Snapshots and Synapses

 I wrote this story years ago and try to make it available for free during the Christmas season. The kindle ebook is available for on  Amazon from 27-DEC through the end of 2020.  So if you are still in the mood for a little bit of Christmas (and maybe Easter too), you can find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANBX11Q .

How will you remember the year 2020? Ten years ago, I wrote about The Joyful Christmas Program and came across it as I was thinking about what to blog this year. My ten-year journey has helped me to find joy more easily in this year. Sure, 2020 has been difficult, but it has been filled with joy: Our God reigns; He offers us His peace; and He continues to work out good for each of us despite the hardships in this world.  copyright ©2020 Mitchell Malloy (http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/)

There is an Autumn   to every year before the cold winds of winter blow across the land. The sun shines less, and trees become dormant. Although some are evergreen, most trees lose their leaves and in their barren state appear to be dead. But there is still life inside them, and as long as there is life there is hope! There is a stillness in the winter months, but if you look closely you still see signs of life everywhere.  It will be that way for the Body of Christ. I see trees as a symbol of God’s people. The fig tree represents Israel and the olive tree all of God’s people, including those who were once gentiles. Keeping this imagery in mind, review the previous paragraph and consider what the winter of God’s people will be like.  Are the end times a period for mourning or rejoicing? I imagine that many of us may look at it as Jesus viewed the cross in that garden the night before He was crucified. Like Y’shua, we may ask God to take this cup away from us, but may we n...

Autumn is a wonderful season. There really is no “typical” Autumn. There are Indian Summers and early snows. There is an Autumn to every year and every geography. It looks different every time and every place... yet “Autumns” are not without commonalities.  Autumn is a time of transition... a scary time for some... an abundant time for others... a promise of conclusion... a threat of insufficient provision... a busy time. It comes at different times in different hemispheres. I grew up in Indiana, in the heartland of America. Autumn is typically a short season there: summers are often long, hot, and humid while winters are extended periods of bitter cold. Spring jumps out of nowhere, and Autumn falls quickly upon the residents of this Midwestern state. There is no warning. One week the ambient air is hotter than your body temperature and the next week you could be shivering in a thick jacket. Autumn never looks the same, but it always accomplishes the same thing. There is an Autumn ...

It’s been some time since I read The Harbringer by Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn , and I’m looking forward to reading The Harbringer II . In the first book, he explains how America is following in the footsteps of Ancient Israel, describing how in the aftermath of 9-11 we even pronounced repeatedly the same verse: “Bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hand-cut stones. Fig trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” ( Is 9:10 ) In our case, an old sycamore tree perished at Ground Zero, and the Tree of Hope was planted, a cedar tree. Cedars are a known to be a hardy plant and should have thrived, but instead the tree withered and died since the tree symbolized America's self-sufficent defiance rather than a renewed dependency upon Him. Isaiah 9:10 was repeated by statesmen and even written on the cornerstone as they rebuilt after 9-11, but as pointed out by Rabbi Cahn, this verse in context is an arrogant statement by ancient Israel that would prompt God...

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” ( https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript )  The brave men who signed our Declaration of Independence quoted above were not quick to defy the rule of King George, and if you read through the entirety of that famous document you’ll see the reasons behind their decision. They signed that declaration knowing that it fully committed them to the cause of freedom, defying a supremely powerful military empire and entrusting their future to “the protection of divine Providence”. There was no turning back from their cause, and they understood that everything was on th...

I blogged a couple years ago about How to Fight , embarrassed to find the typos that have been out there, and which I promptly cleaned up. (Well, at least the ones I noticed!) My typing hasn't improved, and my views haven't changed since I've written that blog. There is an appropriate way to fight, and it should always be with the right perspective of who we're fighting. It's not flesh and blood but principalities. Still, there is a time for taking decisive, physical action when the evil worked through human hands needs to be stopped. Now, I believe that all truth is God's truth, so we can find God's hand outside of the Bible such as science or philosophy as long as those disciplines don't contradict what God has told us in Scripture. We know we have an enemy who is a great deceiver, who would appeal to our prideful understanding and use it to set up a barrier between ourselves and God. Because of this, we need to carefully seek the direction of the Holy...

I believe the Holy Spirit is alive and well that we still see all the gifts of the Spirit working through God’s people. There are Bible believing Christians who think otherwise, and I don’t doubt they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. Some would say that there are ordinary gifts that exist today, but that extraordinary gifts that were only meant for a certain period in history as the Church was forming. A lot of their belief comes from a verse in Revelation warning against adding anything to that book and a sincere desire to obey God’s word. They base their understanding on Revelation 22:18 to not add anything to the book. However, the Greek word used describes a book of Scripture  and not the entirety of Scripture as used in 2 Timothy 3:16.  So, yes, I believe the gift of prophecy didn’t die with the last of Jesus’ twelve disciples, and I believe that God still speaks to people who humble themselves in prayer and obedience, seeking to hear from Him. He has revealed thing...

On October 25, 2020, Archbishop Vigano sent a public letter to President Trump, warning of a “great reset” across the world and a move toward global tyranny. He is not wrong. He stands as a watchman upon a watchtower as described by the 33rd chapter of Ezekiel. There will certainly be a global reset that establishes a new world order, and this time in history seems to be a turning point. Yes, this seems to be the turning point as prophesied in Scripture , but humbly we must admit that no one knows the day nor the hour. All we know for sure is that the Day is approaching. How should we respond to this knowledge? It seems that the schemes of the wicked are reaching fruition, but do not despair! This is not a time for fear; neither should we become preoccupied with the success of their plans. ( Ps 37:7 ) Rather, we need to need to submit ourselves to God with renewed fervor and wait patiently for Him being more intentional in our interactions with other believers, spurring each other on ...

Election 2020 has been interesting to say the least, and as we count down to Election Day, I feel like I have both so much and so little to say. I doubt we’ll know when the election results will be clear and what they may bring. I believe it likely that some people will seize the opportunity to sow further civil discord, hoping and praying that I’m wrong. I can see so many possibilities, but only one thing is certain: God is Sovereign. His will be done! Two extreme possibilities exist, and many things in between. I look to the Left and see a potential victory that would immediately distribute soma to a populace tired of fighting while rapidly solidifying a power-base so secure that an anomaly like MAGA could never happen again. America would be reorganized with a new constitution, and while it may not be called “socialist” it would be indistinguishable from the “communist menace” feared by past generations. I could envision rebel pockets of resistance emerging, fighting for an ideal fr...

This week, I felt like it would be better to revisit  this blog post . It’s really important to remind God’s people that it really is all about you. See my  10 year old warning  and join me in confession and a change in lifestyle so that we   Return  to God like never before because  something  is happening in this nation... and God's people are the reason! copyright ©2020 Mitchell Malloy ( http://mitchellmalloyblogspot.com/ ) 

There’s a new meme by “Progressive” thinkers that attempts to shame Pro-Life advocates into silence, calling them a hypocrite if they don’t actively campaign for the well-being of children and yet claim to be Pro-Life. This meme follows a pattern of many “Progressive” narratives that shut down any any meaningful conversation about an issue. It is what I would call an anti-pattern for effective dialogue. What is an anti-pattern? It started off as a software engineering term, and it means something that may be commonly used but is actually ineffective or counterproductive when practiced. (see https://www.yourdictionary.com/antipattern ) So a dialogue anti-pattern is one that shuts down discourse on a topic. I suppose if you want to shut down conversation, dialogue anti-patterns are an effective tool, but they are counterproductive to building healthy relationships. Some examples of these anti-patterns include: physical violence; verbal assault, attacking the character, motivation or cred...

“Hey Babe, you’re back! So was it as bad as you thought?”  “Look, I wasn’t nervous about a shot! I was just mad that they want to force me to get it… and no, I didn’t… I mean, I haven’t…” “What? You backed out? Seriously! Did you even go!? Where have you been all this time!” “Look honey… Umm. Sit down with me, will you? I’m still processing this thing. It was… different. I wasn’t expecting... I… give me a minute to collect my thoughts, okay?” Mark sat down on the couch and patted the place next to him, imploring with his eyes for Sophia to join him. He was gone for so long, she had just assumed he needed time to build up the nerve to get the shot, but now she realized he must have been working up how to talk with her about this… whatever this was. “What’s wrong?” she asked, much more calmly than she felt. She snuggled next to him, wrapped his arm across her torso and leaned in with her back towards him. He sighed. It have might have been with whatever he was going to tell her, b...

I’m a fan of the Lord of the Rings, both the books and the movies, and while I believe some people can over-spiritualize Tolkien’s masterpiece, so much of this story resonates with me. For example: the Steward of Gondor is a regent from a line of regents whose role is to administer the country of Gondor until the rightful king returns. His title of “Steward” says it all; the country doesn’t belong to him, but the responsibility is clearly his. The role of a regent is bearing that responsibility and doing all that they can to see the rightful monarch ascend to the throne to ultimately support the king.  But power is a hard thing to relinquish, and transitions are seldom easy. In the movie Return of the King, the Steward of Gondor had come to see himself as the rightful ruler and his progeny as the rightful successors to the throne. When the King of Gondor finally returned during the nation’s greatest peril, the Steward was less than helpful.  Today is Shabbat Shuvah, the sabbat...