I’m late blogging about Pentecost this year, but even if the appointed time on the biblical calendar has passed, the message certainly hasn’t. In fact, it’s more important than ever. Pentecost is the time of year when we give thanks for the miracle of the Holy Spirit as well as the birth of the Church. We also give thanks for the Word of God because both the Holy Spirit and the Word go together like puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. 

It is during this sacred time of Pentecost (also known as Shavuot in Jewish tradition) that the Israelites were given the Torah (Word of God) at Mt. Sinai. But it’s also when Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to his followers as an extraordinary gift (these things happened in different years, but at the same time on the biblical calendar).

Staying in tune with the Holy Spirit isn’t always easy. When life gets busy or full of drama, it’s easy to ignore that still soft voice speaking to us. Other times, the Holy Spirit is screaming at us to listen, but we push it aside to pay attention to “nicer things” or the things that cause us the least amount of discomfort. I find this latter reason happening quite frequently within the church body. I’ve noticed that many believers want to shut the door to what’s really going on in the world. They will cite verses like Philippians 4:8 which says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Then they will declare, “I just can’t focus on negative things. It stresses me out.” 

Actually, I get that. Honestly, with my profession I am constantly knee deep in “conspiracy theory.” I say that jokingly because what I’m researching is really happening and I have the proof to show it’s real. That in and of itself can sometimes make me want to stick my head under a rock while eating an entire bag of Oreos! Wait, I can’t eat Oreos because they are made by a Woke company! And guess what? They were invented in 1912–the same year the Titanic sank!!! Seriously, every time I turn around, another company has jumped on the liberal bandwagon. But I digress. My point is that yes, there are lots of bad things going on and yes, knowing about them will cause some stress. Yet at the same time, when you aren’t aware of these dangers, how will you be able to spot the lies and agendas that are meant to harm you? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. As we are pummeled by media messages 24 hours a day, it’s imperative that we filter it all through that amazing gift Jesus gave us! We need to discern the information and react in the proper way.

Even if the message we are discerning is concerning or even disturbing, we must have the mindset of Christ. We must rely on him to help us to react with wisdom and moral courage, rather than fear or anger.

Going back to the Philippians verse, even when we learn about bad news or the plots of evil government regimes, we can still focus on the excellent, praiseworthy things. My answer to “bad news” is this:

“Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He knows the end from the beginning. He’s in complete control of all events. In times of want or in times of plenty, he is my shelter and my rock. I can take refuge under his mighty wings whenever I want.”

If we really listen to the Holy Spirit and read the Word, we will see that no matter what we face, Jesus will be with us in the midst of it–and he will guide us through it! Isn’t that admirable, excellent and lovely? I’d say so. Now let’s get on to the message.

It’s Time for a Lesson from the Titanic

Well, you may have guessed it, but I’m going to use some Titanic history to get this post’s message across. I’m sorry, I just can’t help it, but there are soooooo many analogies and similarities to what is taking place in the world. I just can’t let this message sink.

With that said, let me tell you the story of two dedicated wireless operators who worked tirelessly to intercept and relay messages aboard Titanic. Well, not all of them were relayed, but we’ll get to that soon.

This is the story of Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. As I said above, they were wireless operators who worked for the Marconi Company on the Titanic and one of their jobs was to filter and relay passengers’ messages who wanted to stay in contact with their loved ones still on land. This kept Harold and Jack quite busy because requests were plentiful and almost non-stop.

More important than relaying messages to loved ones, Harold and Jack were charged with receiving and responding to incoming iceberg warnings, or any other navigational information from ships that were traveling on the ocean.   

But even though Titanic had some of the best wireless equipment, there was not yet an established practice of keeping clear channels open for emergency situations. As described by a science museum in London, “the early wireless telegraphy wasn’t like calling a telephone, with the ability to speak to one person directly–instead, the channels were open to everyone at the same time. Since Titanic’s wireless operators were transmitting over the same frequency as other ships, and the channels were jammed with passenger communications, several ice warnings from other vessels were either missed or ignored.”

And here’s where Jack Phillips and Harold Bride’s troubles began……

On April 14, 1912, warnings began coming in from other ships about icebergs in the area. The first warning came at 9 a.m. and it was from a ship called the Caronia. A message was delivered to the bridge and the officers were supposed to make a note of it.

Not too long after this, another warning came in. At 11:40 a.m. the Dutch Liner Noordam reported there were icebergs in the area –these were the same icebergs the Caronia had reported earlier.

At 1:42 p.m. Titanic’s wireless operators received yet another ice warning. It was from one of the White Star Line’s own ships, the Baltic. This time the message was delivered to Captain Smith, who discussed it with the ship’s builder Bruce Ismay. But, instead of taking action, Ismay just put the warning into his pocket. Later, the captain asked for the warning note back and he posted it in the chart room–but not until six hours after he received the message.

The next warning came at 1:45 p.m. and this time it was from a ship called Amerika. The warning was initially relayed to the Hydrographic Office in Washington and stated that the Amerika had passed two large icebergs. The message was relayed to Titanic, but for some reason it never even made it to the bridge. It’s assumed that it was overheard by one of the wireless operators, but they never followed through.

At 7:30 p.m. yet another warning made its way to the Titanic. This time it was from a ship called the Californian, warning about three large icebergs in the area. This initial message was sent to another ship called the SS Antillian, but it also came through on Titanic’s wireless transmissions. When Harold Bride heard this message, he personally delivered it to the bridge. Unfortunately, Captain Smith was attending his own dinner party so he never received the message.

At 9 p.m. Captain Smith checked in with the bridge to see if everything was ok. Additionally, lookouts were warned to look more diligently for icebergs, but oddly enough extra lookouts were not actually posted. Some officers stayed on watch as well. But the Captain did not see a reason to slow the ship down. It was full speed ahead. Confident that there was no danger, the captain headed to bed at 9:30.   

Ten minutes after the captain got some shut eye, a real eye-opening moment happened. The steamship Mesaba sent a message about large amounts of pack ice in Titanic’s vicinity. This message never made it to the bridge. Why? Because wireless operator Jack Phillips was working on a backlog of passengers’ personal messages. The wireless had broken down the day before and he was intent on clearing the accumulated messages. At the time when the message came in, a frustrated Phillips was sending commercial traffic to Cape Race. He was so busy working on this backlog that he ignored the iceberg warning. At this time, the other wireless operator, Harold Bride, was sleeping.

Many people have placed blame on Phillips and Bride for not relaying messages properly. But the big question is why were they having to deal with both passenger messages (which weren’t emergencies) as well as critical emergency information at the same time?

In essence, in the heat of the moment, they couldn’t discern what messages were the most important.

An hour after the Mesaba’s message was ignored, another iceberg warning came through at 10:55. It was the Californian again. At the time, this ship was only ten miles away from the Titanic. Because of its close proximity, the message came through very loudly. As the message blasted into the ears of Jim Phillips, he got angry and shouted, “Shut up, shut up, I am busy…I am working Cape Race.”

Cyril Evans, the wireless operator of the Californian, was trying to let Titanic know that his ship had stopped for the night because of a large field of ice. But Phillips never bothered to listen to the message.

Feeling upset and rejected by Phillip’s attitude, the Californian’s operator decided to turn off the radio for the night and go to bed.  This mistake would come back to haunt Phillips because less than an hour later Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 . At that time he would try to contact the Californian–but to no avail because their radio was turned off!  This ship could have saved many of Titanic’s passengers because it was so close to the ship!

Some say that even without warnings the lookouts should have seen the iceberg. But this isn’t a good argument because unfortunately, 80% of an iceberg is under the water. Also, it was a moonless night so visibility was very poor. There was also a slight fog that night which stemmed from the Labrador current off the coast of Newfoundland. This type of fog can create a cold-water mirage, making objects appear distorted or smaller than usual. The iceberg was likely right in front of them but they never saw it until it was too late.

Very concerning is the fact that throughout the journey, Captain Smith never ordered the Titanic to slow down. Apparently, it was hoped that the famed ship would reach New York in record time. But even as iceberg warnings came in, the ship continued at top speed.  

Almost an hour after receiving the message from the Californian, the Titanic spotted an iceberg at 11:40 p.m.  First Officer William Murdock ordered that the ship turn to port (left) and reverse its engines. The Titanic turned, but it was too late. It took just 37 seconds to make impact!

Harold Bride happened to be sleeping when Titanic actually hit the iceberg. The wireless room had only one bed and the operators took turns using it when they weren’t on duty. Bride woke up right after Titanic struck the iceberg, but stated,

“I didn’t even feel the shock. I hardly knew it had happened until after the captain had come to us. There was no jolt whatsoever. I was standing by Phillips telling him to go to bed when the captain put his head into the cabin. ‘We’ve struck an iceberg,’ the captain said, ‘and I’m having an inspection made to tell what it has done for us. You better get ready to send out a call for assistance. But don’t send it until I tell you.’ The captain went away and in ten minutes, I should estimate the time, he came back. We could hear a terrible confusion outside, but there was not the least thing to indicate that there was any trouble. The wireless was working perfectly.”

Even though the ship had hit an iceberg, the wireless operators and the captain didn’t discern the severity of the situation. The rest of Bride’s statement reveals this clearly:

“Send the call for assistance,’ said the captain, barely putting his head in the door. ‘What call should I send?’ Phillips asked. ‘The regulation international call for help. Just that.’
Then the captain was gone. Phillips began to send CQD –He flashed away at it and we were joking while he did so. All of us made light of the disaster. We joked that way while he flashed signals for about five minutes. Then the captain came back.
‘What are you sending?’ he asked.
‘CQD’ Phillips replied.
The humour of the situation appealed to me. I cut in with a little remark that made us all laugh, including the captain.
‘Send SOS,’ I said. ‘It’s the new call, and it may be your last chance to send it.’
Phillips with a laugh changed the signal to SOS.”

As you can see, everyone was making light of the situation. But soon they would realize the situation was no joking matter- it was a matter of life and death.

Bride continues his testimony:

“I noticed as I came back from one trip that they were putting off women and children in lifeboats. I noticed that the list forward was increasing. Phillips told me the wireless was growing weaker. The captain came and told us our engine rooms were taking water and that the dynamos might not last much longer.”

Of course, Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for everyone. The “unsinkable” Titanic wasn’t supposed to sink.

Titanic did fire rockets as some sort of distress signal, but those who saw them thought they were shooting stars, or they just couldn’t determine what they were. Remember the Californian? –the ship that tried to warn Titanic earlier and had turned off its radio for the night? Apparently, the crew of this ship did see some of those rockets fired, but neither the crew nor the captain could figure out if they were just regular company signals, or distress flares. Morse lamp signals were used by the Californian in an attempt to communicate with the source of the “lights”, but to no avail. Likely, even if the crewmen and officers of the Titanic saw the Morse lamp signals, they were too busy lowering lifeboats and dealing with petrified passengers.

There has been some argument as to how close the Californian was to the Titanic when it sank, but some accounts say it was a little over six miles away! Unfortunately, it wasn’t until around 5 a.m. that the Californian figured out what those lights really were. The operator overheard a message from another ship that the Titanic had already plummeted to the depths of the sea.

Since the Californian initially didn’t realize that the rockets were distress signals, and it also had the radio turned off, the only ship that was able to respond was the Carpathia. At approximately 12:15 a.m. it received a distress call from the Titanic. Harold Cottam, wireless operator for the Carpathia, just happened to be getting ready for bed, but he had just finished his shift–because of this, he still had his ear phones clamped to his head when the SOS call came in. He woke up Captain Arthur Rostron, who was already in bed. Once Captain Rostron got over the shock of realizing that the famed “unsinkable” Titanic was sinking, he quickly responded to the emergency and began preparations to rescue the passengers.

Unfortunately, the Carpathia was 58 miles away from the doomed ship. Knowing it would take many hours to reach Titanic, Captain Rostron did everything he could to speed up his own ship. All the heat and hot water on the Carpathia was turned off so every ounce of steam could be used to fuel the engines. All available men were put to work shoveling coal into the furnaces. Even with all this effort, the Capathia did not reach the Titanic until 4:00 a.m.  

When they reached the Titanic, it was too late.  Over 1,500 had already perished in the frigid waters. 706 traumatized survivors remained. The Carpathia scoured the waters for survivors, but all they found were “totally or partially submerged” dead bodies. A quote from one of the officers on the Carpathia reveals the devastation:

“The Titanic lay in Davy Jones’s Locker, two miles deep below us. With her plunge to those depths, fifteen hundred people had been drawn down to death in the icy waters, to perish in a vortex hundreds of fathoms deep. Their bodies, with the added buoyancy of the cork lifebelts which most of them wore, would gradually rise again to the surface. If any strong swimmers had got clear of the down suction, or had clung to wreckage in the darkness, they would surely have perished of cold within two hours after being immersed. The surface temperature of the water, by thermometer readings, was 33° F —only one degree above freezing point. This was due to the large quantity of ice floating in small pieces from the disintegrating bergs.”

Of the survivors, many were seasick and numb from the freezing cold. Large numbers of women and children were crying, or suffering from shock. From 4:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. the Carpathia picked up survivors from the lifeboats and continued a thorough search of the water.

I’ll bet you’re wondering–what happened to the wireless operators of Titanic? –Jack Phillips and Harold Bride. They both continued sending distress signals via wireless for as long as they could. As the wireless room began flooding with water, they finally had to flee for their lives. Both men ran in opposite directions and never saw each other again. Bride barely survived the sinking when he was washed off the deck while helping launch a lifeboat. Somehow, he managed to climb into the over-turned lifeboat after hitting the water. Phillips, however, wasn’t so fortunate. No one knows for sure how he died in the sinking, but his body was never recovered.

Believe it or not, the Californian (the ship that warned Titanic about the iceberg, but whose operator was told to “shut up”) did arrive at the scene of Titanic’s sinking but it wasn’t until 8:00 a.m. on April 15–many hours after all survivors had been boarded on the Carpathia and over five hours after the colossal ship plummeted to the bottom of the sea. The crew looked upon the aftermath of a tragedy that could have been prevented. The captain of the Titanic, who was on his last voyage before retirement, never imagined it would be his last voyage in life. He went down with his ship.

Arthur Rostron, the Captain of the Carpathia was deeply affected by what he witnessed. Years later after the incident, he told a journalist that “a hand other than mine was on the wheel that night.”

And so, why did I tell you about all these details? Well, certainly there are lessons to apply to the here and now. These lessons are like the iceberg warnings the Titanic ignored.

Particularly in America, we’ve been ignoring the warnings for a while. As a nation, we have gone far off the rails when it comes to honoring the laws of God. Since 1973 when abortion was legalized, we have been navigating ice-berg ridden waters. Sadly, for the last few decades most people didn’t think twice about aborting a baby. Only a remnant understood the true dangers of killing the most innocent of God’s creation. These warriors kept signaling the nation that murdering babies would bring judgment on our country. Most did not listen. Many of the churches avoided the subject, thereby pretending this “iceberg” didn’t exist.

As Roe versus Wade was overturned, instead of repentance, there has been a surge of hate from women who believe the right to kill their own babies has been taken away. Of course, they don’t see it as killing their babies, but that’s the iceberg warning they won’t heed. Many even say that the Roe vs Wade ruling is a step backward for our country. It’s obvious they cannot discern the truth and possess a Romans 1:21-22 mindset which is explained in the verse below .

 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” 

Another thing to consider is that many people are not even paying attention to the severity of this national sin. They don’t talk about it–they don’t discuss it with their children–they don’t really think about it. Like Titanic’s wireless operators, they are instead paying attention to everything else around them. Harold Bride and Jack Phillips were kept busy listening to the messages of passengers and relaying those to others, rather than paying attention to iceberg warnings. Today many people are reading Facebook and Instagram posts, and their lives are filled with these messages, rather than the issues that have true value. They are more interested in finding out what their friends had for dinner than standing up for God’s laws, morality and biblical values.  

The same is true when it comes to the LGBTQ issues being slammed in our faces. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded by messages promoting the LBGTQ agenda. Ideas about traditional marriage are drowned out by the media. For years the movement was small–but small pieces of ice grew into gigantic icebergs–yet most of them were hidden under the water. It wasn’t until the LGBTQ mafia began pushing their agenda on even preschoolers that people started taking notice.

The remnant warned the nation and the Church, but their warnings were ignored, or seen as hate speech. The SS United States of America sailed on at full speed, believing there would be no consequences. Before long, our nation passed laws that allowed gay marriage in all 50 states. Before that came the consecration of the month of June to specifically celebrate “alternative lifestyles.” By 2022, our nation no longer recognized the difference between a man and a woman. Drag queens were being hailed as heroes and reading stories to our children. Even Blues Clues (a show my own son watched when he was little) showcased drag queens and uplifted the LGBTQ lifestyle. Additionally, you cannot watch TV or a commercial without seeing men kissing men, women kissing women, or men dressing as women.   

Like Phillips and Bride, who missed important warnings, our nation has done the same. Even when these two operators realized the ship had hit an actual iceberg, they made light of the situation by laughing. I cannot tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people (even lots of Christians) who do not think the sins of abortion and same sex marriage are detrimental to our nation. Many believe they don’t matter. They do not see how these sins destroy God’s plan for humanity by undermining the family structure and the identities that God designed for his creation.

Even when Roe vs Wade was reversed, some Christians were saying that it was mainly an issue about states rights, so that’s why it had to be reversed. How about saying, “it’s an issue about the sanctity of LIFE and no state or country should ever legalize or condone the murder of innocent children!” How is it that we have Christians who don’t understand that their Savior would never support killing an innocent child in the womb–no matter how many weeks the child is! Life begins at conception and is ordained by God. When we receive Jesus, we are reborn, which mirrors childbirth. Yet today we have Christians who do not acknowledge this connection. The waters that sank the Titanic are right at their doorstep, but they can’t even see it!

Our nation and the world have failed in other ways that became like flashing, blinding flares during the Covid pandemic. Medical tyrants forced experimental genetic products into the arms of millions of people–many of whom didn’t bat an eye. The Californian‘s operator tried to warn Titanic of the icebergs surrounding it, but many people were like Jack Phillips who responded with, “Shut up!” They didn’t want to hear the truth. The media did the same thing and basically said, SHUT UP! They censored anyone who spoke out against the Covid shots and policies.

Many dedicated watchmen on the wall didn’t give up and kept sounding the alarm. But after a while, they became frustrated. Some continued sending “iceberg warnings”, but others finally turned off their “wireless equipment.”  By not opening their ears to hear, thousands upon thousands that were being warned ended up injured, permanently disabled, or worse yet, died from the shots. To make matters worse, the Pharma companies, the CDC and the FDA acted like nothing was wrong and shouted, “the water is clear. It’s safe–no chance of icebergs out here.” Meanwhile, hearts, reproductive systems and lives were being destroyed!  At least on the Titanic, the women and children were put into the lifeboats first so they could be saved. But the CDC and FDA did the opposite! They threw the children right into the frigid water, as well as pregnant women. They used beloved characters like Elmo to convince innocent children and their parents that the poisonous genetic therapies were safe! It was full speed ahead, regardless of the injuries flooding the VAERS system (vaccine adverse events reporting system).

Like the Titanic, which forfeited their chance of rescue, so many people forfeited the chance to avoid the clot shots. Of course, not everyone had the same situation–some people felt trapped when it came to the shots–they feared losing their jobs– they were told by their doctor or the “experts” that the shots would protect them–or perhaps they never had anyone warn them. It’s not so different than those who boarded the Titanic. There were hundreds of innocent victims who simply wanted a better life, and Titanic was supposed to be the ticket to their dreams. No one realized the luxurious ship would sink.

And what about the push to digitize anything and everything? What about the push for vaccine passports or national/global IDs? I have worn myself out trying to tell people about how dangerous this is. The response I’ve gotten is that “it’s no big deal. Everything is digital already.” They don’t realize that digital IDs will mean the end of their privacy and freedom. They can’t see that the room they are standing in is being flooded all around them. They don’t want to see the globalist agenda that is trying to control every aspect of their lives. To them it’s all conspiracy theory. Well perhaps Jack, Harold and Captain Smith thought the icebergs were part of a conspiracy theory too, as well as the warnings that came from the other ships.

The saddest part of all this is how many pastors continue to say nothing about what’s going on. Even though we have lived through over two years of putting on a mask so we can “buy and sell” and many have gotten jabbed so they can “buy and sell,” a majority of pastors are silent. Worse yet, I’ve heard some say things like, “Oh, this will all blow over. There’s nothing prophetic about any of this.” That reminds me of the Pharisees and high-ranking Jewish authorities who couldn’t see their own Savior standing in front of them. They had the scriptures, but they said, “No, this isn’t the right timing for the Savior to come–this isn’t the Savior prophesied in the Torah.” Pastors of today’s world have the scriptures which tell us that one day we will not be able to buy and sell without “the mark.” They know this is coming–yet they fail to see the shadows of this future mark in front of their faces. No, I’m not saying the vaccine is the mark. I’m saying that it’s a shadow–a precursor–a way of conditioning the masses before the mark comes someday in the future. Additionally, a new digital currency is on the way as well, yet crickets from the majority of pulpits!

I can hear Cyril Evans–the operator of the Californian, saying, “There are icebergs everywhere in the water where your ship is traveling.” What’s the response from some pastors?– “Be quiet–stop scaring people–there’s no problem here.”

Matthew 16:3 is the response Jesus gives to the Pharisees:

“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

As for Titanic, it was surrounded by a dark sky with lots of stars, but the operators could not interpret the warning given by so many “watchmen on the water” that fateful night.

I’m not a genius. I don’t have special talents. But, I do have the Holy Spirit given to me by my Savior–Jesus Christ. I do my best to listen to the still soft voice that’s telling me to pay attention to what’s important. I am certainly tempted to spend five hours a day on social media–I am tempted to watch Netflix all day. This would be easier because then I wouldn’t have to face the things that really matter. I can also choose to ignore what’s happening around me. I can talk about cotton candy, jewelry and going on vacation. That would definitely be less stressful and a lot more fun. But, if I did that, I wouldn’t be in tune with Jesus and my discernment skills would be in bad shape.

My wireless communication cannot stem from the world. It has to come from Jesus. Everything has to be filtered through him. This means I have to spend time in prayer and contemplation. This means I have to pay attention to national and world events and ask for Jesus’ perspective on all of it.  

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, the Titanic is sailing. But we don’t have to get on the boat! Instead, we must get on the SS Jesus Christ.   Actually, Jesus walks on water so let’s just walk beside him!!!!!!!

Things are going to get harder, not easier in this world. We have to face the truth, not hide from it. What good is it to have the armor of God if we don’t use it? What if David just didn’t face Goliath? I’m sure it would have been easier to stay in the field with the sheep. I’m sorry, but there were too many sheep during the Covid crisis and they are still chilling in the fields with the wrong shepherd!

Right now we are up against Goliath, but we have the rock we need–Jesus. It’s time to step into the Valley of Elah and throw some stones.

I consider myself a wireless operator who gets their messages through the Holy Spirit. I hope you are one of those operators as well. Don’t get consumed by things that aren’t important. Keep in tune with what’s going on and ask for Jesus to give you discernment. In fact, this is my prayer request every single day. I ask the Lord to give me the ability to discern the signs of the times.

Let’s all be “watchmen on the water” and warn others about those icebergs that are right in front of us.   If you have time, check out this article on WND written by Chuck Norris. He makes many great points.