We Are Headed Towards the Ultimate Arrogance

There is no doubt in my mind that this current generation is the most arrogant in the history of our nation. It has become a virtue for people to openly express love for themselves. Thanks to tools like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, many individuals have made vanity a full-time occupation.

Arrogance is the reason why the liberal media has become so continuously focused on Trump. Every reporter thinks they can singlehandedly destroy the President of the United States with the power of their own words. It doesn’t matter that they are on a cable channel which only reaches 75,000 individuals. They believe they are so gifted in their verbal attacks on Trump, they assume the other 330 million citizens will soon see things their way.

Arrogance is why reporters are willing to share their spotlight with any oddball who has something negative to say about Trump. A favorite guest of CNN is porn star Stormy Daniels and her slimy lawyer Michael Avenatti. They have been on CNN nearly 80 times.

It would quickly become boring to have her come each time and say she had sex with the president, so they have to endlessly add to her résumé. Stormy Daniels went from one of the “president’s chief adversaries” to a “feminist icon,” and will now grace the pages of the fashion magazine bible – Vogue.

Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti is so full of himself; he said, “I will get to the truth and bring Trump to justice.” What truth is he talking about? He represents a client who likely got paid to have sex with some John, blackmailed him for money, and after getting paid to keep her mouth shut, she violated the legal agreement. Avenatti thinks this whole embarrassing matter should qualify him to run for president in 2020.

The people in the media don’t realize how stupid and gross it is to promote the Stormy Daniels matter because they are so blinded by arrogance. She is a porn star, which is degrading by itself. Daniels goes a level lower by starring in videos where she was degraded further by bondage sex scenes. Today, the press acts like she is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

It would be hugely dishonest of me if I didn’t include Trump in these examples of pride. We already know that he likes sleeping with porn stars and paying them off. Some kind of humble, honest attitude about this moral failing would be a great help, but Trump is incapable of showing humility. When Trump was asked last week to rate his presidency, he gave himself an A+. Trump views himself as a legal expert, so it’s not hard to understand why he never had a lawyer that he hasn’t fired at some point. He also said he shouldn’t be impeached because the market would crash.

On that last point, Robert Mueller would probably act to bring down Trump even if he knew it would trigger a financial meltdown. He wants to be the great special prosecutor who took down the great Donald J. Trump. If Mueller gets his way, it should be a given that the Democrats would dynamite the Lincoln Memorial and erect one in his honor.

The arrogance of the left has become so profound, the liberty of people on the right is at great risk. Liberals think their view of the world is the only one that should be allowed. Since they have a monopoly on truth, they see the promotion of political diversity as the sanctioned evil.

Brian Amerige, a senior Facebook engineer, wrote in an internal memo post about this general view. He said, “We are a political monoculture that’s intolerant of different views … we claim to welcome all perspectives, but are quick to attack — often in mobs — anyone who presents a view that appears to be in opposition to left-leaning ideology.” I’m guessing Brian Amerige’s days at Facebook are limited.

In Hollywood, you can lose your job if you praise anyone who is on the right. Ben Shapiro frequently talks about what happens to celebrities who make the mistake of agreeing with his views. One producer made the mistake of praising Shapiro in a tweet, and the next day he was forced to apologize for the error.

The left is becoming so radical, we are not that far from the ultimate expression of arrogance – the point where people think their ideology is so superior to yours that you don’t deserve to live. This form of egotism can easily translate all over the world; explaining the massive purge of tribulation believers.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matthew 24:9).

–Todd

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The Sodom Syndrome

Satan’s assault on America as originally constituted increases daily. Human participants in the attack declare for the most part that their rage is justified. America was flawed from its beginning and has gotten its superpower status on the backs of other nation-states whose treasures it has illegally taken in one way or another.

The United States was, they are taught, built on the backs of slaves; otherwise, it would never have achieved its heights of dominance.

This is the rant against capitalism–against everything and anyone who champions the individual’s right to make it on his or her own. The collective–i.e., government and its ever-growing largesse–is the route to Utopia, they declare. These believe in freedom, but only in the first four letters of the concept of the word. Free stuff, they think, makes for happiness and success.

The young are more and more embracing this definition of freedom. They are promised free college, guaranteed income–whether one has a job or not–and even complete freedom from financial responsibility within the technological activity they love most–social media. Polls show a growing number who would thus elect Santa Clause if they could. And there is a growing number of people within the camp of the political left who will be willing to offer themselves for such tax-and-spend positions.

Within this political/ideological equivalence of primordial soup gestates the Sodom Syndrome, if I may coin that term.

Satan is, in my estimation, using this insane offer of something for nothing–a free lunch–to throw in the proposition that freedom also means freedom to break from traditional American values. Further, it is incumbent on this progressive army of the young to break from all other norms held by previous generations. Their mentors–some in their seventies and eighties–are telling them they can be any gender and of any sexual persuasion they wish. Those rules are all inhibitors to true freedom and Utopian progress placed on humanity by founding fathers whose desire it was to enslave for their own selfish, racial, purposes.

The devil thus has unleashed the same infection he has employed in generations down through history. Greece, Rome–all fell to such promises and nudges into breaking with truth that God set in order for His creation called man.

Sodom and Gomorrah are prime examples of this insanity–the Sodom Syndrome–from which America is suffering, in my view of things that have developed as of late.

My thought processes were piqued while listening to a TV preacher the other day. Some who read this commentary, I’m sure, will have heard his message, thus will recognize to whom I refer.

He was talking about the current situation in America with regard to the satanic attack led by those who are attacking God’s view of righteousness. The preacher gave the story of how the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, beat on Lot’s door demanding that he send out the two men who were in his home. They wanted to “know” them, meaning, of course, to have sexual relations with them. They said if Lot didn’t send them out they would deal worse with him than with them.

The TV preacher likened this to things going on today in the volatile societal and political arena of American culture. He said that when any nation or empire becomes so full of iniquity that it is spilling over the edges, God’s judgment will fall. He–and I, incidentally–believe that cup of iniquity is indeed overflowing.

The minister brought out that the men of Sodom asked Lot the question: “Who are you that judges us?” The preacher then asked: “Have you ever heard that question?”

Of course, the answer is a thunderous Yes! This is the question those who embrace this ongoing assault on American  traditions and values–on godly rules for His creation called man–always throw back at those who look at things from a righteous perspective: “Who are you to judge me?”

The preacher said further that the men of Sodom threatened Lot–whom God called “righteous”–with extreme violence. Some of today’s movements within the “hate America and Christianity” crowds threaten and even carry out acts of violence. They will not abide righteousness, but want to do what is right in their own eyes. I’m convinced that many of these would kill those who oppose their self-willed ideology if they could do so.

This is yet another indicator that America’s cup of iniquity must be filled and overflowing in God’s holy view of things.

Finally, the TV preacher said that God told Abraham, Lot’s uncle, that He would spare the city of Sodom if God could find ten righteous people. He could not.

The television preacher’s contention is that the righteous living in America and the world constitute the reason He has thus far spared this generation. But, he said, the warnings of impending judgment might be about to make evident God’s acknowledgement that the cup of iniquity is overflowing.

God sometimes gives extremely dramatic forewarnings before His judgment is implemented. Could we be nearing the time when He will give such warning to America?

My own exhortation is that all believers pray like I believe we did leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The Lord answered those prayers with what most consider a miracle in election results.

Pray for God to intervene and continue to restrain the evil assaulting from every angle in our national life today.

We are experiencing what I term the Sodom Syndrome. The ultimate intervention might just be that which the Lord prophesied as recorded in Matthew 24:36-42 and Luke 17:26-30. I believe that intervention to be the Rapture of the Church.

It sure looks like we are in a time “as it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot.”

–Terry

Being Kind to Evil Only Produces More Evil

The world has become so hopelessly overrun with acts of evil, I wonder just how long we can keep descending down this path. I would be absolutely horrified if an angel from God appeared to me and said I had to endure another decade of this insanity.

I think a key reason why the world is being overrun with evil is that people think a kind-hearted approach will make things better. Liberal groups would have us following cheerful biblical advice like one given by Peter:

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9 NIV).

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is commonly known as “The Golden Rule.” Rather than doing to others what they have done to us or giving them what they may deserve, we are to treat them the way we want them to treat us. The Golden Rule does not involve letting the wicked do as they please. If we don’t resist evil people, they will naturally seek to destroy us.

Jay Austin and his partner Lauren Geoghegan had idealistic views that the world was a wonderful place filled with beautiful people. A year ago, they started a bicycling trip to ‘vindicate their belief in human kindness.’ They started their journey in Africa and it came to a tragic end in Tajikistan. On July 29, a carload of ISIS terrorists spotted them and promptly killed them and two other tourists from Europe.

Crime is growing out of control in many U.S. cities because our cops have been told to be kinder to the criminal elements of society. Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark recently welcomed a group of new recruits to the city’s police force. As he sent them out, he told them to use “lightness” in dealing with the public. “We need you to protect us, our community, our children and our families,” said Baraka. The mayor also warned the recruits that “people will talk to you and harass you and they will even jump on your car.”

A few days later several Newark police officers took Mayor Baraka’s advice to heart. They stayed in their squad car while 18-year-old Altahriq Aulston jumped on a total of five cars, doing over $5,000 in damage. When a video of the teen jumping on one of the cars went viral, two Newark police officers were suspended for their lack of action.

Everyone wonders how 50-60 people are now shot on an average weekend in the city of Chicago. President Trump, guns, the weather, and a code-of-silence are regularly blamed for the violence; but the media never asks about the people pulling the trigger. If they did, they would find Chicago is being overrun by evil people who have no regard for life.

The most shocking example of how evil is being allowed to run wild is in the nation of Sweden. The Muslims are only a tiny portion of the population, yet they are the root cause of a crime wave of rape and murder. A couple weeks ago, gangs of Muslim youth went on a rampage, mashing and setting dozens of cars on fire in a dozen cities. More than 100 cars were “burned or damaged” in and around Gothenburg, the second-largest city in Sweden. When a reporter asked a police spokesperson what they were going to do about the attack, she said they are not going to make any arrests. They are just going to talk to the parents.

The only real concern on the part of the press is how these attacks can be used by right-wing groups in the upcoming election. The Sweden Democrats have suggested freezing out asylum seekers and reducing the country’s immigration budget. The polls show the Sweden Democrats are still in third place because there is no alarm on the part of the public.

The most important reason why we need to be vigilant about evil is that we have an enemy that never rests. Satan takes great delight when nations underestimate his ability to cause corruption. Because most people don’t even realize how evil the world has already become, it should be clear to true believers that the end is very near.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

–Todd

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Perilous Times Traitors

The Apostle Paul’s “perilous times” prophecy is becoming more manifest by the hour. Perusal of the news at any given point in the news cycle during daily life should make that abundantly clear to spiritually attuned eyes and ears. We are living at the very end of this dispensation known as the Age of Grace or Church Age, if this is the case.

Perhaps a closer look at Paul’s foretelling in 2 Timothy juxtaposed against news unfolding around us presently will establish the point.

As the title of this commentary implies, we will look at a particular term found within that end-times prophecy. That term is “traitor.”

Paul begins the familiar prophecy: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1).

The apostle is inspired by God the Holy Spirit in this Scriptural verse to forewarn of a special period of time that is yet future. When the Lord forewarns us, the thing of which He forewarned about represents a danger “on steroids,” as we like to verbalize things that are expressed in the vernacular of our day. These times that Paul has been inspired to call “perilous” are well beyond the normal troubles we face during the course of moving throughout life.

When going through these “perilous times” indicators in 2 Timothy 3, we can, in my view, discern the souped-up nature intrinsic within each.

Paul says further: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:2).

I have written before about the first of these, “lovers of self.”

I still can think of no more profound example of this “perilous times” indicator than of the forum we call Facebook and of the photographic phenomenon of our time called the “selfie.”

Facebook, I realize, is popular–and, no doubt–used ubiquitously by those who read these commentaries. I realize, too, that many, including those in my family, interact within this forum to keep up with friends and to enjoy other communication-type activities. So, I might be on tenuous footing in bringing this up.

However, studies have shown and continue to show that in cases of far too many the forum is a less than beneficial interactive technology. It can create in some instances alternative realities that present psychological dangers. I maintain that, in some narcissistic instances, it can do great spiritual damage. People can become “lovers of their own selves” to the point of pushing God completely out of the picture. Facebook and selfies can become encapsulated, egocentric universes in which some people become their own gods. These, then, become tools the devil truly uses to bring about his purpose–to separate forever men, women, and children from their Creator.

In my opinion, forums such as Facebook and Twitter are presently being used to try to manipulate culture and society. Satan wants life transformed into an existence he considers more conducive to one day serve the new world order he intends to create–the platform upon which to build the coming Antichrist regime. America, of course, is prime testing grounds for this manipulation, and we are seeing this in our news each day. The young–earth’s future populace–are the most vulnerable, the most prone to fall victim to the dangers within these technological communications forums.

Paul’s perilous-times forewarnings thus frame perfectly, I think, the effects on today’s youth–the Millennials and younger. Again, Paul prophesied that people at the end of the age will be: “covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:2).

Any honest observation of what is going on in the world of social media will convinced the spiritually attuned observer that there is more there of an evil nature than of a godly nature. Hollywood–the entertainment media–inculcates the youth (and even those not so young) with ungodliness that reaches the souped-up sort of ungodliness of which Paul forewarns.

It is ungodliness with which the evil one–Lucifer the fallen–wants to infuse all of humanity. He is determined to permeate God’s creation called man with thinking and with actions that move us ever farther from the God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die and resurrect in order to redeem us.

Again, the spiritually attuned observer can discern this insidious work by the devil in our breaking news.

Paul wrote that in the last days, men would be: “traitors” (“having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”).

The characteristic “traitors” pervades our highest levels of government in America. While the current president is being assaulted with being called a traitor and with every other invective one can imagine, it is, in my observation, those accusing him of these things who are the traitors–traitors to him, personally, traitors to our nation as founded, traitors to the Lord of Heaven with their lies and accusations.

“False accusers” are streaming across our minute-by-minute news feeds. These accusations are particularly virulent within social media, which more and more is letting these vicious falsehoods proceed, while doing all within their power to ban opposing viewpoints. These believe themselves to have the moral high ground–a form of godliness that gives them the right to ban the speech of the ideologically unfit.

The perilous-times characteristics of “traitors” and “phony godliness” are prominent while we pass through our hourly increments of life on earth. They constitute a sure sign that we are approaching the moment when Christ will suddenly intervene in the wicked affairs of this world.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).

–Terry