“We are absolutely not targeting civilians.” —Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister

While we slept Wednesday night the peace of Europe was shattered.

While Ukrainians are being murdered and traumatized, we in the West are renaming parks because the current name might be offensive to someone.

While the West pushes for legal right to murder our unborn at full-term, Ukraine was invaded.

While the American military is focused on diversity training and equity, our historic nemesis invaded the largest country in Europe—and our other nemesis to the Far East engaged in provocative flyovers of the territory it wants: Taiwan.

While America shut the valves on domestic oil and gas production to save the environment, it endorsed oil and gas production in Russia. How is American oil and gas bad for the climate and Russian oil and gas is not?

This morning, my messages are filled with pleas from my colleagues and friends in Ukraine. “Preston, there are explosions outside. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”

Once again, our media has utterly and absolutely failed us! Even though we say our media is free and celebrate the fourth estate, the mainstream is nationalized—just like it is in totalitarian states the world over—and renders up a politicized narrative suited to maintaining Progressive notions of power and control. Tell me! Did you hear a single journalistic exploration of Russia attacking the entire country of Ukraine? I didn’t. It was all about the East and the two provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk. Let’s cover our eyes, shall we?

Of course—and these are strong words that I do not write lightly—only fools would believe Vladimir Putin surrounded Ukraine’s non-NATO borders with 200K troops in order to secure two provinces, or only the territory east of the Dnieper River, or only those areas of the country that wished to be nationalized by Russia.

Not to be foreboding, but to honor my pledge of always giving you my best thinking: If I was Chairman Xi of China, I would seize Taiwan and the strategic islands in the South China Sea while the West is busy covering their political backsides and President Putin is celebrating his land grab with vodka toasts. Is this not what the Empire of Japan did while Hitler swallowed up vulnerable states in Europe during the 1930s and 40s?

Now, lest I spend my writing day venting about people who engage in nonsensical explanations, let me offer some words of focus. Once done—I’ll give you fair warning in case you wish to stop reading—I will offer some historical reflection to shed light on this mania.

Sadly, sadly what is transpiring in our world is not without precedent. It may feel unprecedented, but as I will demonstrate later, what is happening today is nothing new. Tragically, what is unfolding in Europe has a close parallel only seventy or eighty years ago, depending on when you start your historical examination.

You’ve read my references to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller over the last months. You’ve read my articles about being silenced, marginalized, and blocked. You’ve read my disconsolation about the failure of our media to do their job, becoming in essence and practice, a nationalized and partisan-based media. You’ve read about my friends and your family members in the faith who are on trial for their faith. You’ve also read my concerns about a church turned inward, a church oblivious to its irrelevance, a church that continues to shoot itself in the foot, and church leaders who have left their allegiance to the Kingdom of God and hitched their futures to governmental influence.

There is nothing new about any of what I’ve written. Brothers Bonhoeffer and Niemoller and Bethge, et al, and thousands and thousands of others who are family members in the faith, endured war, death, plague, depravity, degradation, torture, loss, and displacement. Millions of our family members have endured and remained faithful, not because God delivered them from the insanity of war, despotism, and totalitarian ambition, but because He gave them grace to endure these atrocities and illogical, irrational nonsense by leadership.

I want you to be bolstered in the confidence of your faith. The God who gave courage to your family members a few years ago will give courage to you.

Just like the heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11, it is possible to write a heroes-of-the-faith chapter from the twentieth century. We know of Bonhoeffer. We’ve read Niemoller’s statements. We’ve read Ten Boom. We know of the suffering and courage of Watchman Nee in China, of Richard Wurmbrand, Joseph Tson, and famous ministers and martyrs of the faith throughout the Communist rule of Europe’s East Bloc. We know of the explosion of revival in despotic countries because of the ministry of Far East Broadcasting, Voice of the Martyrs, Radio Free Europe, et al. Although suffering mightily under the Ayatollah, there is a remarkable revival of Christianity inside despotic Iran.

Our family distinguished themselves while under terrific duress, and in parts of the world—Ukraine is the latest—they continue to do so. Here’s the deal: The spiritual wherewithal that they demonstrated and exhibit today is the divine power that indwells you. You are cut from the same bolt of spiritual DNA that they were and are.

It is right that we should recount the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. It is right that we should celebrate his faith and recount that God closed the mouths of the lions.

It is also right that we should reminisce—recall and bring to the forefront of our minds—that for every story of a man like Daniel, there are millions who died believing, relying upon Father God, their faith strong and intact, while being torn apart by lions, beasts, and through more vile tortures than even the dark literature dedicated to the debauchery of fallen mankind can convey.

Throughout our brief tenure on this spinning orb, fallen humanity has foisted upon others of the race disgusting atrocities. While this continues on a daily basis around the globe, it is brought to fresh light as we anticipate the degradation and destruction of Russia upon its neighbor, Ukraine.

Pray for your family in Ukraine. Pray as well for your family in Taiwan. They could easily—predictably—be next.

Today, history is repeating itself. While I will give historical background in a moment, this is not the first time a tyrannical despot has seized a lesser neighbor while weak politicians and inept bureaucrats postured and preened before microphones and media, speaking with their silver tongues in superlative language, with one intent: to absolve themselves of their duplicity, their foolishness, and their nonsense.

Today, history is repeating itself—and you get to be part of the repeat!

Today, you will pay more for gas at the gas pump. In the near future, you will not be able to update your hardware or purchase the new car you want/need. Anything with a computer chip or a precious metal in it will become harder to come by because of Russia’s entry into these markets by seizing Ukraine and the bolstered courage this invasion will give to the Chinese. Whereas America was energy independent a year ago—even exporting surpluses to Europe—today we are begging OPEC and Russia to produce more oil and gas while our robust ability to produce for ourselves rusts on the prairies of South Dakota. Those precious metals necessary to make your smartphone work? Ukraine is full of those resources—now in the hands of Russia. China dominates the chip markets and American manufacturers can’t deliver goods because they can’t get chips. If you need to buy a car, or a refrigerator, or a new toaster, you’re paying more than you would have a year ago, and with today’s unfolding events, you will pay even more tomorrow.

Today, your felt-life got just a touch more intense. Your felt-life tomorrow will be more strenuous and complicated than today is. Therefore, today is the day you kick into another gear mentally, emotionally, volitionally, and spiritually. Perhaps physically as well.

Tomorrow is not your day. Today is your day. Today is the moment you determine to refocus and reframe your walk with Christ. Today is the day when you look back to the history of your parents and grandparents and realize that Christ was sufficient in their day of awful duress and determine: If Jesus was enough for them, He is plenty for me. Then, you act.

Instead of praying that God will protect you, pray that God will guide and lead you as a warrior in the Kingdom of Light. Instead of praying for God to deliver you, pray and thank Him for His promise of grace. God did not save you to go to Sunday School. He commissioned you to go into the world. God did not save you to preserve your life on Earth. He saved you to launch you into the flow of eternal life, into the life of Him who is Life Eternal: Jesus Christ. No, God did not save you and call you to bring heaven to earth. He saved you to form within you sufficient character for you to reign with Him throughout eternity.

At times, God delivers—like He did for Daniel. But while many in the pages of Scripture prayed for deliverance, and deliverance is within the storyline of Scripture, deliverance is not a biblical promise. When hardship ensues, the biblical promise is the unflinching presence of Christ in your life. In biblical language, when uncertainty arises, God gives His grace. Among other passages, recall Proverbs 3:34, “Yet He [God] gives grace to the afflicted.”

Deliverance is extraction, rescue, and salvation from imminent threat. Grace, by contrast, is often a tear-blurred path, navigated with a clinched jaw, a set eye, and a resolute step that is infused with trust in Christ and unshakeable peace within your heart.

Today is your day. Speak confidently—not about what tomorrow holds for Europe, Canada, China, Taiwan, or these United States—but about your trust in Jesus Christ. Act resolutely, knowing your heart is bonded to your Father’s, and that nothing that comes to you arrives on your doorstep by happenstance. It is a fine time to take God at His Word and approach Him confidently, not for what you want to see happen that might bring a smidgeon of heaven to earth, but to embrace the bold resolve that He endowed you with when He deployed the Holy Spirit within you.

The dark forces of fallen humanity are on the move. In their wake they will leave destruction, suffering, and terror with volumes of tears. As they go, as the dark forces have always done, they will rape, pillage, and plunder those vulnerable and weak.

Those responsible for this mess will squirm and solicit comfort and absolution of responsibility for what they’ve created. It’s called political spin. They will—as has always been the case—take advantage of this opportunity to secure themselves at the expense of those whom they’ve destined for ruin.

Today is a dark day. Therefore, today is your day to determine that as a bearer of light you will be true to yourself as a child of the Light. Walk in the light and let God shine it upon whom He is calling.

Open your Bible and study the writings of Habakkuk. Open your Bible and study the disposition, outlook, and attitude of Nehemiah. Open your Bible and study the presence of mind—the shrewd courage—of Esther. These predecessors of ours in the faith lived within dark empires. Their values of life and faith were compromised. Their lives, safety, and security were marginalized. Yet each called upon God in heaven to be courageous through them as they represented Him in a fallen, dark, debauched environment.

Yesterday was their day to trust Father God and set a standard for us to study and find inspiration. Today is your day. Tomorrow belongs to God.

Now, to quote Forest Gump: “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.” Time to switch gears.

Once again, Tony Clark and I visited via video podcast. From his site vinelife.us you can listen and watch our discussions about sanctification, politics, salvation, and other important aspects of the faith.

Any day, the Finnish court will rule on the indictment of my friend, Dr. Päivi Räsänen. She is charged with “incitement” for quoting the Bible and expressing her Christian beliefs. Those watching this trial believe the outcome will have worldwide implications. Our sister in the faith is handling herself in exemplary fashion as a daughter of the King. My prayer is that Father would put within me the courage and grace He is exhibiting in her.

Now as I mentioned earlier, here’s some historical perspective for your consideration:

I used to teach my history students two things: 1) History is about power, money, and sex. 2) If you don’t understand your history, you are destined to repeat your history.

And, sadly—sadly, here we are again.

It’s odd how history repeats itself. One would think humanity would learn from history. Most animals do, but not the human animal. I suppose foolishness and nonsense is ours alone, sitting at the top of the food chain.

Not too long ago my classmates and I ducked for cover under our desks. It was all practice in case of nuclear war with the then USSR. As an elementary-age kid I remember Dad sitting down with me at the kitchen table. He carefully drew a picture of Florida and Cuba. As he drew missiles on the coast of Cuba, he explained the Cuban Missile Crisis and the real probability that we were facing the end of Western civilization in a nuclear holocaust. Crazy stuff!

But here we are again: Posturing and posing, toying and taunting, exploring the legitimacy of turning our cooling relationships with Russia and China into a hot war. Now that he’s pulled the trigger, Vladimir Putin has warned that anyone getting in his way will face the full force of [nuclear-armed] Russia.

We just can’t help ourselves, can we?

From 1914-1918 mankind fought “the war to end all wars,” World War I, named such because it was so horrific. We slaughtered and wounded about 40 million of our fellow human beings. Shocked at what we had done, we laid down our arms and went home.

Failing to remember what we did to one another fifteen years earlier, we regrouped, retooled, and rededicated ourselves to the merits of war, reprising the specter of slaughter with what historians named, World War II. Once concluded with an atomic bomb, the war dead tallied 70-85 million.

Thinking ourselves wiser, we entered directly into the Cold War and only avoided atomic annihilation by embracing the détente of MAD: mutually assured destruction by nuclear attack.

Capitalism versus Communism. Self-determination versus Socialism. Territorial conflict. Delaying actions. Subterfuge. Power. Greed. Dominance. What does Ukraine have that Russia wants? Precious metals, arable land, oil reserves, gas, the Black Sea, and a hedge against NATO. In short: Ukraine has stuff Russia can turn into money and power.

The advance of Communism: Karl Marx studied European Socialism, and when he wrote his Communist Manifesto, he stated that Socialism is Communism not yet perfected. When pressed with the history of Communism, today’s Socialists declare that Communism has not truly been tried yet.

I wonder if Russia, China, Venezuela, et al find that conviction insulting.

Only God truly knows how hard these folks have tried to implement Communism. It takes brutal dedication. The best estimates are that implementing Communism has resulted in 60-148 million deaths thus far. But by golly, there’s no good reason to stop trying, especially if you are an implementer. Progress is too important.

Let me be candid: The next time Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren, the Squad, et al bask in the media’s spotlight and lecture us about the merits and moral efficacy of Socialism, you might want to check history’s bs filter.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) came to Texas last week. The Socialist representative from New York came to Texas to campaign for Socialism in the state’s upcoming elections. In her stump speech she vowed that Progressive Socialists would eventually turn Texas blue, and when they did, they would turn the entire the United States blue (meaning, Socialist) and “unionize the hell out of Texas” to ensure the Lone Star State didn’t revert back to red Capitalism.

After WWI, Germany was bankrupt and her national pride badly bruised. After the collapse of Communism during the administration of President Reagan, the Russian economy was in ruins and the glory of the USSR was shamed as her puppet states revolted and left nothing but Russia. Hitler justified unleashing his war machine as the means to reestablish Germany’s rightful place of leadership in Europe. Vladimir Putin remains in power, first because he’s a tyrant, but because the people support his determination to return Mother Russia to world power.

As Hitler rose to power in the 1930s and 1940s and began flexing his military might, the West was weak. America had pulled back from WW I into its borders, dismantled its war mechanism, and was devoted to finding a way to work through the Great Depression. As Europe tilted toward war, Congress tied the hands of President Roosevelt to help our English ally. In England, a weakened Prime Minister Chamberlain attended a peace conference in Munich. He returned home with a pledge by Hitler that if England would let Germany have the middle part of Europe, then once taken, the Germain war machine would be satisfied. Chamberlain agreed—and in the noble ideal of peace at all cost, granted Hitler free reign to take the Sudetenland. Chamberlain returned to England declaring that the Munich Agreement represented, “Peace! Peace in our time.”

Today, America’s foreign policy is nebulous and weak. The American military is under-funded, crippled with political rules of engagement, and inwardly focused on equity, ferreting out racism, and the advancement of Critical Race Theory. Morale is low and there has been a mass exodus and elimination of military leadership since the Obama administration.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approval ratings are lower than President Biden’s, and his are at historic lows. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO announced they were implementing “defensive measures.” In an ironic twist of historic fate, Vice President Harris and our allies are meeting in Munich to discuss peace as Ukraine is ceded to Russia.

Speaking today about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and shortly after boldly announcing punishing sanctions on Russia, President Biden stated in the strongest of terms, “No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. This is going to take some time.”

As Hitler rose to power and Europe convulsed from peace to war, in the Far East the Empire of Japan was flexing its muscles. It invaded and seized territories and strategic islands throughout the South China Sea and the Marianas. Eventually, the encroachment of Japan eastward put her in position to attack Pearl Harbor, the day President Roosevelt said was a day that would live in infamy.

When America abandoned Afghanistan, China moved into position, forming strategic alliance with the Taliban. They are engaged in similar alliance building in Africa. You’ll recall Hitler and his lacky Mussolini were also interested in establishing themselves in Africa early in WW II. China is also seizing strategic islands in and around the South China Sea, similar to what Japan did during WW II, and they are threatening Taiwan with military takeover. While Russia was invading Ukraine today, China was flying harassment incursions through Taiwanese airspace. The US Navy spokesperson said, “This is normal.”

Hitler made no real claims to America and neither does Vladimir Putin. But Japan attacked the United States, and only through military miscalculation failed to follow their success at Pearl Harbor with an attack on the West Coast of America. Similarly, China has clear designs on controlling America—and America has willingly put its head in the mouth of the tiger. Everything from your toaster, to your phone, to your car runs on computer chips made in China. China controls much of the world that mines the precious metals that make micro-processors work. For years, China has stollen American technology with impunity. Today, China controls our pharmaceuticals and is embedded within many American companies.

Who is going to stop Vladimir Putin and Chairman Xi?

President Biden stated again today, there is no role for the American military in Ukraine. NATO is taking a defensive posture. The new sanctions announced target Russia’s oligarchs, not Russia or Putin. I’m no tyrant, but I can’t imagine President Putin is quaking in his boots or taking antacids to settle his stomach.

As to China: We can’t live in the modern world without computer chips. We can’t operate in the modern world without precious metals. The United States owes China about $1.08 trillion dollars. China produces 97% of U.S. antibiotics and about 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in American drugs. China controls over 8,000 theater screens in the United States and the accompanying media platforms. They actively manage how China is portrayed to Americans in the media and movies. China has controlling interest in 2400 U.S. companies ranging from entertainment, to pharmaceuticals, to mining, to technology, to food, to aerospace, to health care.

Oh, and before moving along, to date President Biden and his family have received $31 million dollars from China. You know, it’s tough to bite the hand that feeds you. Or as Churchill said of Chamberlain’s intent to negotiate with Hitler, “You can’t negotiate with a tiger when your head is in its mouth.”

The tumultuous twentieth century was the bloodiest century in the history of humanity. I wonder what will be concluded about this century?

Before I close this dour review of geopolitical history from the twentieth century, let me return to our baseline conviction as Christians: We live in a fallen, dark world. As children of the High King, our true home is in heaven. We are here to represent our homeland as ambassadors of the King. As such, we live robust lives as people whose souls are anchored in Christ.

Here’s King David with some encouragement:

“In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” He makes this resolute statement twice in the same chapter, Psalm 56:4 and 11.

“The Lord is for me; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” That’s Psalm 118:6.

Take courage into your soul, friend. Then, as a warrior of Light advance into the darkness.

While We Were Sleeping