Decay Pt. 3: The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

I don’t recall the TV show or the movie that I had seen, but the scenario went something like this: There was a boy who decided to start smoking and was hiding it from his parents. Eventually they had caught on to what he was doing and decided to punish him. What was the punishment? They made the boy smoke an entire pack of cigarettes at one time. Of course in doing so the boy got extremely sick. This experience was not a favorable one for the boy and he decided that his lesson was learned and he would not smoke another cigarette. I don’t particularly agree with this method, however it had its desired effect. It kind of reminds me of the golden calf incident in Exodus. As Moses descended down the mountain he was appalled as to what Israel had done. They had cried out for an idol to worship, and so Aaron fashioned for them a golden calf. However, “then [Moses] took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.” (Exodus 32:20). They wanted an idol. They got their idol. They were forced to taste their vile desires, and just like an entire pack of cigarettes in one sitting, I’m sure that the end result was bitter.

            As you may recall from part 2 that I had mentioned that in Romans 1 God had abandoned man because man had abandoned God. “We don’t want God” they say. Fine! May your wish be granted. However, in order to fulfill the inward desire for man to have a god, man has elevated himself to the position of god. Man’s current desires become the idol, no matter how vile. Every man does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). Every man for himself! This is why there is so much fighting. Because each man, void of the one true God, has become his own god and expects everyone else to bow down to him. Have you noticed why people can no longer have a civil debate over their differences of opinion or politics? It at least seems that way. One god (man) and one way of thinking. This is called “tolerance”?

            I had mentioned that man has become his own god in part 2 from Romans 1:19-23. The problem is that without God’s gracious restraint, man decides what is right and wrong. Left to his own carnal hunger, man spirals into a pit so depraved that right becomes wrong and vice versa. This is why you have men stand one day and say “I feel like a woman”, and then everyone agrees and refers to him as “her” from that point on. If a white woman says “I feel like a black woman”, then everyone says “That you are! Black lives matter” and she is therefore an African American. If someone says that they are a cat, hey, let’s give them some cat food and see if they can purr. Sin is no longer sin in this world and if you say otherwise then you are the evil one. Darkness is embraced and has become the bride of this world.

            The things that are being accepted as normal behavior these days would have gotten you locked up in the looney bin 25 years ago. Yet, the things that were once irrational have become rational. The secularists would call this “progress”, as if mankind’s way of thinking for thousands of years had been wrong this entire time and now we have finally found the “truth”. Mankind has become so confused that one of the big controversies in 2016 was which bathroom men and women should use. But how has man become so confused that his mind has become darkened to logic and truth? “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:28).

            Because man had suppressed the truth of God (v.18), and chose instead to worship vain things and idols (v.25), and rejected God (v.28), he was left to himself as God had left him alone. God had given man over to himself. The result was that man was left alone with his debased mind. What does the word “debased” mean you ask? It doesn’t matter which Bible translation you may use for this word, but it basically means “worthless”. Ouch! Can you imagine God testing your mind and then saying that it is of no worth? It can no longer function properly. It is broken. This explains the upside down way of thinking that our modern godless man possesses. Without God, you are nothing.

            Paul goes on to illustrate what this debased mind looks like: For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due (Romans 1:26-27). I am going to stop right here for a moment. As I had mentioned in part 2, people tend to flock to this passage as a justification for homosexuality being a sin. I would like to illustrate that in ancient Jewish culture homosexuality was viewed as the last resort for a depraved person. In other words in regards to depravity it was as low as you could go when you turned what was natural between a man and a woman upside down. Ironically, 2000 years later, if you disagree with homosexuality then you are considered as low as you could go. You may recall in Genesis 19 that the men of Sodom sought to have sexual relations with the angels that had come to Lot. We can assume that like every town and society that homosexuality was not the only sin that the people of Sodom were committing. However the issue of homosexuality was illustrated in order to show just how low and vile that Sodom had become. The men were burning so much for these angels that instead of running like a bunch of wounded dogs once they were struck blind (like normal people would do), they stayed and continued to try to get into Lot’s home. Never mind the blindness, we want those men!

            Paul singled out homosexuality here to not illustrate that it was the greater sin, but that it was the greater evidence of man’s fall into the dark abyss of his own debased mind. He goes on to say “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (vv. 28-32). Sound familiar?

            Have we not become a society full of children who dishonor their parents? People who hate God and His people? People who want the newest things and will stop at nothing to acquire them? People who verbally destroy each other? People who gossip and slander? I could go on forever and ever, but I don’t have to because you know that I am right and this secular godless nation, as well as any other nation that has rejected God, is as guilty as the sin that they celebrate. When a person thinks that they can change genders simply by speaking it, demands that boys and girls share the same restroom based on the feelings of one’s gender, has sexual relations in all sorts of unnatural ways as God had not intended, verbally attacks those who think on the other side of the fence, sees no value to human life but their own, says that only one particular race’s life is more important that another’s, believes that unborn babies are not human, sees the value of a wild animal as being greater than the value of a child (Oh, so many people who are pro-choice, but want to save the whales) and, to top it all off, has no problem with murdering unborn children in the womb even at the end of being full term…my friend…THAT IS WHAT A DEBASED AND WORTHLESS MIND LOOKS LIKE. A mind that lacks an understanding of God and does not possess His gracious restraint within their conscience is nothing more but a waste. Such a mind is a dangerous mind and sadly, with the help of our secular government and the media, these dangerous minds have brought this whole nation down into the pit of God’s judgement. The judgement of abandonment.

But, there is hope…

We are past the halfway point of this series. Hang in there! But I will warn you now… part 4 will shock you to your core.

Decay Pt. 2: Welcome To Rome

Something remarkable happened since my last blog post (part 1 of this series). At the University of California-Berkeley another riot erupted. This time it was a “protest” in regards to a gay conservative speaker from England. Not just did the students destroy property and try to burn everything down (as they always seem to do these days. It is quite the “in” thing), but there were reports of a conservative woman being assaulted, and another Trump supporter was thrown to the ground. The latter escaped, but the “protesters” grabbed his pro-Trump hat and set it on fire. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if he didn’t escape. Would he have been a human torch? The amazing part about this “protest” was in regards to what it was over. Typically most secular colleges these days lean towards the left. They are for homosexuality and immigration. This is common knowledge. If you don’t believe me and need facts then just put on a “Make America Great Again” shirt, grab a Bible, and go down to your local University and try to discuss with the local students why we need borders and need to eliminate abortion and see what happens. However the speaker was both gay and foreign. So why the uproar? Because whereas they are liberal, he is a conservative. They torched, destroyed, and beat down their fellow man in a rage because they almost had someone speak at their campus who simply thought different than they do. This is a scene that has become almost daily news since the election almost three months ago. Why the hate? Why the divide? Why the complete disregard for humanity and sanity? Why has mankind (particularly in America as of late) become unrestrained savages? It seems as though all of this is over politics. However, you may recall, I ended my last blog post by saying “this isn’t about politics”. So what is it about?

            In June of 2015 the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the board. Nobody could deny the rights of marriage to same sex couples any longer. Many Americans celebrated this victory. I remember reading that one of the most searched topics from that day online was Romans 1. I don’t remember the exact details. Could it have been non-believers searching in order to see whether God’s Word does in fact condemn this sin? Could it have been Christians seeking ammunition for their argument now that they were going to be vilified? No matter who it was we know that a great deal of people recognized that Romans 1 has something to say about it.

            Paul’s epistle to Rome was written to a church that he had never set foot in, which explains why it is such a theological masterpiece. In Chapter 1 he goes into great detail about the sinful state of man and God’s wrath. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). But what wrath are we speaking of here? It is the wrath of stepping away… of turning away from man who has rejected and turned away from God. When Paul writes “Therefore God also gave them up… (v.24), For this reason God gave them up… (v.26), God gave them over… (v.28)” he is basically saying that because mankind wants nothing to do with God, then God gives them what they want. He walks away. In context it looks like this:

Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (vv. 19-23).

            What the apostle is saying is that mankind knows of God through natural revelation, as well as an inward knowledge of a “higher power”. This is why man has followed religion since the beginning of time. This is why as far back as the Old Testament times there was paganism. Man knew of a god, they just didn’t know Who was God. This is illustrated in Acts 17 when Paul addresses the philosophers at Athens: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD…” (Acts 17:22-23). The men of Athens certainly knew of a god.

            However, in America and the world over, mankind has rejected God. Mankind has fallen in lust with darkness and thus has suppressed the inner and outer knowledge of any higher power or god. To them religion is for the weak and foolish. As our above passage in Romans states, they believe that they know better than God. They believe that they know right from wrong better than God and His Word. In doing so they believe that truth is not absolute, but whatever you perceive it to be. This is known as moral relativism. This thought pattern crates a new god. But instead of it being birds, animals, and creeping things it becomes something else… MAN.

            Man is now the new god. He knows what is best. He knows what is true, right, and wrong. And the standard is not set by any law, but by each individual. But is this why we are in the state that we are in? Paul goes on to state “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1: 24-25). In turning away from man and giving them what they want, God’s moral compass within man decays rapidly. This is why our society is going into a tailspin at breakneck speeds. Man follows the lusts of his heart and when left unrestrained to his own vices, man can do some seriously vile things. Things that are morally grotesque and unnatural, yet so beautiful and natural in his own eyes. Things that are even harmful to those around him. Yet who are we to condemn man for him pleasing his own flesh as his selfish desires consume him like cancer? After all, he knows best. Billions of different little “gods”, with their own different views, with their own different ways, and with a desire for everyone else to see it his/her way.

We shouldn’t be shocked when there is an explosion on the six o’ clock news…

It’s May 22nd…And We’re Still Here

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark (Matthew 24:36-38).

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits…(Matthew 7:15-16). When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:22).

And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch (Genesis 6:12-14). Then the men (angels) said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:12-13).

Recently a fellow devout Christian friend and myself were driving down the road and we had noticed a billboard that read “God’s Judgment Day: May 21, 2011”. I had been seeing these billboards for a very long time, but paid it no mind. My friend had never seen them (he is from out of town). This time I paid mind to the date. “Oh my, that is just a couple of weeks away” I thought to myself. So my wife and I decided to research this theory and the man or organization who is behind it.

Harold Camping. Who is this? If you haven’t heard by now he is the false prophet who is behind the billboards that actually are part of a worldwide movement. Although, many Christians and non-Christians are laughing at his ridiculous notions. He does have a following. I know of a family just minutes away who are swept up in this phenomenon and have a giant sign on their front lawn with this message and have the date scrawled all over their minivan.

But as we see from Matthew 24 above, it is impossible for any man to know the date of Christ’s return, because He Himself doesn’t even know. Not even the angels know. Only God knows. To say that you know something that only God knows is to say that you have the same knowledge as God. Even above The One who came to save you by His death on the cross. The last time I remember, Lucifer got cast down to Hell for trying to be equal with God. Mr. Camping is not anymore special than a fallen angel.

There are two noted stories in the Bible of destruction by God’s wrath. The world by the great flood, and Sodom by fire. In both accounts, God or angels of God came to Noah and Lot to warn them of what was to come. Mr. Camping did not receive his information from God, but from his own calculations by adding and subtracting things in the Bible that either do not exist, or mean nothing to Mr. Camping’s formula. God is the beginning and the end. He created, and will destroy. He knew that Harold Camping would mislead the world someday. To you honestly think God would have put a formula in the Bible that would give a date for the end? That would defeat the purpose of why God is keeping the date secret and would make Christ look like a liar for saying that He doesn’t even know.

Mr. Camping predicted the end was to come back in 1994 when the “Church Age” ended. What this basically means is that God stopped accepting people being saved in 1994, therefore anyone who was saved after that time is truly not saved and is hell bound. Do what??? Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about this or that there will be an appointed time that people’s true salvation will be denied by He who saved us. From what I have read and understand, once the “elect” has been saved, that is when Jesus will return. Only God knows who is the elect. Not Mr. Camping.

Mr. Camping also said that this will all take place at 6PM on May 21, 2011. Which time zone? If there is something that will take place that will effect the entire world, you cannot put a time on it. How can California be caught by surprise when the east coast gets God’s judgment first? They will have three hours to prepare! Some countries are not even in the same day at 6PM across the globe. Notice Christ said “that day and hour no one knows”.

And the final nail in the coffin of Mr. Camping’s theory…today is May 22nd…and we’re still here.

Christian, please do not fall for false prophets. You need to look at the fruits of these people and compare them to God’s word. Do they contradict? No man knows more than God, so therefore no man can “debunk” God’s word or promises. I am not going to get into any doomsday theories or discuss the book of Revelations at this time. It is sad that not just are some Christian followers going to be let down and possibly question God, but many anti-Christians are going to have a field day with Mr. Camping being wrong. If Camping’s followers and other Christians would read their Bibles, they would know the truth and would not fall for the lies of false prophets. There is nothing more that we “truth knowing” Christians can do than to pray for Mr. Camping and his followers. May their eyes be opened to the truth.

Love In Christ

For more information on this I urge you to read the Bible, and to see Mr. Camping’s theory visit his website:
http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/judgment/judgment.html