Please disable your Ad Blocker to better interact with this website.

Doug's Columns

Dear Pastor: Are You A Puppet Or A Prophet?

“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to bend down and untie the straps of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

– Mark 1:1-8.

A puppet can mimic a human, or an animal, or some alien critter, or a character ripped from the pages of mythology.

When my daughters were little, my wife and I bought them a rubber frog and a rubber piglet hand puppet. They were super cheap gifts that provided mega amounts of entertainment. Especially after I had a couple of beers.

Puppets come in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got your entry-level, economic, finger, and sock puppets. Then you’ve got the advanced-level Marionette, which is way more difficult to navigate, as it is suspended and controlled by a sick number of strings that’s too complicated for this redneck’s attention span, skillset, and interest.

Then there’s your rod puppets that are controlled by a rod that’s attached to a head. In addition, we also have the shadow puppet which is a cut-out figure held between a light source and a translucent screen.

And lastly, we have the ventriloquist’s dummy. This puppet is operated by the ventriloquist’s hand while producing the puppet’s voice with muy poquito mouth movements on the puppeteer’s behalf. This creates an illusion that the puppet is alive and yapping.

My favorite ventriloquist is Jeff Dunham. That dude’s a trip and his various puppet characters are a scream. I was watching him last night and I laughed so hard that at one point milk came out of my nostrils and I haven’t had milk since 1986.

Although varied in their shapes, sizes, and operational systems the one thing all puppets have in common is: they are manipulated by a puppeteer. Yep, it’s the puppeteer’s voice and actions you’re hearing and seeing, not the puppets. Ergo, everything that appears to be tumbling out of Tumbalina’s fake mouth is coming from the puppet master’s piehole.

The scriptures are replete with examples of false prophets and priests who were mere puppets of some human and/or demonic religious machine while pretending to be spokespersons for God.

John The Baptist was no puppet. He was a prophet. Jesus even said He was more than a prophet (Matthew 11:9). John The Baptist was a voice, not an echo. He left holy blisters on the souls of those who were fortunate enough to have heard him preach.

Nowadays, we have all kinds of puppets in the pulpits. We have Politically Correct Puppets in pulpits. Yay, we have veritable Woke Puppets in pulpits today parroting what this fetid culture peddles.

In addition, we have Big Government Puppet Pastors who take their marching orders from civil magistrates versus The Lord Jesus Christ.

Good Lawd! I almost forgot. The church also has The I Love Money Puppets in pulpits as well as the ubiquitous Ear-tickling Puppets who preside over America’s Hot Tub Religious Enterprise. Cha-ching!

John The Baptist didn’t play those stupid, sad, sinful, and satanic games with God, God’s Word, and God’s call on his life.

Oh, no señorita.

John The Baptist was straight up in his motivation and his message and that’s why John is appealing and most modern ministers are appalling. Unlike the various puppets, John The Baptist was unmanipulable by pressures to conform or be canceled. The only one who could move John’s mouth was The Lord God Almighty. John feared no man. Can that be said about you? Or are you a puppet of appeasement and compromise?

*Here are Doug’s various renditions of John The Baptist. Enjoy and share.

John The Baptist: The Kingdom Suffers Violence

More Than A Prophet

John The Baptist

John 3X

The Wildman Devotional: A 50 Day Devotional for Men

Dear Warriors. The Wildman Devotional: A 50 Day Devotional for Men will fuel your inner wildman with solid meat from the scripture. In these 200+ pages, you’ll feast on the wealth, the walk, and the warfare of the Christian that’ll prepare you for maximum usefulness on this side of the grave. This book is fire! A great gift for all the men in your life. BTW, women will love this devotional as well.

Doug Giles

Doug Giles is Pastor of Liberty Fellowship in Wimberley, TX, and is the founder of ClashDaily.com (290M+ page views). Giles is also the author of the NEW book, The Wildman Devotional: A 50 Day Devotional For Men. Follow Doug on Instagram and Truth Social at @thegilesway and on Twitter @TheArtOfDoug.

Related Articles