Destructive Culture That I’ve Seen Firsthand

Nearly all of America’s problems are spiritual in nature. As we’ve drifted away from biblical values, the culture has degraded. I witnessed a demonstration of this process right here in my neighborhood.

About three years ago, a black couple moved into a house across the street and one up from me. The house consisted of two unmarried adults and two daughters under the age of 10.

Because I don’t leave my house very often, it was about three months before I met them. The mother was very quiet, and still, to this day, I’ve only spoken to her once. The man of the house, whom I’ll call Mark, was very outgoing, and I liked him very much. Mark had to clean up many problems left over from the previous tenants, who were absolute dirtbags that left the owner with $20,000 in damages.

If there was a wild dog running around the block, Mark would get it captured so it couldn’t bite someone. Drivers that raced down the street could expect a tongue-lashing from him. Terry fell off the back porch as he was walking to the exercise shed one day, and Mark jumped over a tall fence to help Terry get up and make sure he was physically ok.

He moved his brood to Benton, which is 95% white, to purposely avoid the problems of blacker communities. Mark had a close relationship with his family members, which is something greatly lacking in Black America. He would have them over for major holidays. He spoke of his mother, who owned some type of cleaning business.

About a year and a half ago, I asked Terry Jr. where Mark was because I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks. Terry Jr. told me that Mark was in the Saline County Jail awaiting trial. It turns out Mark was selling drugs, and he had an underage child in the car with him at the time he was busted.

Mark is about to be released from prison, but we won’t be able to ask him what went wrong. Now that he’s a felon, the owner refuses to let him live in the house. The mother is in the process of moving out of the property.

The odds are stacked against Mark being able to turn his life around. One study found that 58% of blacks were reincarcerated within 8 years of being released from prison. There are 1.1 million blacks behind bars because of a drug conviction.

Mark had all these good qualities, but he was taken down by a black culture that glorifies drug use. Dope-head Rapper stars are looked up to as heroes. The left constantly blames law enforcement for the drug problem. The ACLU once called the drug war the new Jim Crow. The liberal media will rarely point out that a mass shooting was drug related. I remember in my youth watching PSAs that blamed drug dealers for destroying people’s lives. Today, blaming drug dealers in the black community is viewed as racist talk.

Negative culture is a key reason the city of Detroit has remained an unfixable mess for 50 years. The city has a culture of political corruption, a culture that blames racism on the city founders, and a culture of dependency on the government that prevents a turnaround.

I recently watched a YouTube series on Nazi war criminals. The video gives a brief background of the person, details their horrendous crimes, and then ends with their execution. I remember one guy who murdered 20,000 with his own bare hands. As he was being led to the gallows, a priest held out a small white cross for him to kiss. He didn’t renounce his sin and ask for Jesus to forgive him; he kissed a cultural icon as if it would make any difference. The priest should have taken the day off rather than lending any credibility to a monster.

I don’t believe in fighting the culture war. We have so many cultures stacked on top of each other that it becomes hopeless to reach people. Christianity is viewed by many as a white man’s religion, that it’s for the rich, a tool of discrimination, and insults LGBTQ folks. The church has been on a prolonged losing stretch because we are always reacting to these people who dream up these new cultural norms.

What we need to do is return to the basic salvation message. Paul summed up his ministry as, “I preach Christ crucified.” This simple message works because once you become a true believer, your faith will come into conflict with the world’s sinful culture. Each day we have to decide if we are going to follow our risen Lord or the world.

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

–Todd

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Evil Men and Seducers Generation 

There’s perhaps no more profound indicator of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline than the most pervasive ingredient of the spirit of the age. Jesus pointed to this ingredient as a specific signal believers are to be aware of when all other signals of His return to earth are in view.

“And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:3-4).

Paul the apostle spoke of this same ingredient that would permeate the general timeframe of Christ’s return:

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

The spirit of this wicked age drips with the satanic venom of deception. It is the same venom injected into mankind in the Garden of Eden when the serpent seduced Eve, then caused Adam to believe the lie that he and Eve could be like God. Through today’s zeitgeist (spirit of the age) flows the same toxic, Luciferian evil.

Evil men and seducers, as anyone with the desire to know truth can attest, assault our eyes and ears every waking moment. Our culture is saturated with deceit at every level. The lies have become so blatant that they’ve numbed our senses as a generation in many cases.

For example, many can now be told—and believe, in some cases—that a man can become a woman, a girl can become a boy, men can become pregnant, and it’s no longer wrong for adults to engage in sexual acts with children. And there is less and less pushback to such monstrous upside-down thinking.

The deception infects the very souls of mankind with a lie like the one the serpent whispered to Eve: “Yea, hath God said?” Satan thus is, during this time so near the end of the age, blatantly, through the woke insanity of his human minions, telling all who will listen that God’s order of creation is all wrong. Mankind can be his own god. He—and she (if those are the pronouns they choose)—can be other than the gender in which they were born. God is wrong. People can do what is right in their own eyes.

We are lied to at every juncture by the government that was once said by Abraham Lincoln and the Constitution to be the government of, by, and for the people. In politics and through bureaucratic manipulations, the reprobate mindset of Romans 1:28 is observably in full bloom.

Proliferate spending has, in effect, bankrupted the US. Once elected to office, those who find themselves in charge of the tax dollars of the American people too often embrace the lobbying minions and their desire to increase their wealth and influence rather than tend to fiscal responsibility they owe the voters who put them in office. They, as is said, feather their own nests by selling their influence.

As a result, over the years, we’ve come to a national debt that can never be resolved.

And now it appears that the wicked leadership of the nation—and of the entire world that America’s dollar base influences—is intent on going to a digital form of currency in order to somehow reset the economic fiasco they’ve created through electronic manipulation. This, as some like this writer views it, is actually deception by the father of lies. Satan, through his reprobate though evil genius, is maneuvering his human governing minions to set the stage – by instituting electronic funds and the digital way of doing business – for the Antichrist system of buying and selling through the 666 numbers-and-marks model of Revelation 13:16-18.

Evil men and seducers are ramping up efforts to bring America down so the global order they want to build—the New World Order, as Pete Garcia’s and my book by the same name has it—can proceed.

The deception to get that process underway in earnest, I believe, can be understood through the so-called pandemic America and the world just endured. More and more, it all looks to be a great lie by that father of lies designed to bring about Satan’s coming man of sin and his regime of tyranny and the Tribulation.

My friend Daymond Duck touched recently on this deception.

Concerning deceit in the U.S. government and tracking everyone: on Feb. 28, 2023, in testimony before a House Select Subcommittee, Dr. Marty Makary, Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said, “The greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the (Covid) pandemic was the U.S. government.”

Makary cited a long list of government false statements, an authoritative study that refuted some of them, experts that refuted some of them, and the report noted that the release of Twitter Files verifies that the U.S. government deliberately tried to silence experts on many of the issues.

It is important to understand that the government that was perpetrating false information wants to keep records on every U.S. citizen and control their life. (“Rejoice! The End Is Near!” Daymond Duck, https://www.raptureready.com/2023/03/11/rejoice-by-daymond-duck/)

The great deception by evil men and seducers all point to things of monumental importance:

1) The seven-year Tribulation is on the very cusp of engulfing this world of rebels against the God of Heaven.

2) Jesus Christ, the King of all kings, is readying to return and throw down Satan’s false Christ and his wicked kingdom.

3) For we who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Rapture can (and, we believe, will) very soon take Christians out of harm’s way to be with the Lord forever.

Here, again, is how to be a part of that glorious moment.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

— Terry

Has Time Run Out on Stopping Iran’s Nuclear Program?

In late February, headlines appeared in most of the major news feeds that said Iran only needed to wait about 12 days before it would be able to make a nuclear bomb. Since that time has passed, the world can assume that Iran now has enough uranium 235 to build an atomic bomb.

US officials have repeatedly estimated Iran’s breakout time – how long it would take to acquire the fissile material for one bomb. Earlier last year, various reports said we had one year, it was moved up to two months when Iran reported it had purified uranium to 80%, and now Iran likely has uranium that is 95% or better purity.

Tehran continues to stockpile uranium enriched to up to 60% and install more advanced centrifuges, which enrich uranium more efficiently. The stockpiles of 60% uranium are particularly significant in assessing proliferation risk as material enriched to these levels can be much more quickly enriched to weapons grade.

While US officials say Iran has grown closer to producing fissile material, they do not believe it has mastered the technology to actually build a bomb. This is a foolish statement because making a bomb for a uranium device is very simple. A high school shop class could make one. You put two sub-critical masses of 235 uranium at both ends of a gun barrel, and you slam them together with a high explosive charge. The US military was so confident that the Little Boy model would work, they never bothered to test one before bombing Hiroshima.

When five nations came up with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal in 2015, at most, we could have bought us 10 more years before Iran would become a nuclear power. Because Iran cheated repeatedly on its nuclear production, doomsday has arrived two years early.

Trump pulled out of the JCPOA when it became clear that Iran was just playing cat-and-mouse games with the nuclear inspectors. He placed the country under painful sanctions to slow its nuclear progress. There are so many benefits of being in the nuclear club, no sanction was going to convince Iran to freeze its nuclear program.

Iran doesn’t need nuclear power to supply electricity to its growing population. It has a 100-year supply of oil and natural gas. The fact that uranium is being purified to bomb-grade level shows that peaceful power production cover story was a big fat lie. Building a nuclear power plant is several times more expensive than a fission-fuel electrical plant.

We can live with an Iran that only has a handful of nukes. If Iran continues to ramp up production, it will quickly have enough to threaten its neighbor. Saudi Arabia may start their own nuclear program to provide a counterbalance to Iran.

The only way to save the JCPOA is to have Iran lock up its nuclear weapons and never promise to use them. Once the next conflict comes along, Iran can pull the nukes out of storage and place them on the tips of missiles.

A nuclear Iran is a very big concern for Israel. Iran has regular rallies that call for Israel’s destruction. Iran now has missiles that can reach all parts of the Jewish state. Since Israel is tiny, it would only take a few atomic bombs to wipe it off the map.

Several Israeli prime ministers have promised that Iran will never be a nuclear power. I was looking for the day to come when Israeli jets would fly to Iran and heavily bomb their nuclear facilities. I hoped endlessly that Israel had some master plan in the works, but having reached this stage, it may just be the cold reality that there was never a way to take out centrifuges that are a thousand feet underground in a dozen locations. We must all pray for the protection of God’s people against a foe that seeks Israel’s demise.

Now that Iran has one projected nuclear weapon, it can quickly produce more. Once it has a dozen or more, we would rapidly lose the ability to degrade its nuclear capabilities. The Iranians could launch an atomic strike on any major oil platform in the Middle East, and the price of oil would spike over $300 per barrel.

In the late 90s, we had North Korea’s nuclear program under control. The nation had just suffered a horrible drought, so we arranged for them to get food and fuel in exchange for them to destroy their nuclear reactor. North Korea secretly built a new reactor and used our assistance to allow them the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Today, North Korea has about 60 atomic bombs, they are close to having hydrogen bombs, and they have missiles that can strike anywhere in the US.

If we knew how bad it was going to get during the tribulation, we would probably choose to launch nuclear missiles at rouge nations like Iran and North Korea. Terry wrote on this subject last week, and he had a glimmer of hope that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be able to do something. I think it’s simply too late. The making of a uranium fission bomb is based on 1940s technology. The only thing the Iranians lacked was the passage of time, and I am afraid time has now run out.

“Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?” (Job 21:7).

–Todd

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Nuclear Neurosis and Prophetic Prognosis

[Author’s note: I have been asked again by a number of our RR family to address the anxiety building in regard to fears of World War III and all-out nuclear cataclysm. I agree that it is more than worth a look in these days when there seems to be an unstoppable march toward war among the nuclear powers.

But there is Someone who can—and I believe will—stop that march, at least stop such a catastrophic conflict this side of the Rapture of God’s people. The fear of nuclear war is now again on the rise, according to email I’m getting. So I’m reposting the article originally posted May 2 of 2022. My thinking hasn’t changed as I pray on the matters involved and search the Scriptures.]

The diplomats of the world are making noise about Russia more and more looking like it will come to the nuclear option in finally defeating the Ukrainians. Thus, more and more people are becoming nervous that we are headed for World War III.

The worry—the threat—has always been that once a nuclear weapon has been used, things will escalate until all-out atomic war results. All the big nukes on all the tips of the ICBMs and other delivery systems will be unleashed. Planet Earth will be turned into a cinder–or at the very least, it will be made inhabitable.

Russian President/dictator Vladimir Putin, among wanting more control and power in his region of hegemony, wants to secure the wheat and other grains of Ukraine to add to Russia’s considerable grain possession. In this way, he will control the food of the world—at least to a considerable extent.

It is said that, even now, Putin and his top adjutants are hunkered in underground facilities for protection from the nuclear exchanges that are to come. Of course, a lot of things are said these days about a lot of things.

In fact, a lot has been said about a lot of things for a long time. We have heard that economic collapse is coming within days for—literally—years, even decades.

We have been told that the polar ice is melting at a rate that would bring the edges of New York Harbor to downtown Manhattan and up to the first or second floor of the Empire State building within anywhere from twenty to forty years. Actually, the levels in New York Harbor haven’t changed significantly since the warnings were issued.

All of that is not to say nuclear exchanges couldn’t happen. I believe, as do many who believe in God’s Word, that at least one city of the world is going to experience perhaps a nuclear strike. I’m referring, of course, to Damascus, Syria, which will become a heap of rubble within a very short time.

This doesn’t mean necessarily that it will be a nuclear weapon that does the destruction. It might be a meteorite, or even possibly one of the planet’s greatest earthquakes ever.

But Damascus is going to cease being a city, and in a very short moment of time. God’s prophetic Word has said so. It will happen, according to the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 17.

And God’s prophetic Word is the only reliable source to depend upon when it comes to future events. Everything else is just guesswork. The guesswork might be based upon strong evidence, but it’s still guesswork.

God’s prophetic utterances are 100 percent reliable. And it is for this reason that we can examine the nuclear neurosis going around these days under God’s stethoscope in order to get a 100 percent accurate prophetic prognosis about whether all-out nuclear conflict will occur in the days just ahead.

First, we look at a news item from a less-than-reliable source the majority of Americans still go to for news.

Vladimir Putin has been ignoring those in his inner circle who warn of economic ruin if his invasion of Ukraine continues, it has been claimed.

Kremlin officials are becoming “increasingly” worried Vladimir Putin could use limited nuclear weapons as part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officials at high levels of government spoke to Bloomberg, claiming they believed the invasion was a “catastrophic” mistake which will set Russia back years.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Kremlin sources said there is no sign Putin will change his mind and faces no direct challenge within the walls of the Kremlin.

He has also repeatedly ignored those who have attempted to warn him of the crushing effects his war could have on Russia’s economic and political future, destroying two decades of growth…

Some said they share fears voiced by the US that Putin will turn to a limited nuclear war, in which two nuclear superpowers engage in a direct confrontation which does not end in either a surrender or massive destruction.

However, US officials have clarified there is “no practical evidence” nuclear weapons will be used imminently.

The CIA said Putin could turn to using a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon out of “potential desperation” to claim a small victory. (“Putin officials ‘increasingly worried’ he could unleash limited nuclear weapon,” News Yahoo.com UK)

The gist of the news story, in my view, has a specific purpose: to ramp up fear of a nuclear conflict to divert the attention of voters from other issues of political importance to the globalist power brokers. But that is a story for another time. The thing to look at here is that God is completely in control—not the power brokers who can and will eventually (during the Tribulation) unleash war… of the nuclear sort.

So, looking at the matter of the nuclear neurosis through the heavenly stethoscope, we come to Jesus’ words I’ve brought to our attention many times. They speak directly to our day. Jesus’ words do not equivocate on the condition of the world when He will next make His presence known to all on the earth. It will be the Rapture that will occur in times exactly like they were in the time of Lot in Sodom.

There is no indication whatsoever, prior to the catastrophic intervention by Christ, of nuclear war that devastates the planet.

“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30).

 

— Terry