There has been a message burning in me for the past few years. A few weeks ago, God gave me a title and said run with it. The title is 'The Battle of the Titans.' My first thought was the movies where Godzilla takes on another beast. And the people aren't clear if either beast is for or against them. A few days later, going through the town of Chandler, I glanced at the movie theater to see playing Godzilla vs. Kong. There is no excuse for the delay; I must write this out for my sake, if not anyone else.

I am not a fan of monster movies and wasn't sure if Godzilla was a hero or villain to the Japanese until doing a little research. Godzilla is a reference to the U.S.A. dropping the atomic bomb that forever changed civilization and let loose a new type of monster. Over the years, Godzilla has been the enemy and, at times, the salvation of the people. I guess we can say the same thing about the atomic bomb. Life and society were devastated even in the Government's salvation of stopping a war.

And this salvation\devastation is where 'The Battle of the Titans' becomes reality. Does the Government save or destroy?

In the United States of America, we are in election year 2024. The Battle of the Titans is here again, and destruction will follow no matter who wins. As the two titans battle it out, we, the people, will be devastated and not saved.

In Jesus' day, he had to fight the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Scribes. Today, we fight the Democrats, the Republicans, and the Media. Like Jesus, these three groups trick and deceive us to establish their narrative and gain. And many Christians fall for it every four years because they don't know where their salvation comes from. Salvation comes from God and not the strength or wisdom of man.

I'm a recovering puritan. For about six months a decade ago or more, God would ask me if I was a Puritan. I didn't know how to answer and got frustrated when asked. Based on my limited knowledge of the Puritans, I came to an answer and said yes. I want purity as well. God said in my heart, "At least now you know." I didn't understand what God was saying to me at the time.

I have a cultural understanding of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Puritans and not a complete historian view. The Puritans are best known for being the sect of pilgrims that sought purity in all things, even to the point of seeing a demon behind every rock, hence the Salem witch trials. Puritans, in its name, suggest purity. The Puritans even banned Christmas here in the United States for many years because it was filled with impurities.

The Puritans were a godly people but maybe also a miserable people because life was so impure it was impossible to live pure for Christ. Reform was always on their mind. And when reform wasn't creating the society they wanted, they took their bat, ball, and glove and separated, extinguishing their light in the world.

Puritans then and now see life as black and white. And I think so, too, with the thought that sin is sin and righteousness is righteousness, but it goes gray regarding the thoughts and motives of the heart and mind. It gets complicated living in a fallen world. What is to be kept and protected, and what needs to be cut off?

God is sovereign. Is humanity sovereign as well? We are made in his image and likeness. How about when we become Christian? Do we become sovereign or free agents to do whatever we will?

God created angels as sovereign beings. He gave them wisdom that Satan had corrupted. God gave the angels a light that differs from the stars in the sky that Satan uses to deceive man. God gave incredible power to the angels and then zipped them up to do his will, but they do the will of Satan. After the angels came man. Some translations read a man was created a little lower than the angels or a little lower than God.

Man was created lower than God and the angels. This man was not given the wisdom, light, or power that angels were. This man wasn't given anything except the opportunity to grow into the image and likeness of God and someday be exalted to sit on the throne with Jesus. This man was created as an empty vessel to be filled with whatever he allowed. Be careful how you hear because it is what you will become if you accept it. Loose and bind accordingly.

The man brought nothing into this world. There is nothing we have that we didn't receive. We haven't anything to boast about. Maybe the scripture where an angel asked God, 'Who is the man that you walk with him?' was a little jealous; after all, angels were created much more spectacular than man. We were created from the dust of the earth and the breath of God.