Hero Today...gone tomorrow!

Look at our culture...look @ the things we view as milestone "victories"...the things that go before us...as our freedom fighters...our heros...

...in the end...they are our downfall...

One of the most frightening things in the Bible is in the Book of Romans...it tells us that God gives people over to their sinful desires and lusts...

This means...if a culture gives God the finger...and runs toward the cliff...that God will put obstacles before this culture...but if they keep removing the obstacles...God will not follow suit...and remove the cliff...

...eventually...God says...if you want your sin...I will give it to you...and all the consequences that it brings!

Look at some of our hero's...and the fruit of "death to the future" that they bring;

1. Free choice- We call the murder of unborn babies free choice...do we ever stop and think that these unborn children are the future...no...we are too caught up in our own present.

2. Free love/sex- Look at all the forms of love that our culture exalts...it praises the sexual experience...while trying its hardest to prevent the fruit of that experience...some of the alternative lifestyle choices make the fruit impossible...no fruit...no future! We even name one of our condom brands Trojan...very fitting indeed. [look at last posts]

3. Easy Divorce--Because our culture esteems the individual above the family...we have easy divorce laws. If the individual isn't happy...then let them get out as fast as possible...no matter what damage it proves to bring on the children. When mom and dad get divorced...this brings huge financial and emotional strain on both parties...this very likely encourages less future children...who prove to be financially and emotionally straining at times...again no children...no future...

4. American Dream--This has proven to be a big nightmare. We are so consumed with striving to have more stuff...bigger houses...newer cars...bigger...better...more...more...more...and yet we are a people who need meds to fight off the depression. Are we going to learn...that money doesn't bring joy...strong, fulfilling, self sacrificing relationships do bring joy and peace. We are so busy trying to cling to our money and comfort...and we view children as obstacles to both. If we have more children this will mean less money...less comfort...so we wrongly choose less children...and find that we get less lasting comfort...no joy...and no future.

5. High Self Esteem. God tells us that He resists those who are proud...but He gives grace to the humble. We redefine pride...and call it self esteem...and think that somehow it magically becomes good. God still resists the proud [those who have a high self esteem]. We raise our children...filling them with self esteem [pride]...never discipling the little special snowflakes...and then we wonder why they are little demons. When someone asks us if we are going to have more...we laugh...we can't imagine what the house would look like with 4, 6, 8 demons in it.

Jesus told the people in His day...that if you try and save your life...then you will lose it...BUT if you lose your life for His sake...then you will gain it.

When you don't follow Jesus...and think that you get your cake and eat it too...you will be sadly disappointed...

Doing the Two Step...is really pushing it...!

I read a quote that said;

If you are walking one step ahead of the crowd...you are a leader.

If you are walking two steps ahead of the crowd...you are a pioneer.

If you are walking three steps ahead of the crowd...you are a martyr...

or in other words...doing the two step is really pushing it...go beyond that and people will want to get rid of you...

But if things aren't going well...it isn't enough to acknowledge that they aren't going well...its a start...but its not the final solution...

...you have to begin to look at your beliefs...and practices...and see if they are the culprits that are causing all the grief...

When you look at the world's demographics...it is more than a little frightening.

Europe and Canada [the U.S.A is on the minimal border line] are way below the minimum border line, in their fertility rates, to sustain the culture.

In other words...if there were no other added factors...we would cease to exist!

But there are other added factors...immigration!

The reality of things is that Europe and Canada aren't ceasing to exist...but what is happening is that much of our immigration is coming from Islamic nations...

The people from these nations are not following our declining fertility scores...they are being fruitful and multiplying!

In other words...it is only a matter of time before much of Europe...becomes an Islamic state.

Islam won't have to conquer by terrorism...by the use of weapons...they will only have to have 4, 6, 8 children per couple...whereas the Europeans and Canadians are having their 1.6 children per couple...

...its only a matter of decades...and the rest is history.

...and again...the heros we pride ourselves in today...will prove to be our downfall...unless we wake up!

Trojan Horse [Part 2]

Imagine you are a soldier, sleeping soundly, but not safely in your king's heavily fortified stronghold...

Your eyes snap open! The enemy trumpet blares close by!

You run from the sleeping barracks to see what all the racket is about!

As you enter the fortresses courtyard you immediately notice something very, very unsettling...

The massive iron gates that allowed friends in...but kept enemies out...were no longer standing...they had been removed in the night...and taken away!

But who could have accomplished such a feat...it suddenly dawns upon you...the gates could only be removed from the walls...from the inside.

You grab the warning trumpet...and blow it with all your might...the warning torches on the tower walls are also immediately lit...calling all troops to gather for battle!

As you watch the tiny army assemble...your knees begin to shake...where are all the soldiers? There should have been thousands...even millions more...where did they go...how did they vanish while everyone else slept?

Suddenly, you are jolted to attention once again...as the enemy war horn blares from outside the fortress walls...

You quickly run to the gaping hole...where the gates...the protection...once proudly stood...and in utter dismay behold the almost limitless army that has surrounded the city...

Your heart begins to melt within you...as you notice that leading the enemy troops are the heros you and your people had trusted in...the heros you exalted...the heros you followed and listened to...and now...they had removed your gates...they have done away with millions of your soldiers...they have left you weak and vulnerable to the enemies attacks!

All these heros laughed...as they sat proudly on their steeds...the enemy behind them just waiting for them to give the word to attack.

These knights were once very well known...and loved by many. Sir Pro Choice, Sir Free Love, Sir Alternative Life style, Sir Easy Divorce, Sir Much Money, Sir Love Comfort, Sir High Self Esteem...but now you realize that they were the ones who left you defenseless...

...they were the reason why you had so few soldiers to stand and fight with...

Trojan Horse [Part 1]

Do you remember your Greek mythology...remember the story about the Trojan Horse?

Let me refresh your memory...

The Trojan Horse refers to the stratagem that allowed the Greeks to finally enter the city of Troy during the Trojan War. After a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy, the Greeks built a huge figure of a horse, in which a select force of soldiers hid. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the Horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the Horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greek army entered and destroyed the city, decisively ending the war. A "Trojan Horse" has come to mean any trick that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or place.

In applying this story to our culture we will have to make a few changes...these changes make the story more intriguing...and these changes make our North American cultures defeat...even more of a tragedy then Troys.

In our story...the soldiers who hide in the Trojan horse...and ultimately open wide the gates for the oncoming enemy...are our own soldiers...the soldiers that many in our culture hail as our greatest heros...

We will look at these heros at a later date...

Where's the Telescope?

Assuming that people really aren't all that stupid in the math department [look at previous posting]...why in the world would we continue to practice a type of lifestyle...that will most certainly lead to an extinction of North American culture as we have known it for centuries?!...

Note...I did not say "that will most certainly lead to its extinction...period!"

We live in a culture that is ultra-individualistic...this means that for the most part...people draw a circle around themselves...and focus on life inside the circle...

Our advanced technology only encourages this individualism...people go home from work [8 hours spent in a little cubical], open their electric garage door and drive right into their garage, avoiding all eye contact with pesky neighbors [who just might want to do the unthinkable...you know...like talk to you face to face]...once they are safe inside their bubble...er...I mean house...then they spend the night watching other people pretend to live exciting lives...screening all calls via their "call display" or answering machine.

No one really pays attention to the bigger picture...no one really looks at ALL of the single child homes and says...hmmmm...what will things look like in the next generation?

And if the next generation...which will be drastically smaller then today's, follows the same...one child for two parent formula...then how dwindling will the population be?

We have swallowed the lie...we have heard the propaganda for so long...we actually believe it.

We are not over populated! We need to wake up! Children are not an inconvenience...they are the future!

Our culture needs a radical U-Turn...before it disappears as it wanders lost in the woods, in it's self centered, present focused, life styles...

I read this quote the other day...it is so true...

If you are one step ahead of the crowd...you are a leader...

If you are two steps ahead of the crowd...you are a pioneer...

If you are three steps ahead of the crowd...you are a martyr

We need people willing to lay down their comforts and luxeries...to ensure that we actually have a future...or all is lost...

Take The Math Quiz...

I have to confess right away...I am no math whiz. I never really liked math...in school I was too busy throughing my youth away on drugs, alcohol...and living for the party...

But...even though I went to public school...I still can understand the basics of math...unfortunately...it seems like many other people cannot...

Let's how you do with a simple math problem...think hard now...

Math Problem

A country has 30 million people in it. The population rate is 1.6 children per couple [this means two people, you know...parents...mom and dad]. How long will it take this nation to double its population?

Duh!!

You see the problem don't you? The numbers are moving in the realm of subtraction...not addition or multiplication...

If each couple isn't having at least two children...then what eventually happens to the culture?

Can you say bye bye?

North American Idol...

We live in a day and age where many Christians define themselves as New Testament Christians...

And...if they read and study the Scriptures at all...they often limit themselves to the New Testament...forgetting the other 4/5's of God's word...that God gave to teach us, correct us, and instruct us in right living...

One of the problems that Christians fall into when they head down this trail...is that they don't have as clear of picture of how God relates to His people...over many years...let me explain.

The New Testament teaches about the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ...then it talks about 1st century history...up to the time just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D...thats approx 70 years of history to look at.

The Old Testament gives us thousands of years of history...showing us centuries of the lives of the people of God...

It shows us the time periods where they were trusting Yahweh...and it shows us the times when they were living in unbelief...living in disobedience...and rebelling against their God...

The reoccurring sin of God's people was idolatry. This usually took form in a couple ways. The first way was they kept God's name...but then they made an idol...shaped and formed it the way they wanted...and worshipped it.

The second form of idolatry was when God's people began to worship the idols of the unbelieving people around them.

Read the Old Testament...it is a real eye opener!

When God's people forsook the Lord their God...then God would discipline His people...to show them that idolatry leads to bondage and death...to teach them this lesson...He painted them a literal picture...

God would take away His hand of protection...and would allow unbelieving, enemy armies to come in and bring His people into bondage...for decades...even for centuries...until His rebellious people turned away from their idols...and cried out to the God of life to deliver them.

Our God is unchanging...He doesn't like idols...North America is no exception...

Food For Thought...

There are millions of Christians who busy themselves reading and studying the last book of the Bible...the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ...

They read it thinking that John was speaking of things thousands of years in the future...things that are speaking about events that are happening today...

Unfortunately...many of these Christians ignore the first three verses of the book which say:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants---things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Look to the places I have written in bold letters. The Book of Revelations was written telling the things which must shortly take place...for the time is near!

This doesn't mean that we thousands of years later can't learn from this book...because we certainly can!

What I want us to see, is that in the first 3 chapters of the book...Jesus is speaking to the 7 churches which are in Asia...

Jesus is pointing out that these churches has some good qualities...but He is also pointing out their sin...and He is warning them...that if they do NOT repent...then Jesus Himself is going to cause them to cease to exist...

Did they listen to Jesus...by the way...this is a lesson we can learn today?

These churches were located today in the country we know as Turkey...as strong hold for Islam...

These churches did not repent...they continued in their unbelief...their disobedience and rebellion...expecting that God would never discipline them...

They were wrong...and so are we if we have their mindset...

Double Jeopardy Question [Do Dead Men Bleed?]

Philosophy teaches us to think on many things...it even teaches us to think on why and how we think...

For many people...this is silly...a waste of time...but really its not...because in the end everyone practices philosophy to varying degrees...many simply do so...without recognizing it...and therefore set themselves up for "self" deception...

A certain philosophy teacher once told me that our beliefs about things in the world are very complicated...because no single belief or thought sits all by itself...all of our thoughts and beliefs are intertwined with all our other beliefs and thoughts...

Try and paint a mental picture...just for a few moments... that all your beliefs are like a delicate...complicated, intricate spider's web...

Even though we have many different beliefs...not all of our beliefs are of equal importance...some of our beliefs are our "foundational" beliefs...

...these are our most valued beliefs...and by these beliefs...we interpret all our other beliefs...or in other words...by these central, foundational beliefs...we interpret the world around us...

...these beliefs are the center of our spider's web...

Remember, in a spider's web...if you destroy one of the outer threads...the web can still survive...but if you destroy the center...the web is finished!

Now, here is the catch...this is very important!

If your center, foundational beliefs are true...then they will help you with all your other beliefs...help you interpret the world around you...rightly...and they will help you fight against error in your own thinking...

But if your central, foundational beliefs are false...and you are unwilling to even admit that they may be untrue...then you will use these false foundational beliefs to build all your other beliefs upon...

And just like a power saw...with its blade on an angled tilt...you will never be able to cut a straight line...no matter how many times you measure.

The man who taught me philosophy told this story years ago...it really stuck with me...

A man had been going to a psychiatrist for years and years for treatment.
His problem? He thought he was dead. This belief had the man living alone, receiving social assistance, never meeting people, never really living life...which would be natural...if you were dead.

The psychiatrist had tried every possible argument and test that he could think of...but after years, the man was no further along...he still thought he was dead.

Finally, one day, the psychiatrist thought he had the answer. When the man came in his office the doctor sat him down and looked him in the eye.

"Do dead men bleed?" the doctor asked his patient, with a firm but gentle voice.

The patient sat for a moment, really pondering the question. Finally he opened his mouth and answered.

"No, dead men do not bleed." he answered with very little emotion in his voice.

At this the doctor pulled out a pin, grabbed the patience's hand and pricked his index finger...immediately blood began to creep out.

The patient looked at his finger in total unbelief and bewilderment...and then finally broke down and began to weep.

"I can't believe it, I can't believe it...how could I have been so silly...how could I have been so wrong for all these years!", the patient cried out, now standing from his chair.

The doctor began to smile...but it was a short-lived smile...

The patient continued to speak...

"How could have I been so wrong...dead men DO bleed!"

If your ultimate beliefs about reality are wrong...it will effect your singleness, your marriage...it will effect everything you do in this life...and it will effect your eternity...

...be sure that your central beliefs are true...life hangs in the balance!

We're Here for a good time...

Trooper's song from the late seventies expresses many peoples hearts in our culture today.

They think that we are not here for a long time...therefore live for the "good time".

In many cases...this "good time" is really just another way of saying live for as much personal pleasure as you can attain.

If this pleasure means getting naked with as many people as possible...hey...we're here for a good time!

If this pleasure means filling your body with as much drugs and alcohol as humanly possible...then again...we're here for a good time!

In the end...people will say..."I just want to have fun".

The problem with this type of thinking...is that it is stuck in the present.

It doesn't look to its past to try and learn that all of the earlier attempts to grasp lasting fulfillment and happiness...were like trying to hold onto a handful of water...here...and gone!

And it doesn't look to the future. How many people living like 18 year olds...have lasting joy and real pleasure...when they enter their 40's, 50's, 60's?

With their beauty, and strength and sexual powers slowly diminishing every day...they become a display that they have been lied to...by themselves.

Imagine...if you had lived your whole life in a dark, dank prison cell...and that is all you ever knew. You tried to fill you life with pleasure...eating good food...rats and cockroaches...you tried to fill your day with good things...walking in circles...scratching doodlings on the wall...

How would someone explain to you the feeling of the heat of the sun as it touched upon your skin?

How would someone explain to you the beauty of the sky, of the trees...the glorious refreshing feeling of diving into a clean sparkling lake?

How would someone explain to you the wondrous flavor of the multitudes of foods you have never tasted?

As you looked at the hard stone floor...how could someone really explain the comfort of a soft mattress?

Now imagine that someone has actually broken open the prison door...it is no longer locked...unless of course you refuse to remain inside...enjoying all the pleasures of life.

Jesus promised to give us abundant life...He did so by given His own life...so that we could be set free from our sin...and the destruction it brings to us.

But many would rather stay and enjoy the pleasures of prison...because thats all they know...they have chosen rags...instead of true riches...

And the true sadness...is that we are not here for a short time...this life moves into eternity...the prison cell you cling to now...will be yours forever...and the conditions only get worse.