All that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution

2 Timothy 3:12

Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

John 15:18-21

If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.  But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

Matthew 10:14-25 (excerpts)

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet.  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in theirs synagogues they will scourge you; yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  

And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household!  

Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law: and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 

surveillance society

God's attributes include omniscience and omnipresence, or that He knows everything, everywhere, all the time.

Satan is not all-knowing and he can't be everywhere at once.

Since it is part of satan's plan to "be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14), it makes sense that part of his new world order would be ubiquitous surveillance.

Camera's everywhere, UAVs/drones, TSA inspection points, all transactions made electronically (and tracked), all news and entertainment delivered electronically (and monitored), neighbors spying on neighbors (see something, say something)...

satan's five point plan

Isaiah 14:12-14

How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!

For you have said in your heart,

1) "I will ascend into heaven"
2) "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God"
3) "I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north"
4) "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds"
5) "I will be like the most High"

the only hope

As a nation, we get the government we deserve.  If we will not be ruled by God, we will be ruled by tyrants.

The only hope for America is repentance and turning to God.  This cannot be forced from without, it can only come from within.

Only the Gospel -- not social, political or religious movements -- can change people's hearts.

born this way

there's a popular song out called "Born This Way" that many folks are using as an excuse for their bad behavior.

In a sense, Gaga may be on to something...

It is true, we are all "born this way"...

We are all born with a fallen nature, we are all born into sin and are slaves to self-centered appetites and desires.

The thing is, we don't have to stay that way...

While we are all born a slave to sin and dead to God, through Jesus that sin nature can be nailed to the cross and then we can be Born Again dead to sin and alive in Christ.

genius

Genius is taking something complex and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.

Pretentiousness is taking something simple and explaining it in a way no-one can understand.

turned away?

I'm told again and again, "You come on too strong, your turning people away from the Gospel"

I have news for them...

The Gospel turns people away from the Gospel!

Matthew 7:13-14

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

fear of man brings a snare...

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man brings a snare: but whoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe.



Is it possible that our fear of Obama will snare us with Romney?

Manufactured Dialectic

Evan-jellyfish

How much of "christianity" has traded salt for sugar because we lack the backbone to tell the truth?

watchman

Ezekiel 33:6

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

a cup of trembling

“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel , saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem . And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah 12:1-3).

the problem with ecumenism

Ecumenical charitable efforts seem really great on the surface.

I agree that we need to cooperate on some things and that it is good to help people.

The thing is, it does no good to help people without presenting them the gospel.

It is great to give food, comfort, shelter, and clothing to those in need.  However, to give people these things without the gospel only makes people more comfortable living in their sin.

It is akin to giving someone a glass of icewater on their trip to hell.

How loving is it to give someone a pair of shoes when they are fixing to walk off a cliff?

Fine to give them a pair of shoes, but also turn them in the right direction while doing it.

The problem with ecumenical efforts comes when it is time to present the gospel...

Which gospel do you present?

Do you tell them they need to confess their sins to a priest, take the euchrist and perform seven sacraments in order to maybe reduce the time they spend in purgatory?

Do you tell them they need to be a good person, wear special underwear, baptise the dead, have lots of kids, and tithe every penny faithfully so that they can get access to the temple and maybe someday get to one of the levels of heaven or even become a god?

Do you tell them that, since God loves everyone, that everyone who is a "good person" is going to heaven and it doesn't matter what you believe?

Or, do you tell them that we have all sinned against an eternal, Holy, and Perfectly Just God and that the only way they can pay for their sins themselves is death and an eternity in hell.  That God Himself, because of His Perfect Love, made a way out for them by becoming a man, Jesus, and paying their debt for them, then rising again in victory over sin and death.  That they need to repent (turn) from their sin, turn to Jesus, accept what He did, and live for Him.

positive

People who say they want to be "positive" all the time will have to tell something other than the truth.

The truth is not always "positive".

Look at what people do, not what they say

Look at what people do, not what they say.

For example, Obama has made more affirmations to being a Christian and believing in Jesus than any other President in American history. Yet how many people believe him? And, why should anyone doubt him? It is because of what he has done, not what he has said.

You who claim to love freedom and support the Constitution, are you carefully examining the voting records of the people you are supporting?

Politicians will say anything to get elected. What these people do with the power they are entrusted with is what matters, not what they say.

they had a good start...

Saul had a good start.  He was humble and merciful in his dealings and was annointed by God to be king over Israel.  However, in time he began to concern himself with what people thought of him.   It got to the point that he started doing things to please the people instead of obeying God.  Saul went back on his word and even broke his own laws against necromancy.  The final result was the loss of his son, his kingdom and ending his own life in suicide.

David had a good start.  Even as a boy he was a good shepherd and able to face down bears and giants because of his trust in God.  However, in time he became complacent and self serving in his success.  Because of this, David committed adultery and then murder to try and cover it up.  The effects of David's sexual sins and permissivness with his sons led to incest, rape, and murder within his own family as his sons rebelled against him.

Solomon had a good start.  He sought after Godly wisdom rather than riches and is to this day regarded as the wisest man (second only to Jesus).  His kingdom knew peace and prosperity that was unmatched.  However, he began to compromise for the sake of peace by taking wives of the surrounding nations.  His ecumenism extended to building temples to appease the desires of his many wives to worship their pagan gods and idols.  The result of this was that the kingdom if Israel was divided and later overthrown and the people taken captive by a succession of pagan empires because of their idolotry.

We get in trouble when we put too much stock in personalities.  Leaders may start out really good and in the right direction, however, it is important to know when NOT to follow them if they begin making wrong turns.

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
Eph 5:11

Spiritual -vs- Mystical

There is a danger in mistaking the mystical for the spiritual. The "mystical" is satan's poor facsimile and substitute for God's true spirituality.

political spectrum

This is what is taught in a lot of schools and popular media concerning the "political spectrum"

It creates fallacious paradigm of the “Left-Right” dialectic (basically, the two sides of the argument are positioned in such as way as to point to a predetermined outcome).  This spectrum is designed to give students the idea that Communism and Fascism are some kind of extreme bogey-man and Socialism is the "not so bad" happy medium.

This diagram reveals the truth that it is really the spectrum of socialism.  Far left results in Communism (International Socialism) and far right results in Fascism / National Socialism (NAZI).

This still occludes the true roles of Communism, Fabian Socialism, and Fascism.  They are just the IDEOLOGIES by which Socialism is established.

The goal of Communism, Fabian Socialism, and Fascism is the establishment of SOCIALISM.

Communist, Fabian, and Fascist ideologies are the MEANS by which Socialism is established.

Communist ideology is a bottom-up revolution that throws out the old ruling elite and replaces them with a new group of bureaucrats  who are supposed to make sure everything is distributed “fairly” and “scientifically”.  The problem is, these bureaucrats will tend to treat themselves a little “more fairly” than others and they become the new ruling elite oligarchs.

Fascism is top down imposed transformation.  There is a point at which mega-monopolies use the government to squash all free-market competition and ultimately merge with the state in control over all of the markets, goods, services, and property.  The end result is the same ruling oligarchy you get with communism.

Fabian ideology, also known as “The Third Way”, “Communitarian”, or “Progressive”, is working within the existing system like a virus to implement socialism through incremental steps.  The goal is to incrementally bring a society to a point of critical mass where it is ready for a revolution and/or transformation to a completed socialist model.

Socialism is not the means, it is the goal.  The end result is always the same — SOCIALISM.  THE GOAL IS ALWAYS SOCIALISM!!!!

A more accurate representation of the political spectrum.

It is not about “left” or “right”.  It is about Liberty or Tyranny.

The end goal is to eliminate the middle class and have a two class system of the super wealthy who are supported by a manageable number of working class economic slaves.  The oligarchs have a front man who catches all of the flak for things being bad.  The general public feel they have a say in matters because they get to “throw the bum out” with an election.  However, the oligarchs have already hand picked any and all of the candidates “competing” for office, so regardless of who gets in office, the status quo will be preserved.

Power is being centralized at the apex of the executive branch of the federal government.

This concentration of power makes a dictatorship inevitable.

Those who control the president, indirectly gain virtual control of the entire country.




A better way...

1. For liberty to thrive, we start with the presumption that man has a fallen, sinful nature and that man’s wisdom is fallible and incomplete.

2. Because of this fallen nature, without anything to stop it, there would be anarchy, lawlessness, and mob rule.  Government is then necessary in order to preserve life, liberty, and property.

3. At the same time, while government has a necessary function, man’s fallen nature also means that any form of government where men are in leadership will have those same sinful attributes.  The very nature of government means that a few men will have power over other men, and those who covet this power will be the most depraved among us.

4. So, the ideal form of government is one that is only big enough to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens; but, not so big that the government itself begins to violate the life, liberty, and property of the very citizens it is supposed to protect.

5. To protect this balance, there must be checks and balances, division of powers, limitations on government, and rule of law--where the law applies the same to everyone whether they are a politician, judge, entertainer, businessman, farmer, or factory worker.

compromise

Compromise is a good thing when it comes to sharing toys, but not when sharing the truth.