PARKS BROWN

Regime change…civil war…nuclear war…no kings…forever wars. These words are being echoed across the globe in nations from the United States, to England, numerous Middle Eastern countries, Russia and the list continues. You may think this is new, but let’s face it…our world has ALWAYS been about power and changing the regime.

The past few months have been a prelude to desensitize and prepare the populace for what comes next. There is a line from the movie, Gladiator, where Russel Crowe’s character profoundly declares, “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.” Although I believe this is true, it is more profound to remember ‘What happens in eternity, echoes in life.’ In other words, our world is a manifestation of what happens in the spiritual, eternal world. What happens in heaven, plays out on the Earthly stage.

Our planet was originally cleaned up by the Creator as the result of an attempted regime change in heaven. If you’re a little rusty where the one true King dealt with the first attempted regime change, start reading in Isaiah 14:12. Our world has ALWAYS been about regime change. This HAS been a forever war focused on the attempt to usurp God’s reign, rule and power. It still is today.

Although (very soon) we will see more conflict than we have witnessed, read the Bible to understand the nature of the battle. The most prolific writer in the New Testament put it bluntly…’For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’ Ephesians 6:12.

The spirit of anti-christ is the impetus behind the call for ‘no kings’ and regime change. The evil one has his hand in almost every attempt to cause disunity and disruption. Whether it’s a legitimate attempt to displace a despot or a grab for minerals, land or profit, you’ll find Satan stoking the fire and giving legitimacy to the chaos.

Keep your eyes open for the next installment in ‘wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.’ Matthew 24;6-8. Have you been watching the ‘ring of fire’ coming alive with earthquakes across the globe? Do you know about the famine in Gaza?

Christians don’t need to be alarmed but we do need to be informed and awake. Make sure to stay in the Word so that you aren’t ignorant or anxious. ‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world….’ 2 Cor.10:3-5. The chaos and regime changes ahead require us to battle appropriately.

Get prayed up…stay prayed up…’for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.’ God is on His throne and Christ IS coming back….Soon

We live in an age of distraction and it is kryptonite. Most people consider a distraction to be short in duration, a temporary loss of focus or attention. To the contrary, distractions can change the course of events and irreparably alter the future.

When we are distracted by a thing our full attention is drawn away to something else. We leave some one or some thing, we abandon where our focus was and turn away. In other words, we forsake where we were focused and become misdirected.

Social scientists will present data to explain distractions by using our attention spans as proof we are being distracted. Many identify cellular phones as a chief culprit behind the age of distraction we currently reside in. The reality is distractions have been around since the beginning of time.

The dead squirrel in the middle of the road may be more accurate of the effects of our current age of distraction. Distractions are not mere random events. Distraction can be a tool used by flesh and blood, powers and principalities…and spiritual forces of evil.

Don’t be distracted and forget Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The ideal environment, surrounded by perfection. Beauty to be seen, heard, smelled and felt. Companionship and fellowship provided. In a garden where every need was supplied how could you be distracted to focus on ONE tree?? Distraction is kryptonite. Distraction can be your Waterloo. Distraction can alter your future.

Distractions are rampant in 2025. Today, distractions go by other names like ‘false flags’ and ‘conspiracy theories’ but the result is the same. The old vernacular is less sterile, more impactful and colorful. The book of Numbers in the Old Testament recounts God telling the people of Israel to make a physical reminder of tassels to put on their clothes as a reminder to remember God’s commandments amidst forces that aim to distract. ‘When you look at these tassels you’ll remember….and not get distracted by everything you feel or see that seduces you into infidelities….’ Numbers 15:37-41. Distractions lead to infidelity. Infidelity is also known as cheating or adultery.

The Bible constantly reminds us of the dangers of distractions. The story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 shows the danger of distractions in everyday life. Legitimate chores to prepare for a dinner guest distracted from spending time with the guest (sound familiar?). We can get so busy and distracted with daily tasks that we neglect and forsake who and what is most important. What appears to be harmless in the moment may distract and alter the future.

Travel baseball on Sunday will distract from going to church. A Premier League soccer match, the Open golf tournament, a Gran Prix race and almost anything can distract from our pursuit of God. Toddlers screaming for a snack distract from a family mealtime where faith and values are transferred from one generation to the next. Your boss, your job, friends and family can distract. Start looking for what distracts YOU and it may be overwhelming. Recognize when and what you are being distracted FROM as well.

Distractions can be deceptions. Today, Israel and Iran lobbing bombs is distracting. Politicians changing positions and jockeying for approval ratings is a distraction. The list is almost endless but the key is to remember WHAT and WHO we are being distracted from. If a distraction takes you away from mindless scrolling on your phone it may be a good thing. ANYTHING and everything that distracts you from God, pursuing God, going to church and adding to your spiritual growth and maturity is kryptonite.

I could write forever about the things that are distracting me and others in 2025 but I’ll try to land the plane with this timely reminder. In Matthew 24:4-8, Jesus spoke to the end of time and the doomsday deceivers. “‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.'”

Over the past few years almost every church has taken time to focus on the book of Revelation and the return of Christ…because the signs point to it. The re-establishment of the Jewish State, red heifers shipped to Israel, the kings and armies of the east and the north represented through the proxy wars in the middle east. You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to recognize current events recorded and prophesied in the Bible.

Many events are taking place that make the clock tick loudly for anyone who bothers to read the Bible. This is all a distraction from what matters most. Revelation 2:4-7 tells of a warning God gives to a group of ‘believers’ who have done great deeds for Him. They have worked hard and persevered amidst all the distractions and wickedness in the age they live in. BUT, God says these distractions are fatal because “‘You have forsaken your first love…Repent and do the things you did at first…He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'”

I am a poster child for being distracted by all happening in my world. This is the busiest season of my life with the most demands on my head and heart, but….I am convicted to NOT be distracted by people and events that draw me away from who and what matters most. I want to keep the first things, first.

Determine what IS most important to you. Take the time and don’t be distracted until you KNOW who and what you need to stay focused on. Then, I strongly encourage you to look for what distracts you from whatever is THE most important thing in your life.

Don’t let the kryptonite of distraction steal and kill you in this age of distraction. Protect your present and eternity from distraction.

The world is trying to hijack, alter and change words at such a rapid pace it can be difficult to keep up. Divorce, is a word quickly associated with marriage but historically has a more basic understanding and definition. Divorce is an action, a verb. Divorce means to separate and dissociate one thing from another. Americans tend to think of divorce as a noun but however you use and hear the word, it identifies a lack of commitment and infidelity, unbelief and unfaithfulness.

In America, the divorce rate for first marriages is 40-50%. The divorce rate in a second marriage grows to 60-70%. More interesting is the fact 70% of all divorces are initiated by the woman. In the case of divorce between college educated wives and husbands, 90% are initiated by the woman. This data uses the biological definition of a man and a woman and may cause consternation among some people. For purposes of this discussion, I will assume a Christian perspective that acknowledges a Biblical definition and historical understanding of men and women taken from the Bible and biological sex.

God knows that a man needs a woman to help him and make his life more full and complete. God also knows a woman needs a man in the exact same way. This need is not just physical, emotional or financial. The need we have for each other is spiritual. We were made from the same flesh and joined together at Creation. When man and woman marry, GOD unites us as one flesh, one spirit and one mind. Marriage between a man and a woman literally joins us together at the hip, soul and spirit. It also unites us in the same manner with God.

In the book of Genesis, the Bible tells the story where Eve submitted to the temptation of the evil one and the first divorce/separation dissociation was recorded. The rest is history but as with most divorces one person rarely gets all the blame. Eve’s actions were not alone. Adam sat by and passively kept quiet therefore being complicit in divorcing mankind from our Creator. In 2025 everything old is new again.

The Bible tells the story about the first divorce and how it was reconciled. There IS one way to reconcile when men and women break their commitment and covenant with each other and with God; Jesus. This may sound like lame Christianese to couples that are angry and hurt and just want to move on, but it is very real. Christ’s life, death and resurrection proved that God is willing to forgive and heal our first divorce from Him. He sacrificed His only Son to reconcile the divorce Adam and Eve initiated. If a couple believes there is too much water under the bridge for reconciliation in their marriage, it is simply a reflection on their faith in a God that is too small. Said more bluntly, they do not serve the God of the Old Testament and His son, Jesus. They are serving their own selfish desires.

Christians profess to believe in God but I wonder if they’ve lost sight and knowledge of who and what they serve. Our churches have focused on Christ’s love and forgiveness at the expense of His power and miracles. Culture has made Jesus to be a guy walking around smiling with long flowing hair. Therefore, His followers have become complacent and content with a mere ticket to eternity. Have we forgotten the miracles of Jesus and his ability to reconcile the very first divorce? And His calling for us to do the same.

Jesus not only walked on water, healed the blind and raised the dead, His apostles and disciples did the same. Peter’s shadow even healed the sick! In talking about the scope of what would happen in the future, Christ said ‘whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these.’ I don’t care how impossible your spouse is, God is MORE than capable. I guess the question is, ‘Will you be part of what God wants or do you prefer your own agenda?’

The data for Americans show less people identify as Christian than ever. Less people attend church than ever. Do Christians talk about seeing miracles in their marriage or everyday lives and relationships? God hasn’t changed but many of His followers have forgotten how big, powerful and capable He is. If you think your marriage is over, you don’t know Jesus.

You might ask, ‘Have we lost the knowledge of who and what Jesus is??’ As evidenced by the rate of divorce in America the answer is a resounding YES. If Christians doubt restoration in their marriage or from a divorce, they are serving a dumbed down and diluted Christ. Although this has become the trend and our faith has been weakened, our God hasn’t changed.

The Bible reminds us the current trend will come to an end and for many it will be too late. Another doctrine we need to remember is the fact there is a last call. We all know what last call means and we all know once that time comes it IS too late. Before your last call, get right with God. When Christ returns He isn’t coming to love everyone. When Jesus returns He’s coming ‘to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’

‘It’s too late for my marriage.’ ‘God can’t change my spouse or me.’ ‘I hate that person. God can’t change my feelings or our past.’ These are defiant words and ungodly acts. Consider what you say and do with gravity.

Back in the day, we were taught there are 5 senses. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. These senses send information to our brains and equip us to perceive and understand the world we live in. Our senses help us to enjoy the world God created and also to protect ourselves from dangers in the world.

When someone ‘takes leave of their senses’ it means they lose good judgement and are no longer able to think or act rationally. We know life is more difficult WITHOUT our senses but today we are reminded about the dangers when these senses get lost. While many around us act as though they have lost their senses, what happens when this becomes a permanent condition? What happens when mass numbers of people go blind?

The fires in California are the latest to expose how many have lost their senses. Political leaders are in the crosshairs, but the people of California share in the responsibility. Everyone could see the empty reservoirs. No one smelled fire from what should have been regular controlled burns. All Californians could hear and see legislation passed to fund protective fire services but the money was never touched because it was re-allocated to other countries around the world. The National Weather Service issued a written and spoken fire warning on January 2 that was palpable, but it fell on deaf ears. Where have our senses gone?

The Bible reminds us in James that when we pursue and make friends of the world it makes us an ENEMY of God. I’d suggest California and much of the United States has left friendship waaay behind. We have flat out fallen in love with the world and are in danger of God’s wrath. And everyone knows, love is blind.

We blindly send billions of our tax dollars to foreign countries to pay for their benefits and retirement while the homeless sleep under our bridges. Our leaders turn a deaf ear to protecting our citizens and punishing those who steal from and kill Americans. Citizens talk about the injustices but no one feels the consequences for evil actions. In other words, deaf, dumb AND blind.

It’s plain to see our borders haven’t been protected. Our hospital and housing infrastructure is overwhelmed and crumbling under the stress of the influx. Much of the national infrastructure has been left unprotected and refineries burn, bridges are destroyed, communities lose clean water. The land is permanently polluted when trains are derailed with toxic chemicals. Have we ignored our senses and no longer see the evil spreading across the nation?

Protecting your own people comes first…this is Biblical. Jesus protected His own first and foremost. Christ prayed to God about his people and said ‘ “…the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” ‘ The bottom line issue in protection is knowing who and what to protect against.

Many of the decisions made by politicians and everyday folks center on loving things of the world, benefiting themselves and putting profit ahead of people. The Bible speaks about people whose ‘idols are silver and gold made by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel….nor can they utter a sound with their throats.’ Psalm 115:4-7. In other words, their senses have been lost.

America WAS founded on Judaeo-Christian principles. The Founding Fathers recognized and credited the God of Creation in our Constitution and on numerous Federal Government buildings. They declared National holidays as times to thank God and seek divine protection. Since then, we have taken God out of our homes, schools and government. In the resulting vacuum, people have lost their senses and fallen blindly in love with the world. The One who has protected us since 1776, not 1619, has been relegated to second chair. As we slouch towards Gomorrah, we’ve seen evil and the evil one tolerated and accepted.

Jesus put it bluntly… “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” Luke 12:4-5. There is an evil one and HE causes people to lose their senses. The evil one is in the world and can take your senses captive to do his will.

It can be frustrating when we aren’t united in seeing what is going on in America. Christians can be even more frustrated when people ignore, reject and oppose what God teaches in the Bible. Nevertheless, ‘The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone…opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.’ 2 Timothy 2:24-26.

The fires are just getting started. Christ followers must lead the way to regain our senses and His protection. With the evil one empowering those in love with the world, we need real protection not just investments and hedges. Long ago the prophets wrote about the depth and scope of God’s protection. ‘You will not leave in haste or go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.’ Isaiah 52:12. In other words, if you submit and follow the God of Creation, He has your back, He walks beside you and He’s going ahead of you to protect you. That’s not an insurance policy. This is a promise from God.

Take it from a man just like us. ‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.’ Psalm 18:2. Currencies WILL rise and fall. Get ready, they also WILL default. When bitcoin drops in half you will need real protection. When a sleeper cell shows up in your city, there is only one shield of protection.

Most Americans know OF God and his son, Jesus, but they don’t KNOW Him. It’s hard to fully trust who and what you don’t know. I get it, but Peter reminds us God IS a protector. ‘If he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah…and seven others…if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly…..if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials….’ 2 Peter 2:5-9. He has an impeccable track record much longer than bitcoin.

The Bible tells us there is a time coming when the fires really start burning and destroying more than Los Angeles. At this time, God’s messenger says…. ‘Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ Revelation 7:3. Hear this reminder and think back to blood over the doorways in Egypt when God protected the Jews.

Love IS blind. Make sure who and what you love can protect you through the days to come.

We live surrounded by aliens, foreigners and strangers…and we always have. Aliens do not simply fly UFO’s and UAP’s, they live among us. Aliens are foreigners from another land. Aliens are not naturalized citizens of the country in which they live. A foreigner does not belong to a particular place or group. In other words, aliens and foreigners are strangers and outsiders.

We ALL share a heritage of being strangers in a foreign land. Americans take pride in the fact we are a nation of converted aliens and foreigners. We are immigrants united by our citizenship in the United States of America. Citizenship is what defines us as Americans and as a people.

The fabric of our United States is constructed and strengthened by aliens, foreigners and strangers who submit to a process and become American citizens by choice. The choice of citizenship is what unites our disparate backgrounds. Citizenship is a legal and covenantal relationship that entails rights and duties. The past few years have seen an increased effort to dilute the unity of our nation by circumventing the legal process and covenants that make us citizens of a United States. When the legal process and rule of law is not enforced the covenant we make as citizens is broken.

This past week our nation celebrated Thanksgiving as a national holiday. The original Thanksgiving proclamation is a reminder the founding fathers of America recognized the need for our covenant with the Judeo-Christian God of Creation. It is our citizenship as Americans and our covenant with God that is in the eye of the storm.

America was founded to regain God-given freedoms that had been usurped by the oppression of kings and queens. Where politically organized communities and territories were previously known as kingdoms with monarchical forms of government, our founding fathers chose a republic form of governing. The freedom to choose our own leadership made the term ‘kingdom’ fade away. The sovereignty of leadership changed and evolved but the reality of a kingdom did not go away.

The Bible teaches there are two distinct kingdoms. The earthly kingdom and a heavenly kingdom. A kingdom of man and the Kingdom of God, the Creator of man and earth. The knowledge of a creation and a Creator is ground zero to understand everything that followed. The Bible reminds us that God created the heavens and the earth where there was previously a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness. This planet was a prison, a dark place where Lucifer had been cast from the presence of God. When God decided to create man and woman in His own image, He made us as aliens, foreigners and strangers exiled on this planet.

The reality of being an alien has been planted in the hearts and minds of all people. In the book of Genesis, God chose people to be citizens of His Kingdom. He made His people, His citizens to be aliens and foreigners and strangers in the world. God told these people they would be ‘strangers in a country not their own…enslaved and mistreated there.’

After thousands of years, the New Testament continued this teaching about God’s people and the choice we have to become God’s people. Peter addressed his letter to Christ followers… ‘To God’s elect, strangers in the world..’ The 11th chapter of Hebrews is a roll call of God’s people known as the Hall of Faith. Many are listed as the stalwarts of faith, citizens of the heavenly Kingdom of God. The writer confirms these citizens ‘admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.’

God made sure His people knew they are exiles on this planet. He gave instructions on how to deal with foreigners and aliens…AND how to LIVE as one. The Old Testament says point blank, ‘Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.’ The New Testament reminds us ‘..I urge you, as foreigners and exiles…Live such good lives among the pagans that…they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.’

Since the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, our founders made a covenant with the nation to rule by these principles. Have we always fulfilled that covenant? No. But, when we fail, we have confessed our failures and tried to right the wrongs. Because of this, our laws have provided more freedoms and less oppression than anywhere on the planet. The United States is based on laws where citizenship requires rights and duties and prohibits purposeful wrongs and discrimination. When these rights are given away but the duties are not required, the covenant is broken and the country suffers. Welcome to 2024.

Re-read the Proclamation of Thanksgiving written by George Washington, the first elected President of the United States. Americans have forgotten our recognition of and dependence on God is what made our nation great. This submission to Judeo-Christian principles has given us the freedom and opportunity to CHOOSE a citizenship in Heaven as well as America.

Citizenship is what matters. Citizenship is a choice to submit to a legal covenantal process and authority that will govern your life. Citizenship defines who we are in our heads and hearts. In the book of Philippians, Paul reminds Christ followers they can be confident and take refuge knowing ‘our citizenship is in heaven.’

Earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Political parties change their stripes. Our citizenship is defined in our hearts where our loyalties and submission comes from. Where is your citizenship??