This blog concerns the injustice of class warfare being waged against us globally by the top 1% and what the Bible has to say about it. The cadre of bankers, Wall St. money brokers and their Washington lobbyists, who have brazenly hijacked the American government and its monetary system, will not return the power they have taken away voluntarily. Are you ready for revolution? Are we even going to need any guns? This follower of Jesus doesn't think so!
Showing posts with label the internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the internet. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Sunday, February 4, 2018
I think I've found the reason for the recent surge in school shootings, but you may not like my findings
Staggering
Numbers Of Millenials Are
Leaving Church
and It's
All Our Own Fault
by Web
pastor Paul J. Bern
For
viewing in any browser, click
here :-)
For
decades, the United States has been thought of as a Christian nation
around the globe. But today that is dramatically changing –
especially among America's young people. The truth is that all of the
recent polls tell us that Americans under 30 years of age are
rejecting the Christian faith in unprecedented numbers. In fact, what
the numbers reveal is not a slow move away from the Christian faith.
Rather, they clearly portray a massive wave of young Americans
running away from traditional Christianity as fast as they can. Not
only that, but the vast majority of young adults in America today do
not go to church, do not pray and do not read the Bible. Just
consider a few of the results from a fairly recent (2015) and deeply
troubling survey of 18 to 29 year old Americans:
- 65% rarely or
never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves
either.
- 65% rarely or
never attend worship services of any kind.
- 67% don't read
the Bible or any other religious texts on a regular basis.
That is
a solid two-thirds of American young adults who don't even have the
slightest connection to traditional Christianity. If the current
trends continue, the Millennial generation will see churches closing
as quickly as Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Daewoo, Plymouth and Saturn
dealerships from just a few years ago. The survey did find that 65%
of those surveyed did call themselves "Christian", but
among that 65%, the majority are what I call CINO's (Christians in
name only). Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to
measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the
faith.
But it
just isn't this latest survey that is showing a mass exodus from the
Christian faith by America's young people. According to a more recent
(2016) survey by America's Research Group, 95 percent of 20 to 29
year old evangelical Christians attended church regularly during
their elementary school and middle school years. However, only 55
percent of those young evangelical Christians still attended church
regularly during high school, and only 11 percent of them were still
regularly attending church when they went to college. That's it, just
a paltry 11 percent! And that was among self-identified evangelical
Christians.
But the
most recent survey from this same nonprofit was perhaps even more
troubling. According to that survey, 15% of Americans now say they
have "no religion" – which is up from 8% in 1990.
However, what was much more disturbing was that 46% of Americans
between the ages of 18 to 34 indicated that they had no religion in
the survey. Is it any wonder that atheism is on the rise? Forty-six
percent is not just a trend. That is not just a landslide, either. I
would define that as a stampede. Today there most certainly is a mass
exodus of America's young people from the traditional Christian
faith. There is simply no getting around it. Another recent poll by
America's Research Group showed that less than 1 percent of all
Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical world view.
And what is a Biblical world view? This has been defined as someone
holding on to the following six key beliefs:
1) Believing that absolute moral truth exists.
2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
3)
Believing that Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not
merely symbolic.
4)
Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by
trying to be good or by doing good works.
5) Believing
that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6)
Believing that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the
world who still rules the universe today.
Using
those six criteria, less than 1 percent of Americans between the ages
of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical world view. That's no more than 3
million out of 330,000,000! The implications of this are staggering.
The truth is that the United States is quickly becoming a highly
secularized nation. Europe has already been down this road, and now
America is rapidly following. Hundreds (perhaps thousands) of
churches will close in the next 10 years as more and more people
simply quit going. Large numbers of Christian ministries, radio
stations, television shows and book stores will have to shut their
doors because there will not be nearly enough people to support them.
But the most frightening thing of all is that we are losing almost an
entire generation to the world. Never before in U.S history has an
entire generation rejected the Gospel as much as this one has.
America's young people are rejecting the Christian faith, and yet the
mainstream Christian establishment keeps running around and telling
everyone that everything is fine. Fine??
No, everything is not fine. Not even close -- in point of fact, nowhere near! The Church in America is broken – completely! It is very rare to find a church where authentic Christianity is being practiced anymore. Our young people are not stupid. They know what is real and what is not. When they hear pastors tell them they must give 10% of what they earn each and every week, that's not what the Gospel says and they know it. When they hear TV evangelists trying to convince them that God wants us all to be rich, when our youth hear them condemning gay people when it's not their business to judge, when they see 'conservative Christians' protesting abortion in the streets as they send your sons and daughters off to fight wars that benefit only a handful of people, millennial's can see the hand-writing on the wall. If the Church in America – yes, I said the Church – would repent and turn back to real, authentic Christianity, at least we would have a chance of capturing the attention of those young Americans who are honestly looking for the truth. But instead, people of all ages – not just the young – are hungry and thirsty for some real truth. They're fed up to here with all the spiritual bull-crap being dished out by for-profit churches and all the con artists on TV who have the nerve to call themselves “apostle” or “bishop”, and they're looking for some authenticity. You know, like the kind Jesus had?
What
did Jesus say about all this? “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew chapter
five, verse 6).” Translated
into 21st
century English, this simply means come to Jesus Christ in and of
himself, and simply leave the churches behind. You will no doubt
recall that Jesus put his money where his mouth was in this regard
when he threw the money changers out of the temple. He wasn't nice
about it either. He didn't have to be. In the here and now of the
modern church – or Church Incorporated as I like to call it –
anybody can see that the descendants of the money changers have once
again set up shop in houses of worship. As a result, you had best be
really sure that He is returning very soon for yet another house
cleaning. Christ will be far more angry the second time around as he
was the first. So much more....
On the
surface, it would be easy to say that every bit of the fault for this
lies with modern church leadership. But that is not entirely the
fault of the Church, although the leadership does bear a good bit of
the responsibility. The truth is that we – the parents of the
millenials I'm writing about – have created a society where our
children are taught that Jesus and Christianity are not important any
more. Our public schools teach our children day after day after day
that they evolved from monkeys, that abortion, indiscriminate sex
before marriage and homosexuality are perfectly normal for everyone,
and that anyone who disagrees is either a bigot or an idiot. Then
these same accusers go home and surround themselves with endless
entertainment for the rest of the day (television, video games,
Internet, movies, and often pornography), effectively isolating
themselves from their families and each other. The overwhelming
message regarding the Christian faith in the above forms of
entertainment is that either Christianity is irrelevant, not true or
should be openly mocked. Only thing is, they have forgotten that you
can't mock God or Jesus. You cannot mock God any more than a Chevy
can mock General Motors.
So
should we be surprised that the overwhelming majority of our children
and grandchildren have rejected the Christian faith? Should we
expect anything else? What else were we expecting, John the Baptist?
We have raised our children in the godless society that we have
constructed and now we are so surprised that they are godless. People
everywhere are pulling their hair out trying to figure out why all
these school shootings have sprung up seemingly out of nowhere over
the last 15 years or so. But nobody should be surprised. We are just
reaping what we have sown, and we now have an unexpected bumper crop
of wanton violence. I'd say we have our work cut out for us for the
foreseeable future, so we'd better get started. Because if we don't
start repairing the damage we have caused by letting electronic
devices do our parenting for us, we are going to lose an entire
generation. And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be totally
unacceptable.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Watching Too Much TV Is Murder On the Soul
Reasons
to Stop Watching T.V.
For Secular and Christian Alike
by pastor
Paul J. Bern
For
viewing in any browser, click
here :-)
I
was asked by a reader this past week if I had ever considered posting
a piece on the evils of watching television. Actually, in the past I
had considered doing exactly that, but every time I got ready to,
something of greater importance would come up with respect to current
events. For example, I could have wrote about the US government
shut-down that just occurred this past Friday, but everybody saw that
one coming anyway. Besides, I'm hoping this shut-down will be
short-lived! Moreover 0, since so much of this is continuously being
disseminated in the Lame Stream Media, I will leave reporting on the
US government shut down to them. The larger aspect of this is that
the shut-down, along with all the other information you can possibly
stand whether you like it or not, is being presented to the public
via television.
According
to some facts and figures from TV-Free America (1322 18th
Street, NW Washington, DC 20036)
regarding American television viewing habits, I categorize them as
follows:
[1] FAMILY LIFE
- Percentage of households that
possess at least one television: 99
- Number of TV sets in the
average U.S. household: 2.24
- Percentage of U.S. homes with
three or more TV sets: 66
- Number of hours per day that
TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
- Percentage of Americans that
regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
- Number of hours of TV watched
annually by Americans: 270 billion
- Value of that time assuming an
average wage of $10/hour: $2.5 trillion
- Percentage of Americans who
pay for cable TV: 66
- Number of videos rented daily
in the U.S.: 7 million
- Number of public library items
checked out daily: 3 million
- Percentage of Americans who
say they watch too much TV: 49
- Approximate number of studies
examining TV's effects on children: 5,000
- Number of minutes per week
that parents spend in meaningful
- conversation with their
children: 3.5
- Number of minutes per week
that the average child watches television: 1,680
- Percentage of day care centers
that use TV during a typical day: 77
- Percentage of parents who
would like to limit their children's TV watching: 77
- Percentage of 4-6-year-olds
who, when asked to choose between watching TV
and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
- Hours per year the average
American youth spends in school: 900 hours
- Hours per year the average
American youth watches television: 1500
- Number of murders seen on TV
by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
- Number of violent acts seen on
TV by age 18: 200,000
- Percentage of Americans who
believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79
- Number of 30-second TV
commercials per hour: 40
- Percentage of local TV news
broadcast time devoted to advertising: 30
- Percentage devoted to stories
about crime, disaster and war: 53.8
- Percentage devoted to public
service announcements: 0.7
- Percentage of Americans who
can name The Three Stooges: 59
- Percentage who can name at
least three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: 17
- Number of TV commercials seen
by the average person by age 65: 2 million
- Percentage of survey
participants (1993) who said that TV commercials
- aimed at children make them
too materialistic: 93
- Rank of food
products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
- Total spending by 100 leading
TV advertisers in 1993: $15 billion
According
to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4
hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop
TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent
9 years glued to the tube. Let me select a quote from the Old
Testament about that: “You shall have no other gods before me,
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below. You shall
not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the
third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love
for a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my
commandments.” (Exodus 20, verses 3-5) Can your television
become an idol? In many cases and with many individuals and even
whole families, evidently so!
Let's review, shall
we? Americans spend an average of 6 ¾ hours daily watching or
streaming TV. Half of Americans admit they watch too much TV – the
rest just don't realize it yet. School age children watch nearly
1,700 minutes of TV weekly, while half of those kids would rather
watch TV than spend time with their fathers. This fact in and of
itself is a scathing indictment of American dads because it points to
a lack of parenting.
Elementary school
kids see 8,000 acts of violence on TV by the time they move on to
junior high school. By the time they finish high school that number
jumps to a breathtaking 200,000! Is it any wonder there is so much
violence and even fatal shootings in our schools? Our children are
being bombarded with violence nearly 24/7! At every turn all they see
and feel is violence, inappropriate sexuality and a general
disconnect from reality via the technology they're using that is very
unhealthy. Moreover, one third of TV viewing consists of one
commercial after another, while any given person watches 40
commercials for every hour of viewing. So now you know the real,
underlying reason the networks advertise their news programs so much!
They want to bombard you with a bunch of third world crap that none
of us needs or wants. Everybody has had just about enough of these
abuses, and that includes myself! And yes, by the way, your TV is
your idol! You Christians spend an hour or two each week at church
but you watch 6 ¾ hours of TV per day? You are all in idolatry!
Repent of your sins, every one of you! Unsubscribe from your cable or
satellite TV, and get a set of rabbit ears for the local news if you
want. Stream what you want to watch over the Internet, and if you
have children at home, block the TV on their phones so they can't
watch it. If you really love your kids you will be glad to do this
for them.
In closing, I will
leave you with a quote from James chapter 1, verses 26-27: “If
anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein
on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep
oneself from being polluted by the world.”
OK, so if we want to emulate the apostle James – who was martyred
for his apostleship – and keep ourselves pure, we will have to make
a choice – devotion to Jesus or devotion to our televisions. The
fact that we are spending at least 20 times more time with our TV's
than at church, even more if we count our prayer time, speaks volumes
about where our hearts are. So do yourselves and your souls a favor –
turn off your TV and disconnect your cable or dish and use that time
to find someone who needs help. Go volunteer somewhere. All you
parents, start spending more time with your kids instead of using
your televisions for babysitters. The kids will appreciate you for
it, and their grades will get better in school if they know their
parents really care. Mass entertainment does more harm than good. The
novelty of television wore off decades ago. Nowadays it's just a
nuisance. Better still, take your TV out to the back yard and kill
it.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Jesus is keeping up with the changing times, but some churches are barely hanging on
Why Technology Is Reinventing
Church As We Have Known It
by Pastor Paul J. Bern
To view this in any browser, click
here! :-)
The celebration of the 400th anniversary of the
King James Bible was back in 2011, and Bible publishers are still
ostentatiously commemorating that landmark by producing an abundance
of gorgeous hand-bound versions complete with illustrations – for a
premium price, of course. The hoopla is entirely justified, since the
King James Bible revolutionized Bible reading, bringing Scripture
into a common vernacular for the first time for the English-speaking
world. Although I personally use other versions (NIV, NLT, &
Amplified), it is not too much to say that the King James Bible –
mass produced as it was – democratized religion by taking it out of
the hands of the clerical few and giving it to the many, thanks to a
cutting edge technology from back then called the printing press.
Today, another much bigger revolution in the Church
is underway. Today’s technology goes a giant step further, making
Scripture – in any language and any translation – accessible to
anyone on earth with a decent mobile phone. It need not be a
“Smart-phone” anymore, just a basic one with a decent sized
screen is all you need. Just like the 500-year-old Protestant
Reformation, which was aided by the advent of the printing press and
which helped give birth to the King James Bible, changes wrought by
new Web-based technology have the ability to expand the reach and
scope of the gospel of Jesus Christ like we previously never have. In
the face of church leaders who claimed that only they could interpret
the Bible for the common people, Reformation leaders like Martin
Luther taught that nothing supersedes the authority of the Word
itself. "A simple layman armed with Scripture,” Luther wrote,
“is greater than the mightiest pope without it."
In that
vein, digital technology gives users the text, plain and simple,
without the interpretive lens of established authorities. And it lets
users share interpretations with other non-authorities, like family
members, friends and coworkers. With the Bible on iPhone's, iPad's
and 'tablets' of various kinds, believers can bypass constraining
religious structures – otherwise known as denominations and
brick-and-mortar churches – in favor of a more individualized
connection with God. We can't see God, and we can't see the internet
visually, yet people who have a hunger and a thirst for God – or at
the very least some power greater than themselves – connect with
God this way. This
website
is based on that fact, that there is an emerging new power outlet
that we can plug in to that is like a direct link to God. Churches
are getting on the Web in droves because they are discovering the
same thing. There is an intensity now, a burning desire to bring
ourselves as close as we can get to God, because millions of
Christians all over the world are beginning to recognize that we are
living in the Last Days. There is now a growing sense of urgency to
get as many souls into God's kingdom as can be because we are all
running out of time! The more ways we can find to do this, the
better.
This helps solve a problem that Christian leaders
are increasingly articulating; that even among people who say that
Jesus Christ is their personal Lord and Savior, too many folks don’t
read their Bibles. Here in the 21st century, more than a third of
those who self-identify as born-again Christians rarely or never read
the Bible. They don't even own one! Among 'unaffiliated' people –
that is, Americans who don’t belong to a religious congregation –
more than two thirds say they don’t read the Bible. Especially
among 18-to-29 year old's, Bible reading has come to feel like
homework, associated with “right” interpretations and “wrong
ones,” and accompanied by stern lectures from the pulpit. Today's
young Christians, or “millenials” if you like, have come to
expect experiences that appear unscripted and interactive, which
allows them to be open and honest with their questions. To put it
simply, they are hungry and thirsty for an authenticity that can only
be found by reading the Bible. If anyone reading this does not own a
Bible because they can't afford it, please send me your email
addresses in the responses below, or contact me directly from this
link.
This yearning for a more directly connected faith –
including Bible readings and verses to inspire or console wherever
and whenever they’re needed – is being met with an enthusiastic
embrace. For growing numbers of young people, a leather-bound Bible
sitting like an artifact on a stand in the family living room has no
allure. It’s not an invitation to exploration or questioning. Young
people want to absorb their spirituality the way they do their news
or their music. They want to browse on Facebook, Tweet on Twitter,
link up on Linked In, and Google whatever is left. They are also
streaming Christian content on their various digital devices directly
off the Web, bypassing cable TV and printed media completely. Thus we
now have products such as “Youversion”, a digital Bible available
for free on iTunes and developed by a 34-year-old technology buff and
Christian pastor from Oklahoma named Bobby Grunewald. In an interview
on a Christian TV channel recently, he said he conceived of it while
on a layover at Chicago O'Hara International Airport, wishing he had
a Bible to read. “What we’re really trying to address is, how do
we increase engagement in the Bible?” he said. Now available in 113
versions and 41 languages, including Arabic, “Youversion” has a
community component that allows users to share thoughts and insights
on Bible verses with friends. It has been installed on more than 20
million Smart-phones since 2008.
Traditionalists (and I'm definitely not one of
those) worry that technology allows young believers to practice
religion without committing to what many churches call “a church
home” – and they’re right. What they are really afraid of is
that donations will falter as a result of this development. The very
idea of not having the church participants right there with them so
these hireling pastors can pass around a collection basket (or two)
completely unnerves these types of 'leaders'. That's how you can tell
if a pastor is in the ministry for the right reasons. Let me give you
an example. I once watched a Michigan pastor named Rob Bell on a
Christian video that I streamed off the Web. It was the eve of the
publication of his new bestseller "Love Wins" (I don't
recall the date on the video, but it was a couple of years ago). It
was said on the show that after the book-signing, many of Pastor
Bell's acolytes said they felt they knew Rob through his sermons,
which they regularly downloaded off the internet, even though they
had never met him. They hailed from places like Australia, South
Africa and New Jersey. They listen to Bell while they’re working
out, or commuting to work. They get their religion – like their
meals – on the run. Pastor Bell is going about this in the right
way, and traditional churches with their comparatively high overhead
are being left behind in the dust of history.
The family Bible has long been given as a gift on
graduation day or other big occasions and inscribed with special
dates such as births, marriages, or deaths. Some of these Bibles
would go on to become collector's items that are treasured, protected
and preserved. I can see a world in the not-too-distant future when
the Bible may exist primarily online, or on a 'thumb-drive',
especially due to the number of trees we must otherwise cut down to
make the paper on which to print them. For right now, worship
services and Bible studies are still done almost exclusively as
public gatherings in a house of worship, or sometimes in a “home
church”. But more and more people are beginning to trend towards
Web-based Churches that offers a more personalized experience. As a
result for some, the necessity of physically gathering each week in
the same place with the same people becomes a traditional form of
worship that has begun to fade into the past. Moreover, more and more
people are getting by without the expense of owning and insuring (and
fixing!) a motor vehicle. Without a doubt, these two trends represent
a new crisis for organized religion if it has difficulty adapting to
these new technologies that can reach audiences that number in the
millions. This question already has organized religion seeking to
redefine what it means to be a body of believers. Besides, with all
this new technology, the faithful can now have church as little or as
often as they want (but often is definitely better, even if it's for
only 5 minutes each time). Just remember to make sure your worship is
as authentic as the Lord and Savior you worship! Search your hearts
for the answer to this question. God sees all and He knows all. Above
all, never stop praying and praising Jesus, because he's coming back
real soon.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Another warning from God. Perhaps more people will listen this time around.
A Word of
Warning From the Lord For the USA
by Pastor
Paul J. Bern
To view
this in any browser, click
here! :-)
I'm
going to do something that I've done before on this website;
exercising one of the chief gifts of the Spirit as taught by the
apostle Paul – the gift of prophecy, one of the nine fruits of the
Spirit (see 1st Corinthians 12, verses 7-11). First, for
my newer readers, let me point out that prophecy doesn't mean being
able to foretell the future. That's called divination, which is based
on sorcery, which is of the occult. Prophecy, on the other hand,
simply means affirmatively declaring the Word of God, or of conveying
the will of God and letting it be known with precision and insight.
For example, if I say, “Jesus will return on Christmas Eve”,
that's a prediction of the future, and in this case a pretty bad one.
But if I say, “Everyone act, think and live as if Jesus will return
this Christmas, because it is the Lord himself who reminds you to
keep yourself ready for His return – for He will return at an hour
when many do not expect him” – then I have prophesied the Word of
God by allowing myself to be used as a vessel for God's Word to
humankind, or as a conduit for God's awesome power (which is beyond
all human imagination or comprehension). Although I'm sure there will
be some who will strongly disagree with my interpretations of
Biblical prophecy contained herein, I feel compelled to warn all who
read this that judgment is coming to the USA. Indeed, I would be
derelict in my duties as a Web pastor and ambassador for Christ if I
neglected to warn all who will heed my warning. And so allow me a few
paragraphs and several minutes of your time to relate what I believe
is this important Word from the Lord God Almighty through his Son,
Jesus Christ, the Lamb that was slain and yet lives!
As
it was in the times of the prophets of old, so it is today – many
people are perishing due to a lack of knowledge, or misinformation,
about God. One thing I'm certain about – America's days as a
superpower, both militarily and economically, are just about over.
Don't any of you see what is happening all around you? Your
government is printing money at supersonic speed to keep its rigged
capitalist economic system – a system based on debt and greed that
is a laughingstock up in heaven and down in hell – from imploding!
Interest on America's “national debt” has been accruing at a
faster rate than the principal can be paid down. It is as plain and
bright as the daytime sunshine that our rigged pyramid scheme
economic system has run its course. It will soon be exactly as it was
written by the apostle John, “In
her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen, I am not a widow, and I will
never mourn'. Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty
is the Lord God who judges her. When the kings of the earth who
committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of
her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her
torment, they will stand far off and cry, 'Woe! Woe, oh great city, O
Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'”
(Revelation chapter 18, verses 7-10)
Is
there anyone who still doubts that this passage of Scripture was
written about our country, the United States? Go back and read that
again, or better yet, read Revelation chapter eighteen in its
entirety – it's all right there in black and white. What else could
it be? The US remains the wealthiest nation on earth, and the
materialism of her people is an offense to God. Moreover, Jesus
condemned materialism (see Matthew 6, verses 19-21; Luke 6; 24-26)!
So how else is the US government sinning against God? The US dollar,
or more accurately the blistering rate the Federal Reserve is
printing it, makes a major devaluation of America's currency likely,
possibly even in the near future. Also, the US banking system is
based on “fractional
reserve lending”, which is “usury”, or money lending with
interest. The Bible says unambiguously the charging of interest is a
sin (see Exodus 22, verses 22-27). That means if the US does not
repent of these egregious sins and get its house in order, God will
punish our country with more economic hardship, natural disasters and
even plagues. I know there are those who will not take my warning
seriously, but I remind you that the future of our country, not to
mention your very soul, is at stake. I do not speak for myself, but
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks through me. I am merely a
conduit for His awesome power.
We have
taken the earth that God created and ruined it. We were originally
put in charge of the earth, to “subdue it” (see Genesis 1: 28),
but humankind has done an atrocious job, with the ongoing nuclear
reactor leak at Fukushima, Japan being a prime example. Everything is
polluted, even our own bodies. Oil residue still exists on the shores
of the Gulf of Mexico and western Florida, the seafood is
contaminated with mercury, our livestock are catching deadly new
strains of the flu, and our IQ's become ever more diminished due to
ingesting fluoridated water for generations. Autism, once thought to
have originated from childhood vaccines, is now being more correctly
understood as having environmental rather than medical causes and
origins. We're doing it to ourselves. And all the while, the world's
bee population is being decimated. That in and of itself is a
disaster in the making.
Hard
times are coming, of that we can all be sure. God has shown me (yes
He has!) that gas rationing and food rationing are both on America's
horizon. Poverty will increase by leaps and bounds, creating a
permanent underclass of Americans who will become the spearhead of a
nonviolent Second American Revolution. Civil unrest is coming, the
likes of which haven't been seen since the 1960's. Rioting may occur
in (hopefully) isolated areas, and people will stay barricaded in
their homes and apartments for days and weeks at a time. With 70% of
America's economy dependent on consumer spending, this is an ominous
possibility to say the least. If and when the dollar collapses – a
frightening possibility – all these things will be much worse (God
forbid). The Bible warns us that “a day is coming when no one will
be able to work”.We have been taking our privileged lives for
granted for too long. God is a patient and loving God who is slow to
anger but swift and sure regarding his punishment for those who
willfully disobey. When we take a look around us, we see our
neighborhoods, subdivisions, schools, churches, businesses, and
industries, and all the crumbling infrastructure associated with
them. Yet I am warning you all that even the tallest tower – which
here in Atlanta is just over 52 stories – will not be left standing
upon the arrival of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. It is
only then, when the arrival of Christ Jesus splits the Mount of
Olives in two, that every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess,
that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those who have been disregarding my
warnings are just about out of time.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
The News Media, Jesus and the Truth
Twenty-Four
Gross Injustices That The
Mainstream
Media Still Won't Discuss
by Pastor
Paul J. Bern
To view
this in any browser, click
here! :-)
During
the days of Nazi Germany from the early 1930's up to the mid-'40's,
there was a branch of the government called "The Ministry of
Propaganda" that dished out a torrent of profane distortions
about Jewish people, and later the outcome of the war itself. It was
headed by a guy named Joseph Goebbels, who committed suicide at the
end of the war rather than face capture, which would surely have been
followed by a death sentence at the Nuremberg Trials. Today in
America, we have a similar position within the White House staff that
we call the Press Secretary, who can be seen regularly on the evening
news. He serves the same function, and his/her job is to spoon-feed
the media the information du joir of the day. Everybody knows
that the media is told what to say and how to say it, and yet there a
few protests about it, giving me a feeling of dismay at times.
Today's message, in light of the recent events involving still more
police shootings of unarmed Americans, is my small contribution
towards demanding some truth from our news sources. No more US
Government propaganda please, uncle Sam, we have all had a belly-full
already!
For
decades, the mainstream media in the United States has been
accustomed to being able to tell the American people what to think
and how to think it. Unfortunately for them, a whole lot of Americans
are starting to break free from that paradigm and think for
themselves, and the reason can be summed up in two words –
information technology. A Gallup survey from 2014 found that over 60
percent of all Americans “have little or no trust” in the
mainstream media. That number now exceeds 80%. More people than ever
are realizing that the mainstream media is giving them a very
distorted version of the truth (“Truth? You can't handle the
truth!!”). But now thanks to the Internet, the “alternative
media” has exploded in popularity. People want to hear about the
things that the mainstream media doesn’t really want to talk about.
They want to hear news that is not filtered by corporate bosses and
government censors. They are hungry and thirsty for some real truth,
and they know that they are not getting it from the mainstream media.
If only they knew Jesus as I do! They wouldn't be hungry and thirsty
any more, because he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
(Matthew 5: 7) This is one of the primary reasons why people are
doing away with cable TV! It's not just the money saved when they
unsubscribe, it's the fact that everybody knows everything we are
watching is a load of B.S., and we're sick and tired of all the lies
and distortions!
We are
watching a media revolution happen, and many in the mainstream media
today are totally freaking out about it. In fact, some in the
mainstream media have even begun publishing articles that mock the
American people for not trusting them. For example, a recent CNN
article entitled “Still ‘Paranoid’ After All These Years”
portrayed Americans that don’t trust the media as paranoid
conspiracy theorists that have left rationality behind. Welcome to
21st-century America. Look around. Trust is hitting historic lows.
Less than 15% of Americans have a favorable view of the federal
government, a decline of 31% since 2002, according to the Pew Center
for People and the Press. Gallup has Congress’ approval rating down
in the low teens, after nearing single digits in 2013 and staying
there for over a year. And the news media aren’t much better off.
“Negative opinions about the performance of news organizations now
equal or surpass all-time highs on nine of 12 core measures the Pew
Research Center has been tracking since 1985,” a Pew report said
last summer. The article goes on to make it sound like it is very
irrational to not trust the media, but in this day and age that
mistrust has become mandatory! Blindly trusting someone else to do
our thinking for us is very dangerous and very dumb!
Anyone
that does not acknowledge that the mainstream media has an agenda is
either not being honest with themselves, or they are complicit with
the powers that control it. The mainstream media presents a view of
the world that is very favorable to their big corporate owners and
the big corporations that spend billions of dollars to advertise on
their networks. The mainstream media is the mouthpiece of the
establishment, and the world view being promoted on the big networks
is going to be consistent with the economic, financial, political and
social goals of the establishment. The mainstream media loves to talk
about things that fit with that agenda, and they don’t like to talk
about things that suggest that there is something wrong with that
agenda. And so here are 24 facts that the mainstream media really
doesn’t want to talk about – period, and in no particular order
of importance (because they're ALL important!):
#1)
The mainstream media doesn’t really want to talk about the fact
that gun sales are absolutely skyrocketing all over America. Is it
any wonder?
#2)
They also don’t really want to talk about the fact that disarming
the population has resulted in some of the most horrific massacres in
human history.
- 1911 – Turkey
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1915 – 1917 they murdered
1.5 million Armenians.
- 1929 – Russia
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1929 – 1953 they murdered 20
million Russians.
- 1935 – China
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1948 – 1952 they murdered 20
million Chinese.
- 1938 – Germany
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1939 – 1945 they murdered 16
million Jews.
- 1956 – Cambodia
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1975 – 1977 they murdered 1
million educated people.
- 1964 –
Guatemala disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1964 – 1981 they
murdered 100,000 Mayan Indians.
- 1970 – Uganda
disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1971 – 1979 they murdered
300,000 Christians.
#3)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that a bill allowing
for the “indefinite military detention of US citizens on American
soil” has already been passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into
law by president Obama. Never mind that it's completely
unconstitutional (see US Constitution, Bill of Rights, 4th
Amendment).
#4)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that volcanoes all
along the Pacific ocean's Ring of Fire are roaring to life. It seems
like a new eruption is being reported every few days now. In fact, a
red alert has been issued by the USGS for a massive volcano that sits
along the border between Chile and Argentina, as well as for the
super-volcano at Yellowstone National Park. An eruption there could
devastate much of North America, killing millions.
#5)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the use of
genetically engineered seeds has caused on explosion of new “super
weeds” that are incredibly difficult for farmers to kill.
#6)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that renowned trends
forecaster Gerald Celente has been predicting a “financial
disaster” somewhere between September 2017 to as late as May 2018,
but no later and more likely sooner.
#7)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that it is easier to
get into Harvard than it is to get a job as a flight attendant in
America today.
#8)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that nearly 400 TSA
employees have been fired for stealing from travelers since 2003. Our
tax dollars hard at work. Nice.
#9)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that giant
corporations such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft are funneling
gigantic amounts of money through offshore banking havens such as the
Cayman Islands in an effort to avoid taxes.
#10)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the U.S. dollar
is in real danger of losing its status as the primary reserve
currency of the world. It's no longer a question of if this might
occur, but when. China and Russia are buying up all the world's gold
and silver reserves. What does that tell you about their view of the
US dollar?
#11)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the mainstream
media always complains about what the president does or doesn't, when
in actuality they should be doing a much better job keeping track of
Washington lobbyists, Wall Street speculators, their bankers, and all
their filthy lucre.
#12)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that there are
government websites that give immigrants instructions about how to
come over to our country illegally and then apply for SNAP benefits
while formerly middle class American workers and their children
starve for lack of work. Yes, America has always been a nation of
immigrants, but never before at the expense of any of its citizens.
Something is very wrong here (BTW, I don't blame the immigrants. They
are economic refugees from the third world).
#13)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the U.S. economy
has lost millions of jobs to nations where it is legal to pay workers
slave labor wages. The mainstream media is totally married to the one
world economic agenda that their corporate owners make so much money
from, and so they say nothing as a steady stream of businesses and
jobs continue to leave America.
#14)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that hunger and
poverty are absolutely exploding in the United States at the same
time that they are telling us about the “economic recovery”.
#15)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that North Korea now
has a three-stage rocket with enough range to potentially hit the
western United States.
#16)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the United
States Postal Service is losing 25 million dollars a day and is on
the verge of financial collapse.
#17)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that our biggest oil
supplier in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, still kills people for
changing religions. They also continue to ignore the fact that all
but 2 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals.
#18)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that political
correctness has taken over America. The truth is that the media does
not see any problem with that at all.
#19)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that nearly half a
million employees of the federal government are making more than
$100,000 a year.
#20)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the birth rate
in the United States has fallen to an all-time low. The elite are
absolutely thrilled that fewer babies are being born. Fewer of us
means less competition for them.
#21)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that many major U.S.
cities are seeing violent crime totally spiral out of control.
#22)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that America's
election system is rigged from top to bottom.
#23)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that during the first
four years of the Obama administration, the U.S. national debt grew
by about as much as it did from the time that George Washington took
office to the time that George W. Bush took office.
#24)
They don’t really want to talk about the fact that the Federal
Reserve created the conditions for every financial crisis since our
country's inception, and their mismanagement of the economy has now
brought America to the verge of another horrible economic downturn.
Maybe the Federal Reserve should be nationalized so that printing and
coining money returns to the auspices of the US Treasury like our
Constitution specifies. All the US top-tier leadership needs to do is
return to the original Constitution. It's the perfect way to wipe out
the so-called national debt. Because America's so-called “national
debt” has been manufactured by the same entities who are its
lenders. Our “national debt” is fake news.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
The Religious Right Just Got a Bloody Nose From the Same Man They Helped Elect
The
'Spiritual, Not Religious' Gospel of Progressive
Christianity
Grows as More Become Disenchanted With Traditional Religion
by
Pastor Paul J. Bern
So-called
“experts” call them “unaffiliated,” as in a recent Pew poll,
or “nones” – or even just 'not very religious.' A 2013 poll by
the Public Religion Research Institute divided these groups further
into “unattached,” “atheists”, “agnostics,” and
“seculars.” One thing is for sure; this ever-growing cohort of
non-Church Americans made up, at 23 percent, the single largest
segment of Barack Obama’s “religious coalition” that helped him
win reelection in 2012 (compared to the 37 percent of white
evangelicals who supported Mitt Romney). As a result of this, the
unaffiliated clearly had their moment. Media analysis, however, did
not go very deep – there was a story that went beyond these names
and numbers.
I
first published
this website
after I began to understand who the current crop of unaffiliated
people are, what they believe in, and who or what inspires them. Yet
we have precious little historical understanding of this critical and
rapidly growing demographic. What are their roots? What religious,
cultural, economic, demographic, and political processes shaped their
sensibilities, habits, and makeup? In order to understand these
still-believing nonreligious/unaffiliated/agnostics etc., we need to
understand that much of the religious dynamism in the United States
happens outside the church walls. Moreover, this has been ongoing for
quite some time now. The “rise of the non-religious believers” is
but the latest phase in the long transformation of religion into what
we now commonly call “spirituality.” In my case and that of my
peers, it is Christianity and the strongly held belief in Jesus
Christ, not as a distant and mysterious god, but as the Son of God
who we can develop a relationship with on a personal level. So if you
want to get closer to God, just get one-on-one with Jesus. How do we
accomplish that? By asking Him into your hearts, to come and dwell
there forever. There is truly no other way to get to know him! By the
same token, spirituality can mean many things to many people. The
language of spirituality is used by traditional religious adherents
as well as the religiously unaffiliated. But only the “nonreligious”
have made it into a cliche: “spiritual but not religious.”
The
history of American spirituality reveals that our commonplace
understanding of spirituality — as the individual, experiential
dimension of human encounter with the sacred — arose from the clash
of American Protestantism with the forces of modern life back in the
nineteenth century. While religious conservatives fought to stem the
tide, giving rise to fundamentalism, religious Progressives like
myself have adapted their faith to the 21st century, often
by discarding orthodoxies (such as my strict Catholic upbringing) in
favor of maintaining one's mental health just as anyone would do for
a physical ailment, combined with or as a supplement to a personal
relationship with our risen Savior. It looks to me like the majority
of today’s nonreligious individuals – those who claim no religion
but still embrace some form of spirituality – are engaged in the
same task of renovating their faith for a new historical moment of
major awakening! I am convinced that this moment has in fact arrived
in the form of resistance to the Donald Trump presidency. Because
this has occurred, right-wing conservatism and the religious right
are being dealt a blow from which it will take them a long time to
recover, if ever. The Progressive Christians, as I have been calling
folks like us (not “liberal”!), will get the football the first
time something goes horribly wrong in the Trump White House (only
time will tell). It will be up to us to score when that happens, so
let's start planning now!
Today’s
unaffiliated and nonreligious, like the liberals of previous
generations, typically shun dogma and creed in favor of a faith that
is truthful, genuine, practical, psychologically attuned, ecumenical
and ethically oriented. Of course, Americans of all religious
varieties have allowed themselves to be deeply influenced by
consumerism, but media and markets are shaping the religious lives of
those without formal institutional or community ties. The religiously
unaffiliated might not attend services, but they “have” their
religion in many other ways: they watch religion on TV and listen to
it on the radio; find inspiration on the web; attend retreats,
seminars, workshops, and classes; buy candles and statues, bumper
stickers and yoga pants; take spiritually motivated trips; and,
perhaps most significantly, buy
and read books.
Books have been the most important conduit for spreading the
'spiritual but not religious' gospel.
This
dependency on the consumer marketplace, and especially books, has had
significant consequences for the religious lives of all Americans,
especially the unaffiliated. First, it has enhanced the tendencies
within American religion toward a therapeutic understanding of life
from a spiritual vantage point. The profit-oriented commercial
presses that came to dominate religious publishing naturally pursued
the largest market possible for their goods, and seized on the
nondenominational, nonsectarian, and psychologically modern forms of
faith advanced by the religious left as a common American Christian
vernacular. These trends have only accelerated from the 1920s to the
present, so that now the line between religion and self-help
sometimes disappears in the spirituality section of Amazon. Second,
spiritual consumerism has fostered books that allow some readers
entry into religious worlds to which they have not been previously
exposed. Since the invention of the printing press, the lines of
denomination and tradition have gradually mattered less and less.
This process has accelerated greatly with the relatively recent
invention of the Internet.
Progressive
Christianity's rise and liberal Protestantism’s organizational
decline has been accompanied by and is in part arguably the
consequence of the fact that the Republican party has recently won
the White House and Congress. The cultural victory that is the
anti-Trump backlash is happening now because more Americans have been
driven away by conservatism in light of a Trump presidency. In other
words, leftist religious values and sensibilities became more and
more normalized culturally speaking. The recent chapter 7 bankruptcy
of Family Christian Stores is only the latest example of the decline
of “Religion, Inc.” Even as religious affiliations continue to
decline, on-line churches combined with Christian but
nondenominational book sales and TV shows are continuing to
proliferate. In the process, Christianity is becoming as
interconnected as the rest of the world, which can only result in
more rapid growth. This is very encouraging news for people like me
who wish to spread the Gospel as widely and effectively as they can!
Sunday, February 19, 2017
If the Government Won't Work With the People, the People Will Start Working Against the Government!
Congress
and the President Had Better Learn to Work Together, or They Will
Face the Wrath of the People
by
Pastor Paul J. Bern
There
is a well-known quote from the Book of Romans in the New Testament
that says, “Everyone must submit themselves to the governing
authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling
against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring
judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do
right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear
of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend
you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be
afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.....”
(Romans 13, verses 1-4). These four verses of scripture are still
just as valid today, 20 centuries later. Unfortunately, these verses
can be and have been used grossly out of context in the past, with
Adolf Hitler being the most infamous example (Hitler
was a Catholic).
I
have known a few evangelical pastors and far more “Christian
conservatives” in my 61 years on this great planet Earth (or at
least what's left of it) who have similarly misused these verses.
They were all sure they were right and that every other person not of
their faith, or who dared to disagree, was going to burn in hell
forever. For decades these “Christians” have taught their racist,
homophobic, divisive and hate-based message that has driven away so
many millions of souls they should have been winning over to Christ!
Consequently, I have come to the conclusion that some of the
“religious” people that I'm writing about need to find something
else to do with their lives. Instead, maybe they could try selling
cars, especially since some TV evangelists have about the same level
of credibility. Or better yet, they could become truck drivers –
you know, see America and all that jazz. Just hit the road, Jack, and
don't you come back any more! Let the truly committed and dedicated
followers of Jesus do the works of faith and perseverance in
spreading the Gospel of Jesus, and may the pretenders have enough
sense to step aside so the productive people can work!
One
thing that has changed about those verses of scripture since they
were first written down is the advent of representative democracy.
Although I could argue that representative democracy, where a full
time elected official goes to Washington on our behalf, is in the
process of being replaced with direct voter participation democracy,
where the voters and the government will be directly connected on the
Web (congressional and senate representatives would be reduced to
part time employees), I will set that aside for now. Suffice it to
say that, thanks to the Bill of Rights, particularly the second,
fourth, fifth and eight amendments, Romans 13: 1-4 has become a 2-way
street! Although people should rightfully fear criminal prosecution
(“he does not bear the sword for nothing”), the US Constitution –
our supreme law of the land – is written in such a way that our
elected government is responsible to the people. Since our right to
“keep and bear arms” is spelled out in the Second Amendment, the
American people do not bear their 'swords' for nothing, either! As
Patrick Henry, one of the many heroes of the American Revolutionary
War, famously said, “The Constitution is not an instrument for
the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the
people to restrain the government.”
As
a result of all this, the conservative paradigm, where all of the
power – political, economic, executive, legislative and judicial –
is being concentrated in the hands of a few, is in the process of
being replaced by a more populist agenda, particularly with respect
to president Trump. The Internet is decentralizing everything.
Moreover, the American people are arming themselves to the teeth in
response to government bullying, including things like Standing Rock
South Dakota, the epidemic of police shootings of unarmed Black men,
the outsourcing of millions of American middle class jobs, the
poisoning of our food and water, and I could go on and on! Then there
is the ticking time bomb of inequality, with 99% of the wealth in the
hands of 1% of the world's population. They are in the process of
turning our country into one big minimum-wage sweatshop, and those
who comprise this top 1% of America's economic pie are seeking to end
the rule of the people here in the USA. When they are finished, they
will own all the property that is left in the US and we will all be
paupers. As a direct result of all these things and many more, people
are beginning to take a noticeably more Progressive (but not
necessarily “liberal”) stance on all of the above, and that
includes our religious faith (nonreligious people excluded).
Progressive Christianity means faith that is focused sharply on Jesus
Christ without all the added dogmas of religious denominations, minus
the spiritual pollution of conservative politics, and without
condemning any faith or group of people whether Christ-based or not.
Curiously
enough, the majority of those in the top 1% consider themselves
'Christian'. As such, they truly believe that those who have not been
“saved” like they are (or as they see themselves), are not as
enlightened as they are (LOL). Due to their own perceived
'superiority', they expect us to believe that we are incapable of
knowing what is best for ourselves, and that because of this we are
in need of supervision (a.k.a. centralized government). You should
also know they do not believe that even centuries-old Christian
communities (Catholics, Anglicans, Greek Orthodox, etc.) are “saved,”
only those who are Christian political conservatives. I've seen this
first hand, and it's not pretty.
You
might be thinking that a minority fundamentalist group of zealots
can’t really take over the direction of a country, right? Well,
just look at the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917, that's
exactly what the Communists did. They pulled it off with just a few
thousand soldiers and about as many mercenaries. In modern times,
look at Iran or the countless other places (until recently, Hugo
Chavez's Venezuela) where people have allowed this to happen. But
thanks to the Second Amendment, I do not believe that could happen in
America. Does anyone seriously think that all the US population is
really going to sit back and watch a few thousand people pulling off
an armed coup against the US government without wanting to jump up
and do something about it? I should think not! They have already
begun to attack all sources of accurate information. That's the
reason former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura fled the United States
and now resides in Mexico. Public radio and network TV were first,
then came cable TV, along with the museums and school textbooks. Just
listen to them argue against the scientific facts about the
environmental peril our planet is facing, just because it does not
fit in with their ideas. The 1% elitists represent a clear and
present danger to America and the world. The only way to stop them as
I see it is to find a way to cut off their money supply, and that
would involve a tax revolt of some kind or another. We had better do
something very soon!
If
I told you that the Amish in Pennsylvania were running for public
office in record numbers with the intention of outlawing electricity
and forcing others to act, dress and think like them, you would not
believe it. Well, that is exactly what is happening in America, only
it is not the Amish, it is the Christian fundamentalists and extreme
right-wingers. It is not outlawing electricity, it’s placing limits
on being a human with free will. Enjoying art and music, loving the
person of your choice, dancing – the things that fundamentalists
call “sins” – are a big part of what it means to be a human.
Instead of funding education, technology development, research into
advances in medicine and science, conversion to clean energy and a
new low-voltage, digital power grid, and the development of space
exploration, we are devoting all available revenues to war and
killing. Waging war and profligate military spending are the first
things that have to stop if we're going to improve life on this
planet of ours. After all, it's the only one we have, and thanks to
an emerging awakening people everywhere are figuring this out. As a
result, a lot of personal growth is currently taking place, and
that's always a good thing!
The
good news is that we are witnessing the beginning of a new era in
human existence. While we watch the demonstrations across the country
against the US election results, we continue to witness the civil war
in Syria, the human barrage of economic and wartime refugees in
Europe and North America, the accelerating concentration of wealth
into the hands of a few, and the growing exasperation and anger of
the American people, we are seeing a great truth – that people have
within them the natural desire to be free. It is so sad that as the
people of the world are fighting for freedom, we here in the United
States are going in the opposite direction. The far right, under the
control of Christian fundamentalists, is declaring an all-out war on
human progress. We must absolutely, positively fight back. After all,
the consequences of not acting are very serious. We are not just
fighting for ourselves. We are struggling to protect the future
generations of Americans who will suffer from these ruthless actions
of the far right. We are speaking out against the measures being
taken against those in our community who can least afford to be
marginalized. This system of enforced inequality is going to fall one
way or the other because it is unsustainable. As the late President
John F. Kennedy once said, “Those who make peaceful revolution
impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable”.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Of Bogus Prophets and the Truth
Wars,
Rumors of Wars, and the Truth
by
Pastor Paul J Bern
One
of the things I did on my own behalf five years ago as I was looking
for ways to cut my expenses was canceling my cable TV subscription.
My reasons were partly economic, partly practical, and partly because
of my Christian faith. I also had practical reasons. I was just
getting started with my writing and blogging, so I no longer had time
to watch TV. To me at least, there's really nothing much on there
worth watching, so why bother? Plus, the news and information
channels such as Fox, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel
and so many others are filled with misinformation at best, and
propaganda at worst. So, I started streaming videos off the Web,
mainly from You Tube, Mypeace.tv and a few others. I have
intentionally cut myself off from much of the world, just as it is
written: “Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world....”
[John chapter 18, verse 36]. It is also a fact mainly known to Jesus
followers that real Christians define intelligence differently than
anyone else, as it is written: “Do not deceive
yourselves. If any of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this
age, he should become a “fool” so he may become wise. For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.....”
[1st
Corinthians chapter 3, verses 18-19]. The apostle John, the
half-brother of Jesus Christ, also had a comment or two in this
regard when he wrote, “Do not love the world or anything
in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful
man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does –
comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its
desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives
forever.” [1st
John chapter 2, verses 15-17, NIV]
These
are the underlying reasons, my dear readers, why I have disconnected
from the world (I no longer own a radio for the same reasons). There
is one very noticeable difference between cable and network
television and what's being shown on the internet, besides the fact
that much of it is free. I can sum it up in one word – truth!!
The contrast between the news, information and even the entertainment
on the Web compared to commercial TV and the movies is pretty stark.
One of the most worrisome trends I'm seeing on the internet, however,
is those who go overboard in search of the truth to such an extent
that they damage their own credibility due to excess speculation
about humankind's future. The wild speculation about the timing of
World War Three and with regard to End Times Prophecy are the two
examples of what I mean by “worrisome trends”. Never mind all the
misinformation. Let me set a few things straight.
First,
and much to the discredit of organized religion, or “Christianity,
Inc”, I often wonder why some of the answers to these questions are
not being discussed in churches. All I hear in the majority of them
are false doctrines such as the “pre-tribulation
rapture” and the bizarre idea that Jesus wants us all to be
rich. I can hardly find a church these days that teaches the truth of
all these things except on the internet. The ugly truth is far worse
than what is currently being 'taught'. No wonder the church is not
mentioned in Revelation directly, just the tribulation saints (see
Rev. chapter 7, verses 9-14). The rest are being consumed in the
great apostasy that will hit a peak once the Antichrist governmental
system gets into full swing, and that will be happening in the near
future. Have any of you other Christians brought up these subjects in
church? I have and it does not go over well, but that doesn't matter
to me. Now is the time to speak out and expose false teaching on
these subjects. One prime example of what I mean can be found in
scripture in Revelation chapter 13, verses 1-5: “And I saw a
beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with
ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The
beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear
and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power
and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast
seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been
healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men
worshiped the dragon because he gave great authority to the beast,
and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast?
Who can make war against him?' The beast was given a mouth to utter
proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for
forty-two months.”
Don't
worry, I'm not going to confuse or confound anyone with any long,
drawn out explanations because none is necessary. “The Beast”
symbolizes an extremely powerful nation. “The Sea” is a biblical
metaphor for the sea of humanity. The “10 horns, 7 heads and 10
crowns” refers to a large international organization, most likely
the countries that are the primary or founding members of the United
Nations. “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like
those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.”
What modern countries use those animals as their national symbols?
Germany, Russia and Great Britain, in that order. The “fatal wound
that had been healed” is presumably Germany, who lost WW2 but has
since been rebuilt and revitalized. “The Dragon” is a synonym for
the devil, or Satan. And who is “The Beast”? What does it say?
“'Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”
This is a clear reference to the largest and by far most powerful
military force the world has ever known – the United States!
What
else could this be? “The beast” in the Book of Revelation is none
other than the United States military, the American Empire, the US
military-industrial-incarceration complex, or all of the above! I
mean, it does not take a seminary or a university graduate to figure
this stuff out!!
There
is much talk today about war being imminent. Granted, when it comes
to the Middle East, war could break out at any time, nobody knows for
sure. So you can forget about those who say they know the date of
Jesus' return, or that WW3 or a colossal economic crash is going to
occur on a certain day. They either don't know what they're talking
about, or they have ulterior motives for saying such things (like
selling books, for example). Let's not forget what Jesus taught: "No
one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels of heaven, or
the Son, but only the Father". (Matt. 24:36) But there are
several other quotes directly from our Savior that may offer a clue
about a certain time frame regarding Christ's return. Jesus also
said, "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the
night", and, “The Son of Man will come at an hour when
you do not expect Him". Moreover, when Jesus taught the
parable of the wedding feast (see Matthew 22, verses 1 to 14), the
groom arrived at midnight, and everyone had fallen asleep. When I
combine the above quotes, the message is clear. He will arrive in the
middle of the night to take his Bride home, and the world will have
fallen asleep because it's taking 2,000 years for this scenario to
play itself out so that all prophecy can be fulfilled. Problem is –
and this is where it gets interesting – if Christ comes in the
middle of the night in Jerusalem, when I add up the time zone changes
from Israel to the US, He would arrive here during afternoon rush
hour. Wouldn't that be something!
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