It's time

 

In 1933, the world saw a man rise to power...power that he held onto until 1944. When the Allied Troops liberated the extermination camps, the photos and film footage that came from those liberations made a definite, gut-wrenching impression on those here in the United States. We swore then, that such a thing would never happen again. Then there was Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, Afghanistan...then 9/11, when we were attacked on American soil. The outcry was enormous...NEVER AGAIN! One problem, though.

If you are familiar at all with Nikita Kruschchev, you know he said that Russia would never have to raise a weapon to defeat America, that we will destroy our Country from within.

“We will take America without firing a shot ... we will bury you!

“We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have communism.

“We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.”

Folks, what we are seeing is a slow relinquishing of our rights, our freedoms. We have become desensitized to the machinations of politicians who are looking to strip the American People of every right they have been afforded, the right to privacy, the right to freedom of speech, religion...the right to raise our children as we see fit, and not how the government believes we should. The right to agree to disagree, the right to speedy trials, the right to bear arms. This is not a recent thing, this has been a slow process.

Think about the story of the frog and the pot. A frog is placed/hops (different versions here) into a pot, and enjoys the pleasantness of the water. However, there is someone who is slowly, very slowly, turning the heat up until it gets to the point of a rolling boil, and yet, our friend the frog never leaves the pot. Why? Because the heat was turned up bit by bit, so that the frog never detected the change in temperature.

We are that frog. Just look at the advent of the television. In the beginning it was innocuous, innocent, but slowly things were introduced that pushed the envelope until we have come to the present where we can watch anything on our televisions, at the click of a remote. Some are "kid friendly", which, btw, I'm not sure there's much of that anymore, some are not. Once you never heard a swear word from anyone on the television, now it's common place. That heat has been turned up slowly, desensitizing us until we don't think about it. Oh, there are those who will, and have, turned off the boob-tube or eradicated it completely from their homes, but then there's the internet, our phones...other ways to turn up the heat. 

Now, we have a pandemic. I am not downplaying the seriousness of this virus, it does have it's fatalities, and I won't get into the discussion of whether it's real or not. But. I will discuss the mask issue. Part of me believes it supplies at least a small amount of protection, but I will say that to have it as a fashion accessory, I'll pass. The other part of me is looking at the numbers. A 99% survival rate...that's kind of hard to dispute, number one, number two, it makes me believe to my core that we're being played. I'm not sure exactly where I stand. I will comply with mandates, and I will accept that a business owner has the right (there's that word again...) to say wear one in my establishment, because we are to be abiders of the law (human), unless it supersedes God's laws (moral). It is a dilemma for me, as I'm sure it is for others. However, that said, who is to say that the "crisis", while it is indeed a real and dangerous virus, isn't played by those in power to see just how high they can turn up the heat on the people without them noticing and rebelling.

Which brings me to this month, and the next three. We are being bombarded by political ads, on radio, television, on our social media, our internet, and yes, even our phones. And they are incredibly divisive ads as well. One side says, look what we've done, the progress we have made, all while blowing up social media and using the bully platform...the other side is bent on "dethroning" the other, using mudslinging as well as the current crisis, and the many wildfires as their platform. Danger has evolved from this political volley, showing themselves and their true colors, not bothering to disguise anything, nor their vehement hatred of values. The value of the family. The value of morality. The value of human life. The value of hard work, of fighting for what is right. Not what one sees is right in their own eyes, because we know there are moral laws, rather, the ones that are written in our hearts, the ones that tell us that certain things are not right. 

The Bible talks about this time. Second Timothy 3 tells us what is happening, and it was written well over two thousand years ago.

The Dangers of the Last Days

3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

6 They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. 7 (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) 8 These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. 9 But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres. (2 Tim 3:1-9 NLT)

Pretty much describes what we're seeing, huh? 

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of it all. I'm tired of the positioning, the rhetoric. I'm tired of people wanting to control what I watch, hear, eat, how I raise my children, whether I can go to church, what I need to believe. I'm tired of people telling me that what they are saying is gospel truth, and yet if I have a dissenting opinion, I am evil, racist, xenophobic, or whatever the word of the day happens to be, and could very well be in danger of losing my life because of that opinion. When did we go from the Land of the Free, to the land of if you don't agree with me then you're evil? I will tell you, the book 1984 moves closer and closer to the reality of who we are becoming as a Nation, and the Bible told us so way before Orwell did.

Personally, I believe with every ounce of my being that we, as a Nation, have failed the task God has given to us. He gave us this Country, which has every climate contained within it's shores. From the deserts, to the tundras, the prairies, the wetlands, the tropics, to the deciduous forests, God saw fit to put them all here for us to enjoy. He instilled in us a moral compass, which some seem, especially lately, to completely ignore. When our forefathers established this Nation, they did so based on the principles in the Bible, as evidenced by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, even their own writings. 

We, as Christians, have failed in our simplest of duties, to pray without ceasing. To keep God central in our lives, and to spread the message of the Gospel of Christ to the world. Some have done that, sure, but there is a gap, if you will, between those who are actively doing, and the ones who are pew sitters. These (the pew sitters) go to church on Sunday, dressed in their finest, and are as polite as can be. When they walk out the doors, it's business as usual until the next time they're there, whether it be Wednesday night Bible study, or Sundays, where they occupy their regular place in the congregation. 

They go home and watch sports, engage in family or community events, turn on the television, play video games or surf the internet. God was left in the building, in the box they've put Him in, to be taken out the next time they darken the door. 

There is no spreading of the Gospel...the homeless man on the street holding the sign, he doesn't see the love of Christ, just a rolled up window, the music turned up, or the visor moved to the side so that he is not seen. The young mother who has a baby on her hip, one in the shopping cart and a debit card that has been denied, searching her purse or bag to come up with the amount needed to get diapers, formula, milk and other staples to feed her children, as others turn away, some mumble under their breath about how she should not have kids if she can't feed them. Aging parents being neglected, abused, or abandoned in homes, rarely, if ever, seen or spoken to again. 

We have been conditioned to do that by the people who are our leaders in the community, in government, and sadly, even our pulpits. Not only that, the selfish desire of a people so rich, both in wealth and opportunity, who only see what benefits them, what's in it for them, if it feels good, do it. It's a sad world we live in, I'll tell you. We make judgement calls when we don't know the reason or story behind it. We don't even offer our help, much less our prayers, to those in need. It's not about color, nationality, social status...people, it's about who we are and who we are supposed to be. We are to be speaking and living out the Gospel of Christ...loving the unlovable, helping those in need, showing them who Christ is through our words and actions, and above all, we are to keep ourselves unspotted by this world, having faith in the One who gave His life so that no one should be lost to the son of perdition, and living out our faith, boldly and unashamedly. 

Sorry, got on the soap box there.

Seriously, folks, if we don't start getting on our knees and asking God to forgive this people and heal our land, then we're doomed to be like that frog, slowly boiled to death by those seeking to destroy not only this great land we live in, but the freedom that our men and women who throughout the years have fought to defend. Who will seek out those who are not like minded, and destroy any vestiges of morality, and good they can find.

It's time, ladies and gentlemen, to get serious about God. To get serious about repenting of not only our own sins, but those of this Country. To get our heads out of the sand, and take a stand. To get serious about taking our places, about exercising the rights we have as Americans...and one of those is the right to vote. Use that privilege to have your voice heard, because when enough of us lift our voices and say enough is enough, then it will no longer be the whisper it has been for so long...it will be a roar.