WATCHMANN

A while back one of my young relatives reading my FaceBook page posted, “Who are you?” I initially he was asking about how we were related. That was not what he wondered...
“Who are you” reminded me of a friend who once said to me, “You are a Crusader”. When I told two Pastor friends about it, they said, “Yea, a bulldog Crusader”. This is a result of my propensity to pick a issue and ride it for a long time.
I took both descriptions as negatives given the reputations of the Crusaders and Kirschmann stubbornness. I have since learned about the other side of the Crusader's excesses and the redeemed side of stubbornness. I pray God gives me the grace to stay away from the dark side of both those identities.
However, more important than who others think we are, is who God says we are. My name Gregory literally means 'watchman'. Hence my 'handle' many times is 'Watchmann', a play on my first and last name.
Here are the two key passages in Scripture about watchman;
Jeremiah 6:16-19 (NASB) Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
17 "And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'
18 "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 "Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

Ezekiel 33:1-11 (NASB) And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman,
3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people,
4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.
5 ~'He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life.
6 ~'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand.'
7 "Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.
8 "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.
9 "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
10 "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have spoken, saying, "Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?"'
11 "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'

How does this identity of watchman show up in my life? The main areas are;
-Gender authority, the first issue affecting marriage and family where we have abdicated truth.
-Sexual morality, a binding darkness that sucks life and light out of the souls of men.
-Political morality, a top down destruction of Christian influence.
-And more recently, Islam, a designer religion from the pits of Hell.
I see these as major issues the our society and the American Church.

I don't consider my role as prophetic. It is simply observing the world in the light of the Word. However, like the prophet, the message is generally negative and the response is often rejection.

Nor do I consider myself above the fray. I have found too many personal 'thorns in the flesh', some of which I still depend on God's sufficient grace for. That amazing grip of grace and the faithful presence of the Holy Spirit personally give me hope to reach out to others. To 'kick at the darkness until it bleeds light'.

Consequence, a close friend of Reality slapped Ignorance and tripped up Denial to teach a lesson. I told Reality Denial is making Ignorance look like a fool. Reality said Denial will never change and Ignorance will never learn even though Consequence has no desire to be a bully.

When My Time Is Done

No angel of death coming for me When my time here is not to be It's Moses I’m going to see No more bricks, darkest Pharaoh I AM shouts, “Let my people go!” With Jesus He set me free No Red Sea parting over again My Jesus split the Dead Sea Now the Promise Land I see No stone tablet saying what was Where my body lays you see “Perfected” the stone over me Break the chains From slave to son Blow the trumpet My freedoms won Won't look back When my time is done

LOSS

Waiting for the why answers.
We run to the One who comforts.
Watching for the last tear wipe.

REAL MARRIAGE

Real marriage has always been and will always be a committed relationship between one man and one woman. Pretending or saying it ain't so doesn't make it so. Anything else will just join the list of fake marriages.



It is the only relationship that reproduces naturally (including a father and mother raising their children).



It is the only relationship that is the birthing place of every single other type of relationship.



It is the only relationship that reunites two completely unique parts.



It is the only relationship that sexually fit together by design.



It is the only relationship that restores a male and female to the original roots of our creation (pre-gender).



It is the only union that blends two different genders bringing perfect balance. A same gender union would lack diversity and be off balance.



All this says nothing about the culturally historic and religious distinctions.



It clearly has, needs and deserves a special and unique definition.