MUSINGS OF A MORON 1Jo 4

Posted June 2, 2004

MUSINGS OF A "MORON"

1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

What follows is my experience when I attempted to comply with this command of God in respect to James Lloyd. I’ve known about James Lloyd for several years now, mostly through his writings. I have subscribed to his newsletters and purchased several of his books, audio tapes and a video tape. I didn’t usually listen to him on the radio (actually computer) because I quickly learned he was able to go an hour or longer without ever getting to the point of anything. Much better to buy the book and save time.

I still consider James Lloyd a good source of prophetic ideas. He doesn’t put them together very well and come up with correct conclusions, but if you cherry pick you can still gather some good ideas here and there from him. Unfortunately, that is true of almost everyone, including me I’m sure. I did consider James Lloyd to be sincerely seeking the truth, even if he was in error on many points.

My own independent research, based on Biblical and practical considerations, convinced me that the main tribulational events were at least two decades in the future. I considered sharing this with him over a year ago, but I realized he was so focused on his idea of the May-Nov window that he certainly wouldn’t consider them at that time. Just to be on record, I did send him an e-mail a year ago predicting nothing significant would happen in 2003. I neither expected a response nor got one. I just didn’t want to be accused of predicting after the fact.

After mid-November, I began listening to The Apocalypse Chronicles – mostly to see how he would respond to the failure of his predictions. Since he seemed to be looking for new ideas on timing, I e-mailed him and asked him if he would be interested in looking at mine. When he said yes, I printed them up and mailed them to him – paid the postage and all.

I never got so much as an acknowledgment that it was received, much less any answer. However, I thought I understood why. That’s when I decided to test the spirits. This is not always easy to do with a person thousands of miles away you never met. One day on his program he was moaning and groaning about having had to pay a three hundred dollar fine for driving without a driver’s license. I decided to write him the following letter and see what happened. What I got was - for me - a very revealing look at the spirit of James Lloyd.

Having listened to his program many times over the previous weeks, I tried to avoid the things he seemed to object to most. I didn’t call him any names or use vile language. I don’t do that anyway. He complained a lot about the bad grammar of those who write him, so I did my best to be as grammatical as possible. He said people disagreed with him, but didn’t have scriptures, so I made sure I had scriptures. I also tried to be as polite as possible while still making my point and signed my name so as not to be anonymous. You can decide for yourself if I accomplished these goals. Here is the letter I sent him:
________________________

Whoa James,

I was just about to write you a note complimenting you on this week’s Apocalypse Chronicles. Monday and Tuesday were great – and they still are – we learned a lot and you made your points particularly well those days. So the compliment still stands. However, Wednesday … (Bonnie and I pick you up off the internet and try to stay about a day behind so we’ll always have something to listen to when we want)

First of all, I’ve finally reached the point – and it took a while I admit – where I don’t demand that everyone preaching the gospel be absolutely perfect on every point. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t meet that standard myself. I’m constantly learning that things I previously believed to be true are wrong and find myself having to adjust. I try to glean whatever morsels of scriptural truth I can find and add them to a growing body of knowledge. So I’m not about to say something stupid like I’ll never listen to you again – you are far too rich a source of golden nuggets. However, when you seem to be running off the reservation I feel compelled to comment. Please consider it my way of contending for the faith. Let’s begin with this scripture:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

This seems to be pretty clear. Every verse of scripture is important and not to be ignored. So we come to the crux of the matter, the question I’m looking for you to answer. How do you think someone should apply the following verse of scripture to their life? I’ll present my arguments and await your response – in case I’m the one off the reservation.

1Pe 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

The term “every ordinance” seems pretty explicit. It doesn’t say some ordinances. What does every mean? It certainly can’t be absolute because the same Apostle Peter said in response to the order of the High Priest not to preach in the name of Jesus:

Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

This seems to pretty well set the boundaries for the term every ordinance. We are to obey every ordinance of man that does not contradict the revealed word of God. So when the king orders Daniel not to pray, he opens the window and prays anyway. Otherwise, we are to obey the king, or government – beast though it may be. Later on in his epistle, Peter gives us a reason why we should do this:

1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

So with this established, where in the revealed word of God do you find the commandment that you should refuse to get a driver’s license before driving a car? Maybe it’s hidden somewhere in the first eight chapters of 1st Chronicles. I admit my eyes tend to glaze over during that section of the Bible (Sorry, Lord). But if that’s not it, I don’t know where to look for it. I’ve been over the Bible more times than I can count and I don’t recall God ever talking about driver’s licenses.

You know, it’s a real leap of faith to get in a car and go for a drive. Even on a relatively short trip, you will pass hundreds of cars at high speeds. You count on all of them to stay in their proper lane and not veer into yours unexpectedly. You trust them to stop at stop signs, unless they’re former governors of South Dakota. Your life depends not only on your skills, but upon those of every driver you encounter. The state has a perfect right to regulate the use of automobiles, trucks and other vehicles to see that that all operators are competent to operate them. The driver’s license is the sign that the driver has met the minimum requirements.

In addition, these laws weren’t just imposed from above. We live in a democracy – or used to. Our grandparents or great-grandparents elected the officials that passed all the laws that regulate driving and to which you object. They were developed a little at a time over years and in response to problems that came up. You’re not just rebelling against the State of Oregon, you’re rebelling against the collective will of the American people for the last one hundred years – in an area where as near as I can tell the government is specifically authorized by God to make the rules.

You also had some complaints about the FAA regulating the air. That hit close to home with me. I spent my life, before I retired, as a captain for a major airline. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent flying a very large machine at high rates of speed through clouds where I couldn’t see a thing out the window. At the same time there were many other people in equally large fast moving machines doing the same thing in close proximity to me. We really had to trust that everyone knew what he was doing. While I was never a big fan of the FAA, government bureaucracies being the inefficient clumsy entities that they are, the idea of eliminating it and having any unlicensed moron in the clouds with me – I don’t think so, Tim. For sure, I want you to obey that ordinance of man.

Also, I’m wondering if you are consistent on this issue. When I was a pilot, I not only needed a pilot’s license, I also needed a license from the FCC to talk on the radios. I assume you have the same requirement for what you do. So, in addition to not getting a driver’s license to drive a car, do you also refuse to get a license from the FCC to talk on the radio? If not, where in the Bible do you find support for one, but not for the other?

Finally, if I was just an average person and my wife was to be involved in a traffic accident with an unlicensed driver where she was injured I would be upset. But, if I found out later the schmuck who hit her was unlicensed – and - he claimed the reason he didn’t need to be licensed was because he was a Christian and it was God’s idea, I don’t think I’d have a very high opinion of Christianity. Maybe you should ponder again the reason Peter said we were to obey every ordinance of man:

1Pe 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

From where I sit it’s hard to see your refusal to get a driver’s license before driving a car as anything other than plain simple rebellion. While as best I can tell God didn’t have anything to say about driver’s licenses, He did have a lot to say about rebellion – none of it good. Maybe you should consider giving it up and just get the license – or stop driving. The money you save could probably be put to better use in your ministry somewhere.

Mike Phillips
_______________

While he never wrote back to me, it didn’t take long to get a response. The very next morning on his radio program, in an apparent fit of rage, he launched into vituperative diatribe. That’s when I first discovered I was a moron. Despite my best effort to comprehend his ranting, it made no sense at all. I had specifically asked him, if he disagreed with me, to just explain how the verses of scripture I quoted “should” be interpreted by a Christian. Do they have no meaning at all? Are we supposed to throw them out of the Bible? Otherwise, how do we comply with them?

While James Lloyd never answered the questions I posed in my letter, he did answer my real question. I have seen his spirit and I now have no doubt which spirit it is. However, you never know. Maybe someday he’ll repent. The apostle Paul didn’t start out with the best spirit either and he turned out fine.

At this point I figured I had - at best - one more shot at writing him. So I sent him the following letter.
_________

James,

This is an interesting form of communication. I write and several days later I receive a response in your radio broadcast - actually the next day from your point of view, but I don’t get around to listening for a while. It’s a strange way to do it, but it works I guess. Your response was rather revealing, albeit pathetic. You can’t answer my questions, you have no scripture and so you resort to ranting incoherently. You are actually just like the people you criticize almost daily on your program.

It’s sad really. You have a good mind, but unfortunately Christianity isn’t about the mind. It’s about the spirit. It’s about submitting your spirit to the will of God. There is another spirit in the world that is in rebellion to the will of God. It started in the Garden of Eden. God said, “In the day you eat of the fruit, you will surely die.” Satan said, “You will not surely die, you will be as Gods. Eat up.” This is the mark of the spirit of Satan – direct contradiction of the word of God.

Jesus said, “Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” James Lloyd says, “That means don’t render anything to Caesar.”

Peter said, “Obey every ordinance of man.” James Lloyd says, “I’ll do whatever I want.” Well, technically that’s not exactly correct. What you say is, “I’ll do what the Lord leads me to do.” The question is, of course, “Which Lord?” If what you are being “led” to do is contrary to the written word of God, then your “lord” is probably one of the Baals. “Couldn’t happen to me,” you say?

If you’ll recall Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus several questions about the end times. The very first thing He said was “Take heed that no man deceive you.” He went on two more times in that same chapter to warn of deception. It’s a major problem in the end times and no wonder. These times are very important to Satan and he is most interested in side-tracking anyone who is getting close to the truth.

Also, Satan is a formidable enemy. While the Bible doesn’t say so specifically, it leads one to believe that the dumbest angel is smarter than the smartest human being. Being spiritual and immortal they have a big head start over us mortal humans and lots of time to practice deceiving us. If Satan is the smartest angel, then underestimating him must be very dangerous.

I think the first thing you need is a good practical definition of deception. I would define deception as, “being absolutely convinced that you are right when you aren’t.” With this definition, it is easier to see the danger. If you are wrong, then you need to change in order to be right. But if you’re absolutely convinced that you are right, then it’s unlikely that you will be willing to consider any change in your belief. Therefore you are trapped, like a fly on flypaper. If Satan can just get you to believe something is right when it isn’t, then he’s got you. Your only defense is to be willing to consider that anything you are absolutely convinced is right might not be, and be willing to objectively look at alternatives. Most people are not able to do this. Their pride gets in the way, and so most humans are easy prey for Satan.

Take you, for example. Satan really got you good. There’s an old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Satan got you twice with this Boutros Boutros Ghali idea. The first time was in 1998. He was going to be the anti-Christ and the tribulation would begin then. Appealing to your pride, he got you to go beyond just being someone who was trying his best to figure out Bible prophecy and declare yourself a “Prophet of the Lord.” Pride goeth before a fall. Then when 1998 came and went, you were stuck with explaining the scriptures that say a true prophet of the Lord can be identified by the accuracy of his predictions. Your response was similar to those you condemn – it doesn’t mean that to me. Granted Nineveh was spared Jonas’ prediction because they repented, and surely God would have done the same to America. But if you’re trying to tell me that all America from Bill Clinton down repented in sackcloth and ashes, I’m afraid I missed that – just like you missed your prediction. Wasn’t 1998 the year of Monica Lewinsky? Some repentance.

So there you were in shambles and Satan must have said to himself, “That was fun, but he’s still broadcasting. Maybe I can get him to fall for the same thing all over again. But to do that, I’m going to have to give him some extra bait. Well, in 2003 it will be Kofe Annan’s second term. He just got the wrong term. Even better, that year Boutros and the Pope will be 80 and 83 just like Moses and Aaron.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Well, nothing really, but it sounds good and this guy is so desperate not to have been wrong in 1998 that he will jump at anything.”

And so you did. You were so convinced that you spent the whole year stuck in Oregon, not traveling the country as you would have – a little extra victory for Satan. At the point when there would have been 42 months left in Annan’s term, you even gave all your people the day off and holed up in your cabin. And you’re not even mad at Satan for making you look like a fool. And of course, you never even considered that what you absolutely believed to be the truth might not be – even when it patently didn’t work. You just went on with one justification after another; “the months might be sidereal months and so it could be a little later, etc.” Finally in mid November the window closed and all the reasons for your original prediction were invalidated.

Still you wouldn’t relent. It’s Boutros and it must be soon. However, time is compressing on you and you are having a hard time squeezing in everything that must happen. So one day on your show you made the ridiculous assertion that we must be in the fifth trumpet. Fifth trumpet??? What happened to number four with the sixteen hour days? Or two and three with the stuff from space? I guess all these things are in random order now, no logic to the sequence at all. Or better, no logic for the sequencer.

Simple logic would tell you that we’re still waiting for the fourth seal. The fourth beast rules for 42 months, not 58 years and counting like the current UN. Besides, the current UN doesn’t have kings. It has secretaries. That’s “secretaries” like in take dictation and go get coffee for the boss. Boutros was, for all practical purposes, fired by Bill Clinton. If he was a king, what does that make Bill Clinton – the King of Kings??? (with apologies to the real King of Kings) The UN just announced its largest ever annual budget – three billion dollars. That’s chump change. The US annual budget exceeds 1.5 trillion dollars. The current UN is an empty shell waiting to be filled. If they finally do get ten members on the Security Council, that will only be a small preparatory step. They are miles away from taking the dominion away from any major nation at this point. Can you really see Putin turning over the rule of Russia to them at this time? They just recently demonstrated their power by instructing George Bush not to invade Iraq. Some beast !!!

I have wondered why anyone with your intelligence and knowledge of world history and current events couldn’t see clearly that the time is not yet. It should be obvious that there are still far too many things that need to be accomplished before the beast can rule – especially out of Jerusalem. That place is not at all ready for world rule at this time. Then it occurred to me that maybe it’s not a matter of intelligence.

Jesus said that you couldn’t serve both God and mammon. Paul said it was OK for a preacher to live off the gospel, but there are dangers in this. He himself made tents when he needed money rather than cross that line. Accepting donations is certainly OK, but when you set up a business of selling prophecy books, tapes, videos and survival supplies – and that becomes your only source of income – then you become dependent upon it. You would probably like to tell people the truth, but if the truth is that the end times are decades away, that would imperil your business. People won’t buy all that stuff for a disaster that is too far in the future. So you just “can’t see it.”

Oh well. The truth is whatever it is, not what any of us wants it to be. I will continue to have patience with you. Sometime in the next twenty years or so, you’re bound to get tired of being wrong all the time and come around. I’ll just wait.

Mike Phillips
___________________

The response to this letter was equally swift. On his next program he made a point of mentioning that his computer had a function which would automatically send undesirable e-mails to the scrap heap without him ever having to see them. I’m pretty sure I’m on that list, because I tested him again with a couple of messages containing points likely to catch his attention. I got no further response on subsequent programs or the mail. That’s OK. He has a perfect right to do whatever he wishes with his e-mail. However, I note that this is the same individual who screams to the heavens about AOL and the people who use it when they block the messages HE sends. One rule for James Lloyd, another for everyone else. That seems to be the case in more than just this instance.

Well, that’s all the words my poor moron brain can come up with now. I do believe though, that anyone who tests the spirit of James Lloyd will come up with the same answer I did. My test was not a particularly difficult one and he clearly flunked it.

Mike Phillips