Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Ben Carson Delivers the Ezekiel Warning

Ben Carson delivered at least part of the Ezekiel warning to the United States in his speech at the Republican convention last night. You be the judge. Here is what he said:

"The secular progressive agenda is antithetical to the principles of the founding of this nation, and if we continue to allow them to take God out of our lives, God will remove Himself from us, we will not be blessed, and our nation will go down the tubes, and we will be responsible for that. We don't want that to happen."

Though his message about God letting our nation go down the tubes was short and lacking in detail, probably more Americans heard it than heard any of the messages of the Church of God in recent years. In that sense, he has reached more people, in 26 seconds, than we have with the core of God's warning message.

That should be a prod to us. If we in the Church of God do not do the job God has given us of warning the people, to our shame, God may reject us and find someone else to do it. And we will bear our guilt.

Here is a link to a site with a video of Ben Carson's speech. The statement I quoted above starts at the 5 minute, 10 second point:

"Ben Carson draws a line between Hillary Clinton and Lucifer at Trump's convention", link:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ben-carson-invokes-lucifer-bags-hillary-clinton-at-the-republican-convention-2016-07-20


Here are links to related chapters or sections in Preaching the Gospel:

CHAPTER 3 - THE EZEKIEL WARNING

CHAPTER 4 - WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL? - A LESSON FROM THE HOLOCAUST

Friday, July 15, 2016

Satan's Political Agenda

This nation has been moving in a certain political direction in the last 60 years. Politically, morally, and culturally we are a very different country than we were in 1956. Politicians and advocates on the left have gained dominance in education, entertainment, politics, and the news media.

Things are accepted now that were not accepted then. And criticism of wrong behavior is squelched and labeled "hate speech".

Homosexuality is being accepted and promoted by those who advocate for it, and they have gained power in society. They have managed to install a majority of Supreme Court justices who are sympathetic to their cause and care little or nothing about the Constitution but are only concerned with their own views of right and wrong. Thus they ignore the Constitution and use their position of power to push their values on society.

Religious freedom and freedom of speech are being overturned in favor of promotion of anti-family values. Efforts are made to label teachings against homosexuality as "hate speech" in an effort to silence critics.

It has reached a point, in my opinion, where a kind of "mass insanity" has become dominant in our society, and it is increasing. We have passed a point of no return, and our nation will become more and more corrupt, till the end. Those with common sense have become a minority and can never regain influence.

It is not just the United States that is moving in this direction, but many other nations that are descended from the tribes of Israel, United States being one example, Canada being another.

God foresaw this centuries ago.

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

"Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time" (Amos 5:13).

Satan is the invisible ruler of this world. God is allowing Satan to deceive and influence and rule the nations for a purpose, and that purpose is to teach mankind a lesson about the folly of following Satan's way of life.

Satan is busy promoting his way of life and attacking God's truth and law most strongly in Israelite nations in areas such as sex, marriage, child rearing and child discipline, and evolution. He is influencing the government of the United States to spend itself into oblivion, creating an economic crisis that can bring United States down economically and militarily.

Some have discerned that the real purpose of this movement is the destruction of the family, and I agree that this is a purpose. Another purpose is the weakening of the United States and other Israelite nations. We are being set up for a fall. We must be weakened to the point that a foreign enemy can attack us and prevail over us.

But there is a third purpose behind Satan's agenda, one that I think is really his number one purpose.

Satan wants to criminalize the Bible so he can use the forces of government and society to stop the preaching of the gospel. That is a direction we are headed.

I do not know exactly how things are going in Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. I am not as familiar with their situations as I am with my home country, the United States, so I can only speak about the U.S. But in this country, we are moving step-by-step in that direction. It may seem impossible that our governments would outlaw the Bible or outlaw public teaching from the Bible, but it is not. Sixty years ago, it would have seemed impossible to people that we would be the way we are today. No, it is not impossible.

When you have presidents and Supreme Court justices that care little for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the Constitution itself, there is no limit to how far they can go when the majority of the population is lukewarm and unwilling to inconvenience themselves by standing up for what is right.

Our nation is like the proverbial frog in the pot of water set to boil. According to the story, you can boil him to death and he won't jump out because the temperature rises gradually.

Those promoting an anti-religious agenda are succeeding in indoctrinating the younger generations with their wrong values. They are being successful. As older people die out and children who have been indoctrinated grow up and reach voting age, this movement gains momentum and can go further and further.

There are several parallel movements that are converging on outlawing teaching from the Bible.

The promotion of secular science with godless evolution in education, the news media, and entertainment is breeding a disrespect for the Bible and all things religious. Many people growing up in this environment are conditioned to think of the Bible as a sometimes harmless but sometimes harmful, and always silly, book of superstition and fable. The population is losing its respect and appreciation for the Bible, and this is helping to set the stage for it being outlawed.

Another trend is the promotion of homosexuality and deviant sexual behavior and the labeling of criticism of these things as "hate speech". Under the guise of protecting "rights", this sets the stage for outlawing or persecuting those who teach God's truth about sex from the Bible.

There is a steady erosion of respect for the Constitution of the United States. Supreme Court justices are allowed to ignore it and make their decisions based on their own opinions about what is best for society. Yet it is the Constitution that protects our freedom of religion, freedom of press, and freedom of speech. It is the Constitution that protects our right to preach the gospel and our right to use the Bible in the preaching of the gospel.

These three trends, and probably others also, are converging towards a society that can criminalize the Bible and make it impossible for us to preach the gospel and the Ezekiel warning.

For we cannot preach the true gospel and the Ezekiel warning without the Bible. We have to be able to tell the people as Mr. Armstrong did, "Don't believe us, believe your Bible". We need to be able to quote the Bible in our speaking and writing. We need to be able to prove what we teach from the Bible so the people's faith will be in God and the Bible, not in us. Only those who are willing to believe the Bible more than their traditions will be willing to give up their traditions, but we need to be able to use the Bible to show them the truth.

I do not say that the police will be knocking on everyone's door with a search warrant and confiscating Bibles they find. That is not necessary. For the purpose of stopping the gospel, all that is necessary is to stop public preaching from the Bible.

I think that is one of Satan's major goals, more even than weakening the United States or striking at the family. More than anything, I think he wants to stop the preaching of the true gospel and the Ezekiel warning to Israel, as I have posted about before.

Why?

As I point out in my book, our people need a warning of the tribulation to come so they know that God was fair to warn them. This is vital. They need to accept responsibility for ignoring the warning so they do not blame God for not warning them. This is especially true for religious people who do not know that some of the things they do and the religious customs they practice are wrong. They need to be prepared for the tribulation so they can repent during it and be teachable in the millennium so they can be a model nation for the rest of the world.

Satan wants to go all out to stop our message. He is all prepared, once the tribulation starts, if our Israelite nations have not been warned, to pump the thoughts into people's minds, "It is not your fault. God never gave you a chance. You never knew your religious customs were wrong because God never sent anyone to warn you. God is unfair to punish you for things you never knew. You therefore cannot trust God." Thus he could poison the attitudes of the very people that God wants to use to be the model nation for the rest of the world.

So Satan wants to stop the gospel and the Ezekiel warning, and he is advancing trends in this country that will make it possible to stop our message.

Our response?

We need to go all out to preach the gospel and the Ezekiel warning to the United States and all the Israelite nations while the door is open. It is open now, and we need to go all out while there is time.

Jesus Christ practiced and taught this principle. "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).

Also, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

There is no justification for anyone in the Church of God who understands the importance of preaching the gospel and the warning to say to himself, "We have plenty of time. In a few years we can preach the gospel. We don't have to do it now."

Now is the time to act, now is the time to work. We need to be zealous now while the door is open. For there is coming a time when that door will close. " 'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord God, 'that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord' " (Amos 8:11).

Those who recognize the seriousness of God's warning to the watchman in Ezekiel 3:16-22 and Ezekiel 33:1-9, but who postpone their efforts and zeal to support the preaching of the warning, may find themselves in a situation where they no longer have the ability to do so, and the blood of the people will be on their heads.

We need to be zealous in our love for our neighbors and willingness to sacrifice to preach the true gospel and the Ezekiel warning to all Israel and the world, now, while the door is open.


Here are links to posts in this blog on a related subjects:

"What Is the Church of God's Greatest Sin?", dated February 27, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-church-of-gods-greatest-sin.html

"Priorities of True Christianity - Priorities in the Church of God", dated January 16, 2015, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2015/01/priorities-of-true-christianity.html


Here are links to related chapters or sections in Preaching the Gospel:

CHAPTER 3 - THE EZEKIEL WARNING

CHAPTER 4 - WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL? - A LESSON FROM THE HOLOCAUST

Monday, July 4, 2016

"Independence Day" - Europe Will Soon Be Independent of English-speaking Nations

The people of Great Britain have voted to leave the European Union (EU). What will be the major effect of this?

Although the stock markets have taken a hit, it does not appear that this is triggering an economic collapse, not yet anyway.

The biggest effect will be to accelerate the political and military union of German with other nations in continental Europe.

After World War II, leaders in Europe sought a way of preventing any future war between European states, particularly war between France and Germany. They thought that such a war could be prevented by binding the economies of the nations of Europe tightly together.

In 1951 six countries - France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg - signed the Treaty of Paris to form the European Coal and Steel Community. Later, these same nations signed the Treaty of Rome in 1958 to establish the European Economic Community. Great Britain joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Later, the European Economic Community became the European Union. Other states also joined an integrated Europe at various times.

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article on the European Union with an animated map that shows different countries being shaded in to reflect when they joined an integrated Europe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

Thus, Great Britain has been part of the effort to integrate Europe for the last 43 years.

But now they are on their way out.

The actual departure of Britain will take some time. British leaders may want it to take more time, and German leaders and many other European leaders want it to happen quickly. There is also the possibility that several other European nations will follow Britain's example.

But German leaders would like things to happen quickly.

What do the architects, the movers and shakers, who have designed and promoted European integration have in mind for Europe?

Initially, integration of the European states economically was promoted as a means of preventing future wars between European states. It was a means of preventing a re-occurrence of World Wars I and II. Later, it was promoted to the people of Europe as a means to economic prosperity. By reducing or eliminating tariffs between countries in Europe, goods and services could be traded more freely, and this would help the economy of Europe to prosper.

And it has prospered.

But I do not think economic prosperity was all the leaders of Europe had in mind. That was their excuse, the way they sold it to the common people. They promised them jobs and economic security, and for the most part they have delivered.

But the real goal of the leaders in Europe who helped to put this together has been the building of a new empire, an economic, political, and military union of European states that would have the strength to lead or dominate the world.

And Britain has been a drag on this process.

Britain and the other English-speaking nations of the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have a special relationship based on similar cultures, a common language, and a common interest in foreign affairs for more than the last one hundred years.

The EU leaders do not see the future of Europe as being led by the United States. They want to lead the world apart from the United States, even in competition with the United States. But Britain, as a friend of the United States and as a nation that values its autonomy and independence and sovereignty, has always put a brake on fast European integration into a single, all-powerful state. Britain would never consent to becoming part of a European Empire. And the effect of British membership in the European Union has been to put the brakes on full integration.

But now Britain is on its way out, and the European Union leaders want to proceed full speed ahead with their empire building without Britain. And with Britain on the way out, they are in a hurry. They are impatient to get on with it.

And this is happening at a time when many in Europe are feeling that the United States is a weakening power and they need to unify and build a strong military of their own to defend their own interests.

In a sense, many in Britain may feel that their vote to leave the EU in the recent referendum was a vote for their own national independence from Europe, but it may actually turn out to be a vote for Europe's independence from Britain and the United States.

Germany has been the dominant nation in the EU, and now will be even more dominant. The brakes are off and the light is green. As soon as Britain is completely out of the EU, Germany and the rest of Europe that wants stronger integration can go full speed ahead.

There will be nothing to stop them from creating a unified state with full, centralized authority over all economic, social, political, and military matters, not restrained by the influence of Britain and Britain's English-speaking ally the United States.

In a sense, this helps to complete the process of German independence from its enemies that defeated it in World War II.

The English-speaking allies and the Russians were the main powers that defeated Nazi Germany in World War II. All Germany was occupied with Germany divided into four zones of occupation controlled by Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union. Nazism was suppressed as much as possible. Germany was demilitarized. The zones of occupation controlled by Britain, the United States, and France became West Germany and the zone controlled by the Soviet Union became East Germany.

Germany was thus divided. West Germany was tightly integrated with the English-speaking nations through the NATO alliance, and then later when Britain joined the European Community another tie existed with the English-speaking nations. And East Germany was controlled by Russia.

But later the east European nations, including East Germany, were freed from Russian and communist control, and Germany reunited. Even the Soviet Union broke up.

Now Britain is on its way out of the European Community, severing a tie that bound Germany with the English-speaking nations.

NATO remains as the last strong formal tie between the English-speaking nations and Germany.

Germany has become free of the domination and control of Russia and is in the process of becoming free of the restraining influence of Great Britain and the United States. Soon, Germany will be totally free of the nations that defeated it in World War II and have controlled or strongly influenced Germany since then.

Moreover, the generations in Germany that remembered Hitler, the Nazis, and the suffering of World War II have almost completely died out. Most Germans today have no personal recollection of that war and no guilt about it.

The British referendum creates a clear path for the architects of European integration to finally realize their dream of empire, an empire fully independent of the influence or restraint of the English-speaking nations of the world.

Germany and a number of European nations will go the way they want without restriction.

They will create an empire. It may be very different from the existing European Union. Rules may be changed. But the goal will be the same - to lead (or dominate) the world.

And that empire will be dominated by the strongest European nation: Germany.

Fasten your seat belts. Full speed ahead.