Archive for man

MOU Iran & United States Analysis: Czekmate

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Czekmate, Persia/Elam/Iran, Prophecy, Trend Update with tags , , , , , , on June 19, 2026 by paulthepoke
Logo featuring the word 'Czekmate' with a stylized cross incorporated into the lettering.

I understand the reservations of the Israelis here.

The wheels of this bus have to come off very publicly if the conservative movement can have a “Don’t ever ask us to negotiate with these mutants again” moment. Nothing in the MOU is irrevocable. I worked on MOUs at the State Department often. They have weight around the discussion table and before cameras. That’s it.

I am going out on a limb with my three readers here that we are struggling with William F. Buckley’s “In Search of Antisemitism”. I wish that they’d take a look at who in (and out of) the USG is pushing this abomination. Make no mistake the strategic imperative deserve a serious answer. But we have fundamental questions to answer definitively, and this conflict is a good proxy for doing so.

Are we children of (thus brothers under) the same Lord? As peoples, do we not honor the name El Shaddai?

Answer, yes, we honor the one God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

So why would we entertain these notions that Israeli and American interests as divergent? In some small picayune matters, almost certainly that will happen. These are ripe for diplomatic working-level chats. But the larger questions require us to examine greater questions of common destinies, and thus common causes, and that must be answered and fixed upon our hearts. They must be mutually agreed upon as historically and biblically fully answered questions.

In the course of that, we must dismiss arguments that President Trump faces from members of his own political house. It is painful as it is to watch this “deal” unfold, but there is an element of theater. My prayer is that it is designed to be an exhibition of diplomatic folly. My fervent hope is that the gambit works in order to show the level of compromise within the conservative movement. One will likely find a river of mainly (though not exclusively) Qatari money there.

In so doing, we might be able to clean our own house within the conservative community and finally answer the Israel question for good so as to guard against future accretions. Only then can we clean up with overall American outlook. My hope is that it will offer the Israeli national outlook a similar opportunity because a larger issue looms.

In watching Levin last night, he discussed cold war issues with a level of gravity implying the existential questions involved. The conservative movement has roundly declared victory over the defeat of the Soviet monolith, largely at Reagan’s doing. As men/women of the right we see communism’s discredit as final.

What was deeply troubling of communism is that it was a political philosophy of “man without God”, to quote Whittaker Chambers. It is what gave us all a pit of foreboding in our collective gut during the cold war. That shared tacit understanding by many, gave gravity to the task of confronting it, and thus the purity of our intent was clear. Some of our countrymen opted to sniff the airplane glue of accommodationism.

The red monolith was defeated by ideas of freedom born in Judeo-Christian Biblical principles.

In our sedentary post-cold war world, ‘Man without God’ was quietly and stealthily usurped by a far more insidious threat embodied by the Iranian threat: Man against God.

That is what we are against in this fight against Iran. Yes, Iran is nothing compared to the Soviet Army. But that cold calculus of national power falls away to those on the receiving end of Iranian satanic fury. When brought back to human proportion, the distinction of the scope of the threat is irrelevant when its intentionality is made clear. Imagine the heart stopping urgency of a pair of newly-weds rushing a precious newborn to a shelter in Haifa amid the seemingly endless whales of the klaxon.

My friends, Trump knows what he is doing. he has to clear the division within his own house. Prime Minister Netanyahu must also do like. I argue that by his action Ehud Barak has shown himself to be as hostile to God as anyone. My long years in the wilderness have taught me that Man against God is real. Let’s fortify our President by prayer, that the foregoing is understood.

The Problem of Sin, A Phil Kulis Series

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Phil Kulis with tags , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2026 by paulthepoke

Welcome to Part 4 of Phil’s series.

𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐓, 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋, 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄, 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇, 𝐁𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐌

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧

So why is the arrival of the God/Man such good news? The kingdom of God has come. God and Man are rejoined. God has come in person to accomplish it. But the barrier of sin must be dealt with.

The Greek philosopher Socrates made a very insightful observation. He said to his student Plato, “It may be that the Deity can forgive sins, but I do not see how.”

A bullseye target with red concentric circles, surrounded by arrows that have landed close to it, depicting an aiming or archery theme.

The problem of sin is, how can God forgive it? If God just dismisses it, then it’s not really sin and God would be a liar. If God forgave some people and not others then God is unfair and playing favorites therefore a hypocrite. Sin must be justly dealt with.

If someone is punished for sin, then they suffer for themselves. That’s not forgiveness. Neither can forgiveness come by another person taking someone else’s punishment because “all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God” and deserve their own punishment. For forgiveness to happen, there must be a sinless substitute to accept the judgment and condemnation of death.

Everyone is born under the broken covenant of Adam. So there is no suitable sinless substitute, even among all the animals. Remember what happened when God brought all the animals to Adam? “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” This is why animal sacrifice is insufficient and not permanent. But it did point to what would come.

The God/man is different and unique, yet at the same time a comparable helper. He was not born under the broken covenant of a man, because he was fathered from outside the covenant of Adam. He was the only other man directly begotten by God, yet unlike Adam He was also God. Because the Woman Eve was not the representative of the first covenant, her Seed “the Seed of the Woman” would be qualified, but the seed of the Man would not. Because Jesus is born of a woman, He is related to us. He is the Kinsman Redeemer.

Jesus lived a sinless life. His only purpose was to remain obedient to doing His Father’s will. God’s will is known by His Ten Commandments which are summarized as “Love God, Love One Another.” Jesus’s only desire was to remain obedient to His Father.

Jesus remained obedient to all the Law to demonstrate His humanity, and performed miracles to demonstrate His divinity.

As with Adam, the forces of darkness tried to get Jesus to fail in remaining obedient. He was tempted. (The devil tried to get Him to eat while He was fasting, to commit the same sin as Adam). He was ridiculed and falsely accused. He was arrested and tortured. They eventually killed Him with an excruciating death on the cross. But through it all He remained obedient to His Father. They couldn’t get Him to disobey God. He kept the terms of the Covenant even unto the exit, which is death. This is why He declared with His dying breath “It is finished”.

The punishment for breaking covenant is separation from God and that separation is death. The exit from the covenant is death. Because Jesus remained obedient to God until death He didn’t deserve death. He was the only one to ever accomplish this. Therefore death has no legal claim on Him. Ever. It’s why He was resurrected.

Romans 6:9 …knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

His perfect obedience can’t be undone. He fulfilled the covenant of obedience to God and exited the covenant. It was the path which was known only by Him that “To conquer death you only have to die.”

If Adam hadn’t eaten the forbidden fruit he would have been the Savior because nothing happened to Eve and Eve is the mother of all living. Adam could have interceded for her and God could forgive her. All downstream from them would have been protected by Adam’s obedience. However, there would always remain the possibility of Adam disobeying. Mankind would be eternally vulnerable, totally dependent on his obedience. The words “It is finished” could never have been spoken so long as Adam remained alive.

Jesus was killed for His obedience. His perfect obedience is permanently sealed in His blood. There is now no risk or vulnerability of disobedience by the New Covenant Representative.

Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death

He alone paid the price of death which was undeserved. He completed the covenant and exited it. Because His death, which is separation from God is undeserved, He has conquered death not just for Himself but all who are under the New Covenant.

Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Covenant, Gospel, Grace, Faith – Phil Kulis Series

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Phil Kulis with tags , , , , on January 28, 2026 by paulthepoke

𝐈𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭… was a strong agreement and commitment between two leaders representing different groups of people. These two are the “covenant representatives”.

In the “cutting of a covenant” there was a ceremony where an animal was cut into two pieces, then the pieces were separated by a short distance on the ground. The covenant representatives would then walk among the pieces getting the animal’s blood on their shoes and clothes while reciting the terms of the covenant to each other. They would also say to each other “If I ever break this covenant by not upholding and remaining faithful to my promise, let what has happened to this animal happen to me.” Death was the penalty for breaking the terms of the covenant.

So long as the representatives kept the covenant, all under them experienced peace. But if the representatives broke the covenant and go to war, all those under them subject to the covenant are also at war. It doesn’t matter what the subjects do, it’s all about what the covenant representatives do.

All who are under their leadership were subject to the representative upholding the terms of the covenant. If the representatives remained at peace with each other, then those represented by them were also at peace. This is where the concept of a “peace treaty” comes from.

A covenant is a lifelong commitment. The terms of the covenant were in effect until the death of one of the representatives. Death was also the penalty for breaking the covenant. Death was the only way to be released from the oath and obligation of the covenant.

There are therefore two paths to the exit from a covenant, breaking it or keeping it. But both paths lead to Death.

~

Two elegant wedding rings, one gold and one silver, resting on a soft background.

𝐀 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞… between a man and woman is also recognized as a covenant. A wedding is a covenant ceremony where vows are exchanged, “…forsaking all others, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do we part.”

A marriage covenant should therefore not be entered into lightly. So long as those in covenant remain faithful the covenant remains intact. Sadly, as many as half of marriage covenants are broken.

If a man and woman in a marriage covenant produce offspring and one of their offspring commits a sin, that sin by the offspring has no power to affect the terms of the covenant between the parents. That sin only affects the offspring, the offspring’s spouse, and their descendants. The effects of sin go downstream.

If one of the parents breaks the covenant with the other by not being faithful to their vows then not just the parents, but all the downstream offspring of the parents are forever affected by being under their broken covenant. If the parents remain faithful to each other until one dies “until death do they part” then all involved in the covenant; representatives and downstream, are eternal beneficiaries of that intact covenant. “It is finished.”

If one of the covenant representatives dies while remaining faithful, then the other representative is released, set free from that covenant. They are free to enter into a different covenant if they choose to.

Father’s Day, 2023

Posted in #PaulthePoke with tags , , , on June 18, 2023 by paulthepoke

The term is “ab” or “Father”. Ab is often used in reference to God in Jewish prayers.

Ἀββᾶ/abba is the Greek word for Father. HELPS word studies defines the term accordingly: “Father,” also used as the term of tender endearment by a beloved child, i.e. in an affectionate, dependent relationship with their father; “daddy,” “papa.” The Greek word has its origins in the Aramaic language of Jesus.

1 John 2:12-14 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Relationship is the key. Earthly fathers are to be aligned with our Heavenly Father, who is the Creator.

The Heavenly relationship is the model. Jesus was in constant communication (prayer) with the Father during His time on earth. It is the Father’s Son who has defeated sin and Satan. Together, they will conquer.

Psalm 110:1 The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

John is telling us we need constant reminding. John is writing this message in the present and he has informed readers in the past. Repetition, repetition, repetition…

To all the Fathers, remind your family today and every day. God’s word is strength and power. Satan is no match.

Happy Father’s Day to all the men out there today!!!

Return Home! -Joshua of Ghana

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Joshua Ghana, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on March 6, 2020 by paulthepoke

“Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.” (Ruth 1:6).

Joshua of Ghana @beholy404 on Twitter

joshua-ghana

At one time or the other, a natural man undertakes a dangerous journey since he is not being guided by the Spirit of God. But what makes a difference is the ability of those who may have embarked on such journeys to return to their original point. Man was made in God’s image but he deviated and took a journey into sin; but it takes the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cause man to return to his Maker. Hence, the plea, “Return, O backsliding Israel”.

There are many people today who have strayed and wandered away from God into a strange land but have no intention to return home. They may have embarked on such a dangerous journey in search of pleasure and freedom. But in the process, they lost everything and are ashamed to return home. Naomi decided to return home. She knew that home must always be home. The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) knew that there’s a difference between home and strange land. He decided to return to his father, even though he had messed up.

man woods

Dear friend, wherever you may be outside God’s embrace, He expects you to return. There is still room for you in your Father’s house.

Jesus is calling all prodigal sons and daughters to return home for there is now abundance in our Father’s house. Naturally, when a prodigal son returns, some would make jest of him and wonder why he decided to return. But those who commend the decision to return are always in the majority. When a sinner or backslider returns to the fold of God’s children, Satan and his agents are not always happy. But there is always joy in heaven and among brethren that a sinner has come home.

*THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:* Why not return to the Lord now?

Virgo’s Spica, The Branch…Featuring Phil Kulis

Posted in Christmas, Phil Kulis, Signs: Sun, Moon, Stars... with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2017 by paulthepoke

philkulis-picThe meaning of the Constellations of the Mazzaroth.

The main star in Virgo the Virgin is Spica, in the Hebrew it’s Tsemech. It means “Branch”.

There are four places in the Old Testament where the word “Branch”, translated from Tsemech (Strong H6780), is identified with the Messiah.

1) As King in Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

 
2) As Servant in Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch.

 
3) As Man in Zechariah 6:12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.

 
4) As God in Isaiah 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.

 

Notice these are the same aspects of Christ in the Gospels.
Matthew = Messiah as King
Mark = Messiah as Servant
Luke = Messiah as Man
John = Messiah as God

 

In Revelation the Four Living Creatures also have these same features.

Revelation 4:7 The first living creature was like a lion (king), the second living creature like a calf (servant), the third living creature had a face like a man (man), and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle (God).

The Branch is a descendant of David.

Jeremiah 33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.