Scripture

The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude be glad!

~Psalm 97:1, NKJV

Quote

Though we cannot see or understand all that He [God] does; we are sure that He is good and that He will do no wrong.

~Charles  Spurgeon

No doubt you have heard me say more than once, a monarchy would be the best form of government if we had a perfect king. We all cherish our freedom and it is something that our Creator does not deny, but at the same time, we recognize our fallibility. We are sinners and we make mistakes. Our decisions are not always the right ones. To be governed by someone who didn’t make bad decisions would be a good thing. This is why we can rejoice that Yahweh is King, He reigns over all creation and He makes no mistakes.

Louis XVI was the last reigning monarch in France. He lived in the glory days of France. They aided us in our fight for independence. They were also at war with Prussia. They had a very strong military. The French were divided into three classes; kind of like Plato’s republic. There were the rulers {Louis XVI}, the priviledged [noblemen, clergy, businessmen] and the peasants or as Plato would put it, the producers. Plato’s three classes were Rulers, Guardians {police and military} and producers {working class}. Louis XVI lived a flamboyant life of luxury while the masses were starving. They were starving because they were the only class subject to taxation. The reign of terror could have been avoided had the king been more sensitive to the needs of his subjects. We have a king who cares about our welfare. In the monarchical system, subjects die for their king: in Christianity, the King dies for His subjects. You can rejoice today, we have a great KING, and He reigns.

Extra

Good crowd again last night; the Wednesday attendance has picked up PTL. Practically everyone got some rain. I think Bill and Carol got the least. We didn’t get what the East side got but we are thankful. It more than settled the dust.

August is flying by just like the rest of 2025. Our 49er fellowship is Friday August 22 and we are having a movie night on August 24 {5:00 pm}. Then on August 31, Labor Day Eve, we have DRIVE-IN Worship at 8:30 on the parking lot. Once Labor Day gets, the year speeds up even more.

I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

Eight Reasons Christ Sends Us Into Storms

1. Storms teach us humility–to teach us how helpless we are; how dependent we are upon him.
2. Storms teach us to pray–get on our knees. Storms drive the insincerity away, they get us real.
3. Storms teach us to live by faith–the storms usually mean darkness and sometimes we lose our bearing. We learn to trust Christ in the darkness. When things are out of our control. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. [Isaiah 50:10-11]
4. Storms teach us to work together–storms make us realize how much we need each other.
5. Storms teach us to listen–Storms get our undivided attention. The disciples had not been listening. The storm got their attention.
6.  Storms teach us that Jesus is always present–He is somewhere in the storm with us. Jesus was on the hillside overlooking the sea, they were never out of His sight. He knew exactly what was going on. 
7. Storms teach us endurance. He did come to their rescue immediately because He was teaching them a lesson. Storms are lessons
8. Storms teach us to treasure His word and His presence. Do you think Jesus got any love when He got into that boat. WOW! What sweet relief: Jesus is here! And He said, “Don’t be afraid, take courage. I AM here.” I do love His word.

Extra/Extra/Extra

Plato’s Republic

In Plato’s Republic there are three classes of people and they are determined by education. Basic education is from 0-18, then two years of military service required for all. Then at age 20 they are tested and those who past the test move on to higher education. Those who do not pass the test become ‘Producers’ [working class] The producers make up the largest class, about 75%. Again at age 30 they are tested and those who fail this test become ‘Guardians’ [military, police, local magistrates]. Those who pass go on for five more years before final exam. Then they have to do 15 years of internship. They graduate at age 50 and become the philosophers and rulers. This group is less than 10% of the population, more like 5 or 6%.

Reign of Terror Execution Stats by Class:

There were also three classes of people is 19th century France: [1] The royals [2] The privileged [nobles, clergy, businessmen, educators] [3] Commoners. You would think that the majority of executions would have come from the top two classes but that is not the case.

Of the ~16,000 people executed during the Reign of Terror:

• 8–10% were nobles

• 6–7% were clergy

• About 70–75% were commoners (mostly working class or peasants)

So, while nobles were targeted, they were not the majority of those executed — the Revolution turned on all perceived “enemies,” including many from the lower classes. Robespierre was a prominent leader of the Jacobin club and the primary promoter of the revolution. The Jacobins were basically communist. They promoted mob violence and the destruction of law and order. It was their plan from the beginning to use terror as a means of control. Some people estimate 20,000 executions during the reign of terror and most of them were commoners, the very people the so called leaders had promised to protect. You cannot trust a communist.