

{"id":17191,"date":"2016-04-20T15:37:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T15:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=17191"},"modified":"2016-04-20T15:37:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T15:37:11","slug":"preparing-for-the-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=17191","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for the worst&#8230;&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?attachment_id=17192\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17192\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-Blog Post Image wp-image-17192\" title=\"Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 10.55.51 AM\" src=\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-580x571.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-580x571.png 580w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-150x147.png 150w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-270x266.png 270w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-600x591.png 600w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-304x300.png 304w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-400x394.png 400w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-334x330.png 334w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-500x493.png 500w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM-507x500.png 507w, https:\/\/billfortney.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-04-20-at-10.55.51-AM.png 649w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is a very difficult subject for me to write about, it is a deep concern for many, but as a Christian I must wade into these waters! \u00a0I have been in prayer for some time and I wanted to share what God is encouraging me to share, with you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I am afraid we are headed for difficult times. \u00a0Our country has strayed further and further from God.<br \/>\nWe fight constantly about prayer in schools, pre game prayers, faith based Christmas displays, \u00a0the meaning of marriage, and the right to abortions. \u00a0Several states are fighting over bills about who can use public restrooms!!!!! \u00a0According to recent studies, we have fewer people attending churches, and fewer people taking part in prayer or many that do not pray at all. \u00a0Young people in massive numbers are rejecting a belief in God. \u00a0For most of the history of America, God has blessed our nation, but with so many of our fellow citizens rejecting or ignoring God, if you were God what would you do??!! \u00a0Thankfully we are not God, and His love is far above ours, but I have to believe we are trying His patience! \u00a0After all He has done for us, we are not showing much love and respect back to Him!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The elected leaders that we have been sending to Washington, for the most part, have not been making decisions in our best interest! \u00a0It has become a good old boys club with the inside members benefiting while we have been robbed, cheated and lied to. \u00a0Debt has climbed to the highest amount in history, the last eight years have seen debt far greater than all the years of our nation&#8217;s history combined! \u00a0The world economy is in shambles and something has to give! \u00a0Economic reckoning is coming.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now why am I concerned about this? \u00a0I&#8217;m a husband, father and grandfather and a servant of God, and if times get very difficult, and I&#8217;m afraid they will, I have the responsibility to not only take care of my family, but to also reach out and help others! \u00a0What is person of good conscious to do?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is what I believe God is saying to me. \u00a0Prepare for the worst, that is prudent advise for any of us, storms, tornados, severe weather, \u00a0even civil unrest, we need to be able to survive for a while until things get under control, that just makes sense! \u00a0The spiritual side is more important! \u00a0Here is my to do list:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>1. \u00a0Trust in God and know He is aware of my circumstances . \u00a0Have faith in His love, protection and power to watch over me and my family.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2. \u00a0Know that great trials are the greatest opportunity to lead others to Him. \u00a0I must be prepared to try to help others, assist them and show compassion in difficult times.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>3. \u00a0I must be prepared myself to face hard times. \u00a0My personal faith philosophy has come down to a wonderful quote I have given here in the past. \u00a0A character in a wonderful Christian film, said this; &#8220;Life comes down to just two things, God Loves you , so love others and God sacrificed everything to be with you, so sacrifice everything.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Artists Standing For Christ is having t-shirts made with that simple phrase, &#8220;sacrifice everything.&#8221; It is the essence of living for Him, let nothing be more important than your devotion to Him and your service for Him to the lost, all else is rubbish!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blessings,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>the pilgrim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; This is a very difficult subject for me to write about, it is a deep concern for many, but as a Christian I must wade into these waters! \u00a0I have been in prayer for some time and I wanted to share what God is encouraging me to share, with you. &nbsp; I am [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17191"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17194,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17191\/revisions\/17194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}