THE UN-CIVIL WAR

America is in a war.  It's getting rather un-civil these days.  Perhaps the fight isn't as uncivil as the things for which we fight.  This is a spiritual war, to be sure.  And it is all about the "right" (not freedom) to be uncivil.  For instance, the rights being demanded on one side alone are wicked - and deadly.  Abortion.  Euthanasia.  Cop-killing.  Rape.  Etc.

I know, you say the last two are not what people are fighting for.  But is that really the case?  Aren't people, by using these methods and demanding impunity for them, fighting for the right to practice them toward whomever they choose at the moment?  Right now, it's in vogue to kill cops and rape conservative women.  Muslims demand to be able to rape any non-Muslim woman they choose.  Yes, this is all pretty uncivil. 

But to make matters worse, protections are being stripped away.  The death of Justice Antonin Scalia, America's staunchest advocate for constructionist interpretation of the Constitution, removed a huge pillar of protection in the fabric of American government.  Rumors of foul play surround his death - and for good reason.  The timing, the actions taken since his death, and the political goals of his adversaries have converged to tell a story that deserves investigation, yet receives cover-up.  If he was murdered, the un-civil war has reached new heights (or lows).  Protections at the nation's highest court are lost as the balance of the justices swings decidedly left in his absence.  Accountability toward those who will use any means of thuggery to advance their agendas (as opposed to legal, above board means) disappears.  And the un-civil war rages on. 

It might seem like this battle is lost.  Indeed, insofar as life on earth is concerned, it may be.  But that doesn't mean Christians should give up.  Our prayers for revival have been answered.  It is not going to happen.  However, that doesn't mean our friends and neighbors won't turn to Christ, won't be saved, and won't die hopelessly like the rest of America.  It does mean that the battle will be costlier toward Christians.  Rather than simply being marginalized, we will be attacked.  We won't just be ostracized, we will be persecuted.  Eventually, we will be hunted for extermination as in the Middle East and Africa today. But, we don't fear those who can kill the body - we fear the one who can kill the body AND the soul!  For those who don't know, that's God!  We fear God. 

The un-civil life America has chosen will be our nation's doom - and that is God's declaration, not mine.  It might not be popular, but it is powerful - because God is all-powerful.  Unbelief doesn't make it go away or stop it from happening.  God has already declared the condition of the end, and America is making that happen - even as we slide further from civilization into an uncivil society.  God said, "Sin is a reproach to any nation."  Our land won't heal because the only hope of healing comes from God - and we have rejected that course of action.  Rather than move toward civility, we move toward un-civility.  And the war to do so rages - with all forces arrayed against all who would oppose that move. 

Christians, our answer is not in our government.  It lies with our God.  Our hope is not in revival, but in the resurrection.  Earthly life will not get better.  But Eternal life will.  We must look forward, and live above our circumstances until the day of redemption arrives.  It will come.  The author of our faith - Jesus Christ - will also finish it in His perfect time.  Until that day, let us stand up and serve Him today!

AMERICA: RECOGNIZE YOUR REAL ENEMY

As I sit down to write this blog post, I do so with great trepidation.  Why?  Because our country is so divided right now.  I hope to shed some light on why, but I want to say up front that I am very well aware that I have friends who have politically, theologically, and/or are racially different from me - and I value my friends - even in spite of any differences we may have.  With our hypersensitivities, we are insulted these days way too easily.  We don't take an honest look at things and discuss them in such a way that we value our friendships more than our personal perspectives.  

I also know that my little readership is likely not going to share my blog post too far.  Fortunately, that means that few people I DON'T know will enter the discussion; and unfortunately, few will likely benefit from it (if any benefit may be forthcoming).  But for those who care,  I will proceed.

Our nation's problems, at the deepest level, come from a worldview divide.  That divide is deep.  Our solutions are dependent upon our worldview, and when our solutions collide, it is directly related to our worldview collision.  Unfortunately for our nation, we have splintered into far too may differing worldviews to find an acceptable middle ground - or means of arriving at solutions to our modern-day national struggles. Sometimes, the worldviews are so opposite there is no compromise possible.  How we got to this point is a history lesson, and would take too long for me to put that into this post.

THEOLOGICAL WORLDVIEWS

At the core of everyone's worldview is his theology.  In our day of individualism, theological worldviews are becoming many and widely variant.  There's no way to address them all, so I'll lump a few together in my discussion of them.

There are, as I see it, the following theological worldviews:  Theism, Atheism, Mysticism, and naturalism.  Within each of these three worldviews come a myriad of variants.  For instance, Christianity and Islam are both theistic, but widely different.  Christianity itself has differing worldviews.  Evangelicals take the Bible pretty literally.  Liberal denominations are often more in line with secular humanism couched in Christian terminology.  Buddhism and Hinduism may be similar mystical worldviews, yet the afterlife concepts can vary widely.  Native American animalists are part of the naturalistic worldview that depends on nature, but many secular humanists hold worldview ideas regarding the animal aspects of humanity.   Atheism varies only somewhat, and for the purposes of this discussion (I'm not being dogmatic about it), includes gnostic and agnostics as well. 

We cannot claim that America is a people of any of these worldviews predominantly.  We do not hold a national theological worldview.  That directly affects the solutions we propose and the ones we will accept.  It also means that the political process of finding the acceptable compromises we need to face our challenges takes longer than we have because those challenges are changing too quickly.  Before we've solved the first, a second and possibly third has become urgent.

POLITICAL WORLDVIEWS

Our nation is also divided politically - and I don't mean Democrat vs. Republican vs. Independent.  We also have Constitutionalists, Tea Party, and rapidly becoming a significant portion of our country's population - Muslims (who believe that their theology should be law of the land - Sharia Law).  It has always been tough trying to solve the political problems of our day when we were purely a two-party nation.  But, try as we might, we are becoming more fragmented than that.  The variety of theological differences is working out into a variety of political differences - so much so that we cannot compromise.  No faithful Muslim would ever compromise in the first place; patiently endure something else while working for national Sharia, they may do.  Constitutionalists are diametrically opposed to liberals regarding the 1st and 2nd Amendments - while some liberals want the entire Constitution abolished.  We also have Socialists, Communists, and fascists among our population.  The upheaval is huge, and unity seems so very far away.

HISTORY VS. CONTEMPORARY

It hasn't always been this way.  Our nation was founded at a time when Christianity was so prevalent that the Judeo-Christian ethic of right and wrong was nearly universal.  The ten commandments were seen as beneficial for any society - especially one that was just taking off.  When the issue of slavery became a national conversation, coupled with expansion, our nation soon found herself in war.  During the reconstruction years and into the industrial era of our country, a second Great Awakening occurred, and whatever slide from committed Christianity we may have faced during the early to mid-1800's was becoming increasingly either evangelical Christian or secular.  The drive for money soon grew until the bubble burst during the Great Depression.  Then our nation began to see that materialism is not as important as survival.  Uniting our nation was the Second World War.  America - military as well as civilian - went to battle together against common enemies.  Our neighbors became essential to national and global survival.  If a person didn't fight overseas, they worked to manufacture equipment for those who did.  The whole country entered the fight.  Never since have we fought as a nation.  

Now we fight by sending our military while we try to remain self-centered back home.  Now, we have those in power trying to remove any conversation of a God from the public square - especially evangelical conversation: Bibles, Jesus, heaven, hell.  Our nation is trying to turn on its Christians.  The Judeo-Christian ethic is giving way to the new morality - eroticism and liberalism.  The battle for predominance is in full swing here in the USA.  But there is one more battle taking over our land - Sharia Law.  Sharia Law is opposed to the Judeo-Christian ethic, and encourages overthrow at all costs - violent when possible, more subtle approaches when it is not.  The Sharia-proponent considers all non-Sharia proponents to be "infidels" who are targeted for extermination.  That puts the humanist, mystic, atheist, or theist (non-Muslim) at odds with Sharia.  Unfortunately for America, the subtlety of Sharia-proponents includes lies that they really want peace.  The liberals and too many Constitutionalists find their world-views working against them.  The other theists (Christians, Jews, etc.) all differ in their solutions.  Therefore, the only thing left is the continued Shia advancement - via violent or other means.  Until our nation faces our enemies together, we cannot win.  But America must come together.  We must first acknowledge our enemies.  If we continue to battle over just WHO our enemies are, we render ourselves incapable of defending ourselves. 

America, we may not agree on much - but can we at least agree that those who support and seek to advance Sharia Law are our enemies?  They have declared WE are theirs!  And they have said they wish to kill us.  If we don't acknowledge this, all that is left is for us to lay down to be slaughtered.  When we agree on who our enemies are, then we will be able to identify them if they are foreign OR domestic - and defeat them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I know my readers likely know I am a Christian - an evangelical Christian.  I have learned first-hand that these issues have a root far deeper than mere religion or politics.  That root is called "Sin" in the Bible.  Sin comes in many forms.  A simple definition of sin is "that which is against the nature or will of God."  Mankind is born sinful - we naturally do and think that which is against the nature or will of God.  Mankind, according to the Bible, must be born again by faith in Jesus Christ.  The person who puts their trust in Christ will find their wants changing from doing what our feelings or cravings push us to do to doing what our Lord wants us to do.  We who experience that change of desire are experiencing the new life that comes through Jesus Christ.  Our works/deeds don't save us; Jesus does.  

When our nation - filled with states, communities, families, and individuals - once again has enough people who have experienced that new life through Jesus Christ, we will once again become unified theologically and more unified politically (there will always be some disagreement about solutions to problems in a country).  We will have made a choice to reject Islam.  We will recognize that our real enemy is really sin - in all its forms: theological, political, and social.  We will again be one nation.

Will YOU accept Jesus Christ as YOUR Savior over YOUR sin today?

WHEN FEAR AND FAITH CAN COEXIST

Today, I'm writing because my heart is very heavy for our nation.  Fear and faith usually do not co-exist, but in a sense, they are both present in my heart right now.  I fear for the future of our nation if our current course is not diverted and reversed.  I have faith that, should Americans decide to turn from this current course, our future will be brighter than ever.  Outside of the Bible, I cannot comprehend what is happening to our nation - or why.  But within the pages of the Bible likes not only a plausible, but completely rational explanation.  The Bible even explains why our nation - and our world - will not awaken to even examine the explanation it gives.

Our nation is a Constitutional Republic.  However, the forces of liberalism are beginning to rise through academia and politics to the point of revolution - overturning our Constitutional republic into something more like a democratic socialism - which is really anarchy and cannot withstand the hypocrisy of such an arrangement.  

Fueling this coming revolution is a devaluing of life: first the unborn, next the elderly, next those in authority.  The French Revolution and the bloodthirsty mindset that accompanied and enabled it comes to mind.  We are not far from that.  It is more than political choices.  It is a silencing of opposition while at the same time, throwing all caution to the gallows.  Mindless, illogical approaches to everything in order to satisfy the selfish lusts and evil characters are the order of the day.  Anyone or anything that would even cause pause to think is considered an assault on progress.  But it is a progress toward self-destruction.

There was a recent episode on Animal Planet of the show called "Monsters Inside Me" where a young boy (7 or 8 years old) was consumed by a brain-eating amoeba.  The amoeba entered through the nasal passages, and went straight to the brain, consuming the cells one by one.  Ninety-eight percent of patients infected by this amoeba die.  Why?  Because the body's natural defenses are not allowed to cross the "blood-brain barrier."  Natural defenses of reason, logic, compassion, and discussion are not allowed to cross the "politically correct" barrier in our society, allowing the parasitic liberal ideology to consume our country one young person at a time until the entire student body is devastated and unable to cope.  Soon, there's nothing left but death in its wake.

Our nation survived this before.  In the 1960's & 70's, the liberal movement rose to a clamor, but was suppressed by those in authority.  With that failure, the movement simply went underground.  Now, those in authority ARE those who failed in the 60's and 70's.  So when the liberal academics instigate a new generation of people to rise up, the authorities encourage it rather than stand against it.  

We, who see what is happening, must take a stand with our children or we have little hope in the future.  Our stand is truly the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have to return to the Bible.  The hope of mankind is a hope that gives us peace on earth, and the assurance that Divine Judgment has already been passed, whereby our sins were laid on Jesus at the Cross of Calvary.  Our hope is that we who follow Christ, will not fear death, but live in faithful, courageous obedience to Christ in a time when the flesh is ruling the world.  Our hope is that, when our bodies are allowed to perish, our souls will live forever with our Savior who promised such to us.  Our stand is not a war of guns, but a war of the spirit.  Our weapons are not bullets, they are Truth and Righteousness.  Our shield is faith, and our Swords are Scripture.  Great is the Faithfulness of the Lord.  Our nation is facing the turmoil and devastation that naturally results when the Living God of Heaven is denied so violently.  His glorious nation has turned her backs on Him, and He on her.  Let us fall prostrate again at the feet of Christ in humble repentance, and again submit ourselves to His ways, and we will be lifted out of this chaos into peace and hope!

Yes, As I See It, Fear and Faith CAN coexist in a single heart.  Let's all start to fear our future unless our Faith becomes our present!

INVERTING RIGHT AND WRONG

I know it's been quite a while since my last post.  I've been extremely busy taking care of family - vacations, projects, and many other things.  I've also been helping our church with our Vacation Bible School - by leading it.  I am Bi-vocational - at least I have another part-time job as well to supplement our income - and have also been busy during "down-times" with that.  I'm back today, taking time out of other needed things to post this.  I only hope it makes someone think about their position.  Nevertheless, things have gotten to the point that I need to "vent" on some things, and so I must post this - As I See It.

Morality in America is inverted, and it has been for quite some time.  People are posting the craziest things on Facebook, the MSM (Main Stream Media) reports from the most inverted value system I've ever seen, and our governmental leaders are more out of touch with reality than ever before.  Today, I just want to publish a bullet list of these inversions.

• A marine defends himself and others under fire by returning fire on a Muslim extremist seeking to kill them.  He is under investigation and threatened with imprisonment for firing a weapon on a military installation. He is a field grade officer charged with leading and caring for his men and women.
• A protected lion is killed and the world wants his killer caught, extradited, and punished while an entire business is thriving based on the murder, dismemberment, and sale of body parts is protected by MSM and liberal congressional representatives.
• The police are encouraged and honored for their "undercover sting operations" against organized crime mobs, drug rings, etc., while a citizen's group is denigrated as "biased" for conducting its own "undercover sting operation" revealing indisputable proof that criminal conduct is taking place daily in a taxpayer-funded business that sells baby body parts for profit.  
• Police officers who, in the line of duty, have to physically take down a criminal that will not submit are considered racist if the criminal is black and the cop is white.  
• Police officers who, in the line of duty, must use deadly force to apprehend a criminal that is black, are called "killer cops," while nothing is said in the MSM when a "cop killer" uses deadly force to resist apprehension.
• License and Liberty are now synonymous, meaning that freedom (liberty) guaranteed by the Constitution offers complete legal, social, and governmental protection to all who seek an immoral lifestyle (license) regardless of who it may offend, and that protection will include the removal of all who protest for any reason.  This is done through the IRS, FBI, MSM, SCOTUS, POTUS, HSA, BATF, and politically correct liberal professors throughout our land.  
• Criminals have guns, politicos have people with guns to protect them from criminals, and citizens may not defend themselves from neither - the criminal or the overpowering politico.

And the list goes on.  Those in favor of these inversions are also in favor of these perversions.  Our very nation's foundation, the Constitution, is threatened by the ideologies that are behind these inversions.  That, in itself, is the most dangerous of inversions today, with one exception.

• The Bible-believing Christian is now considered as dangerous to our nation as a Muslim Extremist, if not more so - a belief held by those who support the inversions mentioned above.  Why?
• Because the Bible-believer has a moral foundation not found in the immoral, godless, inverted beliefs of others.
• Because the Bible-believer will vote and stand for right and wrong, constitutionally based policies, and demand justice in the case of these inversions.  This threatens the agenda of these liberal, godless, immoral power-hungry people.
• Because the Bible-believer offers a real remedy through peaceful means as the gospel demands.  This is effective beyond the wildest imaginations of the power-hungry, immoral liberals.  Therefore, they must be ostracized, outlawed, and outcast before they actually can influence the masses under the control and sway of the liberal MSM, politicos, and educators.

Ronald Regan's Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork, is quoted as saying, "A society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable."  He has hit the nail on the head, and explains what is happening in America today.  He also hints at the answer.

I was asked the other day what I thought was wrong with America.  I was asked by someone who is very conservative - but NOT a Bible-believer.  My answer was simple: We have removed God from the American Marketplace.  Too many people no longer trust the Bible, God, or Jesus Christ.  Instead, each does what is right in his own eyes, thinking that freedom is license to serve self at all costs.  But God says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)  If we will not acknowledge the righteousness set forth by God, we will become a nation that sins in the sight of God - and we will be come a reproach to all people.  That is why "our enemies no longer fear us and our friends no longer trust us."  We have left the God who has blessed us, and we expect Him to continue to bless us for leaving Him.  "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalms 14:1; 53:1).  

Because America has inverted its allegiance to the One True God and Savior of Mankind, America can no longer help but invert its understanding of right and wrong.  Each person will do what is right in his own eyes, having no understanding of the consequences.  Unless we return to the foundation of justice, mercy, Truth, and eternity found in the Bible, we will only drift further from sanity.  That's America As I See It.

WHAT HAPPENED TO INDEPENDENCE DAY?

Today is "Independence Day."  Did you know that?  Social media, TV media, and print media have re-named the day to "Fourth of July."  No longer do we say "Happy Independence Day; now we say "Happy Fourth of July."  Is there any significance to that?  

As I See It, there is. 

Before you go too far, my son called me a "pessimist" last night, so I will be cautious about being "pessimistic" and try harder to be "realistic" - which is what I would describe myself.  

Back to the significance of the holiday name change.  

Where We Came From
It was the desire for independence from governmental and religious tyranny that sent our settlers this way from Europe.  In a single document signed by men who would sacrifice their lives, fortunes, and families to ensure freedom to govern themselves according to the ways they saw fit, these men declared independence from England's rule.  That document started a war!  The men who signed it and their supporters won.  A new constitution resulted - but could not be ratified until the first five amendments were in place.  Our new nation was born to protect free speech, religious liberty, and the right to keep and bear arms.

Where We Are
Our society JUST celebrated a flawed move by our Supreme Court to declare same-sex marriage to be legal and recognized by all 50 states based on a twisted reading of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.  In that decision, faith groups will now be required to face consequences - social or financial - for disagreeing with this decision and refusing to recognize or perform same-sex marriages.  Businesses can not take a stand on the issue without being declared bigoted and be forced to pay huge fines that would put them out of business.  Bottom line - the religious liberty and freedom of speech promised by the first amendment are no longer in effect.  They have effectively removed the 1st amendment from protecting anyone.  Our ability to lay open the sins of our government and make them accountable is dwindling because the government can now silence speech.  The recipe is there, and more will be forthcoming, As I See It.  (I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic.  it is the trend.)

In addition, there is a growing challenge by the government to persuade the citizenry to give up their guns.  An effort to have the 2nd amendment (promising the right to keep and bear arms) overthrown is afoot among us as well.  It was this very right that enabled our nation to become a nation in the first place.  And a growing number of Americans still want that freedom today!  

And so we are subtly, year-by-year, renaming our holiday that should celebrate our nation's birth.  We no longer mention much our foundations - for our media, government, and increasing numbers in our country want a nation with a different foundation.  

• We want to remove the ability of our citizens to protect themselves from armed attackers. 
• We want to remove the mention of "God" from the public square.  (Even our President Obama wants to "help us overcome our religious views.")
• We want to remove the ability of the press and the citizenry to speak their mind and tell the truth if the government wants the people to hear a lie.
• We want to remove our historical "flags" when it is convenient to take the conversation off the real issue.  (The effort to "ban" the confederate flag across the land.)
• We want to take away the police' ability to enforce the law by declaring them to be the bad guys when they do so firmly (and sometimes resulting in the death of a criminal citizen). 
• We want to re-write history and put our founding fathers in a bad light. (As if this one doesn't best explain our re-naming of our holiday!)  

America seems to be trying to shun its heritage in order to turn her path toward a failed future.  Cultures and countries that have already gone where we are heading, embraced the values we are embracing, forsaking the morals we are forsaking are all in decline.  Our president doesn't even want America to be the greatest nation in the world anymore.  He wants to apologize for being that in the past.  And too many of my countrymen are willing to endorse this!  

In the process of changing directions, we have ...

• Forsaken the blood of those who died to keep our country strong
• Forsaken the blood of Christ who died to enable our country to exist
• Forsaken the faith of those who gave so much to make our country in the first place
• Forsaken the faith of those who went before us to make us "one nation under God."

As Ronald Reagan is credited with saying, "A nation that is not under God is a nation that has gone under."

As I See It, America needs to return to some things if we hope to make any REAL progress.  We need our freedoms again.  We need our "Independence Day" again.  And we need to get rid of "the Fourth of July."  We might celebrate on 7/4, but we must never forget why!  As I See It, this is INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Your comments are always welcome!  Happy Independence Day!

WITHOUT CHANGE, YOU ARE PART OF THE DECLINE OF AMERICA – AND SO AM I

It is happening right in front of us.  You are watching it happen.  You may even be a part of the process.  I’m talking about the fall of a nation.  Gumby used to say, “I have found the enemy, and he is us.”  We are all willing and unwilling participants in the fall of the United States of America.  And that has been the plan for our nation for some time now.

The first part of the fall of the USA is when the nation was truly divided.  We were no longer the United States of America.  We went to war over issues that divided us.  I’m not pro-slavery in any fashion.  But I AM a patriot, and I want our nation to remain UNITED.  To remain united, we need to deal with some deeply divisive issues.  We can’t do that by disrespecting one another, ostracizing one another, or marginalizing one another.  Those things divide, they do not unite.  Disagreements can best be handled by “agreeing to disagree” and pressing forward together.

However, in a nation, it is a bit more complicated than that.  Agreeing to disagree takes a great deal of help when two parties, states, or regions of the country have world-views that are polar opposites.  It is very hard to do when two parties, states, or regions cannot even agree about what the problem is, much less the solution.  Let me give you an example.  The Christian believes that there is a God, He sent His Son to die to save man from his sin, and he rose again from the grave to return again in glory.  The Atheist, agnostic, Gnostic, alternative religion, and the humanist all disagree with this perspective.  The Christian sees the division problem as stemming from Satan, who is the spirit-leader opposing God and His plans.  All others deny Satan’s existence and so his methods as surely as they deny God and His ways.  These beliefs go to the core of those who hold them.  Agreeing to disagree does not help us move any closer to solutions agreeable to both parties.  The Christian solution is offensive to the others; and vice versa, the others offend the Christian.  Both hold their views as TRUTH.  And they are willing to die for it.  That does not bring unity.

So unity in our country needs something else.  We have a Constitution born out of compromise and conviction.  Before ratification, it was amended five times.  We call those amendments the “Bill of Rights.”  Now, our nation stands on the brink of destroying those “rights,” rejecting our Constitution.  If our nation’s highest court does so, it will pull the yarn of our nation apart, unraveling our unity by destroying our foundation, like a knitted sweater, row by row, coming apart and leaving a ball of string without form or usefulness.

And we all play a part of this destruction. We are politically correct, and so afraid to “offend anyone” except those who we have socially deemed worthy of offending (Christians, conservatives, and constitutionalists).  We are trusting our biased media to tell us the truth, allowing our ideologies to be shaped by their twisted truth rather than insisting we hear both sides before coming to conclusions.  We are voting for politicians who will promise things to benefit our pockets knowing that for every dollar they put in, they take two more as a means of providing the one for everyone.  We are easily distracted from the truth by knee-jerk reactions rather than measured analysis of crises.  We have lost our will to succeed, work hard, and thrive.  Instead, we have gotten lazy and expect others to do for us, to live off the government dole.  We hate the word “discipline.”  It means we choose what to do without: entertainments, excitements, etc.  Discipline means saying “NO” to ourselves as we choose the best over the good.  Our education policies reflect a “dumbing down” rather than a disciplined approach to learning that served our fore-fathers very well.  Our reliance on technology to do what we used to do the “old-fashioned way” will cripple us if our energy sources ever dry up.  We destroy our families by redefining marriage, aborting our children, euthanizing our parents, and legalizing drugs.  We have forgotten the heart of man and fight among ourselves over flags after a senseless, racist massacre by one man in one town, in a single church.  We are outraged over any harm done to animals while we destroy one another in bitterness, anger, and hatred or we butcher our babies in the womb for no reason at all.  When we disagree with these things, we turn a blind eye to them and go on as though they don’t happen.  But we all contribute at some point or another. 

When one side stands and declares “these things ought not to be,” the other side tries to ostracize, criticize, demoralize, belittle, denigrate and destroy them for calling them out.  Taking sides based on popularity rather than common sense only exacerbates the problem.  We are divided.  And Divided we fall!  We cannot stand unless we stand together.  Clearly, we are NOT doing that.  And so we will, as a nation, fall.  We all are watching it happen.  And we all are contributing – unless we start working together to deal with our problems as a nation, as states, as communities, and as citizens.  Let’s return to statesmanship, respect, and integrity in every aspect of our lives.  And let’s not wait until our neighbor does it.  Let us EACH choose NOW to be the time we do it ourselves.  I, Greg Yount, commit to being this kind of American.  Will you, too?

And that’s America, As I See It.  Your comments are welcome, appreciated, and invited.  

THE TWISTED GOSPEL OF "IDENTITY" LOGIC AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., this morning on his "Briefing," discussed two articles in the New York Times: 1) The New Girl in School: Transgender Surgery at 18 and 2) Rachel Dolezal, in Center of Storm, is Defiant: I Identify as Black


Mohler wisely shares how these stories are linked. He points his listeners to the idea that in the case of the transgender, their "identity" supersedes their biology. The same is true in cases of racial "identity" as in Rachel Dolezal's case. The difference right now is social acceptability. Sexual identity that runs counter to biology is acceptable. Racial identity that runs counter to biology is not. But that may be changing. The logic of both are the same - and that logic is a fallacy that goes back to the Bible. It is a twist on the gospel and it is evidence of the fallen nature of humanity in need of the true salvation that can only come from the Divine Transformation God provides to the Believer through His Holy Spirit at the point of faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Please, let me explain.

The Beginning
When Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden, they were deceived into believing that God somehow was withholding something good: the knowledge of good and evil. Satan convinced Eve to eat the fruit which would bring this knowledge to her. It did, indeed. It revealed to her that she was not good, but evil, having disobeyed her creator. Not to be undone or left alone in her fallen state, she convinced the only other person alive, her partner, to join her by also eating the fruit. When they were both aware of their sin and nakedness, they hid from God.

And hiding from God is what these who hold to "Identity" logic do. They refuse to obey God, accept God's authority, or live by the "identity" God gave them as man or woman, black or white (or any other race one wants to shed). Identity logic states that with modern technology, what is biological need not be undone. Humanity can manipulate what God has created. Genetic research allows genetic manipulation and can make a man become woman, a pale-skinned person become darker, etc. Humanity, hiding from God, insists that there is no accountability for this rebellion, for they are so hidden from God in their hearts, that they declare God to be dead. In reality, it is THEY who are dead to God. They cannot respond to Him in any way; they cannot see Him, hear Him, observe His hand in creation, etc. They are separated from God.

The Gospel of God and Jesus Christ
The gospel says that mankind is a sinner. Everyone is a sinner. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). And "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). But "God is not willing that any should perish, but come to repentance" (2Pe 3:9) and so He has given the "gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ" (Rom 6:23). The problem is that with repentance comes belief in Jesus Christ as Lord (John 3:16). Lostness, death, judgment, and ultimately eternal condemnation and separation from God comes from unbelief and unwillingness to allow God's authority over our lives (John 3:18). When one DOES believe, one is transformed from being a sinner, separated from God, to being a child of God, eternally united with Him through Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:17). That transformation is important - and Satan has usurped it in the lies of "Identity" logic.

The Lie
To repent is to recognize that something is not right, and needs to be changed. The twist on the gospel is that Satan has substituted our understanding of what is "not right." He uses it for many situations, and will use it for more and more as our society listens and believes his lies. These two cases today reveal that some people believe their desires for the same sex is not right and the transformation that will heal it is sexual transformation surgery.

The gospel says repentance from same sex desires, given to the Lord, can be transformed into opposite sex (heterosexual) desires. Likewise, when one enjoys and embraces another race's culture, as in the case of Rachel Dolezal, the thing needing transformed is her "racial identity" and the transformation can be brought about by a darkening of her skin color, rather than repenting of not embracing her God-given race and simply living in a different culture than that of her childhood. The REAL transformation needed by those of either of these two cases is the transformation that God, not biology, can provide. And that is how Biotechnology provides a false transformation and so a false Gospel.

 
And that's how "Identity Logic" and Biotechnology are teamed up to present humanity with a twisted Gospel, dooming all who fall prey to its deception to an eternity of real hell - God's judgment for not trusting Him when they should have. God loves us all, but not all love Him back! And that's the twist of the gospel As I See It.

May the Lord shine His perfect light on you today. If you would like to know more about how the Lord can save YOU, please feel free to comment or email me. I'd be glad to help you.

IDEOLOGY FUELS MORALITY (OR IMMORALITY)

With the oral arguments over the same-sex marriage case now concluded, it comes time for our nine justices to discuss, digest, and deliberate the case before issuing a ruling (and dissent) in late June. Never before has it been so imperative that Christians pray to the Lord to plead the case before the eternal Supreme Court to which even our American Court must answer for its rulings.

Having said that, I would like to comment on the moral state of our nation. It is moving downward so rapidly, I hesitate to use the term "spiral" any longer. The trajectory of moral decline in America is, as I have said before, like a snowball rolling down a mountain. Taking the inclined plane of the mountain side, and the force of sinful, immoral gravity pulling on the snowball, more and more mass accumulates along the way, making the whole ball have more momentum every day it moves downward. It is consuming the entire nation. Liberal voices everywhere praise its progress, while the communities of our nation are eroding from its destructive force.

And this is not new. These things have happened before in human history – though not over the issue of gay marriage. Moral decline comes in many forms. America's includes the declines that many other nations have faced in history – a secularism, diminished view of the sanctity of life, reticence to heed to ethical concerns in research and scientific applications, educational systems used to indoctrinate children out of any faith at all, politicians willing to do whatever the highest bidder wishes, and an anti-faith attitude. Places like France (its bloody Revolution during the turn of the 19^th century), Russia with the deposition of the Czar in 1917, Germany under Hitler, Italy under Mussolini, and China under Mao Tse Tung. That is more recent history. Throughout the centuries of humanity, these things have happened.
And while this is not new, I hope to cause a few of my readers to pause and consider the effects of their liberal, immoral, anti-Christian ideology. And to be honest, it is ideology that fuels this American Revolution now underway. When a person jettisons the idea that there is a God to whom he is accountable, he is "free" to do as he pleases with no regard to consequences – for there are none. But that person gambles with eternity. When a family of people hold to this same idea, the family becomes a force for the community to deal with. When a community becomes indoctrinated this way, society at large, and the state specifically must deal with it. When a state is filled with communities, filled with families, filled with people who hold this view, the nation must deal with it. When the nation is filled with states filled with communities filled with families filled with people – it is truly a problem of global consequences. We consider the threat of global terrorism and those nations who sponsor it to be a global issue. It is the ideology of those nations that fuels terrorist actions. We are truly fighting a global war of world-views. And people die in that war!

I intended to try to articulate the moral state of the United States today. Before our Supreme Court is the question, "what consequences will be encountered by our nation if we adopt this policy of a 'fundamental right to gay marriage'?" While that is not the stated question of the case, it is the question that some of our justices probed during oral arguments yesterday. The answer will be very revealing. But so is the spin put on the view of America by those who want most to influence its outcome – our press corps. There are those on both sides of the issue, and their biases in polling and reporting are evident. I offer you two cases in point:

1. USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/28/audio-transcript-supreme-court-gay-marriage-oral-arguments/26516157/ . This link takes you to a page that is supposed to be an audio transcript of the oral arguments. However, the links to hear it are pictures of Americans who are demonstrating in favor of making same-sex marriage legal – completely! There isn't one picture on the page of the opposing view!
2. Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/28/supreme-court-hears-historic-same-sex-marriage-arguments/ . This link takes you to a page that is supposed to be a fair and balanced report of the oral arguments. However, there is, at the top of the page, a video link regarding the spin of the 2016 candidates – and that video link begins with one of the same pictures as is found on the USA Today link above – of people demonstrating in favor of the legality of same-sex marriage. While the discussion below highlights the uncertain direction of the decision, it also highlights the conservative portion of the oral arguments. By that, I mean the arguments as to why the High Court should NOT rule in favor of making same-sex marriage a fundamental, constitutional right.

Biases are clear. These reports leave out the demonstrators from the right and highlight the abundance of demonstrators on the left. However, there were as many of the right demonstrators outside the Supreme Court building as the left.

But the moral change in our nation is also clear. In an effort to be unbiased, LifewayResearch.com reports (http://www.mbcpathway.com/2015/04/28/gay-marriage-gap-widens-for-evangelicals-culture/) that morality seems to be moved by contact with those who are already well into the new movement. The graph below should help you understand what I mean. When a person has a friend who is "gay", he is more likely to want it to be OK in society than those who have no such "gay" friends. To me, this begs the question: have we gotten to the point where happiness supersedes all other sensibilities?

There is another sign of moral change: a departure from faith. People in the pews do not accept the views of the people in the pulpit. Ed Stetzer is quoted (in the MBCPathway link above): "Church leaders have traditionally been seen as the champions of all things moral in society," Stetzer said. "As public perceptions of morality change, pastors find themselves in an increasingly unpopular position." Pastors were very influential at bringing in the 1^st Amendment before ratification of the Constitution could happen. Today, pastors are being marginalized rapidly. Their influence is waning quickly. When pastors become the only people of faith, the "fundamental transformation of America" promised with the election of President Obama will be complete. America will be secularized, and morality will be defined by the whim of the state. Life will have no meaning, and death will all around us all the time. We will be socialized – in ideology AND in practice. And I believe with that, America's place on the world stage will no longer be as the "good guy" – we will become the "bad guy" like the USSR, Italy, Germany, China, and all other nations with a dictator and a semblance of secular socialism have been. 

I hate to forecast these troubling times. However, I would be less than honest to think that unless our nation (and this year, our nation stands on the decision of the US Supreme Court) turns to a more moral ideology, we will continue to decline as we have been for the last 50+ years. These results and many I have not yet stated will come to pass. They must. They are the only outcome that any similar nation has experienced. If we do the same things, why would we expect a different result? That would be the definition of insanity.

And that's how it is, As I See It, for today. I only ask you to "choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!" (Joshua 24:15) For in Him is my only hope!

ARE WE COMING TO THE END OF AMERICA?

We are coming to the end of America. I know that sounds a bit sensational, and in a way it is meant to be. However, the nation that was declared in 1776 and fully ratified its constitution in 1790 is no longer the same in 2015. It is not just technology and lifestyle that has changed. The entire world-view of the nation has changed. America as founded is not the same country today. If our Supreme Court has a decision to make it is this: Will America come to an end?

Liberals would argue that America has NOT ended, she has progressed. But tomorrow, America's Supreme Court meets to hear oral arguments intended to persuade the justices that popular vote on issues across the land do not matter; arguments intended to convince justices that THEIR vote matters far more than that of the people. In an effort to federalize same-sex marriage over against a populace that has convincingly and nearly unanimously from state to state opposed same-sex marriage laws, the Supreme Court stands to overturn the will of the people. How could this be?

There are several reasons this has happened. I won't go down every road that may take us today. Today, I want to focus on one thing in particular – America's departure from the Christian faith. Secularism, cultural Christianity, and post-modernism (post-Christianity) taken together outnumber genuine Christians in positions of authority – be they on the Supreme Court (or lower courts), in Congress (both houses), in the White House (and presidential cabinet departments), in big business, in education, and in science and technology. Together they mock genuine faith. Together they oppose those who hold to a Biblical Worldview. Together, they strive to advance forward with no moral conscience or understanding. Ethics now are situational, rather than having any standard.

America, which required ethics and a Biblical Worldview to write and ratify the Constitution, no longer has that Biblical Worldview, and so that America has ended. What we have now is something altogether quite un-American. We have a chaotic form of socialism rising in the wings - a socialism rather than a democratic republic; a government where the minority matters more than the majority; a system of life where the government is supreme, and the people her servants. Americans seem to be falling for it as they follow their ungodly leaders without thought or consideration. Unfortunately, too many who vote for these leaders (the leaders with the power to appoint the remainder) do not have a Biblical Worldview, either. Those who do are not enough. The masses not only vote at the polls. We vote with our dollars. Our way of life, with all the fine products produced by ungodly businessmen, seems to be more important than our Biblical Worldview. Therefore, we buy products that make our lives better, even if they are produced by power-players for immorality – all because their products make us feel better, look better, or do things "better." So the power-players advance, and "We, the People" have our votes overturned by a few Supreme Court Justices sitting in a marble palace in Washington, D.C.; Justices who are supposed to be part of a government that is "by the people, for the people, and of the people." In that the people have allowed this to get to this point might be an argument that they are doing the will of the people. However, when they overturn clear votes of the people, it is obvious that they have usurped their authority. America today does not resemble the America envisioned by our founders.

We, as a nation, have plenty of pundits proclaiming that the American Experiment has failed. What they mean is that capitalism has failed. But is that so? Or could it be that such pundits and politicos and business tycoons are completely reliant on capitalism themselves while trying to steal it from the American People? How could this be? Without a Biblical Worldview and ethical limits, what remains to stop them? A legal system based on a shifting foundation (the growing idea that the Constitution is a "living document" interpreted at the whim of the Supreme Courts) cannot stop them; it only enables them. Capitalism hasn't failed. America no longer works as the framers intended. America has failed. But the framers warned of this. They said (and I summarize), "This nation cannot continue as intended when the people no longer fear God. When the politicians begin to consider tax revenue to be theirs instead of the people, they will overturn the will of the people whenever it is expedient. Government will expand continually – always." And such warnings from our framers and historical leaders have come to pass – unheeded today. What has truly failed is the people to stay true to their God. That said, America has come to an end.
So what now?

 Pray, Christians, Pray. Our God is WAY more powerful than the Supreme Court of the United States – and He can change their hearts and minds. Pray today, pray tomorrow, and pray until their deliberations are over and their decisions rendered in June! Pray believing in the Living God of Heaven. Pray without doubting. Pray by faith, NOT by sight. If you must see something when you pray, pray seeing the LORD, not our Supreme Court, current trends, or polls and pundits. When we say "God Bless America," we should be saying that and meaning we intend for America to return to her original faith – for THAT was blessing then and it will be now!

And that's America "As I See It" for today.

UPDATE:  For more information, go to: Ten things you need to know about the Supreme Court’s gay ‘marriage’ case this week

IS THE NEWS OVERWHELMING YOU?

I've been reading a plethora of news articles today that I only wish I hadn't read.  Do you ever get that way?  It's tempting to just turn off the news and pretend it all isn't so.  But that's how the ostrich handles stressful situations.  Unfortunately, its also how so many these days in America handle stressful situations.

The problem I'm having is processing all the news.  It's not trying to figure out what right and wrong is. It's trying to figure out how to handle the news in a Christian manner without sacrificing any of my Christian beliefs.  

So I pray.  I pray for wisdom to respond.  I pray for strength to do so in a loving way.  I pray for the truth to be light in a growing darkness.  I pray others would be effectively articulate in defense of our Constitutional rights - where God is acknowledged as the source of Civil Liberties and unalienable rights, not government.  I pray voters would stand up for our Constitution and hold our leadership accountable for squandering their trust and our freedoms.  I pray for peace between God and our nation (I believe we have effectively told Him to take a hike, but for the many grassroots Christians that remain).  I pray our country would step back and consider the gospel.  I pray that the gospel would be preached with power from pulpits across the country, and many would receive Jesus as their Savior.  I pray for a deeper holiness within my own life.  Sometimes, I don't know WHAT to pray, so the Lord prays for me!

Then, after I've prayed, I must face a world that continues to march against my faith.  I face a world that thinks we have a greater right to sin than we do to preach.  I face a world where my rights are less important than the rights of others because I'm a Christian.  I face a world where I am supposed to sacrifice MY beliefs and way of life to celebrate the beliefs and way of life of others.  If I stand for my beliefs, I am faced with the likelihood of a prison sentence or worse.  My fellow countrymen who stand for beliefs they share with me lose their businesses, homes, and more.  This affects their progeny as well.  I face a world that is increasingly Anti-Christ.  My brothers in the faith around the globe are losing their very lives for their faith.  In some parts of the world, there is an active effort to butcher or expel all vestiges of the Christian faith.  I face an evil world.

Then I am reminded that Jesus lives in me.  He is greater than the world I face, and He has overcome the world.  Whatever the world brings to me for my faith, it brought worse to Him, and He won.  The story is told.  The victory of Jesus Christ means I am more than a Conqueror in Christ Jesus!  I win!  This life is not all there is.  There is much more.  Those who have been martyred have been eternally and gloriously rewarded for their faith.  Blessed are they who trust in the name of the Lord!  My enemies are Jesus' footstool!  This world will pass away, but in Christ, I shall live forever!  I shall not fear what man can do to me, rather I fear what God can do to me.  If God be for us [Christians], then who can be against us?  Glory to God in the Highest!

And that how it is As I See It today!

POLITICALLY CORRECT = MORALLY INCORRECT

I've been thinking about the direction of our nation – from a spiritual standpoint – for a long time. That it has been in the opposite direction of the teachings of the Bible is an understatement. We have truly gotten to the point where we are celebrating what God denounces. 

For the bulk of Americans, that is just fine. They say that God is Dead anyway, that life is no sacred thing, and that everyone should be free to do as he/she chooses – as long as that does not mean stopping someone else from doing as they choose. But that is not exactly true, is it? They mean, "If we offend someone of the Christian faith, that's ok. We can force them to violate their consciences and support our liberal way of life; but they will NOT be allowed to even comment on anyone in any way if they disagree, much less refuse service and celebration to those who wish to do what God hates."  (And, of course, they are moving toward calling the Bible "Hate Speech" like Canada did a few years ago.)

Now, the late Adrian Rodgers said, "Nothing is politically right that is morally wrong." He would be correct. If it is morally wrong, it is NEVER right. We don't set our own morals, God does. Trying to set our own morals is like trying to sail a ship across the ocean using the light on the bow as one's guide. We'll wander aimlessly until we sink, but all the while insist we are "on course."

Therefore, I am highlighting the dangerous platform and direction of the Democratic Party. I am NOT saying that Democrats are not believers, but I AM saying that true Believers should examine what their party is putting forward. Political Correct is different from Politically Right.  The Politically Correct Democratic Party is Morally Incorrect. In truth, the Politically right thing to do is the Morally right thing to do.  The Politically Correct thing is the morally bankrupt thing.  And the Moral compass of a true Christian is Jesus Christ. Trying to justify as "right" that which is wrong is folly. It's a shame that there are Christians who practice this folly. They need to repent. Repentance here means doing the work worthy of repentance and read the platforms of their candidates this election cycle, and vote the issues.  The real question is this:  Does their party platform conform to their beliefs?


The reason the platform is so important, even more important than personal promises, is because the candidate will be nearly unable to break from it, even if he promises so.  The pressure to follow it will be tremendous.  


In 2012, while deciding the platform for the Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention, the Chairman of the Committee at the time single-handedly insisted that a mention of God would be included by declaring the vote to be in favor of it when video revealed that it was decidedly against even acknowledging God. That vote was taken three times before the Chairman made that declaration, failing EVERY TIME! So, if the party won't acknowledge God, why does a Christian align him/herself with them?

That's not all. The moral issues of the day in 2012 were pretty much the same as they are today, nearly 3 years later: Abortion, Same-sex marriage and "Gay rights." God has spoken clearly on each of them – for those willing to listen. It takes a broken compass to believe that murdering babies in the womb is somehow acceptable in any situation. Likewise, the unnatural relationship of men with men and women with women is declared by God to be an abomination – in both the Old Testament AND the New Testament. Twisting the teachings of Scripture on this matter is a travesty – for if one can do that, then there is NO certain hope of Salvation if a Lawyer or unbelieving Theologian get hold of passages regarding how to be saved!

Why am I bringing all this up? Because our next election seems to be certainly one where it is Hillary Clinton vs. someone else. There is no one in the Democratic Party that can beat her at this point. If she is elected, the moral landscape will only grow more anti-Christian here in America. I am asking all Christians to check their own moral compass and vote the issues, not the party. Again, as Adrian Rodgers said, "Nothing is politically right that is morally wrong." Christians who vote for the morally wrong but "politically correct" democratic candidate will be voting for morally wrong policies for America. This election is not about WHO is running, but what they are running for. Issues Matter.

And that's the 2016 election As I See It today. You'll likely hear more as we grow closer to the time. Stay tuned.

I would love your comments.

For more information:
http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform#protecting-rights - This is the 2012 Platform. You can download it or read it on the web.
http://2016.democratic-candidates.org - This is the review of all parties, with the expectations for each. I have given you the democratic link, but there are all the others there as well.

FACING THE "REAL" ISSUES OF LIFE

I know plenty of people who find studies and surveys and polls to be a bit dry and unhelpful.  But there’s one that just came out which should make us stop and think (I tend to say that pretty often, though).  OneNewsNow.com reported this morning on a poll by LifeWay research which indicated that Christian media (news outlets, commentaries, books, etc.) don’t reach much more than those already deeply committed to their Christian faith.  Why?  They say that Christian media is not addressing the real issues everyday Americans face and are concerned with. (See Lesson for Christian media: Deal with everyday issues, OneNewsNow.com, Monday, March 2, 2015)

While this report may be somewhat helpful, it causes my mind to travel places that perhaps you might think a bit “out of left field.”  I sometimes wonder if the issues that “everyday Americans” think about and worry about are really what is wrong, not the issues addressed in Christian media.  There are several reasons I think that.

1. The Christian World-view puts priorities on different things than the Secular World-view does.  Spiritual matters are supremely important – matters of relationship between God and Man – to those living by a Christian World-view.  Secular world-views put the material in the foreground.  Creature comforts, empowerment, environment, and the economy are center-stage for the secularists.  Of course, I’m not even mentioning the world-views of other religions; but they tend to emulate the Christian world-view while arguing with the tenants and truths of the Bible.  For that reason, they are not interested in what is important to the Christian. 
2. Because worldviews matter, Christians are being marginalized.  I believe this crosses into the marginalization of the Christian media.  The media-moguls (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN) are all coming from a secular world-view.  They are also viewing conservative and Christian media as competition for viewership – and so they have begun to slander them with vitriolic character assassinations and public disrespect.  This is a “news-media” example of the secular portion of society putting pressure on Christians.  It is happening in many corners of society, not just in the news media circles. 
3. The frustrations that many “Non-Christians” have is likely because of misplaced priorities.  While many might think this to be a world-view issue, it might be that there really IS a thing called TRUTH!  Misplaced priorities might be like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.  In this case, I’m talking about people trying to change the way things and life is intended to work.  Marriage was not intended for the perversions being embraced today.  Financial matters were never supposed to leave people over their heads in debt.  Life is to be respected, not devalued (as abortion and euthanasia proponents would have us believe).  These are just a few examples of how our society has suffered grave consequences over misplaced priorities.  It might be that the non-Christians just want to think about and live by lies about how things work, and avoid the cause-effect realities in their world.  Why?  Because they simply cannot accept the TRUTH about things. 

Maybe, the problem is not Christian media’s attention to certain things; it could be that the problem is the world is focused on the wrong things! 

That’s life “As-I-See-It” today!

I would love to hear how YOU See It!  Comment below.