From the Home Place

September 29, 2025

Greetings friends. And yet another attack upon a church! I don’t care what the denomination or the religion is, it causes great pain to my ‘ol ticker when these things take place. It seems that in times like these we must remind ourselves that God is sovereign and that His heart is saddened as well.

Speaking of signs of the end of time, in Matthew 24:6 Jesus tells us, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.” It would appear that Jesus is definitely speaking of “wars” between nations, but I think that He is also reminding us of the wars that take place between people groups.

The murder of Charlie Kirk, and shootings in various churches, are “wars” between people groups. You see my friends, a war between nations does not mean that the two nations are angry with each other. A war between nations can simply be that one nation invades and threatens another nation. The war between people groups can follow the exact same scenario.

Let’s pretend: you do not have to be mad at me for me to declare war against you. If in reality you are no threat to me at all, but in my mind, I perceive you as a threat, then do not be surprised if I declare war against you! Now please remember, we are only exploring a scenario, for in reality I do consider you a friend, not a foe.

We can see how easily Jesus’ words about “wars” can be played out among people and people groups. All of this brings us to today’s poster. If we, and others do not fill our minds with the word of God, Satan will fill our minds with his lies. Read Genesis 3 once again, Satan messed with Eve’s mind!

I have always said, “Satan’s biggest playground is right between my ears.” Well in light of today’s poster perhaps I should say, “Satan’s biggest “wars” are fought right between my ears.” If he can get us to think it, the odds are good that he can get us to do it. That is why it is so imperative that we fill our minds with the Word of God!

If you fill a jar full of water, adding dirt will displace much of the water, until instead a jar of clean drinking water, you now have a jar full of mud. And that my friends, would appear to be the mind of so many of the dear folks around us. Mass media has dumped so much dirt into our minds that our thinking is very muddy!

Remedy: Fill our minds with God’s Word and then put a lid on the jar. Yes, I am suggesting that we get our wisdom from the God of Heaven (clear, fresh water) instead of the god of Hell (dirt). It is absolutely a matter of God’s truth verses Satan’s lies – it is a full scale “WAR!” God will win the war, but if we wish to be on the winning side we must quit reading and listening to the dirt of Satan.

You see loved ones, stress, anxiety and worry are tools of Satan. In Matthew 24, Jesus reminds us, “See to it that you are not frightened.” Remember that in an earlier post, I mentioned that “fear” was and is the result of sinning against God. (Gen. 3:10)

Fearful people are easily agitated and will tend to see someone else as their enemy. Some 365 times in the Bible, we are told, “fear not.” The greatest way to defeat fear is to fill our minds with God’s truth, instead of Satan’s lies. After all, in John 14:27, Jesus clearly declared, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

The only peace this “world” can give to us is the impossible absence of conflict. The peace of God is present even in the face of conflict. May we all be careful what we fill our “jar” with. There has always been a war between God and Satan. Each battle is fought between the ears of humanity. But God’s Word will win!

Filling our minds with God’s word with you, Neal