The Storm

The Storm

1/31/15

How prepared are we for a real national catastrophe and how would we deal with one if that setting actually occurred? Could we systematically survive such a storm or catastrophic event?  One would suspect that a nation of such wealth and stability would not even have to ask this question, but Rome, Athens and other great empires were in the same stance when disaster struck.  One must question our spiritual status as well for if our physical stature is faulty that can only mean one thing concerning our spiritual side as well.  What do you think?  I think, we better be more prepared, physically and definitely spiritually.

Over the past three to four decades I have read about, watched and even witnessed natural disasters.  I have to be honest with you the only major one that I was directly involved in was a nice sized hurricane that pounded SE Texas back in the early 80s.  Hurricane Alicia was a nasty storm and it crossed directly over our community above Houston during the afternoon, evening and nighttime.  It was a fascinating moment in my life for I had never witnessed anything like this before.  My uncle and his family had gone through Hurricane Frederick which wiped out Mobile, Alabama some years earlier and I had laid witness to a couple of small – moderate earthquakes while living in California.  But Alicia was different because she took hours to complete and the devastation she left behind took even longer to clean up.

I remember that we had plenty of time to prepare for the storm and that my parents did everything they could to ensure that our house was ready for the onslaught of wind and rain.  As I, my parents had never been in such a sized storm so this was a first for all of us.  We were inland far enough that when the storm came in, along with the tide being out, we had no real threat of serious flooding, but the power situation was another category.  Back in the 80s there was no fancy computers, no internet and cell phones were only mobile car phones which only a slight portion of the population had at that time.  The entire communication system was smaller and much simpler and had to be taken into consideration when presenting information to the public.  Times were a lot different back then but there was one common factor back then that there is now and that is the human.

The time of preparation was adequate even with the “limited” amount of weather information that was available.  The news stations did an excellent job of predicting where Alicia was going to hit and how severe her winds and rain were going to be.  The stations had emergency phone numbers to contact for usage of shelters and who had places for people to eat if necessary.  Lists of items that everyone might have needed for isolated conditions were given and it seemed like everyone had enough supplies already in storage.  The reality of the storm was approaching and there was nothing that mankind could do about it, she was coming and there was nowhere to run.  I had no clue at the time that the same system of grocery stores that was in place back then had the same system in place today.  The only way that I know this is that the roads are the same, the delivery methods are the same, the prepared and stored food are the same, the stores have different names but are the same, and once again the humans have different names but we are the same also.  I had always stood in line waiting to check out of the grocery store, so the lines at this time did not mean much to me either and I did not even notice how many people were in line either.

When Alicia hit she was nothing short of the description that had been designated to her.  I remember having our windows open a bit so that the pressure would not build up and destroy the house.  The walls did creek a bunch and I could have sworn that they moved with the passing winds.  But the house withstood her fury and as the night loomed, our place within the house was in the main hallway with mattresses and pillows over us; it was a long and uncomfortable night.  At one point the winds completely died down and my brother and I snuck out of the house for a bit to look at the sky.  There was a fair amount of damage but the worst was yet to come.  It was the second part of the storm that was the havoc bringer and Alicia lived up to her calling and battered the entire area with horrendous winds and rainfall. 

After Alicia had passed the local authorities were driving by and making sure that everyone was ok and at the same time informing everyone to stay at home and not to get out because of the damage that had occurred.  I noticed that most of the trees within our street had withstood the storm but a few did not and while they were large in size Alicia’s winds had no trouble toppling them onto the ground.  My uncle said that at one point during hurricane Frederick that he looked out his window and immediately saw a tree fly by his house, so why would Alicia be any different I thought to myself.  Of course we had no electricity and while our yard was cluttered with limbs and other debris, our house had escaped major damage from the storm.

The cleanup process had began and I remember that the house across the street was on a different grid than us and the city had restored power to their side of the street but not ours, so we plugged our freezer and refrigerator into their sockets so that we could have some basic necessities once again.  The storage problem was not the issue but we found out real quick that we had not thought of everything when it came to the necessities.  No we were not hurting at all and we were never in any danger of starving but some of the minor amenities that we take for granted each day were not around and it opened my parents’ eyes real quick.  After everything was said and done it was not until months later that the area was fully back up and running normal.  We were lucky in that many of our necessities were not lost, but not everyone in our small town or in the area hit could say that.  Many struggled for months and some for years, for they lost everything and had to rebuild from the ground up.  Anyone of us could have been in that situation and if we do not wake up and prepare ourselves, many of us could face this reality soon.

Throughout my life I have indirectly witnessed many other storms that have devastated many lands and I have also noticed that many of the people within these lands were far from being adequately prepared for the survival stages after the storm or natural event had gone through its motions.  I have watched nations beg for help and many come to their rescue.  I have been told about many people dying when natural disasters occur and have heard that many more die while waiting for help.  It seems like many others around the world are paralyzed by these events and cannot respond in time, even when the conditions for these other countries seem perfect.  Red tape, procedures and doctrinal ties fight for the needed help, yet end up failing tremendously in the end.  But what if the leader of the free world is the one who has been hit?  What would the economies of the world do in response?  Could they respond or would they too be in such disarray that their economies collapse as well.  All of these questions remain to be answered and it does not look like they are currently high on our list to address or to answer.

This week witnessed another huge storm that was approaching the east coast of this country.  With all of the advanced technology available today the weather experts began preparing the public days in advance. It was a spectacular view of coverage that almost everyone in western society knew about and with all of the talk about this storm, some might even say it was the storm of the century that was about to hit.  Radar images and projection maps predicted when the storm was going to reach land, where it was going to land and approximately how much snow was going to fall.  The same concepts that we heard about in the early 80s with hurricane Alicia were widely broadcast to anyone who had access to the internet or satellite television.

While all of these broadcasts were ongoing the newscasters also projected images that looked very familiar to me.  It was people in the area that was about to be hit with this storm standing in line at the grocery stores waiting to be checked out with the items they had in their possessions.  Headline after headline on the internet stated that thousands of stores were empty due to the fact that people were buying last minute items to help them through the storm.  While this setting does not shock me in any way, it does make me shake my head because this portion of the country is not strangers to this type of conditions.  It seems like almost every year that region is hit with some type of natural disaster or potential disaster and those people still wait until the last minute to get prepared.  I understand that other parts of the country that suffer from these natural phenomenon are subject to the same type of behavior, and I can guarantee that many of those people would act in the same way.

The question that remains is that if these people have experienced this type of condition before and act the same way each time, then what would happen if an unknown debacle occurred without warning?  It is known that hurricanes occur and that earthquakes strike at a moment’s notice and we can prepare ourselves physically for these natural occurrences but even then we have proven to everyone that we are not fully prepared.  Are we prepared to lose our economic standards?  What would occur if the stock market literally crashed in a matter of days? Or how would we respond if one of our large dams break and floods a large portion of the country?  What would happen if both occurred at the same time?  How would we react and would we be prepared?

With all of the “knowledge” that we have bottled up within our brains one would think that we have placed this type of considerations on the table and have thought out a well documented and well advised plan.  Has the public been warned enough concerning these types of possibilities?  It does not take too much intelligence to figure out that as long as humans walk this planet things are going to happen.  Some of these things will not be good things and others will be better than ever before.  Has the west lived in their cocoon for too long that we have forgotten what 9/11 was and HOW we got to that point in the first place?  From the looks of things we have blown off that event and will go about walking like nothing ever occurred.  That is ok folks, for that is our choice to do so but know that as long as humans are on this planet there will be those who will seek and find out ways into this land in order to harm us, especially in unconventional ways.  So while we are parading around and crying about equal rights, justice and love for everyone, rest assured that others are planning a different type of parade.

When 9/11 occurred many thought that we were prepared on 9/10 for any disaster that reached our shores.  Since that time in history many devastating storms have crushed our shoreline towns and cities, many people have gone on murderous rampages because they were upset at someone for some reason.  Violence has gripped our land and the family itself has not been excluded in this murderous plan.  What do all of these factors have in common, it is the human and the attitude that the human turns to each and every day.  It does not matter where the human is at, the human will act according to what is in her / his heart.  What is the aftermath of these personal and regional disasters?  It is this question that we must address immediately because the direction in which we are headed in will only guarantee us further types of grievances, pain and long lasting agony.

The fear that concerns me about this type of setting is that we have known for a long time that storms cause damage.  We have also known that it is important for us to be prepared at all times just in case some major force presents itself within a short timeframe.  It does not matter what the force or potential natural disaster might be being prepared should be our number one goal. 

It is clear that we would rather focus upon our looks, our jobs and which person we are chatting with instead of looking around us and gathering information concerning our surroundings.  If one questions this assessment, then look at how people view themselves and it will not take you long to figure out just what is important in their lives and what is not.  This is why many attacks from other people are successful and it is also why there are panic stricken long lines at grocery stores right when a storm is approaching.

This also occurs in our spiritual lives as well.  There is an old saying that if your physical (horizontal) relationship is not good then your spiritual (vertical) relationship cannot be in good standing either.  Humans love to follow patterns, it brings us stability.  And when we follow this pattern we tend to keep the same routines in order to ensure that nothing goes array.  So if a pattern of cell phone usage becomes your main focus, then how can one notice things around you when your head is down looking at a screen?  If one’s focus is trying to continuously place blame on others for the problems within the country, how can one be objective and understand those people’s concerns? 

The same holds true with God because if we are busy running around and trying to promote doctrinal concepts to the world or acceptance policies, it is guaranteed that we will miss what is going on in the spiritual realm, which means that someone is going to die without knowing who Jesus is.  How many times has something happened in our lives and we blame someone else for the problem?  Or how many times has a major incident occurred within our personal family and we immediately turn and blame God for what happened?  This is a common act that humans do, and I have to be honest and stand up and say that I have done it as well.  Blame games are a huge sign that a person, group or nation is not prepared for a challenge and blaming God for things enhances this forecast through spiritual terms.

When bad things occur around us we are usually quick to blame others but on the other side of the block we will be the first to take credit for the good things that occur; this too is a human trait.  It is through this blaming process that we do not adequately prepare ourselves for spiritual and physical disasters.  I understand that is a tough statement but it a true one and it is time we return to this concept.  We shall never return back to our national glory that God has bestowed upon us and we shall definitely not return to God while we harbor this fact.  It is easy for others to recognize the state of a nation by the way the people of that nation conduct their everyday lives and the same can be said about the spiritual aspects of said people. 

Life will produce storms and sometimes those storms cross our paths.  I realize that life itself can be cumbersome and that sometimes we may be caught off guard when these storms arise, but when the majority of the people are in the same condition it is this indicator that something is very wrong.  When this backdrop occurs within the spiritual realm we must remember that the stakes are raised to another level because the importance of being changes.  Everyone knows that the body will die and that there is nothing we can do to prevent this from happening no matter how much money we spend trying to hide this fact.  But our eternal lives are just that, eternal.  Spirit knows no time for it is eternal which means that if it is separated from its Creator then when its house dies it too shall follow the foundations of that house, and if that house is not prepared accordingly and the storm hits, it stands a great chance of being totally destroyed.

It is this spiritual preparation that God is trying His best to show us that we are lacking.  It pains God to see His Church arguing and bickering about who is right concerning human issues.  It pains God to hear us proclaim the ways of the world instead of standing up for His laws that protect us from the world.  It breaks God’s heart for us to choose the ways of the world and to allow them to infiltrate and become a law within our daily practices.  It is through this acceptance of the world that produces our spiritual unpreparedness and it is the root cause of why God has to allow certain storms to cross our paths. 

It has become popular for Christians to accept the ways of the world all in the name of God’s love.  The problem with this belief is that if we love God we shall do our best to keep His laws and commandments, not break them.  Love does NOT override God’s Laws especially when we do not understand the origins of God’s Laws and the real reason why they are in place.  It is this lack of understanding that directs our unpreparedness for if we truly understood what the laws protected us from, we would run to God instead of push Him away.

It is obvious of how we should be prepared for all of the possible physical storms that we may encounter.  It seems so selfish and ridiculous when a storm approaches and we are left panicking in long lines waiting on others to supply our needs.  We know what our necessity items are and we should do our best to have them on hand at all times.  Being prepared is the best way a family, group or nation can be in order to keep order after the storm hits.  Being prepared also allows the people involved stay calm and not to have to worry about details that may cause added stress or harm.  From the footage of this last storm it is not hard to understand that we are not physically prepared for a large scale disaster and I believe it is high time that we become prepared.

On the spiritual aspect of things it too is not difficult to see what we have become.  The Church is not prepared for her groom and it is clear that as of this moment we have no wishes for Him to arrive either.  With all of the social issues being put into place and being accepted by the Church it is easy to recognize that the Church does not even know the intricate details of God and now has no desire to know God either.  This is the prime example of spiritual unpreparedness and it is going to cause serious damage in the very near future.  In all the times recorded in the Bible God gave warning after warning before He had to totally destroy their kingdom and “world” then scatter the Israelites to every corner of the globe.  Even after all of these issues were presented, some still did not get it and we as a nation have fallen into the same category and we have drug our spirituality right along with us.

We are a physically and spiritually unprepared nation and God is about to change some things.  If you want to know what is coming, then read the Old Testament scriptures because it will be on that scale, not exact but on that scale.  We have been warned over the past few decades and we have flat ignored them, both physically and spiritually.  So, now God will have to take the next step.  However!!!  I have good news!!!  This process can be stopped if and only if we turn our hearts back to God and reverse our footsteps.  And if we do not, then God has no choice but to push us back into repentance and in order for Him to do this, He must grab our attention and from the examples of our past fallings away, He will have to shake pretty hard.  We must remember that a spiritual test can be a hard and quick jolt or it can be long and methodical jus as a hurricane, whichever occurs we need to be prepared.

When storms arrive they will present chaos and destruction.  These destructive forces will need to be addressed immediately due to their severity and the timing of such processes.  Hard decisions sometimes need to be made during storms and having to worry about other issues that should have been taken care of a long time ago just adds to the picture.  Having your possessions in order and knowing where everything of importance is located helps in the evacuation process if it comes to that decision.  I cannot stress the importance of this concept when referring to the spiritual storms as well.  Knowing where your foundation is located and how it is constructed is of dire importance because if we do not understand this structure then we are spiritually doomed.  Spiritual storms are designed for one purpose and that is to grab our attention, they expose our weaknesses and push our faith to the spiritual limits.  They are not easy and many people come out from these storms battered and bruised but if we are not prepared for these storms they will destroy us with little or no effort.  This concept operates in both the physical and spiritual kingdoms and it should be noted that both are at stake.

In conclusion, there are many ways that we can do to be prepared for a physical storm.  We are at the mercy of these storms and cannot do anything but watch them as the track their paths.  Once they strike we can only ascertain the damage and then begin the cleanup.  Mother Nature, as they say, is always at her best and will keep us guessing at all times.  The spiritual storms are of a different matter and actually can be contained and even avoided.  It would be a lot easier on everyone if we took God’s Word and applied it to our lives everyday instead of when we want.  It is easier to clean up after a physical storm than from a physical and spiritual storm combined.  The simple solution to avoid spiritual storms is to live with God and to keep Him first in every aspect of our lives.  It is easy and it is a must unless we really wish to have both types of storms upon our lives.  And folks, unless we immediately turn from our wicked and worldly ways, we will experience both of these storms very soon.  All it takes it a heart’s effort as a nation to avoid this and then keep on that path until the world has been totally rejected.  God loves us and does not wish to see us go through catastrophes either in the spirit realm or in the physical realm as well.

DLB

The Tiger Church

The Tiger Church

1/27/15

The title of this article would project one of aggression, protection and authority but in truth the article shall present a life form that has no teeth, stability or power within its walls.  Once again God has laid it upon my heart to share another portion of His Church that is struggling with truth versus worldly trickery.  This article will also give examples of what happens when a protected authority figure succumbs to the physical venues that are presented to it and what happens when the truth finally comes out.  The aftermath of these failings are horrendous and embarrassing, so much so that one may never rise again to the status once honestly recognized by the entire world.

A few decades ago the golfing world was suffering greatly.  Television viewing, ratings and popularity of the sport were grinding to a slow halt.  The golfing world was looking towards someone who could set the stage on fire again and to bring back the traditional flare of the game once more.  They received this gift in the form of an American person named Tiger Woods.  His popularity immediately restored the old game’s life back into the world setting and even those who did not watch golf before were panting over this new figure. 

Tiger took the golfing world by storm and was soon signing autographs by the thousands each week.  Talk shows, radio shows and many other sporting companies all vied for his attention and offered him astronomical amounts of money to endorse these companies.  On the golf course tiger began to perform excellent, making the cuts in every tournament and doing quite well when Sunday evening rolled around.  He started winning tournaments and his popularity grew accordingly.  Tiger won his first major tournament and then another and another, it seemed like no one would stop his successful rise to the top of the golfing world. And according to his colleagues in this world he was a phenomenon and one who had all the answers to the golfing struggles around the globe.

Tiger’s domination of the golfing world eventually spilled over into the general talk of the world and his popularity had now been visible into the non golfing world.  It seemed like nothing would ever touch the empire that he had built for him and his family and it was quickly becoming known that he was basically untouchable.  Until, a certain evening when a breaking news report appeared across the screens around the world that he had a minor fender bender after an argument with a family member. At first many blew off this scene but as the hours and days passed by it became clear that something else was brewing with the setting.

After the main story broke of what exactly happened that evening, the world suddenly became numb and could not believe what it was hearing over the news and airwaves.  The tabloids went crazy, the jokes began to appear and the internet was filled with the pros and cons of the decisions that he made in his life.  A public apology statement was released with a short yet highly publicized statement then graced our eyes for the next few weeks.  Tiger’s personal life was now public and the damage control specialists were very busy for the next few months.

The consequences of these activities hurt Tiger and his family and struck a fatal blow into his immediate life.  He took some time off to be with his family and to deal with the impending issues that almost everyone around the world knew about.  Many opinions of Tiger had now changed and even today some of those opinions have not reversed.  When Tiger returned to the golf links everyone was anxious to see what was going to happen with his playing, and up until this day his play has not been like it was previous to the personal tragedy within his life.  Some of his sponsors left him and have not returned.  Tiger has won a few more tournaments since the blow up but has not even come close to the construction of his trophy palace he once glittered.  He has tried to rebuild his family and even began a new relationship yet the status he now holds is nothing compared to what he once was.  The fall was great and it was hard and not many people missed it.

We are currently in the midst of another icon being accused of horrendous acts towards other human beings.  This person served as a typical father figure when I was young and has had countless affects upon billions of people around the world for many decades.  Yet Mr. Cosby is now under scrutiny for some of his actions in the distant past.  When I was growing up I remember watching “Fat Albert” on Television as much as I could and learned many things concerning friendship and accepting people from that program.

After I reached my high school and college years I avidly watched the “Cosby Show” which was another popular weekly program that I learned many other skills that I try to employ with my own children.  I loved this program and I related to some of the issues that were addressed in this program.  I can probably speak for many other kids and parents that would concur with my conclusions about this program.  Mr. Cosby was very influential in many lives around the world and was in high demand for speaking engagements, all of whom wanted to learn from the wisdom that he projected towards the world.

Today the entertainment business along with the millions of other people who have looked upon Mr. Cosby as an excellent role model for life are scratching their heads and searching for answers as to why this person would be accused of such heinous acts against women.  The accusations against him have totally tarnished his career and also caused many of the companies that have endorsed him to leave.  Demonstrators have launched protest marches against his appearances and even some of his shows have been cancelled due to the accusations.  To cast such doubt on someone who has been a part of your life for a very long time hurts and it is easy for one to feel betrayed coming from such an important figure.

The majority of these accusations that have been announced occurred many decades ago and are now not subject to any type of prosecution according to our laws.  Yet, the pain and suffering from these women still smolder within their lives and with the public revelations their families share in these sufferings.  Since these accusations cannot be prosecuted the entire truth of these events cannot be fully known and unless some major details occur, the public shall never know either.  Whether or not these horrific circumstances occurred or not the pain of believing that the possibility of them even occurring shall never leave the people whose lives this man affected, directly or indirectly.  These newly enlightened details will shape the ideas of other past, current and future stars’ lives and hopefully will learn how not to act towards others.

In both of these examples it is easy to get caught up in the specifics and leave out the overall picture.  Humans are famous for accomplishing this feat and love to tell about it when discussions arise.  We must remember that the entire picture must be taken into consideration when events are brought to our attention.  Teenagers are famous for believing their friends before the entire truth comes out about a specific event; it would be a gross negligence on my account if I left out adults from the equations as well.  We as humans need to be a part of each other’s lives and to have a complete relationship with them at the same time. However, if our actions violate this relationship with others in any way, those violations will stay in the forefront of their minds a lot longer and mingle into conversations more readily than sharing the truths that they witnessed.

I take the Church as an example of both of the above examples as a case study.  Can anyone identify with recent activities of the Church that would incriminate them?  It does not take too much effort not to find something that fits within this category and for some personal accounts could flow readily.  The goal of the Church is to witness to the world and to show and tell them that Jesus loves them and that God has provided a way for us to have eternal life through Him.  We do not hear much of that message coming from the press, the news sources or even the people who attend church services.  If Mr. Woods had been focused upon his family and on his career the amount of distractions would have been miniscule instead of a priority and the chances of his blessings being cut down to size, they might have been greater than anyone could have imagined.

In the second example those allegations came at a time long after the events had occurred.  Under threats and violent intimidation were these people subjected to, not including the acts of these events in the first place.  But now that time has passed and any thought of prosecution did the people finally come forward and make their complaints known.  And while not much besides public ridicule can be accomplished the memories and hurt will still reside within those people and for those who looked up to this man as a role model for decades to follow.  One also has to wonder about what future effect this has on people as well, in that if a person finds someone who is truly a good person and wants to help others, the first person may not open up fully to them because of the doubt that has been cast previously by this example.  Do we see this today?  Oh, yes on a second by second basis.

The Church falls into this example because of its dark and secretive past that she has committed.  If you read church history it does not take one long to realize that the Church has done some pretty graphic acts in order to proclaim its existence.  As I stated above, the purpose of the Church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the dying world, period.  No where does it say for the Church to abandon the people or to hurt them in any way.  No where in God’s Word does it say to rape children or to allow the Church to force people to perform heinous acts with the leaders of the Church.  And nowhere does any law of God demand that these acts be committed so that the people can be sanctified in the eyes of God through these acts.  These types of activities were popular in the early stages of Church development and through the Middle Ages and Reformation eras and it would not take too much research to find these acts in the modern Church as well.  No matter when these acts occurred, it brings anger, hate and total separation from God and to be honest, who could blame these people for doing such.

All of the actions that the Church has committed over the centuries I cannot ask for forgiveness to these people that were subjected to these acts.  And even if I could it is not my place to do so.  I can stand up and apologize to the world for these horrendous acts that have been laid upon the people, but it does not matter one ounce if the Church does not recognize them and asks for forgiveness, first to God and to those groups who she has dealt a heavy hand towards.  So far, the Church has not done this and from the looks of things has no desire to do so either.  So, Christians run along trying to figure out why the Church is no longer relevant in the world, scorned, mocked and ridiculed at every turn, and for the most part muzzled when it comes to revising, updating and creating new legislature in the world’s nations.

The acts of the two people above were strictly choices and it has effects on many others afterwards.  The acts of the Church was also voluntary choices and look at the endless accounts of responses to these events afterwards.  The legacy that the spiritual Church has built has far outweighed the physical legacy.  It is known that all people physically die but it is the spiritual death that matters so much more.  The spiritual death is eternal and can never be reversed and if the Church has painted a destructive picture onto the hearts of people, then that separation from God shall continue in the spiritual realm as well.  It seems like we cannot get away from these horrific events that the Church has committed and is committing today.  And the question remains if we are witnessing any changes from within the Church because of these past actions, and it is easy to answer this question.

Remember when you were a kid, or even an adult, when you got caught doing something that you were told not to do and your parents grounded you or spanked you?  None of us liked to be disciplined when we were young and none of like to be written up for something we have done incorrectly in the adult world.  All of us knew that our actions would face consequences and depending upon the severity of our actions it could have meant a long term corrective measure that was laid down.  It is this aspect that we must be concerned with, the long term consequences of the actions of the Church.

I have stated this many times that the Church is represented by you and by you alone.  It is not the denomination that you associate with nor is it the building that you sit in every week.  The Church is you and your life, period.  If you represent Christ in a vile manner guess what, the world may like you but the definition of Christ shall not.  The Church is not to take away from the human but to give from Christ.  It is through this gift that the Church lives and breathes; the only question is what are you breathing into the dying person, life or death?

In all of the examples that has been shared with you in this article, they share one thing in common.  Each example provides us with a human event that a person or group has done to another.  It is these acts that give the person or groups of people reason to doubt.  It is bad enough that people place their entire trusts upon humans and then get their hearts crushed by unfortunate circumstances.  All of us have had disappointments with humanity and that trend shall continue and that is why it is so important that we place our trust in God alone.  Yet, we cannot do that because the very thing that God established on this earth to protect us from the world is committing the exact same crimes.  It is these crimes that commonly bind us to the world and when this occurs, all hope is lost eternally.

God wants everyone to understand that He loves us and that He has placed laws in place to protect us from all worldly harm.  He also has placed people in the world who love Him and want nothing more to share the truth with those that are hurting and need Him.  But there is no way that this is going to be possible if we continue to accept our own sinful ways.  The Church is doomed if we do not repent for our past, our present and for the future ridiculous things that we may do.  Then and only then will we be able to turn the Church around and allow God’s message to flow from our hearts again.  Restoration is needed within the Church and the time is now to allow God to perform this process. 

We cannot afford to wait any longer for if we do then God will have to show His Church exactly how bad we have become in His eyes, the hard way.  God shall not stop at His Church either, the nations will fall into this category as well, for it is the people that God sees, not just the physical nation.  I urge each and every person to search their heart and to allow God to show you exactly what He wants to remove.  It is unspeakably important that we allow God to do this now and not later.  Restoration on a voluntary basis goes a lot smoother than the alternative involuntary route, trust me I have been there, more than once.  We no longer have time to be “The Tiger Church” but God’s Church.  God love us and He wants to bless His children, but if we do not change quickly, our world that we have acquired shall fall, and fall hard indeed.

DLB

Spiritual Torture

Spiritual Torture

1/23/15

Well if that title does not grab you not much will I would say.  Humanity has witnessed many different methods of torture and for the most part been pleased with its results.  What one would call useful information is desired in such sessions and with the influence of pain, results are conditionally produced.  But what is spiritual torture and how does it affect our lives?  Does it serve the same purpose as physical torture?  Is it just as effective as physical torture?  These are questions that many Christians have and some may have not even thought about before, yet the results of spiritual torture are far greater than the physical because in the spirit, time is no more.  The battle is for your eternal life and it really does not get much bigger than that.

I recently watched a documentary on some of the torture techniques that mankind used in the Middle Ages and to be quite frank about it, it was fascinating and gruesome all wrapped up into one long and detailed program.  This program focused on the method of burning people alive and I found it very interesting not only the way that people used this method of torture and execution but also how well recorded they kept records of these events.  I also watched a documentary that dealt with different type of instruments used in obtaining information from prisoners during this same period of time.  This documentary too had its fascinating architectural procedures in order to provide specific people unknown knowledge about certain areas of lands.  While I have always known that humans have used these methods in order to obtain “secret” information from enemies, I still find it intriguing of the mannerisms in which the human mind can think up in order to obtain their goals.

In the past few years there have been many news reports and investigative reports that have been released about modern day torture and the methods of which this century’s leaders have obtained unknown or “secret” information from others.  While the majority of the world deplores this type of method gathering there are some people in leadership capacities who see nothing wrong with this setting.  No matter what a person believes about this method the human mind of another shall always have a different opinion concerning the matter and if we are truly understanding and compassionate about free of speech then we must also include freedom of thinking as well, because both senses follow each other.

On the more personal level we have read and witnessed accounts of other types of personal torture as well.  Hardly a week goes by without us reading or hearing about some person that has captured another person and held them without their consent.  This type of torture comes in a variety of situations and conditions with some lasting for years or even decades.  Physical torture is not the only method of choice for some either, mental torture is very cruel to anyone that it is being subjected to and usually proves to be very devastating and debilitating if allowed to continue.

The major question that all of us should keep in mind when we learn of such torture methods being used is why were these people being tortured in the first place?  What did they do or who were they associated with that placed them into this category in the first place?  Over the millennia we have read concerning the security of past and present States and how these States go about creating and maintaining stability and security within each State.  One has to agree that these two factors play an important part in the legitimacy and lasting of a particular state or government.  But to what extent will and should a government go to in order to keep the stability present and to know what their enemies are doing around or in their own protective zones? 

When I was in the military they gave us special classes and physical exercises on some of the methods of “information gathering” techniques and even placed us into these type of conditions in order for us to understand what was kind of involved. It was not a pleasant few days but I did learn a lot about how far the human mind will go in order to complete an order.  As I contemplate some of the methods that were used on my personal body, I can see how effective this type of “information gathering” can be and why it is used, but it still does not deflate the suffering in which it relates to the victim.

How many of us understand that our immortal, spiritual and eternal enemy performs this type of activity within our lives?  First we must understand that we do have a spiritual enemy and that it is his job to find out how he can do the most damage to our lives, no matter what the angles may be in order for his to accomplish this mission of his.  Ever wonder why torture has always been used as a method of finding out information and why it is used at all?  It is because it is a perfect way of getting one to surrender their beliefs for another person’s, or government’s, or group’s current causes.  Our enemy uses the exact same tactics when he is trying to grasp information about us, on a spiritual level.  We must never forget that our enemy cannot obtain information from us unless we voluntarily give it up to him and there are many ways that this can occur.

These are very important questions which some may not find too significant, yet our spiritual enemy operates in the same manner yet turns the tables in the fact that he does not care what you think about his methods or how he completes them; he just does it and then walks away after his goal is accomplished.  What information does he need that is so important that he has to spiritually torture us?  This is a logical question but many people probably do not think about it at all.  In order for us to understand this spiritual torture we must first understand how our enemy gathers the information to use against us, then we can grasp the definition of spiritual torture and it is used against us.

This is why it is very important to understand our history and our lineage for sometimes the information is already there and easily accessed, it is because our enemy operates in basically the same manner as our physical enemies do.  Our lives are a walking encyclopedia of information, about our family, our surroundings, our physical and mental conditions and our spiritual connections with our Creator.  Through the situations that we associate within, through the words that we say about ourselves and towards others, the friends we associate with and through the places we cohabitate in all provides our enemy enough access in order for him to accomplish his mission. 

I know that this fact is hard for some of to contemplate and to accept but I ask those of you who are reading this and do not agree with this statement to stop reading for a spell and think about some of the areas of your life that you have struggled with, and then compare those situations and circumstances with your life according to God’s Creative purposes for your life and then you will understand the difference between the two standards.  THIS is the spiritual torture that our enemy uses against us and it is very effective because for the most part we have no idea of what is going on and we just accept it as life and go on down the road.  There is a connection somewhere within your lineage or your own personal life that our enemy has legal access to because of what has been played out.  And if we take hold of this truth we can do so much more for the Kingdom of God because we then could explain the reasoning behind so many other people’s spiritual torture sessions.

I am going to address a current situation that our society is currently embracing and that is of homosexuality.  I understand that there are many heated debates and discussions ongoing concerning this topic but none that I have read about or heard about have truly defined the foundation of what is going on here and that is spiritual torture leading to spiritual death.  There are many portions to this situation and the portion that I am going to address comes from the person who claims to be a Christian yet submits to homosexuality and how it relates to the spiritual aspect of their lives.  If you want to understand the divine order of relationships go to Genesis Chapter 2 and there you shall fine the definition of mankind and how we are to live and reproduce accordingly.  Also, look at Job and all of the troubles that he endured and after all was said and done, ask yourself who was left in the picture and that setting will show you the same type of bond and relationship.

Recently, there have been a number of Christian performers and church leaders come out as being gay.  Every one of them that I have heard so far has made some kind of statement of how they have struggled with their state of living because of their status of being a Christian.  There are probably some other people out there who have not had this feeling and that places them into another portion of homosexuality and I am not dealing with that issue in this article (I have a feeling that I will at some point in the near future however).  It does not matter who the people are or what positions, if any, they hold within any church denomination, our enemy cares nothing but destroying your life from the eternal outward.  Reality suggests that this area of humanity has been growing for a very long time which means we need teaching and understanding of what is occurring, not condemnation and separation.

First of all I have to ask myself if these people understand that there are two immortal and eternal kingdoms that are vying for our lives and that these two kingdoms can NEVER mix in any way.  The beginning portions of that question and statement are easy to answer because we have all been taught that our enemy wants us to die and go to hell but the last portion of that question is not as well known.  These two kingdoms can never mix is the portion that I am referring to and how we have humanly tried to blend these kingdoms together and in doing so have allowed our spiritual enemy access to our lives. 

Secondly, the phrase used by these hurting people is very important and is the focal point of what God wants us to understand and that is this: their struggles with their sexuality and their feelings is a prime example of spiritual torture and the methods by which our enemy uses in order for us to accept information from or to give away information to him in order for him to accomplish his mission in our lives.  This statement should speak volumes for those who have been raised in church and have these sexual tendencies will be tortured and many will give into this form of spiritual torture simply because they do not know what it is or how to combat it.  What is so sad is that these people who are suffering from this type of torture do not know what they are saying, acknowledging and accepting into their lives and the lives of their families and future familial generations.

The confessions from these people, who are very sincere, places a huge bulls-eye target upon their spiritual heart, and allows our eternal enemy to take pot shots at it whenever he chooses.  To add complications to this setting, many Christians who do not comprehend what is occurring pour fuel onto the situation by their inappropriate words and actions towards them.  It is totally embarrassing when a Christian, group or church take a militaristic attitude towards people who are suffering.  It is important that both sides of this issue understand that spiritual torture is a battle that is being fought and that the outcome of that battle will have some determination of the overall outcome of that person’s spiritual life.

I just read today that one of the founding members of a popular Christian music group has renounced Christianity and has endorsed atheism as his belief.  This is another prime example of people not being taught about what is actually transpiring within their lives.  Our enemy has gained control of enough pulpits around the world that his message of coffee and tea before, during and after the service is far greater of a topic than what the Word of God has stated.  Include the fact that the majority of Bible and Theology centers do not teach anything about spiritual warfare and combine that with practically no teaching or even understanding of Kingdom concepts, and the current condition of the Church is what has been reaped. No wonder there are so many people within the church denominations that are questioning their faith and questioning the existence of God!

It is through these spiritual battles that our eternal existence is completed.  If we continue to spiritually battle long enough without knowing what is going on or what is at stake it is very easy to succumb to the fight and just give up.  The complete picture is not comprehended and that is exactly what our enemy wishes it would stay like.  The Church is not helping in this Kingdom fight either, for she has willingly yet ironically given up on the same fight and joined with the world’s message of peace and love, not knowing what the consequences will be for doing such.  When these people say that they are struggling with such decisions they are telling the truth, for this struggle is for their eternal existence; in other words, it is a fight for your eternal life.

I have not heard too many people come forward, admit that they have struggled with this area, refused to give in, understood the Kingdom principles involved, and overcame this area and proclaimed victory.  I have heard some stories of people that were gay that gave up that lifestyle and became heterosexual, but these are few and far between because of the amount of coverage going in the other direction.  I can guarantee you that this struggle is one of the hardest battles to be fought because the stakes are so high.

A worrisome trend that I have noticed is that when these people do lose the battle within and accept a homosexual lifestyle that they have no regrets about their decision and that all of them so far are happy and relieved about their choice.  Ever wonder why this is the case?  The home team has won the battle and once that decision has been made the other side of the Kingdom battle shall not overrule your choice.  God has never and shall never force His presence upon our lives which means that once a person chooses to life in this manner, the kingdom of the world has advanced and has successfully pushed back the Kingdom of God in your life.  All godly influence and spiritual life is cut off and will not even be recognized as being present as time continues.  It becomes easier for them to accept and to talk about yet have the emotional responses of a church behind them.  God does not do emotions, just ask Jesus about His time in the garden praying.  People who accept this decision do not understand exactly what has occurred, for they believe that they have won over the struggle by accepting a worldly condition for the struggle does diminish.  In truth they have allowed our enemy to strike a mortal wound in their spiritual heart that will slowly bleed out the eternal life that God wants for their lives. 

Let me provide a case in point to expound upon this fact.  What happened to the people during the Middle Ages who were brought in for torture and “questioning?”   Many of those who did give up and confess their “sins” to their tortures usually did so in order to make the pain stop.  What happened to these people?  Many of them were left so disfigured that they could never live a normal life again and everyone who came in contact with them understood what had occurred to them.  This would isolate these people from others and even family members, for fear that they would be associated with a traitor or with a person of accused of treason.  These people were considered to be lucky in that they were allowed to live; some life huh.

Still, others who gave up “information” had their torture sessions halted, but for a short while only.  After their information was deemed complete many were tortured even further and given further horrific treatments before their bodies gave up the fight and ceased as a functioning unit.  Sometimes the “after” torture session was so intense that many people did not make it after this single session.  To the person looking inside or from a distance it would seem that they had been cruelly over punished, yet it still occurred and was swept under the rug.  It is hard to imagine but in some places that type of torture occurred just a few decades ago and if one really had the guts probably could find this type of activity occurring today.  Place this setting within your personal life and you will have the exact same scenario going on within you.  The information that your spirit possesses is a huge destructive pot that will end our enemy’s grasp upon all others, so it is his job to silence you and for you to cross over and support his cause.

This is what spiritual warfare does to our lives if we do not understand what is going on and what the true battleground determines.  It has been stated within the Bible that we are to rid ourselves from the world and to separate ourselves from the world.  However, if we do not know what is from the world and what is from God how can we fight for this separation?  We as a society have come to the conclusion that what humans deem necessary is the rule of thumb or the code of conduct and as long as we contend that this belief is accurate then we have no place for any higher authority to claim otherwise.  Want proof of this? Go sit in any junior high school or high school classroom and watch and listen and you will not have to sit there very long until you realize who actually controls the room. 

Yet we tolerate this torture process of the basic foundation of our lives, both physically and spiritually.  We are headed for a doomed life and true eternal separation from our Creator if we do not wake up and realize what is transpiring around us and within us.  I am speaking on a personal level and on the Church level; both are in dire straits and are in need of rescuing and if both of these entities do not do something to change the state of our nation, our nation shall quickly follow.  The only one that can rescue us from the mess that we have voluntarily placed us in is God.  

If we truly turn our hearts towards Him He will show us the way to effectively combat our enemy and pull us out from our current existence and restore our spiritual hearts back to life again.  If we do not change our ways and continue our current progression, we will leave God no choice but to remind us of whom we are and of whom He is.  God is God and He loves His children and as a holy and just Creator who cannot change His ways shall act as a parent should.  It is strictly our choice to continue to have spiritual torture sessions or not.  Will life always be easy?  No, but at least we will have the combat readiness in order for us to be on the same plane as our enemy is when he attacks. 

DLB

The Fire is Already Present

The Fire is Already Present

1/21/15

How much do we proclaim to know about the Word of God?  Do we understand its fire-like consistencies or do we just refer to its contents when it is convenient for us to do so?  These concepts are necessary for us to understand how the Church functions when they are witnessing to the world and it is compulsory that we understand that there is a difference in thoroughly knowing the Bible and just whimsically flashing a passage or two to others in order to get a point across.  God’s Word represents life, eternal life and the direction in which this eternal life is spent depends upon what we know and portray to the dying world.

I have to admit that the small community that I live in is probably a typical one in the fact that when something out of the normal occurs in the area the majority of the people begin to act crazy.  It is amazing how many rumors get started and what is even more fascinating is at the speed of which these rumors circulate.  It has been almost 1 ½ years now since the house across the street from ours burned and as the neighbors and I were trying to keep the street inhabitants under control I remember seeing people around that I did not recognize.  After the excitement settled down a bit I took a longer look at the people gathered in the area and realized that the majority of those people I did not know and many were not even from our neighborhood; and this was after midnight.

Our Dachshund Heidi likes to sit on the top of the couch and look outside our large bay window.  It allows her to see what is occurring and who is walking along our street.  For the most part she usually sticks to this placement during the day but every once-in-a-while she will extend this “viewing” after the sun has set.  One night a few months ago she was sitting in her usual place on the top of the couch and she all of a sudden sharply raised her head up and began to rapidly turn her head back and forth as if she knew something was there but could not see anything.

By the time I got over to her she had graduated into whining and whimpering but still continued to look in both directions along the street.  After her shaking began I finally heard a small and faint noise of a single siren.  As I continued to comfort Heidi, the siren came closer but I could tell that it was not coming towards us.  The sound brought back memories of the house fire the year before and I instinctively glanced over at the unoccupied house just to satisfy my curiosity but everything was dark and quiet protruding from the house.

I then heard another siren begin and as I sat there for a moment realized it was headed in the same direction as the first, then the third siren became audible but this one was one from a fire truck.  Within a few minutes many sirens were sounding and heading in the same direction which of course peaked my mind and continued my curiosity.  So much so that when bonnie came up the stairs I looked at her and she immediately knew what I was thinking and she asked me “do you want to take a ride?”  I was off the couch and into my shoes within a few seconds and ready to go.  Yep, we had fallen into the same category as all of those other people had done with the fire on our street. 

It took us a while to find the fire and in fact it took some amount of time because it was up by the high school and off the road a ways.  We actually had driven past it and did not see it until after we had turned around and basically given up on locating it. Both Bonnie and I saw it almost at the same time and then we understood why all the excitement was occurring.  Another house had caught on fire and the fire department had responded in full force to combat the blaze.  We could not see any flames remaining so we had shown up very late to the party and did not pursue the matter any longer, but it was sure fun to talk about for a while.  We laughed at ourselves for getting caught up in the moment and doing our best to do exactly what we fussed about when others came to our neighborhood and did; got to love being human.

In both instances the people within hearing distance understood that a fire was occurring somewhere due to the distinctive sounds of the fire trucks.  The fire and police departments had personnel on each scene and were directly involved in putting the fires out while the “looky loos” were present in force as well but participated indirectly, mainly getting in the way if you want to know the truth.  In both sides of the participation aisle presented varying directions.  The ones directly involved in fighting the fire knew exactly where the fire was located and were doing their jobs accordingly.  The ones who might have known where the fire was exactly or came onto the scene just to see what was going on may not have known exactly what was specifically occurring but arrived and stood around and did absolutely nothing, but watch and talk about what might had occurred.

When I was an older kid and teenager I remember watching many commercials on television that featured Smokey The Bear promoting fire safety and prevention.  When I was younger I was fascinated that a bear could be the one to instruct me about fire safety yet at the same time I had many thoughts about why fire was so destructive.  As I began to enter into high school my science classes taught how fire begins, consumes and how it can be extinguished.  As my life experiences continued, I realized that millions of people had been exposed to fire safety and prevention training as well and understood the potential dangers of fire.  It is also understood that once a fire is started it will acquire all of the necessary fuel ingredients so that it can stay “alive”.

If one thinks about this state of the fire it can be drawn as a constant state which needs to grow or to die out.  In either circumstance it is necessary for humans to plan out the fire’s future which includes letting it burn itself out or to voluntarily put it out before it does any further damage.  Many questions occur when a fire starts which include, how the fire started, how hot the flames were burning, how long it took to put out and how much property or land was destroyed.  All of these questions are considered normal questions even if the fire is still burning at the time.  These questions bring out the desire of the human heart to try and fathom of events that have occurred and to try and understand why they occurred.  It is a natural state of humans to question things, even the ones we are not directly involved in, or believe we are not involved in.

Many of us might have helped in putting out the two fires mentioned above or believed we could have, but in reality how could we effectively accomplish this task?  As I looked around our immediate neighborhood I saw many people just standing around just watching and not offering much help at all, but they sure did stir up the gossip chains.  There were many other cars passing by the high school road that night as well, and it was amazing to notice that each one of them slowed down when they realized where that fire was burning too.  We all know about the fire and are quick to give our opinions about it to others, but for some odd reason that is all we do.  How does a fire go along with our spiritual lives and how does it tie into the Word of God?  Those are questions that should be easily answered but for most of us we cannot answer them because all we do is look at it instead of understanding its meaning.

There is no question that many of us that walk this planet are familiar with the Bible and its contents.  I am also quite confident that many of us do not fully comprehend the finer details of God’s Word and what it means to our lives.  How can I justify this statement?  My father has been a minister for over 50 years and while I have sat under his ministry for a good portion of those 50 years, he readily admits that God shows him new things every day.  If this true, and it is, then there is no reason for me to believe otherwise, I do not know everything and I also know that my finite mind cannot include every drop of information that God’s Word has for each one of the people on this earth, but what God does show me I learn from and what God shows my father he learns from, so why would I doubt that statement especially since each article I write and every word that my father reads centers from the Word of God?

God’s Word is the only true source of eternal life and salvation and we have allowed our enemy to steal that truth from our hearts.  It is this purpose of this message of the knowledge of a fire that God wants us to understand.  It is frustrating and hateful for one of God’s people to use a passage of scripture without understanding its entire context.  It is easy for all of us to do this and this is not the first time that God has shared with me to write about this topic, but it is of the utmost importance for us to understand the entire Word of God and not just the portions that we want to use as defensive or offensive measures.

I understood exactly what was going on with the fire that was burning across the street from my house.  I was directly involved since I was the first one on the scene and made sure that everyone that was inside the house was out.  I had split decisions to make if they were not and I was prepared to take a risk if necessary.  I also understood the intricate details of the house since I knew of the conditions of the family that lived there, which placed me privy to the hidden dangers as well.  I am not bragging about that night at all, but with the extra knowledge of the details of who lived there, what the general appearances were, and what the conditions of the people living there I could give a full and accurate account to the police and fire department concerning the issue at hand, while most of the spectators around the scene only could provide fictitious accounts.

It is these types of details about God’s Word that He wishes for us to understand.  Giving sketchy details to others will only prove to produce doubt and hurts because it gives these people nothing to feed upon and thrive from, only questions and doubts to ponder and then throw away.  The Church have become masters at this strategy and what makes things worse is that they have no clue that they have been sucked into this lifestyle.  God knows that if we do not know His Word cover to cover and word for word we will have no chance of surviving the attacks from our enemy.  We will not be able to withstand the tricks because we do not comprehend that the Bible is filled with people and their stories, and whether or not they succeeded or failed due to their knowledge of God.

How do I know this to be true?  Look at all of the denominations falling over themselves trying to appease the world and its standards in order to make headlines and to prove that they know God better than others.  It is sickening to God and we are voluntarily moving from our own lukewarm status to perfect worldly sinner status and parading around happily about it as well. It is evident that they are looking at the Word of God as one that is standing by watching the fire but does not know the intricate details of what is going on.  If they did understand the details concerning God’s Word (the fire) they would be falling over themselves trying to bring the people of the world to Christ instead. 

There is no way possible that we can personally understand every nook and cranny of God’s Word, it is physically impossible for us to have the notion of doing so.  However, we must find it within our hearts to understand what exactly is occurring in the lives of those people within the context of the Bible.  The Church cannot give people that do not know God just a morsel of information about God either, for if this occurs we are proving to them a disservice and actually providing an eternal lie; like Satan did in the Garden of Eden when he seduced and tricked Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden tree.  If we understand the Bible in all of its wisdom and knowledge and apply the contents to our lives, then we will be able to effectively share this knowledge with others; we know about the fire and can present it to others accordingly.

What occurs when the people that we bring into the Church and then allow them to continue in the sinful practices that they harbor?  What happens when those within the church settings approach these people and then begin to witness to them and showing them that the Word of God says things differently than what they had been told?  What happens to these people and who do they believe to be telling them the truth?  This is exactly what I am referring to when people of the church accept ways of the world into their lives and accept them as the truth from God.  They are standing by the fire and spreading idle (idol) gossip to the people that really need God.  This is the dangers of not understanding the fire and the capability that it has to burn and the same principle applies to the Word of God.  Using a portion of its message for a specific purpose or belief is very dangerous and it can lead to one’s own eternal separation from God and eternal death.

It is time that we tell the truth to ourselves concerning this topic.  First of all if we believe that we know a great deal about God and His ways we need to repent now!!  Secondly, if we fall into the category that we know just portions or parts of scripture we need to place our hearts back into the Bible and ask God to show us what His word says to our lives, so that we can truly witness to the people that are dying in their sins.  Lastly, if we are in the category where God has shown us some specific details about His Word we need to be doing everything in our power to share this information with others, including and continuing to learn from the passages of wisdom that we have been shown.  Our learning about God and His ways never stops and if it ever does, it should be a signal to us that something is wrong within our lives.

I do not mean to sound cold or harsh concerning this matter but it is necessary for me to share what god is trying to get across to us today.  The settings and conditions of the Church are in dire positions and by our words and actions it has become clear that we do not desire to change our positions concerning these matters.  God is doing everything He can to show us that we need to stick our hearts back into His Word for guidance and for us to realize that even though we have fallen away from His ways; He is just and ready to restore our standing within His eyes.  We cannot allow our pride to influence our sinful mannerisms nor can we allow the god of this world seduce us well enough to blind us into falling away from God eternally.  If we do not understand God’s Word thoroughly, then all we are doing is effectively spreading rumors and believing rumors.

DLB

Guess Who Part II

Guess Who Part 2

This portion of the sentence is very interesting because it is very specific in who it is talking about and who it is referring towards.  “and became strangers to God” simply states that the people chose to place God out of their lives and through the mentioning’s of the previous sentences in this passage it is very clear that it was the people who did this and NOT God.  This presents a picture of framed ideas from the people that voluntarily chose to ignore God and His ways and to do things their own way.  God allows this to occur since He shall never force His Ways upon us, it has been, is now and shall always be our choice to serve Him or not.  It is not a good position to be in when a nation deliberately rejects God, the dangers are endless.

In no way does this portion of the sentence mention that God becomes strangers to us and we should really understand what this means to our lives.  When we choose to ignore God and to push Him out of our lives we will arrive to the point that we cannot hear what God is saying or wanting for our lives.  We will not understand what is occurring around us and even though we have nothing to do with Him, we will curse him when times become tough.  But what about God?  What is He doing while we are thumbing our noses at Him?  He is still watching us and calling out to us because as any good parent will do, they will watch out for their children no matter what the circumstances of that child’s heart may be.  God never stops or ends His relationship with us.  He continually yearns for direct communication with us and it is His desire that we restore our communication with Him on a daily basis.  He knows us like no other and through this understanding will try His best to grab our attention at all times.

“And as for their innocent, their little children, they offered them up as sacrifices.”  While this may be the last sentence in the addressed passage, it surely is not the least or even less intense as the previous ones.  In all honesty, this sentence serves as the accumulation of all the previous sentences within the passage and presents the inner state of said nation.  To answer the question that many of you are asking, yes, this nation actually offered up their children as sacrifices and ended their lives all in the name of what they believed to be right; the same name that they had allowed into their lives and had placed before God.  You want to know the real reason God stated not to have any other gods before him…..there you go!

The value of this nation’s own future was downgraded so much that they believed that their own actions could be mimicked well enough that the true meaning of life itself was overridden.  This was not forced upon them; it was their choice even though their belief in their idols “demanded” these sacrifices.  This action also inhibits and demolishes any concept of life within God’s laws for His values on life were not thought about.  One would think that such a nation would not adopt laws of this nature or be tolerant of such practices.  Yet, it is clearly stated throughout history that many individuals, groups and nations have adopted this practice for their idols or “supreme beings.” 

What is harder to fathom is that many people within this nation in the passage actually believed that their idols were being perfectly served through this action of sacrifice and that their personal future would somehow be rewarded for doing such deeds.  This practice became so common that these rituals were publicly celebrated and became a popular course for each worshipper of that belief.  This action meant that other idols had to find other methods in order to stay up with the others, so added techniques and dress must have been introduced into the ceremonies.  We must also contend that not everyone within the defined nation accepted or participated in these rituals and it is reasonable to wonder how they were looked upon and treated by those who differed in opinions.

Have you guessed who this nation is that the passage is referring to?  If one is not familiar with the Bible it would be difficult to figure out because so many nations have these characteristics and traits within their boundaries.  But the nation that is being referred to in this passage is a true nation and it is one that is still in existence today.  It is once again a thriving nation and has representative all over the world, but this representation has not been around very long.  This nation, while it has been around for millennia has only recently given its own recognized state.  This nation that the passage is referring to is the nation of Israel.  And while this nation is considered to be an ancient one, the path that she chose to take caused her many millennia of heartache, pain and grief and she would not see freedom and statehood again for a very long time.  Her existence and standard of living was totally destroyed and from their freedoms came slavery and subjection to their enemies.  It would seem like this portion of Israel’s history would be hard to accept and to swallow, but we must understand that this nation was created by God, for God and through God.  It was created and established through a divine covenant which can never be broken, only violated; there is a huge difference in those two words that many of us do not understand.

The nation of Israel did live in this vile and evil condition and the events that surrounded this time are recorded in history and the time frame of when it all came crashing down around them was in 732 B.C.  The people of Israel did know their roots and how these roots were created yet they came to the belief that their own physical ways were more important that God’s divine ways.  The Bible states that Israel had fought many wars over their tenure and had won war after war with decisive victories.  But for some reason at this time in human history their spiritual strength was so weak that their physical capabilities were actually inhibited enough to be defeated by an enemy.  The nation of Israel was defeated so soundly by the Assyrians that their way of life never again was the same.

What was so humiliating about this defeat was that the Assyrians were considered a “nobody” people with very limited talents, military and structure.  They were considered to be weak in every area and were not even wanted as an ally in other regional ways due to their lack of strength and influence in the region.  So how did this unknown warrior kingdom rise up enough to destroy God’s own people?  It was not because of their physical abilities or capabilities but it was due to their spiritually dead hearts.  It must be understood that God’s laws are in place for our own protection and not as and inhibition and if we understand this concept it is easier to know why God allowed this process to occur.  He does not like allowing this but it is necessary in order to engage a process of restoration between God and mankind.

It was this time in history that an unknown nation rose up against a divine institution and dealt a life changing blow to the nation of Israel.  This event also served as the launching pad of a violent yet well organized empire that would expand over a vast amount of territory.  The Assyrians became known for their warriors and their militaristic definitions and served their constituents with a heavy hand.  So much so that their ways of power centered around a single term that is commonly used today but had not yet been defined, terror.  They struck fear into their enemies, conducted brutal and unconventional raids to enforce their hold within the world and demonstrated no mercy even for the innocent.  After such a time of rule on the earth, Assyria was defeated and fell just as hard as they had conquered.  To this date the Assyrian nation or empire has not returned but some of its legacies do remain.  One in particular is their language, which is an advanced tongue that over a billion people use today, Arabic.

Even through these events God did not like the Assyrians but allowed them to conquer His people in order that they might understand the importance of the line-up of their priorities and what those priorities meant to their survival.  This is a nice piece of history one might say and for those who cannot stand the name of God or who do not believe in Him might have the attitude of “good, those people are no longer able to preach their god to me and they got exactly what they deserved.”  Many will not put the connection together with today and how it affects our individual lives here in America either, and this is their choice as well.  I cannot foresee God continuing His blessings on a nation that voluntarily snubs their noses at His laws; however, it is quite easy for me to believe that Israel believed that God’s protection would always be upon them and that they could continue to live in such a manner as they thought was right, without God being present.

If one reads the history of Israel it cannot be denied that the majority of their lives have been rigorously tortured.  Many nations have rejected the Jews from their lands even though each country has benefitted from the Jewish presence.  The majority of these countries has eventually shunned the presence of Jews and has in some ways contributed to their scattering and death.  What is striking to me is that the majority of those countries on this list “invisible” claim to be Christian or is lands in which the Church had or currently has a strong presence.  All of these examples and circumstances were part of Israel’s struggles and pains that they were still living because of the decisions that had made millennia before and one must consider the results of those countries that also persecuted the Jews as well, for they too were not left out.

I know this is somewhat an interesting example about Israel and how they got things wrong but the question that some might have is how does this apply to our lives today?  Where does America and western ideologies fit into this concept of destruction, for we are not God’s chosen people and in no way can we ever take their place.  It is well known and accepted that for the majority of the people that are currently alive in the west have heard something about God and His existence.  The Church is spread out all over the world and has a well known presence in most countries.

When the question of what occurred in 1492 is asked of us, our minds are quickly jarred into Christopher Columbus and the journey that he and his men took with royal instruction to seek out a new world.  I do not believe that it is coincidence that while Columbus sailed out to seek a new world with the blessings of the royalty of Spain, and at the same time the actions of the Catholic Church against the Jews were playing out.  There was a reason for these two events and while mankind believed that they were completing both settings in the name of God, only one of them had a divine purpose.

I have always wondered about why the United States was created and then blessed so greatly over these past few centuries.  It was not until I read about the two incidents in Spain that opened my eyes to what was really going on behind the scenes of human actions.  It is well known that god works in mysterious ways and that those who follow His ways will be blessed beyond measure.  It is evident that this country has fallen into that category and even though many may not even believe in God, His mercy and blessings have been present in this country.  I wish that I could say that we have graciously accepted the responsibilities that come with these blessings, but to be honest we have taken these blessings and turned into our own idols and have dismantled the foundations that were laid a long time ago.  Can God really use just one single event to establish a long lasting plan?

Yes, I do believe that this single human act turned the tide of humanity forever and yes I believe that this country was founded on values that allowed everyone to enjoy the freedom desired by those who wished for it.  For God had to start somewhere didn’t He, and this could be considered a mysterious way, right?  I have witnessed many activities in other people’s lives that is hard to explain other than “it is God” as an explanation and I cannot argue that point.

In what manner does this story about Israel have to do with the west of today, and especially America?  I understand and acknowledge that America and her fellow ideological allies are not Jewish in any way and that they do not represent Israel in any way either.  We as a society have not replaced the Jews or Israel as God’s chosen people by any means and we shall never do this either.  However, God does not provide refuge for people to serve Him and then forget about that place of refuge.  And with this remembrance status the blessings will be great and the judgment will be just as great, for God loves His children and He is just in all ways.

It is no coincidence that the discovery of this portion of the world centuries ago was ordained by God and I also know that this country has been blessed beyond belief for seemingly non specific reasons.  If we place God’s perfect ways into the picture it becomes clear, with an appropriate time table, that these events were divinely put into place.  The blessings that have been given to our lives and the allowances that we have freely given over the past three centuries or so have been astronomical.  Yet while our fiscal responsibilities have been un-proportioned our spiritual responsibilities have been laid waste.

I challenge you to jot down this paragraph of sentences that I have used as the reference of this article and then after you have completed this small task begin to search the news for some similarities.  Forget about the politics, forget about who is right or is wrong and on which side you believe and just compare our activities to that of ancient Israel.  It will not take you long to find the answers if you use your heart instead of your emotions.  America and her allies have fallen right into the same trap that Israel did and it is going to cost us our lives, literally.  No, we are not God’s chosen people but our land was chosen by God to serve as a safe haven for all those who wish to seek His ways for their lives, and we have blown it!  Israel sold her heart to the world, not over night but it took time to complete, and we as a spiritual harbor will suffer the exact same fate if we do not change now.  God allowed her choices to occur and to be obtained and Israel forgot what would be coming after these choices were made laws within their existence.  God is a just God and will deal with His children accordingly and righteously.  As any good parent would, He will start out small and try to grasp our attention, but when we ignore Him, He must delve deeper in getting our attention; and this He shall do for we have flat ignored Him.

It is a proven fact that when humans change the course of their hearts, their entire lives change course as well.  It is obvious that America has done this exact feat and we have inkling of an idea of what we have done to the foundation of our lives.  We as a nation still have a very short window of opportunity to change things back to where we once were before God has to foundationally wake us up.  It does not matter what political affiliation one is associated with, for God deals directly with both parties according to their hearts and not their physical memberships.  God cannot look upon worldly beliefs and laws then judge His people, He must rule according to His truths and ways.

Here is another tidbit for one to think about.  It has always been puzzling to the person from the west to read about the end times in the Bible and consequently find no reference or any type of symbolism that would suggest that America was participating in these events.  If Israel was beaten enough to be scattered abroad the entire known world at that time, wouldn’t it be feasible for us to understand that our demise would be so significant that we could and would lose our current status within the world’s stage?  God has done this before and He shall do it again on the same scale if we do not change our course.  It would make sense that our nation was not around during the important times in the history of humanity, and yet it is sad that such a land that was created as a harbor for those who wanted the true freedom to know and to worship God would not be included in the final act of God’s plan for humanity.

God has always had a plan for humanity when it comes to second chances or refuge.  God has never been a one and done creator when it comes to humanity and each one of our lives is a testament to that truth.  This nation was built upon strong godly principles and we have done our best to miss the boat and water down these ideals from the moment we stepped foot on these shores.  We have progressed so much over the last few centuries that we have turned into almost identical twins with ancient Israel.  This is scary folks and if we do not listen to what God is saying to us now, our future could be in serious doubt.  The existence of our country as we know it can be placed into an entirely different category, one that mimics other countries that have been ripped apart by human deeds that they thought were in the best interests of their country.

We can voluntarily choose to have God restore our spiritual lives before the physical portions have to be included in this process or not.  As I close this article I am reminded of a question that I asked my mother a while back and it was this: What kind of state does a person have to be in if restoration is warranted?  Her answer still rings loud in my spiritual ears and it something like this: total destruction, or in ruins.  God is God and there is nothing that we can say or do to change that fact and truth.  He can do whatever He sees fit for the world and He will allow many unusual events to occur in order to grasp our hearts back to Him.  It will not be the Green Party that destroys this country, nor will it be the Democrats or the Republicans, but it will be the nation itself, made up of individuals that have shunned God’s laws and ways in order to please themselves that shall allow for destruction to come.  We have a chance to change this course but we need to do this now.  Restoration is a good thing but it is strictly up to us of how much we have to restore.

The passage that I referred to in Part I of this article comes from the book entitled "The Harbinger" by Jonathan Cahn, Chapter 3 pg 17.

DLB