Elaine Howard Ecklund teaches sociology at Rice University and is the author of a recently-released book, Science vs Religion: What Scientists Really Think. In her USA Today column, Professor Ecklund argues, based on her extensive research, that "the conversation between science and religion is besieged by misunderstanding and myths on both sides."

As she continues her argument: Some of the assumptions of the present science-religion debates simply do not hold up under the weight of research data. Dispelling myths about religious and scientific communities could lay the groundwork for a new kind of dialogue — one based more on serious thinking and scholarship than caricature.

Any serious person will prefer serious thinking and scholarship to caricature, and Professor Ecklund has indeed provided much food for thought. Her column is interesting, but her book is far more important and substantial.

In USA Today, Professor Ecklund attempted to correct the view she says is held by many religious believers — that scientists are predominately secular and antagonistic to theistic faith. Many believers, she says, "hold scientists at arm’s length, believing that they are all atheists who are interested in attacking religion and the religious community."

In conducting her research, Professor Ecklund surveyed 1,700 natural and social scientists and conducted interviews with 275 of them. Her research is most interesting as it focuses on "elite" scientists who have particular influence. In order to set the record straight, in her column she shared some of the data from her research. She reports that 30 percent of scientists are atheists. She concedes that this is "a much larger percentage than the general population."

This is what we can only call a gross understatement. According to the authoritative study undertaken by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, about 5 percent of Americans report themselves as not believing in any deity, but only a quarter of those actually call themselves atheists. In other words, the scientists Professor Ecklund surveyed reported themselves to be atheists at a rate at least six times the national average — and perhaps at a rate even much higher than that.

She says that "fewer than 6% of atheist scientists are working against religion," but the reader is left to wonder exactly what this is supposed to mean. Presumably it means that few elite scientists follow the model of Richard Dawkins in spending a great deal of their time attempting to argue against the danger of theism. That certainly does not leave the rest friendly to belief in God . . . or to believers.

Professor Ecklund reports that about half of all scientists report themselves to be religious in some sense, and some 20 percent are involved in some house of worship. "Top scientists are sitting in our country’s churches, temples, and mosques," she asserts.

Well, a closer look at her research indicates that these "top scientists" are rather thin on the ground in more conservative sectors of Christianity. Consider her report that "there are 14 times more self-identified evangelicals in the general population than among the scientists at our nation’s top universities."

In her book, Professor Ecklund provides a wealth of data and analysis that, in general, casts her column in a quite different light. For example, she reports that "scientists in general are much less likely than are members of the general population to identify as part of a traditional religion." Fully 50 percent of the scientists she surveyed reported themselves as having no religious affiliation, compared to 16 percent of the general population.

Only about 2 percent of these scientists identified as evangelical Christians. Far more reported themselves as Jewish, but defined more by tradition than theistic belief.

"On the whole, scientists tend to view themselves as religiously liberal," she acknowledges. And in another understated passage, she reports this: "When we hold this liberalism alongside the fact that scientists at elite U.S. research universities are the least likely to be evangelicals (at least to label themselves so), and that evangelicalism is heavily represented in the general population, we see that scientists who care about translating science to a general public might need a lot of help to do so effectively." You think?

She writes that "it is virtually impossible to find a group of Americans who do not believe in God," but she concedes that only 36 percent of these elite scientists "have some form of a belief in God." That would seem to leave 64 percent without any such belief.

Scientists who do have some belief in God tend to have what Professor Ecklund describes as a "closeted faith." She explains that "religious scientists generally tried to keep their faith to themselves because of the perception that other faculty in their departments think poorly of religious people and religious ideas." The result is "a strong culture of suppression."

Well, if Professor Ecklund was trying to counter the "myth" that science is basically secular and antagonistic to theistic belief, she had better hope that people read her USA Today article and not her book.

In the other angle of her argument, Professor Ecklund reports in her article that "scholars are also finding that evangelical Christianity is not as detrimental to acquiring scientific knowledge as they once thought."

Really? In both the book and her article, this argument seems to come down to the fact that the price of being considered "not as detrimental to acquiring scientific knowledge as . . . once thought" is the embrace of evolution and the relinquishment of objections to human embryonic stem cell research.

When it comes to the big public battles over science and faith, this professor clearly sides with the scientists. In fact, both the book and her article are cast as an effort to help scientists make their arguments more plausibly (and to protect their research funding) in the context of a nation with so many evangelical believers.

The great obstacle — evangelical parents. Professor Ecklund laments that "many young Americans may not be learning what they should about science because their religious upbringing poses a barrier." In her book she argues that many younger Americans "are not learning what they should about science because their parents’ quarrels and impasses are holding them back from studying topics like evolution or from pursuing science careers (out of fear that such pursuits are incompatible with their religious beliefs)."

Once again, if Professor Ecklund hopes that younger Americans will think otherwise, she had better hope that these kids don’t read her book.

We are in debt to Professor Ecklund for her massive and persuasive research as documented and presented in her book, even if her USA Today article seems to be a deliberate attempt to tell only part of the story.

Her research leaves us with much to consider, but one big message comes through loud and clear — evangelical Christians who seek a better public conversation with elite science had better know in advance that it is a one-way street.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.

Elaine Howard Ecklund, "Myths Widen the Science-Religion Divide," USA Today, Monday, July 19, 2010.

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Compared with both adopted children and children raised by their biological parents, donor offspring are struggling—and they’re struggling in ways that should have been foreseen.

The authors of the study write, "[O]n average, young adults conceived through sperm donation are hurting more, are more confused, and feel more isolated from their families. They fare worse than their peers raised by biological parents on important outcomes like depression, delinquency and substance abuse."

They also note, "Donor offspring express significant pain over the loss of their biological father, significantly more even when compared to those who are adopted."

And as it turns out, sperm donation, which we were supposed to think was harmless, is damaging parents’ lives as well. The study reports that the married heterosexual parents of donor-offspring are more likely to divorce than are parents of adopted children and the parents of children raised by their biological parents.

All I can say is—how did we, as a society, not see this coming? I think the answer may be that we didn’t want to see it coming.

It is too much, it seems, for post-modern humans to accept the fact humans are made in God’s image; that God provided for the healthy and proper way of conceiving and rearing children within the context of marriage. Within, dare I say, a Trinitarian-like relationship of love between child, mother, and father. Not in the context of anonymity.

And it is certainly too much for post-modern humans to believe that conceiving and raising children is all about the children—that children aren’t merely a collection of genetic "stuff." They do not exist for my or your self-gratification. They are not products; they are people.

Of course a lot of people conceived through sperm donation are going to feel troubled over the fact that "money was exchanged in order to conceive [them]," as the study reported. Who wouldn’t feel a little troubled over owing their very existence to a business transaction?

Ironic, isn’t it, that we have discussed on our blog, that a slew of movies are coming out this year that make sperm donation look like a pretty great thing. But now this new study is making headlines, those movies are looking dated even before they hit the screen.

But friends, this is a great apologetic opportunity. Remember Barbara Bush’s famous comment, "However you define family, that’s what we mean by family values"? Well, unfortunately, that’s become a popular notion today. But it’s false. But you can start explaining to people how important family relationships are—no matter how complicated or messy, they’re vital to the well being of the individual and for humanity as a whole.

And those family relationships are the same across the sweep of human history and cultures—not something we can create or dismantle artificially, according to the whims of our own desires. Not without suffering the consequences. It always turns out in the end, doesn’t it? That following God’s design turns out best.

Chuck Colson’s daily BreakPoint commentary airs each weekday on more than one thousand outlets with an estimated listening audience of one million people. BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print.

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Letter reveals the great missionary’s humanity and anti-slavery zeal while stranded as a "virtual prisoner" in the heart of the Congo.

(United Kingdom)—The BBC reports that the contents of an "indecipherable" letter written in 1871 from Bambarre in the Congo by the great Scots explorer and missionary David Livingstone have been revealed for the first time by researchers at the University of London. Until now, the Letter from Bambarre had been impossible to decipher because the iron gall ink used in the writing had faded so badly, but thanks to the use of spectral imaging, the text is now readable.

Livingstone hated the slave trade, as noted in his letter, but he also reveals details of his poor health. He suffered greatly from a variety of diseases while he was "stranded as a virtual prisoner" in the Congo, including dysentery, pneumonia and "horrific" tropical ulcers on his feet and legs. He had been searching for the source of the Nile River.

"If our statesmen stop the frightful waste of human life in this region and mitigate the vast amount of human woe that accompanies it they will do good on the large scale and cause joy in Heaven," he wrote.

The prospects for commerce and Christianity in the African interior, and details of the lakes and rivers of Central Africa are also reportedly included in the letter.

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"The site may have been home to the Shardana tribe of the Sea-Peoples, who, according to some researchers, lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, Sisera’s capital city. The city is mentioned in the Bible’s narratives as Sisera’s capital, and it was from there that the army of chariots set out to fight the Israelites, who were being led by Deborah the prophetess and Barak, son of Avinoam."

(Haifa, Israel)—A 3,200-year-old round bronze tablet with a carved face of a woman, found at the El-ahwat excavation site near Katzir in central Israel, is part of a linchpin that held the wheel of a battle chariot in place. This was revealed by scientist Oren Cohen of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. "Such an identification reinforces the claim that a high-ranking Egyptian or local ruler was based at this location, and is likely to support the theory that the site is Harosheth Haggoyim, the home town of Sisera, as mentioned in Judges 4-5," says Prof. Zertal.

The El-ahwat site, near Nahal ‘Iron, was exposed by a cooperative delegation excavating there during 1993-2000 from the Universities of Haifa and Cagliari (Sardinia), headed by Prof. Zertal. The excavated city has been dated back to the end of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age (13th-12th centuries B.C.). The city’s uniqueness—its fortifications, passageways in the walls, and rounded huts – made it foreign amidst the Canaanite landscape.

Prof. Zertal has proposed that based on these unusual features, the site may have been home to the Shardana tribe of the Sea-Peoples, who, according to some researchers, lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, Sisera’s capital city. The city is mentioned in the Bible’s narratives as Sisera’s capital, and it was from there that the army of chariots set out to fight the Israelites, who were being led by Deborah the prophetess and Barak, son of Avinoam. The full excavation and its conclusions have been summarized in Prof. Zertal’s book Sisera’s Secret, A Journey following the Sea-Peoples and the Song of Deborah (Dvir, Tel Aviv, 2010 [Hebrew]).

One of the objects uncovered at the site remained masked in mystery. The round, bronze tablet, about 2 cm. in diameter and 5 mm. thick, was found in a structure identified as the "Governor’s House". The object features a carved face of a woman wearing a cap and earrings shaped as chariot wheels. When uncovered in 1997, it was already clear that the tablet was the broken end of an elongated object, but Mr. Cohen, who included the tablet in the final report of the excavations, did not manage to find its parallel in any other archaeological discoveries.

Now, 13 years later, the mystery has been solved. When carrying out a scrutinizing study of ancient Egyptian reliefs depicting chariot battles, Mr. Cohen discerned a unique decoration: the bronze linchpins fastening the chariot wheels were decorated with people’s faces—of captives, foreigners and enemies of Egypt. He also noticed that these decorations characterized those chariots that were used by royalty and distinguished people.

"This identification enhances the historical and archaeological value of the site and proves that chariots belonging to high-ranking individuals were found there. It provides support for the possibility, which has not yet been definitively established, that this was Sisera’s city of residence and that it was from there that the chariots set out on their way to the battle against the Israelite tribes, located between the ancient sites of Taanach and Megiddo," Prof. Zertal concludes. [Check: Details]

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PDF Ebook All of Grace By Charles Spurgeon

Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers". This despite the fact that he was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, against liberalism and pragmatic theological tendencies even in his day.

In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times each week at different places. His sermons have been translated into many languages. Spurgeon was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years. He was part of several controversies with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later had to leave that denomination. In 1857, he started a charity organization called Spurgeon’s which now works globally. He also founded Spurgeon’s College, which was named after him posthumously.

Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, a commentary, books on prayer, a devotional, a magazine, poetry, hymnist, and more. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Arguably, no other author, Christian or otherwise, has more material in print than C.H. Spurgeon. [Credit]

Click on the picture to download your PDF copy of this 122-page Ebooks right now!

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We who are watching an ever changing, dangerous world that is going faster and faster wonder where the future will lead us, and when will the end be of all things as prophecy indicates. I want you to take a moment and look at all the changes that have transpired in the last 100 years. If you took an adult who died in 1910, and he were alive today, I guarantee you, he would be astounded, totally amazed at all the changes in the world’s technological advances that have taken place.

We have mastered flight with airplanes, even taking on outer space itself and putting a man on the moon. Satellites reach into far reaches of our galaxy and man thinks he can discover the origin of life. We have eradicated some diseases by developing new vaccines and medicines, but unfortunately, due to our sinful conditions in the population, some diseases are making a comeback. We have an information age that can send data around the globe in an instant, via the internet. Who knew when the telegraph and the telephone were invented, that we would be talking to people on the other side of the globe with computers?

It is said that every 3 years our knowledge base doubles from what it was. That is a rough estimate, but the point is that man’s ability to master his environment is moving faster than anyone can keep up with. Yet mankind with all his advances in knowledge is becoming more and more evil. Dangers loom that threaten to send the planet into another world war,  worse than the holocaust of World War II.

In this present hour, do you sometimes get tired and frustrated over the fact that man is going beyond what God intended for him to discover in his environment? Remember the story of the tower of Babel? When the people decided they were going to make a symbol of their power and disobey God, and not replenish the earth, rather were determined to stay in one place and build an object that would show they could master their world?  If you look at the story in your Bible, or even if you go to the internet, you can find the account  of Genesis chapter 11.

According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, participated in the building, called the Tower of Babel. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens."

However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of  Jehovah, but was instead dedicated to the glory of man, to "make a name" for the builders: "And they said, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4). God came down to see what man was building and it’s written in scripture in Genesis :

11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.”

Men were capable of doing more than what God intended for them. They most often used their knowledge and skills for evil purposes, and nothing short of God’s intervention could stop them. He determined to prevent them from destroying themselves in their lust for power.

Man now has the means and the power to destroy the earth many times over. Never before modern times has this been so. Man, since the fall of Adam, has had a sinful nature, and if left alone will not follow God. He will do “what is right in his own eye.” as quoted from Judges 21:25.

Jeremiah said in chapter 17:6 “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”

Like  it was in that period of ancient history, so it is now. Man’s mind is capable of great things, but his spiritual heart is apart from God and His direction for living. Therefore, man inevitably, by doing what is right in his own eyes, will fall into sin and follow the prince and power of the air, –Satan– who stole humankind’s inheritance in the Garden of Eden.   We are now in a parallel time of history that is repeating itself, just as these people did at the building of the tower, so we do now. As a people called the human race, we have gained knowledge and used it for good, but more than not, for unspeakable evil.

The world spirals into a dark and foreboding era that will ultimately produce a level of evil that, Jesus said, will has never previously been a part of the human condition. The Lord said further that it will be a time of horror that will never occur again. Jesus said in Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

How will anyone be able to stand?

In Daniel 7, God foretells of a blasphemous end-time king who will, as it says in the King James Version, "wear out the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:25). While we do not yet appear to be in the midst of that prophecy, it is worth noting that even though this tactic of "wearing out" will be executed by a human ruler of the future, a spiritual power  will be the driving force behind that future king Revelation 13:2.

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (meaning Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Satan is ultimately behind the war against God’s chosen people, and the prophecy in Daniel teaches us that one of his approaches is to try to wear out—to persecute, to exhaust, to afflict mentally—those with whom God is working.

If we stop and reflect on our own lives, we can easily see evidence of this satanic tactic already at work. We are all well acquainted with the busyness of life, and the hectic pace at which we are living as spoken of Daniel 12:4: “ But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.).

We are probably all familiar with what I mentioned earlier concerning our technological advances, with the fears, if not the realities, of not being able to make ends meet. Our digital age allows us to accomplish fantastic things quickly, yet it also requires us to stay on top of an expanding heap of information that threatens to suffocate us. All of this drains our energy and exhausts us.

In addition to the world spinning franticly around us, Satan also seeks to afflict us mentally by keeping things stirred up in our personal surroundings. He broadcasts anger, suspicion, accusation, loneliness, helplessness, worthlessness, futility, blasphemy and criticism in sinful man. He tempts even Christians to be defensive and mistrustful.

God generally keeps a hedge around us, as He did for Job  chapter 1, verse 10, “ Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” 

I’m convinced that God does not allow Satan to touch us –His saints– unless He gives permission to test us, to strengthen our faith and our devotion to God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Satan resorts to other devices to try to get to us. He tries to distract us, deceive us, and weigh us down to wear us out so we will be discouraged, and question God. If He could do it,  the devil would throw away our inheritance our Lord has for us in His coming Kingdom.

I remember as a young boy, when danger was about, either a storm, tornado in the area, or any threat that could produce harm to our family, my mother would open the bible to one of my most favorite Psalms…chapter 91….In these verses of protection and divine intervention in a believer’s life, are words of comfort, of faith, of hope in a world that is turning upside down and gone mad. Let’s look at a few of His promises that reveals that we have nothing to fear.

91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

91:2  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

But note that you must dwell in the secret place of the most High…under His shadow, right up to His throne, in your prayer closet, and in your bible. We must not only read those words, but must put them into action.

91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

91:6  Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

No matter what may come –what we may see, by God’s Word we will not endure events of the Tribulation itself.  We may see environmental dangers, IE, the gulf spill, the increased hurricanes, tornados and every calamity that comes to man through nature that’s gone wild. Is it the beginning of God’s judgment on a sinful world? It just might well be, but we have nothing to fear.

91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

How many times, have you experienced a time that you just knew that you or your family were in danger, either from natural means from the environment, or man-made calamities?  Somehow, some way, it was someone else that experienced the impact, maybe right across the street from you, or you escaped unharmed. Did you ever wonder why?

91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

These wonderful verses emphasize that God is in control and He will protect each and everyone of His children during whatever may be out in front of us. But there is a catch, per se…again, read verse one of that passage. You have to be right up close to Almighty God. Not doing your own will, but His…not doing what the world is doing, but living the way Jesus, by example, showed us how to live. We cannot be lazy, weekend Christians and expect God’s protection. We cannot live like the devil on the weekdays, and repent in words only on Sunday, or Saturday, or whatever day you choose to worship God Almighty. To receive His favor, you must be conforming to the image of His Son, actively. Seeking, searching, praying, meditating, and putting His Words into your heart and carrying them out in your life, everyday, so that others may see Jesus in YOU.

We have that blessed hope in Jesus Christ, that when this world becomes even more dangerous than it is right now, then God will lead us into greener pastures, as David wrote in Psalm 23…If you are unfamiliar with that passage, then take a moment and read it and meditate on it and then reread Psalm 91….

Some fear the days approaching all around us. I do not and neither should any child of God…what you should be experiencing, is a sense of exhilaration, a sense of awe, of expectation, a sense of promise given by God to each and every one of us that call on Him as Abba, Father. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 10. 

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

The tribulation hour is coming. Jacob’s troubles are on the prophetic horizon. No time in our modern history since WW2, has Israel been abandoned as she has now. The table is set, the time is growing close. The USA administration is the only thing –in terms of human protection– that has kept the dogs and jackals at bay from Israel’s door, and now even it has begun pulling back. Great evil is forming just over the horizon. The evil ruler, the last king that is to come, the Antichrist, sits just off stage and will make his appearance, I expect, very soon.

This ruler indwelt with all the power of Satan himself, will wear out the saints. But is that the saints that are present this very hour? To make his entrance onto the world stage, something must happen to unleash all the evil that will come upon the world, as Jesus spoke of in Matthew in the beginning of this message. Turn with me to II Thessalonians, starting in verse 6;

2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed (the Antichrist), whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

There have been interpretations of what this passage means. Who or what is to be taken out of the way? What is holding back the full impact of evil on this earth? I believe it is God’s Holy Spirit and the presence of God’s people still on this planet. God has held back Satan from creating hell on earth for its inhabitants, because of His saints, the church. When the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, then God will allow Satan to unleash the full impact of his fury and to send this world into full blown Tribulation to wear out the tribulation saints. And God will unleash the full measure of His wrath on an unrepentant world.  Just as the Holy Spirit was sent on Pentecost to comfort, to counsel, to draw men unto Jesus Christ, our Lord, as Jesus said, “I will never leave or forsake you.” Hebrew 3:15. So if the Holy Spirit is being removed or pulled back, then we, as His children, will be leaving as well.

Yes, the world is a dangerous place and it’s getting even more so, as time draws down for the end of the age. Should we fear? Should we have a sense of urgency to reach others for Jesus Christ, undoubtedly, YES. Time is short and Jesus our Redeemer stands at the door ready to begin His Kingdom. Right now, He stands at the door of your heart. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20-21, “behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

3:21  He who is overcoming — I will give to him to sit with me in my throne, as I also did overcome and did sit down with my Father in His throne.

You have to hear His voice, the Holy Spirit calling, inviting you to His kingdom, inviting you to repent of your sins and make the Lord Jesus, Lord of your life. Accept His free invitation, His free gift. In your heart, confess that you are a sinner, Romans “3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Then believe in thy heart that Jesus died and was raised to glory and sits at the right hand of God our Father and will someday, soon return for you and for me…praise God….

May God Bless you and keep you all…. If there is anything I can help you with, or if I can pray with you, please email me at Realteam1999@sbcglobal.net

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Raptur Ready

A recent news item about certain polling data grasped my attention. I’m sure many who peruse www.raptureready.com’s news section had their curiosity piqued and read it as well.

After looking into the matters reported, I found the poll wasn’t as thorough as I would have liked–but it was fascinating nonetheless. Also, it was too one-sided in ethnic make-up. However, I give it enough credence to examine it here because I believe it revolves around a concern the Lord Jesus Christ expressed while teaching about conditions that will prevail at the end of the age.

A new survey finds that Americans are divided over whether they believe Jesus Christ will return by the year 2050.

Among respondents to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and Smithsonian Magazine, 41 percent said they expect Jesus’ Second Coming in the next forty years, while 46 percent said it probably or definitely won’t happen.

The poll suggests that 58 percent of white evangelicals believe Jesus will return by 2050, compared to only 32 percent of Catholics, and respondents with no college education were three times as likely as those with college degrees to expect Christ’s Second Coming in the next forty years. ("Many Americans Expect Jesus’ Return by 2050," Associated Press/Israel News, 6/23/10).

To be honest, I was quite surprised that 58 percent of white evangelicals believe Christ will return by 2050. This disconnect in my mind comes from the fact that in looking for interest in Bible prophecy with in the church today (by this I mean, of course, born-again believers–see John 3:3), my colleagues and I find no evidence to support that percentage.

Perhaps I should speak just for myself, but if my colleagues are honest, based upon conversations we’ve had among ourselves, they will confess that the interest just isn’t there in those kinds of numbers.

So, a few cynical (I suppose) thoughts regarding the poll come to mind:

1) The poll is a complete "guesstimate"–even a prefabrication.
2) The poll is skewed because it was taken from among a limited group of believers thoroughly educated in Bible prophecy.
3) The poll reflects a flippancy that will agree that Christ could return within the next forty years because the possibility is far enough in the future that the respondents need not worry about changing their personal conduct.
4) My colleagues and I are wrong and the church–"white evangelicals," in this case–is expecting the Lord’s return in majority numbers.

If the last point is true, then the fact that so many are looking for Christ is well hidden. I’m a blind guy, as many know, so I can’t see things all that well. But interest in Christ’s return–and in Bible prophecy in general, according to everything I hear–is confined to an extremely small number of folks in relationship to the tremendous number of people who claim the name of Christ.

Clicking through Christian TV networks (yes, we blind guys "watch" TV), I rarely come across a prophetic message. The majority of the viewing fare consists of the prosperity gospel or entertainment that is for the most part a rather poor knockoff of secular entertainment. The preachers who do present a sound gospel message and sound doctrine seldom-to-rarely speak on Bible prophecy. And they certainly don’t touch upon the pre-trib return of Christ in the Rapture.

When I’ve personally asked some of the preachers and teachers why they avoid presenting prophecy, they have said things like: "The people just don’t understand Revelation"; "The subject is just too scary to most people"; or " We just concentrate on getting people the gospel so they will be saved."

The honest such preachers and teachers say: "I just don’t know anything about prophecy. I’ve not studied it enough to preach on it."

What a tragedy, a travesty, this is! There is a singular hope (Titus 2:13) that God’s people have in this swiftly degenerating age. Yet, their shepherds–the preachers and teachers, their suppliers of spiritual food–use every conceivable excuse for not telling Christians about their returning Lord.

Some accuse those of us whose mission we believe it is to concentrate on Bible prophecy in these times of doing so to the point that we ignore Christ’s love and the Bible’s life lessons for His people.

We in no way believe that prophecy should be taught exclusively. However, prophecy constitutes almost 30 percent of the whole Word of God, so the Heavenly Father obviously means for prophecy to be a generous part of the mix for His children’s spiritual sustenance. This is especially true in these days when the signals of Christ’s coming again are every direction in which one looks.

Bible prophecy is being marginalized by those who are supposed to shepherd their flocks, but who don’t want to study it and/or don’t want to risk scaring people out of the pews. This is because it is the feel-good and do-good, entertainment-oriented sermonettes that tickle itching ears and build many of the elaborate end-times edifices.

Understand that I recognize there are huge churches that hold to doctrinal truth and include God’s prophetic Word as part of feeding their attending flocks. This is not to castigate these wonderful pastors, teachers, and staffs. God bless them! But these are in the minority. The dearth of interest in Christ’s coming back in the Rapture, then in the Second Advent, demonstrates the lack of faith resident within Christ’s body at this crucial hour.

Jesus asked the following profoundly troubling question in that prophetic context: "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8b). The Lord had a somber message for God’s people who will be alive at His sudden, unannounced coming. I wrote the following as part of a chapter for an upcoming book that I believe gets across the gist of this "Nearing Midnight" commentary:

The indifference so prevalent within the church is, itself, an end-times signal, it seems. The Lord obviously spoke to the fact that God’s own children will in large part be indifferent to the prophetic signals. They will not be living as they should at the time of His coming for them, as He promised in John 14:1-3. As a matter of fact, He forewarned: "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke 21:34-36; from a chapter by Terry James in a book to be released in 2010)

I pray more born-again pastors, Bible teachers, and God’s children of this nation and the world will awaken en masse to the staggering implications of Christ’s Second Coming.

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Raptur Ready

Plato warned that books posed a danger to his culture. Dead words would replace the living presence of a teacher and separate information from the informer.

His worries were not groundless. Changes in technology are good, but the way we do something can also impact the message. Though I could have listened on my iPod with greater convenience, yesterday I went to a theater and heard Bach’s funeral mass in B minor. Being there, sitting in that London hall, produced an authentic and intense experience that is not ear-buddable.

A good teacher can adjust his presentation to his students, but a book cannot. A wise mentor can fit the information he gives to the capacity of the student, refusing to give out data that his protégé cannot bear.

Books could not replace the intimate attention that Plato himself had received from Socrates.

Of course, books preserve information in ways that personal education could not. Texts allowed for a community of scholars to exist over time . . . without as great a loss of information and experience. Books are not bad, after all, but different.

The problem is when we don’t recognize the difference.

This same problem applies to the use of new technology to disseminate information. If all we wish to convey is information and our immediate reactions, then new tools, such as blogs and twitter, are blessings.

I am glad that World Cup scores are delivered to my phone while I travel. My phone cannot match being at a match, however, for good and bad. The sun of South Africa, the joy of fellow fans, and the deafening sounds of the vuvuzela are all missing. When all I want is the result, my phone is good enough, but sometimes a fan has to go.

This is even more true about the biggest human events. Humans cannot be baptized with online water, because we are not just minds, but bodies. Only a coward breaks up with an email, because some news deserves eye-to-eye contact.

Death is such an event. It is physical and spiritual. A man created in the image of God has passed through the greatest and final challenge. Cultures that debase this event, debase their own humanity. The death of any human being is an awful thing. It is momentous and sacred. Reporting on it requires thought, compassion, and a human touch.

This is why it was wrong for a government official to "tweet" the news of an execution. Twitter can convey information and the writer’s immediate feelings, but any death, especially one sanctioned by the state, demands more seriousness.

Dostoevsky wrote a novel on crime and punishment, but evidently Utah could not muster three hundred words. The convict and the community deserve the best thoughts our officials have on these topics and not the raw unfiltered data alone. The moment of death is too momentous and the readers are too various to allow for such broadcasting without greater care than a twitter feed allows.

It is not that the technology is new, but that this use of it is inappropriate. Older cultures could have produced public hangings with play-by-play from the hangman, but few were barbaric enough to do so.

There is a reason that Lincoln hand wrote letters to many widows in the Civil War. Shouldn’t the awful announcement announcing a death in battle always come from and with a serviceman? Newspapers could publish casualty lists with names sooner than they do, but they know that no human should find out about the death of a friend from the same paper that will soon line the bird cage.

Twitter is worse . . . rawer and more thoughtless. The executed man had relatives and a right to dignity, even at the end. This was stripped from him as a state official gave us not his best, considered thought, but raw information and emotion stripped of reflection.

The problem with twittering a death is evident in one foolish reaction to the Utah case.

A few extreme secularists, of the Know-Nothing sort, worried about the use of religious language in the tweets about the execution. Evidently the fact that an American in Utah is likely to think about God when he witnesses the death of another human is shocking to these folk. Centuries of Western prayers that "the Lord God have mercy on the soul of the condemned" are evidently soon, any time now really, going to lead us to theocracy.

Of course, the United States has always allowed its religious majority freedom to practice civil religion and the Dawkensian fears are groundless.  The problem is not the use of civil religious phrases in tweets, but the incivility of twittering a citizen’s death. A brutish public religion is dangerous, but because it’s practiced by brutes and makes men more bestial. The strength of our civil religion has been its civility. In the hands of great men like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and King, the words of our civil religion called on our better natures.

They embedded calls for divine mercy in careful arguments. Twitter embedded those words in discussions of Lady Gaga.

Twittering man’s death using the grand old phrases created with care in English courtrooms and American practice debases the language and the ideas behind them. There are words that should be used with care by our officials and twittering them "live" is a kind of public blasphemy.

One should not use the Hallelujah Chorus to sell soap, the David to sell jeans, or the grand phrases of our civil religion for personal tweets. Of course, any American has the right to do so, but that does not mean he is right if he does.

Every technology has temptations, but the problem is not the technology, but men too unreflective, too inhumane, and too badly uneducated to use it well. Let’s leave twitter for that which is tweetable, such as American Idol. When it comes to life and death, we demand our public figures reflect, process, and use language with care, in a manner suitable to the event. Tweeting our great events? Washington couldn’t, Obama wouldn’t, and American officials shouldn’t.  A culture that debases its language and its sacred things, whether flag or rhetoric, risks becoming a culture for which no sane man would die. It is difficult to ask a man to die for Twitter nation.

This article originally appeared at the Washington Post’s On Faith page. Click here to read the continuing conversation.

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute, and Professor of Philosophy at Biola University. In 1996 he received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Rochester. John Mark Reynolds can be found blogging regularly at Scriptorium Daily.

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Permission: Crosswalk

The theory was eugenics, and its history is dreadful-and, to those who were caught up in it, so embarrassing-that it is now rarely discussed. But it is a story that should be well known to every citizen, so that its horrors are not repeated.¹ -Michael Crichton

The National Institute of Health has announced plans to set up a centralized Genetic Testing Registry, a move which supporters have hailed as an important step forward for medical research. But others are not so sure about its merits and are concerned about its potential for abuse.

In fact, the NIH itself shows an awareness of this potential. In a 2001 article in The NIH Catalyst, currently posted on the NIH’s own website, we read:

"According to his definition of eugenics-interference with individuals’ procreative choices in order to attain a societal goal-eugenics lingers in our society, perhaps more dangerous because it is not so obvious, cautioned Neal Holtzman, professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore.

"Eugenics may lurk under the mask of compassion and cost savings. At the dawn of prenatal diagnosis, he said, some scientists maintained that:

"*Carriers of recessive hereditary defects should be warned against or prohibited from having children.

"*Parents have a duty to abort if a severe birth defect is detected.

"*Parents should feel guilty if they continue to reproduce kids with cystic fibrosis.

"Society needs to be alert to the abuse potential of genetic advances, he emphasized-lest such occurrences as these turn out to be modern landmarks along a slippery slope to the past …"²

The Proposal

What, exactly, does the NIH propose to do?

The NIH answers, to create "a public database that researchers, consumers, health care providers, and others can search for information submitted voluntarily by genetic test providers. The Genetic Testing Registry (GTR) aims to enhance access to information about the availability, validity, and usefulness of genetic tests.

"Currently, more than 1,600 genetic tests are available to patients and consumers. But there is no single public resource that provides detailed information about them. GTR is intended to fill that gap.

"The overarching goal of the GTR is to advance the public health and research into the genetic basis of health and disease. As such, the registry will have several key functions:

"*Encourage providers of genetic tests to enhance transparency by publicly sharing information about the availability and utility of their tests.

"*Provide an information resource for the public, including researchers, health care providers and patients, to locate laboratories that offer particular tests.

"*Facilitate genomic data-sharing for research and new scientific discoveries."³

Should Participation Be Mandatory?

What could be wrong with any of that?

Nothing, says the Genetic Alliance-which describes itself as "the world’s leading advocacy organization committed to transforming health through genetics and promoting an environment of openness centered on the health of individuals, families and communities."⁴ In fact, the Genetic Alliance likes the idea so much, it recommends that participation in the GTR be made mandatory.⁵

Genetic Alliance staffer Vaughn Edelson told us that the purpose of the GTR would be "to get all the information in one place." Genetic testing would not be mandatory: just the registry would be mandatory, "for purposes of quality control, comparisons, etc.," she said.

"Thousands of labs offer genetic testing, but there’s no one place to serve as a home base, and a data base, for researchers," she said. "It would not be mandatory for individuals to be tested. The labs would just need to register themselves and what kind of tests they offer."

No privacy issues would be involved, she said-"no one’s personal information will be in the registry. The GTR just gives anyone access to information about the availability and usefulness of tests."

Ms. Edelson declined to comment on the difference between eugenics and the Genetic Alliance’s motto of "transforming health through genetics." We were advised to direct such questions to the Alliance’s president, Sharon Terry-who did not answer our emails or return our phone calls.

Who Would Rate the Tests?

No one at the NIH agreed to discuss the matter with us, so we contacted Prof. Neal Holtzman, who was quoted in the NIH Catalyst article cited above.

"I see nothing wrong with maintaining a registry of gene tests," Prof. Holtzman said. "It is, however, worrisome that it is the test provider who is responsible for all the information about its tests in the Registry, and that no clear effort will be made to examine the veracity or adequacy of that information per se." In other words, the testing laboratories themselves would be reporting on how reliable or useful their tests are.

We also asked Prof. Holtzman if he was worried about the creation of a GTR being a first step toward collecting genetic information about citizens. Given the recent enactment of a vast "Health Care Reform" law, and its potential to lead to strict rationing of medical care as a means of controlling costs, we wondered if it might also lead to a rebirth of eugenics-perhaps under another name.

"As reporting of test results is not part of the Registry," he said, "I see little danger of eugenics. The danger, rather, is that providers and the public may be misled by some laboratories’ or companies’ data in the Registry."

He added, "As long as we have a shred of democracy and civil liberties, I don’t see that scenario [eugenics] happening."

Here It Comes…

But others do see it happening.

"All of these things start with, ‘We want to improve health’-but it never stops there," said Dr. David Prentice, with the Christian Medical and Dental Association. "When the government gets involved in the doctor-patient relationship, and with the government takeover of health care, you can start to manage not health care, but people. You wind up with the patient’s ‘quality of life’ decided by some bureaucrat.

"And then we are looking at eugenics, pure and simple. There’s an extremely fine line between screening for diseases to assist someone’s health care, and screening for diseases to use this information in a ‘eugenics way.’ It’s still eugenics-only now we can do it on the molecular level, instead of breeding."

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York was founded in 1910 as a facility for eugenics research and development. It still exists, but now it warns against eugenics, defined as "the self-direction of human evolution."⁶

Says the Cold Spring Harbor Archives, on the NIH Catalyst Website: "One hundred years later, on the cusp of a new century, the mapping of the human genome opened another door to gene-based strategies to improve human health. Today, however, many eyes are also open-to the potential for abuse."⁷

The overt scientific pursuit of eugenics goals, exemplified in the Nazi breeding programs and mass murder of the "unfit," was a casualty of World War II. But the spirit of eugenics is still very much with us.

For instance: the Humanist Manifesto II, drafted in 1973 and since then signed by many thousands of "intellectuals" worldwide, including hundreds of Nobel Prize winners in assorted sciences, states as one of its goals, "Using technology wisely, we can …  alter the course of human evolution."⁸

In a 1963 article in Nature (perhaps the world’s most prestigious science journal)-also posted on the NIH website-Prof. Joshua Lederberg, a geneticist at Stanford University, wrote: "The case for eugenics … has one most trenchant argument against complacency: man’s long pre-cultural evolution has given him a biological legacy which can be only fortuitously adapted to the physical power and technological complexity of the modern world. In a word, man, unless he grows less ‘human,’ may destroy himself."

Proposing to replace the old term, "eugenics," with a new term, "euphenics," Lederberg discussed "the emphasis on eugenics as the point of application of molecular biology" and looked forward to "eugenic progress."⁹

More simply put, Lederberg was advocating the purposeful re-engineering of human nature as a way of saving humanity from itself.

The religious parallel is breath-taking. Eugenics posits a form of Original Sin-human nature as it is-and a salvation and redemption delivered by scientists in laboratories. These elite scientists would truly be playing God by recreating man in the image they deem to be optimal.

Such ideas may have gone underground, but they have not passed away

Do You Trust the NIH?

Dr. Prentice says he doesn’t trust the NIH.

"They have a bad record for overseeing experiments in genetic engineering and other areas," he said. "I don’t trust NIH’s ethics-they push for embryonic stem cell research, which has yielded no medical benefits so far, and ignore adult stem cell research, which has yielded real benefits. They point to problems, such as eugenics, and then go merrily forward.

"’Trust us-we’re the smart people.’ That’s what they all say," he continued. "Meanwhile, there is no quality control for many of those genetic tests. No test is 100% accurate, but some of those are as low as 50%.

"How well do these tests correlate to reality? Nobody knows! Genetic testing is just one step past astrology."

Why does he say that? "Because ‘Genetics is everything, it’s totally deterministic’-that’s their premise. ‘We’ve found this gene that correlates with … pick a topic! They ignore free will, choices, experience, nurture, etc. Here’s a gene for gambling, here’s one for obesity. Here’s a gene for being a political conservative, and another gene for being liberal. It’s nonsense."

The Rebirth of Eugenics

The NIH Catalyst  describes scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as "among the vigilant."¹⁰ But during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, says the article, "Not only did some scientists promote eugenics-the science of being well-born-those who did not did little to oppose it."¹¹

Eugenics boosters included Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis Brandeis; Winston Churchill; Luther Burbank, Alexander Graham Bell, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells; and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, among other luminaries.¹² In the spirit of its founder’s devotion to eugenics, Planned Parenthood is still aborting a disproportionate number of African-American babies.

No one in any American government would ever say, "Let’s compile genetic information on our citizens, so we can weed out those who aren’t fit to live." But the new health care law, Dr. Prentice said, "includes comparative effectiveness research-and then we are into the rationing of health care."

Why would a government wish to have such information?

"Some genetic diseases don’t kick in until after you reach a certain age-fifty, say," Dr. Prentice said. "Suppose a test shows you have a genetic predisposition for such a disease. What do you think you’re going to hear from the government after you have your fiftieth birthday? ‘We can’t afford to treat you, after your genetic disease takes over. That kind of treatment is just too expensive.’"

It’s easy to imagine what would happen, in such cases. Maybe the patient’s care would simply be cut off, and he would be told to take a pain pill. Maybe some form of euthanasia might be suggested. Meanwhile, the test on which such a suggestion would be based might be only 50% accurate!

From establishing a central Genetic Testing Registry, to collecting the names of individuals who receive the tests, and then to collecting the results of the tests and using them to decide who gets care and who does not, is a series of steps not hard to visualize.

Currently patients’ privacy, as Prof. Holtzman pointed out, is protected by law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).¹³  But laws can be repealed, amended, or ignored.

Let’s return to Dr. Joshua Lederberg, who in 1963 wanted to use eugenics to re-design the human species. Here he is quoted by R. J. Rushdoony: "We cannot insist on absolute rights to life of a piece of tissue just because it bears a resemblance to humanity." Dr. Lederberg was not talking about a mandrake root, but unborn babies. He did not specify how big a piece of tissue was involved. But surely an adult-perhaps someone suffering from a genetic disease, or from dementia-could also be described as a piece of tissue bearing a resemblance to a human being. Dr. Lederberg himself could be so described. Rushdoony remarked, "Take your choice, on abortion and all things else: the paradigm, pattern, law, or absolute of God, or that of Dr. Joshua Lederberg and his kind. You will live or die in terms of your decision … We are very openly being given our choice of gods, the God of Scripture, or the new gods of science."¹⁴

Are we wrong to be afraid that a reasonable, harmless step such as creating a Genetic Testing Registry might somehow lead us down the road to rationed care, death panels, and a rebirth of eugenics?

If the history of the twentieth century teaches us nothing else, at least it clearly teaches this: When the elites of politics and science work together, be afraid. Be very afraid.

1. Michael Crichton, State of Fear (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), 576.

2. http://www.nih.gov/catalyst/2001/01.09.01/page2.html

3. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2010/od-18.htm

4. http://www.geneticalliance.org/about

5. From a Genetic Alliance press release dated March 18, 2010, "Genetic Alliance Celebrates Announcement of Genetic Tests Registry," http://www.geneticalliance.org/pr.registry

6. http://www.nih.gov/catalyst/2001/01.09.01/page2.html

7. Ibid.

8. http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto2.html

9. http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/BB/A/B/I/E/_/bbabie.pdf

10. http://www.nih.gov/catalyst/2001/01.09.01/pg2html

11. Ibid.

12. Crichton, 575.

13. For HIPAA privacy rules, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act

14. R. J. Rushdoony, The Mythology of Science (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, [1967] 2001), 120.

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Permission: Chalcedon

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:7-8.

“You can’t draw that, that’s offensive”. These were the words that a thirteen year old student in California heard a few days ago from her teacher. The student had drawn a picture of the American flag with the words “God bless America” inscribed on the flag. For this she was singled out and told her project was offensive. Then the teacher went on to praise another student who had drawn a picture of Obama. This is just a very small sampling of what’s happening across this nation.

Socialism is now the new flavor in America. We now see public school teachers promoting and indoctrinating our children into this new socialistic, godless, false utopian society, and our government leaders are consumed with promoting the same failed concept. It’s now an offense to be patriotic in America. And what’s much worse is that it is now considered almost criminal to publicly demonstrate a love for God.

“Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,” 1 Corinthians 10:32. Those of us who follow Jesus Christ and promote His Gospel have no desire to offend anyone. The Gospel of Christ is a take it or leave it reality. Most believers who are actually witnessing to others prepare themselves for the rejection of the Gospel. We can tell someone about Jesus and if during the conversation they make it plain they are not interested or they seem to be getting agitated we can excuse ourselves and move on. We don’t brow beat people into submission or attack them because they aren’t inclined to partake of the truth. We simply change the subject or stop talking all together.

It’s true that lost people have no problem with being offensive around Christians or even singling out Christians for abuse. We are ridiculed and even condemned by those who hate God. Even ending a conversation with “God bless you” is an offense to those who are perishing. The young girl mentioned above was simply expressing her patriotism and love for God which is a Constitutionally protected right. It seems America’s founding fathers were offensive by placing such high esteem on what they believed to be God given rights. At least that teacher thought so. Oh yea, and for those who think the separation of Church and state has anything to do with the U.S. Constitution it doesn’t. There’s no such thing as “the separation of Church and state” written into the founding fathers documents as they established this country as a sovereign, godly nation. But there is something called the Bill of Rights which says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…, and so on. “The free exercise thereof” is the same as saying if you are in a classroom in America and you wish to exercise your Constitutional right to express your love for God and country you may do so unimpeded.

So what’s changed in the Constitution to allow a teacher to prohibit students “the free exercise thereof”? The Constitution of the United States of America has not changed, but we the people have placed ungodly leaders in control of our government and as such we are reaping what we have sown. God has been replaced with the religion of humanism. And this unholy saga continues as these misguided souls attempt to rid this nation of all vestiges of that old antiquated belief which emphatically maintains there is a God.

First, they change our laws. How can they get away with that, you might ask? Through evil deceptions they get themselves elected to the highest office in the land, the Presidency of the United States of America, then they proceed to fill all the cabinet posts associated with that office with Marxists and Communists. They infiltrate Congress through similar deceptions until they dominate that once revered and stately body. Then they place into the highest courts of the land those individuals who have no use for God. This will, in turn, give rise to new and devilishly thought-out rulings that will far and above favor humanism, socialism, and ultimately communism over anything that might be based on faith in the one true God of the Bible. After a few years of these socialistic, humanistic, Marxists leaders lording over the masses, most of America will become painfully aware that their “inalienable rights” have dried up and blown away.

Socialism is alive and thriving in America my friends and we now sit on the very precipice of evil completely consuming our national government and taking over our beloved country. We aren’t just slightly moving in that direction, the guy that occupies the Oval Office has placed America on the fast track to becoming a dictatorial and completely socialistic entity.

Recently it’s been revealed that any mention of God by students will be harshly dealt with. Wearing the American flag on your person is also becoming a crime in the godless halls of academia. But there’s a time coming, and is almost here, when one certain word will get you thrown into jail quicker then oil leaking out of a pipe in the gulf, that word is “Jesus” the name above all names. Unless of course you use the Lord’s name as a swear word then of course you’ll be excused.

Letters come in all the time rebuking me for my stance on our current leadership’s regime. They try to tell me that this is all biblical and that we need to just accept it as the inevitable. God places who He wills into the offices of government and we aren’t to question His motives or His plans. We are just to accept everything as from God no matter how bad and evil our government becomes. If that’s our destiny, so be it.

Of course in some respects I’m inclined to agree with them. When they point out that God has a plan and He is in control, of that I have no doubt. But, God in His word never tells us to simply give up our liberties or to stop standing up for righteousness. After all, our liberties are all God endowed. I must conclude from the letters that I receive that God has now taken those liberties back which He had graciously bestowed on this great nation over the past 234 years. Now with the establishment of our new socialist government firmly entrenched we are to just be passive and patient and take whatever is thrown at us as being from God? I don’t think so. You see, God establishes governments and places people in its leadership to run those governments as God wills. Let’s be honest, does anyone reading this commentary believe that America’s current leadership regime is in any way following God’s precepts or God’s will for the American people, or more specifically for His own Children?

The answer to that question is yes if we believe God is punishing America for her failure to follow His precepts, for giving Him the boot as it were. But that would mean that God is punishing the righteous along with the unrighteous. His word plainly states this will not be the case. But on the other hand could it be that our leaders are not following God’s precepts and His will for this land? I’m much more inclined to believe the latter.

“Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” Matthew 18:7. By referring to God as offensive those who make such claims are only condemning themselves. When Jesus uses the word “Woe” He is denouncing something, and in this instance He is actually judging those who bring offenses against God or against His children. If they only understood what they were doing they would be terrified to be in that position of denouncement. Alas, understanding is far from the minds of those who call God offensive.

Do I see any turnaround of our current rush toward socialism or communism or even Sharia Law? No. Wow, that’s depressing. Yes it is and we who follow Jesus Christ can plainly see where such a government made up of socialist Marxists will lead. Christians will be targeted as haters and dissenters, and will be seen as the enemy. If we become critical of the abuses which will certainly be manifest by the state we will feel the hand of persecution upon our backsides.

I’ve been accused of creating an atmosphere of fear among believers with some of my previous commentaries. I’m sure this one will fall right in line with the rest. It has not been my intention in the least to promote fear or be divisive. On the contrary, what I’ve been trying to induce is not panic or fear but the recognition of a new direction, a new and different playing arena if you will, in which our government leaders wish to lead us into a new and glorious utopian world where we will all live in harmony and peace. But knowing the word of God we can see that this is only an attempt by the enemy of God to move gullible people away from our Lord.

What does the Bible say about peace on earth? Only when Jesus Christ returns and makes an end of wars and eliminates the persistent evil will there be peace, one thousand years of it. Until then, while we have breath we are to be His mouthpiece, His disciples, His saints promoting His Gospel and telling everyone we can about His love for them. It’s not going to be easy from here on out, but that is partially our own fault. In many ways we believers in Christ have dropped the ball. It’s up to followers of Jesus Christ to pick it up again.

I believe there are some who’ve been called to be watchmen on the wall, and as such we watchmen will inevitably be singled out as the worst of the haters. There are many men and women who are courageously standing up for Jesus Christ and His Gospel and who will be the first to witness the strong arm of this new socialistic government.

Offensive people are going to increase and they will stand against us as we go about our Fathers business. That’s okay. We are told not to fear but to be of good cheer. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Our peace is in Christ and we will never despair as long as we place our trust in Jesus Christ, and keep Him in our hearts.

Believe me when I tell you there will soon come a time when someone will say to you, “That’s offensive to me” and all you will have done is mention the name of Jesus our Savior to them. But do not fear what man will do to you for being a follower of Jesus Christ. Actually those who persecute us are the ones who need to be fearful. “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28.

If the world sees us as offensive for speaking the truth of Jesus Christ, that’s a good thing. It’s those who call themselves Christians but who are thoroughly engulfed in the world and never mention His name that I’m concerned about. Where do you stand?

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