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!

"PROGRESS" THAT DESTROYS

Catch phrases abound in our day.  After all, Political Correctness depends upon it, as the PC police decry certain words and "suggest" better choices which are supposed to tend to the "sensitivities" of others.  Among those catch-phrases is the term progress, the label progressive, and the moral revolution that such "progress" is intended to bring about (or is it the moral revolution that brings about the progress?). 

My focus today is on the signs of "progress" the moral revolutionaries celebrate - and the socially destructive power their "progress" brings on us all.  I am not simply a "conservative" or a "Christian" trying to preserve the old.  I am a conservative AND a Christian, but I am trying to show that what the liberal, progressive, moral revolutionaries suggest to be "good" for our society are actually more like Trojan Horses, filled with crippling, killing forces that are unleashed on our society.

1. Gun Control.  This one is simple - you have a gun, you can defend yourself.  You have a phone, and you're dead before the ones with the guns can get to you.  Crime done.  Cost to society:  One less law-abiding citizen, one more criminal (to consume precious time, funds, and energy in the capture and housing in jail - complete with medical care, food, and a token employment for life (in the case of murder).
2. Abortion.  Even the pro-abortionists (who like a more progressive term, "pro-choice") have to admit that when the attention is on the "fetus" (Latin for "baby"), suddenly their arguments become very selfish and immoral.  The destruction is huge - and the cost to society.  Every abortion is the end of a life.  Society may not count that life as something valuable - until the sheer number of lives lost impacts the society.  Sociologists and Psychologists may not think there is an issue there, but the cost to mothers who have aborted their babies is growing with each abortion.  Either there is a cold-hearted attitude that values no life at all (in the case of the "unaffected" mother with no problems incurred from murdering their unborn children) or the guilt, shame, and depression that comes from abortion in the feeling hearts of mothers is a real cost to society.  Hard-heartedness or guilt-ridden mothers are the only two outcomes - and the social implications are staggering when the numbers are counted.
3. Same-Sex Marriage.  This form of "progress" is really a social construct based on license, rather than self-control.  It is legalized debauchery, and runs counter to social stability.  It's all about "self" and less about love.  Marriage, by the way, isn't just about love, either.  However, same-sex marriage destroys the society.  Two men or two women cannot procreate.  They must steal from those who do - by some means.  Eventually, should enough same-sex marriages take the culture, the society cannot maintain.  This is already happening in the USA with the degraded view of traditional marriage found in other forms such as cohabitation, later pregnancies, and abortion (above). 
4. Secularism.  The idea that religion has no place in the public square is secularism.  Eventually, the concept moves to the point where no mention of God, the Bible, or any product of faith is tolerated in public - anywhere.  This is the ultimate aim of the secularist.  This will destroy a society that hopes to have peace among its people.  The moral ambiguity of the secularist cannot help but turn one selfish secularist against another when those desires collide.  After all, peaceful relationships and tolerance come from the Christian worldview - the Bible.  That must be abdicated at all costs.  It is happening in our nation in so many ways, but the removal of the 10 Commandments from courts and prayer/Bible studies in the classrooms are creating a lawless society.

These four "Trojan Horses" of progress are killing our country, our communities, and our families.  This is NOT progress.  It is Destruction. And that's how it is - As I See It.  

Before you write this article off as another "stupid conservative Christian's rant," consider whether these things be so.  If they are, then share it with others.

Your comments are always appreciated, but I ask that you refrain from hateful, vitriolic speech, foul language, and intolerance.  Thanks.

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.

IS ISLAM THE “ONE-WORLD RELIGION” FOUND IN REVELATION 17?

Listening to the sermon by Adrian Rogers entitled "Beauty and the Beast," the description of the Revelation 17 "Babylonian Mother of Harlots" as a "one-world religion," I could not help but see the rapid, uncanny spread of Islam across the globe. 

• Too many people have thrown away their Bibles - or left them on the shelf - and so cannot understand what is prophesied. 
  
• Too many people simply don't believe in the Bible anymore to care. 
  
• Too many people believe the lies coming from Washington, the press, academia, and the scientific community.  
  

While in all of these corners, the truth is found, it is sidelined, subjugated, and dismissed by the arrogant elitists who seem to have a firm grip on the majority of Americans.  This same phenomenon is happening throughout the world - especially in Europe.  Meanwhile, Islam is given a free pass due to the secularization of the world. 


Also, John Ankerberg has a series on his cable show that confirms the Islamic approach today.  (See the program on YouTube entitled, "Islam's Infiltration of America.") Islam continues to infect every Western society until it multiplies to the point of being able to democratically overthrow the western governments and institutes Sharia Law.  Unchecked, Islam will dominate the world - and that is its expressed aim.  Islam wants to be a "One-World Religion."  It butchers every other, according to Sharia Law.  Could THIS be the "Mystery Woman, the Harlot" described in Revelation 17?  Revelation 17:6 says, "the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." While the approach in certain parts of the world is a blood bath, other parts would not tolerate that until Sharia Law can be established.  Then the blood-bath will ensue.  Could "the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" be Islam, which is the single faith-system responsible for more martyred Christians than any other?  It makes me wonder.  

Check out my links, and you will understand better.  I know this goes against conventional wisdom that has been held for centuries, but the times we live in demand another check on world events, living circumspectly as the Bible puts it.

That is what's happening As I See It for today!  Your comments are welcome.

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!

HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS VIEW “EARTH DAY”?

Earth Day: Established April 22, 1970. The Earth Day website says this:

Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. "Environment" was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health.

Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center. (From the Web: http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement; 4/22/15.)

As a Christian, I see nothing in this that even begins to honor God. But is that reason to ban Christians from celebrating this national holiday that began the modern environmental movement?
To answer this question will take a bit more thought and probing questions. There are several factors that should guide the Christian.

• First, what does the Bible say about such things?
• Second, what is the movement's intent, and will Christians who participate be supporting that intent by their participation?
• Next, what is the outcome of that intent upon society, faith, and eternal things?

Now, as for the Bible's input, it really covers the entire gamut of questions the Christian should be asking. It speaks to the human responsibility of stewardship with regard to nature. It speaks to the sinful tendency of humanity to worship the creation rather than the creator. It speaks to the responsibility of the Christian to distinguish between good and evil. It speaks to the separation of the Christian from earthly or material focus for material ends alone (all things should be done for the purpose of glorifying God). The Bible speaks to the mission of Christians: making disciples of all nations. The Bible speaks to who is ultimately responsible for sustaining the universe and all that is within it.

With that in mind, the Christian should carefully weigh his/her involvement in "Earth Day" in order to take care to honor the Lord in his/her activities in such a way as to make publicly clear his/her devotion to the Lord. The statement above about the history and intent of "Earth Day" is truly about the environmental movement with no reference to the Creator. As such, it would imply a bit of a worship of the creation rather than the creator. The hippie movements were notoriously secular and protesting all things organized and "religious." Therefore, Earth Day's proponents were willing to focus on the created world with no reference to the Creator is no surprise. Participation without reference to the Creator leads others to believe that God has no part in sustaining the universe (contrary to the Scriptures) if He exists at all.

However, the strong teaching of Scripture about humanity's responsibility to care for the earth as his greatest stewardship is unquestionable. The only stewardship more important to God is the stewardship of the Gospel – given to Christians. Therefore, Christians should care for the earth, but in so doing, share the gospel. The earth is God's tool to house humanity – and humanity is God's central focus. The tool is not the most important thing to God, people are. The earth was given to us for our sustenance (food, clothing, shelter) and our enjoyment. We must, as Christians, not lose sight of this important truth. Our focus can be skewed by secular world-views here. We must resist this alteration of our focus.
The ultimate end of the secular view of "Earth Day" is devoid of Christ, unwilling to acknowledge God as God, and an emphasis on the creation rather than worshiping the Creator. Our Earth should remind us of the Loving Care of Christ, our Creator and cause us to praise Him for His infinite wisdom, imagination, provision, and perfect creative powers. Earth Day should remind us of our responsibility to care for creation as an act of worship of our Creator. We should never be caught secularizing the environmental movement!

And that's "Earth Day" As I See It. May the Lord Bless You today!