The Things to Come

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Romans 1:22-25

I truly dislike Earth Day. Of course there will be many out there, who, knowing I am a ‘fundamentalist’ Christian, will not be surprised at that. This morning in USA Today, there is a long-winded and condescending editorial on the subject of religion as it pertains to environmentalism. Entitled “Might Our Religion Be Killing Us?”, it suggests that since most religions encourage humans to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, and since overpopulation is ruining the environment, hence, religion is ruining the environment. Silly and stupid on one level, and scary on another if we are going to turn THAT corner. But I don’t think the liberals understand that as long as they keep pushing abortion there shouldn’t be any trouble keeping the current generation small. And it likely does not occur to them that judgment from God, due to aforementioned child sacrificial practices, will take mankind out long before the environment ceases to function on a useful level. That said, I think I will spend Earth Day being so heavenly minded I’m no earthly good. Christians should have no trouble coming up with ways of being heavenly minded, at least I hope so. If you come up empty on that, email me.

Here’s a suggestion: go see Ben Stein’s film, “Expelled”. I saw it on opening night and I applaud Ben for connecting some important dots. Not only does the heresy of evolution devalue human life and lead to some pretty godless behaviour, it also points directly to Romans 1 in that it leads to worshiping “the creature rather than the Creator”. Evolution makes no sense at all on so many levels and other ministries have had a good go at that, so I will leave that to the creationist apologists. I do know this: people who sell their eternal soul for an unprovable scientific theory truly are foolish and short-sighted, to say nothing of having pushed common sense out the door and onto the curb.

But I do have a couple of questions: Darwin died in 1882. Just think for a minute about all the great advances science and medicine have made since then, it’s phenomenal really. Diseases eradicated, controlled, occasionally cured. Combustion engines, light bulbs, radio communication, nuclear weapons — technology has increased exponentially in the our age of industrialization and ‘enlightenment’. So, why does “science” insist on dwelling in the Victorian Age when it comes to the origins of life? Science boasts continually on it’s accomplishments and advances, and yet this ‘theory’ is not worth re-visiting in light of atomic technology and the electron microscope?

We humans are the benefactors of sorts of all manner of technology. I really enjoy my computer and my iPod. Anyone can see that laptops and iPods show evidence of ‘intelligent design’. If someone did not design and manufacture them, we would not have them. Does it get any clearer than that? People have become unspeakably rich designing the latest gadgets and virtual worlds such as Google and Yahoo and cellular tower universes. Follow the money trail. My house, as simple as it is, has been designed. But the most complex thing in the universe, life, was NOT designed? Silly and stupid squared.

Richard Dawkins, featured in this film and one of those Paul referred to in Romans as a ‘professing wiseguy’, has my pity. He has come up with so many adjectives to describe his hatred of God, when really only one or two would have sufficed. I got his meaning, alright. Here is a sorry little human (we all are, outside of Christ) who is boxing God; kicking against the Creator of all things. What did God ever do to him, except give him life? The real story is he refuses to be accountable for his life or his sin and as long as he tells himself there is no God, he is convinced that makes it so. Sorry, Richard, you can kick God in the shins forever if you want, your pride and self-righteousness will be your undoing. Why not fall on His mercy while you still can? What if you are wrong, and you die in your sins? Is your eternity worth being right? Is it really so impossibly painful for you to acknowledge that man is not the center of the universe? You do profess yourself to be wise, but the Bible says that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10), and “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” (Psalm 53:1).

Thanks for the conversation jump-starter, Ben Stein. And to all you evolutionists who will give each other gifts for Earth Day, here is a parting shot:

God gave us brains, and He expects us to use them.

Remember that old song by Three Dog Night, “Black and White”? It keeps running through my head the last few days. Basically, it’s a typical ‘70s idealogue about race relations and social justice, still appropriate for today’s activist mindset. And really, wouldn’t it be nice if the world turned to that tune, lyrically speaking? If humans looked past the outward and just loved their fellow man with the kind of love that God commands? But man being the naturally sinful and rebellious and suspicious creature that he is, we should not wonder why things have not progressed racially the way the song says it can/should/is. And things will get worse. But that is not my topic today. That song rattles around on my cranial AM radio station for other reasons.

There are those today, like Tony Campolo, who call themselves “Red Letter Christians”. Joseph Farah covered this very well in an article you will find posted elsewhere on this website. He and other discerning writers have called this movement for what it is: a new ‘front group’ for the liberal democrat crowd who want to include “God talk” in their politics. Liberals such as Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, a social activist group of emergent/liberal denominational theology, along with Tony Campolo, have founded the Red Letter Christians as a response to the ‘religious right’‘s past attempts to bring a conservative, biblical voice to American politics, a slant they do not like one bit. Trying as much as possible to appear as evangelicals, the same old left-wing agenda is being given new life with new faces but is in reality nothing new at all. Louis Sheldon, chairman of Traditional Values Coalition, says this:

“In every election cycle, we see the same tired old left-wing “religious” activists trotted out by the Democrats as proof that the Democrat Party has a spiritual base.

Yet, these “religious” leftists and Democrats routinely support policies that are diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Bible. The Bible condemns the taking of innocent life—yet liberals support abortion on demand. The Bible condemns the behavior of homosexuality—yet liberals support homosexual marriage and adoption. The Bible calls for the punishment of evildoers and justifies war when there are threats to national sovereignty—yet liberals are routinely weak on punishment of criminals and weak on national security.

Adding a garnish of religious talk to campaign speeches for liberals does nothing to change the reality that current liberal thinking is the antithesis of true Christianity.

Americans need to understand that these pseudo-evangelicals are nothing more than shills for the Democrat Party and trying to use whatever credibility they think they have to draw Christians away from the Republican Party and a truly Biblical worldview. “
Rev. Louis Sheldon, ‘Red Letter’ Liberal Christians: A New Front Group For Democrats’
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2867

Now, I am not particularly political, and I cling to Jesus’ words that “our kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), even though I love my country and hate to see the ‘hell in a handbasket’ syndrome rock our comfy little world. But as a prophecy student first and foremost, and a pilgrim and stranger on this earth, I do not expect to see any improvements in this life; nothing that a new heaven and a new earth can’t cure. But I desire to bring this ‘Red Letter Christian’ notion into the light of truth so all can see what it really is. Rev. Sheldon goes on to say,

“These “Red Letter Christians” are supposedly trying to alert American Evangelicals to the importance of living the words of Jesus as highlighted in red in many Bibles. Their idea of living the words of Jesus, however, is somehow reinterpreted to mean support for every liberal political agenda on the horizon.

These pseudo-evangelicals would have you believe that the Bible only contains the Word of God. True Evangelicals believe that the Bible — each word, each sentence — is the Word of God. This is how you can tell the difference between these pseudo-evangelicals and true Evangelicals.”

But to many who do not look beyond the symbolism, packaged precisely to play on the emotions, it sound greats to be a “Red Letter Christian”. Especially in light of all those liberals who get together each December in “The Jesus Seminar”, and decide if what IS in red was really said by Jesus, and did He really mean any of it anyway? Of course, they are really in their hearts just saying, ‘hath God said?’ and scoffing at any authority God might have on their lives. And so proclaiming oneself to be a Red Letter Christian sounds so noble. But Wallis, Campolo, and McLaren really want to spin things their direction, by turning Jesus’ words into a social activist credo, which is perfectly in line with their Dominion/Kingdom Now theology that says that if we can just make the world over in our image, banish poverty and injustice, then Christ can return to this great utopia we have created for Him. Problem is, what they are preparing is the kingdom of antichrist, which will ‘emerge’; but the Kingdom of Christ will be established, not ‘emerge’. I believe we must look at all of Wallis’, McLaren’s, and Campolo’s doctrine to see if they truly live and believe the biblical Gospel, or do they pick and choose and color their letters to suit their agenda. Do your homework on these teachers and be fruit inspectors for yourselves.

Or how about being a ‘Blue Letter Christian’? Not to be confused with the Blue Letter Bible, which is a great and wonderful tool I recommend to every believer who would like to be a real student of the Word and have a fantastic word-search and word-study tool at their fingertips. (www.blueletterbible.com) No, I mean those who are committed to the First Church of the Internet, whose blog is their god and whose theology comes from someone somewhere in the world with a keyboard and internet connection, often an ax to grind and an attitude to boot, who sit in their pajama-clad ivory towers and look down on Christendom in general. The Blue Letter Church of Hyperlinkology is one scary place and only serves to enable pseudo-Christians to “forsake the assembling of yourselves together” against the clear admonition to meet together with other believers for teaching, fellowship, prayer and breaking of bread.

No, I am not a Red Letter Christian. I am not a Blue Letter Christian. My Bible has black letters on white pages, and it says that Jesus is the only way to God. It says that unless you repent you shall perish. It says that one is saved by grace and not by works; that this Jesus who came the first time as a suffering servant to take on all the wickedness that man would ever commit will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I believe the entire Bible is inspired from cover to cover, and IS the Word of God, not ‘contains’ the Word of God like today’s hyper-intellectual professorial types to profess to be wise guys in their own eyes .I believe the volume of the book speaks of Christ. I believe that the “New (testament) is in the old contained, and the Old in the New explained.” The whole counsel and nothing but.

Yep, I am a Black-and-White Christian.

Various ramblings from the front:

I know it’s been a while since I have posted. Not for lack of interest. Time, maybe, interest NEVER. Having a busy life filled with various responsibilities like you all, I would love to be able to just blog my brains out on this site and keep you up to date on every jot and tittle of prophetic fulfillment. Actually, it’s increasingly overwhelming as to where to even start.

I got up at 4 AM today to tune in to Joel Rosenberg’s Epicenter Conference live from Jerusalem. Great speakers, great insights. And I could feel the energy and excitement that the attendees had about the times and the reason for this event. Lots of folks turned out for it, which went well into the morning even for us Midwesterners living 8 hours behind. I admit I was a bit disappointed that even into the morning there were never more than 300 people watching it on livestream in the entire world; I had really hoped more people than that would consider losing a bit of sleep as nothing and making it a priority. It is a fabulous time to be alive, to be sure. And vexing, so vexing. Everyone I talk to who is alert and has their radar up says the same thing: they can’t believe how strange and scary the times are. People are more selfish, brutal and unthinking than I ever imagined possible. Even my daughter who is barely 25 can see how radically the world has changed in her lifetime, and while I never thought the ’80s were much of a bargain in the first place, to her those days were still more than livable. These days, the number of problems associated with just day to day living is simply mind-boggling, and most can be directly blamed on the exponentially rising levels of the most sickening kinds of sin imaginable, just as Timothy warned us. I have said this before, but the perilous times he spoke of all have to do with the state of the human heart.

I also tuned in to another Prophecy Conference today, the Fargo/Red River Conference going on for the next few days (www.godlyconferences.com). Again, if you have your nose in your bible, you can just imagine the wealth of info, the overload actually, that point directly to His soon return. The glut of evil intentions, the rise of tracking technology, the coming together of various trade blocs, talk of regional/global currencies, the coming famine/economic collapse of the West, saber-rattling in the Middle East, the Oprah/I AM God syndrome that has gripped the masses, the awful state of the Church — all this and more are things I have been watching for decades and I KNEW without a doubt I would see these things in my life. And I am not going to waste any time at all striving over rapture-related speculations. I have studied it intently for years and I have no doubt that the ONLY stance we dare take is one of watching and waiting for Jesus. Any other stance is watching and waiting for the Antichrist, and that is wholly unbiblical. End of story as far as I am concerned. So, no need to strive about that.

Days of Noah? Oh, you betcha. Marrying and giving in marriage. Self-absorbed. Building a kingdom on earth. Sexual perversion saturates all media, all the time. Pretty soon we will hardly be able to afford the basics. But what are Americans obsessed with? American Idol. American Airlines (gotta have that vacation no matter what it costs!). And, even though our groceries cost 20% more, and gas prices are out of this world, and Haitians are rioting over rations, what is our government offering us? A COUPON to get a digital TV signal! O no, within 10 months we might not have TV. Gotta get the government involved in regulating our prime time. Does that strike anyone else odd, that the government is so concerned that we get rid of analog airwaves? Maybe the government could be worried enough about our budgets to give us a coupon for, say, meat? Or gas? Or a discount on an appendectomy? Oh ‘brother’. Here is my take – when the economy flatlines, and we can’t go to work or school or even feed the kids, at least we can sit home and watch the tube so we can be told what to think about our world. Special.

Still pacing this earthly cage,

mary