I want to say a word to my fellow pastor friends about the upcoming film, Jesus Revolution.
As pastors, you and I have been called to teach the Word of God and proclaim the gospel. We want to see people come to Christ, and I believe the upcoming feature film, Jesus Revolution, will do just that.
It’s the story of how two very unexpected men came together—Pastor Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee—resulting in the last great spiritual awakening in America, often called the Jesus Movement. It’s also a love story: the story of how I and Cathe met each other and came to Christ.
I want to emphasize that this is a well-made, powerful film. It’s being released by a major Hollywood film studio, Lionsgate, as well as Kingdom Story Company, and it was directed by the incredible storytellers Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle.
We’ve done test screenings, and we have found a very high response from non-believers. They want to know more. They want to know how to have this relationship with God. This film is honest. It’s real. At times it’s kind of gritty, but it honors the Lord, and it presents the gospel in an artistic and powerful way.
So here’s my challenge to you: Would you consider buying out a theater in your backyard and then making the tickets available for your church? Additionally, consider encouraging the folks in your church to bring a non-believer with them.
Let’s fill our local theaters up with people to hear the gospel. And above all, let’s pray that God would send another great spiritual awakening to America.
I don’t know about you Christian, but here’s one fundamental of The Way that I struggle with immensely…
Heavenly rewards are obtained through self sacrifice and not through self defense.
There are times when I feel as if the whole world is tugging at me. Someone asks for this, or someone needs that. I can completely let this consume me, and I can become filled with anger/irritation. What makes it even worse is if someone comes at me with a bad attitude or is confrontational. Automatically I feel defensive and feel as if I need to seek vengeance or plot my revenge. I constantly need to keep reminding myself that God did not create me for the purpose of having a “vengeful spirit”, and that it is Satan who gives me a “nudge”.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Romans 12:19)
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them. (Deuteronomy 32:35)
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. (Psalm 94:1)
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.” (Proverbs 24:29)
Does this mean as a Christian to be a “pushover”? Well what is a “pushover”? Here’s what Webster’s Dictionary says…
Pushover: an opponent who is easy to defeat or a victim who is capable of no effective resistance.
When God tells us that vengeance is His does this mean we are defeated or we have no effective resistance? NO, instead this means that if we don’t seek revenge and subdue our desire for vengeance God will work all things out for our good if we give it all to Him. So what happens when we do give in to our temptation to seek vengeance and revenge by trying to take someone down who is trying to elevate themselves above us in an authoritative, maybe an aggressive, or even a confrontational manner? Well, this means we are taking things into our own hands and we all know what happens when we do this. We tell God with our actions that… “I’m in control and You are not.”
We also reap what we sow. If you’re always quick to defend and position yourself so you’re the attacker instead of being attacked then you will forever be stuck in this vicious cycle and you will continue to get attacked. How did Christ promote change to break the chains of hatred in a world of constant self promotion and self elevation? By being selfless, meek, and mild. Serving…instead of serving Himself. Knowing he had power, but not “flexing” that power for personal gain. When we approach these types of difficult situations with complete humility we “flex” the fact that God has total power and control and that power and control will work things out for us.
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…
For long version of original Kevin Barry article, click this or this.
For over a century, various entities that are involved in the propaganda machinery that has been tasked by the powers-that-be to advance American patriotism and corporate profiteering have covered-up the truth about what actually started the epidemic of what became known as the “Spanish Flu”, successfully obscuring what was actually a shameful experiment perpetrated by the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research – the uber-wealthy entity that started the American Medical Association and the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
For over a century, Americans have been led to believe that what was the true epicenter of the pandemic – US Army military bases – was actually the result of a Rockefeller Instutute vaccine experiment gone awry. The culprit vaccine, nicely documented by author Kevin Barry was perpetrated upon hapless military recruits at a variety of bases in the US. Spain had nothing to do with the epidemic, except for actually allowing its journalists to write about it.
The experimental vaccine was devised when the only vaccine that had ever shown any promise in preventing disease was the smallpox vaccine (which, when evaluated in retrospect, didn’t actually deserve credit for the disappearance of smallpox, since only a small minority of world citizens every actually received the vaccine.)
The crude experimental vaccine was intended to theoretically prevent bacterial (not viral) meningitis in soldiers, which had been a problem in past wars. Barry nicely documents the story that has been left out of the history books, ignored by the Mainstream Media, deleted from the Pentagon archives, and misrepresented by the pharmaceutical and medical industries, the NIH, the CDC, the NIAID and every corporation that seeks to profit from vaccinating as many infants, children and adults that they can. And that includes, of course, the widely discredited Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that has spent hundreds of billions of dollars funding, founding and subsidizing corporations and other entities that promote universal vaccinations for whatever is proclaimed Big Pharma to be “vaccine-preventable disorders”)
A previous 4261 word Duty to Warn column can be accessed at various websites, including here.
Below are excerpts from the article that was written by author Kevin Barry, whose website is called First Freedoms.
***
By Kevin Barry
“During the war years 1918-19, the US Army ballooned to 6,000,000 men, with 2,000,000 men being sent overseas. The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research took advantage of this new pool of human guinea pigs to conduct vaccine experiments.”
“During WW1, the Rockefeller Institute also sent its experimental anti-meningococcal serum to England, France, Belgium, Italy and other countries, helping spread the epidemic worldwide.”
“The Rockefeller Institute and its experimental bacterial meningococcal vaccine, contrary to the accepted mythology may have killed 50-100 million people in 1918-1919.”
“The crude anti-bacterial vaccine used in the Fort Riley experiment on soldiers was made in horses.”
“According to a 2008 National Institute of Health paper, bacterial pneumonia was the killer in a minimum of 92.7% of the 1918-19 Pandemic autopsies reviewed.”
“Clean water, sanitation, flushing toilets, refrigerated foods and healthy diets have done and still do far more to protect humanity from infectious diseases than any vaccine program.”
“In 1918, the vaccine industry experimented on soldiers…with disastrous results—but in 2018, the vaccine industry experiments on infants every day. The vaccine schedule has never been tested as it is given. The results of the experiment are in: 1 in 7 of America’s fully vaccinated children is in some form of special education and over 50% have some form of chronic illness.” The “Spanish Flu” killed an estimated 50-100 million people during a pandemic 1918-19.”
What if the story we have been told about this pandemic isn’t true? What if, instead, the killer infection was neither the flu nor Spanish in origin?
Newly analyzed documents reveal that the “Spanish Flu” may have been a military vaccine experiment gone awry.
Summary
The reason modern technology has not been able to pinpoint the killer influenza strain from this pandemic is because influenza was not the killer.
More soldiers died during WWI from disease than from bullets.
The pandemic was not flu. An estimated 95% (or higher) of the deaths were caused by bacterial pneumonia, not an influenza virus.
The pandemic was not Spanish. The first cases of bacterial pneumonia in 1918 trace back to military bases, the first one in Fort Riley, Kansas.
From January 21 – June 4, 1918, an experimental bacterial meningitis vaccine cultured in horses by the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York was injected into soldiers at Fort Riley.
During the remainder of 1918 as those soldiers – often living and traveling under poor sanitary conditions – were sent to Europe to fight, they spread bacteria at every stop between Kansas and the frontline trenches in France.
One study describes soldiers “with active infections (who) were aerosolizing the bacteria that colonized their noses and throats, while others—often, in the same “breathing spaces”—were profoundly susceptible to invasion of and rapid spread through their lungs by their own or others’ colonizing bacteria.” (1)
The “Spanish Flu” attacked healthy people in their prime. Bacterial pneumonia attacks people in their prime. Flu attacks the young, old and immunocompromised.
When WW1 ended on November 11, 1918, soldiers returned to their home countries and colonial outposts, spreading the killer bacterial pneumonia worldwide.
During WW1, the Rockefeller Institute also sent its experimental anti-meningococcal serum to England, France, Belgium, Italy and other countries, helping spread the epidemic worldwide.
During the pandemic of 1918-19, the so-called “Spanish Flu” killed 50-100 million people, including many soldiers.
Many people do not realize that disease killed far more soldiers on all sides than machine guns or mustard gas or anything else typically associated with WWI.
I have a personal connection to the Spanish Flu. Among those killed by disease in 1918-19 are members of both of my parents’ families.
On my father’s side, his grandmother Sadie Hoyt died from pneumonia in 1918. Sadie was a Chief Yeoman in the Navy. Her death left my grandmother Rosemary and her sister Anita to be raised by their aunt. Sadie’s sister Marian also joined the Navy. She died from “the influenza” in 1919.
On my mother’s side, two of her father’s sisters died in childhood. All of the family members who died lived in New York City.
I suspect many American families, and many families worldwide, were impacted in similar ways by the mysterious Spanish Flu.
In 1918, “influenza” or flu was a catchall term for disease of unknown origin. It didn’t carry the specific meaning it does today.
It meant some mystery disease which dropped out of the sky. In fact, influenza is from the Medieval Latin “influential” in an astrological sense, meaning a visitation under the influence of the stars.
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Dr Gary G. Kohls lives in the USA and writes a weekly column, entitled Duty to Warn, for the Duluth Reader, Duluth, Minnesota’s alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns deal with the dangers of American Friendly Fascism, corporatism, Oligarchy, militarism, racism, malnutrition, and Big Pharma’s over-drugging and over-vaccinating agendas as well as other movements that threaten the environment, democracy, civility, health and the sustainability and livability of the planet and the future of the children. Dr. Kohls is a frequent contributor to Global Research
Many of Dr Kohls’ columns have been archived at a number of websites, including:
IS HISTORY REPEATING? DR FREDERICK GATES-SPANISH FLU-WW1 & BILL GATES -COVID/HEMORRHAGIC FEVER-WW3*
NO, Here Is The Truth About The American Flu/ Spanish Flu Of 1918
WATCH: Anthony Fauci Expresses Regret For Not Locking Down America Sooner and Laughs Off COVID LabLeak Theory – Cried Like a Baby While Watching Biden Inauguration
The Gateway Pundit reported earlier this week on a DC resident filleting Dr. Anthony Fauci and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as they went door to door in his Anacostia neighborhood encouraging residents to receive the COVID -19 vaccine.
The exchange was documented by PBS as part of an upcoming program on Fauci. The incident reportedly happened in June 2021.
The footage also shows Fauci talking to Bowser and revealing exactly what he thinks of Republicans who question the COVID shot and vaccine mandates.
He expressed vitriolic hatred and vowed to break their will.
They (Red-State Republicans) are going to keep the outbreak smoldering in the country (for refusing to get vaccinated). It’s so crazy.
They’re not doing it because they say they don’t want to. They’re Republicans. They don’t like being told what to do. We need to break that.
Now, more alarming footage from the documentary has been unearthed. Fauci expresses serious regret for not locking down America sooner and ordering mask mandates.
He even laughs off the mere thought of a lab leak causing the COVID pandemic, calling it “molecularly impossible.” All credible evidence actually points in that direction.
WATCH:
New video shows Fauci laughing off the idea that COVID came from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. pic.twitter.com/WbUE5iemd1
Dr. Anthony Fauci was shown laughing off the widely accepted lab-leak theory as “molecularly impossible” in a new documentary — while also saying he would’ve implemented quarantines and mask mandates sooner.
The then-White House adviser was followed by PBS throughout 2021 and 2022 as he became a polarizing figure while leading President Biden’s response to the pandemic.
In it, he railed against Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) “insidiously” suggesting in Congress in July 2021 that his National Institutes of Health had funded gain-of-function research at the lab in Wuhan where COVID first emerged.
“Rand Paul was insidiously throwing into his suggestions that the work done in the Wuhan lab, funded by a small grant from NIH … created a virus that made COVID,” Fauci said.
The Wuhan lab-leak theory is now eyed as the likely source of the virus by many government agencies, including the US Department of Energy and the FBI.
Fauci, however, laughed as he mocked the theory in one of 10 interviews he gave PBS throughout 23 months of filming.
“The microbe that we were working on, not only was not SARS-CoV-2, it would be molecularly impossible for them to turn it into SARS-CoV-2,” he said of the scientific name.
He was seen watching interviews he gave early in the pandemic dismissing masks as ineffective — and then later being the driving force for mandating them.
“Did you flip-flop? No,” he said of his own change of messaging. “You got additional information that made you change what you’re saying.”
Despite standing behind his change of heart, Fauci admitted that he regretted not ordering quarantines and telling people to wear masks sooner, despite numerous studies now suggesting both were ineffective.
“Maybe I should have done that,” he said. “Yeah, I was wrong.”
Footage from the documentary also shows Fauci crying as Biden officially assumes power.
Fauci says in the documentary that Biden does not approve of anything on COVID-19 unless “I say yes.”
Exploring the Torah in the life of Christians, picks up on points raised in previous sections. First, God uses the Torah within the event space of ancient Israel to not only expose sin (cf. Rom 7:7) but to reveal mankind’s desperate need for a Savior as well (cf. Rom 7:24,25). Second, keeping the law is a human response to God’s grace and not a way to merit His favor (cf. Deut 5); therefore, this NT theme is not new at all. Though not a referendum on all sin, the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, which “seemed good to the Holy Spirit,” acknowledges that observance of the law is no longer practiced as it had been previously, or perhaps, a better way of interpreting the decision, the law of Christ,[1] is in terms of fulfillment and clarification of the Pentateuch. God did not undergo evangelical conversion just prior to the NT; in fact, God repeatedly calls His people to Himself for their own good, and God lamented with the heartache of a forsaken parent when His people turned to other gods.[2] As Craig Keener puts it, “Israel’s loving God, her betrayed and wounded lover, is ultimately fully revealed in Jesus as the God of the cross, the God who would rather bear our judgment than let us be estranged from him forever.”[3] Therefore, without the Torah, there would be no messianic vision, no promise to fulfill, and no Christ.
Speaking metaphorically, E. A. Martens contends, “A mother is not inconsistent when at one moment she sharply instructs her children not to cut the flowers in the flower garden, yet moments later asks a daughter to cut some flowers for a table bouquet,” to explain that God may choose to alter His directives as lawgiver, and that change does not indicate inconsistency.[4] Jesus’ response with regard to God’s position on divorce in Matthew 19 reiterates: “He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so’” (ESV)[5] in verse 8. Whereas the Pentateuchal civil system seeks to regulate behavior within ancient Israelite society, for example capital offenses reveal acts that the law took so seriously it stipulated death sentences, it is incorrect to conclude that the church is granted carte blanche freedom to execute capital punishment for the same offenses (Deut 13:10-11; 17:12-13; 19:18-20; 21:21);[6] what is more, the corrective action ordered by Paul in reaction to the case of incest in I Corinthians 5 substantiates this understanding. Nowhere does Paul, or Jesus, denigrate or dismiss the OT law, as Jesus’ elaboration to His opponents makes plain in Matthew 5:18-48;[7] therefore, the Torah actually demands an even higher standard in the life of Christians. While Israel’s civil code states, “You shall not kill” or “commit adultery,” Jesus goes even further by demanding, “You shall not want to kill” or “want to commit adultery.”[8] Matthew 5 shares the same accord as Leviticus 19 by proclaiming the message that a “lawgiver stands behind their injunctions,” meaning that a “personal will is more determinative than any verbal proposition;” hence, the Torah is a legitimate expression of God’s will, but the law does not express “the sum of the divine will.”[9]
After his rebuke in Galatians 5 concerning circumcision, Paul concludes in verse 6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” The issue of circumcision sparks debate today just as it did during Paul’s time and is a favorite of skeptics who see it as grounds for biblical inconsistency, even inconsistency within the writings attributed Paul (cf. Acts 16:3). Circumcision is ideal for exploring a proposed dichotomy between fulfilling the heart of the law through Christ and not being burdened with the letter of the law. With regard to the Sabbath, Paul employs the same thinking (cf. Col 2:16). Although Christians are not called to live out the precise mandates of the law, there are occasions, as in cases of the morality, where they do, though it is not out of any legalistic, civil obligation, but rather, in order to live out the spirit the law expects. Thus, concerning abiding in Christ, “This love brings the Christian into harmony with God’s character and law of love. To receive God’s gift is to accept, cooperate with, and live out the moral transformation that he offers. The strength that he makes available.”[10]
The accounts in Luke in which Jesus instructs the wealthy ruler in to sell all that he owns and give the proceeds to the poor, then responds favorably to Zacchaeus’ offer to give half of his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times the amount to anyone he had cheated in the next chapter, illustrate Paul’s point to the Galatians about circumcision that God’s primary interest is with the heart. As circumcision is the cutting away of something signifying a removal of that which has been cut away, Paul writes to the Romans, “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God“ (2:29). In addition, application of this understanding offers insight into Acts 16: “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek” (3). In the case of the Galatians, circumcision became a question of fundamental doctrine; whereas, Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy was done so as to reach Jews who would have otherwise shut him down at the onset. What may initially seem like an invitation to flexibility in interpretation and implementation of the law, Jesus, again, actually demands more;[11] the removal of flesh is inadequate in comparison to circumcision of the heart.
“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut 30:6). The Torah tells of a time when God will circumcise more than flesh but the heart; therefore, the NT view of circumcision is foretold and consequently not distinct from the law at all. Gane’s conclusion is within the same line of thought in that converted Christians are those for whom God’s commandments are not burdensome, because their obedience is from the heart, not the flesh.[12] Covenant continuity between Testament eras exists in a way that demonstrates God’s covenant faithfulness and grace rather than a disconnected dichotomy of law verses gospel. Therefore, the Torah in the life of Christians “reveals something about God; it also orders the life of the community, and its telos is a character of holiness. Even more, the law is life-giving, life-enhancing.”[13] While the Torah serves a purpose and function within the historical context of ancient Israel, its fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth is a manifest expression of God’s covenant faithfulness found throughout the canon of Scripture. Christ is the perfect atoning sacrifice, once and for all; we have been made clean!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8).
I don’t know what your stance is and experiences are with leisure activities / entertainment and Christianity?
Me, I have been sooooo cautious due to my past, as I came out of the occult and almost died from their attacks.
I have been putting SOOOO much work into consecrating myself and doing my best to live a holy life.
I will be completely honest with you: This has been hard. Extremely hard.
And I am “the odd one” in almost all circles I go to – if I ever go, that is…. the situations where I socialize is mainly at work and if I have to participate in any work related “fun” activities, team “away-days” etc…. even in church, I hardly ever engage in more than “small talk” whenever I am attending something, as I am aware that my lifestyle is very different to the way other people, including other Christians, live.
I don’t watch TV, I am not on netflix, I don’t go to clubs, I don’t smoke or drink, a big one is I don’t listen to any unclean music and I am not into knowing or entertaining what any celebrity or royalty is currently up to….
To continue this list (if you are still reading?), I don’t do yoga, pilates, martial arts, meditation, therapy, mindfulness (huge problem in the field where I work, as “they” want all clients to practice mindfulness!!!), I don’t read books by any of the Obamas or Prince Harry etc….
This makes it hard to speak with me – for other people – as the topics are quite limited (for them) – if they don’t want to speak about GOD.
And I find that most people don’t want to speak about GOD (or related matters) in their “free time” – including Christians.
For me, that makes no sense, which, again, makes me the “odd one” – and 1-2-1 conversations are a bit easier, but in larger/ small talk settings, the conversation is normally going to one or all of the abovementioned topics and I cannot / don’t want to engage, and most of the time – unless asked directly – I don’t say anything, but when I do, it is normally that I tell them I don’t watch TV or that I am not on netflix and then they are normally embarrassed and don’t want to speak to me anymore.
I mean, I get it.
Unbelievers will think I am crazy and many Christians will think I am too extreme – OR they will feel bad, as they are convicted by the HOLY SPIRIT that this is what GOD wants for us.
It’s what I believe HE wants – at least for ME.
And I would be a complete fool after all I have been through not to do what HE wants me to do.
Not only would I be a fool, I would also be a dead fool, as the devil and his witches would kill me the very same second as GOD would remove HIS protection from me.
In a way, I am fortunate.
As I have an “integrated evil-detector” in my system and I kid you not, it is physical, I get like a sound and like some kind of alarm inside or perhaps similar to a very strong “ick” you would feel when something groces you out.
PLUS, if, or when I decided to do anything sinful, I can immediately feel the physical sensation of the satanic “energy” being allowed to move through my body – and with this comes the knowing that these “vibrations” are up to no good and will harm me!!!
This is to help anyone reading this understand that firstly, I am not doing and saying all these things because I want to be better than anyone!!! For me, this is and has been a matter of life and death.
Secondly, I am not trying to make anyone feel bad or teaching them anything, however, if you want to be free and need to be delivered from something (and I believe EVERYBODY does!!) – this is what you, too, will need to do in order for GOD to be able to protect you.
You see, GOD is a GOD of covenant.
And HE is gentle.
HE leaves us our free will and we can all choose what to do and whom to serve. And if we want to make a covenant with his enemy, GOD will let us!!!
The devil on the other hand is sneaky, deceptive, cruel and mean.
He will never come through the front door, unless people will deliberately call him, which already means that he has been deceiving them prior to them wanting to serve him, otherwise they wouldn’t have this desire in the first place.
There are probably less people who consciously wanted to and did sell their soul to the devil (friends, I am telling you, this stuff is REAL!!!) than those who have been tricked into belonging to him.
Via accepting/ receiving a bait and “opening the door” to the devil and his evil spirits.
When that happens, THE SPIRIT OF GOD will leave.
Perhaps not completely and perhaps not instantly.
But a covenant had been formed between this soul and the kingdom of darkness.
This means that GOD is unable to protect this soul, as this soul has rejected HIM and has thus decided, yes, made the conscious decision, to belong to the devil. This allows the devil to torment this person.
Physically, emotionally, financially, to afflict their health – mental and physical -, their relationships, their career – ALL areas of their life, just as GOD will bless us in all these areas, the devil is allowed to harm us there if we let him in.
What I never understood and what is so crucial to understand is that we are NEVER our own.
There are only 2 choices we can make and it will always be one or the other: we and our lives either belong to GOD or to the devil.
It is one of the greatest lies of the enemy that we can do what we want, in fact, that’s been his best selling slogan ever since GOD created mankind – starting with Eve!!!, he made her believe that she can eat this fruit although GOD had told her not to – this is the main principle and the the “theme” which is still ongoing TODAY.
GOD says we cannot do something – the devil says “don’t mind him, just do what you want”- and then we are without GOD’s protection, kicked out of HIS covenant, out of paradise if you will, naked / without protection spiritually…….
So recently, I was invited to a restaurant and we were going there with some “church people” – not from my church, but from a church I was visiting…. and we were talking over food and we came to the topic of yoga.
Friends, you know my views about yoga, they are based on my own experiences and on a lot of research and I recommend that you look into this (if you haven’t already), because YOGA could be the reason why you are having nightmares, suffering from insomnia or being raped in your dreams – if you like, you can read my article about it here, it is called The “gods” of the New Age
So I spoke about yoga with these Christians…. and I shared my views that I firmly believe it is satanic and that it is hindu worship, whether the person practicing it knows it or not, whether they want it or not… they agreed with me and added some of what they had read or heard about it.
So far, so good.
It then went on to Pilates and they asked me of my view about it and I said that I believe it’s the very same thing – and I saw shock in their eyes – and luckily, before one of them, whom they called and who is obviously practicing Pilates, before she had to react to them telling her what I had said, the food came and the conversation was about the food…..
Later, we spoke about music and TV – and when I shared that I don’t watch any of it or don’t listen to “unclean” music, we spoke about some shows on TV and I confessed that I did watch some very satanic shows in my past before I got saved – including “The Vampire Diaries” – and this is a no-brainer, but it it’ s a very good example of how the devil works – he mixes entertainment with demonisation, he mixes truth with lies, he confuses us and lets us overstep GOD’s boundaries and “BOOM” – he has us and the door is open for him!!!
On a side note, it was even during the worst times of when I was under attack when I liked to watch horror movies – never before in my life have I liked them!!! – and I felt a sense of relief when “evil content” was playing on TV… at the time, I thought it was because I learned more about the “evil energy” and overcame it by “desensitizing myself to it. How wrong I was: it was more because of the devil leaving me alone during this time, because by watching more of this “junk”, I was deliberately (even if unknowingly!!!) opening more doors for more evil spirits to enter me!
One of them said ‘can I watch “friends”‘ – and everyone laughed, as if it was obvious that this show is harmless and that it must be a joke to even ask the question – and that’s when everyone again went on to believing that I am “the odd one”, when I said “apart from the sexual immorality in there” – and she replied “what CAN we watch then” – and after this question, everyone decided to change the topic.
That’s fine.
And I am not here to preach or teach anyone who isn’t willing or ready (I did that in the beginning as a “baby Christian” and I don’t think I was effective other than in effectively offending people…..)
Many may have to suffer the consequences before they are willing to learn and to listen…not to me, but mainly to GOD.
HE put these rules in the book for a reason – not to spoil all the fun for us, but to be able to protect us.
The error is soooo old, friends!!!
I write for the ones who know that something is wrong and want to change that, want to be FREE from demonic or satanic harassment, who want to sleep through at night, who want to have their peace back!
And this is how I see it:
If you believe or know that something isn’t right.
And you will know what I mean if you are under satanic attack!!!
IF you want to get rid of this pain, of this terror, this harassment, disturbance, “bad luck”, obsessive thoughts or habits or compulsions or addictions – whatever it is you are going through!!! – have you considered that the source this is coming from could be supernatural???
If you believe this could be so, please look into deliverance!!
Study it. Pray about it. Do your research.
You MAY have to “scan” all your habits, belongings and beliefs for “satanic viruses / malware” – if you want to be free?
Including what you are listening to and watching!
Let GOD lead you!
And if you want to, you can consider me crazy, odd, strange or radical – I don’t mind.
But if something is bothering you, don’t let this stop you!
Don’t let the fact that a “crazy person” told you this keep you from looking into it, from getting help!!!
There is a lot of information on this blog about all these topics and I am also pointing you towards many other sources on the internet.
You could visit my page here “Need deliverance” to find out more and other than that, every single article on this blog is trying to point you towards seeking deliverance and breaking free from the bondage the enemy wants to keep you in….and to bring you to the GREAT DELIVERER, to the ONE who can set you free – JESUS CHRIST.
Me, I believe “what can we watch then?” is the wrong question. For me, it’s not about living a life filled with as many pleasantries as possible – and during the rest of the time, we could try to serve GOD?
This may work for some, or even for many people, and they may feel restricted by the “rules”, by what they cannot do if they want to be obedient to GOD.
I understand that and it wasn’t easy for me either to give up everything GOD told me to give up!!!
Me, I had no choice.
And I understand more and more how privileged I am that GOD taught me all these things, so I could share them with those willing to learn.
The way I understand GOD and what HE wants for us and from us is that there is no such thing as living in between worlds and separating between “GOD-time” and “leisure time” as if it was a job!
I believe HE wants ALL of us, wants us to put HIM first, to obey HIM and to devote ALL areas of our lives to HIM at ALL times.
So the right question for me would be “how can I enjoy myself in a godly way”? Because GOD wants us to drink, eat and be merry – it’s in the bible!
Or even better: “LORD, what do you want me to do today or with this time I have on my hands”?
Perhaps GOD wants us to serve more?
I know this is definitely true for me!
But then we will have to negotiate with HIM – tell HIM how exhausted we are and that HE needs to give us more strength or better health or that HE generally needs to help us so that we will be able to help others more and better….
In the end, it ‘s about pleasing HIM or am I wrong?
So the question “what CAN I watch” is not coming from this perspective – it comes from a selfish perspective, a carnal one – “how can I please my flesh without upsetting GOD” – whereas our quest should be the other way round.
Not saying I get it right all the time.
And I am even admitting that I miss my TV shows and the music I was into….. however, I don’t miss the evil spirits they brought to my body, my dreams and my life – and the one thing that I would miss the MOST is GOD’s presence – if HE would be displeased about me, if HE would turn away from me, if THE HOLY SPIRIT would stop speaking to me.
NOTHING is worth loosing my relationship to GOD over.
The satisfaction, saturation, fulfillment and PEACE HE brings is not even comparable with any amusement, any “enjoyment” the enemy, aka the world could possibly offer me – because all they have is what I like to call “cheap thrills” and “fake copies” – sex for love, drugs for peace, “excitement” for the buzz of being filled with the fire of GOD, success for purpose, money for contentment….and their thrills are not only cheap and fake, they are also very temporary, whereas GOD’s gifts and blessings are permanent, even eternal!
Only GOD has “the real deal”.
Me, I sin sometimes because I can’t help myself…. but I never feel good afterwards.
Never.
Because of what I have been through, I am literally able to perceive the direct change in my reality, how I am getting vulnerable, how my armour is not effective any longer and how the enemy is now able to attack me at night as a direct consequence of what I have been watching or listening to, out of rebellion or despair or just not being able to resist the temptation…
It’s not a joke, my friends.
There is a battle over our souls going on every day, 24/7.
GOD is fighting for our salvation and the enemy doesn’t want to let us go.
And it starts small.
With a song…. or a TV show….
In prison (and also outside), offenders are known for trying to groom people into “doing them favours” and in the end bringing something into the prison (drugs, phones, whatever).
And it always starts very small – I’ve been there, they’ve tried it with me! They would just innocently touch your arm during a conversation or as a greeting or goodbye and if this goes by unchallenged, they would do the next one, invade one’s personal space during a conversation, trying to flirt a little, or test if threats would work…. it begins very subtle, of course, staff who work in the field are trained to detect the signs, but in the world, this is also very common!
“Just once”
“a little can’t hurt” – you know what I am talking about!
In prison, to stay with the example, “just once” can be enough for the person to be obliged to having to do this again and again, because they will then be blackmailed that they would be reported for the first transgression if they refuse to commit another one.
After all, as we all know, once is all it takes to get pregnant!!
And it’s the same with the devil – he can enter anyone – and he will !!!! – when the door has been opened.
GOD may have mercy and not allow it the first time and try and convict the person, but at some point, HE will respect our choice!
And will let us become hit by the consequences…..
So when we ask questions of “what is allowed”, we are already moving on the edge, close to what isn’t…. if that makes sense?
We are not considering the kingdom, but it’s boundaries and we are focused on them.
Which will at least make us ineffective for GOD – if not in danger even…. we are on the fence, looking at life on the other side…
As soon as we are asking when we need to be back home, it means we are intending to go out – or at least contemplating…
Yes, GOD will forgive us and even rescue us if we fall or get bitten by the serpent – but sometimes, HE will also let us suffer from the consequences….
In a spiritual sense, it is better to stay inside and not go out at all – to translate it into watching shows or listen to music, if we are unsure if it is clean, it is probably or very likely not and if we are unsure if it is for us, it is probably NOT.
And me, I like this just as much as you do – which means to a degree of 0%. However, what I DO like is GOD’s protection and HIS power to defeat all the demonic and satanic attacks that have been coming against me for SO many years now.
We cannot live in both worlds.
It doesn’t matter how much we may want to.
We don’t make the rules.
The CREATOR does.
And if we want HIS protection, salvation, deliverance and divine wisdom, we need to surrender to HIM, give our lives to HIM and follow HIS rules. There is no other way.
JESUS is the way, the truth and the life. HE died on the cross for your sins, yes, that’s right, for yours and mine… it is all such a fascinating and yet true story. JESUS CHRIST came to earth as the SON OF GOD to save us all from the devil. And HIS works are still relevant today, HE is as alive today as he was more than 2000 years ago. And if you are not saved, HE wants to save you today, right here and right now: please don’t stay under the power of the king of darkness, please join us and give your life to THE LORD.
Here is an example of what you can pray in your heart right now, if you want to make JESUS LORD over your life:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge and confess that I have not lived my life for YOU to this day, but have been living for myself and in sin and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins just as I forgive others. I need YOU in my life; I want YOU in my life. I recognize the completed work of YOUR only begotten Son JESUS CHRIST in giving HIS life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart JESUS is LORD and that HE was raised from the dead and ask for YOUR forgiveness, which YOU have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, LORD! Take up residence in my heart and be my KING, my LORD, and my SAVIOUR! From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow YOU all the days of my life. Those days are in YOUR hands. I ask this Jesus name. Amen.”
If you have just prayed this prayer, you are now part of GOD’s kingdom and family and I heartily welcome you, my dear brother or sister!
The next thing to do is get a bible and find a church where you can receive further instructions, so that your new life in THE LORD may prosper and that you will become who HE made you to be.
GOD bless you and if you have any questions or need any assistance, please get in touch.
I hope and pray that this will inspire, encourage, deliver, heal and bless you. And that GOD will bless you abundantly in all areas of your life, that HE will keep you and shine HIS face upon you and bring you peace. In JESUS’ name I pray. AMEN.
Ruth mosaic, Church of Hagia Maria Zion-The Dormition Church in Jerusalem
“Then Boaz said, ‘The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance’” (Ruth 4:5).
“Then Boaz said, ‘The day you buy [קָנָה] the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire [קָנָה] Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance’” (Ruth 4:5, ESV).[1] The use of the verb קָנָה in the Book of Ruth is unique to the rest of the OT. Whereas the OT use of קָנָה generally indicates a master-slave acquisitional relationship when used in a human to human interaction, the context of marriage appears only in Ruth.[2] Because the Book of Ruth exemplifies a theology of justification through faith in that a Gentile is grafted into the family of God and ordained to play a role within the fulfillment of the messianic promise,[3] the use of קָנָה in the context of marriage bodes further study.
Strong’s Concordance notes the occurrence of קָנָה once in Ruth 4:4 and twice in Ruth 4:5 to indicate an acquisition, though the text reveals that redemption is actually what is in view.
So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy [קָנָה] it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you.” And he said, “I will redeem it.” Then Boaz said, “The day you buy [קָנָה] the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire [קָנָה] Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance” (Ruth 4:4,5).
Though the terms “redeem” and “acquire” are common in the OT, apart from Ruth their use together is found in only Exodus 15:13-16 and Psalms 74:2, which suggests that these occurrences are used exclusively to convey a redemptive action undertaken by Yahweh on behalf of the children of Israel.[4] The unnamed redeemer’s response in Ruth that he might endanger his own inheritance should he act as the kinsman redeemer, indicates that the use of קָנָה here does not signify Ruth as property to be bought but regarded within the perspective of redemption. What is more, Ruth’s transformation from foreigner to resident is further solidified by virtue of her access to the social regulation of the kinsman redeemer, which would have been unavailable otherwise.[5] Concerning Ruth’s securing marriage with Boaz in chapter 3, “even as Naomi acted in an assertive manner by ordering her daughter-in-law to the threshing floor and pressing for a controversially exogamous but nonetheless lawful marriage.”[6] Therefore, despite the Deuteronomic prohibition against marriage with a Moabite “not even in the tenth generation,” Ruth’s vow to Naomi, and ultimately to God, shows that she is no longer seen as a Moabite, and Boaz’s pledge to Ruth establishes the redemptive context of קָנָה.
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version.
[3] Benjamin Mangrum, “Bringing ‘fullness’ to Naomi: centripetal nationalism in the book of Ruth,” Horizons in Biblical Theology 33, no 1 (2011): 80.
[4] Brad Embry, “’Redemption-acquistion’: the marriage of Ruth as a theological commentary on Yahweh and Yahweh’s people,” Journal of Theological Interpretation 7, no 2 (Fall 2013): 258-59.
It’s one of the most vexing and consequential questions facing Americans today: Why do this nation’s ruling elites seem to be madly in love with China?
Or to put a finer point on it: Why are the political and corporate leaders of America – long the freest, most successful, most prosperous and most Christian nation in history – now in craven submission to a ruthless, communist, totalitarian and explicitly atheistic dictatorship openly committed to ruling the world, including America?
The astonishing answers come into view only when one contemplates both the unprecedented level of political and financial corruption in America’s ruling class, and simultaneously the communist Chinese government’s brilliantly devious methods of unconventional total warfare.
Consider the most recent revelations about China: It intentionally created the COVID-19 virus that has killed almost 7 million worldwide – including over 1 million Americans – in a Wuhan bio-lab, the result of wildly dangerous “gain-of-function” research on bat coronaviruses, literally intended to make the pathogen more lethal to human beings. America’s leadership class perversely spent years covering up China’s complicity in all of this. And in response to the few U.S. voices demanding transparency from China, the communist government there continuously lied, denied, threatened and even launched a propaganda campaign claiming America had created and leaked the deadly virus from a Maryland military base!
And of course, through its controlling influence on the World Health Organization, China largely dictated the disastrous “total lockdown” pandemic response adopted by America at the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, which wreaked total havoc on this nation’s society, business, education, mental health, economy and free exercise of religion. All part of China’s “unconventional total warfare.”
China’s ruling authority, the atheist Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, is that nation’s de facto god, controlling virtually every major aspect of the lives of the almost one-and-a-half billion people living there. For example, the CCP has long dictated the exact number of children couples are permitted to have, imposing its infamous “one-child policy” in 1980, replaced by a “two-child policy” in 2016 and a “three-child policy” in 2021. Enforcement has been brutal, including forced abortions, sterilization and fines, and the policies have resulted in a horrendous epidemic of female infanticide, especially in rural areas.
But that’s just the beginning. China forces entire minority populations, like the Uyghur Muslims, into slave-labor concentration camps. Even worse, it routinely harvests organs from them and other innocent people it regards as expendable commodities. In 2019, the China Tribunal – an independent, London-based panel of international legal and medical experts – determined conclusively that China’s communist government for decades had been systematically killing prisoners of conscience, especially Falun Gong practitioners and Muslims, in order to harvest their organs and sell them. That’s capitalism, China-style.
Multiple credible eyewitness reports confirm that women in these large slave-labor camps – which Chinese communist authorities call “re-education camps” – are routinely raped, tortured, forcibly sterilized, and forced to sing patriotic communist songs.
As Amelia Pang, author of “Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America’s Cheap Goods,” told the New York Post: “Rape is pretty standard in forced labor camps. The goal is to brainwash prisoners into being patriotic and extremely aligned with the Chinese state.”
And Kuzzat Altay, CEO of international software-coding outfit Cydeo and an activist dedicated to exposing China’s human-rights abuses, saw his own father imprisoned in one of China’s camps for two years. He confirms that “Organ harvesting is normal in the Chinese Communist Party. They are known for this.” As an example, he explained to the Post, “There are some rich Middle Eastern clients who want Muslim kidneys,” since they are free of alcohol and pork. “So Uyghur people were having their kidneys taken.”
This is clearly nothing short of Hitlerian for the people of China.
But, beyond providing really cheap goods for Americans, plus cheap outsourced labor and more than a billion potential Chinese consumers for American companies like Disney, how does all of this impact the United States?
In every way imaginable – almost all very bad.
For decades, China has been plundering America – massively stealing her intellectual property and technology at every opportunity; embedding spies in the U.S. government, including in the halls of Congress; buying up American farmland, especially acreage near sensitive military installations; infiltrating the nation’s universities in multiple ways, from planting communist professors to making generous “endowments”; and in general buying influence in every way possible.
Truly, China’s infiltration and ongoing de facto colonization of America has a thousand faces.
One of those many faces is China’s wildly popular social media app TikTok, with over 70 million monthly active users within the United States, most of them young. Not only has TikTok been exposed as a secret surveillance tool for the CCP, enabling it to gather personal data on tens of millions of American young people, but it is also – as the popular Twitter account “Libs of TikTok” has documented – heavily populated with LGBT recruiters and groomers, seducing America’s teens into “changing their gender” and encouraging them to undergo horrifying surgical mutilations. Interestingly, none of these sorts of videos are allowed on the Chinese version of TikTok viewed by young people in that country. The CCP wants its nation’s next generation to be good patriotic communists, and has no interest in seducing China’s future leaders into “identifying as” another gender or fretting over which pronoun they should force everyone else to use for them.
Another face of the CCP’s stealth war on America’s youth is its partnership with the Mexican criminal drug cartels in flooding America with fentanyl, the No. 1 killer of younger Americans aged 18 to 45. As Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., recently wrote: “It’s estimated China is responsible for over 90 percent of illicit fentanyl found in the United States. We simply cannot allow the lethal fentanyl engine in China to run while communities across America’s heartland are being torn apart.”
With China engaged in this long-term, multifaceted, unconventional war on America – why does the U.S. government under Joe Biden’s leadership, along with much of corporate America, bow and scrape before China?
The shocking answers are spelled out and stunningly documented in the March 2023 issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled “HOW CHINA IS CONQUERING AMERICA.”
* “The China worshippers: Why America’s elites love, fear and serve a brutal, godless, communist dictatorship” by David Kupelian
* “Bidens got $31 million from China intelligence-linked sources” reveals investigative journalist Peter Schweizer, who says: ‘I don’t know of a time in American history where the first family has had this kind of financial bond with a foreign intelligence service’” by Bob Unruh
* “2 out of 3 voters believe Biden is ‘compromised’ by communist China, poll says”
* “Fearless Chinese virologist insists COVID-19 was ‘intentionally released’ on the world: Dr. Li Meng Yan says, ‘Of course it was not an accident’” by Bob Unruh
* “Fauci admits, in court deposition, that China convinced him to push disastrous U.S. lockdowns” by Art Moore
* “Army chief: If ‘major war’ breaks out, China will attack the U.S. homeland”
* “’War is on the way:’ Warning after Hawaii gets lasered. ‘They could have come from only one source’” by Bob Unruh
* “Pompeo: Biden administration’s compromising ties to China run far deeper than Joe: ‘I think we’re only beginning to pull the threads’” by Art Moore
* “The ChiCom colonization of America: Leaders in both parties are guilty for communist property purchases through visa scam” by Michelle Malkin
* “The madness of ‘political correctness’ was made in China” by David Kupelian
* “The trial balloon fiasco: China’s provocative action and Biden’s pathetically weak reaction – what it really means” by Oliver North
* “Expert warns Congress: China’s ‘organ harvesting’ is killing 50,000 people every year: Young people in their 20s disappearing as that’s the ‘exact stage’ of development executioners want” by Bob Unruh
* “Modern warfare: China aims to use A.I. to ‘control the enemy’s will’: Targeting president and members of Congress as well as citizens” by Art Moore
* “Biden sued for illegally handing power to China-dominated World Health Organization: States accuse administration of unlawful delegation of emergency declaration” by Jennie Taer
* “China and Russia’s emerging alliance disastrous for America: Tucker Carlson blames Joe Biden’s ‘reckless and self-destructive’ handling of Ukraine war” by Harold Hutchison
* “How China resembles Nazi Germany pre-aggression: And how ‘the deeply unserious leadership of the West’ invites that aggression” by Ben Shapiro
* “Senate bill would ban CCP-linked corporations from owning American farmland: ‘Undermines integrity of our nation’s food supply chain’” by Peter LaBarbera
* “New bill would let fentanyl victims’ families sue Chinese Communists: ‘The leading killer of adults fit for military service’” by Peter LaBarbera
* “China’s ‘cold war’ on American kids – which we’re allowing: How Beijing’s TikTok is fueling gender confusion and cultural upheaval throughout the U.S.” by David McQuade
* “China and the Great Reset” by David Kupelian
Commented bestselling author and longtime Whistleblower Editor David Kupelian, “Americans are witnessing the largest-scale political corruption in U.S. history, with Chinese money bribing not only the spectacularly corrupt Biden family, but countless other U.S. politicians of both parties.
“But it goes beyond just rampant greed and corruption,” added Kupelian: “The far Left now running the U.S. government is totalitarian, Orwellian, anti-God, anti-Constitution and anti-American. They hate this nation’s history and they hate the religion that gave America its morality, dignity and unparalleled success. They crave power, wealth, privilege and glory for themselves in perpetuity. They love abortion. They crave increasing control over every aspect of people’s lives – including how they think – and deploy their ideology as a weapon to coerce and shame the population into conforming out of fear and a desire for acceptance. Those who don’t comply, or are too different, are treated as ‘extremists,’ ‘criminals’ and ‘terrorists,’ and are often locked up.
Public health authorities are investigating an outbreak of bacterial infections across the United States caused by over-the-counter eyedrops contaminated with a rare “extensively drug-resistant” bacterial superbug.
At least 68 patients in 16 states are suffering from severe side effects after using Artificial Tear eyedrops that were infected with a rare strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday.
Last month, Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops, a product used to lubricate dry eyes, was recalled by its manufacturer Global Pharma Healthcare. The drops were distributed by EzriCare and Delsam Pharma and sold at drug stores nationwide, including CVS, Walmart, Target, and Amazon.
The CDC advised people who have developed eye infections after using EzriCare Artificial Tears to seek medical attention. The symptoms include discharge from the eye, eye pain, and increased sensitivity to light.
In response to the CDC’s advisory, the eye drops manufacturer recalled the product.
EzriCare is manufactured by Global Pharma Healthcare, an Indian Company Global Pharma Healthcare, a pharmaceutical company based in Tamilnadu, India, manufactures EzriCare Artificial Tears.
The private limited company was incorporated on 16th June 1986. Global Pharma Healthcare’s directors are Juma Venkatesh, Balakrishnan Rajendran, and Manickam Kamalakannan.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria resistant to standard antibiotics, is commonly linked to outbreaks in hospitals in India, where Global Pharma Healthcare is based. The bacteria is known to spread through contaminated hands or medical equipment.
Patients who are noticing symptoms of an eye infection must get medical care “immediately,” the CDC warns.
Symptoms of an eye infection include, “yellow, green, or clear discharge from the eye, eye pain or discomfort, redness of the eye or eyelid, feeling of something in your eye (foreign body sensation), Increased sensitivity to light, Blurry vision,” the government agency notes.
The CDC initially warned the public to stop using EzriCare Artificial Tears and Desalm Pharma’s Artificial Tears and Ointment in January after bottles used by infected patients were found to contain the lethal bacteria.
States where patients are experiencing infections after using the drops include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Three people reportedly died after using Artificial eyedrops infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
At least eight individuals who used the bacteria-laced eyedrops lost their vision while four individuals required surgery to remove their eyes.
Clara Oliva, a 68-year-old who is now registered as legally blind, had her right eye removed in September allegedly and replaced with a plastic implant after using EzriCare Artificial Tears, Daily Mail reports. Oliva is suing Global Pharma Healthcare over the irreparable damages.
‘Given the severity of the infection in Mrs. Oliva’s right eye, the exhaustion of treatment methods, and the risk of the infection spreading systematically creating a life-threatening condition, it was determined that an enucleation of Mrs. Oliva’s right eye was the best option to control the severe antibiotic-resistant infection,’ the suit states. “On September 1, 2022, Mrs. Oliva’s right eye was surgically removed and replaced with a plastic implant. Given her decreased visual acuity of 20/200 in her remaining left eye, Mrs. Oliva is now legally blind.”
In another case, a 72-year-old woman’s left eye began to change appearance before she lost vision after using EzriCare artificial tears for about a week, according to a case study published by JAMA Opthalmology. Doctors discovered she developed a larger ulcer on her left cornea.
“She started noticing some blurry vision in her left eye for a few days,” explained Dr. Ahmed Omar, an ophthalmologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, who treated the woman. “It was initially painless, but according to the patient and her husband, one morning she woke up and she had a yellow discharge on her pillow.”
Many people have wondered how much of Jesus Revolution actually happened in real life. The truth may surprise you! While some of the events of the film were condensed, altered, or rearranged for the sake of storytelling, most of what you see on screen is based in true-to-life happenings.
The Characters in the Story
Let’s start with the characters in the story. In my opinion, each of the actors was very well cast. Of course, Joel Courtney, who plays me in the film, is more handsome than I ever was, but I’m not complaining. Here are some side-by-side photos of the characters with their real-life counterparts:
Was the Jesus Revolution a Real Christian Revival? Or Was it Hyped Up for the Big Screen?
In the film, Greg asks whether the spiritual things he was seeing and experiencing were real, afraid that they were going to dry up and leave him unsatisfied like so many other things that had let him down in life.
In both the film and in real life, the Jesus Revolution proved to be a true and lasting revival—a movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of thousands. At the epicenter of the movement was Chuck Smith’s church, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, because Chuck was bold enough to welcome in hippies like Lonnie Frisbee and feed them God’s Word. His church, which had been dwindling in attendance, exploded with new members of all ages to the point where Chuck had to rent a giant tent to contain all of the people who were coming to hear God’s words of life. The ripple effect of lives changed traveled throughout Southern California and far beyond. Many of the young men and women who came to know Christ in those days later began their own churches and ministries, perpetuating the effects of the Jesus Movement for decades.
Did Lonnie Frisbee Really Lead Me to Faith?
Yes, he did. I was going to school at Harbor High, and one day at lunchtime, I found myself on the outskirts of an outdoor meeting of the Jesus Freaks, as people called them. The Christians at the school had gathered together to sing and talk about God. I sat and I watched them, and I had to admit they appeared pretty happy. They looked to me like they had something that was real. I knew they weren’t doing drugs because I knew a couple of them. While I was watching from a safe distance, I tried a new thought on for size. “What if these Christians are right? What if this is all true?”
Then Lonnie Frisbee stood up. He wasn’t a student. He was from off campus. And he was a hippie from head to toe. As he stood up to speak, my first impression was, “Well, this dude looks just like Jesus.” He started speaking and there was a winsomeness, a down-to-earth quality about Lonnie, and a humor that really drew me in. I was riveted by what he had to say.
One statement that he made really hit home for me. He said, “Jesus said, ‘You’re either for Me or against Me.” Then Lonnie invited kids to walk forward and pray and accept Christ. This was on the front lawn of a high school campus at lunchtime. And sure enough, a few kids got up and walked forward. I thought, “Wow, I could never do that.” But the next thing I knew, I was there. I had walked forward, and was praying a prayer with Lonnie.
That was the day that Christ came into my life. That was the day that I passed from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God.
The Jesus Revolution film sort of portrays the day of my baptism as the time when I made my decision, and that was certainly an important event for me spiritually, but that day on my high school campus was the day that Christ came to take residence in my heart and life. And it was through a preacher named Lonnie Frisbee.
Was Chuck Smith Really Against Hippies at One Time?
Yes. Chuck really didn’t want anything to do with them because he thought, “These kids need to get a job. They need to get a haircut.” Or as Kelsey Grammer says in the film, “What they need is a bath.” But Chuck’s wife, Kay, had a heart for these kids and wanted to see them reached with the gospel.
In fact, I didn’t realize this until much later, but Kay used to pray for a group of kids that would walk in front of her house every day. As it turns out, I was one of those kids. We used to go over to my friend’s house, who lived right around the corner from where Chuck and Kay lived. I was not aware of the Smiths at the time, but it turns out Kay was praying for me before we ever even met.
Just like in the film, Chuck and Kay’s daughter brought home a hippie. It wasn’t Lonnie Frisbee, like in the movie. It was a man named John Higgins. But John introduced the Smiths to Lonnie, and Chuck’s perspective about hippies quickly changed as a result.
Did Cathe and I Have a Big Argument, Like in the Movie?
Absolutely. In fact, we had several major disagreements. We broke up and got back together three different times in our dating days, saying things like, “I never want to talk to you again.” I’ve written all the details of our relationship in this post: Greg & Cathe: A Hippie Love Story.
Did Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee Really Part Ways?
Yes, just as depicted in the film, Lonnie went to Florida after his time at Calvary Chapel, while Chuck stayed and continued his study and proclamation of the Bible. I’ve written all about Lonnie’s life here: The Long Strange Trip of Lonnie Frisbee.
Do You Really Think That a Similar Jesus Revolution Could Happen Again?
I really do think it’s time for another Jesus Revolution. Not long before Chuck Smith passed away in 2013, I was able to sit down with him and talk about some things. One of the questions I asked him was whether he thought we would ever see another Jesus Movement.
“I don’t know, Greg,” he said. “I don’t know if we are desperate enough.”
Like the Prodigal Son who had to hit rock bottom before realizing his sin and turning back to his father, a sense of desperation is often the catalyst that is needed for repentance. When we’ve tried everything else and nothing satisfies, we finally become open to listening to what God has to say. And that’s when He can really get to work.
In the almost 10 years that have elapsed since I asked Chuck that question, I would say that the desperation level of our nation—and the world—has increased dramatically. The similarities between the hippie generation of yesterday and lost generations of today are many. I am praying that we will experience at least one more great awakening before the return of Christ.
What Else You Should Know
The Jon Erwin/Brent McCorkle directed film was created to encourage a lost world to turn to Christ, using the story of a true movement.
It tells of a young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) being raised by his struggling mother, Charlene (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) in the 1970s. Laurie and a sea of young people descend on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Inadvertently, Laurie meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher, and Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), who have thrown open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to a stream of wandering youth.
For some of us, it might seem ridiculous to say that truth does not exist, because we have simply assumed the reality and existence of ‘truth’ since we were very small. But others out there have struggled with the idea that there can be singular, exclusive truth in all areas of life, and if you ask your friends to talk about issues of faith, you will quickly discover that few of them are able to agree on a singular, objective truth. In fact, many of us have come to the conclusion that there is no one truth about anything. And when we say that nothing is objectively ‘right’ or ‘true’, we are actually saying that EVERYTHING is ‘right’ and ‘true’! If no one particular idea or reality is true to the exclusion of others that are NOT true, then we have to admit that every idea, notion or reality is equally valid and ‘true’. Something in our intuition tells us that this simply cannot be the case.
Now we may disagree on the nature of truth at the spiritual level, but it’s hard to deny objective truths at the physical level. As I step out into the street, it’s either true or untrue that there are cars racing back and forth in front of me. I make a decision to step out based on the truth that I observe and recognize. If the street is busy with cars speeding back and forth, it is not both true and untrue that I can safely step into traffic. If I do step out, I will not be both dead and ‘un-dead’ as a result of the truth of the situation. The street is either filled with cars or it is not. It is either safe to cross or it is not. BOTH realities cannot exist at the same time. One truth must exist at the exclusion of the other.
Let’s put it another way. As I leave the restaurant tonight and enter the restaurant parking lot, I will need to find my way back to my car. While there may be other similar vehicles in the parking lot, only one of them is mine; only one of them belongs to me. My key will only fit in one door. If I am caught trying to break into a similar car, I will not be able to tell the police that this other vehicle is both mine and not mine. There is a singular exclusive truth about the car involved here. It is either mine or it is not!
But while exclusive truth seems rational and acceptable in the material world, some people have a much harder time accepting the possibility of objective, exclusive truth when it comes to spiritual matters. For these folks, there exist any number of diverse and divergent truths about God and even more possible paths to this God, all of which are said to be true at the same time! But it’s important for us to take a deep look at this claim of diversity and religious pluralism. We need to remember that the world’s greatest (and even not so great) religions don’t make the same claims about God and the nature spiritual reality. And it’s not just a matter of each religion adding something to the larger picture. Each of the world’s religious systems makes claims about the nature of God (and life after death) that are diametrically OPPOSED! The world’s religions simply don’t agree with each other! Buddhism claims that there is no personal God, while Christianity argues that there is a personal God. Judaism claims that Jesus was simply a man, while Christianity claims that he was God Himself! Islam encourages its followers to eliminate and destroy all infidels, while biblical Christianity encourages its followers to love their enemies. These notions are very different and very opposed and they are only a few examples of the literally thousands of points at which world religions disagree. It is fair to say that ALL of these world religions may be wrong about what they believe (each system must make its own case), but it is simply crazy to say that all of the world’s religions are correct at the same time; their truth claims are opposed to one another! In spite of this obvious conflict in spiritual truths (or perhaps because of this conflict), the world around us is making a couple of claims about the nature of truth.
Truth Does Not Exist First, the world tries to tell us that objective, objective truth simply does not exist. This is an ‘ontological’ issue. ‘Ontology’ relates to the nature or essence of ‘being’. The claim here is that ALL truth is ‘perspectival’ in nature. In other words, all truth depends on your perspective! What may be true for one person may not be true for another; it really simply depends on your point of view.
Truth Cannot Be Known Secondly, the world around us is also making the claim that even if objective, objective truth does exist, we could never know with certainty what that truth is. This is an ‘epistemological’ issue. Epistemology relates to the nature of ‘knowing’ or being able to know something. The claim here is that we simply cannot trust our human mental faculties to tell us what we need to know to come to a conclusion about any truth we are examining.
For many great philosophical thinkers in history, understanding truth is elusive enterprise based on both its nature and our ability to comprehend it in the first place. But let’s take a close look at both of these concerns about truth. To say that truth does not exist is to simply make yet another truth claim and this nullifies any claim against the existence of truth, does it not? And to claim that all truth is ‘perspectival’ in nature is to once again make a claim that you want others to believe is NOT simply coming from your own perspective. When someone says that all truth depends on your point of view, they want us to believe that this statement is true and not simply their point of view! See the problem? And to say that we simply cannot know the truth, even if it exists objectively, is to once again make a self-refuting claim. How can we know that we cannot know? If certainty is impossible, then how can we be certain that certainty is impossible? Are you starting to understand the silliness of all of this?
Truth is rather brutish in the way that it imposes itself on our lives. It’s like a safe dropping from a ten-story building; we either step aside or get crushed. While we may not know all that can be known about something, and while we may all have a distinct perspective about an issue, to deny the existence of truth or the sufficiency of our own knowledge of truth is to begin a series of silly mental experiments. At the end of the day, if we look up and see the safe falling, we are probably going to find ourselves stepping out of the way.
Now not everyone takes this rather common sense approach to truth. Great philosophers through the ages have at times also been great skeptics:
Andre Gide “Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.”
Molly Ivins “I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth”
Albert Einstein “Truth is what stands the test of experience”
Buddha “Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books, believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.”
So how did we get to this place in our world where so many great thinkers distrust anything that is claimed as truth? How did we get to the point where we trust nothing and, at the same time, embrace everything? Let me tell you about my grandmother. She never had any doubt that there was a singular truth. She grew up in Naples, Italy and spent her early life in a world of common dreams, common values, common faith, common enemies, common holidays, and common lives. In a place like this, everyone agrees on what is true and what is a lie, at least when it comes to the major worldview issues. But my grandmother eventually migrated to the world’s greatest experiment in multi-culturalism: the United States. There is no other country in the history of mankind that has tried to blend so many different people with so many different backgrounds. Here, my grandmother had to confront the realization that there is more than one way to consider the world. She found herself in a place where few people agreed about ANYTHING. But she learned quickly that disagreeing about truth is not the same as believing that there simply is no truth to argue about; disagreeing about the truth does not mean that truth cannot be known.
How can we, as individuals, trust that the knowledge we hold is actually true? What is ‘knowledge’ in the first place and how is ‘knowledge’ related to ‘belief’? Well, philosophers have been thinking about this for some time and the traditional analysis of knowledge is usually described in the following way:
Knowledge = Properly Justified True Belief
Now, what exactly does this mean? It’s important for you and I to understand this simple little equation because our knowledge of ALL things (including our knowledge of spiritual matters) comes down to whether or not we hold properly justified true beliefs. So, let’s examine the definition more precisely, starting backwards from the definition of ‘Belief’ to the definition of ‘Knowledge’:
‘Belief’ Let’s face it; you can’t ‘know’ something unless you ‘believe’ it. I can’t ‘know’ that there is a God unless I believe that God exists. But my belief is simply not enough; it is insufficient. You and I can both believe things that are simply untrue. It is possible for us to have false beliefs. And people who believe something that is false often think that they KNOW it. But there is a difference between ‘believing’ and ‘knowing’ in this context. You may ‘believe’ something that is false, but you can’t genuinely ‘know’ something that is false. Now think about this for a minute. We may ‘know’ OF something that is false, but what we ‘know’ is that it IS false! To actually ‘know’ something is to ‘know’ that it is TRUE. And you and I can’t actually ‘know’ something to be true unless it actually IS true. In other words, we can’t ‘know’ something unless it is NOT false.
‘True’ Most of us like to think that we hold the truth, yet when someone presses us to define what truth is, we might have a hard time trying to define it. How do we determine when something is true? Over the centuries a number of theories have emerged related to assessing, apprehending and understanding truth:
The Pragmatic Theory of Truth One notion of truth is called the pragmatic theory of truth. It argues that the truth is simply what ‘works’. How many times have you heard someone say, “Your Christianity may work great for you, but it doesn’t work for me”? This approach to truth is very practical, if nothing else! If a claim doesn’t work, it’s simply not true. But what about realties like ‘death’? Death is not practical (it doesn’t ‘work’ for me), yet it is definitely true! And what about things that are definitely not true, but are practical and useful like say, a ‘successful lie’? While a little white lie might ‘work’ for me and help me out of a jam, it’s doesn’t make the lie TRUE, does it? While the Pragmatic Theory may be practical and useful at times, it will not lead us to truth.
The Empiricist Theory of Truth The empiricist theory of truth says that the truth is whatever can be sensed using the five senses. Experience is the main factor in understanding and apprehending truth. How many times have you heard someone say, “I know it is true because I experienced it myself!”? While this may seem convincing at first, this theory of truth also falls short of the mark. Think about it: some of us will taste an orange and say that it is sweet, while others will taste the same orange and say it is bitter. Who is telling the truth? Sensory experience is too personal to be trustworthy!
The Emotivist Theory of Truth The emotivist theory of truth says that the truth is based on what we feel! How many times have you leaned on feelings to figure out if something was true? At the same time, however, how many times have you struggled to convince yourself that what you are feeling isn’t really true, just the way you feel on that particular day? We all know people who hold irrational fears, and these feelings are not the best indicator of what is true! And what if I show you a handful of paperclips and make the claim, “This is a handful of paperclips”? How are your feelings going to assist you in determining if my claim is true? You aren’t really going to feel one way or the other about the clips, but it will still be true that I am holding paperclips! And people have relied on their feelings to follow Jim Jones, to sleep with a sex partner who later dumped them, to make an impulsive purchase. In each and every case, feelings fail to provide an objective measurement for truth! Like the first two theories, this theory is not a great way to assess truth claims!
The Correspondence Theory of Truth This classic definition of truth is the theory that you and I use on a daily basis, whether we even know it or not. Let me describe it in Aristotelian language: If you say “Something is,” and it is, or “It is not,” and it is not, then you speak truth. If you say “It is,” and it is not, or “It is not,” and it is, then you don’t speak truth. This is called correspondence, in other words, a thing is true if and only if it actually corresponds to what is really there. As an example, if I claim that there is a chair in the next room, that claim is true if and only if I enter the room and find that there is a chair in the room! The claim corresponds to the reality of the situation.
Just as belief alone is insufficient in determining if what I believe is true, belief and truth are insufficient in determining whether or not I truly ‘know’ something. In other words, I can believe something and my belief can be true, but I may still not actually ‘know’ the thing believed. Are you scratching your head? Let me explain. Let’s say that I think up the idea right now that Tiger Woods is playing golf. I work hard to convince myself that this is in fact the case, and as a result I now ‘believe’ it. Now imagine that by sheer coincidence, Tiger Woods is actually playing golf at this very minute. I have a belief, don’t I? And my belief just happens to be true, isn’t it? But there’s one problem; I have no EVIDENCE that my belief is true. I have no confirmation of my belief either physically or even psychically, for that matter! I just got lucky; it was a complete coincidence.
From a classic philosophical perspective, I do not possess real ‘knowledge’. Philosophers require more than luck or coincidence here. According to philosophers, real knowledge requires that there be an evidential connection between my ‘affirming’ something to be true, and the ‘reality’ of whether it actually IS true. Does that make sense? Knowledge is not just true belief; it is ‘properly justified’ true belief. If I had actually been watching Tiger Woods play golf live on television, my beliefs about her would have been properly justified. Do you get it?
‘Properly Justified’ OK, so what kind of justification is sufficient to establish a truth as ‘properly justified’? What exactly do we need? We all want to be reasonable and rational people who hold reasonable and rational beliefs. And we all recognize that reason can lead us and connect us to truth. So, the real question is, “What is required for us to have ‘reasonable justification’?” Well, our daily life and our experience with the criminal court system in our country can help us understand the answer here. It is something that I call, “evidential sufficiency”:
Evidential Sufficiency Begin by understanding that every time you accept a new belief, you are going to have to jettison any old beliefs that contradict the new position. So here is the standard of ‘evidential sufficiency’ in a nutshell:
Only accept a new belief if the evidence to support its truth far outweighs the evidence that exists to support the prior belief.
It’s really as simple as that. This is the standard that exists in the courtroom. We begin with the presumption that the accused is INNOCENT. This is the first belief that we are to hold until there is sufficient evidence to jettison that belief and find the accused GUILTY of the crime.
Sufficiency of evidence doesn’t really have much to do with the QUANTITY of the evidence offered, but instead is more concerned with the QUALITY of the evidence. So, for example, I might hold the properly justified true belief (‘PJTB’) that Tiger Woods golfed today based on a single piece of evidence: I actually golfed with him! This one piece of evidence (my eyewitness experience) would be sufficient for me to hold to this PJTB. On the other hand, I could still hold this PJTB even if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. If he was gone for three hours, came back carrying a set of golf clubs, got a phone call from the club saying that he left his sunglasses on hole number four, and presented me with his score card, I would have sufficient circumstantial evidence to hold the PJTB that he was golfing today. Sometimes one piece of direct physical evidence is enough (like my eyewitness observation) and sometimes a cumulative circumstantial case is required.
So, now that we have defined the elements of our equation, let’s revisit it one last time. Knowledge is properly justified true belief. In other words, knowledge is belief that corresponds to reality in a way that is evidentially sufficient. Based on our discussion so far, it should be clear that (1) truth exists, and (2) truth can be sufficiently know.
Remember that unless truth exists and can be known, no statement about truth has any value. We’ve made a good philosophical case for truth, and it just so happens that Jesus himself affirmed that truth exists and that truth could be found. Let’s take a look at a few examples from the scripture:
John 17:15-19 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
God wants you to realize that people are inclined to question the truth, and even the truth about truth! God is not surprised that we do this, but he rejoices when we finally understand that there is an objective truth about all things, including spiritual matters:
2 Timothy 4:2-5 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
3 John 1-4 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
I can remember when I was in college and watched a teacher challenge a lone Christian in our class. The discussion on philosophy and faith systems turned to the issue of Christianity and objective truth and the teacher began to question the Christian about his beliefs. He accused the young man of being an arrogant, judgmental bigot. How could this young man claim that HIS truth was the only truth? The teacher claimed that truth was personal and changes according to the holder.
But of course to make this very claim is a complete contradiction. When you say there is no singular objective truth, you are making a claim of objective truth. You are, in essence, saying “I claim objectively that there is no objective truth!” of course this teacher is living in a world of objective truths, whether he wants to admit it or not! He required us to be there, sitting in his classroom, on time every day! For him, there was definitely an objective truth about the starting time, and if you were just a little late, you would pay for it! And this same teacher required us to read a text book. Not any book, but the true book that he truly assigned! And we had to take tests. Many of these were true and false tests! How can you take those kinds of tests if there is no objectively true answer? Finally, the very existence of this teacher was the result of a set of objective truths that can be found in his DNA chain! The color of his eyes, the color of his hair, his sex and an incredible number of other objective truths were (and still are) based on objective truths about his DNA sequencing! If you were to ask this chap if he had ever made a mistake in his entire life, I’ll bet he would say, “of course!” but that presumes that there is a truthful measuring stick that can be compared to his behavior! If there is no truth, then no one can make a mistake!
This teacher would tell us that it was impossible to find and know the truth, but that was only because he really didn’t WANT to dig all that hard. See, the truth is not always as easy as 2+2=4. Sometimes it has to be uncovered and considered and discovered like e=mc2. It takes time. It takes desire, but most of all, it takes an understanding that there is a truth and it can be found. If Einstein did not truly believe this, he would have stopped thinking about the theory of relativity long before he ever got started.
Sometimes the real problem is that we are asking the wrong question to begin with. That’s why we’re not able to realize and demonstrate the objective truth. An old professor of mine told me about a dispute he was called to settle between a professor friend and a student. In an examination, the professor asked a simple question. “If I led you to a tall tower, and asked you to take a barometer to the top of the tower, how would you use the barometer to tell me how tall the tower is?” The teacher was looking for a specific answer that would utilize the barometer to measure atmospheric pressure at ground level and the top of the tower, and then develop the distance between these two points. But the student was a bit creative (and obstinate) and he gave a variety of answers that did not utilize the barometer as he had hoped. In each solution, the student used the barometer creatively as a pendulum, and object to measure gravity, as a tool for comparing shadow ratios, and as a simple bribe for someone who actually knows the height of the building! All of these ways led to the truth of the building height, but none uncovered the truth that the professor was looking for. Why? Primarily because the professor was asking the right question in the wrong way! He wasn’t SPECIFIC enough in his search for the truth from his student, and as a result, he got a number of answers to the question, without ever getting the answer he was looking for.
In a similar way, we are sometimes unspecific in our search for answers; sometimes we ask the wrong spiritual questions! If the question is simply how I can find happiness, or satisfaction, or purpose, well there are a number of ways I can do that (although most of them are very temporary). There may be many ways (many spiritual paths) that I can take in an effort to be happy or satisfied, but these goals are not specific enough. I’m asking some good questions (just like the professor) but they are not pointed enough. Happiness and satisfaction are secondary questions to a much more important question; what is the truth about the existence and nature of God? Personally, I am not interested in simple happiness and satisfaction. I am interested in the objective, objective truth about God, because only this truth has long term significance.
A friend of mine recently purchased a new telescope in preparation for the recent location of mars in the northern hemisphere. There was a particular Wednesday when Mars was closer to earth than it had been (or will be again) for another 550 years. On that one day opportunity, he set up his telescope but discovered that he could NOT see Mars much better than he could a month prior with his old telescope! Why? Because he was wrong about the date of the sighting and was incorrect by exactly one YEAR! Holding true to the wrong information with sincerity, he made a sincere effort to see the red planet, but was sincerely wrong about the timing. All truths are not equal. Only one true Wednesday could reveal Mars in its nearest proximity. In a similar manner, the nature of truth is such that only one true notion of God will reveal Him to you and I today.
The reality is that the truth is not a matter of personal choice, and it’s comforting to know that what you discover is true today, will still be true tomorrow. But, there’s a reason why people want to deny there is an objective truth…
John 3:19-21 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Jesus had to deal with people who did not believe there was an objective truth. These kinds of people have existed from the beginning of time, although there are definitely more of us who embrace relativism today than in generations past! How do we answer those among us who are questioning the loving nature of God? How can he be loving yet so narrow minded as to limit us to only one way to know Him? Isn’t that unloving and unfair?
But if you look at the history of our relationship with God, you will see that he has actually given us a huge number of opportunities! Just recall the history. We rejected His gracious offer in the Garden, his Covenant agreement through Abraham, his guidance through the laws of Moses, his messages as delivered by the prophets, and then finally his own son. In light of all the ways that we have rejected him, the question should not be, “Why is there just one way?” but instead, “Why is there ANY way?”
Many of you are still battling with the idea that there could only be one true God and one way to get to him. Why do you think that is so? Is it because it doesn’t seem fair to us, in spite of the truth of our history with God? Or is it because we still want control? Let’s pray about these things and ask God to help us understand His mercy and the fact that He is so patient with us, and ask God to help us learn to trust Him for the truth.
Now let’s go out and live our lives differently. Let’s accept the reality that there IS a singular truth about the nature of God, so we can truly begin to search for it. Then, let’s earnestly begin the search. If we are unwilling to even accept the premise that there IS an objective truth, we will never begin the search that will eventually lead us to God. Let’s live above the lies that truth does not exist or cannot be known. Let’s begin the search for truth today.
NarrowPathMinistries 
