Christophobia

Courage and the Power of God

2007-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

A woman missionary, probably in her late 30's, spoke recently of her work among Afghanistan women in cities which she would not identify for safety reasons. She meets in various houses and firsts develops a social relationship with the residents and then begins to share the gospel after preparing her audience with background from the Old Testament. She must wear a burqa or niqab or hijab whenever she is in country, as must the women who invite her into their homes.

She says the Afghani people are incredibly hospitable, offering her food and shelter for days at a time merely because she is a guest in their country. Oftentimes, she, her ministry partners and those women who choose to listen to her are taking their life in their hands because, while she is not teaching Western ways, she eventually begins to teach Christianity.

The openness of some of these Muslim women to the hope and light of Christ is amazing. In teaching them the Genesis account of Adam and Eve, usually after being asked about "American marriages", when she gets to the part where Adam and his wife were naked and unashamed, oftentimes, after initial nervous laughter, the women begin to weep. She says they long to be in a "safe" relationship with their husbands, where there is no shame, and no danger. Because of the customary separation of the sexes, and arranged marriages, a husband and wife's relationship, rather than being based on love and mutual respect, is one of perfunctory affection, physical coupling and female subservience. The longing she sees and hears from these women for protection and love breaks her heart.

Occasionally, the men of the household are present, and when that happens she never knows what the response will be. She told of one instance where two of the sons of one woman were listening in carefully from the open window, and came imperiously into the room to check out the words to a praise song that one of their sisters had written down. The roomful of women was pensively silent until the men nodded once and handed the paper back. Had they not approved, the consequences could have been dire.

Rather than start with Jesus' atoning death on the Cross for sin, the missionary first establishes a foundation. She says the people know all about falling short of God's standards, but what they have never heard is that God loves, rather than hates the sinner, for Islam teaches something very different. The women are amazed.

Their culture holds Abraham's sacrifice in Genesis 22 as a historical fact. Each year, they celebrate this event by purchasing a sacrificial animal (bull, goat, sheep, or if they are rich, a camel). The head of the clan then presents the beast to the Imam, lays his hand on it and declares that he is a sinner. The animal is then slain to propitiate Allah's anger. In this context, when the missionary finally gets to the account of John the Baptist in the New Testament, and his pronouncement upon seeing Jesus: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world..." the women she is teaching understand exactly what she is talking about, and those whose hearts have been softened by God realize in tears that Jesus died on the Cross for them. That God (Allah) loved them so much that he sent His Son to pay for their sins.

This is so much different from what the mullahs teach from the Qur’an that it leaves some breathless in gratitude. Others respond as if a door slams shut over their hearts and minds and she doesn't see or hear from these again.

Finally, Afghani tradition holds that the gap separating man from God is a vast chasm over which is a razor sharp bridge as thin as a human hair. Any unrighteous who attempt to cross is cut to pieces and plunge into the abyss. When she tells these women that she believes that when a Christian dies, Jesus comes across that bridge to carry His children home because He is perfectly righteous, some break down and sob in utter relief.

This missionary is as courageous (or perhaps even more so) than our brave young soldiers and Marines who face the hatred of the enemy every day fully armed.

I am a tough old, scaly lizard, but the tears flowed out of my eyes like I was staring into the sun. I could not speak even to say thank you to her after her talk.

Contract for Our Children

2007-07-12T02:05:00.000-07:00

A must read...

A Culture of Self Defense

2007-07-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

The year was 1776. It was a hot summer in Philadelphia, and the windows where the fledgling Continental Congress met were open; gateways for the many flies and the pitiful breeze. In the stuffy meeting room a bunch of overdressed middle-aged white men were about to change the course of history.

They were furious about the encroachment of their liberties by the oppressive King George III, and they weren’t going to take it anymore. He had suspended the ancient venerable legal tradition of habeas corpus, conducted illegal search and seizures, enlisted the aid of mercenaries and pirates to interrupt lawful commerce, enacted taxation without representation, and declared the infant Colonies enemies of the Empire.

Had King George not done all these things, the United States would never have been born. Had he not overstepped his power, and abused his authority, the founding principles of this nation would never have been codified in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Had these middle-aged men 231 years ago not pledged their lives, their treasure and their sacred honor in declaring independence from an oppressive state, our great nation would not have been formed.

We, the succeeding generations who have inherited these blessings of liberty owe them a debt of gratitude for their convictions and courage. And courage it was, for if the War for Independence had been lost, these same men would have been hung for treason in the public square, their property confiscated, and their families impoverished.

That hot and humid day in Philadelphia was the maternity ward of the United States. From it birthed an imperfect but glorious nation founded on religious liberty, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the fundamental principle that all men are created equal.

That Continental Congress understood something that our 110^th Congress doesn’t: excessive government is the problem, not the solution. Government-mandated, universal anything is a plague and a scourge to be fought against tooth and nail. The Nanny State, that tells us how to cook our eggs, when to wear a bike helmet, what vaccinations to take (regardless of their safety), and how we should educate our children (beyond the pragmatic basics) is the implacable enemy of the culture of self-reliance, and self-defense that those outwardly unimpressive men established that day in the heart of Pennsylvania.

It does us well to remember how, why and for what purpose we became a nation, by the grace of God. And most importantly, to insure that our children understand and appreciate the principles that enabled us to be a tremendous source of good in the last two centuries.

Perfect we are not, but worthy of regard, patriotism, loyalty – these things we are most certainly. And we must be ready and willing to defend this good nation and her good people against all comers, both inside and out; like these people.

A Warning

2007-07-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Through God’s grace, mercy and permissive will, many of us have the luxury of leading a peaceful and abundant life. Without much effort, we can ignore the pervasive chaos in the world and concentrate on maintaining our comfort and entertainment level. We can chose to perpetuate our self-centered ignorance and isolation from reality and line up to buy an iPhone, book that vacation, make those landscaping decisions, or tune in that favorite TV show.

But we do so at our own risk. Stuff matters. There are voices being sounded out there; voices of warning and voices of hate. The Bible says that a wise person is one who sees the coming trouble and prepares, thus succinctly detailing two dimensions of wisdom: seeing and preparing.

Imagine the folly of a person who stands on the shore in the path of the tsunami, and does nothing. Imagine further, the idiocy of the one who doesn’t even bother to cast his gaze toward the horizon, preferring rather to only look upon the narrow world of his own momentary self-interest. Both are fools. Both are doomed.

The problem with willful complacency is that the Lord has a tendency to shatter that mindset by sudden trauma; the proverbial wake-up call. Right now, these alarms are largely ignorable. In the near future, when the power grid goes down, or the water supply fails, or the economy is crippled, or fallout is on the way, it will be like that stuporous tsunami watcher, finally realizing that the end has come and powerless to respond.

The solution: care enough to stay informed; take the time to look at all sides; do all within your personal power to affect the outcome beforehand. And never give up. In the U.S., at least, the people still have a voice (the failure of the Immigration Shamnesty legislation is recent proof). Let’s use that voice in all its raucous discord and sometimes strident disharmony to not go quietly into that good night.

The Real Wars

2007-07-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

The real external war being waged today is in the realm of ideology. There are no borders or natural resources or economics at stake, at least not primarily. The impetus and sustaining motivation is the supremacist thinking in the minds of the aggressors. There is no appeasement possible. When domination is the goal, the only options available to the targets are submission or self-defense; anything in between ends up being a bloody mess.

Young Muslim jihadi are being radicalized by manipulative and power-hungry imams who appeal to the natural isolation and alienation caused by any people group who, through pride, refuse to be assimilated into the society around them. “There’s a war against Islam!” they are being told, in ever more strident theological rants. “It is your sacred duty to defend the one true religion against the evil and degenerate kafir (non-Muslims)!”

If it weren’t for the convergence of the enabling wussiness of the West, coupled with the self-defeating modern philosophy of multiculti-relativism, Islam’s Qu’ran-centered drive for world domination would have remained dormant in the dust-bin of history. But Jimmy Carter handed Iran over to the radicals in 1979, when he abandoned the secular and pro-Western Shah of Iran, and delivered the ancient realm of Persia to the “radical” Muslims under the iron-fisted rule of the Ayatollah Khomeini. It’s been war ever since.

Iran, for all intents and purposes, is now the supremacist-infested center of the global jihad, and it looks upon the rest of the world as ripe for Islamic harvest.

To complicate matters for the United States, there is another war being waged internally: the Political Elitists versus the Informed Public. The combatants in this conflict represent, for the most part, a minority of the American population. On the side of evil are those who hold onto the reins of political power with a willful, patronizing disregard for the people they were elected or appointed to lead. This dark force is comprised of both Republicans and Democrats, media elitists, Socialists and very, very rich old white men who long ago convinced themselves that they were superior to everyone else.

Arrayed against this axis of evil, are those citizens of Democracy everywhere who care enough about themselves, their culture, history, and future, to recognize and defend against the traitorous usurpation of representative democracy by the Power Elite.

Like the Totalitarian Wars of the last century, the outcome of this latest round of planetary combat is far from predetermined. Supremacist Ideology is deadly when given a reason, or the means, to wage a successful campaign. Its uncompromising and unappeasable goal is total domination. It must be unfailingly fought on all fronts, with no ground given, ever.

The supremacist beliefs must be shown to be bankrupt and self-destructive. That is the only way that adherents will even begin to contemplate another way. Mark my words, despite the denial on the Left, and the political manipulation on the Right, unless the West unites in common cause and with common sense against the growing evil, the darkness will overtake the light, and the world will be plunged into unfathomable chaos. Supremacy, whether internal or external, never disappears if ignored. It only grows more loathsome and dangerous.

Media Madness

2007-07-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Western media outlets, influenced by a left-leaning agenda-driven leadership, ratings greed, and subscription numbers make odd choices in what reality they are willing to disseminate to the public.

Paris Hilton and jail time (vapidity warning)? Check.

Chris Benoit and pro-wrestling drug use (language warning), domestic abuse and corruption? Check.

Bush commuting Libby’s sentence (bias warning)? Check.

Jihadi Doctors? Check.

But this stuff (graphic, disturbing images warning)? Nope. It gets washed away in the cesspool of current events like it didn’t happen. Could it be because the villains (Abu Ghraib) aren’t Americans (Haditha)? Nah! (Haditha revisited).

Gotta Do Something

2007-06-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

From someone I know very well who wrote an email. With permission:

This is bad; horrible crazy bad; sinister mind-numbing, heart-rending bad. And the worst, the very worst is that there’s no place to escape and no hope in sight. God, I pray that you give me the strength to persevere in the face of despair, to have peace in an endless sea of disturbance and fear.

Everywhere the signs of the soon-to-appear shattering are vivid and unmistakable. And yet, the band plays on, and people look and act like nothing’s about to happen; like the world is not about to fall apart. All it will take is one event disastrous enough to penetrate the thin veneer of civilized behavior and all hell will break loose around us, and the gossamer illusion of safety will dissolve in a torrent of bloodshed and death.

What of the children then? How to protect them? How to spare them?

It’s all happened before: whole societies exploding in chaos, pain and death. It is ever the Enemy’s plan and desire to sow discord, strife and hatred so that he can wield full influence on the malleable human spirit. My mind is blackened by imagined, unthinkable horrors – a quick and painless death being the best that can occur.

How to exist with such a weight of realization is the question I face now. Block it from my mind? It’s always been there, from my earliest remembrances, as if God had wired my brain from conception for immersion in this chaos. Whether I pay attention to the world around me or not, the thoughts and images bombard like a ceaseless waterfall, impossible to ignore, capable of completely overwhelming any feeble effort of resistance.

I see beyond the horizon of the present into the realm of what can be and all I perceive is a blazing rain of fire, of slow torture, of death. In anticipation of that darkness, all light is subsumed; every potential joy is marred beyond redemption; all hope is buried beneath a collapsing mountain of inevitable doom. Oh to be like a dog, living only in the moment, unable to comprehend that which is yet to be.

And these thoughts and this bowel-deep despair are unspeakable, literally. Voicing such thoughts and fears is a one way ticket to a suicide hotline, psychotropic medication and commitment to a mental health facility. But I am not suicidal, nor am I unstable. I long for peace, but not the peace of Sheol. I long for happiness, but not happiness based on a lie or denial or a chemical. I long for hope; for a hope that transcends circumstances because it is founded in unassailable truth and certainty. I long for comfort that is substantive and meaningful, and makes life bearable.

I suffer from a cancer of the mind, of thought. It eats away from the inside out. It pushes toward nihilism and defeat. It drives toward a cliff overlooking the deepest abyss imaginable. It is immune from treatment; incapable of reprieve; endless; daunting and ancient. And as I sit and suffer in presentable silence, the world around me proceeds as if in a different Universe, and I get asked, “Are you ready for the meeting?”

“You bet,” I say pleasantly as my stomach drops through the floor and anxiety wells up from the pit of hell. This is my day; every day. I know I gotta do something, but exactly what escapes me.

Immigration Fiasco

2007-05-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

George Bush is a traitor to the America that has supported him in the past two elections. It pains me to say it. It angers me to believe it. It frustrates me to have to write about it. But with the Bush-Kennedy Immigration Compromise, no other conclusion is possible.

Anything that puts a smile on Ted “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy makes me cringe, and this legislation has him smiling so wide, and talking so low it makes my skin crawl. And the Republican senators that are pushing this through in such an unseemly manner are complicit in the President’s treasonous behavior. This recent article by Coulter conveys some of the absurdity behind the thinking that spawned this ridiculous legislation.

Then Secretary Chertoff (Homeland Security) has the nerve to equate any of us who don’t support the bill as xenophobic racists. There are states that require a six month background check to buy a hand-gun, but Bush is proposing we give all coming to our borders a mere 24-hour identity check, and while they’re waiting, provide them with “probationary status”. Holy Paradox Batman! We should rely on a government bureaucracy to ensure the moral and legal acceptability of millions of immigrants who’ve already broken the law to get here illegally? Yep, makes sense.

If the government really wanted to fix immigration and secure the borders, they’d:

Allocate more border patrol personnel to, get this, the borders! And stop sending to jail the ones who try to do their jobs.
Build a fence, a good one, across the entire southern border, despite not earning Brownie points with El Presidente Vincente Fox.
Stop “Sanctuary Cities” by penalizing any municipality that didn’t enforce the immigration laws already on the books. That this provision was voted down in the recent senate sessions says volumes about the intent of this legislation.
Penalize employers for hiring any undocumented employees, making companies responsible for eliminating the incentive that brings so many illegals into the U.S. in the first place.
Inspect all truck cargo coming into the country through secured gateways.
Then and only then, figure out how to give those who are now working in this country some kind of pathway to legality.
Then and only then, can we begin to control the flood of immigrants into the United States. Open borders are a figment of the leftist, socialist imagination. A country without sovereign, enforceable borders is not a country; or soon won’t be.

Call or write your senators and congressperson about this travesty. Be polite. Be specific. Make your opposition known, and maybe, just maybe, the government will listen to the 90% of its people who want secure borders. And if they don’t, take note of their vote and kick them out next time. It’s what representative democracy is all about.

Sacrifice

2007-05-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

We call it Memorial Day. It started out after the Civil War as Decoration Day, and we are supposed to contemplate the sacrifices of the men and women throughout our short history brave enough to have given their lives to secure our freedom. It’s become barbecue and picnic day for the most part. In some areas of the country, where college is king, it’s original intent is not really even acknowledged.

The biggest internet search engine, multi-billion dollar Google, who’s taken the time to note some holidays with special logo alteration – significant meaningful holidays like Edvard Munch’s Birthday on December 12, 2006; the World Cup on June 9, 2006; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Birthday on May 22, 2006; Mother’s Day on May 14, 2006; Birthday of Percival Lowell on March 13, 2006; and the Winter Games in Torino in February 2006 (h/t LGF) – has chosen in its multiculti anti-Americanism to NOT bother acknowledging this Holiday. (I guess we are not quite as attractive as Communist China whom Google has agreed to accommodate by voluntary self-censoring its search results.) Not to mention that Google seems a bit too eager to keep track of its users’ search history for marketing purposes, making users vulnerable to a variety of privacy risks.

As a counterpart to Google’s unfriendly demeanor is Ask dot com, whose Home Page looks like this today:

See, the reason the stuff that Google (and its leftist legions) perpetrates bothers me, and the reason why it should bother you, is that future generations of Americans are being brainwashed by PC hogwash (no aspersions to hogs intended) that America is the world’s biggest problem, rather than what the U.S. truly is: the world’s most generous and free nation. Yeah, we’ve got problems. Yeah, we are sometimes inconsistent. Yeah, there is always room for improvement. But it really takes no guts at all to criticize a government and a nation that does not exact retribution. It really takes no guts at all to demonstrate against something you disagree with in the most pedestrian way possible because the very government you despise is committed to your personal safety. Try doing that in Iran or Venezuela.

If we don’t ensure that our children are being taught the values that make us great, that failure will ensure our downfall. The first step is being aware and honoring the sacrifices of those who fought to keep us free. If we don’t do that, in the next big bad crazy incident that comes along, we’re gonna run from the schoolyard like a little girl with a skinned knee; or a Democrat.

Creation Museum in Kentucky

2007-05-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

In Kentucky this weekend, a Creation Museum has opened, built largely from contributions by the faithful, and put together with professionalism and enthusiasm by the Answers In Genesis organization headed by Ken Ham.

From ABC News, who is worried that a slick, technologically enhanced and logical presentation of Genesis as fact will undermine the evolutionist propaganda foisted on the modern world, to Hot Air's patronizing write-up, to a fairly respectful, though slanted article in the NYT, this Museum is getting lots of attention.

I find that amazing! Why is a small, 27 million dollar museum in Kentucky worthy of such video, print and blogspace? Far more, by the way, than the attention given to the discovery and release of an Al Qaeda torture manual discovered during a raid and rescue in Iraq.

The concern seems to be twofold: making Americans “look foolish and provincial” in the eyes of the EU, and indoctrinating children into damaging religious thinking. To the detractors I say, “Please! Get a life!” Your worry is actually proof that you are victims of the very things you deem dangerous about this museum.

This is indoctrinating children into damaging religious thinking (warning: graphic violence and disturbing images from the Jawa Report), not giving them rational and data-centric reasons why Genesis is literal history. And as far as “foolish and provincial” goes, mindlessly repeating propaganda WITHOUT looking at any evidence to the contrary, and in fact engaging in a priori dismissal of that evidence, is the epitome of lock-step, groupthink.

I think this museum in Kentucky is getting press because it’s well-done, and can’t be dismissed out of hand. It represents a threat to the media and intellectual elite precisely because it makes sense. Consequently, it MUST be ridiculed. Talk about tolerance!

Beyond this, commenters on the various websites posting about this are often beyond the pale: I would link to them, but rather than give the sites money-making traffic, you can either find them yourself or take my word for it. Suffice it to say that many think that Creationists are “Christian Taliban” who need a “cluebat with nails”, and who are “what’s wrong with this f***ing country”. (Nice; especially on Memorial Day. Yeah, go look them up yourself if you want, and take plenty of mind bleach with you.)

Look, I believe people have the God-given right to be deliberate idiots; to close their minds to alternative viewpoints, and to vilify those who disagree with them. What strikes me as ironic is that by heaping the same criticisms and by using the same mindless methodologies that they attribute to us Christian fundamentalists, they are proudly displaying their own paltry and propagandized intellects.

Oh and by the way, as far as equating the Taliban with Christian Creationists, I don’t think there’s much of this going on in Kentucky today, so really, get a clue.

Can You Rely on the Government?

2007-05-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Most of the time when you see a question mark in a blogpost title you can assume the answer is negative. That’s true here, as well, and relates to the fact that the inventors of the U.S. understood that government, particularly one far-removed from daily life like the Federal government, will not and cannot protect the average citizen in a pinch. That’s where the Second Amendment comes in; the admission that the citizenry must be responsible for its own protection, not only against evil-doers, but even against the government itself if it becomes overrun by tyrants.

In short, the Right to Bear Arms is really a Right to Self-Defense. This is what infuriates proponents of Big Government about the Second Amendment. It represents the codification of implied failure. For the sake of argument, I will grant good intentions to those who promote excessive gun control. Their motive stems from a Utopian desire for peace and safety, and they look upon an armed citizenry as an obstacle along the path to that Nirvana, but they fail to take into account a realistic evaluation of human nature.

These anti-gun proponents are rightfully horrified when innocents are injured or killed because of guns, and perhaps they are naïve enough to believe that news of such events are entirely unbiased and objective. There are studies available that prove the old worn out cliché that if “guns are outlawed; only outlaws will have guns”. With the advent of the internet and alternative news sources, it is becoming more widely known that outside of certain high-crime urban areas, legal household guns are used far more often and effectively to prevent crime than to commit or incite it. And gun accidents occur far less than is the general perception.

But again for the sake of argument, let’s say that neither of the above is the case. Let’s go even further, and stipulate that up until now, prohibitive gun control has been the panacea for all our societal ills and has helped establish idyllic peace and safety in draconian anti-gun legislation states like California, New York and New Jersey (in fact, the murder and gun violence rate has dramatically increased where guns are banned). Even giving a very generous and irrelevant nod to such fantasies, I submit that the rules of engagement have changed. With the advent of stories like Islamberg, other compounds, the Fort Dix Six, and the recent Immigration Reform compromise fiasco, not too mention the chaos of Katrina, and the tragedy known as Virginia Tech, an average citizen has to know that the nature of the threats we face as individuals and as a nation have changed.

Unarmed citizenry are sitting ducks. Look at the riots in Europe over cartoons and elections. Look at the threats and intimidation used to silence the truth here and abroad, and look at the complicity of our own duly elected representatives. I’d be worse than a fool to advocate the use of force for its own sake, but what about for the protection of family and property? It is very clear that successful criminals and crazies are, among other things, blatant opportunists. In areas of the country where legal firearms possession is the norm, crime and insanity largely go elsewhere.

It’s a pure and simple fact, and it coincides with everything that we know about human nature. I can think of only two reasons for someone insisting on the abrogation of the Right to Self-Defense: either Utopian knuckle-headedness or overt Totalitarianism. Neither of which will help you protect yourself or your loved ones if the bad guys put you in their sites.

If you are interested in finding out more, to quote Rosie O’Donnell, “Google it!”

The Effect of Political Correctness on Communication

2007-05-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Recent current events has catapulted communication… specifically types of speech… front and center upon the world stage.

From Imus… to Opie and Anthony… to Iraq strategies… to hate crime legislation… to the upcoming 2008 National Elections… what we humans say… and how we say it in the information and internet age has taken on increased significance.

I don’t remember growing up knowing about “political correctness”, unless it was my parents’ constant reminder that I should think before I say anything, and consider how my words might impact any hearers. It wasn’t called political correctness back then, though. It was called common sense. It was motivated by not wanting to get beat up by neighborhood kids. Later on in life, it came to be known as “polite discourse”.

There were no laws about it that I can remember… no public outcries about what word or words were impermissible. Certainly, there were no proclamations in the media back then about how the nation’s fate depended on “correct and thoughtful speech”.

Boy has that changed… and the effect… the impact… is noticeable, pervasive, and stifling!

For example, have you ever been in a group situation, talking things up, shooting the breeze, and suddenly felt compelled to lower your voice for something you are about to say because… well… you’re not sure who’ll be offended and whether or not the PC Enforcers are out and about.

I’m talking about an effect above and beyond normal sensitivity here, or a desire to be civil and polite. I’m talking about a gut-deep compulsion akin to suddenly stepping off an unexpected curb. And it’s not just balance that’s in question, it’s a nameless fear of being unacceptable, or held accountable for saying the wrong thing to the wrong people.

Maybe you’ve already suffered the consequences. Maybe you’ve already been taken aside privately and spoken to by your boss, spouse, clergy, sibling or friend. Maybe you’ve been publicly criticized for your unconscionable lack of sensitivity or your criminal verbal negligence.

I know even thinking about this subject gave me more than a little dread. Imagine that… assailed by the very negative impact surrounding the very subject I am daring to discuss! Amazing!

Of course, part of the issue is that many practical real life examples flooded my mind – either personal, societal or political – and with that, the realization came that describing most or all of these in detail publicly would render me guilty of… political incorrectness. In some venues, that is a felony.

Half the problem as I see it is that we live now in a very divided society, with both sides looking for ammunition against the other. The other half of the problem is due to the establishment… at the risk of again sounding politically incorrect… of media-managed and facilitated victim-hood. Not victims of real crime or real material prejudice or discrimination or actual injury, but manufactured victims of some nebulous offense.

I’ve had dogs all my life, and each and every one, particularly the poodles, used to toss nuggets of their dry food around so they could then stalk and attack them. I called the game “Pounce”. The pups played this game endlessly and, I might add, good naturedly, “tails a-waggin’, teeth a-grinnin’…” and I’m sure it had all kinds of developmental and survival benefit.

I see a lot of “Pounce” being played on the world stage today, too, but there are significant differences. Instead of nuggets of dry food, the players seek to stalk and attack kernels of public utterances that fail to align with the externally imposed standards of political correctness. Instead of good-natured discourse, there are often viciously savage and biting attacks to malign and discredit. And instead of development and survival benefits, this game of Pounce is destructive and detrimental, to say the least.

It has been said by the opinion fabricators of our day that political correctness is a measure of our societal maturity. I have to disagree. Anything that goes beyond common sense civility, anything that imposes standards of conversation through intimidation or threat in any human sphere of interaction is not maturity, but censorship – the worst kind of manipulative censorship that invokes artificial victim-hood as a duplicitous means to an agenda-driven end. It is as far beyond polite discourse as a threatened lawsuit or street-gang extortion.

Political correctness is, in fact, a club used to bludgeon the unsuspecting into being too afraid to speak the truth without couching it in terms so diluted and immersed in group-think as to be meaningless.

What is the impact of excessive and manipulative political correctness on communication? It is stifling, censorial, coercive and corrosive. It goes far beyond specific words and ideas and permeates the fabric of society like mildew on wet rags. It is duct-tape over the mouth and mind… But, shush, don’t tell anybody I said so.

Volatile Religious Contrasts

2007-03-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

I condemn individuals who want to kill me.

I condemn individuals who consider me worthy of condemnation.

I condemn individuals who justify evil in the name of religious obedience.

I condemn an ideology that promotes any of the above.

Does that make me intolerant?

I really wish the jihadi threat was part of a vast right-wing conspiracy. Then I could ignore it and get back to sleep. I really wish that it was all a trumped-up fabrication by Bushitler and Company, because, well, as a conservative Christian, I’d probably be pretty safe.

The problem, of course, is the facts; the plain, simple, global pervasiveness of evil, butchery and bloodshed practiced in the name of Dar Al Islam. I’d very much like to ignore these facts, but, then again, I’d like to be taller, richer and younger, too.

Yes, I know, there are other practitioners of evil, murder, and beheadings out there, but few, if any, seem quite so celebratory about it. And, I’ve looked, but I can’t find any other group who openly wants me to surrender or die, while simultaneously having the apparent support of nation states and recognized spiritual leaders around the world. If it’s all a gigantic, diabolically brilliant propaganda effort on the part of our current administration and all their right-wing shills and nefarious capitalist supporters, I have to say, “Well done!” I’m convinced. I firmly believe there are a large number of ideologically motivated men, women, and children out there who are joyously wishing, planning and actively working toward my demise, as a kefir and infidel.

Would it be insensitive to ask the question why?

The answer, unfortunately for me, is a religious one. It is because of these individual’s beliefs that I am considered worthy of torture and death. This realization, in turn, leads me to compare my religious beliefs with those who call themselves Muslim. (From the start, I will admit that I am no expert on Islam, though I do claim to be one on Christianity. However, I will also confess that I am persuaded that it does not take a Qur’annic scholar to present these comparisons – just someone with open eyes and ears and the ability to read and understand what jihadis themselves are saying and doing.)

And the comparison could not be starker.

A Christian, for instance, is to love his wife as Christ loved the church, honoring and cherishing her as equal in the sight of God. There are distinct and differing marital roles in Christianity between the man and woman, but nowhere is there permission or encouragement for abuse or multiple wives. Nowhere is a woman looked upon as existentially different or lower than a man. All are one in Christ.

In Islam, women are less than second class citizens. They are considered to be property and chattel, something to be protected against and subdued, as they are susceptible tools of Satan to undermine the righteousness of the Islamic man. Proof of this is seen everywhere in the world today where Muslims actually rule. The hijab, burqa, clitorectomies, inheritance laws, permissive domestic violence laws, and the rape laws in Islamic societies reflect a foundational misogyny that is undeniable, repressive and murderous. Don’t take my word for it. Read the autobiographies of the brave women who have come out of Dar Al Islam and have lived to tell the truth about life under the veil (such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel).

A Christian is commanded by Christ (the founder) to love his or her enemies, to pray for those who persecute them, to turn the other cheek rather than take offense.

Islamic practice is the opposite. Hate and kill the enemy, Mohammed teaches. Take offense at the slightest hint of disrespect (along the lines of the Danish Cartoon fiasco, or the French Intifada, or the death fatwa on Salmon Rushdie, or the Rage Against the Pope, or the “behead those who insult Islam” crowd roaming free on the streets of Britain; and so many other incidents prevalent today – none of which are isolated instances).

To gain entrance into Heaven, a Christian need only to accept Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross as payment for his or her sins, and declare him Lord and Savior in his or her heart. Good works follow salvation; they do not lead to it. That is why it is called “the Good News”, the meaning of the word gospel.

Islamic belief teaches that Allah is unknowable, and whimsical, with the only guaranteed route to attaining Paradise being that of death in jihad. The second half of the Qur’an is filled with imprecations toward unbelievers, and commands to subjugate them through bloodshed if necessary, particularly Jews and Christians. To die in such efforts is deemed worthy of Allah’s praise and eternal reward.

Mohammed did not sacrifice his life for anyone. Christ died to set humanity free from sin. Mohammed taught that the ends justified the means. Christ teaches that it is the intent that matters most. Mohammed taught that Allah is only pleased through human effort. Christ taught that no man can save himself, that only through belief in Him can someone please God.

Christ commands us to provide for our loved ones, and to nurture, nourish and grow our little ones to become His responsible, gentle, and loving followers. Islam teaches that it is good and right for parents to teach children to hate and kill, and to sacrifice themselves in pursuit of hating and killing – something unthinkable to Christian parents who know the Lord and His word.

Christianity is undoubtedly a superior belief system, using all the civilized, religious, and moral measures that matter. But that’s not the most important conclusion I reach. In fact, it’s not a very important consideration at all. What is significant is that the God who invites me to Himself as His child is very different from the God of Mohammed. My God loves me enough to have died for me, and does not call for my explicit death in service to Him. My God does not command me to conquer or compel by force, but to persuade by reason, sincerity and love. My God does not hate the unbeliever, but so loved the world that He sent His Son to die so that the unbeliever might live forever in His presence.

So why would anybody choose Allah over Christ? Well, first, there’s the matter of upbringing. Children tend to learn and believe what their parents teach them. Second, there’s the matter of what happens to an apostate under Islam. Islamic law considers apostasy a capital crime, and the manner of execution is not always merciful. Christianity on the other hand, treats an apostate in the same way it treats an unbeliever – no death penalty, no fines, no physical punishment and no coercion. What is the penalty for turning against Christ in the world today? Maybe it’s an Academy Award, or a Pulitzer, or a Nobel Prize; but threats against self or family, or the death penalty? Nope.

So why call this post Volatile Religious Contrasts? Because in some parts of the world, I would be beheaded for expressing such un-Islamic opinions, and my family threatened or tortured. In contrast, here in Bushitler country, I could espouse all manner of vial disrespect for the religion and person of Christ and be hailed as a cultural hero. Thank God I’m not in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Iran, because if I were, all hell could ignite.

There's Always Something - Part 2

2007-02-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Item: 1945 sees the Allies defeat the fascist regimes in Germany, Japan and Italy, only to find themselves confronted by another global totalitarian enemy in the guise of the “former” Soviet Union. (The irony of the current state of affairs between Moscow and Washington, namely the renewing of the “Cold War” after the defeat of Communism, is mentioned in the previous post.)

Item: western medical science develops and distributes powerful antibiotics that virtually eliminate certain killer infections, only to find that these pathogens have developed increased tolerance levels, and have become “superbugs” with enhanced lethality.

Item: the U.S. budget deficit is finally under control only to spawn prodigiously because of the GWoT.

Item: state-of-the-art weaponry, with pinpoint accuracy and bunker-busting potency finds itself relatively ineffective against asymmetrical urban, human-shield warfare where the aim is to destroy the enemy but spare the general population.

Item: instant global communications and connectivity through satellite technology, fiber optics, and a vast computer network enable speed-of-light, real-time information and transactional exchange, thus revolutionizing how the world conducts business. Simultaneously, this so increases our technology dependence that one good EMP attack could bring the planetary economy to a deathly standstill.

Conclusion: there’s always something. And not just trivial, don’t-worry-about-it “somethings”, but big, gut-wrenching, if-you-really-think-about-it-and-imagine-the-consequences-you’ll-never-sleep-again quirksome twists of fate.

It’s not just from a macrocosmic viewpoint, either, but slithers down into the mundanely individual and personal: a paid-off vehicle inevitably needs big-ticket repairs; that unimaginably satisfying job involves working with unscrupulous wretches; that one-of-a-kind purchase turns out to be a dime-a-dozen knockoff. The list is endless, and recurring, with no cure or long-lasting relief in sight. In fact, it seems this universal principle is embedded into the very fabric of existence, leading inescapably to the conclusion that some power outside of time and space is truly in control of human affairs for purposes beyond mere mortal comprehension.

What to do about it? Not much, except count on it being constant, and plan for it. Know always that things on this side of eternity will NEVER be perfect; that possibility was ruled out long ago when man first fell victim to the selfish dictates of his own heart. Expect there to always be some fly in the ointment or a bump in the road, and at the very least you will never be disappointed. Then take that expectation one step further and use it as a gullibility guard, preventing you from being sold a bill of goods from the “wishful thinking” crowd.

And finally, understand this – that your inherent longing for perfection is a component of your essential makeup. Deep down inside, in that part of you knit together in your mother’s womb, you know that life’s imperfections are most emphatically not right. All these somethings are offenses, akin to pain, disease and death. Your irrational and inchoate desire for what practical daily experience has proven consistently unattainable and fundamentally unrealistic, is a design feature, meant to keep you looking for something, or more accurately, Someone, transcendent. It is hardwiring in your soul to lead you, if you allow it, to God.

Therefore, don’t let these inevitable trials and tribulations cause you to abandon hope. Let these instead, cause you to focus your hope on hope’s only worthy object: Jesus Christ.

Next post: volatile religious contrasts.

There's Always Something - Part 1

2007-02-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Recently, President Putin of Russia indicated, more or less, that there’s a new Cold War taking place. Doesn’t it figure? Reagan takes down the Soviet Empire, much to the dismay of righteous socialists everywhere, and now, less than a generation later, we have an opportunistic Russian Czar – ah, er, President – making an alliance with the radical Iranian regime against the interests of the West (read the U.S.) and Israel. There’s always something.

In the last 100 years or so, Western democracies have led the world in industrial, medical and technological innovation. We’ve cured hideous diseases, overwhelmed the global populace with enhanced life styles brought about by chemistry and technology, and now these very improvements are being used as bludgeons against us. We’ve defended the rights of the down-trodden everywhere, not perfectly, but with a kind of innocent optimism, thinking that we’re doing a good and noble thing, and what happens? We’re accused of arrogant exploitation and imperialism. (If you really want to get a good look at Imperialism, take a look at Ahmadinejad’s plans for a nuclear Caliphate.)

Against all odds, Israel, established as a nation state a mere 60 years ago, transforms its arid desert topology into a fecund horticultural and agricultural paradise, defeats its manifold enemies who far outnumber them, creates and maintains the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, and what happens? This tiny U.S.-supported nation is viewed as one of the central cause of global hostilities. The reason: an irrational, pervasive and ancient hatred of Jews by a vast majority of the rest of the world. What are the odds that a place roughly the size of the U.S. State of New Jersey would have such earth-shaking impact? What are the odds that a people group of a few tens of million, who have been the target of innumerable attempts at genocide throughout history, surviving into the nuclear age and being reconstituted as a “cup of trembling” to the whole planet? There’s always something.

Petroleum, the single most prevalent source of energy fueling the Western economy sits underneath a consortium of nations known for their seething mass of anti-Western hatred. Talk about ironic. Our supposed Middle Eastern partner, good old Saudi Arabia, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year undermining the very fabric of U.S. culture and society, through funding of terrorists, engendering jihadist mentality in the young, and generally performing the most duplicitous fence-straddling of any nation in history. Its purported purpose is peace. The actual goal: preservation and expansion of the anti-democratic Islamic state.

In this country, it is more than a little bizarre that the vituperative, infantile, leftist fanatics that inhabit the blogosphere use the very liberties that they so take for granted to besmirch, denigrate, and disparage the very system (U.S.-style representative democracy) that enables them to freely spew their despicable diatribes (foul language warning) onto an unsuspecting nation. How weird is that?

In the drive for multiculturalism and diversity, this nation (the U.S.) is welcoming into its propaganda machine all sorts of diversity swallowing sources. The end result is that the “multiculti movement” is destroying the very foundation of strength and tolerance that made this country a force for good in the world. It has now become a thought-crime to be unapologetically supportive of the effects this country has had on world history (despite its many missteps and tragedies). It has become a faux pas along the lines of wearing polyester suits, or worse.

Educationally, the globalist agenda of Western public education, the foundational system that has enabled the industrial, medical and technological innovations of the West, is being gutted. Actively rewriting recent history, and shamelessly promoting anti-nationalism and anti-democracy, the leftist, liberal, socialist plan for overtaking the world is alive and well and living in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. If it weren’t so perniciously disastrous, it would be funny.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am all for multicultural tolerance, providing the culture I hold near and dear is not relegated to the so-called “vast right-wing conspiracy” that is treated like a cesspool that must be drained. I am all for a liberal education, providing all the facts are presented as objectively as possible, enabling the student to independently decide where he or she stands, and not be brain-washed into loony, leftist groupthink. And I am all for people in the boundaries of their sovereign nations living in whatever way they feel right and appropriate (within the bounds of instinctive human decency), provided they do not, like Nazi Germany, or the Shari’a Caliphate, insist on forcing other sovereign nations to toe their line.

The bottom line is that as soon as there’s any hint of an effective one-world government, we are all doomed. And that, oddly enough, includes a one-world democratic government. Why? Simply because wherever there is monolithic human power, there is inevitable corruption and eventual exploitation of the weak. Until such time as the Lord sees fit, there will always be something in the way of attaining that kind of global unity, for which we should all be humbly thankful. But beware. A time is fast-approaching, when all these pesky obstacles to world unity will be taken out of the way. When that happens... duck, cover and pray.

Explanation

2007-02-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

In republishing some previous posts for consistency's sake (so the html names generated by Blogger were similar, and so too the fonts and type size), I inadvertently lost the comments that some have posted. I apologize. Reader's comments are always read and (so far) greatly appreciated.

The Culmination of World History - Part 3

2007-02-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

Escaping the “Great Tribulation” and “Armageddon” should be a high priority if either event is taken seriously. In previous posts (here and here), I detailed why I believe both are real and inevitable future occurrences, but you’ll need to reach your own conclusions. What is undeniably true is that there are leaders in the world today with access to unthinkable weapons of mass destruction who have stated that bringing about such global catastrophe is a good idea; placing it right up near the top on their “to do” list.

Regardless of your personal belief, unless you are exceptionally good at denial or head-in-the-sand behavior, or haven’t been exposed to the news in several years, you are aware that something bad is on the horizon; something unavoidable. Or is it? Unavoidable, that is.

Economic action that can be taken to stem this obviously encroaching tide can be found here, and military action here. Then, of course, there’s active participation in the American electoral process during the primaries and General Election in 2008. You can also stay informed by reading some of the non-MSM news sources at the Links on the right of this page. (Please note that inclusion of these links does not necessarily constitute a full-fledged, no-holds-barred endorsement of their views, or constitute a guarantee that the information is 100% accurate. The odds are, however, that the data and views at these sites are substantially more reliable and reflective of reality than many, many other sources. Comments that you might find on those links are another matter entirely. They are undressed opinions, some far more appealing than others. So beware.)

But all the above items are temporal, earthly, manmade responses, and frankly, although significant, there is something far more beneficial that can be done to maintain hope in the face of this impending cauldron. And hope is essential, because without it, we surrender, and in surrendering, we die. My belief in Jesus Christ provides me with that very hope.

First, let me explain hope from a Biblical perspective by detailing what it is NOT. It isn’t wishing for something, like one might wish for good weather, or a great marriage, or a raise in salary, or for food on the table. It’s not what Dorothy did in the Wizard of Oz, clicking her magical ruby red slippers and repeating the mantra, “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”, while wishing fervently to return to Kansas. Biblical hope is none of these things. It is, instead, the sure and certain understanding that what God has promised, He will deliver. And this certainty, based on faith and the knowledge of who God is – notice I said “who”, not “what” - naturally engenders hope as a powerful human emotional response. So my hope in these troublesome times is based on three of these magnificent promises, and also on a bit of “icing on the cake”.

The first divine promise is that, through faith in Christ, I have eternal life because my sins are forgiven by believing in His death on the Cross. In very practical terms, this means I will never cease to exist, although I will, unless the “icing” comes first, die in the physical sense. Death in this context is the realization that who I am will no longer be encased in this body, but will be transported into a place defined as Heaven, the key data points being that Heaven is where God dwells, and where true death, pain and sorrow is banished forever. Furthermore, this gift of eternal life extends to everyone who believes, including family and loved ones who live also by faith. Bottom line: physical death for Christians results in never having to say good-bye, although a heartfelt “see you later” might be in order.

The second promise is that Christ will never leave me nor forsake me. There is nothing I can do, no place I can go, and nothing that anyone can do to me that will negate my relationship with my Savior. In theological terms this is called, Eternal Assurance. It means that once I am Christ’s I am His forever. No one, including me, can “snatch me out of His hands”. Good news, indeed. Now at this point, I might be tempted to launch into a detailed discussion about whether “losing my salvation” is possible, and then summarize the age-old arguments between Calvin and Arminius, but suffice it to say I firmly believe (because the Bible emphatically teaches it), that Christ’s death on the Cross paid for all my sins, past, present, and future. While this does not give me the license to sin, it certifies that when I inevitably do sin, my ongoing forgiveness is guaranteed.

Thirdly, God assures me that He is in control of even the most minute details of history, and that for me as His child, “all things work together for good to those who love God”. No matter what it might look like from my perspective (and believe me when I say that in any believer’s life things may look dark and despairing), I have an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present, and loving Deity assuring me that it will all work out for my good and His glory. This doesn’t imply, by the way, that I or my loved ones will be spared tragedy, loss, or suffering. But it does suggest that ultimately, that suffering will serve God’s purposes in carrying out His undeniable promises. So, even in the face of what could be unimaginable anguish and pain, my faith that God is in control provides me with a foundation of unassailable hope, which is undoubtedly foreign to anyone who has not acquiesced to Christ Jesus as Lord, and Savior.

Now, the icing on the cake is this: my extensive study of the Bible has led me to conclude, along with many other Christians throughout the ages, that Jesus will take His church out of the earth before the final climax of human history unfolds. In other words, I, and all living believers will be “snatched away” (rapturo in Latin) before the Great Tribulation occurs. So however bad things seem, I can rest my hope on the sure and certain knowledge that before things get as bad as God has decreed they will, I and my loved ones will be raptured into Heaven. That makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it – certainly a loving Father would shelter His beloved children from punishment and judgment that they, through faith in Christ, no longer deserve.

However, three subsidiary points about this icing on the cake need to be made. First, it doesn’t allow me to conclude that I am to sit around and wait for the rapture. That would just be plain silly since I don’t know when it will occur, at least not precisely, and although the Bible does give some general hints, it explicitly says that no one knows the day or hour. Secondly, Jesus commands His followers to be active until He comes. So sitting around and waiting would be in direct violation of an explicit order. And finally, looking forward to Christ’s return for His children does not portend that I am equally certain that I will not suffer and die beforehand. I very well might undergo both suffering and death, but if I do, all that signifies is that I’ll be among those who return with Him, rather than in the crowd He comes to get.

What my faith in God’s word does provide is the knowledge that while I am sure things are going to get monumentally bad, I am not without hope. In fact, it is because of this hope, and the strength and purpose that it gives me that I take the time to post these (hopefully) life-changing truths to the internet. However poorly or well these expositions are received, please understand that my motive is one of love and hope, and not condemnation nor a sense of “being in the know”. I am what I am by the grace of God, not by anything special about me, and if these missives provide any reader with hope, faith or purpose, then don’t thank me (God forbid). Thank the One who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

What I’m saying here is simply this: pull your head out of the sand and look up, your “salvation draws near”.

The next few posts will concern themselves with some observations about life and history that are pretty much summed up by the phrase, “there’s always something”.

The Culmination of World History - Part 2

2007-01-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Last post I wrote that I’m convinced that history as we know it is coming to an end; a bad end. Mind-bending evil abounds in the world, and from my perspective it seems more pervasive than ever. The problem we face in the West is that the effects of this evil are not, for the moment, right at the doorpost.

Most of us aren't in the streets of Baghdad, or in the ravaged villages of Darfur where sudden, horrendous suffering and death is a very real prospect each and every day. This is not to say that no westerners suffer senseless violence, or are victims of inhuman, ideologically motivated hate crimes. Nor is it to pretend that similar widespread atrocities haven’t occurred in the past. But it is to say that the tenor of modern evil is very different from anything that has gone before.

First, current practitioners of institutionalized and individual mayhem have never received the kind of instant, global publicity that we see today. Until now, the technology didn’t exist.

Secondly, and perhaps because of that very publicity, never before has there been such comprehensive acceptance of that level of violence. Global shock tolerance is at an all-time high. As a species, we’ve been culturally desensitized through overexposure. That, added to the fact that multiple generations have now been propagandized to believe that underneath our thin veneer of civilization we are, at best, very clever animals, gives us the twisted perspective that we have no real reason to expect anything else.

I see and hear this attitude of practical indifference everywhere. We might give lip service to abhorrence and condemnation, but then, as a society, we turn around and go to that movie, buy that book, rent that DVD, or watch that television show that reinforces the very things we pretend to be shocked about.

There are prophecies in the New Testament of the Bible which guarantees that, as the culmination of world history approaches, love will grow cold, evil will be called good, families will dissolve, and faith will disappear.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self–control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power...” (2Ti 3:1-5 NKJV)
“"And then [near the end] many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another...And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Mt 24:10-12 NKJV)

I submit that these very things are happening today in ways profoundly different than ever before. Brutality, lack of self-control, betrayal, and hatefulness are rampant, and we now have the means and the will to disperse this vileness around the globe. Regions of the world heretofore bereft of technology now have cell phones, internet, satellite communications and ready access to world travel. Not to mention, ICBM's and nuclear capability.

“So great,” you say again. "You’ve convinced me. The world is ending. What do I do about it?”

The answer: make peace with your Maker.

How?

Simple: acknowledge your hopeless and helpless sinfulness. This takes a humble admission that while you may not be as evil and depraved as is humanly possible, and certainly not as bad as ten other people you know and maybe hang out with, you are, nonetheless, in active, unrepentant rebellion against God. (You’re probably bristling in indignation at this very moment, haughtily and self-righteously proclaiming, “Who the hell is this idiot passing moral judgment on me? Me! Crazy, religious fanatic!”)

Once you suck that bitter pill deep down into your black, encrusted heart, then you gratefully accept the only way to escape the condemnation you so richly deserve. You must receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (boy, if you weren’t bristling or dismissive before, you’re near the boiling point now! “How dare this delusional imbecile impose some antiquated, psychotic religious fairy tale on me? Me! Doesn’t this brainless stooge understand that religion is the problem? Look at the Middle East, for God’s sake!”)

Receiving Jesus means that you believe, believe, that He was crucified because of your sin, dying in your place, so that you can live! Christ’s voluntary sacrificial death, the Sinless One becoming sin for you, enables you to be declared righteous and innocent in Him, and thereby escape eternal death! It’s a transaction that you must enter into through belief. He paid the price for you out of love and compassion. Your job: accept that fact and live.

Deny this fact, reject it for any reason, and when the world ends in misery and bloodshed, your personal suffering will just be beginning. And perhaps for you personally, your commencement into unthinkable torment may start a whole lot sooner, because you are just one heart beat away from death. For “...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” (Heb 9:27 NKJV)

There it is. Now you know what to do about the end of the world; and about your own eternal destiny.

In Part 3, I’ll give you information as to how it may be possible for you (yes, you!) to not only escape judgment at the time of death, but also how to avoid the coming Armageddon. Deep down you know it’s not far off. Admit it!

So tune in.

The Culmination of World History - Part 1

2007-01-14T15:35:00.001-08:00

As a crazy fundamentalist Christian, I believe in the end of the world. Interestingly enough, I don’t get a lot of disagreement from most people, at least in principle. Even hard-core materialists, believe the world will end eventually, like when the sun goes nova in 10 or 15 billion years. But what I mean is something that will happen substantially sooner, perhaps in my life time.

I base my belief on prophecies found in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament book of Matthew, Chapter 24. Jesus is on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem, and His disciples are trying to get insider information on the future. Here’s the passage:

Jesus went out and departed from the temple [very shortly before His arrest], and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down [this happened literally in 70 A.D., some 38 years after Christ was crucified]." Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Christ had taught His followers that He was God, and then proceeded to prove it by performing some 38 recorded miracles, ranging from changing water into wine to raising at least 2 people from the dead (not counting Himself after the Crucifixion). He also told His disciples that He was going away for a time, but would return. They didn’t get it right away. They couldn’t quite understand that He meant He was going to be killed, rise again after 3 days, and then ascend into Heaven for some unspecified period of time. It’s not that Jesus didn’t come right out and say these things, because He did; it’s that they just weren’t hearing Him. (Has that ever happened to you?)

Anyway, by the time of this Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, the disciples understood enough to ask 3 questions: 1) when will these future things occur; 2) what will be the sign of His return; and 3) how can we tell when the end is coming?

That word, age, quoted in Matthew 24, is the Greek word, cosmos; you know, where we get the English word, um, cosmos, from. It can mean age, or everything, or world. It’s a pretty ambiguous noun in that sense, but taken in view with the rest of the New Testament, it is pretty accurate to see it as meaning age in the above context. So technically speaking at this point, I have to modify my first sentence from; I believe in the end of the world, to, I believe in the end of the age. On the one hand, this refinement is significant because it says the physical planet itself won’t come to an end, but rather that the current age will terminate. On the other hand, as we’ll see, this distinction between the end of the planet versus the end of the age is relatively meaningless. (Incidentally, I also believe that the age in question, is the Age of Human Control, but more on that later.)

Christ answers the disciples’ last question first (how can we tell when the end is coming?), and let me just summarize his response in bullet points. The end will be characterized by:

• Deceit
• False Messiahs
• Wars and Rumors of Wars
• Nations Rising Against Nations
• Kingdoms Rising Against Kingdoms
• Earthquakes
• Famines
• Pestilences
• Lawlessness

Jesus goes on to say, “[for] then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved;”

Did you catch that? This Man, who proved Himself to be God in the flesh, warns that the end of this age is going to entail so much destruction and death, unlike any seen since the beginning of the world, that unless those days were supernaturally cut short, no life would remain. So while the earth will remain intact and not be completely destroyed, there will be unprecedented and widespread death and devastation. Additional gruesome details are provided in the New Testament book of Revelation, particularly chapters 6 through 19.

By the way, there has been no period in human history where such global catastrophe could occur by human hands... until now.

You might ask why I believe that the Bible is an accurate source for anything, let alone predicting the future. There are many reasons, but let me give you just one: Israel. Dispersed from its homeland more than 19 centuries ago, as per Biblical prophecy, and brought back into the land and declared a nation once again in 1948, as per Biblical prophecy, this tiny nation is the center of world attention today. This is no accident, or the result of happenstance. It is precisely as foretold throughout the Bible. In fact, Israel is the greatest argument for the existence and power of God. No other people group in history has been preserved and reconstituted in this way, despite millennia of exile. That says something, because Israel’s history was written in advance in the Scripture.

And as for deceit, false Messiahs, wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences (a.k.a. pandemics like AIDS, bird flu, e. coli, not to mention the plethora of available manmade epidemics from bio-warfare), and lawlessness, well, unless you’ve been on Mars lately, these things are prevalent and increasing throughout the world.

If you’ve bought all this up until this point, the question may arise, “So, great! What do I do about it?”

I have an answer and I’ve got more details, but that will be reserved for a future post.

Bear and Cubs

2007-01-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

Coming between a human being and his or her favorite depravity is like interfering with the proverbial bear and its cubs. Ferocity, desperation, and attack are the results. Just look at what happened during a recent pro-life rally in San Francisco.

The response there was rabid, vicious and insane, ranging from physical intimidation and condom-throwing, to parading naked down the street with signs containing hate-filled slogans lofted high and proudly.

Pro-abortion factions are virulently jealous of their freedom to destroy life in the womb, and view any infringement on that right as a fascistic attack on modernity and political tolerance. “Keep your laws off my body and I’ll keep my hands off your throat!” was one of the more moderate placards. “Ban sex with a pro-lifer!”, “Abortion saved my life!” and “Keep the Right-wing out of my womb!” were other signs displayed prominently, without the slightest sense of shame…or irony.

Yet issues like “Stop Protecting Rapists in Europe” or “Ban Suppression of Woman’s Rights in Islamic Countries!” don’t elicit much of a peep from the same emphatic woman’s rights crowds here in the U.S. But let somebody in D.C. propose a ban on partial birth abortion, and all hell breaks loose.

Why is that, I wonder? Why are people so eager to proclaim the sanctity and priority of “tolerance” in their own safe and sound backyard with unwavering, some might say, fanatical, commitment, and so unwilling to protest similarly on behalf of those who can’t safely do so on their own? Why don’t we see such public shows of dissent by these same “committed” individuals in places where that activity might result in being beaten, stabbed, tortured or having acid thrown in your face (as reportedly happened a few months ago in Gaza, when young women were caught walking about without a head covering). Where is the passion, the moral and logical consistency, the do-or-die attitude prevalent in say, San Francisco? Why isn’t the same sense of outrage displayed? Where are the cries of protest on behalf of those female victims? Why aren’t American leftists hopping on a plane and making the same fuss in Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait, or Lebanon?

The bottom line here in American is that there is a large segment of the population who is, oddly enough, very protective and proud of antisocial and anti-survival behavior. The truth is that it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of courage to protest against the ideas and positions of decent citizens safely ensconced in a country founded on the rule of law. Christians and most other mainstream groups are, after all, unlikely to threaten anyone with retaliation for disagreeing with them (unlike what happens when a conservative speaks to a liberal audience at Columbia University). And even those despicably uncivilized rightist groups, that occasionally rear their ugly heads, are far less conspicuous and boisterous overall, and, on the whole, receive much more negative press.

It is only in a free society like ours that the vituperation, vehemence and blatant disrespect evidenced on the part of the irreligious left is possible; where they are allowed to safely manifest behavior reminiscent of a bear responding to perceived interference with its offspring. The motivation is the same, by the way. The bear is attempting to protect and defend, in whatever way necessary, something of vital importance to its life; in this instance, its cubs, instinctively representing future viability of the species.

In the instance of the abortion-on-demand proponents, that something vital is a fierce attachment to independent self-will: the unholy desire to persist in doing what he or she wants, when he or she desires. In short, it is the self-centered insistence that human beings are not accountable to any higher authority other than their own vain conceits and imaginations. Their often unspoken position is that no one other than themselves has the right to impose moral boundaries. Unless of course, the imposers are really, really scary, and uncivilized, and the consequences actually dangerous, then immediate capitulation is the order of the day.

Sin is what we’re talking about here, of course, and please note it is not “quoted”, either figuratively or literally. It’s a real thing with real consequences, and is the hallmark of the inherent rebellion of our species in wanting to “do our own thing” (and God help anyone who gets in the way, unless of course they are willing to wield a bigger stick than the defenders of “freedom and tolerance”).

I’ve come to understand that allowing such reprehensible rebellion is a remarkable component of God’s trying to instill obedience in His creatures. And I, myself, have often been the beneficiary of such temporary Divine tolerance. You see, God often does not make the consequences of sin immediately apparent. He gives fair warning that judgment’s coming, but He usually does not back the caution up with anything demonstrably tangible right at that moment. He allows us, for the time being, to believe Him or not. And there’s the rub, because by not compelling belief in some fashion, by not waving the big stick right in front of us, as it were, He leaves the decision up to us. Until the grace period is over and He no longer does.

It’s true that, for now, He provides us the choice, and the means of our free will to choose. But He’s made it clear that a time of divine reckoning is coming. On the individual level, it’s at death – the separation of the soul from the body. For the world as a whole, it’s the Day of Judgment. So those who see it as an intolerable offense that a Supreme Moral Authority exists, and has the gall to make His behavioral proscriptions known to mankind, will some day, perhaps soon, find themselves in the same position as a kid caught bloody-handed beating that puppy - with no excuse and no defense.

On that day, it won’t be bear and cubs, it will be omnipotent God and depraved, unrepentant sinner, and ain’t no amount of yelling, screaming or blasphemous sign-wielding that will make a bit of difference. God will have His way. The question is will we let Him have it now, while we’re free to choose, or we will wait until the choice is no longer possible and we are held accountable for our deliberate unbelief?

Hell in a Handbasket

2007-01-07T13:46:00.000-08:00

As far as I can tell, this saying first gained popularity in the 1940’s, though variations of it were in use throughout American history, beginning as early as 1629. The phrase suggests lack of struggle or ease of use, in the sense that if you can carry something in a handbasket, as opposed to a wheelbarrow, then it’s light enough so as not to require too much effort.

In reviewing the last five or so years of current events, hell in a handbasket is an apt description of where this society is headed, but probably not for the reasons you think. Yes, it’s true we’ve ejected God from the class room and from our governmental institutions. Yes, we’ve abandoned the unborn to abortion on demand, and relegated our aging to family-free nursing homes and geriatric care facilities. And yes, we’ve undermined the foundation of sane morality by the cultural espousing of relativism, multi-culturalism, and the if it feels good do it mantra. But none of these is the true underlying root of the problem, though all have been contributing factors for more than a generation.

The real issue in the last half-decade, you see, is an increasing addiction to entertainment. Our societal complacency is only shaken when we’re hit in the couch cushions, so to speak. As long as whatever is going so obviously wrong is over there somewhere, and doesn’t threaten our plasma TV or restaurant time, well then, we here in the United States are pretty much OK with it.

There are exceptions, of course: our all-volunteer military; certain unpopular politicians and writers; and some clergy, just to name a few groups. But on the whole, unless gas goes up to some heretofore astronomical price, or we are victims of another massive homeland attack (for which some citizens will blame us, and excuse the guilty), we Americans are content to TiVo and iTunes and youTube ourselves into gradual oblivion.

The Middle East may be a cauldron of chaos, but football is still on, and the annual car show awaits, and little Johnny has a soccer game, and Kareena’s orthodontist appointment got rescheduled to Wednesday, and, well, life goes on. In fact, we are so embedded in our comfortable, entertainment-rich lifestyle that we are unwilling to look deeply at anything that might threaten us over the long term. It’s not that we don’t care, or are unintelligent. It’s that we have been so conditioned to the pace and relative ease and stimulus-level of our way of life that we are sitting ducks for patient, persistent people who want to do away with us.

The smartest thing the jihadists could do to defeat us, instead of constantly threatening us or scaring us with grainy videos of beheadings and stonings, or trying to infiltrate and forcibly transform our democracy into shari’a law, is to produce an addictive, racy cable TV program with just the right amount of sex and violence, or invent and market an overwhelmingly popular video game console. In so doing, they would enthrall most of our society, and while thus distracted, those who want our destruction could do us in with one or two well-placed attacks, destroying the power grid, and collapsing our entire economic base.

But they’d have to wait until just the right moment to strike; giving their insidious entertainment strategies sufficient time to irrevocably enslave us to what has become our greatest weakness: stimulus addiction. And they’d have to make sure the disruption was comprehensive, because if the enemy’s efficacy or timing was off even a little, I believe there would be real hell to pay. There is nothing like American vengeance when the lights go out in the middle of a big game.

Yep, without God, or sane morals, or an appreciation of what really sustains our largely comfortable, entertainment-centered American way of life, we are doomed – for sure headed for hell in a handbasket.

Set Up

2007-01-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Full disclosure: I’m a mystic of sorts. Don’t jump to conclusions here, I don’t do trances or channeling or anything like that, nor am I a New Ager. I’m an evangelical Christian who believes that the spiritual realm exists. Ask me if there are angels and demons and I’ll say yes. Ditto to the questions of whether there is sin, life after death, heaven and hell, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and a being known as Satan. So stop here if all these disqualify me, in your opinion, for serious consideration. Otherwise, read on.

I’m looking at the state of the world today, and am convinced that we are being set up for some impending globe-shaking events. I’m not sure exactly what the physical manifestations are going to be: nuclear/biological/chemical war; monstrous terror attacks; natural epidemics; planet-wide financial collapse; or a Democratic congress (oh yeah, that’s already happened). But I am convinced that the planet is ripe for bad things that could only happen in the world today, as opposed to, let’s say, 100 years ago. That’s significant, because aside from the fact that modern technology is what will enable whatever is going to occur to be global in nature, what’s fascinating is that this coming chaos has been predicted in the Bible.

There are prophecies in Scripture, hundreds, if not thousands of years old, that speak of world-wide events, clearly impossible prior to the last century, and increasingly probable in this one. And interestingly enough, Israel is at the core of these predictions. That tiny little Middle Eastern country that was reconstituted just 60 years ago, millennia after being annihilated and dispersed, is now back on the forefront of the world scene, and the center of endless hatred, controversy, enmity and focus. Go look for yourself if you’re skeptical.

This is no accident. In fact, the odds of such bizarre Biblically accurate circumstances happening in the “natural course of events” are astronomically negative. The point here is that the primary cause of the world situation today is not physical, or material, or even psychological. The primary cause lies in the spiritual realm. Circumstances are being set up in this invisible sphere that make fulfillment of these prophecies in time and space inevitable. Like or not, the human race is not solely to blame or even remotely in control, though we do play a large part and are accountable for our actions (or inactions). Yet without us, these horrendous events would not be possible or, strangely enough, even meaningful.

It is no accident that there is a predominant and irrational hatred of Israel. It is no accident that this small parcel of land is the central cause of global tension. It is not due to mere happenstance that arrayed against this insignificant country is the majority of the rest of the world, except for a few staunch supporters who just happen to be part of the only remaining superpower in the planet.

It is not mere bad luck that Israel is surrounded by large hostile nations that sit upon the world’s foremost petrochemical energy reserves. It is not blind chance that these same nations are driven by a deep-seated and powerful religious ideology that demands the annihilation of all who are not its members, and of the Jews and those who support them, specifically. It is not just fate that has made Israel a powerful economic and military force.

It is absolutely unthinkable that all these components of the present world situation have come about by accident. Particularly in the light of these very things being prophesied in the Bible centuries ago, before any of these people, places, and political and religious forces existed.

It is clearly a set up of unimaginable proportions, making us humans, with all our vile and noble preoccupations, infinitesimal puppets in comparison. We are most definitely not in control, though we are the main earthly players, as well as the primary audience, and have an effect on the outcome, not because of who or what we are, but because of the role we have been given by the power of Whoever or whatever is in control.

You see, if it weren’t for the fact that the essential nature of current events were spelled out in magnificent detail 2000 years ago, we human beings could operate under the self-serving illusion that we were both the problem and the solution. We could go along blithely believing that if we could just do this or that, or eliminate this or that, then everything would turn out for the best (as defined by our own finite and fallible viewpoints). We could live under the false assumption that we, ourselves, were in control.

But assuredly, that is NOT the case. Something or Someone, other than us, is the primary mover of history. It’s not chance. It’s not fate. It’s not the Force. It’s personal. And that Person has taken the time to detail beforehand what is about to happen. He has also provided us with the only means of escape, the only hope for the future, and the only reason for our existence in the first place.

That, my friend, is pretty powerful information. What you do with it, is up to you. If you want to learn more, go here.

Foresight

2006-11-11T12:26:00.000-08:00

Here’s what I’m pretty sure is going to happen in this country (I just don’t know how long it will take).

Through various means, some subtle, some bludgeoning, public opinion is going to be increasingly managed. What Americans think and talk about will be governed by whoever controls the media. Yeah, I know, I know. Startling revelation, right? People have been saying that since Cain held the first press conference about his brother’s unfortunate demise. (Had it been possible back then he would have placed the blame on Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.)

Whatever you want to call it, the Main Stream Media (MSM), the Drive by Media, Zionist Propaganda, the Dhimmi News Network, or Hollyweird, the truth is that a conspiracy of thought-control is afoot. And it’s effective. The human brain is a vacuum (seriously) and nature abhors a vacuum. The mind requires filling, like an empty gas tank, or a politician’s pork barrel.

I’m not talking stimulus here; little zaps of bioelectric energy that generate endorphins or satisfy bodily desires. I’m talking information. Raw data. Our species thrives on it, despite appearances to the contrary. We all want to know stuff in order to successfully navigate our world, whether it takes the form of physics, sports stats, celebrity minutiae, or gossip. It’s a need, plain and simple.

And we are in the information age, meaning there are a whole lot of people who no longer build or do real stuff for a living, they instead get paid to produce, manage or act upon information. Do you see where I’m headed here? (case in point: you’re reading this over your high-speed internet connection wondering where this guy is coming from and why he’s wasting your time when you could be finding out something important from some other source. Am I right? You know I am.)

So, whoever can win the information war rules the world. Why? Because everything is so connected now. Oh, maybe not every square inch will be conquered, but enough so that whatever’s left over doesn’t amount to a hill(ary) of beans. There really is no such thing as Freedom of the Press, and the Freedom of Information Act is anything but. No spin? Forget it. When it comes to the promulgation or reception of human information, spinning is not only the name of the game, it is the essence of every kind of people on people activity.

I predict (sadly) that because of this, goodness will die a tortuous death, and what will feed off the carcass will be unmitigated evil. First it will be disguised as something else, maybe something noble or sophisticated or tolerant, but once it’s in full ascendance, depravity and decadence will rip off its flimsy façade and boastfully present itself as pleasure-seeking, power-mad, globally destructive insanity.

What can we do about it? How can we escape? Only one way out, I’m afraid. Only one hope of redemption, and for saying it out loud, I’ll be patronized, marginalized and pigeon-holed. But here it is anyway: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Without that, each and every one of us is doomed. Doomed, I tell you!

Just thought I’d cheer you up.

Hindsight Isn't Perfect

2006-11-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

There is NOT much optimism in many circles about the new leadership in Washington, but the truth is, there wasn’t much reason to be sanguine about the old leadership either. They were so frustratingly dense about some very clear and simple common sense items.

My father always said, “Don’t start a fight, but if you can’t avoid it, give it all you’ve got.” I don’t think invading Iraq was a good idea, given how we’ve mishandled it by not using overwhelming force, but it’s not too late to change the course of the war in our favor. Or is it? We are a representative democracy, and it’s possible to read the midterm election results as a war veto by the American people, but is that correct? Only 41% of eligible voters actually went out and exercised that right, and I don’t think it’s accurate or possible to then say that we are vehemently opposed to the war. What I believe, in hindsight, is that we are vehemently opposed to losing the war. The message that was sent was, “Hey Washington, either win or get out. Enough of this half-way stuff.”

That may not have been the right message, but maybe, again in hindsight, it was the only message that would have been heard in the halls of government. The hope is that collectively, we are by the grace of God, wiser than we are individually. But the jury is most assuredly out on that verdict.

What is clear is that if we don’t show intolerance for those who want to kill us, and tolerance for those who don’t, the American people are going to be victims of the age-old “divide and conquer” strategy. The key, of course, is to accurately discern who the enemy is, and isn't.

I’m hoping that we do that as a nation without relying on imperfect hindsight.

Not Again...

2006-11-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

A self-admitted gay prostitute purposely goes public about the hypocritical behavior of an evangelical leader just before midterm elections. He has that right. This Christian leader has become yet another magnet for antichristian vilification precisely because he is out front of the masses in a secular arena: politics. This supposed spiritual advisor to the current American president has opened the door for ridicule, and has become a reproach to the very Christ he has so publicly served.

Forget about the particulars for the moment, and look at the big picture. Because this man has mixed politics and religion he has become a tool for the god-haters, and a propaganda bonanza for the antichristian leftists that have hijacked the leadership of the America-bashing democratic party. Frankly, George Bush has become the same thing, but for different reasons. There are lessons to be learned here; lessons that will serve us well, if we heed them, in the current global religious war.

It is not possible for beliefs not to influence public and political behavior. What a man believes about the world determines what actions he will take, and what decisions he will make. This goes without saying, it is so fundamentally true. Those who are screeching about evangelical hypocrisy do so because, among other reasons - like emotional and intellectual immaturity – they have rightfully concluded that those who set themselves up as religio-political leaders want to impose their view, morality, and way of life on others who don’t believe the same things.

This is just plain stupid, and carried to extreme (like Islamic Jihadists), can be the worst form of fascistic evil. Divisiveness in a society or culture will doom it to failure and collapse. A house divided cannot stand. This is not to say that evangelical Christians should compromise in any way their worldview, but it does mean that the Christian church has no business in American politics. The United States was founded as a place for freedom of religion. This has allowed Christianity to greatly influence the American culture until recently. I believe this trend has waned for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the perceived hypocrisy of Christian leaders. America is now a post-Christian, increasingly globalistic society. Any attempt to force secular society to live by Christian, rather than legal standards, is doomed to failure.

Does this mean that citizens should not exercise their political rights according to their beliefs? Absolutely not. Does that mean that citizens should not vote for those politicians who most accurately reflect their views under the law? Of course not. But it does mean that as soon as Christian conservatives couch those positions and viewpoints as moral absolutes, they are going beyond the bounds of freedom of religion, and entering into the realm of theocratic government. The rest of society will perceive this as a threat, and, carried to extremes, it will undermine the very foundation of this unique representative democracy.

Unity is essential if a society is to survive the coming turmoil, and that unity must be founded on something that all members of that society can agree upon, like objective law. That is why activist judges are so dangerous. That is why activist religionists are equally dangerous. We are a nation under God, certainly, but we are also a nation founded on freedom. When that freedom is threatened, we all need to respond in the common defense. We can’t do that if we are divided. We can’t do that if one side comes across as repressionist. We can’t do that if we don’t prevent differences from becoming divisiveness.

The United States must stand firm against any and all threats to the freedom that has been so hard-won over nearly two and a half centuries. The United States must therefore be united. If we’re not, we’re done for. We need leaders; politicians, judges, business people, and citizens who value unity over discord. Most of all, we need to be able to look at one another and identify ourselves as being essentially on the same side. If we can’t, or won’t, then this great experiment in democracy will go down in flames. We need to be able to accurately identify the enemy, and stop declaring war on each other.

We are in desperate need of a President who will stand by his principles while not coming across as arrogant or indifferent. We need an impassioned leader who is willing to do what is necessary to unite, rather than divide us. We need someone who will assure the citizens of this country that disagreement does not result in disenfranchisement. I’m not sure our current President can do that in the two years he has left in office. But I do know that if he can’t, we’ll be in sorry shape indeed.