Fear

I have been considering the official denial that terrorism is linked to the Islamic religion.  There are four possibilities why our policy elites avoid linking Islam to terrorism: (1) they do not want to inflame the Muslims, (2) they don't want to stir up the public against Muslims, (3) their multicultural, political correctness has blinded them to the truth, (4) they want to help the Islamic cause.  There is a common thread of fear in all of these possible motivations that helps explains them.

It is obvious why our public officials would avoid linking terrorism to Islam because they fear Muslims.  Islamists are well known for their tradition of retribution.  Who wants to get their attention to risk some fatwa that would bring their jihad down on us?  So we need to tread lightly because we don't want to be a target of terrorism which has proven to be very effective against societies characterized by freedom.

Two different orders of fear explain why our ruling elite go to extraordinary lengths to avoid stirring up the public against Islam.  They fear what vigilantes could do which reveals what they think of the public, that we are just mind-numbed robots subject to manipulation by the media.  Well I guess this does apply to a huge segment of our society as proven by the media coverage and riots in Ferguson, Missouri.  The second order of fear from inciting the public against Islam is the reaction to this by the Muslims; if Islamists seek to kill us because of cartoons, how will they react to real persecution?

Political correctness is also motivated by fear.  The politically correct avoid saying things out of fear of offending some group.  In the case of Islam, offending them can make you a target of terrorism.  In our postmodern world, truth is relative to what our trusted authorities declare it to be.  A growing segment of our society just accepts the narrative of the media without question.  People not grounded in the ultimate Truth with a biblical worldview really have no choice but believe the media.   If you say a lie often enough, you begin to believe it.  Adolf Hitler promoted the "Big Lie" in his book "Mein Kampf" as an effective tactic of propaganda.

Then there is the idea that our public officials don't link Islam to terrorism because they secretly want to help the Islamic cause.  This may indeed explain the motivations of some ruling elite but why would they do that?  What possible benefit could come from helping the Islamists gain more power in the world?  This is so irrational that I can only conclude there must be spiritual forces at work inspiring this attitude.  Satan and his minions are able to influence the ruling elite who are not protected by the full armor of God (Ephesians 6).  The ungodly ruling elite fear offending their spiritual masters so they seek to please them by working to establish the totalitarian infrastructure the Antichrist will use to rule the world.  Islam will play a major role in the government of the Antichrist because it advocates totalitarian control over the public.

Fear is contagious. People are dealing with the fear by denying that the unprecedented trends leading to massive changes in the world are really happening.  Yet the feeling is undeniable and I see a general sense of foreboding even infecting those who name Jesus Christ as their Savior. No-doubt it is a strategy of the Evil One to cause the followers of Christ to be immobilized by fear. God's people have been silenced by the fear of offending people of the world. No one likes to be labeled as being racist, unscientific, homophobic, or hateful which are tactics being used to keep people inside the politically correct lines.

While we are entering "perilous times" per 2 Timothy 3:1, now is not a time to be fearful.  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Our faith in the truth of God will give us the courage we need to stand against the "wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). God is pleased when we speak out against evil and He will reward our efforts; "resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). God uses our courage in the face of evil to help people see that our faith is genuine.  Even people who don't know Jesus as their Savior know the truth about Him in their heart of hearts.  Seeing us demonstrate our faith by courageously shining the light of truth on the world will attract some of them to Jesus because the truth resonates even in people who are aligned against it.

Certainly we make ourselves a target of persecution when we stand up for the truth.  Jesus said that would be the case for those following Him in John 15:20. But He also promised to be with us and use our suffering in this world to our ultimate benefit (Romans 8:28). "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Indications are that we are not far from when Jesus will come for His Bride and bring an end to the Church Age.  The window of opportunity for God's people to stand up for Christ before we leave this world is about to close. The fear around us should give us a sense of urgency to help others embrace the Truth before it is too late.  As Jesus said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4).

Religion of Peace

By now everyone has heard of President Obama saying that Christianity is no better than Islam at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 4th.  I wasn't going to comment on this because there is nothing new here; everyone knows that our president is an apologist for Islam.  But since the president's historical revisionism is common among deists and other Bible skeptics I know, I feel compelled to make a post setting the record straight.

Our president said that the Islamic State was “a brutal vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism.” But he went on to say, “Lest we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

Our president is doing his best to advance the Leftist narrative that Christians were behind the slavery and racism of this country's history.  But the truth is, it was Christians who put their lives and reputations on the line to abolish slavery. Christians were motivated by Scripture to end slavery and helped runaway slaves get to safety. Martin Luther King's appeal at it's core was a Christian movement and Christians of all races were engaged in pressuring our government to pass the Civil Rights Act.

Scripture is very clear that racism should not characterize a true follower of Christ.  The apostles had to deal with racial conflict between the Jews and Gentiles in the early church but they learned God "made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). God revealed this to the church through Peter who said, "in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34 and 1 Peter 1:17).  Paul taught that since God didn’t make distinctions between the races, then neither should we (Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9, and Colossians 3:25).  If we are true followers of Christ, we will obey his command to, "make disciples of all the nations" regardless of race (Matthew 28:19). All races will be represented in heaven, "out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9).  Genesis 1:26 tells us that all people were created in the image of God. “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?” (Malachi 2:10).

Regarding the president's "high horse" in bringing up the Crusades, any research of the true history beyond the superficial would reveal that the Crusades were a response to Islamic Jihad spreading into Europe.  Historical revisionists like to paint the Crusades as expansionist imperialism but their purpose were actually intended to discourage Islamists from expanding into Europe and open Christian holy places again to pilgrimage.  Likewise, a serious unbiased investigation into the Inquisition would reveal that the Catholic Church had virtually nothing to do with it.  It was the secular authorities who burned the heretics seeing heresy as treason because royal authority was questioned.  These same secular authorities criticized the church for not taking a more active role in the Inquisition.

Of course humanists like President Obama don't really care much about history.  They are quick to dismiss history saying, "the winners get to write the history" which is just a rationalization to ignore history.  Since today's postmodern humanists believe that history is subject to interpretation, they set out to change the record of history by advancing a narrative that makes Christianity out to be a villain.  Such historical revisionism is in the spirit of Antichrist and this is growing in our day; The Antichrist will "intend to change times and law" (Daniel 7:25).

It is pretty clear to all who watch current events without a humanist bias that the terrorism going on in the world is due to Islam despite the media trying to put lipstick on the pig.  Since 9/11/2001, Muslims have made 41 attacks against non-Muslims in the U.S. causing 71 deaths and 326 injured. I am not aware of any Muslims being killed by Christians in this country.  Humanists will say this is evidence that Christianity is just more evolved than Islam, that we just need to be patient with them until they have their reformation.  But this only reveals the continuing ignorance of history that characterize humanists.  The Protestant Reformation wasn't about repenting of a violent past, it was about returning to biblical authority.  Christianity never had a history of pursuing conversions through violence as Islam practices.  Jesus said, "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16); the fruit of Islam is deception, death and destruction.

As radical humanists like President Obama are allowed to have more power in this world, there will be more historical revisionism to stir up the public to turn further from God and His children.  Since we are in the season of Christ's return per the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 24:32-35), we can expect the spirit of Antichrist to build culminating in the person of the Antichrist coming to power.  I thank God the Church will not be on earth when the Antichrist reigns.  If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, now is not a good time to be on the fence.

Coming Internet Tax

The Federal Communications Commission plans to impose new regulations on the Internet starting February 26th.  Ajit Pai, one of the Republican commissioners on the FCC went on the "Mark Levin Show" to alert the public to the massive power grab that these new regulations represent.  While the 332-pages of new regulations requested by President Obama will not be made public until February 26th, Ajit Pai gave an overview of what is included. 

The Federal Government will begin treating Internet service providers just like telephone service providers.  This means that everyone's Internet access cost will go up due to taxes.  This is expected to extract $11B of new taxes per year from the private sector.  Even more problematic is the micromanaging of Internet business that the government will impose.  A huge new bureaucracy will be required to deal with the new regulations which will especially challenge smaller businesses making it harder for them to stay in business.

George Orwell would be proud how well the ruling elite has embraced his fictional concept of "Newspeak" to deceive the public.  The term "Net Neutrality" is a classic case in point.  Everybody loves fairness and what could be more fair than neutrality?  But the devil is in the details and as we learn more about what the FCC has in mind for Net Neutrality, the more devilish it is.  Commissioner Pai said the new regulations mimic Obama Care in many respects, particularly in the secrecy associated with it's development.  He also said the new regulations are, "adopting a solution that won’t work to a problem that doesn’t exist using legal authority we don’t have."

Unlike Obama Care, these new FCC regulations are not coming through Congress, it is one more example of how rule-of-man is replacing rule-of-law as we near the Tribulation.  So we can expect more of this because, "the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us'” (Psalm 2:2).

Related to "Net Neutrality" is increased scrutiny of the Federal Election Commission on Internet activity.  The Obama administration doesn't like voices of opposition so they are calling for onerous new rules for Internet-based campaigning. Republican FEC Commissioner Lee E. Goodman said there are some Democrats on the panel demanding regulations to control people who write political blogs, chat rooms or news sites like "Drudge Report."  Even humorous Internet campaigns like "Obama Girl" and "Jib Jab" would face new regulations.

The closer we get to the Tribulation, the more obvious the prevailing spirit of Antichrist becomes.  The Bible says there will be a totalitarian world government in place when Jesus returns.  Regulating the free speech of the Internet is necessary for the control of the public that the Antichrist will need.  So this is just one more thing that shows the stage being set for the Tribulation. 

The only way to escape the coming tyranny of Revelation's Beast is to be a follower of Christ before the Church Age comes to it's dramatic conclusion.  I sincerely hope that all who read this yield their life to Him before it is too late.

Islamic State Terror

The Islamic State visionaries have ratcheted up the terror in their effort to get the world's attention on their quest to unite the world's true Muslims under their banner.  No longer content with the Islamic tradition of beheading their captives, they burned a Jordanian fighter pilot alive. 

Jordan may be one nation that will increase the resistance to the Islamic State.  But this will be futile because Western nations have effectively given up against the Islamic State saying that containment and suppression is a more realistic goal than elimination.  The success of the Islamic State is in the spirit of Antichrist and is a movement that will continue to grow; "they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?'" (Revelation 13:4).  As the terrible power of the Antichrist will grow during the Tribulation, so too will the political/religious movement that will embrace him.

I continue to be fascinated with people of the liberal persuasion I meet who stumble all over themselves to speak highly of Islam.  They do not make any connection between the fundamentalists who take the Koran literally and the more moderate Islamists who aren't violent but will cheer on the Jihadists from the sidelines nonetheless.  Yes, there are cultural Muslims who do want to live peaceful lives but they are coerced into supporting the more radical elements of their religion because that is what the term Islam means, submission.  

It is hard to see how the struggle to unite the world under Islam will end when Western leaders will not even acknowledge that it will take a religious war to resolve it.  Either they secretly agree with the vision of the Islamists or they fear them too much to get serious about opposing them.  And there is also a third possibility that they have been so blinded by their postmodern multicultural ideology that they just don't see Islam for the threat that it is to world peace.

It is becoming more and more apparent that President Obama is in the camp of those who secretly agree with the vision of the Islamists.  His drive to help Iran get a nuclear weapon reveals a lot.  His support of the Muslim Brotherhood is well documented, he goes out of his way to show the Islamic world that he identifies with them, and he takes every opportunity to say that Christianity is on par with Islam.  Given Obama's anti-colonial bias for social justice on a global scale, he probably sees the emergence of Islam as a way to counter-balance the domination of Western Civilization.  What better way to usher in a New World Order.  Obama is paving the way for the Antichrist whether he realizes it or not.

Whenever the words "New World Order" are invoked, many blank out thinking these are just the babblings of yet another conspiracy theorist.  Everyone knows that globalist conspiracy theories are something only wide-eyed kooks speak of.  I really don't know if secretive groups such as the Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, and Council on Foreign Relations are cabals of government elites conspiring to consolidate their power globally or not.  What I do know is that there is a spiritual conspiracy that is working to pave the way for the Antichrist's rise to power.   "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

The best way to win the spiritual warfare already breaking out in this world as physical warfare is to know Jesus Christ as your Savior.  The urgency to yield one's life to Him is increasing by the day.

Fear the Machines

Bill Gates is the latest technology guru to warn us about the danger artificial intelligence poses for humanity.   He joins entrepreneur Elon Musk and physicist Stephen Hawking in being concerned that AI is well on its way to being a threat to mankind.  This sounds like science fiction but it is uncanny the rate at which the sci-fi ideas people have envisioned have come to fruition. 

In this case, Bill Gates and the others fearing AI are right to be worried.  The Bible tells us of a day when machines will be used to enforce compliance with the coming world government: "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (Revelation 13:15, NKJV).  Since the Antichrist will not be omniscient as God, technology will be employed to take up the slack.  There will be many images of the beast used to make sure people are yielding to his will. 

In times past believers would just have to think the image of the beast needed demonic forces to work.  But in modern times, technology has advanced to the point where robots duplicate many human capabilities.  Automation has improved manufacturing but will be used by the Antichrist to facilitate his controlling people.  Today we have machine vision that can read people’s facial expressions, body language and gestures.  Artificial intelligence makes decisions without the need for human involvement. 

During the Tribulation to come, those who “rage against the machine” will be hunted down and killed as an enemy of society.  For all who fear the coming tyranny of the machines, the best way to do that is to escape the Tribulation by being a follower of Christ before this current Church Age comes to its dramatic end.