December 2004 / January 2005
Dear ones,
Thanks for caring, thanks for praying, thanks for becoming informed
and for voting. It appears that God has given our backsliding, sin-sick
nation one more chance to mend its perverted ways. Now, please read
on.
THE MASKS ARE COMING OFF: THE BEGINNING
OF THE END?
I did not enjoy writing the October/November issue; however, I do believe
that it was the most important issue I have written, and that the election
was the most crucial in the past century. How, some ask, can I be "so
political" in the content of a Christian publication? It's simple:
the compelling issues at stake are all spiritual issues.
Never before have the conflicting worldviews and value systems, generally
represented by the two major parties, become so vividly visible; and,
for this, I am grateful. The study of eschatology holds little interest
for me, but I believe that we are seeing very definite signs of the
end. The climactic conflict with anti-Christ powers that will characterize
the end of the age is intensifying before our eyes. Whereas in the 20th
Century, Bible-believing Christians were scoffed at by the secular world
and/or dismissed as irrelevant, we are now increasingly hated--vehemently.
This hatred came out in the open, like never before, during this presidential
election.
One party has now been completely taken over by the radical left, and
represents: abortion at any cost; protection of pornography and its
exposure to children; protection (nay, glorification) of sexual perversion;
the end of traditional marriage and family; removal of all references
to the God of Christians and Jews from public life; and the expunging
of all God-based values from our culture. That party also works to dismantle
our national defense in favor of a UN "peace force" and, ultimately,
abandonment of our unique, God-honoring Constitution in favor of God-less
international law. Am I saying that one party is purely Christian and
the other anti-Christian? Is one purely patriotic and the other entirely
World government globalist? Of course not! There are people of both
positions in both parties, some in between, and neither is pure. However,
these basic differences between the 2 parties do today prevail; and
this is a simple, demonstrable fact.
In the past the basically anti-Christian party has attempted to appear
to be patriotic, religious, mainstream American at election times, and
a lot of voters have fallen for the deception. In this election however,
the American people were finally exposed to some truth, including the
true values of that party, and it appears that this awakening of the
voters to "the values issue" is what determined the outcome.
For the first time ever, because of alternative media, talk radio and
TV, and the internet, the establishment media were not able to effectively
control what the voters know. The people's eyes were opened, and newly
awakened multitudes voted their values instead of their parties.
And, wow! In this election, to a degree not seen before, the masks came
off, the fangs were exposed, and the claws came out; their goals and
values (or the lack thereof) were brought out in the open to a degree
never before seen at election time. The establishment media themselves
(which have become, almost literally, just the propaganda arm of that
party) were, to an unprecedented degree, exposed for the dishonest,
passionate promoters of that party that they are, and have been for
a very long time.
Folks, I think this was an extremely healthy thing for our sick and
embattled Christ-rooted Republic: the differences between the godly
and anti-godly forces in this country are coming out in the open. That's
good news. However, the message of Scripture seems to be that hatred
and persecution of the godly will grow worse and worse, before the final
victory of Christ. We may be seeing the book of Revelation unfolding
before our eyes, and things will get much worse before they get better;
but at least the haters of Christ and Christians are coming out in the
open like never before.
THE KINSEY MOVIE: UNGODLY PROPAGANDA
There is a feature film soon to be released on the life and work of
Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues at the University of Indiana. You may
be sure that it will be pure, ungodly, propaganda. Kinsey's books on
human sexual behavior have sold in the millions, and have probably done
immeasurable harm to hundreds of millions. His books are the source
of all the destructive sex education programs in public schools and
colleges for the past 2 generations.
His books gave us the lie that 10 percent of us are homosexual (he pulled
that figure out of the fetid air of his imagination); the honest figure
at the time was less than 2 percent. He proclaimed that babies are "sexual
from birth"; in his "research," he had babies (some as
young as 2 months) used sexually by pedophiles, and interpreted their
screams of pain and terror as expressions of pleasure (I must be careful
to understate here what they did, because of the nature of this publication).
For statistical studies of what "normal" Americans do, he
interviewed prison populations. He was, himself, a pedophile, and his
principal colleague a homosexual pedophile.
His research was not only sordid and shabby, but dishonest; and yet
the secular humanists who dominate the academic and journalistic venues
continue to praise him as a courageous crusader for truth. In recent
times, however, his practices are being examined honestly by some academics
(most notably our friend Judith Reisman, PhD), and Kinsey is beginning
to be exposed for what he was, and his books discredited, at long last.
His most devoted defenders today are those in the multi-billion dollar
pornography industry. This movie will undoubtedly be an attempt to portray
him as a cultural and intellectual hero, and to perpetuate the positive
myth.
Dr. Reisman is looked upon in the scientific world as the leading expert
on the affects of pornography on human behavior. She is a fine and fascinating
woman whose eclectic background includes composing and performing music
for the pioneering children's TV program, "Captain Kangaroo."
As a crusader against child pornography, she debated the despicable
Larry Flynt on TV, and ate his lunch. If you would like a summary of
Judith's background, and her journey into the world of Kinsey, we will
gladly send it, as a gift, to all who ask. In addition, you can see
it in its entirety on our web site.
AN ADVENT DRAMA FOR TWO
My daughter Sally and her husband Joe Mahoney have written a simple
play for Advent, titled, "Joseph and Mary-Great Expectations."
It requires only two actors, and the very simplest, readily available
set materials; and it can be done at the front of a church with no stage.
The play can be done as 4 separate skits of about 10 minutes, one each
Sunday in Advent; or, it can be done as a one-act play with 4 scenes
in about 40 minutes. For those who ask, we will send a printed copy
of the play; for those with access to the internet, it will be posted
in its entirety on the web site (see link below).
WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?
We don't know when Jesus was born; and it seems that if He wanted us
to know, it would have been made plain in the Gospels. However, we know
when He was not born: He was not born in late December, for at that
time of year, shepherds do not sleep on the ground with their flocks
in the field--it is too cold. The traditional date for the birth of
Jesus, 25 December, was taken from Roman paganism, a celebration they
called "natalis solis invicti" ("Birth of the Unconquerable
Sun"), and was chosen so as to coincide with another pagan festival
of the Romans, "Saturnalia," at the time of the Winter Solstice.
Actually, Jesus was probably conceived in late December, and born in
late September; but we are stuck with this December date, and will probably
have to wait for Jesus to return to get it all straightened out. If
you would like to know the scriptural clues as to the birth date of
Jesus, begin with the fact that Zachariah was "of the course of
Abia (Lk 1:5), and remember that Jessus was conceived 6 months after
his cousin John. If you would like to know the facts about Christmas,
and the rest of our popular holidays, I recommend our little book "Holidays
and Holy Days"; at only $2.50, you could afford to give some away.
WHO OWNS YOUR CHURCH?
As more and more local congregations are severing ties with their liberal-dominated
denominations because the denominations have abandoned the Bible as
the their governing authority, an issue that immediately surfaces is
ownership of the church building and grounds. In hierarchical denominations
(such as Episcopal and Methodist), in spite of the fact that the local
congregation may have actually raised the money, bought the land and
built the buildings, the denomination owns the real estate. Thus, when
a congregation decides to part with the denomination, the denomination
retains possession of the building and grounds. With more and more local
churches withdrawing from the parent denominations, this has become
an issue in the courts. In Fresno, California, a United Methodist congregation
left the denomination over its tolerance of homosexuals in the clergy
and homosexual "marriage," and laid claim to its real estate,
for all of which the congregation had paid. In August, in a landmark
decision, the local congregation was awarded ownership of the building
and grounds by a state court of appeals. This will surely not be the
end of the matter. (AP/ANS/PWB)
A DUBIOUS HONOR FOR "NOW"
NOW, the National Organization for Women, has been chosen for a dubious
honor. The National Black Pro-Life Congress has chosen NOW for its inaugural
"Destruction of the Black Family Award," stating as its reason
that NOW "promotes an attitude of confrontation between men and
women, husbands and wives, that has undermined the traditional black
family with devastating consequences." Pastor Levon Yuille, Executive
director of the Black Pro-Life Congress, blames NOW "and its anti-family
activists," for their role in the "social epidemic" among
blacks of fatherless homes and children born out of wedlock. He said
that NOW has pushed its "destructive ideology" for the "breakdown
in definitive male and female roles and responsibilities in the family."
Two other groups were close runners-up for the award: Planned Parenthood
and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Yuille condemned Planned
Parenthood for "genocide against the African-American community."
(ANS)
A "KILL THE CHRISTIANS AND JEWS"
WEB SITE
As the culture war escalates, it is more-and-more apparent that the
"tolerant" left is increasingly intolerant of Christians and
Jews. Almost without exception, movies today portray Christians as buffoons,
hypocrites, or psychotic extremists, and this hostility grows with the
passing of time. Those of the extreme Left don't just want us to be
silent about our faith; they increasingly want us to cease to exist.
There is now a web site (ChurchArson.com) which earnestly recommends
the burning of churches and synagogues, and the murder of believers.
The web spokesman says that he looks forward to the day when "the
executions of die-hard Christians and Jews will commence" (and
yet they continue to accuse Christians and Jews of "hate").
(ANS)
TODAY'S WAR CORRESPONDENTS VS ERNIE
PYLE
In today's post-modern world of political correctness and belief in
global government, journalism schools turn out reporters and editors
who are basically anti-military, anti-patriotic, and anti-Christian,
with a secular, globalist, anti-American world view. Since the Vietnam
War, reporters for the establishment press have produced coverage of
wars that tends to glorify our enemies and highlight anything negative
about our troops. Some, like Peter Arnett, have actually located themselves
with the enemy and written what could fairly be called enemy propaganda.
A refreshing reversal of this was seen in the reporting of the "embedded"
reporters of the second Gulf War, who actually moved with our troops,
ate with them and shared their danger, fatigue, dirt and heartbreak.
Since (thanks to satellite communications) they reported directly and
live, there was little or no chance for editors in the US to alter their
reports to make us look bad. The establishment media people were frantic
and furious! For the first time, they were not able to manipulate the
content to control what the American people saw and heard (and, therefore,
what they think). Some of the spokesmen for CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS
and NPR called the embedded reporters "in-bed" reporters,
because their reporting was sympathetic with our troops.
Imagine that-- shocking behavior; they were not sympathetic with the
enemy! It was all quite revealing: the globalist change agents of the
journalism establishment came out in the open and bared their ugly,
anti-military, anti-American teeth. And the whole thing caused me to
remember the honest, straightforward, reporting of Ernie Pyle, one of
my all-time favorite people. He was a little, unassuming man who was
universally loved like one of the family by the American people in WW
II. He lived with the troops, sharing their misery, fear, and heartbreak;
he wrote from his heart about them, their daily life, and sent the stories
back home to provide some connection with their families. But he never
questioned the validity of their cause. Before he was killed on Okinawa,
in the last battle of the war, he wrote: "I don't write about the
big picture, because I don't know anything about the big picture. I
only write about what I see: tired, dirty soldiers, who are alive and
don't want to die." He said, toward the end, that he was going
home when that campaign was over, because he couldn't "stand to
see any more dead American boys." He didn't quite make it. (HC,
et al)
A PHONY CBS "DOCUMENTARY"
ATTACKS BUSH
The hostility of the establishment media to people and things conservative
is no secret, and it is becoming increasingly open. A case-in-point
is the recent CBS "documentary" attacking President Bush's
military service. So-called official documents, supposedly revealing
Bush's failure to perform some of his National Guard duties have been
revealed as forgeries-yes, deliberate forgeries-as phony as a $7 bill.
It has to be really flagrant falsification, because even other giants
of the liberal media, including ABC, the Washington Post and the LA
Times, have criticized CBS for the falseness of the reporting. I am
reminded of another CBS "documentary" during the Vietnam War
called "The Selling of the Pentagon." In that falsified documentary,
military officers and a prominent Louisiana congressman were presented
as saying things they had never said. How? Videotapes of their speeches
were "cut-and-pasted" to rearrange words and phrases so that
they appeared to be saying things they had never said. Roger Mudd produced
and narrated that one. Although there was a congressional investigation,
and the false reporting was proved, CBS refused then, as now, to recant;
and Mudd got a Pulitzer Prize for the blatantly dishonest program. (ANS,
et al)
CONCERNING WOMEN IN COMBAT: A WELL-KEPT
SECRET
One fundamental goal of the Left is to remove all traditional distinctions
between men and women; in direct opposition to the natural (and scriptural)
differences between men and women, they push for a "unisex"
nation. One facet of this goal is to place women in combat roles in
the Armed forces, a "politically correct" policy (strongly
resisted only by the Marine Corps). When women die in combat, such as
the women who were among the Navy personnel killed in the attack on
the USS Cole, the media are silent, because they don't want you to be
aware of this ugly reality. An illustration of this conspiracy of silence
is that you probably don't know that 24 American Servicewomen have died
in Iraq as a result of hostile action. (FOF/Center for Military Readiness)
THE NAACP SUPPORTS ABORTION
In February, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) became an official supporter of abortion. The NAACP Board
of Directors, led by its chairman, Julian Bond, went public and officially
endorsed all forms of birth control and abortion. This is bewildering
to black pro-life activists such as Day Gardner of Black Americans for
Life, and Rev. Johnnie Hunter of Life Education and Resource Network,
because abortion now kills more blacks than all the other leading causes
of death combined. Black women have abortions at three times the rate
for white women. Hunter, who calls this "black genocide,"
also reports that most abortion clinics are located in minority neighborhoods;
he says that in all his travels, he has seen only one abortion facility
in a white neighborhood.(ANS/PWB
AT&T AND THE "GAY" AGENDA
AT&T, long a supporter of the "gay" agenda, abortion and
other un-Godly issues, now has an in-house homosexual rights organization,
"League at AT&T." Declaring "It's great to be gay
at AT&T," the group states as its mission, "League at
AT&T will lead, shape, and change the workplace, our communities,
and the world in which we live." You will find this, and more,
at their own web site (www.league-att.org).
AN INTERESTING THOUGHT ABOUT END-TIMES
PROPHECY
Christians have been fascinated with the return of Jesus, ever since
the day that He left, about 30 AD (Acts 1:4-8). When He left, Jesus
left the exact time of His return a mystery; and, ever since that day,
Christians have been attempting to interpret signs of the times and
publishing theories about the timing. The theological term for study
of the end-times is "eschatology." Through the passing centuries
Christians have thought, theorized, taught, written, and even predicted
the date of His return. So far, all have been wrong, and they shouldn't
have been disappointed, for Jesus Himself said clearly that this bit
of knowledge is held exclusively by God Himself.
While some silly predictions have been used by unbelievers to discredit
the gospel in general, much of such writing has been helpful in stirring
Christians to study and seek more knowledge of the Scriptures. But there
is an additional benefit, suggested to me by my friend Bob Bartell of
Arlington, Va. Today, books and articles about end-times prophecy fulfillment
cross over very successfully into the secular market (an example is
the "Left Behind" series of books, plus the movie version).
Thus, while we Christians follow this theory or that theory about the
"rapture," antichrist, tribulation and such, the un-churched
are reading these things and being exposed to one aspect of Bible truth
and, we hope, motivated to look farther into the source of Truth.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN BY "ORACLE"?
In Greek mythology and ancient history, an oracle was a person (such
as the Delphic Oracle) through whom a pagan deity spoke to give supernatural
revelation or guidance; in this sense, the word can also mean the cave,
or shrine, where this person held court.
In the Bible, although the word has the same general meaning, it is
never used in the Greek sense. In the Old Testament Hebrew, the word
occurs 5 times, always in the singular; in every case, it refers to
the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle or the Temple. In the New Testament
Greek, the word occurs 4 times, always in the plural. In the first 3
occurrences (Acts 7:38; Rom 3:2; Hebr 5:12), it refers to the Old Testament
Scriptures. In the 4th instance (I Peter 4:11), Peter is addressing
all Christians; he directs us, when speaking in assemblies, to speak
"as the oracles of God." By this he means that we should not
just speak from our knowledge or our intellects, but as inspired by
the Holy Spirit.
BIBLE TRIVIA
The longest words in the Bible have 18 letters. There are only two such
words: one is in the superscription (title) to Psalms 56; the other
is in Isaiah 8:1. Look them up-it will do you good.
PRECIOUS PROMISE
"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
(Psalm 30:5)
MARTY'S CORNER
Recovery from the shock and awe going on in newsrooms, Hollywood, and
faculty lounges, will take a long time due to their narcissistic focus
on themselves as the center of the universe. They are secularist. They
believe that Carl Marx was right. They don't want to understand that
our awesome God reigns-forever and ever. They will never understand
Christians who love their God and their country more than themselves.
The decadent just don't get it because they don't want to get it. Secularism
is a system of doctrines and practices that disregards or rejects any
form of religious faith and worship; and that such (Christian beliefs)
should not enter into the functions of government or public education.
Likewise, "… what defines Western Europe-as well as the American
left-is its aggressive secularism. Though cathedrals abound, Christianity
is a thin membrane over the cultural and political institutions of Europe.
By contrast, from the time the pilgrims landed in the New World, Americans
have been defined by their belief in God" (Ann Coulter).
Those caught up in secularism, the "blue" areas of America,
would have been served well if they'd had some early instruction on
the making of America. In Democracy in America, written in 1835, Alexis
de Tocqueville observed that Europeans practiced religion from a "barren
traditionary faith which seems to vegetate in the soul rather than to
live, but Americans combine the notions of Christianity and liberty
so intimately that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without
the other." May it be so.
"I DIDN'T SPEAK UP"
Many of you have heard this (or read it before in The Good Word), but
it bears repeating. Martin Niemoeller was a German pastor arrested by
the Nazis and sent to Dachau prison in 1938; he survived to be freed
by Allied troops in 1945. Looking back, he wrote: "In Germany the
Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak
up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and
I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came
for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak
for me."
A POINT TO PONDER: THE PRICE IN BLOOD
The blood of Christ paid for our sins; the blood of patriots paid for
our freedom; the blood of the unborn is paying for our silence.
SPEEDY JUSTICE IS SCRIPTURAL (AND CONSTITUTIONAL)
One of the things wrong with our criminal justice system (and our society
as a whole) is that justice for accused criminals is not speedy. The
Constitution requires speedy justice but it doesn't happen. Criminals
are released back to the streets on bail, endless appeals, plea bargains,
early paroles, "furloughs", etc. and the lawbreakers laugh
at the system while committing still more crimes. A related distressing
fact is the average time spent on "death row" by prisoners
sentenced to die: 14 years! After being convicted and sentenced to die
they wait on death row for an average of 14 years, while prolonged,
successive appeals are played out. This has largely nullified respect
for the death sentence. But God made this problem, and its solution,
very clear...a long time ago: "Because sentence against an evil
work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccl 8:11). This couldn't be
more clear, and the writers of our Constitution were well aquainted
with the Scripture.
A POINT TO PONDER
In 1875 Alexis de Toqueville came from France to the U.S. to study our
Republic and see what made it work. one of his (prophetic) observations:
"The American Republic will last only until its politicians discover
that they can bribe their people with their own money."
"ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE"
Perhaps I should caption this one as "LATIN AS SHE IS SPOKE";
however, a great deal of the English language is merely Latin, pronounced
as in English (e.g. data, curriculum, campus, ad hoc, alma mater, medium,
vice versa, quorum, referendum, etc), so those who misuse such words,
simply because they are Latin, are without excuse. Perhaps the most
commonly misused such word is "alumni," which appears on those
auto license plate frames which proudly announce that the drivers are
graduates of institutions of higher learning. Most of them actually
proclaim the driver's ignorance of something he should have learned
in that institution of higher learning. One simply cannot be "An
LSU Alumni" for "Alumni" is plural; in addition, a woman
cannot be "An LSU Alumni," even if she is two or more people
at once, for "alumni" is masculine. One male graduate is an
"alumnus"; the plural is "alumni." One female graduate
is an "alumna"; the plural is "alumnae."
Is this hopelessly trivial nitpicking? Maybe; but if we are going to
boast in Latin of our educations (and why should we expect anyone to
care?), we should at least do it correctly. Until fairly recent times,
Latin was required at Harvard, and the Harvard valedictory address,
every year, was delivered in Latin. Regrettably, they don't do that
anymore, and the lowering of educational standards was reflected in
a license plate frame I saw recently; it proudly proclaimed that the
driver was "A Harvard Alumni." God help us; it makes one wonder
if there is any hope.
"INNOCENT BLOOD" AND THE JUDGEMENT
OF GOD
One of the wrongs that God will not tolerate, one to which He seems
particularly sensitive, Is what the Bible calls the shedding of 'Innocent
blood'. From the murder of Able by Cain, all the way through the Book
of Revelation, we find that shedding innocent blood rivets the attention
(and wrath) of God on the circumstance and the perpetrators. In some
way, this blood "cries out' to God until avenged. In fact, shedding
innocent blood makes the "top seven' list of things God hates most
(Prov 6:16).
But shedding of innocent blood brings judgement, not only on individuals,
but on nations which tolerate it. And. while we as Individuals face
judgement on the other side of the grave, nations will be judged in
this life, for they don't exist beyond the grave. How can God fail to
bring judgement on this sick and selfish nation for the shedding of
Innocent blood? What could be more innocent than an unborn baby? And
believe me, abortions are very bloody. Read about it in Gen 4:9-12-,
Deut 19:9-13, 21:8,9; 11 Kings 24:4, Rev 6:9, 10 et al.
MILESTONES
Married 6 Nov. - Gregory Cressey and Claire Combs,
daughter of Bill and Susan "Rue" Combs, long
time Christian friends and colleagues, of
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Died 26 Oct. - Marian Netto Waaga, Pass Christian,
Miss., longtime Christian friend, after a long ill
ness.
A FINAL WORD
Treasure and use each day as if it were your last, and never give up
hope; God has a limitless supply of new beginnings, and he makes beautiful
things out of broken pieces.
You are precious,
(Sources: AFAJ-American Family Journal;
AFRN-American Family Radio News; ANS-Agape News Service; AP-Associated
Press; BP-Break Point; BPr-Baptist Press; C-Charisma; CBN-Christian
Broadcasting Network; CR-Congressional Record; DR-Drudge Report; EP-Evangelical
Press; Fox (Fox News); FOF-Focus on the Family; FRC-Family Research
Council; GN-Good News Magazine; HC-History Channel; LAT-L.A. Times;
Mil-Military Magazine; NR-National Review; NW-Newsweek; NYP-New York
Post; NYT-New York Times; PWB-Pastors' Weekly Briefing; RTLB-Right to
Life Education Foundation Bulletin; RTLGC-Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati;
USAT-USA Today; USNWR-U.S. News and World Report; VOM-Voice of Martyrs;
W-World Magazine; WND-World Net Daily; WT-Washington Times; WW-Washington
Watch.)