Nov 26, 2007
No Rest for the Wicked
When you live in a world that winks at sin, it seems like evil people only prosper from wicked deeds. Every so often, however, I encounter a story that reminds me that a high cost comes with sinful living.
Joe Francis is the creator and owner of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series, which is basically soft-core porn by another name. It usually involves a camera crew patrolling a party-heavy area frequented by young adults in search of attractive young women
who agree to expose their bodies for the camera.
A lot of these girls later regret their actions when they find their images on TV ads. They have no legal recourse, because exposing one's self in a public area is a criminal offense in all 50 states. GGW staff members claim they get every "flasher" to sign a model release. Of course, if the girls are underage, there is no legal protection for the video producer.
"Girls Gone Wild" was recently cited as an example of "sexualization" on USA Today's list of the "25 Trends that Changed America." Sexualization is when a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or sexual behavior, to the exclusion of his or her other characteristics.
Francis has become very wealthy, banking $29 million each year from his video empire.
The Smut King is not sitting on some yacht in the Caribbean counting his cash. He has been in jail since April, when he was cited for contempt after yelling at attorneys during mediation in a federal lawsuit brought by women who were underage when his
production company filmed them in 2003.
That lawsuit has since been settled, but Francis' bond was revoked on criminal charges related to the 2003 filming when he was charged with having contraband—$700 and prescription anti-anxiety medication—in the Bay County jail.
Federal officials then extradited him to Nevada to face tax evasion charges. He currently resides at the Washoe County Sheriff's Detention Facility in Reno. If convicted, he could spend up to 10 years behind bars.
To combat his growing legal problems, Francis has set up a public relations website called meetjoefrancis.com. He claims, "There is just too much misinformation out there about me, and I think it’s time to set the record straight."
This website is so self-serving, I had to laugh when reading some of his material. Its content seems like it was put together by a legal team. His "comment" page featured about 50 messages from the public. Every one I read viewed Francis as some type of a martyr. Here is an excerpt from a so-called "conservative Christian":
"Mr. Francis, I am a conservative Christian who is in your corner. America 's judicial system has failed you and rewarded those who should never have been rewarded. The fact that you can be held responsible for the fact that two girls lied and did only what they wanted to do for a contract cameraman is beyond reason. If a seventeen year old buys beer at Wal-Mart by fraudulent means, does that mean that the CEO of Wal-Mart should be arrested and charged with selling beer to minors? NO!"
For the sake of comparison, I found a celebrity news site that had a similar comment page on Joe Francis. In this case, the postings were overwhelmingly negative:
"Uh, Joe, not a good idea to throw fuel on a flame that's already burning you...study the definition of remorseful, penitent, contrite, regretful, repentant, chastened, penitent, or if you're too busy mouthing off, try looking up 'sorry' before you spew anything else."
“Rot in jail, Joe. The good ol' boys gotchya now and they don't like outsiders 'esploitin' their women.”
"I have a suggestion for a new video series - Boys Gone Wild starring you and your cellmate Bubba."
Here we have Francis wasting what little time he has in a 6-by-7-foot prison cell. If this man had better sense, he would realize that no amount of fame or fortune is worth sacrificing your eternal soul. Jesus said it best: "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:26).
-- Todd
End-Times D-Day
Diplomats of America and other nations are gathering in Annapolis, Maryland on the day this commentary is posted. I’ve termed Tuesday “D-Day.” But, I don’t mean for it to stand for "Diplomats' Day." In my view, Tuesday, November 27 is “Danger Day."
All are gathered to formulate a peace that they, ostensibly, hope will bring peace to the Middle East. I say "ostensibly," because the Arab states have time and time again proved that their Islamic-steeped governments want, in fact, Israel gone from the region. I see nothing new that would change the ultimate purposes of those Jew-hating governments.
A quick look at one news story wraps in microcosm and illuminates the dark treachery with which Arabs of the Middle East in general–and now aided and abetted by some of Israel’s appeasement-minded leaders--deal with Israelis.
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office informed the Palestinians that Israel would uproot Jews from a building in the oldest Jewish city as part of agreements to be announced at next week's U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Annapolis, senior Palestinian negotiators told WND. The building in question, purchased by Jews with the approval of the Israel Defense Forces, is situated at a strategic, elevated area that afford Jews in Hebron a lookout post to protect their vulnerable community from Palestinian attacks… (Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place, Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit, Posted: November 21, 2007, By Aaron Klein,WorldNetDaily.com).
The report says that the Israelis purchasing the property from the Arab owner documented and videotaped them handing the owner $700,000, and the owner counting the money. The Arab owner was arrested for an ordinance against selling property to Israelis by the Palestinian Authority (PA). The owner, upon being released, filed a claim with the Israeli Supreme Court stating the property had been stolen from him by the Israelis who say they purchased the building.
The Israeli government authorities then put the property in holding status while the dispute is being investigated by Israeli police.
It seems that even the Israeli government is against the Israeli citizens who purchased the property–and for troubling, ulterior purposes. The news piece reports further on the matter:
The Palestinian negotiators said they were told by Olmert's office that Beit Hashalom was on the top of Olmert's list of pending evacuations. Olmert's pledges were part of negotiations leading up to next week's Annapolis summit at which the Israeli prime minister is widely expected to outline a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, ultimately handing the strategic territory to the Palestinians... (Israel: Jews to be uprooted at Abraham's resting place, Planned evacuation part of deals for upcoming Annapolis summit, Posted: November 21, 2007, By Aaron Klein,WorldNetDaily.com).
The treachery that never ends is front and center while the world gathers at Annapolis to twist Israel’s arm behind its back. Syria’s leadership demands that Israel capitulate to its stipulations, or Israel can forget peace with Syria. A senior Arab diplomat said Friday the Arab League would demand that the US include a discussion on the future of the Golan Heights in the Annapolis peace conference, so as to enable Syria to participate.
It seems that the Israeli government –at least those who are in charge of Israel’s security—are oblivious to the danger of bending to world diplomatic pressures. That leadership apparently throws out the decades-long history of lies that promised peace by giving in to Arab demands. They forge ahead, as if their antagonistic, Islamic-guided partners in the process can be trusted without question.
The Israeli foreign minister leads the way into the diplomatic snare.
The Israeli stance that the Annapolis conference is the beginning of a diplomatic process for the establishment of two states for two people is now accepted by the entire world, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Ynet on Thursday, on the eve of her departure to the US-sponsored peace summit scheduled to take place in Maryland next week.
‘This was not a simple process, but as we approach the Annapolis conference, our perception that the conference is not aimed at ending the process has been
absorbed and is now accepted by everyone,’ Livni said (Entire world accepts Israel stance, says Livni, by Roni Sofer, Israel News, Ynetnews).
November 27, 2007 is D-Day for Israel, America, and for the whole world, with which Israel’s Foreign Minister Livni seems so gleefully in sync.
For Israel, any humanistic “peace” process is a no-win situation. These efforts will fail to produce lasting tranquility every time. One document of man-guaranteed security from a human diplomatic process is destined to bring that nation the most horrendous time of trouble in all of Israel’s millennia-long history. God’s prophetic Word says about the peace that will ultimately be accepted by Israel: “And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” (Isa. 28:18).
Danger exists in America’s forcing upon Israel a peace that requires that nation to relinquish its God-given land for the false peace promises of Israel’s hate-filled neighbors. This, in God’s view, is the equivalent of cursing His chosen people.
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:3).
While the world gathers on D-Day at Annapolis, MD for the summit that they hope will reshape matters involving war and peace in the Middle East, judgment clouds of these end times are boiling on the prophetic horizon.
God’s Word says about the world’s humanistic determination, which, like Nimrod’s determination on the plains of Shinar, is to cast aside any governance by a higher power than themselves: “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” (Psalms 2:2-5).
So, is it wrong for leaders to seek genuine peace for the Middle East, or for any other region of the planet, for that matter? No. But it is not only wrong to seek, but impossible to find, genuine, lasting peace apart from the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Earth’s diplomats leave Christ out of the equation while they seek solution to Mid-East and world conflict. That’s what makes Tuesday, November 27, 2007 an end times D-Day.
--Terry
