Halloween is coming, a holiday that is impossible to ignore when you work in a public elementary school among the youngest of students, as I do. I have an abounding abhorrence to Halloween.
As a child, my particular dislikes involved costumes, makeup, mascots, noise, and chaos; so being among ALL of that was a trial for me. I also didn’t like approaching homes and talking to people. So, ditto. But I loved candy and running around outside with friends. Being allowed out after dark was thrilling too.
As a Christian adult, promoting a night of evil and buying into satan’s lies perplexes me. Some churches forgo the evening entirely and do nothing regarding a “Fall Festival” or “Harvest Fest,” while others change the name of their event from Halloween to ‘Hallelujah Fest’ and invite the community in for hot dogs and games as a Gospel outreach. I’ve wrestled with both sides of the argument: I hate satan…I love outreach.
However, since it is a question of Christian liberty, I try to do all as unto the Lord and not cause anyone to stumble, so I remain silent about my decisions and simply helped where I could and then bowed out where my conscience came in. Make your decisions thoughtfully and prayerfully, and remember not to become prideful about whatever you decide.
Here are a few balanced essays discussing the question of Christians celebrating Halloween.
Speaking of evil spirits, here is a terrific essay on demonology from Answers in Genesis. In American culture we are so sanitized, so scientific, such a high-falutin’ advanced First World country that even Christians find mention of demons or evil spirits distasteful. The subtle or not-so-subtle undercurrent to such discussions even in church is “Haven’t we gone beyond that?” Well, no. And certainly satan has not, either.
The opposite problem holds true as well. Churches, especially ones that are starting to absorb Charismatic doctrines, tend to attribute every negative thing to satan, as if he was hiding behind every tree and was the evil force behind everything from spilling your coffee to the paper cut on your finger. When the fact is, our own flesh is usually the cause of of our sins. Our flesh is always with us and our lusts are more normally the cause of sinning than demons are.
Here is a biblical view of satan in an excellent article by noted scholar C. Fred Dickason. Professor Dickason served on the faculty of the Moody Bible Institute for thirty-four years and is known as a biblical expert on angelology and demonology. It is hard to find a balanced and not nutty article on demonology! He presents the truth of satan’s influence, extent, and limits, while focusing on the grace of God and the hope we have in Jesus. I recommend the article.
Demons on a leash at Answers in Genesis by C. Fred Dickason Demons are alive and active today, but we can rest in the reality of our Father’s gracious and powerful control.
He examines the following topics in the article:
Biblical Perspective on Satan’s Role Demons Through the Ages Demonic Activity in the World Demonic Opposition to Believers The Time of Satan’s Fall (and refuting the popular ‘Gap Theory’) God’s Provision in Our Battle God’s Sovereign Control Our Authority in the Battle
As Halloween approaches evil is increasingly on the mind of the pagans and even the Christians. Our eyes are assaulted by movie posters lauding the latest graphic depiction of the underworld. Our eyes avert from the neighbor’s brutal yard artdepicting scenes of evil, all in “celebration” of Halloween.
Our sensibilities may be assaulted by seeing yet another child absorbed into dallying with the occult, or simply enduring the abounding sin that Halloween seems to loose. Yet we take heart. Jesus has overcome the world.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33). And the evil within it.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
He made a spectacle of those unholy angels AKA demons in His triumph of the cross!
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:15)
EPrata photo. Not a photo of our office, but another local building who put up an enormous flag
I was in my newspaper office. Tuesday is a big paper day, we go to print Wednesday morning. I rented the office from my friend who lived a big farmhouse, and she called me from her living room. I thought it was unusual that she phoned, being just a few feet away from me in the same building. But her voice evaporated all other thoughts. She said quietly but with fervor, “COME HERE NOW”.
The first plane had just hit the twin tower in NY. We watched with eyes open, breathing shallowly, standing with arms numbly at our sides…until the second plane hit at 9:03. Our eyes locked together, and we knew without saying a word that this was an attack. We also knew that nothing would ever be the same. We watched until another plane hit the Pentagon 34 minutes later. It felt like the world was coming to an end. It really did. We thought the world was ending. A knot was in my stomach and coherent thoughts refused to form in my head. We got our purses and the first thing we did was walk across the street to the hardware store and we bought the biggest flag they had. We went back to the office and put it up. Then we went to the bank to get money. Cash was going to be important if the electricity went out or we were ordered to evacuate. We didn’t know what was coming next and we wanted to be prepared. It could have been a nuke coming next, for all we knew. At the bank, they had the TV on in the break room with the door open and the volume up so customers could hear what was going on. A fourth plane had just gone down in PA. We saw the smoking crater. We knew that plane was part of whatever was happening.
We resolved that our freedom was under attack. Running a newspaper which reported the news and offered a platform for the people to speak their thoughts on any political or civic matter freely, we decided our most patriotic thing we could do to support the Constitution that day was to get the paper out. The terrorists were not going to stop the presses. They were not going to stop freedom from ringing out. And that is what we did.
Churches were full that Sunday, though a bit less full the following Sunday. By about four slim weeks, churches were back to their spotty attendance. Why is this? Why do people fly planes into buildings and kill others? Why is there murder? Why is there war? Why are there conflicts at every level? Because man is inherently wicked. Our hearts are evil above all things, who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Because man is basically evil. If we didn’t have laws and limits we would be killing each other at every moment.
Jesus is the hope we have to become good. Not on our own merits. We do not become good through our own efforts. No, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.” It is not a popular thing to say, that we are not good, but we are not. [Click on the link for John MacArthur’s sermon the Sunday after 9/11/01 as he takes us through a biblical understanding of death, terrorism, and the Middle East]
I thank Jesus that He poured out His life so that we may live…and become righteous. “It is because of him [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Even at that, our fleshly lives on earth are a struggle, a struggle against sin and growth in righteousness. I long for the day when flesh shall be glorified and sin shall be banished.
So people are evil, and we struggle against our nature. We want what we want and we sometimes terrorize or go to war to get it. Such will be the way, until the end. The end that comes before the beginning!
In the meantime, as we watch the death throes of this old world (which means the birth of the Glorious World!)…we mourn but also we love our nation America.
The song you are about to listen to is from a Las Vegas Diamond Rio concert. They received an immediate resounding standing ovation, and continue to do so every time they perform it!
Here in America, In God We STILL Trust:
On the day of 9/11 there were people trapped above the strike zones who thought it would be preferable to hurl themselves out the shattered windows of the twin towers rather than burn to death. One photo in particular caught the world’s attention. It is called “Falling Man” and it seems that his graceful swan dive plummet was poignant in the extreme. Here is the back-story of that photo.
Five months after 9/11 the Superbowl came along, just as it always does. The Superbowl is noted for artful, funny, or avante garde commercial debuts, due to the high viewership of the game. Budweiser showed a commercial called “Respect” and showed it only once, then until now. Thanks to Youtube, the ad has resurfaced. It is sure to bring a tear to your eye. We remember American greatness, American products, American ways.
Jesus will return in glory with His glorified saints. He will institute new nations and new cities populated by sinless resurrected chosen ones. There will be no more war because our hearts will be made right with Him. There will be no more terror because we will want nothing, having been given it all by our Savior. If you bow low to the Savior, He will lift you up high. Please do it soon.
I don’t often talk about personal experiences on this blog, because frankly, I don’t think most people are interested in me, lol. We are all more interested in Jesus, and His soon return.
I was thinking today about a few times in my life when I felt fearfully spooky for no reason. These occurred before I was saved. However, all my life I could feel the emotional and spiritual temperature of a room. When I got saved by His grace, the Holy Spirit delivered to me the Gift of Discerning of spirits, also known as the distinguishing of spirits (1 Cor 12:10). So now I can use that ability He planted in me from birth to His glory as a child of God
Discerning of Spirits is discussed by Alexandra Clair on her blog. Her definitions of terms in my opinion are scripturally apt and well-written to boot. So what is discerning of spirits?
Potpourri: 1. a mixture of dried petals and spices placed in a bowl or small sack to perfume clothing or a room. 2. a mixture of things, especially a musical or literary medley.
Remember the category “potpourri” on the long-running game show Jeopardy? I always liked that show, though I enjoyed host Art Fleming who MC’d the show from 1964 to 1975, more than Alex Trebek, who started in 1984 and is still hosting 31 years later!
Here is a mixture of items for you, potpourri-style!
Halloween is coming, a holiday that is impossible to ignore when you work in a public elementary school among the youngest of students, as I do. I have an abounding abhorrence to anything related to Halloween.
As a child with Aspergers my particular dislikes involved costumes, makeup, mascots, noise and chaos, so being among ALL of that was a trial for me. I also didn’t like approaching homes and talking to people. So, ditto. But I loved candy, running around outside with friends, and being allowed out after dark was thrilling too.
As a Christian adult, promoting a night of evil and buying into satan’s lies galls me too. Some churches forgo the evening entirely and do nothing regarding a “Fall Festival” or “Harvest Fest” while others change the name of their event from Halloween to ‘Hallelujah Fest’ and invite the community in for hot dogs and games as a Gospel outreach. I’ve wrestled with both sides of the argument: I hate satan…I love outreach. I eventually decided that I want nothing to do with the holiday, not even if it has been re-constituted into a more innocent guise like a ‘Trunk-Or-Treat’. However since it is a question of Christian liberty, I tried to do all as unto the Lord and not cause anyone to stumble, so I remained silent about my decisions and simply helped where I could and then bowed out where my conscience came in. Make your decisions thoughtfully and prayerfully, and remember not to become prideful about whatever you decide.
Here are a few balanced essays discussing the question of Christians celebrating Halloween.
Speaking of evil spirits, here is a terrific essay on demonology from Answers in Genesis. In American culture we are so sanitized, so scientific, such a high-falutin’ advanced First World country that even Christians find mention of demons or evil spirits distasteful. The subtle or not-so-subtle undercurrent to such discussions even in church is “haven’t we gone beyond that?” Well, no. And certainly satan has not, either.
The opposite problem holds true as well. Churches, especially ones that are starting to absorb Charismatic doctrines, tend to attribute every negative thing to satan, as if he was hiding behind every tree and was the evil force behind everything from spilling your coffee to the paper cut on your finger. Here is a biblical view of satan in an excellent article by noted scholar C. Fred Dickason. Professor Dickason is known as a biblical expert on angelology and demonology. He presents the truth of satan’s influence, extent, and limits, while focusing on the grace of God and the hope we have in Jesus. I recommend the article.
Demons on a leash Demons are alive and active today, but we can rest in the reality of our Father’s gracious and powerful control.
He examines the following topics in the article:
Biblical Perspective on Satan’s Role Demons Through the Ages Demonic Activity in the World Demonic Opposition to Believers The Time of Satan’s Fall (and refuting the popular ‘Gap Theory’) God’s Provision in Our Battle God’s Sovereign Control Our Authority in the Battle
Some artists have done an interesting job depicting biblical evil. As a blogger, I am aware that the world is not just words, but desires or needs visual images to accompany and enhance the written works. Yet whenever I write about anything from the dark side of biblical concepts, it’s always a struggle to find appropriate, biblical, measured, and interesting art to go along with the writing.
William Blake was not only a poet but a master artist. He was proficient in engraving, where he served an apprenticeship, and also watercolor and oils. Blake sought to emulate the example of artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Dürer in producing timeless, “Gothic” art, infused with Christian spirituality and created with poetic genius. I do not believe William Blake adhered to orthodox Christianity, but his interest and focus over time allowed him to produce some interesting works. Blake’s patron Thomas Butts commissioned from Blake a series of illustrations to the Bible that included about fifty tempera paintings and more than eighty watercolors. These focus on Old Testament prefigurations of Christ, the life of Christ, and apocalyptic subjects from the Book of Revelation. (Source, Metropolitan Museum of Art). Blake also is famous for 21 copperplate etchings illustrating the Book of Job in the Old Testament. Here are but two examples from the prolific works of William Blake. His art is in many major museums from around the world, including this at the British Museum
It is a dicey proposition, for an artist to biblically depict evil without idealizing, sanitizing, or glamorizing it. As for a more modern artist, I refer you to Chris Koelle. Mr Koelle illustrated the Book of Revelation a few years ago and his depictions are compelling. The book blurb says,
192-page graphic novel (paperback) Featuring almost 600 illustrations Including all 404 verses of the final book of the Bible Translation by Mark Arey & Philemon Sevastiades Adaptation by Matt Dorff Illustrations by Chris Koelle
Here is his page where you can buy the bookand see thumbnails
Of course you know if you read my blog often enough that I enjoy artist Chris Powers. His visual theology is biblically accurate and aesthetically beautiful. Where Blake or Koelle’s depictions of evil both stir and frighten, Powers’ work has a lighter feel. However he still does a magnificent job visually depicting sin, wrath, and death in a way that is thought provoking. Since Mr Powers’ creates his works specifically to be shared, he includes explanations of the verses the powerful images depict and includes his thought process of what he wanted to convey. Like this from Isaiah 42:13-
“The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.” – Isaiah 42:13
In this passage, the YHWH is talking about His zeal-fueled, end-time action against the enemies of His people and that will bring lasting joy and life to those who trust in Him, and as you read the whole of this chapter there will be many allusions that point us to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
As we read this verse in light of the cross, we know that YHWH did in fact “go out as a mighty man” when He came as a man and dwelt among us journeying unstoppably to the cross…It was there at the cross that He cried out and shouted aloud and showed Himself infinitely mighty against all His foes in a way they could never have anticipated. What glory and beauty that our God so zealously pours Himself out for the sake of His glory and the sake of our joy.
So, in this image, I wanted to represent the Cross-Event in light of YHWH’s infinite, warrior-like zeal that we read about here in Isaiah
If you write for an online journal or run a blog, I recommend Chris Powers’ work as the visual enhancement to your writing, especially because of the artist’s explanations of the verses that accompany the visual pieces and his willingness to share for the good of the Body and the glory of Christ.
So there is your potpourri for the day. As Halloween approaches evil is increasingly on the mind of the pagans and even the Christians. Our eyes are assaulted by movie posters lauding the latest graphic depiction of the underworld. Our eyes avert from the neighbor’s brutal yard art depicting scenes of evil, all in “celebration” of Halloween.
Our sensibilities will be assaulted by seeing yet another child absorbed into accepting the occult as normal, or another adult who succumbs to performing an evil crime on that most dastardly of days. Or simply enduring the abounding sin that Halloween seems to loose. Yet we take heart. Jesus has overcome the world.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33).
The reality is,evil exists in the actual person of satan and his fallen demon-angels. However, we trust in Christ who has overcome and in whom we rest assured of ultimate victory.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
He made a spectacle of them in His triumph of the cross!
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:15)
Because we can do that, you know. We can analyze the words of Driscoll personally, and we can analyze the words as an articulation of Mars Hill Church’s attitudes and intentions. So we can dissect these words to discern what they are really saying to us, the abused. We can listen to what Driscoll is saying and what the church is saying. What is in their heart? Here’s what I’m hearing:
The spiritual abuse Driscoll has heaped on the sheep, and the reproach he has brought to Jesus’ name, is heinous in the extreme. It’s evil.
Once I wrote on Twitter and this blog that if Hitler had repented, he’d be in heaven, and that “Mother Teresa” was in hell. I got a lot of flak. But I wanted to point out two things: Jesus’ work on the cross and His resulting grace covers ALL sins- except the sin of rejecting Him. Secondly, most people don’t know what an evil pagan Mother Teresa was. When they think ‘evil’ the go-to poster boy is always Hitler and when they think ‘nice’ they always think Mother Teresa. But theological rejection of Christ and a lifetime of working against Him is evil. Let’s call it what it is. Here is one author who does.
Speaking of calling evil, evil, here is Denny Burk on that very topic. Let’s not get so inoculated with the times that we forget what evil is- opposing Christ in any form. Here, Burk uses ISIS terrorists as the example. In his essay at the top is a photo of a black hooded ISIS terrorist holding a knife.My point is that the ones who terrotize in Allahs’ name are not the only evil ones. The smiling pseudo Christians are actually worse.
This next essay is about apathetic Christians who have emerged from a generation of decisional acceptance of Christ and the prevalent lazy attitude toward obeying Him. We are reaping the ‘rewards’ of a generation as this author says, of “Millions upon millions of content and confident, flesh-obsessed walking dead who think like the world, act like the world, love what the world loves and hate what the world hates…all in Jesus’ name.”
If you haven’t caught on to the theme of this essay with links, it is evil, but not Hitler evil. Not ISIS evil. It’s pseudo-Christian evil, in my opinion, the worst kind. I expect terrorists like ISIS to be ferocious, bloody knife wielding lawbreakers. But the true Christian world forgets that a Beth Moore, a Mother Teresa, a Mark Driscoll, a sin-avoiding preaching pastor, a lazy pseudo-Christian, are also terrorists. They’re terrorists, lawbreakers, spies, and destroyers.
Do you think one of these images is worse than another? You’re right, it’s Beth Moore who is the more evil.
An ISIS terrorist’s gun kills the body. Moore’s weapon, the bible, (the way she uses it), kills the soul. (Matthew 10:28)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)
James Robison and wife Betty. Their program on Wednesdays features Beth Moore
This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (Galatians 2:4)
Just because we can see that ISIS terrorists are maniacal, foaming at the mouth unthinking dogs doesn’t make them more evil than a Beth Moore or a James Robison. It actually makes them less evil, because they are easy to spot. The true terrorists of earth are the ones who creep in to church in order to destroy the name of Christ and hinder the witness of the sheep.
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves. (2 Peter 2:1)
One of the faces of today’s evil
Jesus knows we find it hard to bear the evil done in His name. He understands the teeth-grinding righteous grief we feel when we see what is done in His name by those calling themselves His children-
“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (Revelation 2:2)
A preacher like Mark Driscoll is actually more dangerous than an ISIS terrorist. Same with Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, James Robison, Mother Teresa, Pope Francis…They have one thing in common, they are all part of satan’s system and are his trophies of evil.
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
The days of Noah were when men were continually wicked and the thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5). It was an almost 100% saturated depraved era. Worse, though the people had a century of direct warnings of coming judgment from Noah, they were preoccupied only with the mundane things of life, such as marrying and given in marriage, eating and drinking. Jesus is saying in the days of His second global judgment, it will be of the same conditions as when Noah, a man of righteousness, preached. (2 Peter 2:5).
With that in mind, let’s look at the following headlines and sub-heds. Which is the true headline and which was the April’s Fool prank?
#1. Teenager Will Lose His Virginity in a Live Performance at Art Gallery. Clayton David Pettet, a 19-year-old from Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, has announced he will lose his virginity in a live performance at an art gallery on April 2, 2014 at The Orange Dot in London. Pettet reportedly plans to have sex with an anonymous male partner.
#2. Hulu’s new original series, “In the Kitchen with Hannibal” Feast your eyes on dishes that are to die for in this new cooking show from Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
#3. “The View’ hosts go nude. Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd shed their tops on The View to a live audience . Concluding the innocent frolic, McCarthy thanked everyone and said, “Have a great day everyone and take a little time to enjoy ‘our View,’” pointing to her breasts. Then she seemingly reached over and grabbed Shepherd’s breast.
#4. ‘Pastor G,’ Indicted on Child Sex Charges, to Speak at Richmond Church on Good Friday. Geronimo “Pastor G” Aguilar, the former head pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center who has been indicted on multiple counts, including aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, is one of seven religious leaders scheduled to speak at Cedar Street Baptist Church of God on Good Friday.
Answer below
s p o i l e r
s p a c e
It’s kind of hard to tell, isn’t it? The days are so evil, that any of them could be true, or all. Only #2 is false. The rest are true! Hulu’s prank of a new original series featuring cooking by a well-known albeit fictional cannibal. But it sounds like it could be true, doesn’t it? And Number 1, 3 and 4 are true. These things happened.
I didn’t have to search far nor wide to find these headlines either. In my opinion, they represent a culture’s remaining worst of sins that are actually called sins. These represent the last taboos a culture holds on to before caving in entirely to ‘anything goes’. Homosexuality, cannibalism, child molestation, sexual depravity and immodesty/whoredom in women.
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Paul knew what tribulation was, and as he advised the Romans, let us also take heed of his advice–
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
And what is our Hope? JESUS. He overcame the world. He nailed every sin to the cross, including homosexuality, voyeurism, child molestation, perversion, cannibalism, whoredom. As long as it is the Age of Grace, each one of the people performing the sins and watching the sins and applauding heartily (Romans 1:18-32) can be saved through faith in Jesus and repentance! He exhibits that much grace and has that much patience. As for us, we wait to be released from the presence of sin
“Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11)—not our salvation from the pleasure, the penalty, or the power of sin, but from its very presence. “For our citizenship is in heaven: from whence we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Yes, it is the “Saviour” we await, for it is at His return that the whole election of grace shall enter into their full salvation; as it is written, “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:28).”
So… we wait. “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:7)
Pastor Don Green of Truth Community Fellowship preached an excellent sermon on February 2, 2014 titled Who is Satan?
He posed a question at the beginning of the sermon, asking, “Have we underestimated satan?” It is a question that I believe has a resounding ‘yes’ for an answer. I recommend the sermon, which is unvarnished truth about satan, satanic schemes, and the demonic horde, combined with a look at the grace of Jesus. Meanwhile, here are some transcribed excerpts,
Paul wrote, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1 Timothy 4:1)
These doctrines of demons, Pastor Green said, are “not necessarily going to be fiery displays of evil, it will be things cloaked in things that sound palatable to the human ear, things that sound plausible. Things that give you the sense that you can work your way into heaven, or that ultimately God is going forgive everyone and no one will go to hell. Or perhaps that God isn’t as holy, or that you’re not as bad as the scripture says you to be. The vast diversity of evil that the devil propagates through so many different systems shouldn’t confuse us to the ultimate fact that there is a common root.“
Pastor Green made the point that there are only two sides. There is the Spirit of truth, and the father of lies. There is no in between. He said, “Satan is the father of every lie that opposes the Gospel. He is a liar and the father of lies.“
You know that if someone is not from God, they are of the devil. Truth is not relative. Biblical truth is either/or. (Mark 9:40).
Pastor Green explained,
When we see false doctrine being taught, we need to understand there is more going on than a man who is mistaken. There is a spiritual force at work whether the man is aware of it or not. Men become the mouthpiece of the deceiver of souls. What should frighten us is that satan has the supernatural capacity to make himself look like, to present himself as one who is bringing light, not darkness.
In my never-ending quest to starkly illustrate the truth of the bible’s words, and that it is the same evil behind all that opposes God, no matter how ‘gentle’ it first appears, here are a series of paired photographs.
The same evil that spurred Charles Manson to become a cult leader and a murderer is behind the Pope, too, who is also a cult leader and a murderer of truth and souls, creating sons of hell. (Matthew 23:15)
The same evil that whispered to Hitler to roast Jews in ovens
is behind the Catholic Mother Teresa, whose refusal to share the Gospel sent many to roasting in hell forever, and who said, “There are so many religions and each one has its different ways of following God. I follow Christ”.
The same evil that is behind Timothy McVeigh and his bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, killing children in the daycare there along with many others,
is behind Joel Osteen, whose doctrines of demons delude millions every week. Many wither on his vine and die weekly
Too awful to contemplate? Yes, it is. The murderous, unsaved men such as Manson, Hitler and McVeigh are children of the father of lies and it is the same spirit that popes, preachers, and religious workers in false religions serve, too. When they die, unless they repent, they all will go to the place where the father of lies is prepared for, hell. Popes, “Mother” Teresa, and Joel Osteen all present themselves as workers of light, but they are in fact all darkness and their evil deeds are the same as the aforementioned men in the murderous category. They all have a common root. Satan.
Here is another either/or: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
The good news is that satan has been vanquished by our holy and wonderful Jesus. Jesus came to live as a man for 33 years, teaching and preaching for the last three. He was unjustly killed, shedding His blood for sinners, and exhausted God’s wrath for us. Pleased with His Son’s sacrifice, Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God on the third day, and has ascended to the Father. Jesus will return in glory to judge the living and the dead.
I’ll paraphrase what Pastor Green said about the urgency of the message. I don’t know if you will be here tomorrow to read these things on this blog or any other blog. I don’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow to repeat them. Your eternal soul is at stake. Please take this seriously. Satan is real, he is a devourer of souls, and if you’re not in Christ at this moment, you’re blinded to the fact that you’re standing on a gossamer web hanging over hell. Your foot shall slide in due time, and your fate will be sealed. Come to Christ now,
“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain– for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,“ (1 Timothy 4:1-2)
What does a seared conscience look like? Like this:
Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” (2 Kings 6:26-29)
You see the issue. The woman was appealing to the King for justice. For a breach of contract. But what a breach of contract! She was SO SEARED in mind that she never stopped to think of what she was saying. “I want justice because the other woman broke our deal to cannibalize our children?!” The horror is that she related this so matter of factly. The worse horror is that she was so unconscious about her sin that she simply and unemotionally stated the facts of the case without stopping to think of what she was actually saying.
That is a seared conscience.
That is also a judgment. Judgment for their apostasy was prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 28:56-57:
The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,to her son and to her daughter, her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
Cling fast to the faith. In my opinion, this is why Paul said to take very thought captive, every thought. (2 Corinthians 10:5). Do not listen to liars with seared consciences, who have already been pre-judged for their lies by having the seared conscience to begin with. The road which they travel and lure followers only gets darker and more evil with every step. As with everything biblical, there exists a progression. Ascent into holiness and then glorification is a process and descent into evil and the final apostasy is also a process. It all begins with one step.
This is where sin brings the unwary to: cannibalism…and worse. How can it get worse you ask? Apostasy is a terrible thing. It brings people so deep into sin they can’t even feel their sin anymore. People who have seared consciences are not only sinners, but are “inventors of evil”! (Romans 1:30) Worse, they not only sin deeply, don’t care, and invent ways to perform more evil, but they give hearty approval to those who practice the evil. (Romans 1:31).
Times of great apostasy are always dangerous for the vulnerable- the physically vulnerable and the spiritually vulnerable. In the Tribulation, the vulnerable will be at most risk once again. (Matthew 24:21-22; Luke 12:51-53). It will be a free-for-all of sins like we saw in the 2 Kings passage. A seared conscience is a terrible thing.
If you still feel conviction over your sin, great! Keep that feeling alive by remaining in a humble and penitent relationship with your Holy God. If you do not feel the same about sin as you used to, you must check yourself to see if you are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5). If you don’t, you know the outcome. You will get eaten up- either by your neighbor because love has gone cold (Matthew 24:12) …or by satan, for the wages of sin is death.
Haaretz posted an interesting opinion editorial the other night. In the spirit of the Jewish New Year and the traditional practice of taking stock, their piece is about how the global national sport seems to be enjoying the misfortunes of others to the point of sadism.
Portrait of the Marquis of Sade by Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (c. 1761)
A happy new year, one of joy at the misfortunes of others If we were to measure sadism right now around the world, we would discover that deriving satisfaction from brutal acts is one of the most popular hobbies of all. And not just in Syria. Ironically, this coming year (that is, 2014) will mark the 200th anniversary of the death of the Marquis de Sade, the man who gave his name to one of the most common sexual perversions, which is so common today that we no longer treat it as one. When Syrian President Bashar Assad recently attacked his countrymen with chemical weapons, all the journalistic wizards were hastily brought in to explain why. Ask the marquis. What is there to explain here, he would say; there’s nothing more enjoyable than feeling that you are soaring above the clouds of morality and conscience and no longer feel there is anything connecting you to the human race. Other people become objects, pawns in your hand. You’re like God. At the start of the international year of Sade, I would be pleased if some psychologist or psychiatrist were to invent a sadism-meter to examine the extent of this perversion in all kinds of patients − not necessarily those who clearly are sadists. And also in large collectives and countries, too. The results would be worrisome. We would discover that deriving satisfaction from brutal acts is one of the most popular hobbies of all. And that along with Assad, who is now the target of the whole world’s anger, there is a gallery of other high-ranking people who are just as power-hungry as he, but are sophisticated enough to conceal their perversion.
A Sadism-O-Meter. Interesting, It would be nearing fullness, by now, I should think. It reminds me of Bonnie Tyler’s song, Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Once upon a time I was falling in love Now I’m only falling apart There’s nothing I can do A total eclipse of the heart Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there’s only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart
Scripturally, the Haaretz editorial author’s plaintive cry and desperate search for meaning as to why there is such evil in men reminds me of the scene in the bible in Genesis 6, right before the LORD determined to personally wipe everyone out. It is like He is peeling the layers off of the world’s heart and showing us the evil within. It is simple. People are realizing how naturally evil we are. Hitler was no anomaly. In fact, we are all Hitler.
“Hitler was not an anomaly. Hitler was not a phenomenon. Hitler was what everyone in this room has the potential of being. Not only that, you need to understand that even in all the wickedness of Hitler, he was still restrained by the common grace of God. And you need to know this, that if it were not for the common grace of God, restraining you in your unconverted state, you would make Hitler look like a choirboy.” Paul Washer
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7)
Unfortunately, the author of the opinion piece, and indeed the world, has yet to learn how deeply the depravity of man will go, if left unchecked. That period will be called the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, or The Tribulation as it is known to us in the church.
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I started this blog in January 2009. It grew from a private newsletter I’d been sending to friends the two prior years before the blog, of thoughts and urgencies regarding the unfulfilled prophecies of the bible. In 2007, hardly anyone wanted to know about prophecy. All seemed well and prophecy was a low blip in a landscape of trends that had previously peaked in the late 1970s. Then the economy collapsed in September-October 2008, Obama got elected. Something about his demeanor caused many to get a knot in their stomach and wonder if the end of all things was in fact really at hand. The economy’s collapse also contributed to the feeling of imminent doom.
Since the inauguration in 2009, we have seen many interesting events occurring which bespeak a soon-prophetic fulfillment of historic proportions. After 100 years, Armenia reconciled with Turkey. Turkey left the West and became overtly Muslim. Egypt collapsed, abandoned its peace treaty with Israel, and became her enemy. The US fell from its position of world leader and sole superpower. China ascended. Russia revived. Mid-east Dictators in the prophetic lands fell, one after another. Syria imploded. One of earth’s largest earthquakes occurred and one of its most devastating tsunamis decimated a nation. Incredible oil and natural gas was discovered by Israel, making her extremely wealthy. She went from an economic importer to an exporter. Volcanoes, long thought extinct, awoke with power. Birds fell from the sky. The weather went haywire, first record heat then record cold then record heat again. Global warming, global cooling, their heads are spinning. Strange sky sounds spooked the world. Exorcisms are way up and demon sightings are common. A pope resigned for the first time in 600 years.
I could go on, but you get the idea. That’s just the last four years. It feels like the world is tilting chaotically. But imagine how much the world tilted whenthe Gospel went out (HT to Dan Phillips). Acts 17:6 says that the men who preached the Gospel turned the world upside down. Satan in all his efforts to upset the world is like a child batting the bath water. It is the power of the Gospel which upsets, divided, and unsettles!
For example, last week someone on a secular mommy forum asked if there was a meaning to the sideways cross necklace. They posted a link to my essay discussing the meaning of the sideways cross necklace. I noticed a high amount of traffic from that site so I went to check it out. Some had gone to my blog essay and come back to the forum raving at how”intolerant”, how “judgmental” and how sanctimonious” I am. I entered the discussion on the forum and shared the Gospel and used bible verses during discussions. They went ballistic! If you poured hot water on a hornet’s nest you could not get any more stinging or buzzing!
This is because in today’s Marquis De Sade world, of flesh and indulgence, make any sort of declarative, unequivocal statement referring to moral standards, holiness, and God’s hatred of sin, and you get a stirred-up mess in return. I was amazed all over again at the power of the Word to upset and convict.
I imagined the men like Jason at Thessalonica who came to preach and how upset the Pharisees and Jews were, as Acts shows. My brief little foray was so small compared to the world-tilting Gospel power of Acts, but it serves to remind me that when you shine the Light in the dark places, the power is there to convict. Some retreat into entrenched sin and are forever literally convicted by the Judge, while others move forward into the light seeking Him to forgive it, but the Light is the key. Keep shining His light of forgiveness from sin and suspension from coming wrath!
In a world where reality tv shows more and more the sick voyeuristic sadism of others, in a world where the news is simply sick with the maniacal gleefulness of people inflicting pain unto others, our gentleness will stand out like a floodlight on a stormy night. Here are some good words from Titus 3:1-2,
“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”
As the world continues overtly and shockingly toward total indulgence of the depraved flesh, the one who is submissive, gentle and courteous will be the exception, and people will wonder what force, or what ability, we have to maintain it. It is the forgiveness of Jesus and His Holy Spirit in us! The verses in Titus continue,
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7).
God is still sovereign and His ways are unknowable to us. He is in control, despite these unsettlingly rapid evil changes in hearts of men. However “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4).
And never forget, He is still saving souls. Though the world is dark, The Light has come into the world!
A few days ago, I read an interesting article about a man who had been living in Minnesota for decades was really a WWII SS Nazi Commander. For him to have been a commander in WWII, he’d have to be really old by now, and the story says he is 94 years of age.
I thought that was an interesting coincidence because I’d just watched a movie called “The Stranger”. This is a fictional 1946 movie about a Nazi who had masterminded the genocide of the Jews and when the war was over managed to flee Germany to the United States. He settled in a small village in New Hampshire, obtained a teaching position at an academy, and married the town scion’s daughter. It starred Orson Welles as the Nazi, Edward G. Robinson as the FBI man chasing him, and Loretta Young as the wife who married the Nazi.
The movie built its suspense, making the conclusion a sneak attack of horror. Its chosen location was a burb so guileless that patrons of the General Store helped themselves to pouring the ever-percolating pot of coffee behind the counter while the genial proprietor sat playing checkers near the woodstove with anyone who’d take him on for a quarter. There were happy teens running track, a well-attended church, and a luminous bride chirping about her white wedding.
Harper, NH is a kind of town every person could admire, life there is what we hope for, and wants life to be like. A town that’s safe, pretty, innocent, and upright.
Its stomach-turning, gasping horror was due to the juxtaposition of the clean-cut innocence of the town being gradually overcome with the stain of the evil heart of the Nazi. It was like watching a baby just out of the bath being approached by a rabid, drooling, mangy dog ready to devour it.
The movie gradually descended you into the mind of the Nazi, but the resistance of our mind to recognizing such horror is strong, especially by the young wife who had just married the evil man masked as a thoughtful teacher. In response to her father’s question about walking home after dark, she had said, “In Harper, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The fictional town of Harper, NH where the Nazi had come to live
The wife resisted the clear implications of her husband being a murderous Nazi, even after he confessed to two killings. He had (made up) a good reason, after all. She resisted facing the truth to the point where Robinson had to show her film of a recently liberated Concentration Camp, complete with wasted skeletons of people weakly and pitifully thanking their liberators, right down to close-ups of the skeletons in the ovens. The Stranger is said to be be the first to show actual footage of the German camps.
Loretta Young’s character had a problem facing such evil, because one would surely be able to spot it? Something about the person would set him apart from all the other people who are not so evil, surely? We as rational, innocent, good people, would be able to distinguish ourselves from the Nazis who harbored such hellish minds and dark hearts? Surely we would not … marry a person like this?
Loretta Young’s character finally broke down and faced the truth. The movie is called The Stranger and the title is apt. The stranger is not the man who came to town with all his WWII evil hidden away, the stranger is the evil that is in all of us, a potential that waits coiled up like a snake at the base of our hearts, waiting to be fed.
So having just seen the movie the night prior and then reading the article about the Minnesota man, was interesting to say the least.
Report: Former Nazi SS Officer Living In Minnesota A 94-year-old man who allegedly was a top commander of a Nazi SS unit responsible for the massacre of civilians during World War II is reportedly living quietly in Minnesota, according to an exclusive report by The Associated Press. The news agency says it obtained records through the Freedom of Information Act that show Michael Karkoc
“A June 3, 1944, photo provided by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum shows SS chief Heinrich Himmler (center) as he reviews troops of the Galician SS-Volunteer Infantry Division.” Source
lied to officials in 1949 about his past in order to immigrate to the United States. According to the AP, Karkoc concealed his military service during World War II as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukraine Self Defense Legion and later as an officer of the SS Galician Division. “The Galician Division and a Ukrainian nationalist organization he served in were both on a secret American government blacklist of organizations whose members were forbidden from entering the United States at the time,” the AP reports.”
Michael Karkoc Revelations: Nazi Unit Leader’s Minneapolis Life Prompts Shock “The revelation Friday that a former commander of a Nazi SS-led military unit has lived quietly in Minneapolis for the past six decades came as a shock to people who knew him, prompted harsh condemnations from World War II survivors in the U.S. and Europe, and led prosecutors in Poland to say they would investigate. … “I know him personally. We talk, laugh. He takes care of his yard and walks with his wife,” his next-door neighbor, Gordon Gnasdoskey, said Friday. Gnasdoskey, the grandson of a Ukrainian immigrant himself, said he was disturbed by the revelations about his longtime neighbor.”
St. Michael’s and St. George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Karkoc is a member of the St. Michael’s and St. George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, seen at right, and is a member in good standing, said his pastor. The implication being, how could such a quiet man, who the day before had been seen doing normal suburban things such as cleaning his gutters, have participated in brutal and evil crimes against humanity?
Paul Washer has the answer.
“Hitler was not an anomaly. Hitler was not a phenomenon. Hitler was what everyone in this room has the potential of being. Not only that, you need to understand that even in all the wickedness of Hitler, he was still restrained by the common grace of God. And you need to know this, that if it were not for the common grace of God, restraining you in your unconverted state, you would make Hitler look like a choirboy.” Paul Washer.
The “shock” is not that there is a Nazi living among us. The shock is, that any one of us could be a Nazi.
When we come to grips with our own terrible evil, evil we use and wield against God every day, we come to better grips with His love for us. His holiness is so pure, so strong and majestic, so piercing, that even a glimpse of it terrifies the common man.
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:29-30).
His perfection and holiness puts fear into us. That is because we recognize how depraved and evil we are.
Isaiah saw immediately how depraved he was, when confronted by the holiness of God. “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5).
The delusion satan brings is that we are good, we are innocent, we are pure. Or, at least to the slightly more honest among us, we’re not so bad. “We’re not like HIM” our minds cry out when we discover that our neighbor is a Nazi. We use each other as a benchmark of progress in the goodness department, when the true standard is God. Our minds want to shrink from using Him as a benchmark because deep down we know what we are:
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5).
Do you see how complete that statement is, “so great”, “every intention”, “continually”? We are saturated with sin, permeated down to the last molecule. Washer is right, “All men are born evil.”
Washer is right to say that Hitler was restrained from worse. The restrainer is holding back the full potential of sin in the human heart, and so we enjoy His common grace. But once the restrainer is out of the way,
“Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, … The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders…” (2 Thessalonians 2:7b, 8a, 9).
In other words, watch out! ‘Satan with all power’. Everyone on earth except those who believe in Jesus after the rapture will make Hitler look like a choirboy. God’s common grace will have been removed- which will reveal the undeniable fact that everyone is not just a Hitler, but is an antichrist.
Once we understand this, the shock shifts. We are no longer shocked by the Nazi man puttering in his garden, because we see ourselves as having the same potential. The shock is, GOD LOVES US ANYWAY.
We can have a higher and deeper awe and love for Holy God because he loved each and every little Hitler on earth. Our precious Jesus died and shed His blood to save us!
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
If the Nazi in the camp had turned from the ovens and bent down and asked the Lord to forgive his sins, Jesus would have, and the Nazi would go to heaven and the Jewish man on the slab about to be put into the oven would go to hell. His infinite love forgives any sin- except the sin of rejecting Him. His love is eternal, infinite, unstoppable, and would blanket you in glory in an instant,
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9).
The Lord will unhesitatingly save you, and change your evil heart to a holy heart.
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