Godless

How can one teach history, ethics, psychology, cosmogony, without implying some religious opinion? How is it that it is assumed public education is somehow religiously neutral? Atheism or at least agnosticism is the default religion taught (implied). Public institutionalized education is now fait accompli. We have an entire population of at least partially indoctrinated people. In some cases entire portions of society are completely indoctrinated in godlessness. Therefore more prone to violence, destruction and death.

John Dunphy who was greatly influenced in the humanistic approach once stated:

“…. a viable alternative [to Christianity] must be sought. That alternative is humanism. I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call “divinity” in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level— preschool, daycare, or large state university. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the never-realized Christian ideal of “love thy neighbor” will finally be achieved. Then perhaps we will be able to say with Tom Paine that “the world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” It will undoubtedly be a long, arduous struggle replete with much sorrow and many tears, but humanism will emerge triumphant. It must if the family of humankind is to survive.” ~ John Dunphy-Humanist Magazine (Jan/Feb, 1983, p. 26)

Make no mistake about it, Dunphy’s statement which is tied right back to the philosophies of John Dewey is not a tongue-in-cheek joke or misstatement. If anything it might be a Freudian slip but not a mistake. The goal of the Humanist Manifesto and atheists in general is to replace your religion with their religion: Atheism. Atheism is a religion because it relies on metaphysics to believe what they claim. Their claim is a belief in no god and therefore a belief in self-reliance. This religion’s pinnacle and god is man or mankind. The educators today are not just viewed as teachers but priests of a pagan religion --just like Baal, Moloch and Dagon of the Old Testament. The Humanists have no intent of offering alternative views. Teaching without balance or alternative views should be considered indoctrination or propaganda.

Right from the beginning it was the Humanist intent to infiltrate even the earliest educational institutes including preschool. The above statement even has the audacity to borrow principles of the Bible (love thy neighbor) and graft them into their lofty ideologies that they dare to exalt against God (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). This is done to turn their religion into a syncretistic blend of Christianity and atheism. They will then slowly phase out the Christianity until only atheism and godlessness remains. Over the last four or five generations since the institutionalization of education between the 1890-1930's under the watchful eye of John Dewey we have seen exactly this. By the 1960's prayer had been removed from schools completing the amputation from God. Everyone now does what is right in their own eyes. Not only isn't God taught anymore, he is actively mocked and disparaged by many in education and leadership.

This is why we are starting to see the unraveling of commonsense, ethics and morality in the world today. We have already phased out Christianity. What will follow on the heels of the abolition of Christianity is death. All that remains is for the world to actively and violently persecute Christians. We are even beginning to see this here in the States. God help us all.

In Their Own Words XLIII: Science Is True Except When It Isn't

I turn incorrect philosophical/theological comments on their heads. Not because I want to but because I have to. A stated error propagates more errors and either leads people astray or creates confusion, then chaos. The most current comment making its rounds on social media (again) is Neil deGrasse Tyson's 2013 statement about science. He makes an absolute truth statement about science that is not only incorrect…he had to borrow from a metaphysical worldview first and made a first year philosophy students error in the process when he said it. 

I will preface by saying that: 

(1) In correcting his error I am in no way equating my intelligence to his.

(2) The man is otherwise brilliant but without considering God and/or a priori knowledge he is precluding a large chunk of reality.

(3) I may be creating a strawman of Tyson as I do not know him or what he truly believes about metaphysic or God. If I do, Neil has my apologies for misrepresenting him.

My argument isn't against him but rather his statement. It will be based on what I know about him from his past statements of the metaphysical and how his worldview approaches reality. I will note right off the bat that it is framed incorrectly if it is absent God and I will attempt to demonstrate that. Without further adieu, his statement....

“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” Neil deGrasse Tyson

Here he makes an absolute truth statement that needs an absolute truth source to be able to make it. He assumes complete absolute knowledge about truth and what it is. Science is true regardless of circumstance? Science can be good, bad, or bogus and is dependent on observers which bring bias to their observations. It's not science which is true. Reality is what's true, and scientific community tries as best humanly possible to gradually and asymptotically approach the truth, but science is…the consensus of the scientific community or fallible people who can be and often are subject to all sorts of political and societal distortions. Just like judges, teachers, police and other authority figures. Therefore their conclusions are not always synonymous with reality. There's always more to learn. Science itself is not a truth it is a process known as the scientific method. Therefore, this ‘truth’ Neil speaks of is conditionalized, limited and constantly changing…therefore, not a full truth. 

In defense of Neil I will state that, knowing nothing else about an empirical scientific subject, if you accept the consensus of scientists, you have a pretty good chance of being mostly correct about things in the empirical /a posteriori realm. There are fundamental features of the modern scientific worldview that are so well-established in evidence, logic and reason that they're unlikely to be overturned. Secondly, I believe Tyson meant that data and evidence are true not science itself. In general, where science is untrue, the failure is likely to be influenced by human bias.

It should also be noted that science doesn't have a lot to do with belief but belief does have a lot to do with science. Science requires faith or belief in the possibility or probability of a theory or hypothesis being true and is then tested for. Where does the idea or theory come from? It comes from the a priori realm which…physically doesn’t exist. It is a person postulating and theorizing the unknown.

Science and Tyson therefore have to borrow from the metaphysical or the supernatural realm. Why? It is because sentience and consciousness (theory and hypothesis) don’t have an empirical, naturalistic origin or even explanation. Scientifically thought is nothing more than an electrical impulse...but when does it become cogent thought? You cannot prove the existence of someone’s idea, you can only see the effects of it in reality or acted upon.  You cannot stand in the scientific realm without having one foot in the a priori or pre-evidential/empirical realm.

Furthermore for Tyson to make a statement about a person’s belief takes him outside of his field of expertise and plants him firmly in mine. In reality, for Tyson to deny or affirm someone’s belief makes his statement completely unscientific because he has no evidence to prove or disprove a person’s belief. He has no proof, a requirement of his own methods of thought. He should’ve known better to assert something so foolishly.

Sadly he also commits some serious logic fallacies with this statement. Not the least of which is (ironically) a Genetic Fallacy because (1) It is being passed off as cold hard empirical fact (which it is not) and; (2) Said fact is coming from or being spoken by an atheist/agnostic scientist as a source of authority. Neil’s statement required him to make a philosophical categorical shift. What most do not see is...by making this statement Neil has left the world of science and physics and has deftly slipped into the metaphysical realm within the same sentence.

What worse is, Tyson is functionally an atheist based on his own statements about the hostility of the universe and his understanding of a benevolent God. He has stated that it is hard for him to believe in a loving God when he has created such a hostile universe. The irony is that wasn't the initial way it was created if one understands and believes the Bible. The universe fell in Adam and now succumbs to entropy. 

Regardless,  he builds a false dilemma / dichotomy (black and white thinking) because to my knowledge he has only ever accepted empirical “sense experience” as a valid source of knowledge. This means he adheres solely to a posteriori evidences to make claims about what 'true' facts are. In so doing he is short-circuiting the metaphysical and a priori knowledge which also contains the realm of God. He also excludes miraculous revelation from a supernatural source [God] as a valid origin for facts. Neil appears to believe in the totally incompatibility of science and religion and has stated as much in the past.

He is either being ideologically disingenuous or he is philosophically ill-informed. By ignoring the metaphysical as a valid source of evidence he then just goes on to ignore anything that comes from it as if it doesn’t exist. Denial of something doesn't negate its existence it ust makes you ignorant. That is why I say he is functionally an atheist. He purposefully self-limits his knowledge sources by ignoring the knowledge source of others he deems intellectually inferior/wrong (those that believe in the super-mundane or God). In this way his reality is 'framed' exactly like David Hume (1711-1776). He limits the source from which he draws his “fact” or “truth”. In so doing he totally ignores half of philosophical reality.

The trouble is this: What good reason do we have to believe that empirical methods work, in the sense of steering us systematically towards truth rather than towards falsity? At least in the domains where we have been able to test some of these methods: quantum, astronomy, geology and history, for instance-they have not proven completely reliable. Why should we expect them to work any better when we apply them to problems that are even more difficult, such as the fundamental nature of the reality and the universe?

Also, because Tyson inconstantly frames what he considers what is “true” to be science he by default he inversely frames what he deems to be “false”. He defines that a proper measure of these “truths” is science. Therefore, anything that does not fall under the header of ‘science’ is false.  He is mixing and matching philosophical truths. He assumes that 'true' can be validated scientifically based on his original statement (which it can’t). There are some truths that are self-evident and don’t require themselves to be contingent on anything (numbers, mathematics). Science on the other hand is contingent.

He is mixing epistemological categories. He is trying to prove or disprove truths by simply ignoring (or discounting) anything non-scientific. That’s what Science attempts to do…it tries to remove any supernatural element as an answer. This is like trying to deny light exists while holding a lantern. You cannot epistemologically get there from here without contradiction. By trying to force this while limiting what he will consider valid evidence is self-defeating.

In other words, according to empiricism, we can only know things after we have had the relevant experience. Tyson ignores the fact that science could be wrong (often it is) therefore he makes a claim to absolute truth by saying science has a godlike quality of not possibly being in error. 

The inherent peril of trying to make a quaint soundbite for a meme I guess.

Atheists (or those that behave/believe like atheist) tend towards this false dilemma default which requires they only accept empirical means for gaining knowledge. They insist that truth-claims be accompanied only by clear and convincing physical evidence which can be studied and tested. Physical evidences will never be able to prove or disprove the metaphysical because they are two completely different realms of knowledge and at no point will these truth realms overlap for an empiricist. Conversely, for Christians science and metaphysics coexist and their separation denies both of them their meaning. 

Addendum: Anyone that would like a really good example of 'science' being not only wrong but completely supremacist, racist and deadly need only visit my post on Phrenology and Physiognomy in the 19th century. It was a science that, when combined with evolution created the bastard science of Social Darwinism. This of course opened the door to the atrocities of eugenics by Margaret Sanger in the early 2oth century and and the Nazis in 1930-40s Germany. If you have any doubt that science can be untrue go ask any Holocaust survivor or a non-white from the 19th century.

[LINK] Scientific Inclusio: Only Allowing Their Reality/Narrative

A Trained Professional VII: By A Hair's Breadth

Hairdressing and shaving have become a skillful and lucrative occupation. The very word barber has gone out of fashion. The barber now is advertised as a hairdresser, hair stylist, tonsorialist (antiquated). Here are two expressive proverbs. It is a often unknown fact that due to barbers skill with a razor and a steady hand some also practiced surgery and dentistry and were called barber-surgeons. A few barber shops today are still distinguished by a pole painted in spiral fashion with red and white stripes — a sign that goes back to the barber/surgeon days. The red represented "blood-letting” and the white, the “bandaging.”

While razors and shaving frequently occur in Scripture, the word barber occurs only once and it’s in Ezekiel as an expression of great sorrow over Jerusalem’s looming destruction.

Ezekiel 5:1 And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair.

In the Old Testament shaving according to Leviticus 19:27 and 21:5 in an apparent reference to the hair between the head and the cheeks (side locks) it is forbidden to destroy the "corners" of the beard at least for priests. It is difficult to determine the reason for the ban, but it is possible that it was promulgated in order to differentiate Israelites from other peoples as God’s chosen.

Another possible explanation is that shaving specific areas of the face was associated with pagan cults or symbolized those who ministered to their gods and just as the Bible opposes imitation of pagan practices so it opposes this form of ritual shaving.

Job 1:20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

To humiliate a man, it was the practice to forcibly shave half of the beard as in II Samuel 10:4, where the elders, because of this humiliation, were commanded to hide in Jericho until their beards grew again. Shaving is also part of rituals of purification (Leviticus 14:8; Numbers 6:9; 8:7).

The Bible razor, sometimes used in a symbolic sense (Psalm 52:2; Isaiah 7:20; Ezekiel 5:1) was some form of a flint or bronze knife such as was used in the rite of circumcision (Exodus 4:25; Joshua 5:2). In other words it was surgically sharp. In ancient times the barber practiced his trade in the open air, in the shade of a tree. He bound the hair up at the top of the scalp and cut the hair short near the temples and shaved it off. The customer meanwhile sat on a three-legged stool with a soap-dish, in front of him.

Razor sharp flint was used at least prior to mention by Moses in Genesis and Leviticus as this form of razor/scalpel is used by the leper who was commanded to shave off all the hair of his head (Leviticus 14:9). Joseph shaved his face to conform to Egyptian custom, before going to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:14).

Leviticus 14:9 And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean.

Genesis 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.

The law forbade Hebrews to round the corners of their heads or mar the comer of their beards. It was a grievous insult, or badge of shame to cut or pluck the Nazarite’s hair of head or cheek (2 Samuel 10: 4; 1 Chronicles 19:4; Isaiah 50:6; Jeremiah 48:37). Long hair was also a token of the dedication of strength to God (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5; 16: 17). The mother of Samuel was instructed to keep a razor from his head for her child was to be a Nazarite from the womb. Yet, by Paul’s time, it was not deemed proper but effeminate for a man to have long hair.

1 Corinthians 11:14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him,

It is ironic that hair represents what is least valuable or more specifically innumerable to man but all numbered by God’s providence for His children.

Matthew 10:30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

So I guess we can close this short post on that thought. I guess again we see the influence a culture has on what a people view as acceptable and what God views as acceptable. People care for more about appearances. God cares about what's inside. God judges a man by their heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

God doesn’t have a problem with long hair. People do. God has a problem with bad hearts. Too often people, especially Christians are quick to pass judgment on a person because they are legalistically looking out the outward. Their expectation that if a person doesn’t behave how they believe they should that those people are not conforming and are somehow wrong. Sometimes it is just the stereotyping and prejudices bleeding out and no longer contained by silence. They are so intently trying to see the wrong in someone else...they don't see it in themselves. 

The question we should always ask is this: What does Scripture say? Does our behavior, thoughts and speech conform to that? If not we may have gotten off track. The Word of God should always be dead center in our crosshairs. Sometimes simple things like careless legalism and prejudices are all that stand between proper interpretation of Scripture and the complete error of disobedience. The difference between obedience and disobedience is often only a hair’s breadth. We all walk a razor's edge as our hearts and minds are enmity against God.

Death That Could've Been Avoided by Grace

I was asked as a Christian multiple times about the George Floyd death at Derek Chauvin's hands. I believe I've responded in a biblical manner every time I was asked. I care that my response is biblical. I could care less what the world thinks of me or what I type here.

The Bible is, at its heart a book of law (Mosaic). A law was not abrogated in Jesus through his death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) he embodied the law in his actions and life (Matthew 5:17-18). A law that shows where a person veers off course and what one needs to do to obey the law (Gal. 3:19-26). We can't obey it so Christ did for us protecting us from ourselves (Matthew 5:17). So we trust what he has done and we are covered in that penal (criminal) substitution by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). The 'heart' of the substitution Christ gave is a desire to serve and protect. That desire is driven by love. Love surmounts a multitude of sins (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

What we saw or failed to see in Officer Chauvin was a heart...grace or love. As a Matter of fact he exhibited no love, no grace, no willingness to put himself in George Floyds shoes at all (Matthew 12:30-31). Due to his complete lack of empathy of Floyd as a human being he exhibited no mercy whatsoever. End result: A tragic death.

An officer’s duty includes a responsibility to ensure safety and quality of life of the communities they serve. This includes the safety and quality of life of a suspect. Officers as obligated by their duty are to ‘serve and protect’. The officer is to be an embodiment of an unbiased law and that means to even protect the suspect from himself. Chauvin had a duty to Floyd as an officer (and as a human being). All Chauvin needed to do was be compassionate. Instead he was callous. Due to this lack of mercy and empathy George Floyd eventually died.

Chauvin based on (in)actions did not live up to a minimal moral criterion or to his oath as an officer. Officer Chauvin had a moral/legal obligation to Floyd (and society) that was not fulfilled. Because Chauvin did not allow for mercy over judgment (James 2:13)...he has now received his own judgment delivered by 12. End of story. Have a nice day.

A Trained Professional VI: Weighed In the Balance

“Money, so they say…is the root of all evil today” ~ Roger Waters, Pink Floyd

Actually, it’s the love of money that is the root of evil but leave it to godless rock musicians to mess up even the most basic idiom. The fact that services of bankers and moneychangers were vital in Jewish and Christian life in the first century is evident from the mention of them in the gospels, where we read of money-changers, changers of money and exchangers. Pretty much anywhere the Bible says the aforementioned terms a reader can insert the word banker in their place and it will mean the same thing.

Matthew 21:12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

Matthew 25:27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

Mark 11:15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons

Luke 19:23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?

The Jewish money-changers roll was to change large denominations of foreign money, principally Roman, into the smaller coinage giving silver for gold, copper for silver for normal everyday commerce situations in the market. The most important department of the early banking system was the exchange of foreign coinage into the half-shekels required for yearly payment into the Temple treasury.

Therefore it was not uncommon to see moneychangers near the Temple. It was for the convenience of the Jews that these “changers” were permitted to set up their tables in the outer court of the Temple. In the court of Gentiles in Temple precincts there were seats of those who sold and selected and approved animals for sacrifice and other things. The magnitude of these financial transactions necessitated the need of the bankers or brokers (people who would break money) to be very close to the Temple if not within it (Matthew 21:12; John 2:14). Their presence near or in the outer court isn't what necessarily angered Jesus.

As with anything, the wealthier members like today’s stuff-shirt bankers took money on deposit for purposes of investment in which interest was paid. This of course was an absolute no-no that God forbid. The Jewish bankers should’ve known better but as was the Jewish history towards God…they were disobedient in their sin (greed in this instance). Under the Mosaic Law, Jews were forbidden to take interest on money from one another. To have done this in the outer courts of the Temple was exceptionally insulting to God…hence Jesus’ flipping of their tables in anger. The rich were making a profit at the expense and on the backs of the poor.

Coins are mentioned for the first time in the Bible in the exiles return in Ezra 2:69. In the following passage a daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams. A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram

Ezra 2:69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

By the time of the New Testament conditions for currencies had greatly changed and trading capital was required for business. It was so prevalent that Jesus actually commended the investment of money so that it would yield proper interest (Matthew 25:27; Luke 19:23). From this passage we can see that the usage of currency is not only acceptable but encouraged. So much so that Jesus actually offers financial advice by cautioning the holder of it to invest it wisely. This would make sense because spending beyond one’s means is misappropriation of the resources God has given. Our nation and its current state of debt and mismanagement could learn a profound lesson here. As is says in Luke 12…

Luke 12:48 Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Regardless of today’s folly of debt and overspending…in the ancient world, rates of interest were very high. The love of usury, or high interest, was the cause of the turmoil which ended with Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple. It wasn’t the money-changing that was the instigator of Jesus’ anger, it was the moneychangers sin of charging interests (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35,37; Deuteronomy 23:19),  and doing it in God’s Temple causing the poor to be even more destitute thereby adding insult to injury. They  were not loving their neighbors as themselves.

Despite of all control measures installed by Greek and later Roman authorities, moneychangers often abused their specialized professional knowledge and the ignorance of their clients for their own benefit. This being the direct opposite of the thieves and deceitful people would often try to short the moneychangers in terms of weights of gold or silver coinage. Money changers were obliged to check and change the coins in front of their clients and to put the most recent coinage proclamation at their disposal.

Governments sometimes tried to ban the circulation of foreign coins within their territory but that was virtually impossible. There was a general understanding of permitted coins, their appropriate weight and grading and their official rates of exchange in local currency. If coins below standard were presented to the money changer, they had to cut them into pieces in front of his client for their material value. It is obvious the money changer had to work with gauges, weights and scales. When one who was wicked is mentioned in the Old Testament it is along with the imagery of unjust scales. They are scales that basically robbed people of their money by weight. It was the rich doing so to the poor in a form of legalized theft (usury). The punishment of real (illegal) theft would've been death.

Micah 6:11-13 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.

It would seem that the shrewdness of Jewish governance and business sense which has characterized or stereotyped them for over two thousand years, received its start during the Babylonian exile. They were a transplanted exiled people moved from a backwater at the edge of the current empire (Jerusalem) and dropped in the very center of the empire (Babylon). As now, so in the early days of banking money changers needed to be extremely careful about counterfeit money or they would’ve lost their livelihood. They were constantly dealing with foreign and/or odd currencies therefore constantly had to be on their guard against deception, trickery and theft. 

The irony being that they were financially/ materially very discerning but not so much when it came to the spiritual. In the case of the Jewish moneychangers the defrauding was robbing people of hard-earned income but in the case of the Jewish Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees they were potentially defrauding people of salvation in their deception. The moneychangers or the money-clippers they dealt with would foist counterfeit or underweighted monies on people. The spiritual leaders would foisted damning counterfeit religion on them.

Matthew 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

So as a case-in-point and a lesson to use today, perhaps we too should take stock of the lesson the bankers of the Bible have to teach us today? If weighing things unjustly financially or unethically to one’s favor while defrauding another person is such a horrendous evil we should be alert to said behavior in our own lives. 

How is it that we as believers… are exceptional experts on the ways of the world but not of the things God commands? We are not aware of what pleases God? We are experts in money, stock patterns, betting odds, football scores, who won an election or a game and by how much. Yet many don’t even know how to properly evangelize a lost soul. I fear this is the case because some self-professing Christians are themselves not even sure of their own salvation. Perhaps the scales in our lives are out of balance? Perhaps we need to take stock and weight of what is in our lives to determine what is of true value?

The scales of spirituality are out of balance. The things that damn us are weighing down one side of the scales. Just like the weighted scales of a crooked money-changer. Sins are continually piled on one side forever destroying our chances of reward in Heaven or even some people's chances of salvation. This of course directly points a finger to the story of Daniel and the judgment of King Belshazzar by God for his evil. Why judgment from God? It is because in the Bible scales are also an image of justice or they symbolize the idea of fairness and fair distribution of law, with no influence of bias, privilege or corruption. A justice we would expect from a perfect judge that is God.

Daniel 5:24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

The weight to counterbalance all the sin debt weighing down the wrong side of the scales though is within our reach. We need only reach for Christ and the Cross. When the weight of these hit the scale, all those sins will go flying like a catapult of worthless weighted moneychanger’s stones into the night. Those sins will be forgiven and forgotten like old currency thrown into the dark. Jesus has already given the down payment and given a retainer in the form of the Holy Spirit. It’s that, or you can pay the Devil his due. It’s your choice how you invest your time and effort in this life...and the next.

A Trained Professional V: Breaking Bread

Every time we repeat the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Lord to, “Give us this day our daily bread.” I believe it is appropriate that we should honor those whose occupation it is to bake our daily bread. The Lord assumed we would partake of this type of sustenance on a daily basis or at least ingest food of which we were to give thanks to Him for.

So who was the most famous baker in the Bible? It is the One whom Peter and John, after a night’s fruitless work, saw waiting for them on the shore? Wet, cold, disappointed and hungry, reaching the shore, “they saw a fire of coals and fish laid thereon and bread.” It must have been Jesus who baked that bread, and prepared that breakfast, for His disciples who were to go forth to “feed his sheep.” It is the one who broke the bread at the Last Supper. We serve a Master who is thoughtful about our bodies, as well as concerned about our souls. Jesus is the Bread of Life born in the house of bread (בֵּית bread לֶחֶם house of; Βηθλεέμ / Bēthleém; Bethlehem)

Elijah was served bread by an angelic baker! After a long flight from Jezebel, the prophet fell asleep and later was roused by an angel with the call, “Arise and eat!” In the case of Elijah he is being pursued by Jezebel (Ahab) for killing the prophets. So he is on the lamb and has no food. In this instance we see God providing for a man just as he provides for all those who trust in Him. God always considers his servants.

1 Kings 19:5-6 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” And he looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

Another baker we read of in the Bible is the chief baker of the King of Egypt who prepared all manner of baked goods for Pharaoh (Genesis 40: 1-22; 41:10).

Joseph delivers a dreadful message to Pharaoh’s chief baker, yet he spared no detail of it Genesis 40:16-19. “The three baskets are three days: yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.” It was a gruesome doom to pronounce to an outstanding baker, but Joseph did not flinch in breaking the sad news to his fellow prisoner. The variety of foodstuffs this doomed baker produced can be literally expressed as food, the work of the baker (Genesis 40:17).

It is interesting to note that professional bakers who were likely grouped together as a form of ancient guild, had a street named after them in Jerusalem. The only street in old Jerusalem of which we know the name.

Jeremiah 37:21 So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Before bread making became the trade noted above each Jewish family made the bread it needed, a task which, as a rule, fell to the women of the household. When we observe the strangers who came to visit him, it is bread that Abraham hurried to Sara’s tent for.

Genesis 18:6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs (9 quarts/8 liters) of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.

Leviticus 26:26 When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

1Samuel 8:13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

At home bakers were women. The public bakers like those in the king’s courts were men

Genesis 40:1 Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt.

 It is believed by many Bible scholars that a house where there were daughters the eldest did the baking.

Genesis 29:17 "Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance."

This of course might explain why Leah was tender-eyed; inflammation being caused by the heat of the oven. This passage originally was interpreted as meaning that Leah just wasn’t that good-looking and Rachael was far more attractive but there is more going on in this passage. The word weak in this passage meant they were sensitive or delicate or they lacked a lustrous ‘brightness’. They were dull due to being exposed to darkness and heat a lot while indoors baking.

Bread, made chiefly from wheat and barley, was used for food in general (Judges 7:13; John 6:13). In times of famine, other ingredients were added (Ezekiel 4:9). Unleavened bread was made very thin, and was broken, not cut (Lamentations 4:4; Matthew 14: 19; 15:36; 26:26). The importance of bread, as the basic food, in the diet of a Jew, explains why it is so heavily symbolized in the Bible. The greatest honor to the baker’s was afforded when Jesus Himself chose bread as a symbol of His own presence and provision in the church in the sacrament of communion. Broken bread symbolized His body broken for us on the cross. The Bread of Life broke bread at the Last Supper.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Acts 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

In this day of mass production and automation, the original methods of baking bread seem somewhat crude. The baker would prepare his breads on wood or coals (I Kings 19:6; Isaiah 44:19; John 21:9, 13). A flat dough cake, something like a pancake would be placed between two layers of hot ash. This “cake baked on the coals” became unleavened, and was eaten immediately (Genesis 18: 6). Another method was to bake bread in a clay, bell-shaped oven which was partially buried in the ground, or built into a wall (Exodus 8:3; Leviticus 2: 4; 26:26; Psalm 21:9; Hosea 7:4; Matthew 6:30).

Two sorts of ovens were used, portable and fixed. These ovens could be heated by fuel consisting of stubble, grass and dry twigs (1 Kings 17:12; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 6:30). The baking pan (Leviticus 2: 5; 1 Chronicles 9:31; 23:29) was an iron griddle or flat stone. When the stone or plate was thoroughly heated the embers would be raked off and the cake lay on and covered with embers, or glowing ashes.

Today we completely fail to realize the effort entailed in making something as simple as bread…because we take it for granted. The labor and toil of making the bread nearly every single day is lost. But when done in private homes of the Bible it was the life sustenance of entire communities. Just like Jesus, the Bread of Life is the sustenance of eternal life. In our modern age we have lost the appreciation of the effort needed to make the very thing that we need to sustain us to keep us alive. Ironically, we also have moved farther away from the truth of the toil an suffering Jesus needed to go through to save us from our sins. Perhaps we should go back and revisit the old ways? Relearn that which we have lost and have no knowledge or appreciation of?

Prophegandists and The Propheganda, Part 2: Secret Words That Kill

[continued from Part 1]

As stated in the previous post, if the things I state in these two posts do not check off all the blocks for discernment....the person you’re dealing with is clearly sketchy in character and should be avoided in terms of Biblical truth and salvation. In the last post we spoke the origins of the prophet or teacher’s message and the actual message itself. In this post I’ll be discussing the remaining things that should be taken into account when trying to discern if a speaker is speaking for God or is just a godless hack.

The Position

In what position will the Prophegandist's message leave you? Would you be saved having heard it? Would it point you in that direction? Would the words if obeyed condemn you? Notice the word 'secretly' again in 2 Peter again. 

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

It’s rare for someone in church to openly deny Jesus. No, over the last few generations there has been a movement away from the centrality of Christ. I call it ‘doctrinal creep’. It is subtle and damning. That is how we ended up with the Summer of 2020 or what I call The Summer of the Social Gospel. The false teacher will speak about how other people can help change your life, but if you listen carefully to what he is saying, you will see that Jesus Christ is not essential to his message. Warnock just happened to be blatant about it four days ago on Easter. He’s such a bad false teacher that he made it easy for everyone to see. I suspect that is because the powers and principalities of this world are getting brazen and careless in their evil. The mask has been torn away and the monster underneath has been exposed.

The true Christian “escapes the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4). Listen to how Peter describes the counterfeit Christian: “They promise . . . freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity, for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him” (2 Peter 2:19). The true believer is escaping corruption, while the counterfeit believer is mastered by it.

The Character

What kind of people does the message produce? The person speaking should be embodying their own message and should be rooted in Scripture. What kind of person is delivering the message? A true prophet is friends with the poor and the powerless. A false prophet keeps company with the rich and powerful. Jesus was criticized for keeping company with tax collectors and sinners. “Put no trust in princes,” says the psalmist in Psalm 146. Prophets should not get in bed with politicians. The true believer pursues goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brother kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5). The counterfeit Christian is marked by arrogance and slander (2 Peter 2:10). They are “experts in greed” and “their eyes are full of adultery” (2 Peter 2:14). They also “despise authority” (2 Peter 2:10). This is a general characteristic of a counterfeit believer.

The Appeal

Why should you listen to the message? What redeeming value is in their message? The true prophet and teacher always appeals to Scripture.

2 Peter 1:19 “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts”

A prophegandist makes an altogether different claim to truth. Their appeal is not to God or your salvation’s sake but rather they appeal to the desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. The true teacher asks: What has God said in his Word? The prophegandist asks: “What do people want to hear? What will appeal to their base desire? What propheganda can I use to mislead them for my need(s)?

The Fruit

What result does the message have on a person’s life? What does the person’s words do, save or damn people? Do the person’s words lead to life or to death? The true believer is effective and productive in his or her knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Prophegandist will be lacking in this. Also, please note that most of the time that they speak they fail to mention the name of Christ or Jesus in their ‘spiritual diatribes’. They make a ton of promises and follow-through on little.

2 Peter 1:8-9 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

2 Peter 2:18-19 These are waterless springs [Prophegandists] and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.

The End

Where does the message ultimately lead a person? Here we find the most disturbing contrast of all. The true believer will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The false believer will experience swift destruction.

2 Peter 1:11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

The Deafening Silence

What Topics Do They Stay Silent On? Prophegandists generally never mention or call out sin. Paul’s warning about false teachers shows us how to identify them through signs other than the falsehood of the teaching itself. The first sign the Apostle gives is that false teachers serve their “own appetites.” Literally, Paul says the teachers serve their bellies. He refers here, by way of metaphor, to a lifestyle that reflects indulgence and egocentrism. Christian teachers are not prohibited from enjoying nice things, but they are prohibited from living ostentatiously—from making their paycheck their chief end in their labor. As Paul teaches elsewhere, men fit to fill the office of elder will not be lovers of money (1 Tim. 3:1-7). I cannot say this for man including Senator Warnock nor those of his ilk in Congress…or sadly the Church.

To wrap up this two part post I present to you a more specific checklist of Biblical principles for analyzing false teachers and their followers…especially their charisma or demeanor. We are often told in Protestant Christianity that baptism is an outward act or action to show what is already an inward reality. Like everything else a Prophegandist does it is a direct inverse or rip-off of Christianity in the same way the Devil mimics God. Frankly, that is where the Prophegandists power to captivate and their charisma is coming from. It is Christianity in reverse. Spiritual parasitism. Where actions like baptism are manifestation of internal fruit of true faith, the outward appearance of the false teacher and false prophets are not a projection of the inward reality. Their outward appearances are nothing more than deception and smokescreen. The outward act is nothing more than bait on a hook. Some of the things to look for in their character are…

1. There is undeniable zeal in some teachers of error. Their “earnestness” makes many people think they must be right. Zeal doesn’t equal accuracy. People can seem sincere and still be sincerely wrong.

2. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge–many think that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe to listen to. This is a fallacy called an Appeal to Authority.

3. There is a general tendency to completely free and independent thinking today–many like to prove their independence of judgment by believing the newest ideas, which are nothing but novelties. Just because you're book smart doesn't mean you have spiritual discernment or commonsense.

4. There is a wide-spread desire to appear kind, loving, and open-minded–many seem half-ashamed to say that anybody can be wrong or is a false teacher. There is a push to trans-friendly, socially conscious, etc. Even to the point of being unbiblical. We saw a lot of this last summer with BLM.

5. There is always a portion of half-truth taught by modern false teachers–they are always using scriptural words and phrases, but with unscriptural meaning. The best counterfeit is the one closest to the original but not distinguishable from it.

6. There is a public craving for a more sensational and entertaining worship–people are impatient with the more inward and invisible work of God within the hearts of men. People just love their signs and wonders.

7. There is a superficial readiness all around to believe anyone who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, forgetting that Satan often masquerades himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). 

8. There is a wide-spread ignorance among professing Christians–every heretic who speaks well is surely believed, and anyone who doubts him is called intolerant, narrow-minded and unloving. People would rather hear a flowery lie than a hard truth.

Jesus tells us that there will be many who have been involved in ministry in his name, to whom he will say, “Depart from me; I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21). Who are these people? Surely Peter is describing them in these passages I cited for these two posts?

Prophegandists and The Propheganda, Part 1: Speaking Death

I’ve written on the topic of false teachers and false prophets before. It appears I will need to do so again. It never ceases to amaze me how many right within the faith are at times clueless to what is a false teaching. The news of Raphael Warnock posting heresy warrants a refresher. Senator Warnock a supposed ‘Reverend’ of New Ebenezer Baptist church clearly stated in a tweet which he later deleted that the, “…meaning of Easter far surpasses the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the Christian Faith.” He later also stated that, “Whether you are a Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others, we are able to save ourselves.”

Let us be clear: Warnock’s statement is a complete theological fail top to bottom and everywhere in between. It's actually pretty idiotic and absurd for a person that supposedly has a theological background to have made any of these ridiculously inaccurate statements. First, nothing surpasses the glory of Christ.

Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

Secondly, nothing we do helps us save ourselves.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

What Warnock spouted was pure heresy. His statement is directly contradictory to the Gospel. But for anyone besides a learned Christian, these types of error aren’t always clear.

As Andrew Walker, the Ethics and Public Theology professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary so succinctly stated, “this [Warnock’s Tweet] is an example of basic theological liberalism that is completely at odds with the direct witness and essence of the New Testament,” adding, “There is no salvation in [the senator’s tweet] whatsoever.”

California-based Pastor Darrell B. Harrison from California was more cutting with his remarks when he argued, “This is what the heresy of liberation theology does - it reduces the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to self-salvific moralism and thereby making ourselves God.”

I will not so much analyze what Warnock said as it is so far beyond-the-pale that it does not warrant hammering him over it. I am more interested in the type of person capable of making such ridiculous statements. These snakes are often hard to spot until they stumble over a critical doctrine long after they’ve hooked listeners by tickling their ears. I will attempt to illustrate the type of people and their characteristics that deserve the moniker false teacher, false prophet or what I now coin as Prophegandists spreading propheganda.

First and foremost a true prophet will believe that at the center of Christianity is Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. In His death, the Son of God became the substitutionary atonement for humanity, bearing the weight of our sins - the judgment of God - for us. Three days later, in His resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death, granting those who accept salvation unrestrained access to God. All this is in accord with Scripture.

False prophets are more prominent in today’s age of tolerance and rebellion against God. We now live in a culture that is eager for an easy religion - one that requires no effort and offers no consequences. This generation more than any other wants to live however they’d like, without boundaries or authority.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of teachers and preachers eager to give the people what they want to hear—and usually, they end up making a hefty chunk of money doing it. No prophet in the Scriptures was ever rich. “What did you go out to the desert to see?” asks Jesus about John the Baptist in Luke’s Gospel. “Someone dressed in fine garment. Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces.” A true prophet does not get rich speaking for God.

Since people like lists I will construct this post as a check-off list. In a way that it gives a reader the ability to determine if a person is truly speaking of real Christianity and biblical truth. Conversely, if these items don’t get checked off the person you’re dealing with has the type of character like Senator Warnock’s (I refuse to call him a Reverend) who will say anything to ingratiate themselves to their listeners. First, we should consider the content of the message. At a secondary level we need to look at the character of the messenger because if the message the messenger is carrying is the truth they will have embodied that message. The message they carry will have changed them.

The Source

Where does the message come from? For whom does the messenger speak? The job of the prophet is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable with the Word of God. Prophegandists tell their congregations what they want to hear. We can see some pastors and reverends fawning over political leaders as others challenge them to protect the marginalized and serve the common good. A prophet who ignores the sins of his friends is a prophet for a party, not for God. A prophet that puts party before mercy and grace is of their father the Devil. The false teacher literally makes it up as they go.

2 Peter 1:16 “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”

2 Peter 2:1, 3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction… And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

The Message

What is the substance of their message? How do they speak? Do their words align with Scripture? The words of a prophet can and usually ring with righteous anger but not with hate. The prophet must condemn exploitation but have compassion for sinners. If there is no love in the prophet’s voice, then he does not speak with the voice of God. There is a difference between zeal and zealous hatred. A true prophet speaks only after listening and praying in God's Word.

Religion can be a political prop or a prophetic voice. History should teach religious leaders not to get in bed with political leaders. I've spoken against this many times. Religious and political leaders can work together for the common good, but they should be enriching the community, not each other. A prophet can speak courageously about issues, but when he starts endorsing political parties and candidates, he is no longer speaking for God.

When it comes to propheganda, what matters is not really the form of the words spoken but their content and the intent behind them. Sometimes truth must be presented with harsh words, but often it can be conveyed with gentleness. Similarly, words of praise do not have to be insincere. Whether we are teachers or not, let us seek to speak only the truth, and let us do so with the gentleness or firmness the occasion requires.

Do they massage their words or use smooth talk and flattery? This is what the Apostles condemned as dishonest speech. Deceptions and heresies usually hidden within flattering comments and words that praise people for the sake of their approval and not because there is genuine sentiment behind it. False teachers use words to attract and retain others, not for the sake of Christ...but for their own sake.

The Bible is clear on this point too. We need only Christ and His Word. Anything else is death. Prophegandists speak death because they are not speaking the words of life from Scripture.

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence

In short, they’re driven by profit and fame, selfish motives driven by the flesh. Underneath all the flash and bang is evil and the Devil. Sadly, some are doing it unwittingly because they’ve been blinded by their own sin.

[Completed in Part 2]

Mind The Gap

I believe what we’ve been seeing lately in the world is the barrier between the world and the demonic is coming down. The division, disunity, selfishness, violence, conflict, etc. The gap is narrowing and something is managing to get across to our side. A gap that should've been widened to a chasm is now merely a small crack. I suspect many on this side are helping the nefarious to cross over too. More and more we see people through their behavior and thinking are acting as conduits to pull down the wall between these realms. At the core I believe America’s rejection of Christ’s lordship is the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial hatred, moral decay, drug abuse and outbreaks of deadly viruses and diseases in our society (pestilence).

Lawmakers, politicians, judges, educators, and the media have made God an unspeakable subject. Even in prisons, there is a ban on religious mottos, including the Ten Commandments. The biggest issue to me though is that many of our churches no longer exalt Christ as Lord and king. The very people that are to be salt and light to the world pulling people back from the edge of condemnation are actually pushing people into the abyss with the demonic. In turn they are destroying most of what calls itself the Church in the process.

Christ-less Christianity is a watered-down version of Christianity that is quickly replacing doctrinal purity while professing itself to be biblical. Christ-less Christianity presents the Bible as if it were a mere collection of anecdotes or fables—a bunch of unrelated stories with a moral teaching at the end of each. Such an approach ignores the grand theme of Scripture—God’s redemption of sinful mankind—and the centrality of Christ in Scripture. Rather than creating self-denying disciples (Matthew 28:19), the message of Christ-less Christianity creates adherents who are “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power,” as 2 Timothy 3:4–5 says. As the church has felt the need to meet the culture where it is at, the church has left biblical truth far behind. This has been especially evident in the political left-leaning 'Christians' linking themselves to the Social Gospel and the political right-leaning 'Christians' tying themselves to conservative messianic figures like Trump (Cyrus).

The Bible indicates that there will be a great apostasy during the end times. The “great apostasy” or the “great falling away’ is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…

The ESV says rebellion when translating apostasia/ἀποστασία. That’s what apostasy is... a rebellion. People will abandon the truth. The end times will include a wholesale rejection of God’s revelation and a further “falling away” of an already fallen world. In the context of this passage it isn’t just the world falling away either. It is implied that the Church will also. It is this passage more than any other in Scripture that directly implicates the Church by the use of the word apostasy. By definition an apostasy is a departure, an abandoning of a position formerly held. The whole of mankind will rebel against God and it will be the church that leads the way by the abandonment of the truth of Scripture and of God. The general consensus will essentially be: "If the church doesn't believe in God, why should I?"

In so doing, this sets the stage for more horrendous evil to come after. The one's responsible for teaching people the things of salvation and life will, in reality, be teaching destruction and death. We are now unequivocally witnessing the people falling away. In so doing the only barrier between much of the world and evil is being cast aside…Jesus Christ. In a race to the bottom the apostates are inviting the demonic directly into their lives and everyone else's. Hence the chaos we see now in America.

Because man has rejected the truth of God’s Word, man has been given over to a reprobate mind that seeks self-gratification over responsibility to others (Romans 1:24-32). Even our national leaders now model this behavior. We have the scandalous behavior of former Presidents followed by a widespread acceptance of sin by Americans. We are seeing the results of that reprobate mind with the increased acceptance of gender roll confusion of male and female, abortion, euthanasia, destruction of the family unit, drugs, crime, rebellion and every evil imagined by the heart of man.

A division has formed within the nation along political, ideological and spiritual lines. It is a battle-line and the final battlefront. There is increasing violence surrounding what should be peaceful protests. Militant protesters on both sides of the debate are arriving at what should be a nonviolent protest armed with bricks, sticks, guns, riot gear, mace, shields, blinding lasers, bleach bottles, balloons filled with feces and urine and improvised flamethrowers. The law enforcement agencies stand down and allow it for fear of having another George Floyd / Derek Chauvin incident or by direct order of their ‘superiors’. So-called leaders that are suppose to lead but are not. In some cases they are adding to the evil thinking they are doing good. Such is the reasoning of a sick mind. Given over to its own stupidity. Chaos therefore reigns in what used to be a nation of law and order. America like ancient Israel slowly shuffles towards it's own purging fire of judgment.

Ezekiel 5:16-17 When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

In Ezekiel above we see God sending judgment like arrows of destruction upon Israel and each arrow will be its own form of punishment. In this passage we see various forms of penalty against various forms of sin. Every sin will be addressed in its own time by God with every judgment  inflicted. Through disease, violence, hunger, or some other method, every sinner shall become an object on which holy wrath will fall in greater or less heaviness. Multifold sufferings will come because of multifold sins. In other words, the punishment isn’t coming to us…it’s already here. The violence and divisions we see are part of the punishments that overtake any nation that is brazen enough to rebel against God.

In Ezekiel we see the judgment that befalls a nation in direct disobedience to God. A nation who had once obeyed but was then in open revolt against God. In America we see mass shootings and murder that are happening almost weekly and even a daily basis. They are part of the fourfold judgment of God upon America. The displays of senseless destruction, violence, murder, and mayhem we have witnessed city to city in the past year alone are part of that judgment upon us all. God is allowing a new phase of demonic activity upon this country and it is going to continue to escalate in the coming years as God continues to judge our nation. The direct equivalent of judgment will correlate to the amount of evil God sees and then must judge….just as it was in Ezekiel’s time.

The immoral corporate news media sanitizes its coverage of the vile acts occurring in our cities and only reports on a very few of them when it suits their narrative. We see the overrunning of Washington DC on January 6th in the media ad nauseum but since Summer of 2020 we have heard little of the ruinous heap downtown Portland has become. Vast numbers of senseless acts of violence go unreported because their reality would be too graphic for a national audience. Chicago black-on-black murder for instance. The numbers are just too staggering to absorb.

2 Timothy 3:1-7 But understand this, that yin the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

The word abusive ἀνήμεροι / anemeroi above literally means brutal or savage like an animal. The implication meaning the people involved are without feeling, remorse or a moral conscience. They would be haters of good. They hate those who tell them they cannot pursue their sins, kill their children in abortions or destroy lives abusing drugs.

Our city streets are war zones. Many of them are unsafe even in daytime. A spirit of lawlessness has manifested itself across America and has spread to younger and younger groups. People are becoming hard-hearted, worldly, and violent. The depth of the problem has reached a point where common decency can no longer be described as 'common'. Decency is the exception not the rule. Somehow a traditional values system got disconnected for a disturbing number of Americans. The fruit from the American tree is stunted and bitter because the tree it comes from is dying.

Public order is disappearing and crime is rampant. Virtually all perverted sinful behavior people engage in is now categorized under normal behavior. That which was once considered a mental disorder and sin is now categorized as acceptable. The lunatics infiltrated the field of psychology and overturned it. The inmates have overrun the asylum.

Due to all these things occurring a door has now opened for more sins. The veil between the demonic and the natural world has been torn down. It has to have become pretty bad when even my non-believing friends are beginning to see the alarming absurdity of the violence and immorality. Something evil this way comes. The armies of Hell are pouring through the cracks rent in the seams of reality.

Through the fissure every form of unspeakable evil is gaining a foothold. Twenty years ago we would have been appalled and outraged by the decadence and debauchery that fills our streets, TV shows, movies, music and art, video games, businesses, and political bodies. But today many wouldn't even give it a second thought. 

At this point we can only stem the tide of evil for those we love by standing in the gaps and defending our homes and loved ones from the hellborn horde charging out of the fiery breach that is opening in all of our lives. How we defend against will be the difference between eternal life or condemnation. The Word of God is the place to start. Turn back before its to late or abandon hope all ye who enter.