teacher I worked with excitedly telling me that this was the year she got serious in her walk with God. She said she had even bought a book ready to learn a lot about God. The book? The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren.

Praise God she wanted to grow. But that was the best she had. Part of it was that it was hard to get books to that part of China. But when that's what you have to grow in, it's hard to grow.

I was crushed. We had struggled to find good churches in America. And in China, where I dreamed it would be serious Christians and sincere underground believers, I had not found what I expected. They were having a very hard time, and understandably so.

At the time we had a library at the school. I had a lot of free time, so I started borrowing books. Books I did not think the kids would even notice.

This got me to start reading books that were older, for that was what the library had. Paradise Lost by John Milton. Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer.

It was like the scales fell from my eyes. So many people I had talked to loved their church and thought everything was great. But what I always struggled was seeing churches that did not bring in new believers, that did not get their people out to evangelize, and that struggled to grow up faithful believers who didn't leave the faith once they left high school.

I thought I was alone in seeing this as a problem and was crazy. But reading these and many other great books of the past made me realize that I wasn't alone. That this was something the church has struggled with for 2000 years.

And not only that, but I also started to see the examples of what I expected. Scripture had convinced me I'd find courageous, bold, and brave witnesses for Christ in His church. But I had not found them in America and I had not found them like I thought I would in China (they were there, but it wasn't the perfect church I had dreamed).

But where we struggle to find them in our lives, church history was replete with them! Martin Luther standing up to the Catholic Church. George Mueller feeding his orphans. Charles Spurgeon standing up for Biblical truth. Men like David Livingstone and Hudson Taylor and John G Paton blazing trails around the world for Christ. Women like Gladys Aylward and Annie Taylor going where no one believed they could to spread God's love.

I was blown away. My faith was mightily strengthened, and my heart was warmed. I not only no longer felt alone, but in fact, I felt deeply convicted. What was my faith and walk with God compared to these? How can I, who so easily caves, compromises, and condemns compare to men who praised God in joy through the loss of multiple loved ones?

And, I learned to love the church of today, too. She's not perfect. But you know what?

She never has been. Throughout all ages God's people are often slow, dull, and lacking in zeal. Yet when you learn how God's church has worked throughout 2000 years, you realize how amazing God's people are. And you learn to love the local church as one part in that grand puzzle. One thread in the beautiful tapestry God has been weaving throughout millennia.

This is why we are so passionate about sharing church history with you all. I think it was a missing piece I needed and I think that so many of us can benefit from learning it. Ministry gave me a place to work for God. Biblical training was used greatly by God to allow me to not fall into the traps I've seen many others fall into.

But it was church history that helped me to no longer feel alone in my faith. And to give me the role models that I longed to look up to.

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@versatileyankee You are on fire today! Well done.

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

@versatileyankee Is it a hickory?

[PallasComitatus @pallas_training]

The wise wolf is he that avoids such snares, and whose howls haunt the night, reminding the trapper what will always await him beyond his torchlight.

What it comes down to is one’s definition of Victory

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

Excellent thread. Words have meaning!

[The Chivalry Guild @ChivalryGuild]

They say, “The devil’s greatest trick was convincing man he didn’t exist.”

I’d argue he has pulled off a grander operation in recent decades: he sabotaged the language of the virtues, of human excellence. 🧵

[Jeff Wiesner @JeffreyPWiesner]

Once, I cared a lot about deciphering hidden gospel messages in pop culture (film, music, art, lit) for the sake of “contextualization.”

But it grew tiresome. Maybe I lost an edge. Idk.

But as I’ve aged, I just want to know God more, preach Christ, love my church, and die well.

[RANDYS777 @RandySevy]

A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.
"Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going.
The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned.
Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.
Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen."
Within that prayer there is great wisdom for all when it comes to complicated situations like we are experiencing in the world today.
Stay strong, my friends, because our LORD is mixing several things that we don't really care for, but something even better is going to come when HE is done with it. AMEN!

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

Someone is getting rain!

[Mike Fross @FrossMike]

Watching the storm to the north. Sure would be nice to catch a rain!

[On Guard @OnGuardBlog]

In covering Lot at the time of Sodom’s destruction, our pastor yesterday addressed 2 Peter 2:4-10 which refers to Lot as being a righteous man. When one considers Lot’s behavior prior to the destruction of Sodom (his offering his daughters to the mob to be raped, his delay at leaving Sodom to the point the angels literally drag him out of the city, and his bartering to flee to somewhere other than where he was told), one wonder just how he could be called righteous.

However, as our pastor so beautifully pointed out, our righteousness does not mean we are sinless, nor is it dependent on us being so. Rather, our righteousness comes from the grace and mercy of Christ who bestows it upon us. We cannot achieve or merit righteousness, it is imputed to us by His grace. Therefore, no one particular sin (or set of sins) can remove the gift of His righteousness from us. This is how Lot (or any other of the persons of the Bible) can have such a glaring show of sin, yet be called righteous.

When we fast forward to today’s debates in professing Christian circles, we see a similar discussion arise. With the advent of cultural Marxist ideologies such as CRT, we see an effort to look back into history and to determine whether or not someone was a true Christian by evaluating if they are guilty of certain sins. For example, “anti-racist” proponents will look at Jonathan Edwards and declare there is no way he could have been a Christian because he was not anti-slavery. In other words, they look at what they believe is a glaring sin and determine his fitness for the kingdom by whether or not he was sinlessly pure (according to their standards).

This flies in the face of Scripture which refers to Lot as righteous and even David (an adulterer and murderer) as a man after God’s own heart. Like the men of Scripture, Edwards sinned in all kinds of matters. And, even if we consider his speech and actions during the period of slavery in America as sinful, we must acknowledge that he, like Lot and David, served a gracious and merciful God whose promise to forgive their sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ covered ALL their sins, even the most glaring.

Likewise, we can see in Scripture that those who committed such sins led lives of repentance and submission to God, especially when confronted with their sin (just as we see in the life of David). They extolled the glory of God, humbled themselves, and continued forward in their walk of sanctification. Such evidence can be seen in the life of more modern persons like Jonathan Edwards whose body of literature and teachings reflect a humble submission to Christ.

While this is a topic that needs much more discussion than a mere social media post (perhaps an article?) let this brief writing be an encouragement to you today that you are not righteous based on your mastery over sin nor is it in question because you sinned today. Rather, you are righteous because Christ is righteous. If you have turned from sinned and trusted in Him alone, He has imputed that righteousness to you. Now, let this spur you on to further repentance and good works as you consider what Christ has done for you today.