Tuesday, November 30, 2010

We are Not Ignorant of his Devices


Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
25 July 2006

2 Corinthians 2: 11: “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Job 5: 12: “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.”

Esther 8: 3: “And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.”

“We are not ignorant of his devices.” This is true of the Word of God, but not true with most church people I meet. Satan has done an excellent job of infiltrating Christian churches with false doctrines to the point that these churches become conformed to the world (spiritual death). Revelation knowledge destroys the gates (the strategies) of Satan. I remember I had fellowship with an elderly woman back in Ames, Iowa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She was definitely baptized in the Holy Ghost. She stood up in this church and said, “If the Devil walked into this church, nobody would know it!” Amen. I went to that church two or three times: the power of the Holy Ghost (revelation) was not there.

The power of the Holy Ghost unblinds and unshackles us so that we are better able to learn of and defeat the strategies of Satan.

The Sunrise This Morning Was Very Beautiful


Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
12 July 2006

I am back in Riverton, Wyoming. It took me eight days to hitchhike to Washington, D.C. and nine days to get back. A couple of gas field roughnecks picked me up outside of Rawlins. They were drinking beer and having a good time. They stopped at Sweetwater Station (a bar and grocery store) and had some mixed drinks and played some pool with three other roughnecks. They were getting pretty drunk. The one guy tried to pick a fight with another guy. They were getting fairly loud and obnoxious and finally we headed for Riverton.

I slept on this dirt road just north of Rawlins last night. The air was dry and cool. The sunrise this morning was very beautiful. That is one thing about the desert: spectacular sunrises and sunsets. It is great to be back in dry country: I had some wet clothes in my backpack because I had to walk in the rain when I was going through Iowa. I laid out my wet clothes last night and this morning they were mostly dry. That’s the thing about life east of the Missouri River: very humid—hard to stay dry. It is great to be back in Wyoming.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Genesis 49: 8-12 - The Chumash


Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
13 February 2006

The Chumash: The Torah: Haftoros and Five Megillos with a commentary anthologized from the Rabbinic Writings by Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

Genesis 49: 8-12: “Judah—you, your brothers shall acknowledge; your hand will be at your enemy’s nape; your father’s sons will prostrate themselves to you. A lion cub is Judah; from the prey, my son, you elevated yourself. He crouches, lies down like a lion, and like an awesome lion, who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a scholar from among his descendants, until Shiloh arrive and his will be an assemblage of nations. He will tie his donkey to the vine; to the vine branch his donkey’s foal; he will launder his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes. Red eyed from wine, and white toothed from milk.”

Ben Adam—Son of Man.

Hashem—The Name.

Tanach—Law, Prophets and Writings (Acronym):
Ta—Torah
Na—Prophets
Ch—Writings

__________

The Interlinear Bible—Hebrew/English

Jeremiah 51: 20: “A war-club You (are) to Me (and) weapons of war; for I will shatter with you nations, and I will destroy with you kingdoms.”

Obedience to the Promptings of the Spirit (1904 Welsh Revival)


Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
4 March 2005

Christian History & Biography
Summer 2004

Page 11: “The Spark that lit the Welsh Revival”
By Jennifer Trafton

“Thursday, September 29, 1904. The stirrings of a spiritual awakening had already begun among the youth in several towns of South Wales when Evan Roberts, a 26-year-old ex-coalminer training for the Calvinistic Methodist ministry, attended a mission conference led by the evangelist Seth Joshua. For years, Roberts had been longing for the Holy Spirit to set his heart on fire. Joshua, meanwhile, had been praying that God would raise up a man from the coal mines or fields to bring revival to the churches. Both men found answers to their prayers that morning in Blaenannerch.

“In the months that followed this dramatic 'baptism of the Holy Spirit,' Evan Roberts carried his message throughout Wales with a youthful, unconventional zeal that vaulted him to celebrity status. He soon became the controversial hero of a rapidly spreading revival characterized by spontaneity rather than liturgical order, open prayer and confession rather than formal preaching, and obedience to the promptings of the Spirit rather than human direction. The revival brought an estimated 100,000 new converts into the churches and sent shock waves throughout Britain and beyond—even as far as Los Angeles, where reports of the Welsh awakening contributed to the birth of Pentecostalism in 1906. Evan Roberts’ simple prayer, ‘Oh, Lord, bend me,’ blossomed into the theme of the revival: ‘Bend the Church and save the world.’”

Monday, November 22, 2010

Cut the Anchor, Oh Lord


Cut the Anchor, Oh Lord
By Theresa Shreffler

cut the anchor, oh Lord, I feel the swell
compel me forward, a great wave
of humble beginnings. I know
I shall not walk this shore again,
not in the daylight clasping slender hands
nor at evening, when we gazed high and low
to the gentle stars setting, rising, spinning--
swept of their own volition, here I have laid
moored for seasons to a firm dock
and stone paths where feet have come and gone.
I once sat upon the shoreline and watched
ships of all sizes, full of children
drift back and forth to the horizon, and wondered
how far and long, and how cold that sea
and where the lands that only others see,
our sails are waiting for an errant breeze
and here it is, at dawn, mercilessly
playing with the flap and fold. cast the rope
my pilot, compass, ocean's guide and captain's cloak;
I know the shore, and I greet the endless waves.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Wearing a Rough Garment

John the Baptist

Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
20 November 2010

Last night I had a disturbing dream. I was wearing a rough garment—it was brown; it looked like it was a robe made out of burlap. I wore a belt around my waist. I looked like John the Baptist or else I felt like John the Baptist. Everywhere I went people became very angry at me. I would say something and then people would violently reject me. Sometimes I would walk to where people were gathering and I wouldn’t say anything—just my walking into their air space angered them.

Then there was this one guy: he was short and mean-looking. He had a whip. The whip had a wooden handle and several strips of cord attached to the top of it; on the end of each strip of cord was a nail: it looked like the cat-of-nine-tails. This guy hated my guts. Two or three times during the dream he would come after me and whip me. The dream was long; most of the details are gone from me now.

The odd thing about this dream was that when it was over, it was played over again—like a movie reel. The exact same dream was repeated twice. This reminds me of that Scripture: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established.” So whatever this dream means, it is established. Or maybe it means that it will happen soon.

Genesis 41: 32: “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.”

In my life, because of my Christian faith, I have been rejected by family, friends and church people, so this dream makes sense.

[The short, mean-looking guy in the dream looked EXACTLY like a so-called Christian that I met in Absarokee, Montana:  Jack Burwell.  He thinks he is saved because he studies the Bible.  Jack Burwell rejects Christ.]

A Prophet's Eyes
Obedience: The Bondage Breaker
Locusts and Wild Honey
What should we learn from the life of John the Baptist?

“If ye were not strangers here, the dogs of the world would not bark at you”

--Samuel Rutherford


_____

Shiloh
By Tim Shey

Brutal deathdance;
My eyes weep blood.
Pharisees smile like vipers,
They laugh and mock their venom:
Blind snakes leading
The deaf and dumb multitude.

Where are my friends?
The landscape is dry and desolate.
They have stretched my shredded body
On this humiliating tree.

The hands that healed
And the feet that brought good news
They have pierced
With their fierce hatred.

The man-made whip
That opened up my back
Preaches from a proper pulpit.
They sit in comfort:
That vacant-eyed congregation.
The respected, demon-possessed reverend
Forks his tongue
Scratching itchy ears
While Cain bludgeons
Abel into silence.

My flesh in tattered pieces
Clots red and cold and sticks
To the rough-hewn timber
That props up my limp, vertical carcase
Between heaven and earth.
My life drips and puddles
Below my feet,
As I gaze down dizzily
On merciless eyes and dagger teeth.

The chapter-and-versed wolves
Jeer and taunt me.
Their sheepwool clothing
Is stained black with the furious violence
Of their heart of stone.
They worship me in lip service,
But I confess,
I never knew them
(Though they are my creation).

My tongue tastes like ashes:
It sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I am so thirsty.
This famine is too much for me.
The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.
Papa, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.

Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University

Genesis 49: 10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

Two Pleasant Surprises: High Plains Drifter Revisited



Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
17 November 2010

About five days ago I was hitchhiking south of Columbus, Montana and this guy picked me up. He drove me to Absarokee.

I told him that I had been hitchhiking for a number of years. I also said that my book High Plains Drifter was published two years ago. He said that a friend of his from Forsyth, Montana saw my book at the public library there and had read it. I never told him that my book was at the library in Forsyth. That was a pleasant surprise.

18 November 2010

This morning I hitchhiked from Victor, Idaho to Wilson, Wyoming. I got dropped off at this gas station in Wilson and I bought a candy bar there. As I walked through Wilson heading towards Jackson, I saw this guy walking to his vehicle that was parked on the shoulder. He looked at me and I looked at him; I thought I recognized him.

He pointed at me and I walked up to him and said something like, “I know you. You’re the guy from Scotland.” (Actually, I think his dad was from Scotland.)

We shook hands and hugged each other. His name was Ian. Ian had picked me up about a year ago and he took me to his place in Wilson and we had a cup of tea; we had a great talk. I think Ian has picked me up twice coming out of Jackson.

So Ian and I were talking and he said, “I read your book and loved it!”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “Wow, no one has ever said that to me before. Thanks. I hope you got something out of it.”

Ian told me that a friend of his bought a copy of High Plains Drifter for him.

We talked for a while longer and then he said that he and his friend were going up to Teton Pass to go skiing. We shook hands and parted company.

God’s timing is always perfect. I could have gotten a ride from Victor to Jackson, but no, the Lord had me dropped off in Wilson instead. It was good to see Ian again. I am guessing I will run into him again in the near future.

An American Pilgrim: Some Reflections on High Plains Drifter
Book Review:  High Plains Drifter

War and Peace

Napoleon near Borodino, 1812


Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
26 October 2010

James 4: 4: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Look at the world system: everything it stands for is anti-God, anti-Bible and anti-Judaeo-Christianity. Whatever is highly valued by the world is worthless in the eyes of God.

The United Nations is highly valued by the world, but the United Nations condemns the nation of Israel as racist—the United Nations says that Zionism is racist. According to the Lord, Israel is the most important nation in the history of this planet. Israel gave us the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament. Israel also gave us the most precious gift to a sin-sick world: the Messiah: the Lord Jesus Christ.

The world system says that if we give a man food, shelter, clothing and an education, that this is all he needs to be an enlightened and civilized human being. Scripture says that if we seek the Kingdom of Heaven first, then all of our physical needs shall be added unto us. We seek the spiritual food first—and not the food that perishes with our bellies. In my hitchhiking around the United States, the Lord always protects me and provides for me because I am seeking Him first: I am doing His will and not my will.

Let us look at the Nobel Peace Prize. At first glance, one may say that working for peace is a good thing. But peace with whom? Do the Nobel Peace Prize recipients make peace with God or with the satanic world system? I don’t know who all of the Nobel Peace Prize winners are, but have any Christians won the Nobel Peace Prize? My guess is that few or no Christians have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Christians make peace with God through the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. How was Christ’s Blood shed? Through violence inspired and instigated by the satanic world system. We ALL killed Christ because of our Adamic sin. I am a Christ-killer that has been redeemed by faith in the Blood of the Lamb of God.

A.W. Tozer never got a Nobel Peace Prize. Oswald Chambers would never have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize (look at all of the countless millions and millions of people Chambers has fed with his classic My Utmost for His Highest). Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah would never have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize. If Jesus Christ were walking in the flesh on the face of the earth today, He would never get a Nobel Peace Prize because His life CONVICTS the world of sin. The satanic world system would aggressively go after Jesus and try to kill Him. The worldly man hates to be convicted of sin. The worldly man rejects Christ (is at WAR with Christ and has No Peace with God). The Christian is at war with the world system and has peace with God.

War and Peace. Who are you at war with? Who have you made peace with?

Ezekiel 21: 4-5: “Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.”

Ezekiel 21: 9-11: “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter; should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.”

Ezekiel 21: 14-15: “Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates [strategies], that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.”

Ezekiel 21: 28-32: “The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.”

Bereshith

Upon Mount Zion Shall Be Deliverance


Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
24 October 2010

Obadiah 17-21:

“But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.”

“The anointing breaks the yoke of sin.”

In the Presence of God shall be deliverance. Those who abide in Christ and are open to the power of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost Fire will break off any demonic bondage.

“And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau [demonic bondage] for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau: for the Lord hath spoken it.”

“And saviours shall come up on mount Zion [the Presence of God] to judge the mount of Esau [unbelievers]; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”

“The spiritual man judgeth all things.”

“Those who led by the Spirit shall be called sons.”

Obedience: The Bondage Breaker

Monday, November 15, 2010

The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus


The Barbarian Way
Unleash the Untamed Faith Within
By Erwin Raphael McManus

Pages 5-7: "Strangely enough, though, some who come to Jesus Christ seem to immediately and fully embrace this barbarian way. They live their lives with every step moving forward and with every fiber of their being fighting for the heart of their King. Jesus Christ has become the all-consuming passion of their lives. They are not about religion or position. They have little patience for institutions or bureaucracies. Their lack of respect for tradition or ritual makes them seem uncivilized to those who love religion. When asked if they are Christians, their answer might surprisingly be no, they are passionate followers of Jesus Christ. They see Christianity as a world religion, in many ways no different from any other religious system. Whether Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity, they're not about religion; they're about advancing the revolution Jesus started two thousand years ago.

"This is the simplicity of the barbarian way. If you are a follower of Christ, then you are called to fight for the heart of your King. It is a life fueled by passion--a passion for God and a passion for people. The psalmist tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37: 4). When Christianity becomes just another religion, it focuses on what God requires. Just to keep people in line, we build our own Christian civilization and then demand that everyone who believes in Jesus become a good citizen.

"It's hard to imagine that Jesus would endure the agony of the Cross just to keep us in line. Jesus began a revolution to secure our freedom. The new covenant that He established puts its trust not in the law, but in the transforming power of God's Spirit living within us. The revolution of the human heart would fuel the life and vitality of this movement. We would delight in God, and He would give us the desires of our hearts. With our hearts burning for God, we would move forward with the freedom to pursue the passions burning within us."

Page 13: "The barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion, and sacrifice. Barbarians love to live and live to love. For them God is life, and their mission is to reconnect humanity to Him. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. The barbarian way is a path of both spirit and truth. The soul of the barbarian is made alive by the presence of Jesus.

"As John the Baptist reminded us, the evidence that Jesus is the Christ is that He baptizes us in both Spirit and fire. Barbarians are guided by the wind of God and ignited by the fire of God. The way of the barbarian can be found only by listening to the voice of the Spirit. The barbarian way can be known only by those who have the heart of God. The steps of the barbarian are guided by the footprints of Jesus. Barbarians see the invisible and hear the inaudible because their souls are alive to God."

Page 15: "A barbarian invasion is taking place even right now. They are coming from the four corners of the earth and they are numbered among the unlikely. From the moment Jesus walked among us the invasion began. And just as with those who crossed paths with Him here on earth, those who are most religious will be most offended and indignant. Barbarians are not welcome among the civilized and are feared among the domesticated. The way of Jesus is far too savage for their sensibilities. The sacrifice of God's Son, the way of the Cross, the call to die to ourselves, all lack the dignity of a refined faith."

Pages 21-22: "Several things about John [the Baptist] stand out right away. He was an unusual dresser with strange eating habits. Just in case you're uncertain, wearing clothes made of camel's hair was not the height of fashion, even during the time of Jesus. We are told he ate locusts and wild honey. I suppose the wild honey was to help get the locusts down.

"He was clearly not a fan of the established religious leaders. His nickname for the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were the pinnacle of the religious elite, was 'brood of vipers.' Nope, that was not a term of endearment. And I think it's important to note that his fire-and-brimstone message was entirely directed toward the religious, not the irreligious. He was a barbarian in the midst of civilization. And frankly the civilization made him sick. He had no patience for domesticated religionists who were drowning in their own self-righteousness.

"Oh, by the way, he had no formal education, no degrees. His occupation was prophet, and his mailing address was the wilderness. To say the very least, he was not the person whom anyone was expecting to prepare the way for the Messiah. John was the voice that proclaimed the coming of the Christ, and through his encounters with Jesus, we can rediscover the barbarian call."

Pages 32-33: "So what is this good news? The refined and civilized version goes something like this: Jesus died and rose from the dead so that you can live a life of endless comfort, security, and indulgence. But really this is a bit too developed. Usually it's more like this: if you'll simply confess that you're a sinner and believe in Jesus, you'll be saved from the torment of eternal hellfire, then go to heaven when you die. Either case results in our domestication. One holds out for life to begin in eternity, and the other makes a mockery out of life.

"The call of Jesus is far more barbaric than either of these. It is a call to live in this world as citizens of an entirely different kingdom. In its primitive state the good news could never be separated from the invitation of Jesus to 'come, follow Me.’ He never lied about the danger or cost associated with becoming His follower. He told them up front, 'I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves' (Matthew 10: 16)."

Page 53: "If you don't like the idea of being an innovator, that's fine. Just do whatever Jesus calls you to do the moment it is clear to you. Do not procrastinate; do not hesitate; do not deviate from whatever course of action He calls you to. But I want to warn you, the closer you walk with Christ, the greater the faith required. The more you trust Him, the more you'll risk on His behalf. The more you love Him, the more you will love others. If you genuinely embrace His sacrifice, you will joyfully embrace a sacrificial life. Your expectations of Jesus will change as your intimacy with Him deepens. When you begin to follow passionately after Jesus, you will inadvertently find yourself innovating. After all, Jesus is transforming lives, writing history, creating the future, and unleashing the kingdom of God. If you plan to keep step with Jesus the Pioneer, you better expect some changes."

Page 58: "Although John was confused about Jesus, Jesus was not confused about John. Jesus knew that everyone else was confused about John. John lacked religious pedigree, yet he clearly spoke with spiritual power. At the same time he didn't look anything like a priest or a teacher of the law. To put it bluntly, John was just plain weird. Not what you would expect when you were looking for a spiritual leader. John's faith was raw and untamed. There was nothing civilized about him.

"And Jesus seemed to be either mocking or rebuking them for expecting to find someone different. If you were looking for a reed swayed by the wind (someone easily molded by the expectations of the civilized) or a man dressed in fine clothes (someone who lives to impress the political or religious elite), you were looking in the wrong place. But if you went out to see a prophet, John was your man. And he was more than a prophet. He was the one whom God chose to prepare the way for the coming of His Son. Of all the men born of women--and that pretty much covers everybody but Adam--John was the greatest. Jesus, by the way, was born of God. The assumption was that for such a job, God would choose someone with polish and refinement."

Page 59: "Jesus lived in a time when Judaism had been domesticated, institutionalized, and civilized; it was only a hollow shell of what God intended. John didn't fit into the organized religion of his time because God didn't fit either. Jesus Himself, the Messiah of Israel, remained an outsider even to his death."

Pages 60-61: "Jesus was making clear that being a disciple was never intended to be the equivalent of being molded into a stereotype. Jesus and John were considered barbarians, even though they expressed themselves in different ways. But at the core they were the same. They lived and moved in the mystical. That is, they had a unique and transcendent connection to the Creator of the universe. Guided by the voice of God, they cared little how others perceived that. What was invisible to others was clear to them. Their lives could not be explained apart from God.

"While He walked among us, Jesus tried to explain this to us. He told us--as if we should understand without difficulty--that He spoke only what He heard the Father saying and did only what He saw the Father doing. He called His disciples to make this their pattern for living."

Page 64: "Yet if we learn anything about God through John, it is that God has no problem with spiritual eccentrics. The point, of course, is not that God makes us mentally or emotionally imbalanced, but that He makes us passionately and spiritually unbalanced. God steers us in the direction of His kingdom, His purpose, His passions. His desire is not to conform us, but to transform us. Not to make us compliant, but to make us creative. His intent is never to domesticate us, but to liberate us."

Pages 78-79: "The civilized build shelters and invite God to stay with them; barbarians move with God wherever He chooses to go. The civilized Christian has a routine; the barbarian disciple has a mission. The civilized believer knows the letter of the law; the barbarian disciple lives the spirit of the law. The religiously civilized love tradition; the barbarian spirit loves challenges. The civilized are satisfied with ritual; barbarians live and thrive in the mystical. For the civilized disciple, religion provides stability and certainty; for the barbarian, a life in God is one of risk and mystery."

Page 82: "If you are a follower of Christ and you have allowed yourself to be domesticated, you have lost the power of who you are and who God intends for you to be. You were not created to be normal. God's desire for you is not compliance and conformity. You have been baptized by Spirit and fire. Asleep within you is a barbarian, a savage to all who love the prim and proper. You must go to the primal place and enter the presence of the Most High God, for there you will be changed by His presence. Let Him unleash the untamed faith within you.

"At pentecost God unleashed His Spirit upon all who would declare Jesus their hope. In that moment a new tribe was born--a Spirit tribe. To all who would believe in His Son, the Lord God declares, 'I will be their God, and they will be My people.' This tribe would bear the evidence of His Spirit. They would be God-taught, God-moved, and God-inspired."

Page 93: "From the moment we become citizens of the kingdom of God, we become aliens and strangers in a world that chooses to live absent of God. From the first step taken to follow Jesus, we are out of step with the rest of the world. Once your life is in sync with the story of God, you become out of sync with any story that attempts to ignore or eliminate God. You are a stranger to them, an alien among them, a nomadic wanderer who, while refusing to be rooted in this life, seems to somehow enjoy this life most."

Pages 108-109: "There is a barbarian revolt taking place, and its command center is the kingdom of God. Everywhere the kingdom of God advances, there is a violent engagement against a dark kingdom. To be born of God is to be made a citizen in the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is at war. Do not confuse this kingdom with Paradise. Salvation is not reentry into a Paradise Lost; it is enlistment in the mission of God.

"Jesus is telling us in no uncertain terms that there is a battle raging. This is perhaps the most important reason why we must choose the barbarian way and resist any temptation to become civilized. Domesticated Christians are far too willing to abdicate for the soul of the world. Civility focuses our energy on all the wrong places. We spend our lives emphasizing our personal development and spiritual well-being. We build churches that become nothing more than hiding places for the faithful while pretending that our actions are for the good of the world. Or we choose political and secular vehicles to try to advance our cultural values, strangely attempting to make unbelieving people act like civilized believers.

"In contrast Jesus calls us to a different way. He tells us this is a battle of kingdoms. He insists that if we are His followers, we must not live in a world defined only by the material. We cannot limit our sights to what is flesh and blood. We should know better than that. To see from a kingdom perspective is to know that there is a conflict of invisible kingdoms and that people's lives are forever changed by what happens in the unseen. We are called to be warriors of light in dark places. We are mystical warriors who use weapons not of this world."

Page 116: "The suffering of Christ glorifies God because it elevates love. Compelled by love, God would go where He knew suffering was certain. Love always moves to sacrifice, which is exactly where He calls us to go. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that to follow Christ is to abandon the luxury of safety and security. If we are to be like Him, we must always risk for love. We are invited to follow Him with reckless abandon. The call of God is more than a leap of faith; it is a life of faith. Even when it seems beyond our abilities, we should not be surprised when God tells us to jump."

Page 121-122: "Just yesterday a husband and wife told me that they raised their first son to be a gentleman, and now as a man he does not walk with Christ. They went on to say, 'We have a second son, and we're going to raise him as a barbarian.' They understood firsthand the painful difference between a civilized Christian and the barbarian way of Jesus.

"How many stories do we need of children who grow up in church being forced to act like Christians rather than being won to the heart of God? Both are an effort to shape the character of our children. The first is an external force; the latter an internal force. The civilized Christian does what is right out of fear; the barbarian does what is right out of love. The Christian civilization is held together by rules and rituals; the barbarian revolt is fueled by the passion of God and guided by the mission of God. If our children are going to walk away from Christ, we need to raise them in such a way that they understand that to walk away from Jesus is to walk away from a life of faith, risk, and adventure and to choose a life that is boring, mundane, and ordinary."

Pages 126-127: "When we are born again, we are dropped not into a maternity ward, but into a war zone. Our birthplace is less mother's womb and more battlefield earth. Maybe the first word we hear should not be 'welcome,' but 'jump.' There is no trial run, no practice life.

"When you enter the kingdom of God, there is no safe zone or waiting room. There really isn't even a boot camp. It's on-the-job, on-the-field training. You get to take your first steps of new life in the middle of the battlefield. The Scriptures are quite clear about this. You are in the middle of a war. Yet the war is not against flesh and blood; the war is not against people."

Page 128: "It is true that the enemy will essentially leave you alone if you are domesticated. He will not waste his energy destroying a civilized religion. If anything, he uses his energy to promote such activity. Religion can be one of the surest places to keep us from God. When our faith becomes refined, it is no longer dangerous to the dark kingdom.

"Barbarians, on the other hand, are not to be trusted. They respect no borders that are established by powers or principalities. They have but one King, one Lord, and one mission. They are insolent enough to crash the gates of hell. For the sake of others, they are willing to risk their own lives and thrust themselves into the midst of peril."

Page 133: "I'm not saying that we should all go around naked, but I am saying that we need to find the courage and freedom to be ourselves. We need to let ourselves become the unique individuals that God created us to be. We need to stop trying to be what everyone else wants us to be and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks. Civilized people measure one another by their robes and signet rings. The barbarians measure only heart and actions. Barbarians live as if they are naked before God and naked before men. They have nothing to hide; they do not waste their energy pretending to be someone they're not. It was Nathaniel, whom Jesus saw while he was alone under a fig tree, that He described as a man without guile. God sees straight through to the heart and looks for those in whom there is nothing false. The barbarian hides nothing from God, and his tribe battles naked and unashamed."

Pages 140-141: "Jesus leads us into the heart of the dark kingdom, into the soul of what is most evil. He takes us where mankind has chosen to live. He calls us to where the darkness has made those who wander there desperate for light. He leads us as warriors of light to risk our lives for the deliverance of others. Again, our own weapons are love, hope, and faith, and they are our only defense. Yet we above all know that they and only they liberate us and fulfill the deepest longings of our souls.

"If you choose to live your life in this way, if you make the insane decision to live your life for the sake or others, if you choose to follow the One whose barbarian path led Him to the brutality of the Cross, and if you embrace His invitation to take up your own cross and follow Him, then it has begun. If you dare allow God to unlock your primal spirit, He will unleash the raw and untamed faith within. Then you will know you have chosen the barbarian way out of civilization."

Mosaic
Some Great Quotes

Friday, November 12, 2010

Fear of Man or Fear of God?



Dreams from the Lord 2007-2010
17 October 2010

Hebrews 11: 7: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

“Being warned of God of things not seen as yet.”

Amos 3: 7: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”

“Moved with fear.”

I am very grateful that the Lord warns me about certain things before they happen. Whatever the Lord reveals to me, I must move with fear and do what He tells me to do. Maybe He isn’t just warning me about something in my personal life—He may be warning me about something much bigger—like an earthquake.

When I first had the dream about the Las Vegas Earthquake (December 2006), that morning I walked north on this highway and got a ride to this convenience store somewhere north of Evanston, Wyoming. There was a table and some chairs there in the convenience store, so I moved with fear and sat down and wrote down the dream. After I left the convenience store, I hitchhiked to Jackson and stayed with some friends.

For the next several months I thought about and meditated on the dream that the Lord gave to me. At first, I thought that the earthquake was going to happen right away—like in December of 2006. When that didn’t happen, I was curious as to what the Lord wanted me to do with the dream. I told some people about it, but it wasn’t until July of 2007 that I finally put the dream on my website (http://wallsofjericho.50megs.com) Within a few days, I had a dream about “Jericho” on a movie reel. It was confirmation that I was supposed to put the dream on my website. A movie reel symbolizes mass media or to publish something; my website is/was used to publish my writings.

This past February, the Lord impressed upon my heart to start a Google blog. So I moved with fear and started to post some things on my High Plains Drifter blog. It has been a real blessing: I know that it is God’s will for me to have this blog (and also my Digihitch blog: The Highway); I think my Google blog looks better and is more readable that my Walls of Jericho website; I believe that my High Plains Drifter blog is getting much more hits than Walls of Jericho ever did—and it is free.

This is the great wisdom of God: He knows what we need to do much more than we ever will. And this is the wisdom of a Christian: the FEAR of God is the beginning of wisdom. I moved with fear and obeyed the Lord and started my Google blog. I don’t know 99.9 per cent of the people who read my blog, but I believe that the Lord is reaching out to these people with what He inspires me to write.

Tomorrow, God willing, I will move with fear once again and hitchhike out of Riverton and head towards Lander and then to Farson and probably back up to Jackson, Wyoming. Do I know who will pick me up tomorrow? No. But God does. And I believe that the Lord will use my life and possibly my words to reach out to someone or maybe a few people on the road.

Francis of Assisi once said: “Always preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.”

Publish—“To make generally known; to proclaim; to print and issue for sale (books, music, etc.); to put into circulation.”

--Webster’s Dictionary

Always preach the Gospel and sometimes publish; always preach the Gospel and sometimes proclaim; always preach the Gospel and sometimes put into circulation.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Patton Uncovered by B.E. Boland



Patton Uncovered
By B.E. Boland

The Untold Story of how the Greatest American General was Disgraced by Scheming Politicians and Jealous Generals

Copyright 2002 by Barbara E. Boland


Pages 4-5: “The commander of the Third Army, General George S. Patton, Jr., looked every inch a conqueror. He was tall, 6 foot 2, and sixty years old—old for an American general. His whole life had been spent preparing for this moment. His whole career had been devoted to war. Leading a victorious army in battle had been his one ambition.”

“To his commanders, Patton was always a liability. He was too honest and too talkative. What was worse, he was extremely successful. They needed him militarily. But politically he was their worst nightmare. One never knew when he might tell people what was actually happening at Eisenhower’s headquarters.

“Always completely honest, Patton was nevertheless not naïve. He was surrounded by evil, corrupt and dishonest men, and he was not oblivious. A keen observer of human nature, Patton recorded all of his thoughts in his diary. It remains the only thoroughly honest, unabridged and pure source to emerge from WWII. It is true that it shows us only Patton’s perception of the war; but this is his wholly honest opinion, not a manufactured after-war coverup.”

“Patton was destined to lead the Third Army in some of the most spectacular victories of military history. This army would trap eleven German divisions at Falaise, save the Allies from disaster during the Battle of the Bulge and rescue the stranded Americans at Bastogne, surround and cut off ten complete German divisions in the Hunsruck Mountains, cross the Rhine with a mere 28 casualties, uncover the barbarity of the Nazis by liberating the first concentration camp, and discover the German gold reserve. This unheard of and inexperienced army, by virtue of its unmatched commander, would liberate France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Bavaria, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

“No other commander, before or since, can match Patton’s record. In spite of this, Patton was still denied supplies and forced to beg for permission to advance through undefended enemy territory. Because of his honor and despite his incredible military performance, Patton would be removed, demoted, disgraced and relieved.”

Pages 9-10: “On the personal level, Patton and Alexander had become close friends. Patton was one of the very few educated and well-read Americans. Most of the American generals claimed to be poor boys who had been given a second chance in the military, and none seemed to have learned or read anything since West Point. But Patton was different. He had an almost aristocratic background combined with an amazingly sharp intellect. For him the army was more than the calling he had chosen; it was the profession he had been called for; he had not entered it for monetary reasons like his fellow generals. He was a real warrior who read, studied, lived and breathed war, yet also a student of history who possessed an almost uncanny perception into human nature. He seemed to understand about Europe, and what made it different from America, rather than simply assuming that all people were the same. For all these reasons, Patton became the favorite American general among the British.

“But Alexander had uncovered another facet of Patton’s personality, one rare on the British side, and almost nonexistent in the American high command. Patton was a deeply religious, highly moral man. Early on Patton’s honesty, justice, sense of duty, personal bravery and unimpeachable honor had manifested themselves. Though the two had only known each other for a few months, they had covered topics Patton couldn’t even speak about with Americans. In fact, Patton noted in his diary that Alexander ‘is a good soldier and much more talkative than he’s supposed to be.’ The rumors of Eisenhower’s illicit liaison with Kay Summersby, his driver, had undoubtedly been the subject of their conversation when Patton told Alexander how wrong and unwise it was for a soldier of high standing to have any intimate association with women during wartime. Patton went to church every Sunday, read the Bible and believed that it was God, and God alone, who could bestow victory. He believed that God was watching everything that happened, and that when he died he would be personally accountable for all of his actions. This was what made him so scrupulously honest and honorable, and it was also what caused his downfall.”

Page 23: “Contrary to popular belief, Patton did not know Eisenhower well. The two were never friends, although they had known each other briefly in the past. Too much was different between the two men for them to have ever been close; and gradually their attitudes, about both war and peace, would take sharply different paths. Patton would come to condemn Ike as a weak and traitorous politician, while Eisenhower would adopt a condescending and haughty attitude when speaking or writing about ‘Georgie.’”

“Another more disturbing problem was that Eisenhower had never fought, in any war. He had simply begun a meteoric rise in rank starting in 1942, which averaged to be a new rank every 6 months. Because he had never had any actual experience, he relied too heavily on the advice of others. He could not judge the merit of their advice because he was not a student of war, like Patton.”

Page 26: “Oddly enough, of all the great commanders that have led in battle, few have had the great faith in God that Patton had. He believed that it was God which made an army victorious, and for that reason he prayed and read the Bible every night. Before the Gafsa attack in N. Africa, Patton had made his now famous announcement, ‘Gentlemen, tomorrow we attack. If we are not victorious, let no man come back alive.’ He then retired to pray.

Bradley, who had been present, remarked later in his book that he found this one of Patton’s contradictions. ‘For while he was profane, he was also reverent. And while he strutted imperiously as a commander, he knelt humbly before his God.’ In fact it is no contradiction at all. Patton was a man who knew his place and his worth. While never doubting his own capabilities, he also never underestimated God’s hand in the world.”

Page 49: “Palermo’s capture had not gone unnoticed. Roosevelt had sent Patton a signed picture, Churchill had sent Congratulations, and so had General Alexander. Eisenhower, however, seemed determined to remain silent. In a letter to his wife on July 27th, Patton wrote,

‘The war is far from over but we are going to win it in a big way. At the moment we are having a hard race with our cousins. I think we have an edge on them. I am quite curious to see what comes out at home. BBC just barely admits that we exist. I have not the least notion what will happen next time [after Sicily] but I don’t care where, when, or who I fight so long as I keep fighting. It is the greatest of all games. FDR sent me a signed picture of he and I, and the PM has wired congrats, but Divine Destiny [Eisenhower] is still mute.’”

Pages 77-79: “The next morning Patton gave his most famous orders to the Seventh Army.

‘Soldiers of the Seventh Army: Born at sea, baptized in blood, and crowned in victory, in the course of 38 days of incessant battle and unceasing labor, you have added a glorious chapter to the history of war. Pitted against the best the Germans and Italians could offer, you have been unfailingly successful. The rapidity of your dash, which culminated in the capture of Palermo, was equaled by the dogged tenacity with which you stormed Troina and captured Messina. Every man in the Army deserves equal credit. The enduring valor of the Infantry, and the impetuous ferocity of the tanks were matched by the tireless clamor of the destroying guns. The engineers… Maintenance and Supply… Signal Corps… Medical Department… The Navy… our Air. As a result of this combined effort, you have killed or captured 113,350 enemy troops. You have destroyed 265 of his tanks, 2,324 vehicles, and 1,162 large guns, and in addition, have collected a mass of military booty running into hundreds of tons. But your victory has a significance above and beyond its physical aspect—you have destroyed the prestige of the enemy. Your fame shall never die.’

Patton’s reaction to the mental and physical exhilaration and its sudden ending can only be imagined. He was also worried about Eisenhower’s reaction to the slapping incidents, though he thought that volunteering to apologize ought to make him more lenient. That day he wrote to Beatrice, ‘As usual I seem to have made Divine Destiny a little mad but that will pass, I suppose. It [Eisenhower] has a lot of worries which it has to pass on…’ He again commented on Eisenhower’s silence in regard to his stunning victory, although he seemed to have resigned himself. ‘I have had telegrams from George [Marshall] and Harry [Stimson] and a host of others, all but from D who is, I suppose, too international.’ Patton could see clearly Eisenhower’s progression from soldier to politician. He could see even clearer how Eisenhower was not a ‘simple soldier,’ or, if he was, he certainly was not ‘simply a soldier.’ Patton could see even before Berlin or France that Eisenhower had quickly made the leap from ‘Supreme Allied Commander’ to ‘Inter-Allied Mediator.’ Seeing a man who had never fought rise to command millions of men was probably similar to the Germans astonishment that Hitler, a corporal, would command their armies. But then, at least Hitler had some battle experience!”

“Meanwhile, he was busy trying to find out what the battle experiences of the rank and file had been so as to ‘get the real dope from people who actually did the close in fighting. If I succeed, it will be the first time in history where the ideas of the little fellow will have a chance to be articulated.’ Here is where Patton showed his true prowess, and his true calling as a democracy’s war leader.

“He also understood the faults of generals, how many stressed loyalty from the bottom up, but that loyalty from the top down was much more valuable and even rarer. He knew that generals could be timid. It was important, he said, that they should not consult their fears. Of all traits, Patton valued daring and audacity most. Patton always knew the terrain where his men would fight, and made his plans to fit the area, not the other way around. He said that many generals would make a plan and just use it on any terrain, rather than making a plan with the terrain in mind.

“Patton also felt that in generals, ‘I find moral courage is the most valuable and most usually absent characteristic. Much of our trouble is directly attributable to “The fear of they.”’ Audacity, daring and boldness were the trademarks of Patton’s plans, and it was these three characteristics which made him so successful.”

Page 89: “Patton had been relieved. He wrote in his diary that night that the last telegram from Marshall announcing the end of this command of Seventh Army had ruined him. ‘It is very heartbreaking. The only time I have felt worse was the night of December 9th, 1942, when Clark got the Fifth Army. I feel like death but will survive I always have.’ Patton called in his chiefs of staff and had the telegram from Marshall read to them. He told them, ‘Gentlemen, what you have heard is secret and will not be discussed nor mentioned to your assistants. I believe in destiny and that nothing can destroy the future of the Seventh Army. However, some of you may not believe in destiny, so if you can find a better job, get it and I will help you all I can. You may be backing the wrong horse or hitched your wagon to the wrong stars. In any event, we must go right on like we knew nothing, so that the enemy will fear the potential threat of the Seventh Army.’ Patton was giving his staff leave to go, even though he believed that none of his staff would leave him. He was right, none of them did.”

Pages 91-92: “The Italian armistice had just been declared, and Patton noted that ‘I fear that as a soldier I have too little faith in political war. Suppose the Italians can’t or don’t capitulate? It’s a great mistake to inform the troops, as has been done, of the signing of an armistice. Should they get resistance instead of friendship [during the amphibious landings at Salerno], it would have a very bad effect.’

“Once again Patton ‘prophesied’ correctly. Although the soldiers were warned that Germans on the mainland would oppose them, they let down their guard and suffered many casualties. While Clark’s Fifth Army landed ashore, Patton worked all day on his report of operations in Sicily.

“Patton had been left out of all future invasions, left to ponder his fate in the ancient palace where he had landed. Eisenhower and Stimson said there ‘was important military reasons’ for Patton’s detainment, but to Patton they seemed vague. Because allied intelligence showed German fear and respect towards Patton, Eisenhower said that Patton was detained in Sicily to ‘mislead’ the Germans.”

Page 97: “As Patton said, ‘If the fate of the only successful general in this war depends on the statement of a discredited writer like Drew Pearson, we are in a bad fix. Of course I am worried, but I am quite confident that the Lord will see me through… I am perfectly certain that this is not the end of me.’ Patton, as usual, was right.”

Page 103: “Patton had been Pershing’s aide in WWI. Pershing was Patton’s idol, the antithesis of Eisenhower, the man whom Patton told his wife would know how to handle the British where Eisenhower had miserably failed. But now came a crushing blow. Pershing, who was going senile, had openly denounced Patton’s behavior in the slapping incidents. When Patton heard, he stopped writing to him. “How I dislike Drew P[earson],’ Patton mourned to his wife. Beatrice, for her part, wrote at the time to a friend, ‘I wonder that Pearson does not die of his own poison. The only excuse, and it is not an excuse, that I can see for his existence, is that the world is made up of forces of good and forces of evil, and that without the latter there would be no struggle, and people might get soft. I cannot explain him any other way. I have followed his predictions now for some time, and am convinced that he is a traitor to America.’ She was right.”

Pages 107-110: “There are those who say that Eisenhower was very gracious in not relieving Patton on the spot after the incidents. They portray this as an example of the gallant and chivalrous Eisenhower defending his friend against the onslaught of the press. The movie Patton expresses a similar outlook, and there are hundreds of books that say the same. They overlook, however, that Eisenhower was planning on becoming president, even at this early date. Every move he made in Europe was carefully done so as to be politically correct. A Gallup Poll that was conducted at the time said 77% of Americans liked Patton, 19% did not, and 4% were uncertain. So even though what had happened was grossly misportrayed in the newspapers at home, 77% of Americans still liked Patton, and for Eisenhower to have opposed the wishes of that mass of voters would have been unthinkable. The books that state Eisenhower stood up for Patton against the press and also against the outraged American people are not accurately portraying events. The only outraged people were certain senators and the press corps.”

“Even if Eisenhower had decided to save Patton before the poll was conducted, it was hardly a courageous deed. Patton was Eisenhower’s best general; Patton was much more experienced and better able than Eisenhower. Patton had fought against Pancho Villa, he had fought in WWI as Pershing’s aide; where the fighting was, Patton had always been. Patton was also, according to the Germans, the Americans most modern general, a man who applied the tactics of mobile warfare even better than the Germans themselves. No matter what may be said for Eisenhower or Bradley, they were hopelessly tied to the idea of a ‘broad front;’ they had never ventured beyond traditional West Point caution; the idea of a swift advance or unguarded flanks frightened them.

“Patton was also the oldest American general; he had the most experience and he should have had Eisenhower’s position. The only convincing argument I have heard as to why he did not have it is that the Supreme Allied Commander needed to be tactful and make decisions with important political consequences. Basically, they wanted (and got) a politician. The fact that a politician would make tactical and strategic decisions would have struck us as absurd, so they found a man who was a graduate of West Point. They could tell people that he was a ‘simple solder’ and, incidentally, they always did so when he made terrible political decisions. But the millions of men who lost their lives due to poor military management have Eisenhower to thank. He didn’t even listen to sound military advice from Patton. And if one of his generals said something politically incorrect—why, look at Patton! He relieved the general who had saved him.

“Patton was the general when a situation arose that was desperate. Although Eisenhower was constantly taking armies from Patton and ignoring his advice, when the Battle of the Bulge became serious, Eisenhower’s first reaction was, ‘Get Patton and give him as many armies as you can.’ If Eisenhower had relieved Patton after the slapping incidents, the war would certainly have been many years longer. Eisenhower himself would have been relieved (because of the Battle of the Bulge) and there would have been many similar costly battles like the Bulge. Eisenhower didn’t ‘rescue’ Patton from the attacks of the Press, saving him from destruction for some gracious reason: the reason was that Eisenhower needed Patton more than Patton ever needed Eisenhower. In fact, this was duly recorded by someone in London. He was walking along the corridor at Eisenhower’s headquarters and he overheard a heated discussion between General Wedemeyer and General Eisenhower about Patton. Eisenhower was telling the story, oft-repeated by historians, of his having saved Patton, when General Wedemeyer burst out, ‘Heck, get on to yourself, Ike; you didn’t make him, he made you.’

“The British influence on Patton’s retainment is larger than supposed. The fiasco at Anzio proved that not all American generals knew the technique of a swift advance. When Churchill said he had wanted a lion, but had been given a whale floundering on the beach, he meant that what he had needed was a Patton. And even though the British generals could not replicate Patton’s daring themselves, they admired those tactics, like they admired Rommel. The Royal Air Force and Navy men especially like him. Had Patton been relieved, the only one who would have been happy would have been Montgomery.

“The statement that Patton was a better general is proven by the fact that in France, when Patton was merely an army commander, his name was mentioned in headlines along with those of Montgomery and Bradley who were Army group commanders. None of Patton’s equal ranks excelled in the way he did, their names didn’t even appear in the headlines. This proves that Patton was put in a position far below his true worth.”

Page 111: “Patton’s command since the start of the war had captured, wounded, or killed 177,000 Germans, Italians and French. The Seventh Army’s average losses had been one American for 13 ½ of the enemy. ‘It would be a national calamity to lose an Army commander with such a record,’ Patton observed sadly in his diary.”

Page 112: “Many decisions that would have impact on Patton’s career were taking place now in Teheran. The ‘Big Three,’ Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met on the 28th of November, 1943 in Teheran. It would be Roosevelt and Stalin’s first meeting. Churchill had no illusions about Stalin’s intentions, but Roosevelt believed that he could ‘control’ Stalin. Ever since WWI, Churchill had campaigned for armies to invade the Soviet Union. At a time when many people were awed by what they thought were its achievements, Churchill openly denounced them. The only deal he ever made with Stalin was that each would not make a separate peace. In the speech he made explaining why he did it, Churchill said that he had not changed any of his opinions on Stalin, and that he felt Hitler and Stalin were equally evil, but that the most aggressive evil had to be dealt with first. Churchill was, quite frankly, extremely desperate, for they were in the dark days of the battle of Britain. Now, however, with the Americans on their side, they could not fail, and Hitler knew it.”

Page 121: “Patton was also thinking about people. What would their reaction be at the end of the war? Would they react as they had at the end of WWI? Already they seemed to be heading in that direction. ‘I have already met several quite intelligent men who say ‘Now we will have no more wars.’… The avowed purpose of the treaty of Vienna in 1814 was to see that that was the last war. Around 1700 BC, the Hittites, Cretans, and Egyptians had a tri-party treaty to avert wars, and we lerned [sic] about it in 1914. Some explorers discovered the Hittite capital and in the library discovered the bricks with the treaty on them—yet before the mud had dried, the Egyptians and Cretans had ganged up and destroyed the Hitites [sic]. If we again think that wars are over, we will surely have another one and damned quick. Man is WAR and we had better remember that.’”

Pages 126-127: “The man who came up with blitzkrieg, Liddell Hart, was British, but his countrymen for the most part detested the strategy and ignored him throughout the 1920’s. The Germans read his books and realized the sense in his strategy. Instead of fixed or ‘set piece’ battle plans, Liddell Hart realized that the next war would be a fluid one, with the lines in constant motion. He pioneered the fast tank advance and quick, pincer drives where the enemy was not. In comparison with WWI, this was revolutionary. But military colleges like West Point and Sandhurst laughed at his theories. Some bright military minds, however, were reading his books. Rommel was one, Patton another. Patton read every book by Liddell Hart between wars, and developed his own attacking method from it.

“But for the most part, men like Napoleon and Clausewitz were the anointed ‘geniuses’ that the officers followed. It was their strategy to attack the enemy head-on, it was Liddell Hart’s strategy to take his land and cut him off. Napoleon had revolutionized war, and since his time, war has been associated with mass murder. His strategy made it so. Patton’s strategy, by contrast, had relatively few casualties with huge dividends in land and munitions. Where Napoleon would say defeat the enemy by killing his men, Patton defeated the enemy by capturing his land and armories, and forcing him to surrender.”

Page 135: “In the Wehrmacht High Command’s ‘Kriegstagebuch’ (War Diary), Patton was the first general (other than Eisenhower) to be specifically mentioned so early on. It stated on March 20th that ‘General Patton, who was formerly employed in North Africa and is highly regarded for his proficiency, is now in England.’ Highly regarded by the Germans, certainly. Throughout the war Patton—a lieutenant general—would be mentioned in German memorandums expressing more fear about the location of his army than the armies of Group Commanders.”

Page 141: “My final thought on the matter is that I am destined to achieve some great thing—what, I don’t know, but this last incident was so trivial in its nature, but so terrible in its effect, that it is not the result of an accident but the work of God. His will be done.”

Pages 150-151: “D Day was an incredibly disappointing day for Patton. The soldiers were landing in Normandy and he wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t even planning. He was merely waiting, waiting, waiting as always. For a high-strung soldier like Patton waiting was close to impossible. ‘It is terrible to be on the side lines and see all the glory eluding me, but I guess there will be enough for all. I guess I will read the Bible.’

“It was at this time, while Patton sat anxiously on the sidelines, that Summerall defended Patton. He wrote that Patton was,

‘…a general in the hearts of his soldiers and will be the leading figure in history by virtue of his own superiority. I would have wished for him an independent command in the south of France, but he will dominate wherever he is. The men will resent the treatment he has received and will fight for him all the harder. He stands alone in all the world in knowledge, ability, and leadership.’ Patton Papers, edited by Martin Blumenson

Freedom to Bear Arms
Alvin C. York
Carrying the Gun
Prophetic Photographs:  Patton and Trump
A Dream about General George S. Patton
The Panzer Killers


“There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation, there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in.”
--General George S. Patton