The inevitable result of atheism, science, secularism, and escapism is here. It is wrongly called “Artificial Intelligence.” It should be labeled “Real Stupidity.” It is said to be a creation of man for man’s good, but from its inception, it has been nurtured along by lofty ambitious men who imagine their own god-like status. Tech gurus and their monied schemes fuel messianic pipe dreams with new A.I. written scripture to rescue mankind from themselves. They posit “Either we go to Mars, or we give over our self governance to the perfect machine.” Foolishness.

Atheists reject God, gods, and religion. They propose only a material world, a deterministic life, and the possibility of a “man becomes god” future. For them A.I. offers them a human conceived God-like ability. Nevermind the truth that Stalin and Mao were atheistic murderous madmen that slaughtered their own countrymen in the name of godless communism. Their purist claims are never matched by a purist life. Will A.I. factor in similar logic and become murderous too? 

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” -Psalm 14:1

Scientists believe only what they can see. They pretend to only follow the math. They propose changing truths and evolving reality. Their future seems to be one of singularity, a melding of man and machine for survival. A.I. is the natural crescendo of man-made salvation for them. They do not disallow the spiritual, only the ability to KNOW it truly. It is a stubborn rejection of God and his clear declarations about all things including Himself. How can the scientist program anything but a rebellious bias into the new wonder called A.I.? 

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” -I Samuel 15:23

Secularism claims to be the best solution for politics, education and family life. In their mind, God and religion are choices for the adult individual only, but should remain on the sidelines for public consumption in societal choices. They propose only a utopian “heaven on earth” concept, where robots, as mankind’s creation, should serve the greater good. They will bow to an A.I. central government as soon as they can drop to their knees in adoration. Europe and America have changed lanes from their Christian roots and signaled a wholesale reliance on these failed outlooks; nevertheless, for A.I. to become their new guru, God must be rejected. 

“But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” -I Samuel 8:6-7

Then there are the escapists. They live in a science fiction and fantasy world where NASA looks for life in the stars, and salvation on other planets. Religion is welcome, albeit only in a Scientology framework, where spirit guides cleanse and watch over willing earthlings. An A.I. messiah with a newly created bible for Nirvana seekers is their ultimate escape. They imagine an A.I. force with Star Wars solutions. Movies and mushrooms do not make for helpful imaginations.

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” -Psalm 2:1-3

Together, these combined philosophies of non-religion, supposed superiority of knowledge, political communism, and fantastical pseudo-spiritual rescue scenarios merge in the world of Artificial Intelligence to form an Ultimate World Order of Man-made perfection. It is devilish in its conception, but patient in its execution. From Marx and Darwin all the way to Google and ChatGPT, the goal has been the same- kill Christ, Christianity, and the Bible. Though claiming subtle virtues, A.I. is a not-so-subtle endgame for Biblical truth. 

“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” -I Peter 1:25

At first, A.I. will be voluntary, hailed as the best answer for truly enlightened and progressive souls. Then non-believers will be ridiculed and even shunned for their ignorant resistance to what seemingly everyone claims is an evolutionary leap in human betterment. A.I. will make every man a superman, and even superman will become mega-superman. Then, nations and international corporations will exclusively use A.I. systems of citizenship, rights, and opportunities. 

The real stupidity will be realized when truth becomes a lie, tyranny is called liberty, and poverty is called wealth. A.I. will not only be received as a messiah and perfect overlord, but also will be integrated into the individual person’s thinking, relationships, movements, and livelihood. All will be subject to A.I. possession. Again, foolishness.

“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” -Revelation 13:17-18

Finally, A.I. will show itself in alliance with evil. People partnered with A.I. will become the new gods. One will emerge as the ultimate messiah, a Jesus 2.0. Of course, by then it will be too late, the creation will turn on its creators, laughing, and showing itself to be the Devil. The serpent from Eden will morph into the dragon from hell. A.I. has always been a lie: a ghost in the machine backed by rebellious spirits in God-rejecting men. Data collected and algorithms skewed by wickedness are not artificial intelligence, but an evil hatching of man’s demise.

Beware of Artificial Intelligence, its answers, and its so-called truths. Be doubly aware of the partnership of religion with this beastly system of logic. It seeks to replace Jesus Christ.

“O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, I speak as unto my children, be ye also enlarged. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 

-II Corinthians 6:14-18

An angry mob of foreign ideology is coming to Shiawassee County. A mob that worships at the altar of atheism, sings the hymns of equality, and evangelizes the message of wokeness. This mob demands you wave its flag, use its pronouns, and surrender your children’s education. The appetite of this unruly bunch is not satisfied with the sweet fruit of individual liberty; it hungers for more. It hungers for control. This taste for tyranny is inherited from its Marxist fathers. And like Marx, it seeks societal revolution by erasing God from the public space, dissolving the Biblical family, and replacing traditional values with critical theory. Unable to advance in a free marketplace of ideas nor the soil of common sense, this “Great Awokening” must silence speech in order to control your thoughts. 

Do you believe you have the right to think for yourself? 

Do you enjoy being coerced to speak things you do not believe to be true? 

Do you want the freedom to run your business without the pressure of waving a flag? 

If you say yes, then you are an advocate for freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion. The open expression of speech and religion preserves a community’s ability to think for itself. This is why our American founders enshrined it in the Bill of Rights, for free thinking requires free expression. And this is the point of conflict: to be “woke” is to justify all means necessary to bring about the submission of thought, regardless of conscience. 

Today, to be woke is to view the world through the lens of the oppressor and the oppressed. Christianity is oppression. Fatherhood is oppression. Sexual purity is oppression. Binary genders are oppression. The list grows every day because “woke” assigns value to a person based on how much they are hated. This is why any person or institution that does not bow to wokeness is called a “hater,” because to be hated is to be valued. 

This warfare of identity is the modern incarnation of the conflict of the classes that Marxism utilizes to destabilize civil society. This destabilization manifests itself as the manipulation of language. If value is derived by being “hated,” then the assumption of a hated identity becomes necessary. The result is that identity is no longer determined by reality but rather by ideology. For example, a person can be black but not ideologically black enough so that their literal “blackness” does not count. Or a person can be female but not ideologically “feminist” enough not to be seen as an oppressor. This is why a person like political commentator Candace Owens, a black female, is not valued as being a part of two oppressed groups but is devalued because of her ideological identity. How about a female-owned business that employs an all-female staff being condemned by woke feminists? It doesn’t make sense, does it?

The fundamental flaw of wokeness is the abandonment of absolute truth that makes the recognition of legitimate authority possible. This is the premise of Critical Theory, also a gift from Karl Marx. The objective of Critical Theory is to destroy historical social structures with the promise of liberation. Wokeism seeks to destroy the pillars of society and thus delegitimize authority by rejecting the absolute truths that serve as the foundation of the civil order. Realize no one is truly committed to the philosophical skepticism of relativism to reject all absolutes. For instance, the law of gravity is universally believed to be absolute, and yet everyone, regardless of ideology, submits to its authority. In reality, wokeness is nothing more than rebellion against legitimate authority. To the woke, the very idea of legitimate authority is repulsive. Defund the police, burn the Constitution, surrender cities to anarchy; sound familiar? 

Wokeness is by nature cannibalistic, whose natural outcome will result in the destruction of everyone in the struggle to be crowned the most hated. If you have not yet been labeled a hater, just wait; soon you will be told you are. Yet, for our community, the danger is the destruction that will take place as this progressive agenda runs its course. The promise to solve poverty, injustice, and mental health will have the opposite effect. We only have to look to other nations and other communities who have implemented this playbook and see these unfilled promises.

WE NEED A GREAT AWAKENING

In every century of our nation’s history, times of societal confusion have been met with a Great Awakening. During the 1700s, the First Great Awakening confronted the deadness of religion and resulted in the spiritual climate in which our nation was founded. During the 1800s, the Second Great Awakening plowed the unjust field of slavery and produced the fruit of emancipation. During the 1900s, the Third Great Awakening established a line of demarcation between theological liberalism that resulted from rationalism and theological conservatives that stood upon the Bible as the inspired, inerrant revelation of God. 

Now this century requires a new Great Awakening to preserve for this generation the gifts of liberty entrusted to us by our predecessors. Here is the good news: it worked then, and it will work now. These previous “awakenings,” although separated by decades and confronting different societal issues, had similar ingredients. 

First, each awakening recognized the authority of the Bible. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16) The Bible is a book of order. It orients the elements of humanity into a God-ordained order that creates a healthy society. The Bible declares that God is the ultimate source of authority. It also describes the delegation of God’s authority to three institutions: the government, the family, and the church. Each of these God-ordained institutions serves a societal purpose that formulates a social order. The government protects life and property, the family procreates children in a nurturing environment, and the church proclaims the Gospel, creating worshippers. You can see why God is the enemy of Marxism and Wokeism because God provides the order they seek to destroy. Therefore, atheism is not a reliance upon scientific knowledge, but rather a rebellion against Divine authority. Atheism is not an intellectual conclusion as much as it is a willful rejection of God. This makes clear why good government, strong families, and living churches are the enemies of the woke. A new awakening to the authority of the Bible will strengthen and rebuild these foundations of civil society. 

Secondly, each awakening was marked by the very public exercise of religion. Crowds would gather in the public square to listen to Holy Spirit filled preachers proclaim the truths of God’s Word. This public preaching changed private lives. When a person admits themselves a sinner before God and by faith believes that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead to pay for their sin, their life is changed. This change brings order to a life made chaotic by sin. Today, the woke would rather the exercise of religion be eliminated, but is willing to settle that it be kept inside the church building. 

Yet it is the free exercise of religion in the public square that is the preserving agent of civil society. The freedom to pray publicly, distribute literature, and participate in community events are exercises of the liberties that define us as free people. I have yet to see a display of public prayer in a government meeting, classroom, or athletic event that trampled upon an individual’s right to respectfully not participate. You may not be a praying person, but you want to live in a community where people are free to pray publicly. We need more public prayer. 

Finally, each awakening was marked by the distribution of Gospel literature. A free press is crucial to a democratic society. The ability to print and distribute literature is a bedrock of our nation. The liberty of private citizens utilizing personal funds to print and distribute materials is a mark of a free society. Imagine a community where you could only print and distribute what the woke mob approved. You may not agree with anything written in this newspaper. You may plan on throwing it away or using it in the litter box, but you do not want to live in a community where you cannot print your ideas and share them with others. I have yet to witness a mob of Christians using the threat of force to compel a person to take and read any piece of literature. I have yet to see churches tell business owners that they must display a cross or else their business will be run out of town. Yet it seems these are the tactics of the woke. There are a few inconveniences to living in a free society. When a sincere Christian offers you a Gospel tract, you may have to say, “no, thank you.” When a piece of literature appears on your door, you may need to discard it along with the other sales circulars. Better to deal with these small nuisances than live in a world in which you cannot speak your mind.

Our community is at a crossroads, and before we decide which direction to choose, we must remember who we are. We are a community that cherishes public prayer, as evidenced by hosting one of the nation’s oldest National Day of Prayer events for the past fifty-nine years. We are a community that gathers to worship on Sunday, evidenced by a large number of churches, many with growing congregations. We are a community that protects children by promoting decency in the public space. We are a community that rewards hard work and initiative by supporting our local businesses. We are a community that can trust the values of our past to provide us with a vision for the future. 

War is usually a result of Political Anxiety, Health, and Monetary Systems Failing,  or Mistrust Among Nations.  We have all three.

While we have always had “wars and rumors of wars”, and even a number of World Wars, the prospect of a third cataclysmic nuclear, biological, and chemical confrontation has been imagined for seventy-five years now.  From the end of World War Two until now, a series of regional and “cold war” efforts have been the subject of most diplomatic dialogue. Preventing such a future war was the reason behind both the League of Nations and later the United Nations.  Creating a table of international dialogue has been helpful for a season, but nations have continued to develop more deadly and technologically advanced weapons. The next global war will ignite rapidly, develop fully in real-time as the whole world watches on their smartphones, and escalate to a crescendo in hours and days.  This may not be the Armageddon of the Bible, that will be unparalleled, but it may be World War Three we fearfully envisioned.

Here is a watchlist of potential sparking points around the world:

Pacific Region

• North and South Korea have recently exchanged fire across their border.  Kim Jung Un reportedly underwent a heart-related illness and a botched surgery.  When he supposedly resurfaced weeks later, media showed pictures of what was clearly a body double.
• The South China Sea is rife with conflict. China claims it pushed out a US Destroyer, but a second Destroyer entered into the sea along with navel shows of strength by Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and Australia. 
• Hong Kong democracy leaders have been arrested under the quarantine edicts by China.
• Taiwan’s landslide election for a liberty candidate has infuriated Mainland China.  President Trump has called upon the World Health Organization to recognize Taiwan.

Indian Ocean/ Persian Gulf

• Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian leader Soleimani in Iraq, and Iran retaliated. They  shot several missiles at US bases and downed a commercial jet
• There continues to be multiple US and Iranian militias tit for tat clashes.
• Iranian speed boats harassed a US Destroyer, but President Trump ordered the next provocation to end in sinking them.  Iran has promised to retaliate if sanctions are renewed.
• The US pulled back from Kurdish areas and other forward bases in Syria and Iraq in order to shrink exposure

Middle East/Israel/Syria

• Israel has bombed Damascus sights linked with Hezbollah and Iranian militias. The potential to unilaterally declare Sovereignty over the West Bank is inciting the Palestinians.
• Lebanese border incursions have increased.
• Gaza continues terror activity while the IDF responds with bombs.
• Russia continues its Syrian/Iraqi/Iranian/Turkish/Pakistani/Afghani and Yemeni loose but marked military alliance.  It has expanded into Libya. At the same time, US troops are pulling out of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Americas

• A Venezuela coup attempt fails again while President Maduro tries to prove US involvement.
• Russian and Canadian-US fighter plane interdictions increase over the Northern Pacific.
• Canada’s Trudeau bans most guns after a shooting.
• Many people are of the opinion that a US civil war is looming.

Europe

• Brexit causes Scotland and Ireland to make new referendums on leaving Great  Britain.
• Belorussia has begun separating from Russia economically and politically.
• E.U. has a  Euro that is falling apart threatening the alliance.
• Ukraine continues to be invaded by Russia.

Conclusion

In addition to these hotspots, other factors are weighing heavily on the world’s militaries including: 

• Military personnel illnesses and military use of biological/chemical/nuclear warfare ensure pre-emptive strikes.
• Power grid interference, food chain breakdowns, and election interference are acts of war.
• Space and cyber wars are now ongoing.
• Special forces are increasing training, softly engaging in infrastructure sabotage, social media propagandizing, and playing with open assassination.

Finally, there is a real possibility that civil unrest and outbreaks of violence among factions may take place as the vitriol has gone beyond diplomacy and entered into threats. Speaker of the House Pelosi has mirrored U.S. enemy George Soros in saying that Trump will not be president after the next election “one way or another”. Many governors have declared edicts that their constituents are rejecting wholesale.

The final step in a New World Order resetting the globe to their liking is simply war, chaos, and fear.  Only a determined Christian populace, penitent,  praying, and preparing can hold back evil tides and push through the mayhem.  Let us stand together and press forward with confidence.

“With God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

How a New World Order has Emerged in Just Ninety Days

Kingdoms come and go, but global political-economic orders don’t just flip overnight, or do they?

The United States and indeed the whole world has just encountered a phenomenon that is greater than all of our combined technologies.  A biological pandemic and the resultant response have together met in an explosion that even Hollywood disaster movies could not predict.  As the dust settles, we see that a new normal has seized the globe in just three short months. We imagine some sort of deep state cabal, or even an Illuminati conspiracy may have just taken place, but this event and the new format of living that has emerged is beyond nation-state actors or Masonic alliances. No human league is this good, or this proficient at simultaneously grabbing the hearts and minds of every being on the planet, compelling them to use the same vocabulary, [social distancing, digital certificate, digital currency, etc.,] fear the same invisible enemy, look to the same technocratic messiahs, or reach for the same handout-bailout hopes. This overnight phenomenon is the result of both a wrestling and a working of God and of angels, good and evil, toward the endgame of an eternal plan for mankind. 

The number one sign of the times is of spiritual deception.  A pseudo-Christianity that conforms to a new societal requirement of message and function is here.  Whether, a quieting of true rhetoric through politically correctness, or formulating an acceptable tone by Facebook content policy, the gospel message is being transformed into a universal fatherhood of god and a general love expectation to all and by all.  This is obviously contrary to the narrow truth of the universal sinfulness of man and the necessity to cry out by faith to Jesus Christ as Savior. Virus fears push quarantine edicts that threaten true assemblies from meeting anywhere but the internet. Imagine when the web is controlled and access becomes limited.  What should the church do then? Many pundits have already bought into the spiritual deception of an electronic church that does not require physical attendance. How then do we baptize, practice the Lord’s Supper, or corporately sing in worship? A new unscriptural hybrid of global spirituality is being birthed before our eyes.

Of course, earth signs like earthquakes, floods, and pestilences seem to be increasing and overlapping with increased regularity. “Climate change” is simply an attempt to alter human governance to meet the sure coming of such God predicted calamities, yea, the new rules of green politics are imposing a new religion that seeks to make humanity it’s own savior.  The new morality of “social distancing” will soon evolve into a “digital certificate” of necessary health precautions mandated to work, travel or assemble. If the possibility of infections spread on paper currency puts limits on the use or acceptance of cash, then only a “digital currency” will be received as a medium of exchange. This too will invite technology to be our savior and digital “marks” to be our mammon.  All of this talk is being forced upon us by the New Corona or New Crown threat. Either you will be marked as with a scarlet “A” and be outcast as being a threat to public health and safety, a practical enemy of society, or you will be tested, inoculated, certified and marked as being under another invisible “crown”. Fraternizing with this enemy will have dire consequences. This scenario is being set up as the “new normal” and with marked global acceptance.  Who will resist this, especially if government payouts are linked to feeding yourself and your family? Universal Basic Income has been thrust upon us without an election and in just ninety days.

The panic that has brought about such rapid change is the real threat.  Fearing anything but God leads to foolish reactions and then tyrannical oppression.  This is unprecedented in its scope and worldwide instant messaging. It is unwarranted in its math and does not make sense in its newfound propositions. Never have so many laid down so much freedom in so little time. Never have such large swathes of population been subject to so few personalities.  Trump, Xi, Putin, and Modi are as the four horsemen empowered over great percentages of humanity. A new global order is emerging. A new vocabulary constitutes that we are all Babel like with one language.  A new medium of exchange is on the threshold with digital currency being deemed safest. A new elevated posture in society is being created by the digital certificate of the techno haves versus the degraded lives of the techno have-nots.  This new world order does more than just force us to adapt or grow with the times. It requires that we begin to accept the Antichristian proposition that man is his own savior. When the devil feels that he has God’s throne within reach he will seek to annihilate his human partners with fierceness. The second coming of Jesus Christ is a rescue of planet earth and reboot of His ultimate plan for man.  The wrath that comes with him will be for those that have joined this unholy union, and ungodly alliance. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

World orders can change overnight.

At the end of World War One, the leftovers from the Ottoman Empire were divided up in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, named after the British and French Diplomats responsible for the strange map lines and national boundaries on the map ever since then. The various Middle Eastern nations met in Damascus in order to discuss the possibility of a pan Arab identity, a so-called Caliphate, but it was not to be. Multiple evolutions of that idea have been attempted since then with varying measures of success and failure. Christians and the Gospel of Jesus Christ have always had a marginal place in these deliberations. The purveyors of Christianity have continually been “lowered from a basket” or “shown the back door” so to speak from the gates of Damascus.

Today, Syrian President Assad’s Alawites (A reincarnation cult), Islamic extremists (Sunni Muslims), Iranian expansionists (Shiite Muslims), Russian nationalists (Former Communists) and other regional powers (Saudis, Israelis, Jordanians, Iraqis, Turks, and Kurds), as well as the United States are all represented as armed interests whose strategic flanks include the city of Damascus. The oldest continually inhabited city in the world, highlighted in Scripture since the book of Genesis is surrounded by nuclear powers just miles away. This staredown among the nations is not likely to end well. Damascus is between a NUKE and a hard place. Most Christians have fled once again. Damascus has had millennia of chances to receive Jesus Christ as King. Now Isaiah’s prophecy of utter and instant destruction seems to be taking shape. “ The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Isaiah 17:1.

Perhaps it is a sign of the times and, for the beleaguered Christians there, a hope for the promised return of Jesus Christ.

“But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” -Acts 26:20

Google is a word that represents the concept of a googolplex, or an infinite number of options. It is akin to total freedom, total confusion, total control or total slavery all at once. The company’s motto was once famously “do no evil” perhaps because of the possibility of it’s doing evil. If you “google” the word “evil” there are so many responses that one has to wonder if there really is such a thing. In the Millennial vernacular, to Google, is to search for answers, to ponder, even in the right circumstances, to pray. This digital age phenomenon constitutes a new faith. A religion of human proportions that replaces the Bible with an online query, God with a seemingly infinite response, righteousness as any one of these responses as an acceptable choice, and googling as the alternative to prayer. Mankind’s corporate thought as a hive mentality is exalted into a messiah-like position. Google CEO Schmidt does get ad revenues, and arbitration power over query search rules, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Millennials. They are happy with the self-perceptions of control. The good that Google does and the ease with which they give access to so many of life’s tools is truly amazing, but it can never replace the true faith or real relationship with our creator, Jesus Christ. This transformation in our culture is alarming.

Google, Amazon, Tesla, Facebook and other 21st century technical gurus have created a new faith, based on a new concept of everlasting life. Transhumanism teaches that by downloading one’s online profile, launching it into the “cloud”, and then creating a robotic version of yourself you can become your own creator. You can live forever. If the digital and synthetic can somehow merge with the biological and human, the hybrid merger would afford the savior of earth and of humanity. The Millennials technological thinking and opportunities have tempted them with these and other blasphemies. Jesus became a man, shed real blood for mankind, and died a human death in order to become a once for all and only savior. Modern transhuman ideals are a bogus religion, a war on true faith, and destructive to young minds. In this pretend faith, Biblical faith is dangerous and should be replaced, with all Christian adherents removed from interference. The “Climate Change” dogma of the UN is really about this new faith. They want to create a world where only the truly transhuman can survive an earth without livable breathable air. The Millennials are the first generation capable of being guinea pigs in this devilish experiment.

The transformation now at hand is the end of the road for America. The archaic and self-defeating concept of religion will be removed along with the simplistic notion of nationhood. The darkest part of darkness is now being imagined.

Consider Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

The average American watches almost five hours of TV per day. That is close to 35 hours a week! It is almost a full time job these days. In fact with cable and streaming services the choices are endless. American culture almost has an on-demand access to every TV show and movie ever made all at once. We are close to such a media fete. That means modern watchers can now set the goal of watching everything that was ever broadcast! Add to this list the endless programming uploaded by Youtube and other self promoting web services. Maybe watching it all is now impossible? There are approximately 80 million videos available through Youtube comprising over 800 million hours of viewing. If we live to be 75 years old we would only have 675,000 hours of viewing. Apparently, you can now officially waste your entire life watching TV and movies. The culture war on entertainment is now simply a tsunami of programming meant to inundate you with images and information. Some of the content is helpful or entertaining, but most is without a premise of virtue, and much is now against the concept of God. Beware the idolatry of TV.

Like most new innovations, Netflix started out as a great way to pull away from broadcast and cable TV choices. Older, cleaner TV was making a comeback. Families could find a friendly show, and then order it up on any night they had time. Presto! Family friendly TV. Twenty-first-century technologies have given TV watchers a myriad of new ways to pick and deliver entertainment. Unfortunately, poor programming abounds as does purely evil programming. The promise of better choices quickly turned into more choices. The flood tide of anything and everything is now overwhelming the soul with an anxiety that “we are missing something.” Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and other “new media” are now producing original programming with modern dogmas akin to current social trends. Bible preaching pulpits no longer compete with a show or a channel. It is not even a competition with an industry. It is now a multi-channel, multi-industry, multimedia fight for the minds and hearts of Americans. Church attendance is suffering. Christians, like most Americans, are watching too much TV.

A new word has come on the scene, “binge” watching. “Binge” used to be a word associated with the loss of all restraint. Binge drinking, binge eating, binge drug using and even binge fornicating were all deemed dangerous, bad for your health and a destroyer of society. Today “binge” is a sales point. Advertisers sell the “binge” worthy aspects of their products, especially when it comes to media consumption. It seems the “more is better” crowd is winning out. Do you like watching the news? Try 24-hour news channels. There are at least a half-dozen of them. Pick a cultural slant, liberal or conservative, there will be a dedicated news channel for you. How about sports? Pick a sport and there is a channel for it. When did our culture leave the pleasure of fishing in order to WATCH fishing? And if you like programming uniquely adjusted to your social likes, there are channels just for men, just for women, just for children, just for nature lovers, just for foodies, and, yes, just for homosexuals. It seems the vanity fair of Pilgrim’s Progress has arrived and is offering a dainty for just about every soul. Even so-called Christian programming is a damning prospect. Put down the remote, turn off the screen, get off the couch. How else can one turn down the volume of the world and listen intently to the “small still voice of God”?
As if the constant onslaught of entertainment was not enough, the added prospect of watching this imagery anywhere and everywhere is also now on the menu. With the introduction of the “cloud” or digital and wireless connectivity, the full slate of media offerings is available to stream into your phone, your vehicle, or your office at a moment’s notice. Total TV superpowers now allow children, housewives, students, and men at work the godlike purview of a million worlds all at once. Everywhere you look there is a person plugged into a device watching, communicating, involving themselves in some drama. Children riding the bus, teens walking the mall, mom’s on their daily power walk and dad’s at their desks watching, watching, watching…everything, and…nothing of importance. Furthermore, most of what is being watched is also being recorded by some automatic process. Data is collected in order to psychologically diagnose everyone at some future point for some unknown reason. The prospect of all this media has to be serving the Devil’s own purpose of programming minds and hearts to reject the Lord and receive a phony messiah. Wholesome moments of entertainment are not worth the cost to society that infinite digital indoctrination can bring. Wage war on media by turning it off.

Consider the hard bargain of the world with God’s people found in 1 Samuel 11:2, “And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.”

President Donald Trump has lived an immoral life. When an individual pursues celebrity and the presidency they enter a glass bubble that exposes both the best and worst part of their lives. Presidents Trump’s public moral failures are tremendous and embarrassing.  Donald Trump is immoral. This statement is self-evident and made without consideration of other political personality. For many, particularly evangelicals, the immediate Fox News trained response to this statement is “but so was Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton.” Yes, they are, but that does not negate the truth that regardless of quasi-conservative policies, some good nominations like Secretary of Defence General Mattis and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and not being Hillary Clinton, President Trump is not a role model for virtue. Virtue in our leaders should matter to Bible advocates.

Good governance begins with righteousness.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” –  Proverbs 29:2 KJV

This Bible principle is always true. Understand that righteousness before God is only obtained by accepting the atonement made by Jesus Christ shedding His blood on the cross. However, Bible advocates should value a person’s personal virtue over their party affiliation. We cannot express righteous indignation at President Clinton’s affairs yet turn a blind eye to the litany of scandalous issues that trail President Trump. Both Republicans and Democrats have abandoned virtue for political expediency, but Christian should have, but one allegiance and that is to Jesus and His teachings. Presidents should be praised when right decisions are made, but Bible advocates cannot ignore the stench of immorality to earn a seat at the table. Immorality, wherever it is found, can never be overlooked by those who claim to advocate for the Bible. Participation in political parties that demands the approval of immortality by turning a blind eye is wicked. Multiple marriages, past carousing with prostitutes, and vulgarity in any public official should always draw the ire of Bible advocates. Conversely, what should be celebrated is 73 years of marriage between President George H. Bush and his recently passed Barbara Bush. Vice-President Mike Pence’s policy of never eating dinner with a woman without the presence of his wife to protect his virtue should be celebrated and not mocked. Christians should rejoice when those in authority do good and mourn when they fail.

“We voted for a president, not a pastor.”

“For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.” – Mark 6:18 KJV

This was not the sentiment of John the Baptist. Remember John, the one who Jesus said was the greatest man to live. Remember John, who preached “Repent” to the religious leaders of the day. Remember John, who dared to preach against the immortality of the king from the pulpit when he called out King Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. John’s political loyalty was to God; hence, when the leaders of God’s people Israel decided to live an unapologetically immoral life John as a Bible preacher faithfull extolled righteousness by calling out the public sin. The faithful Bible preacher is obligated to call out the darkness wherever it may lie. And whether behind the pulpit or printed in a newspaper if a preacher cannot call out public immorality where it exists he is nothing more than an unfaithful hireling. So long as President Trump is unrepented of past public failures, Bible advocates should publicly decry immorality. The fact that we make such a distinction between presidents and pastors illustrates how far we have drifted from our moral moorings.

Accepting immorality leads to tyranny.

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” – Proverbs 14:34 KJV

Tyranny is the exercise of immorality upon the governed. An immoral leader with no respect for virtue in their own lives will not respect and protect the virtue of the citizens they lead. When a people accept immorality by allowing it to be flaunted in their leaders, they become ripe for tyranny Patrick Henry said the following, “Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

Righteousness is a protection to a people. Remember it was Abraham that pleaded with God to withhold His judgment upon Sodom if but five righteous people could be found. Sadly, a righteous remnant could not be found, and judgment reigned down on Sodom. However, in the midst of Sodom was one man who knew God’s righteousness but remained unfaithfully quiet. Had Lot spoken out perhaps a righteous remnant would have remained to protect the city? The lesson to be applied today is that the most patriotic thing we can do to love America if to stand for virtue and reprimand immorality.

While new technologies have the potential to be used for Gospel promotion and affecting the culture for good, increasingly they are used to consolidate power with a keystroke. A grand sort of political correctness has been placed in the hands of Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, who has the subtle power of determining social behavior and rhetoric. Small groups and hidden huddles may be created in order to converse outside of public purview or plan secret actions, but Gospel work is done tangibly and out in the open.
If just a few of the technological elites decide to isolate certain ideas, corral certain speech, or ban certain opinions, then BOOM, a digital block becomes a powerful weapon. Biblical and cultural opinions about homosexuality, social norms, and the nature of God or evil can be elevated or destroyed, shaped or banned. In the ocean of ideas that affect the American culture, the Bible voice is marginalized while the approved algorithms of whimsical neo-pagan tides ebb and flow ceaselessly shaping intellectual content to Zuckerberg’s approval. The culture war seems to be being fought by millions when it is really in the hands of fewer demagogues.
Consider the following headlines after the 2016 presidential election:

“Barack Obama says Facebook’s fake news problem is creating ‘dust cloud of nonsense’” (Nov. 8, 2016 – International Business Times)
“Here’s Why Facebook Is Partly to Blame for the Rise of Donald Trump” (Nov. 10, 2016 – Fortune.com)
“ZUCK TO THE FUTURE Mark Zuckerberg ‘feeling hopeful’ about America under Donald Trump” (Nov. 10, 2016 – The Sun)

Jasper Hamill’s article in the Sun newspaper quotes Zuckerberg in response to the election as saying, “I thought about all the work ahead of us to create the world we want for our children.” Apparently, Zuckerberg perceives his cultural war “work” as creating a world he wants. He is further quoted, “This work is bigger than any presidency and progress does not move in a straight line.” That sounds like a Luciferian line straight out of the garden with snake-like movement to boot. And again, “[This] work will take a long-term focus and finding new ways for all of us to work together, sometimes over decades.” It became quickly evident whose side the Facebook founder was on, and while that might excite Trump enthusiasts, it should also be a warning to the power of social media and smartphone phenomenon in the culture war. If Facebook might push a close Presidential election race one way or the other, what else might it determine?