Dear Friends –
Some of you who follow me on Facebook might have noticed that my page is down. I was forced to disable it because it was hacked by cyber stalkers. I was already considering closing it down because it was becoming a habit that was a distraction to my writing ministry. It is one of those Romans 8:28 situations — the devil might have meant it to hurt me, but God turned it around for my good for His purposes. The Lord intervenes in situations for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to serve Him wholeheartedly.
I am requesting prayer from you, my friends, because I know the project I’m working on is important at this time to make it available, especially to those who are looking for a resource to assist new believers in counting the cost to following Jesus in such a time as this. I know from the spiritual warfare I’m seeing that I must be doing something for the front line that the enemy wants to squelch. We are not ignorant of his schemes and we know he is a liar and the accuser of the brethren.
I’ve shared the preface to the book below. It will give you a glimpse of what this project is all about. I’ll announce it here as soon as it is available, which I’m hoping will be no longer than a month. I’ve already passed it by an editor and am now complying with suggestions as to how to make it stronger and more reader-friendly.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God”
Micah 6:8
Keeping on the Lookout,
Your fellow pilgrim,
Jackie Alnor
“Enduring to the End” – Foreword
The inspiration for this book is the classic Christian story of Pilgrim’s Progress. If you’ve never read it, you’ll understand Enduring to the End better if you keep it in mind. This is not a revised modern version of the story. That’s been done many times. But it is an examination of the various distractions from the “way” that can lead a follower of Jesus astray.
It is a guide through the perils that many believers run into in this crazy society that is quickly looking like scenes from films like ‘Soylent Green’ or ‘I Robot’. It’s as if the “god of this world” is preparing the planet for the debut of that “man of sin,” that according to Scripture, is prophesied to arrive before the return of Christ. One UFO book title put it this way: “In Advance of the Landing.”
Just for illustration purposes, between each chapter of this book is a dramatization of what today’s Christian will likely run into as the “prince of the power of the air” gets bolder, knowing his time is short. Yeah, satan knows Bible prophecy better than most Bible scholars.
In Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan used no actual names of people or places. Each were depicted with fake names that were descriptive of each player or town’s characteristics. The main good guys on the journey to the Celestial City were named Christian, Faithful, and Hopeful. Here, the three will be known as Believer, Fervent, and Zealous. Bunyan had names for all the misguided folks as well, such as Presumption, Moneylove, and Talkative. Today we might call them Lushie, Gaylan, and Father Papist.
Some of the ‘skits’ between the chapters are re-imagined episodes of actual events, not only in the life of the author, but also testimonies by others who’ve run into extreme opposition as soon as they professed Christ as their Lord for the first time. These skits have no plot – no beginning or end – see them as snapshots of the life of today’s followers of Christ.
Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress in the 1600s from his jail cell in England where he was confined for preaching in the marketplace without a license. That’s not much different than today. There are people – even in former Christian nations such as Britain – who have been arrested for sharing the Gospel on the streets. The authorities call it “hate speech.” One lady in London was praying silently across the street from an abortion clinic, and hauled off to jail for that “terrible crime.” There are many examples of this happening in Canada as well. As soon as another woke president takes over the White House – Look out! Christianity could well be criminalized in America soon. Remember, during the Biden administration, it was determined that the most dangerous threat to public education was Catholic parents objecting to woke indoctrination of their children.
Going back further in history, the Apostle Paul wrote about the various factions that opposed his sharing of the Gospel:
“From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren.”
2 Corinthians 11:24-26
And prophecy teaches us that as we get closer to the time of His coming, persecution against Christians will be worse than in all of history. Hold onto your proverbial hats! We’re warned that even members of our own households will turn us in for daring to speak the Truth. And on top of that, we’ll face spiritual opposition just like the main character in Pilgrim’s Progress was attacked by Apollyon. We can expect to see the same sort of spiritual warfare, so we need to keep our Ephesians armor on tight.
There were false brethren in Paul’s day and in Bunyan’s time, and we see them all over “Christian” television today. And besides that, a false version of the faith is being perpetuated that promises health and wealth in exchange for money – no different than in the 1500s with the selling of “indulgences.” That is what started the Protestant Reformation, when the Bible was translated into the vernacular and individual believers were able to read God’s word for themselves. That opened many eyes to the false teaching of the Roman church who in response put the Bible on their list of banned books. When those texts were discovered in believers’ homes, they would burn them. That false institution wanted to maintain the highest place of authority over the faith of the people.
There are many good churches today with pastoral leadership that stays true to Scripture and are called to guide, teach, and minister to their congregations. But there are many – especially in the mainline denominations – that choose to stand behind a pulpit as a career choice where they enjoy the benefits of free housing, a good retirement package, and the admiration of “their people.” There’s nothing wrong with those things in and of themselves. But when that’s the motivating factor for leadership in a church, instead of an actual calling from the Spirit of Christ to minister to His sheep, the false teachers preach what spiritual goats want to hear. Many of their sermons are picked up off the Internet, or are mere motivational messages to tickle the ears of the hearers.
Sadly, all these things can trip up a new believer and shipwreck their faith. You need to know up front that you must not let these servants of the devil rob you of your inheritance in the Kingdom of God. This book is intended as a heads-up, particularly for new saints, of what might confront them in their walk with Jesus on the Narrow Road to the Celestial City. Being informed will inoculate you from falling into the traps and snares you will encounter. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Even mature believers in Christ need to recognize the signs of the end times and guard their own walk, as the enemy of our souls customizes a trap for each and every one of us. And the Word warns us that our faith will be tested and we will have trials. So, remember, only those who “endure to the end” make it in.
“Happy trails to you!”
