What a brave and important analysis! I am so grateful.
I was not raised with any faith at all -- I live on a Vermont hilltop where my great-great-great-great-grandfather settled, and none of his subsequent line (or any other of my family) were people of faith. Yet I always respected others' faiths, and my core values were built on hard work and common sense.
Things change. I graduated cum laude from a top law school, and its entire law library lacks the wisdom and hope of that single book, the bible. I am a full-bore Christian believer and pastor. Like Dostoevsky, TS Eliot, Lewis, Evelyn Waugh, Tolstoy, and so many others, I embrace Christian truth as the center of life and the universe. But like Waugh, Eliot, Lewis, and others, I am a walkaway from atheist folly, just as I am a walkaway from Democrat demonics. Cultural Marxism, the new ESTABLISHED woke religion, cannot coexist with forgiveness, equality, goodness and hope. And so Christianity -- the faith that most powerfully and positively shaped the modern world -- is instead canceled as solely evil and pernicious. What is good is called evil, and evil good. I was a criminal defense attorney for years. People have no idea the depths of human evil toward children, and society turns away in horror and cowardice rather than rescue them. This only serves the evil and fuels it. We must rise up in this moral battle. As GK Chesterton (another atheist converted) famously stated: "Ours is a faith that always rises from the tomb." It is finished. He is risen. Let us stand in His armor, and be His salt and Light.
"Yet I always respected others' faiths, and my core values were built on hard work and common sense.
...I embrace Christian truth as the center of life and the universe. But like Waugh, Eliot, Lewis, and others, I am a walkaway from atheist folly, just as I am a walkaway from Democrat demonics."
Me to a T.
I live (now) in Wisconsin, on a small hilltop at the edge of town. My earliest ancestors were immigrants who worked hard and prospered – for the most part – and who followed various faiths.
I chose not to have children as much out of fear for what could happen to them as I saw the corruption of schooling and advertising have effects on those I grew up with as what I lived with as the second son growing up in a dysfunctional family.
Too, the pain I shared as close friends lost children took its toll on my conscience, regretfully put a spin of selfishness on my motivation as I grew into then beyond childbearing age.
Ahh, yes. I was a secretary to an Attorney who did much juvenile court work. Many times, as I sat at my computer transcribing his dictation I would have tears in my eyes. People can be so cruel to their children and families.
I did a great deal of pro bono juvie court work. One great juvie prosecutor I knew suffered a complete nervous breakdown after decades of self-sacrificing work. I am certain it was the endless stress of the constant horrors...... Family practice can be almost as bad -- lawyers learn of all the dark details that no one should ever hear..... and the children are often the victims there too.
My dad was a struggling attorney. First generation American, he worked among the families that immigrated from Eastern Europe. He had to work a secondary clerical job, in the evenings, to provide for his six children.
As a child, I didn’t understand why he struggled economically. But he was always a devout Catholic and refused any divorce cases or those that would compromise his values. Now, I understand and am so proud of his stand.
Very kind of you John. And the travesty continues -- Vermont is an underground railroad not for escaped slaves but runaway children seeking gender hormones and surgeries, available here for free. Vermont bans cooperation with authorities in the children's home states looking for them, essentially using the government to conceal minor children from their parents......
I did not know about Vermont banning child cooperation concerning gender MUTILATION. I lived in Vermont for 30 yrs and the lack of political and morally related ethics is completely reprehensible. And unfortunately it is not limited to this issue alone. I find that the surface beauty of the state belies a quite demonic and ugly presence.
Dear Elizabeth, thank you for this post full of love and hope. We live in dark times. It’s important to know what we face and I appreciate the time and effort you put into researching the reality of the world we live in, but it’s also helpful, as you well know, to share the hope that we have in Jesus. God bless you!
Thank you for writing this and adding all the video clips. It helps me remain hopeful that our world will defeat the evil that is trying to take over. I for one have become an even more fervent believer in my God and His son Jesus Chriat. It is all that gets me through each day. It is all that keeps me from despair when I see what Satan is doing to our world.
I was raised Catholic and translated the gospels in college. When asked why the elementary Greek grammar didn't agree with Catholic teachings, the good Christian brothers usefully observed that this was a language tutorial, not a theology class.
This was the last straw for me as I had endeavored to immerse myself in a faith that seemed to foster lethargy, sloth and forgetfulness. I would routinely ask my parents, sibling, and friends what they thought about the readings or sermon only to receive a moot blank stare. No one could remember much of anything.
After spending a few years seeking wisdom from Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism etc. etc. I began to notice a number of similarities to the wisdom of the bible. I began attending any and all Christian services and bible studies and was also often times the only white face in a number of all black congregations.
It was at these services that I first experienced such an overwhelming outpouring of emotion, I was unable to refrain from holding back a stream of tears. The music stirs something deep inside. It allows one to reconnect to that aspect of reality that I'd only felt as an infant. These articles have much the same effect. I cut the cable almost 25 years ago, but I seriously doubt anyone in the mainstream media is reporting about Christian revival.
I'm as lazy as anyone and can be pushed around, but there comes a tipping point when the powers that should not be think they can start shoving us which seems to be exactly what a lot of us need to shake us from our stupor.
It is in music that creation occurred. It is the universal language and what will unite us.
Young, old, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, virtuous or attracted to vice, there are pieces of music that touch every heart so that we transcend our miserable wormy selves and soar with angels.
It isn’t. It is a paraphrase of a whimsical suggestion by C.S. Lewis in Narnia series.
In theology it makes sense. Music is a universal language that touches the hearts of everyone. The right music during stress or distress, can calm a heart. It is a sudden refreshing cool breeze on a hot humid day.
God is the author of all creation - the galaxies, the earth, nature, us. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Of course He is the author of the sublime beauty and complexity of music, and I expect in heaven we will hear music we cannot have imagined.
But you left that reference off. In "theology it makes sense" is wrong.
Goodness we have so many people here holding and creating fiction versus what the Bible says as fact. Please be careful in not reading modern texts to overlay what is Biblical. My point still stands that "it is in music that creation occurred" is unBiblical and THAT is what is important. (And by the way, I'm a 50 year experienced and educated church musician.)
I should have qualified from the get go that it was a CS Lewis mulling. Mea culpa. But I will add I also believe personally it is true.
And, speaking of tired citizens, this old gal is a bit weary of Christians chipping away at each other. I was only making an attempt to marry the beauty of God, creation and music in light of the essay.
Perhaps sometimes we can consider just letting things pass and let them stand alone.
Tears as I read this. Evangelist Mario Murillo has been holding tent services all across the country, the most recent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where his Living Proof Tent Crusades fill a nearly 17,000 square-foot tent with seats needing to be set up outside the tent for overflow every night. You don't hear about this--thousands and thousands of people, in California, in Western New York, in Oregon, in Colorado, in Michigan, in Arizona and more, with thousands streaming to the front of the tent each night to profess Jesus Christ as their Lord. You don't hear about it but his crusades are growing larger. This 80+ year-old evangelist who has been preaching since the Jesus Movement days on the UC Berkeley campus and the streets of San Francisco has a tremendous burden to hold these crusades and they are phenomenal. God shows up. People are being changed without the media covering it, under the radar. It's a total stealth movement in plain sight.
Our faith is everything - I can't imagine a world without it. Being grateful for our lives, our existence, the many gifts we have received and anticipating reunion with our Lord is the foundation of our lives.
We must pray for all those lost souls, those victims of the evil enveloping our society.
Pray for leftists, for those trapped by the hate they've been propagandized into, yes you're right. It's actually liberating to do so, to not feel so intensely the resentment I used to feel for their false characterizations & hostility towards conservatives & Christians. They're prisoners who can't escape.
Endlessly contentious divisiveness surrounds Christianity; now experiencing tremendous persecution in most continents and subcontinents as India. As more times passes, it's transparently obvious of Jesus being the Messiah as other Cults and Religions universally despise Jesus and persecute/murder those of faith.
Those declaring themselves to believe in any 'HIGHER POWER' always disturbed me. The Fallen Angels ARE HIGHER POWERS IN COMPARISON TO HUMAN BEINGS. As that is fact, it's the height of foolishness to worship, or desire union in the soul with just any old 'Higher Power.' Only the precious blood of Jesus Christ can seal a soul to Himself and protect from other 'HIGHER POWERS' prowling the world seeking the ruin of souls.
And along with believing in a"higher power", there's those who say they're not religious. They're "spiritual". Huh? It seems these identities are a way of avoiding church settings, or feeling required to submit to specific tenements of the Bible.
There's people who call themselves Christian, because they believe there is a God. But, Satan knows God. Satan is not a Christian!
Being a Christian is having your name added to the Book of Life. It's literally joining the highest "club". But, like the yacht club, it's not enough to say you belong to the club. You pay dues, to get your name on the roster.
Christians dues, are of the heart, mind, and soul. Jesus IS the Son of God. He lived - and died as an example to Christians, and shed his blood for our sins - undeserved as we are.. We, too much accept Jesus as our Savior, ask for forgiveness, be baptized as a sign of submission of dues paid, rise out of the water a New Person, walking in the paths of Grace, Righteousness, and love - added to the book of Life - go bring others to the Word, the Good News, the life God would have us live.
◄ 2 Timothy 1:12 ►
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
So it is the greatest of human deception; lying to one's self to avoid commitment to that existing within all and not active until it's chosen as the genuine self. Without it, death is instantaneous and is when God's pro-offered opportunities run out.
Christianity is surrounded by contentious divisiveness because it has become obsessed with the person of Christ rather than the message he proclaimed which explicitly obliterates any and all references to oneself. He begins his ministry with "deny yourself". One would presume that he took his own advice and the New Testament is packed full of evidence to support this fact.
John usefully observes that "the flesh counts for nothing" yet all of Christianity cherishes and revers the resurrection of a physical corpse from the dead. Christ makes himself of no account so much so that he is transparent enough that people conflate what they see through him with what they're looking at. They look at window rather than through it.
There is only "the way" which doesn't allow pointless and useless abstract constructions of the mind to enter into it. As long as one chooses to retain their separate identities, they will never find the way. They can only find their own way which is the BEST way to foster and nurture contention and divisiveness.
Beginning with Christ; there has been martyrdom beyond any other religion except Judaism or that of the original Jews of which Christ was born into. There's FAR more simpler aspects to your thesis provided.
The King of the World is Satan with the fallen angels and Earth the perpetual spiritual battlefield until Jesus returns. Hell's creatures are ALWAYS seeking to thieve God's creation inclusive of humans and in that is found the essence of discord and divisiveness.
Re: "Beginning with Christ; there has been martyrdom beyond any other religion except Judaism or that of the original Jews of which Christ was born into."
Ironically, Paul and Christ himself would have pointed out that these distinctions between people are useless and counterproductive to entering into the kingdom.
Re: " There's FAR more simpler aspects to your thesis provided."
Such as?
On a very real level, Satan is nothing more than the personification of the ego. Again, Christ himself usefully observes that, "24 from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
Note also Jeremiah's observation that 'the heart of man is deceitful above ALL things and desperately wicked" All things must necessarily include 'satan', no?
Spoken as a true advocate of the secular religion of Psychology based in delusions and everything surrounding the textbook Axis II diagnoses.
Left that bunk far behind decades ago following a practice of decades. God is God and Satan is Satan...Actual spiritual BEINGS. I will pray for you in thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit to bring you unto Himself. When your heart is burning with fire from love of God through God and with God within and it radiates from your essence and eminates from your hands to others and you feel as though it will consume you while actually feeling the arms of Jesus holding you...THEN, you may believe. Then again, before one knows God it's generally based in a desire and request to know God and be one in union before faith blesses.
So too, it is with Satan and evil. SATAN PLAYS UPON ALL THE EVIL YOU CLAIM TO PROCEED FROM THE HEART OF MEN...Which is that which modern marketing and sales appeals to and for which marks the origins of modern day business. Evil may or may not be of the human creature. While all sin originates within the human creature from the heart; it doesn't always follow course to becoming transgression making sin a far greater offense. Perhaps, you've not been present for an Exorcism...God is everything and the only TRUTH in the end analysis. God is FAR more than a personification of the ego and so too is Satan.
I'm hardly an advocate for psychology, but when I see a psychologist winning atheists and agnostics over to the wealth and wisdom of scripture, I see that God can work through just about anyone. I can also see that Peterson is a better representative of Christ than most Christians.
Evidently, you have yet to come to a basic understanding of Paul's teachings which openly points out that one is saved by faith rather than it being a consequence of one's actions, "request", "desire", etc. Christianity places the cart before the horse which results in Christians professing the faith they've been taught rather than confessing the faith of Christ they've received.
Satan is simply a scapegoat so people can feel good about themselves rather than taking responsibility for their actions and behavior.
Re: "While all sin originates within the human creature from the heart; it doesn't always follow course to becoming transgression making sin a far greater offense."
Christ usefully observes that one is guilty of sin long before one carries through with the evil inclinations of the heart. He cuts to the root of the problem and far too many Christians are incapable of getting honest with themselves enough to look at what's going on in their own hearts. They never see just how evil they really are, but instead they spout "I'm not perfect."
The natural consequence is that they inevitably carry out these evil motions only to make a mockery of Christ's crucifixion. The gospel writer presents the reality by having Christ point out from the cross itself that it is only those sins that are committed in ignorance that are remedied by sacrifice. This is a fundamental distinction of the Mosaic law which Christ came to fulfill. Sins committed intentionally were never remedied by sacrifice, but instead by 'teshuva' or repentance and restitution.
Re: " God is FAR more than a personification of the ego and so too is Satan."
Strawman. I never claimed God was personified by the ego. Christ is the face of God. He is God personified, but he begins his ministry by openly enjoining his listeners to "deny yourself". Again, he cuts to the root of the problem which is humanity's problem with investing in identities that are nothing more than abstract constructions of the mind. He takes his own advice as well, but rather than follow his example, most professing Christians simply sit back and pretend.
Psychology uses the term "ego", but regardless of who is coming up with the terminology, those who are incapable of speaking the language of those they're speaking to usually don't make many converts. Christ spoke to the common people so he uses parables that they can relate to. He speaks to the legalists of his day as well and points out aspects of the law that they have forgotten or chose to ignore. Paul speaks to pagans and quotes pagan poets/philosophers and even points to their gods and tells them that he is there to proclaim the very same! Christ doesn't look at labels and usefully observes just how pointless it is to do so.
They know how to relate. It's a potent characteristic of those who have been or are currently being transformed by the love of God.
Clearly, you're not based in the whole truth as the verse you're quoting pertained to the Jewish people praying PUBLICLY as a SHOW OF PIETY when behind closed doors, they behaved in evil as evidenced with the torture and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The TRUTH about faith is completed in this verse;
"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26"
Second; the Opening Ceremony was not only about mockery of the sacred, holy; GOD. It was more importantly serving the purpose of 'Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor/Herman' which in essence was both evidence of the instruction of Jesus to his most trusted Apostles and an Exorcism to reclaim creation where massive Pagan Worship of Demons had been active for thousands of years.
THE DEMONS HIDING IN HUMAN BEING SUITS BEHIND THE OPENING CEREMONY attempted to thieve God's creation by stealing more spiritual ground on an International level. THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF WHAT HAPPENED.
They succeeded in their deliberate attack upon Jesus Christ instigating stunning anger and repugnance. Yet, their normalization of evil hasn't been fully effective as many Christians have awakened more now than for decades. Regardless of awakening, the male of the species; God's PROTECTORS of women, children, faith...They still slink back into the shadows and refuse to take their rightful place as Protectors of God. CAN'T STOMACH COWARDS.
You lost me when you stated God and Satan to be as 'personification of ego' That statement carried the stench of Jungian 'Architypes which is utter balderdash as a theory. "Jungian archetypes are a concept from psychology that refers to a universal, inherited idea, pattern of thought, or image that is present in the collective unconscious of all human beings. The psychic counterpart of instinct, archetypes are thought to be the basis of many of the common themes and symbols that appear in stories, myths, and dreams across different cultures and societies. Some examples of archetypes include those of the mother, the child, the trickster, Jesus, Satan and the flood, among others.
Suggest you research in YouTube with the Exorcists. A great one is Fr. Chad Ripperger. Another is Fr. Jim Blount. SATAN IS A REAL BEING; A SPIRITUAL BEING. Were you to attend an Exorcism as a Prayer Intercessor, you would KNOW IT'S FACT.
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST IS MOST CERTAINLY REAL AS DOCUMENTED TO FORMALLY ARRIVE ON EARTH ON PENTACOST...THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A REAL SPIRITUAL BEING.
To state anything other than that is to lose all credibility...As you lost me.
Where in the world did you imagine that? There is nothing Shnarkle wrote that read that he/she is "an adovcate for psychology." This page is honestly unbelievable. People believing things found not in the Bible and in direct opposition to the Bible and then when someone quotes from the Bible (Jeremiah is in the Bible, btw) you blast them? Wow. Just wow.
The problem is that the gospel has been watered down to such a degree that it no longer warrants a reaction from the government or anyone else for that matter. It was originally an existential threat to governments around the world. Now it's nothing more than a mild annoyance to most unbelievers. Christians are forced to engage in ad hominem to get people riled up. This is how they incite their own persecution. I dare anyone to present the unadulterated gospel. The vast majority of professing Christians are incapable of articulating it much less comprehending it.
Obviously you see Jesus as only a great teacher. Well, you are free to think that but you are clueless about the supernatural showing up. It can & does & has down the centuries.
A thoughtful interview testimony YT channel is A Stronger Faith Ministeries. Ordinary ppl tell of extraordinary encounters with Jesus. The interviewer often is skeptical & ask for more detail. Hoghly recommend this channel.
Re: " Obviously you see Jesus as only a great teacher."
It seems quite evident that you didn't comprehend what I posted. What I'm pointing out is that Christ exemplifies the teaching and anyone who receives it can only live it which is significantly more than just being a great teacher.
Re: " you are clueless about the supernatural showing up. "
Your Ad Hominem is duly noted and spotlights just how insignificant the effects of the supernatural have been in your life. Ad Hominem is not a fruit of the spirit.
Right from the very beginning of creation when the angels were created HAVING no material body...THAT, in itself is a higher order of being not suffering any of the weaknesses a material body brings.
The angels are not always to be higher forms of life to humans. Humans are placed above them when returning to spiritual being following death on Earth. Angels being a Higher form of life to humans is IMPLIED and is thus relevant exactly as many other matters of faith are implied beginning with the presence of Adam when Eve was deceived by the serpent. We KNOW she was deceived and ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED EVEN THOUGH PRESENT.
We know this from Eve's own words with the serpent as they did NOT match the words given to Adam from God; thus, the law given to her was from Adam as it did not match the law given to Adam.
ADAM WAS PRESENT WITH EVE AND HE MANIPULATED EVE INTO DOING HIS DIRTY WORK BASED UPON WANTING GOD'S POWER FOR HIMSELF. EVE SO LOVED ADAM, SHE ALLOWED HERSELF TO EAT AND IN DOING, MADE ADAM HER GOD.
"1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression." BUT, FROM THE MOMENT OF EVE'S CREATION; ADAM WAS GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY OVER ALL INCLUDING EVE.
THIS TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION COMES DIRECTLY FROM A PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR IN UNIVERSITY...NOT ME.
There are many such indirect interpretations in The Holy Bible and thus the reason it requires study and the blessings of God to understand in God's time he wishes the knowledge known.
Paul refers to "spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:12) Spiritual wickedness is not an trait that can be attributed to angels that remain obedient to God. It necessarily follows that they are fallen. The book of Job also refers to all of the sons of God coming 'and Satan along with them' in heaven. Satan's name was given to him after his own fall, yet he remains in heaven while walking "to and fro' on the earth below.
Totally agree. Sadly too many people here (and elsewhere) aren’t taking their worldview from the Bible. They are falling for the decption of “did God really say….” and if you quote directly from the Bible you are called all sorts of names. That in itself shows what is Biblical or not.
The biblical authors seem to spotlight something similar with things like the Pharisees' doctrines. Jesus tells them they're liars, yet far too many Christians will accept what they say without question. Does the Mosaic law really condemn someone for walking through a field of wheat while eating grain on the Sabbath? Not really. Is it really a sin to heal someone on the Sabbath? Nope.
God says Adam and Eve will 'surely' die, yet Eve says 'lest' ye die. God says don't "eat" from the tree, while Eve says "don't touch". Ultimately, I think they're all suggesting that it's easy pretty easy to misquote God.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and nothing reaches the Father except through him. (“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” Jn 14:6) Jesus is the Higher Power and I also believe our Guardian Angels work to protect us.
The Fallen are known as Lucifer in the Old Testament among those of Judaism believing the devil exists. Satan is the name for the New Testament used among Christians....However, it's given to know both names are the same demon. Also there are many demons of many names and all do work for the ruin of souls both as teams and alone. It's hypothesized Demonization is a Team Effort as Exorcism involves removal of a number of demons in a Team. Behind all is either that known as Lucifer and/or Satan. (In Exorcism, Jewish people released refer to the dominant demon as Lucifer while Christian's identify the dominant demon Satan).
I don't have a religious bone in my entire body. But, with with the dust of 86 years clinging to my shoes, I have learned to have faith in the inherent goodness of people and their instinctive ability to recogise and ultimately oppose evil, in whatever form it manifests as a threat to their lives and those of their family members.
My old heart is telling me we are reaching the point of a new Enlightenment, spurred by the growth of the Internet and other forms of mass communication, which has exposed the shackles imposed upon us by the Establishment enabled increasing numbers of us to understand who is really running our lives and for what nefarious purposes (Sadly, for my religious friends, I have to point out that some of them are highly-placed believers in a metaphysical Almighty).
Personally, I don't give a fig what god people subscribe to - or don't. But this much is clear to me: we need to sink, not magnify or sustain, the differences between us and unify to fight and defeat our common enemy - be he Globocap, the Elite, Davos or the Devil himself. Division equals defeat. And nobody knows this better than our common enemy.
Michael, please read The Gospel of John. You sound as if you're a dear fellow, but on The Day of Judgment, the only thing which will matter for your soul will not have been your beneficence, but whether you were clothed in the righteousness of The Lord Jesus Christ.
You start by saying you don't have a religious bone in your body. Michael, we all start life as sinners in need of the grace of God. Some of the most splendid saints will be men and women who lived seventy five rotten years before the grace of God slapped them senseless and showed them their desperate need of His Son, Jesus. And Hell will have among its residents people who have been termed "the delightful damned," honorable, moral, well meaning people who had a strong sense of the difference between good and evil and had the kind of yearning for the triumph of goodness which you have.
Why will they be in Hell? They will be there because their benevolence notwithstanding, they had no use for The One who created them, died for them, and would have saved them if they had only believed in Him.
Yes, of course, read other parts of the Bible, such as the Psalms, Isaiah, and the other three Gospels, but start with The Gospel of John, then read on into and through the next book, The Acts of the Apostles. The central contention of Christianity is stated throughout the book, starting with John 1:1, and summarized most beautifully by what Jesus says in chapter 11, verses 25 and 26.
We are not in a "reaching the point of a new Enlightenment." Are people waking up to the evil around them? Yes. But as seen here just becaue they recognize what has been happening (in the US' case planned over 100 years ago to take us down from within) so many believe something they have been told and not something they have read from the Bible.
Generally, those who would strip us of our free will (God given, Christians would argue) and what are widely perceived as "inalienable" (if only) human rights and freedoms which historically we have fought to win and retain.
Right now? For starters, the Committee of 300 and their co-conspirators in enslaving projects such as Agenda 21, the so-called Great Reset, etc.
I am sorry if I sound like the archetypal conspiracy theorist beloved of so-called "fact checking" organisations, but I can assure you I have reached this conclusion only after many years of intense (and at times extremely depressing) research.
History demonstrates that there nothing new about the desire of a few to dominate and disenfranchise the many. The characters and stage may change but basic script has remained the same for millennia, precipitating the rise and fall of entire civilisations.
Today, I believe we are on the brink of another, and possibly final, manifestation of this destructive phenomenon, via a so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution which envisages our future as a race of transhuman cyborgs subject to the whims of a ruling, unelected technocracy.
I am sure I don't need to bang on, as the parasitical predators' plans to bring it to fruition are already in the public domain - and even openly boastedf about by representatives of participating institutions, from individual governments to international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organisation, etc etc. However, should anyone need further info, I will do my best to provide it.
Sadly, those of us who attend the Traditional Latin Catholic Mass are considered terrorists. My heart and soul sing with joy on Sunday mornings. We are blessed with absolutely wonderful homilies that explain liturgy and inspire me for the coming week. If I am a terrorist so be it.
Amen, Christine. Attending the Traditional Latin Mass, each Sunday, fills me with awe, reverence and love of God. That it was snatched from us, by our infiltrated Church, and still in danger of being ‘cancelled’ shows the height of evil in our world.
Christine, I have to say that it's only non Christians who would consider you a terrorist, presuming as I do that you didn't make this comment in the Belfast of 1970.
First of all, I work with numerous atheists and progressive Christians who have asked me in the past about how someone as educated and well read as I am can either believe at all or be part of such a backwards church caught up in the medieval world (Orthodox). I talk about myrrh streaming icons or oil coming from saints relics and they leave me alone. Some have asked me for more information.
Secondly, parishes in my area of the country, and across the nation, are flooded with inquirers and catechumens. There’s definitely a reaction to all of the past decades of aesthetically and spiritually brutal materialism.
I can’t remember when I last read such an encouraging message! The news is dire and with media captured by the dark side, their every word and action is designed to further the evil.
Thank you for emphasizing that very important point, David.
We MUST 'invite' Father and King Jeshua inside our souls and hearts, or they certainly will not enter. Because why would either of them desire any close fellowship or relationship with the likes of (fault-filled and sinful us) without being invited to dwell inside our 'houses' in a spirit of love and service?
Folks, please, ask them both to reside within you in this manner, and I guarantee they will.
Elizabeth: Thank you for this. All of your pieces here on Substack are exceptional. And this one is among the best of the best. I think you’ve spoken to the heart of many of us who have gone about our lives rather quiet about our Christian faith. But this does not mean it’s not alive and well in us, and is now manifesting and being celebrated more visibly in our everyday lives and, as you say, in the rest of the known world.
My mother’s maternal side of my family was among the early Swiss Mennonite settlers and clergymen who put down roots in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. My father had grown up Lutheran but by the time he had a family of his own he’d never set foot in any church except when forced to for weddings and funerals. My mother, on the other hand, dragged me and my three siblings—all brothers—to our suburban Connecticut white clapboard Congregational Sunday school and church, and we resisted mightily. So much so that one beautiful Sunday morning—an Easter Sunday in my early teens—we all complained so noisily that as we were all piling into the car to go to the service, she threw up her hands up in despair, marched back into the house, and wept as if, I’ve come to see, for our lost souls. As for me and my brothers, as we slammed the car doors closed behind us, we nearly kicked up our heels and felt as if we’d each been handed a get out of jail free card.
Yet, the faith of those early Mennonites must have been bred in our bones. My brothers (one died in 2022) and I have over the years gravitated back toward Christianity, as if caught by G. K. Chesterton’s character Father Brown and his unseen hook and twitch upon a thread. While I approached the faith academically through countless books and years of study at a renowned theological seminary, my brothers found themselves drawn to the sway of Evangelical churches. And perhaps it is no small coincidence—I’ll call it divine intervention—that we all found ourselves immune from Covidmania and aware of, and resistant to, the evil machinations operating behind it.
Yes I think a Christian faith is powerfully genetically embedded. I think too it protected me mightily when I was out in the dangerous world and quite vulnerable. Same with us on Covid, by March 15th, I could SEE it was rubbish somehow. Thank you for this
Elizabeth: Thank you for your reply to my comment. And, again, thank you for all your exceptional and articulate observations. FYI: After publishing several posts over the past few years with Lew Rockwell about the current state of the world, I’ve just launched my own Substack column. This is hot off the press today. I've attached a link. Thought you might like to check it out. Would love for you to subscribe. It’s free, although paid subscriptions or a one-time Ko-Fi donation are available. All best, Jim
Evidence for demonic possession is abundant for all who will see. But, "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" 2 Cor. 4:4. In AD 30 when Jesus and his disciples were preaching, demonic possession was common and still is, despite modernism's disdaining pronouncing it a relic of the ignorant past, all the while demonstrating its re-ascendence in endless rioting, street demonstrations, and in Hollywood productions, rock concerts, and modern art.
From what I can "see", almost everyone in a leadership position presented to us by the media is possessed. As are many presstitutes and celebrities. The main purpose of satanic blood sacrifice is to lower the frequency of the place and the participants to create portals for demonic entities to enter into our 3-D reality, using those vessels and taking them over to the dark side. Just look at photos of celebrities at the beginning of their career, and then of photos once "they have made it". As Bob Dylan confessed in an interview, he sold his soul to the Devil. That seems to be the recipe for "success", or the price to pay for worldly stardom.
Absolutely and 100%. There is no other explanation that makes sense as to why people would destroy them and their own souls this way - by sacrificing them to the altar of avarice, war, greed, and personal gain.
Athena, I have to think that Dylan, the master send up artist of the last century, was up to his old tricks in that interview. If you're a Dylan fan, you may know that Christopher Ricks is generally considered "the preeminent" Dylan "scholar" ( I guess ) in the world.
Ricks' one attempt to meet Dylan was backstage at a Dylan performance. Dylan walked up to him, said, "The famous Professor Ricks," and kept on walking.
I don't at all deny the reality of the demonic. We've all heard of or seen movies about "haunted house challenges." Here's a "haunted book" challenge: Hostage to the Devil, by Malachi Martin. I tried to read it three times, but each time was so traumatized I was able to finish the book only once.
Not for a moment do I doubt the reality of the demonic. I am convinced I have seen four demon possessed people in person. I have no question about whether a first cousin of mine is demon influenced. It's as obvious as it is that Orson Welles liked pie.
I am no Dylan fan and don't know that much about him. In that interview, though, he did not look like he was joking. By the way, you mention his "old tricks". Satan is a known trickster...
That said, my comment is not about Dylan; I just used him as an example, pars pro toto, because I am not sure anyone makes it to the top without signing a blood pact with the "Chief Commander" himself.
As an aside: there are various levels of "possession". We all are, to an extent, possessed by low vibrational energies and entities. The more we give in to their impulses rather than listening to our higher self/nature, the easier it becomes for other similar, harmful energies to enter our system. Some people are almost entirely run by them and have practically no free will left. However, participating in a ritual sacrifice and/or signing a pact with the Devil, thus consciously allowing him or other demons to take over our being, is a at a whole other level.
Hi, Athena. I had to give myself a day off from email, so now, on late Monday afternoon, I just saw this. It's a fascinating comment. I'm not sure what I think about it.
We don't have any recordings of Paganini, but everything I've ever read about him suggests that he was the Art Tatum of the violin. He was a born showman as well as a great musician, and appears to have encouraged the story that he had sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his mastery. Who knows if it's true?
People Who Get To The Top have to be tremendously attractive in some way to do it, but that doesn't war against your suspicion. The Devil disguises himself as an angel of Light, after all. Still, demoniacs are not attractive, so the degree of demonic investment in anyone's big time success is always debatable.
I was writing about this recently and it might have been here: I know I've seen three demoniacs in my lifetime, and possibly a fourth. I'm 72, so can't legitimately be accused of demon spotting. The first was in 1969, the possible in 1989, the second in 2000, the third in 2004. How do I know? With the first, I didn't, not at the time. This was a girl I'm not even sure I'd exchanged a sentence with, and hadn't seen for a year and a half, at least. She'd been the quietest child you could imagine. But on the spring day in 1969 when I saw her a half block away, the quality of the smile on her face gave me the instant creeps, and I crossed the street to avoid her.
Three times I tried to read Malachi Martin's "Hostage to the Devil." In 1977, two case histories in, I had been so unnerved by the book, I'd had to give it up. In 2008, I made it through with a reissued copy. A year later, I just could not do it again.
I have never read anything which came close to being as traumatizing as that book. Malachi Martin was a laicized Catholic priest. In the book, which is about the possession and exorcisms of five Americans in the years between the early 1960s and the mid 1970s, Martin introduced an idea of his, the concept of perfect possession. Martin believed there were people who were possessed, knew it, and didn't mind it a bit, because their lives were working out exactly as they had wished. ( In addition to the demoniacs I know I've seen in person, in 2012, I had an interesting little encounter with someone who may well have been according to Martin's idea, perfectly possessed. It's a great anecdote, involves a crucifix - really - but it's probably best that I not tell it here. )
Why am I so sure that those three people were demoniacs? Each was extremely different looking from the other two, yet each had a smile identical to those of the other two: not of this world and nothing less than appalling. I think it was Supreme Court Associate Justice Byron White who said of pornography that he knew it when he saw it, and that really is enough for me to tell you about that smile. The "possible" in 1989 seemed to have it, but that may have been only a look of deeply gay interest, destined, alas, to remain unfulfilled.
I've seen that smile on one other person, someone on television in a brief news segment about thirty years ago. This was a man being led out of a courtroom in Moscow. His crime? Having murdered and cannibalized two hundred little boys.
Having the interest and savvy which you do, you may have read "Hostage to the Devil." If not, and you attempt it, be prepared to be horrified. Do you know about Anneliese Michel, the young German woman who died in 1976? I just do not know what to think there. If you're unfamiliar with her story, there are several videos about her on YouTube, and maybe a book or two.
There is also the documentary, "The Devil and Father Amorth," which I have not seen yet. Have you seen it?
I absolutely started to see that this year. People are possessed by demons. And I was quite recently still an atheist. Not any more. I am back to my Catholic roots, and led there by C.S. Lewis. I now see that the vaccines seemed to be a demon delivery system also, as the people who got them overwhelmingly turned into shells of former humans. Not all, but many. And even the ones that aren't worshipping satan (mostly unknowingly) by their acts are a little "off" and not as God made them. It's sad, but perhaps some of them will be able to reverse the damage. God is forgiving.
Mary, here's a book every lover of C.S. Lewis should read: A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken. The book is Vanauken's memoir of his marriage, which began with his and his wife's being pagans. Vanauken's pursuit of a Master's degree after World War II led them to Oxford a decade later, where the friendship and influence of Lewis was decisive in their becoming Christians.
It's a magnificent book, never to my knowledge out of print since its publication almost fifty years ago.
I've noticed they effect people in a similar way to psychiatric drugs. Dull and apathetic. Even less discerning than before they took the shot. They certainly were deceived.
Which is the very root of leftist progressivism today. That's what grew out of that form of faith and public action. All that is missing from it today is that old-timey Godliness. Instead it is now the vindictive, non-redemptive wokening.
That’s what happens in almost every large social movement as time goes on: evil shows up and it has happened again. See Matthew 12: 43-45, study the history of the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament, and read The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn. We always come to the point where we must return to our faith. And now we are witnessing the 4th Great Awakening. What a glorious time to be alive and participate in the restoration of Christ as the center of our nation.
What has always been great about this nation is that everyone can pursue their faith, their happiness, in their own way. What has ruined this nation is every attempt to define the ONE way for all.
Evil doesn't just show up, it lives in every human heart (per Solzhenitsyn).
Evil does live in every human heart but one, that of God Incarnate, The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us, died for us, and was raised from the dead.
However, this most magnificent of truths will only seal your condemnation to Hell unless you believe on The Lord Jesus Christ.
Please read The Gospel of John. The primary assertion of Christianity, that God became Incarnate in Jesus, is delineated simply and beautifully in John's Gospel. Pay special attention to John, chapter one. The most beautiful and poetic assertion of who Jesus is you will learn in chapter eleven, verses twenty five and twenty six.
The writer of The Epistle to the Hebrews asks rhetorically, "How shall they ( we ) escape if they ( we ) neglect so great a salvation?" The obvious, tragic answer is that no one will.
Thank you, William. What you write about is in the Bible. Sadly, it seems most commenters hear go by what they have been told without checking it through Scripture.
Kai, prove him wrong. If you are a Christian, you are a ZIONIST. Period. Here is the definition to help you: "a movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel."
So interesting here that if you quote the Bible or write about Biblical beliefs, you are bashed. So very sad.
No matter what era we examine, there are always evil people and society discourages it as best it can, but there are eras in which America as a nation has recognized evils that we have agreed must be eliminated, such as slavery, or child labor, or religious intolerance, or denying the vote to large groups of citizens. Elizabeth Nickson’s piece talks about this phenomenon: we refer to them as Great Awakenings , times when the nation renews its covenant with God and acts on it, just as the ancient Israelites did throughout the history of the Old Testament. We are in one of those times now when great evil must be confronted. I honestly don’t know how anyone cannot be aware of any good that America has been responsible for. I’m not arguing that we are perfect or that we ever have been, but the chances of good being done here is greater than almost any other place on earth. Since the end of WW2, however, we have lost our way.
Religious 'intolerance' is at the very heart of real Christianity that proceeds from Father through Christ . . . and proceeds NO other way.
Christ says we are either on His side, period, or we are AGAINST Him. Tolerating cults, religions etc. that do not center on God the Father and Christ is anti-Christian.
No apology required, you are entitled to your opinion and I appreciate your honesty with me in this important matter, although we disagree fundamentally and seriously on the point I addressed.
Well…. In the West we once knew how to deal with evil. Throughout the Middle Ages, Europe executed about 1% of the male population every year. Result: removing lotsa bacteria from the gene pool.
Why do we now essentially refuse harsh sentencing to evildoers?
Why is one on Death Row - far - more likely to die of old age than execution as decided by a jury of his peers?
Because of one of those Progressive ideas that was not present in the rise of Western Civ, that was not to be found in Greek city states, the Roman Empire, Charlemagne’s creation of what we today call “Western Europe,” in the creation of the most advanced, free and prosperous civilization in the known universe, or in the millennia-long struggle for and rise of Western Human Rights now evaporating within our empathy-driven, feminized society: women’s suffrage.
Why are our women no longer safe walking their own streets? They vote based on empathy: “Oh, that poor …” illegal alien, incarcerated thug, crappy teacher…
Why do we have actual adults supporting trans insanity? Why do we have little girls being raped in their school bathrooms by males being allowed to pretend to be female? Why do women athletes who have sacrificed almost everything since they were 5 yrs old being defeated in competition and their dreams destroyed by men in dresses? Because it would be “mean” to those boys and who cares about the girls and young women? Not their D-voting moms - 60% of women, overall, and 77% of single women vote for the party that loathes them and wants to make them disappear. Are you a “chest feeder” or a woman?…
Yes, we are in a time in which evil must be confronted. But that means killing the evil doers, incarcerating the bad guys, overthrowing corrupt government, accepting insanity as insanity, voting for and then enforcing - as harshly as is necessary to achieve their purpose - the laws.
Instead, the majority of women continue to vote to make themselves ever-more-vulnerable, ever-less-likely to be defended by men women can’t seem to stop criticizing, and for a party and policies that reject the very idea of womanhood.
Women are humanity’s most valuable beings. Only they can ensure our future. Yet they vote, every election, to endanger themselves even more. They voluntarily reduce fertility to the point of collapse of the same West that gives them all their rights, opens their door, carries their packages and tries to protect them from harm and invasion from other cultures who value women not at all.
No successful matriarchy presents in the history books. Yet the feminization of the West today essentially makes us a matriarchy.
We can have a safe, fair, educated and prosperous society with longevity, or we can continue female suffrage.
Look around objectively and tell me - unemotionally and based on facts - where I am mistaken.
Well, not having children killed by factory machinery, for one. Not having workers burned to death because heartless, heedless owners locked them in to make sure that during their twelve hour workday, they wouldn't get a five minute break, for another. Being able to buy food which one can be reasonably certain isn't contaminated with sawdust and maggots. Minimum wage. The right of workers to organize trade unions. Disability insurance. Your Social Security. Reasonably clean air and water. A limitation to the sickle wielded by plagues.
Fair enough. However, are you certain it was the modern Progressive Movement that specifically arranged these benefits? That is, the Progressive Movement after, say, 1960? I have a v difficult time reconciling the Progs after the Sixties or Seventies with any organization or movement that provided much of anything useful or authentically beneficial after this time.
Thank you for answering, if you so wish. I am not afraid to learn new things, if and only if those new things are true.
Not at all!! I took you to be referring to the progressivism of a hundred years ago, not to the monsters who assault us from every direction these days.
Unfortunately very true. I've researched the past revivals as well and been shocked by how they got worse over time, led to our current condition and continually broke Christianity down into its crude postmodern form, culminating in "the sinners prayer" and "God is purely loving never angry or judging". We lost fear of God a long time ago in these "revivals"
What a brave and important analysis! I am so grateful.
I was not raised with any faith at all -- I live on a Vermont hilltop where my great-great-great-great-grandfather settled, and none of his subsequent line (or any other of my family) were people of faith. Yet I always respected others' faiths, and my core values were built on hard work and common sense.
Things change. I graduated cum laude from a top law school, and its entire law library lacks the wisdom and hope of that single book, the bible. I am a full-bore Christian believer and pastor. Like Dostoevsky, TS Eliot, Lewis, Evelyn Waugh, Tolstoy, and so many others, I embrace Christian truth as the center of life and the universe. But like Waugh, Eliot, Lewis, and others, I am a walkaway from atheist folly, just as I am a walkaway from Democrat demonics. Cultural Marxism, the new ESTABLISHED woke religion, cannot coexist with forgiveness, equality, goodness and hope. And so Christianity -- the faith that most powerfully and positively shaped the modern world -- is instead canceled as solely evil and pernicious. What is good is called evil, and evil good. I was a criminal defense attorney for years. People have no idea the depths of human evil toward children, and society turns away in horror and cowardice rather than rescue them. This only serves the evil and fuels it. We must rise up in this moral battle. As GK Chesterton (another atheist converted) famously stated: "Ours is a faith that always rises from the tomb." It is finished. He is risen. Let us stand in His armor, and be His salt and Light.
"Yet I always respected others' faiths, and my core values were built on hard work and common sense.
...I embrace Christian truth as the center of life and the universe. But like Waugh, Eliot, Lewis, and others, I am a walkaway from atheist folly, just as I am a walkaway from Democrat demonics."
Me to a T.
I live (now) in Wisconsin, on a small hilltop at the edge of town. My earliest ancestors were immigrants who worked hard and prospered – for the most part – and who followed various faiths.
I chose not to have children as much out of fear for what could happen to them as I saw the corruption of schooling and advertising have effects on those I grew up with as what I lived with as the second son growing up in a dysfunctional family.
Too, the pain I shared as close friends lost children took its toll on my conscience, regretfully put a spin of selfishness on my motivation as I grew into then beyond childbearing age.
Well done.
Ahh, yes. I was a secretary to an Attorney who did much juvenile court work. Many times, as I sat at my computer transcribing his dictation I would have tears in my eyes. People can be so cruel to their children and families.
I did a great deal of pro bono juvie court work. One great juvie prosecutor I knew suffered a complete nervous breakdown after decades of self-sacrificing work. I am certain it was the endless stress of the constant horrors...... Family practice can be almost as bad -- lawyers learn of all the dark details that no one should ever hear..... and the children are often the victims there too.
So true. In his early years, he did divorce, but as time went on he discontinued that practice. He found it just too difficult and disheartening.
My dad was a struggling attorney. First generation American, he worked among the families that immigrated from Eastern Europe. He had to work a secondary clerical job, in the evenings, to provide for his six children.
As a child, I didn’t understand why he struggled economically. But he was always a devout Catholic and refused any divorce cases or those that would compromise his values. Now, I understand and am so proud of his stand.
Thank you, Dad.
I’m a Vermonter too and have followed and supported you in spirit for years. What happened to our state is a travesty.
Very kind of you John. And the travesty continues -- Vermont is an underground railroad not for escaped slaves but runaway children seeking gender hormones and surgeries, available here for free. Vermont bans cooperation with authorities in the children's home states looking for them, essentially using the government to conceal minor children from their parents......
Great God! But for one single instant show thyself. In Jesus’ name no more of this that’s worse than devil’s madness…
Amen
🙏🙏🙏
I did not know about Vermont banning child cooperation concerning gender MUTILATION. I lived in Vermont for 30 yrs and the lack of political and morally related ethics is completely reprehensible. And unfortunately it is not limited to this issue alone. I find that the surface beauty of the state belies a quite demonic and ugly presence.
Amen, John.
"Ours is a faith that always rises from the tomb." It is finished. He is risen. Let us stand in His armor, and be His salt and Light."
My faith in Jesus Our Saviour has grown, and I am so grateful for you, Elizabeth, and everyone here fighting the spiritual battle!
Your message is beyond inspiring John. God bless you and thank you for sharing the truth!
Absolutely beautiful and inspiring. THANK YOU.
Hallelujah.
Dear Elizabeth, thank you for this post full of love and hope. We live in dark times. It’s important to know what we face and I appreciate the time and effort you put into researching the reality of the world we live in, but it’s also helpful, as you well know, to share the hope that we have in Jesus. God bless you!
Thank you for writing this and adding all the video clips. It helps me remain hopeful that our world will defeat the evil that is trying to take over. I for one have become an even more fervent believer in my God and His son Jesus Chriat. It is all that gets me through each day. It is all that keeps me from despair when I see what Satan is doing to our world.
Catherine: you have captured my sentiments exactly, and down to the last syllable.
God bless you!
It will one day when Jesus returns to set up His Millenial Kingdom. We are NOT in that time now per the Bible.
Good.
I was raised Catholic and translated the gospels in college. When asked why the elementary Greek grammar didn't agree with Catholic teachings, the good Christian brothers usefully observed that this was a language tutorial, not a theology class.
This was the last straw for me as I had endeavored to immerse myself in a faith that seemed to foster lethargy, sloth and forgetfulness. I would routinely ask my parents, sibling, and friends what they thought about the readings or sermon only to receive a moot blank stare. No one could remember much of anything.
After spending a few years seeking wisdom from Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism etc. etc. I began to notice a number of similarities to the wisdom of the bible. I began attending any and all Christian services and bible studies and was also often times the only white face in a number of all black congregations.
It was at these services that I first experienced such an overwhelming outpouring of emotion, I was unable to refrain from holding back a stream of tears. The music stirs something deep inside. It allows one to reconnect to that aspect of reality that I'd only felt as an infant. These articles have much the same effect. I cut the cable almost 25 years ago, but I seriously doubt anyone in the mainstream media is reporting about Christian revival.
I'm as lazy as anyone and can be pushed around, but there comes a tipping point when the powers that should not be think they can start shoving us which seems to be exactly what a lot of us need to shake us from our stupor.
It is in music that creation occurred. It is the universal language and what will unite us.
Young, old, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, virtuous or attracted to vice, there are pieces of music that touch every heart so that we transcend our miserable wormy selves and soar with angels.
Uh, what? "It is in music that creation occurred?" Where is that in the Bible?
It isn’t. It is a paraphrase of a whimsical suggestion by C.S. Lewis in Narnia series.
In theology it makes sense. Music is a universal language that touches the hearts of everyone. The right music during stress or distress, can calm a heart. It is a sudden refreshing cool breeze on a hot humid day.
God is the author of all creation - the galaxies, the earth, nature, us. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Of course He is the author of the sublime beauty and complexity of music, and I expect in heaven we will hear music we cannot have imagined.
I believe music can heal this world.
But you left that reference off. In "theology it makes sense" is wrong.
Goodness we have so many people here holding and creating fiction versus what the Bible says as fact. Please be careful in not reading modern texts to overlay what is Biblical. My point still stands that "it is in music that creation occurred" is unBiblical and THAT is what is important. (And by the way, I'm a 50 year experienced and educated church musician.)
I should have qualified from the get go that it was a CS Lewis mulling. Mea culpa. But I will add I also believe personally it is true.
And, speaking of tired citizens, this old gal is a bit weary of Christians chipping away at each other. I was only making an attempt to marry the beauty of God, creation and music in light of the essay.
Perhaps sometimes we can consider just letting things pass and let them stand alone.
I love that: 'The powers that should not be' ...
Tears as I read this. Evangelist Mario Murillo has been holding tent services all across the country, the most recent in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where his Living Proof Tent Crusades fill a nearly 17,000 square-foot tent with seats needing to be set up outside the tent for overflow every night. You don't hear about this--thousands and thousands of people, in California, in Western New York, in Oregon, in Colorado, in Michigan, in Arizona and more, with thousands streaming to the front of the tent each night to profess Jesus Christ as their Lord. You don't hear about it but his crusades are growing larger. This 80+ year-old evangelist who has been preaching since the Jesus Movement days on the UC Berkeley campus and the streets of San Francisco has a tremendous burden to hold these crusades and they are phenomenal. God shows up. People are being changed without the media covering it, under the radar. It's a total stealth movement in plain sight.
I love this!!!
Our faith is everything - I can't imagine a world without it. Being grateful for our lives, our existence, the many gifts we have received and anticipating reunion with our Lord is the foundation of our lives.
We must pray for all those lost souls, those victims of the evil enveloping our society.
Pray for leftists, for those trapped by the hate they've been propagandized into, yes you're right. It's actually liberating to do so, to not feel so intensely the resentment I used to feel for their false characterizations & hostility towards conservatives & Christians. They're prisoners who can't escape.
Luke 22:36
Excellent counsel, thank you.
Endlessly contentious divisiveness surrounds Christianity; now experiencing tremendous persecution in most continents and subcontinents as India. As more times passes, it's transparently obvious of Jesus being the Messiah as other Cults and Religions universally despise Jesus and persecute/murder those of faith.
Those declaring themselves to believe in any 'HIGHER POWER' always disturbed me. The Fallen Angels ARE HIGHER POWERS IN COMPARISON TO HUMAN BEINGS. As that is fact, it's the height of foolishness to worship, or desire union in the soul with just any old 'Higher Power.' Only the precious blood of Jesus Christ can seal a soul to Himself and protect from other 'HIGHER POWERS' prowling the world seeking the ruin of souls.
And along with believing in a"higher power", there's those who say they're not religious. They're "spiritual". Huh? It seems these identities are a way of avoiding church settings, or feeling required to submit to specific tenements of the Bible.
There's people who call themselves Christian, because they believe there is a God. But, Satan knows God. Satan is not a Christian!
Being a Christian is having your name added to the Book of Life. It's literally joining the highest "club". But, like the yacht club, it's not enough to say you belong to the club. You pay dues, to get your name on the roster.
Christians dues, are of the heart, mind, and soul. Jesus IS the Son of God. He lived - and died as an example to Christians, and shed his blood for our sins - undeserved as we are.. We, too much accept Jesus as our Savior, ask for forgiveness, be baptized as a sign of submission of dues paid, rise out of the water a New Person, walking in the paths of Grace, Righteousness, and love - added to the book of Life - go bring others to the Word, the Good News, the life God would have us live.
◄ 2 Timothy 1:12 ►
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
https://youtu.be/_bRV3J4n8cc?feature=shared
Just lovely...Makes me cry.
That's like saying, "I'm not health conscious. I'm physical."
Pretty silly if you think about it.
So it is the greatest of human deception; lying to one's self to avoid commitment to that existing within all and not active until it's chosen as the genuine self. Without it, death is instantaneous and is when God's pro-offered opportunities run out.
Christianity is surrounded by contentious divisiveness because it has become obsessed with the person of Christ rather than the message he proclaimed which explicitly obliterates any and all references to oneself. He begins his ministry with "deny yourself". One would presume that he took his own advice and the New Testament is packed full of evidence to support this fact.
John usefully observes that "the flesh counts for nothing" yet all of Christianity cherishes and revers the resurrection of a physical corpse from the dead. Christ makes himself of no account so much so that he is transparent enough that people conflate what they see through him with what they're looking at. They look at window rather than through it.
There is only "the way" which doesn't allow pointless and useless abstract constructions of the mind to enter into it. As long as one chooses to retain their separate identities, they will never find the way. They can only find their own way which is the BEST way to foster and nurture contention and divisiveness.
“You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.”
Beginning with Christ; there has been martyrdom beyond any other religion except Judaism or that of the original Jews of which Christ was born into. There's FAR more simpler aspects to your thesis provided.
The King of the World is Satan with the fallen angels and Earth the perpetual spiritual battlefield until Jesus returns. Hell's creatures are ALWAYS seeking to thieve God's creation inclusive of humans and in that is found the essence of discord and divisiveness.
Re: "Beginning with Christ; there has been martyrdom beyond any other religion except Judaism or that of the original Jews of which Christ was born into."
Ironically, Paul and Christ himself would have pointed out that these distinctions between people are useless and counterproductive to entering into the kingdom.
Re: " There's FAR more simpler aspects to your thesis provided."
Such as?
On a very real level, Satan is nothing more than the personification of the ego. Again, Christ himself usefully observes that, "24 from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
Note also Jeremiah's observation that 'the heart of man is deceitful above ALL things and desperately wicked" All things must necessarily include 'satan', no?
Spoken as a true advocate of the secular religion of Psychology based in delusions and everything surrounding the textbook Axis II diagnoses.
Left that bunk far behind decades ago following a practice of decades. God is God and Satan is Satan...Actual spiritual BEINGS. I will pray for you in thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit to bring you unto Himself. When your heart is burning with fire from love of God through God and with God within and it radiates from your essence and eminates from your hands to others and you feel as though it will consume you while actually feeling the arms of Jesus holding you...THEN, you may believe. Then again, before one knows God it's generally based in a desire and request to know God and be one in union before faith blesses.
So too, it is with Satan and evil. SATAN PLAYS UPON ALL THE EVIL YOU CLAIM TO PROCEED FROM THE HEART OF MEN...Which is that which modern marketing and sales appeals to and for which marks the origins of modern day business. Evil may or may not be of the human creature. While all sin originates within the human creature from the heart; it doesn't always follow course to becoming transgression making sin a far greater offense. Perhaps, you've not been present for an Exorcism...God is everything and the only TRUTH in the end analysis. God is FAR more than a personification of the ego and so too is Satan.
I'm hardly an advocate for psychology, but when I see a psychologist winning atheists and agnostics over to the wealth and wisdom of scripture, I see that God can work through just about anyone. I can also see that Peterson is a better representative of Christ than most Christians.
Evidently, you have yet to come to a basic understanding of Paul's teachings which openly points out that one is saved by faith rather than it being a consequence of one's actions, "request", "desire", etc. Christianity places the cart before the horse which results in Christians professing the faith they've been taught rather than confessing the faith of Christ they've received.
Satan is simply a scapegoat so people can feel good about themselves rather than taking responsibility for their actions and behavior.
Re: "While all sin originates within the human creature from the heart; it doesn't always follow course to becoming transgression making sin a far greater offense."
Christ usefully observes that one is guilty of sin long before one carries through with the evil inclinations of the heart. He cuts to the root of the problem and far too many Christians are incapable of getting honest with themselves enough to look at what's going on in their own hearts. They never see just how evil they really are, but instead they spout "I'm not perfect."
The natural consequence is that they inevitably carry out these evil motions only to make a mockery of Christ's crucifixion. The gospel writer presents the reality by having Christ point out from the cross itself that it is only those sins that are committed in ignorance that are remedied by sacrifice. This is a fundamental distinction of the Mosaic law which Christ came to fulfill. Sins committed intentionally were never remedied by sacrifice, but instead by 'teshuva' or repentance and restitution.
Re: " God is FAR more than a personification of the ego and so too is Satan."
Strawman. I never claimed God was personified by the ego. Christ is the face of God. He is God personified, but he begins his ministry by openly enjoining his listeners to "deny yourself". Again, he cuts to the root of the problem which is humanity's problem with investing in identities that are nothing more than abstract constructions of the mind. He takes his own advice as well, but rather than follow his example, most professing Christians simply sit back and pretend.
Psychology uses the term "ego", but regardless of who is coming up with the terminology, those who are incapable of speaking the language of those they're speaking to usually don't make many converts. Christ spoke to the common people so he uses parables that they can relate to. He speaks to the legalists of his day as well and points out aspects of the law that they have forgotten or chose to ignore. Paul speaks to pagans and quotes pagan poets/philosophers and even points to their gods and tells them that he is there to proclaim the very same! Christ doesn't look at labels and usefully observes just how pointless it is to do so.
They know how to relate. It's a potent characteristic of those who have been or are currently being transformed by the love of God.
Clearly, you're not based in the whole truth as the verse you're quoting pertained to the Jewish people praying PUBLICLY as a SHOW OF PIETY when behind closed doors, they behaved in evil as evidenced with the torture and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The TRUTH about faith is completed in this verse;
"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26"
Second; the Opening Ceremony was not only about mockery of the sacred, holy; GOD. It was more importantly serving the purpose of 'Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor/Herman' which in essence was both evidence of the instruction of Jesus to his most trusted Apostles and an Exorcism to reclaim creation where massive Pagan Worship of Demons had been active for thousands of years.
THE DEMONS HIDING IN HUMAN BEING SUITS BEHIND THE OPENING CEREMONY attempted to thieve God's creation by stealing more spiritual ground on an International level. THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF WHAT HAPPENED.
They succeeded in their deliberate attack upon Jesus Christ instigating stunning anger and repugnance. Yet, their normalization of evil hasn't been fully effective as many Christians have awakened more now than for decades. Regardless of awakening, the male of the species; God's PROTECTORS of women, children, faith...They still slink back into the shadows and refuse to take their rightful place as Protectors of God. CAN'T STOMACH COWARDS.
You lost me when you stated God and Satan to be as 'personification of ego' That statement carried the stench of Jungian 'Architypes which is utter balderdash as a theory. "Jungian archetypes are a concept from psychology that refers to a universal, inherited idea, pattern of thought, or image that is present in the collective unconscious of all human beings. The psychic counterpart of instinct, archetypes are thought to be the basis of many of the common themes and symbols that appear in stories, myths, and dreams across different cultures and societies. Some examples of archetypes include those of the mother, the child, the trickster, Jesus, Satan and the flood, among others.
Suggest you research in YouTube with the Exorcists. A great one is Fr. Chad Ripperger. Another is Fr. Jim Blount. SATAN IS A REAL BEING; A SPIRITUAL BEING. Were you to attend an Exorcism as a Prayer Intercessor, you would KNOW IT'S FACT.
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST IS MOST CERTAINLY REAL AS DOCUMENTED TO FORMALLY ARRIVE ON EARTH ON PENTACOST...THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A REAL SPIRITUAL BEING.
To state anything other than that is to lose all credibility...As you lost me.
Where in the world did you imagine that? There is nothing Shnarkle wrote that read that he/she is "an adovcate for psychology." This page is honestly unbelievable. People believing things found not in the Bible and in direct opposition to the Bible and then when someone quotes from the Bible (Jeremiah is in the Bible, btw) you blast them? Wow. Just wow.
I'd say it's obsessed with a bunch of petty egotists fighting over who will be greatest more than Christ, His teachings or the Gospel.
The problem is that the gospel has been watered down to such a degree that it no longer warrants a reaction from the government or anyone else for that matter. It was originally an existential threat to governments around the world. Now it's nothing more than a mild annoyance to most unbelievers. Christians are forced to engage in ad hominem to get people riled up. This is how they incite their own persecution. I dare anyone to present the unadulterated gospel. The vast majority of professing Christians are incapable of articulating it much less comprehending it.
Obviously you see Jesus as only a great teacher. Well, you are free to think that but you are clueless about the supernatural showing up. It can & does & has down the centuries.
A thoughtful interview testimony YT channel is A Stronger Faith Ministeries. Ordinary ppl tell of extraordinary encounters with Jesus. The interviewer often is skeptical & ask for more detail. Hoghly recommend this channel.
Re: " Obviously you see Jesus as only a great teacher."
It seems quite evident that you didn't comprehend what I posted. What I'm pointing out is that Christ exemplifies the teaching and anyone who receives it can only live it which is significantly more than just being a great teacher.
Re: " you are clueless about the supernatural showing up. "
Your Ad Hominem is duly noted and spotlights just how insignificant the effects of the supernatural have been in your life. Ad Hominem is not a fruit of the spirit.
"Fallen Angels are higher powers in comparison to human beings?!" Where in the Bible does it say that?
Right from the very beginning of creation when the angels were created HAVING no material body...THAT, in itself is a higher order of being not suffering any of the weaknesses a material body brings.
The angels are not always to be higher forms of life to humans. Humans are placed above them when returning to spiritual being following death on Earth. Angels being a Higher form of life to humans is IMPLIED and is thus relevant exactly as many other matters of faith are implied beginning with the presence of Adam when Eve was deceived by the serpent. We KNOW she was deceived and ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED EVEN THOUGH PRESENT.
We know this from Eve's own words with the serpent as they did NOT match the words given to Adam from God; thus, the law given to her was from Adam as it did not match the law given to Adam.
ADAM WAS PRESENT WITH EVE AND HE MANIPULATED EVE INTO DOING HIS DIRTY WORK BASED UPON WANTING GOD'S POWER FOR HIMSELF. EVE SO LOVED ADAM, SHE ALLOWED HERSELF TO EAT AND IN DOING, MADE ADAM HER GOD.
"1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression." BUT, FROM THE MOMENT OF EVE'S CREATION; ADAM WAS GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY OVER ALL INCLUDING EVE.
THIS TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION COMES DIRECTLY FROM A PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR IN UNIVERSITY...NOT ME.
There are many such indirect interpretations in The Holy Bible and thus the reason it requires study and the blessings of God to understand in God's time he wishes the knowledge known.
Paul refers to "spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. 6:12) Spiritual wickedness is not an trait that can be attributed to angels that remain obedient to God. It necessarily follows that they are fallen. The book of Job also refers to all of the sons of God coming 'and Satan along with them' in heaven. Satan's name was given to him after his own fall, yet he remains in heaven while walking "to and fro' on the earth below.
Totally agree. Sadly too many people here (and elsewhere) aren’t taking their worldview from the Bible. They are falling for the decption of “did God really say….” and if you quote directly from the Bible you are called all sorts of names. That in itself shows what is Biblical or not.
The biblical authors seem to spotlight something similar with things like the Pharisees' doctrines. Jesus tells them they're liars, yet far too many Christians will accept what they say without question. Does the Mosaic law really condemn someone for walking through a field of wheat while eating grain on the Sabbath? Not really. Is it really a sin to heal someone on the Sabbath? Nope.
God says Adam and Eve will 'surely' die, yet Eve says 'lest' ye die. God says don't "eat" from the tree, while Eve says "don't touch". Ultimately, I think they're all suggesting that it's easy pretty easy to misquote God.
I never thought of it that way. And who as being of HIgher Power who is fallen? We know his name.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and nothing reaches the Father except through him. (“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” Jn 14:6) Jesus is the Higher Power and I also believe our Guardian Angels work to protect us.
The Fallen are known as Lucifer in the Old Testament among those of Judaism believing the devil exists. Satan is the name for the New Testament used among Christians....However, it's given to know both names are the same demon. Also there are many demons of many names and all do work for the ruin of souls both as teams and alone. It's hypothesized Demonization is a Team Effort as Exorcism involves removal of a number of demons in a Team. Behind all is either that known as Lucifer and/or Satan. (In Exorcism, Jewish people released refer to the dominant demon as Lucifer while Christian's identify the dominant demon Satan).
" There are no atheists in a foxhole."
I don't have a religious bone in my entire body. But, with with the dust of 86 years clinging to my shoes, I have learned to have faith in the inherent goodness of people and their instinctive ability to recogise and ultimately oppose evil, in whatever form it manifests as a threat to their lives and those of their family members.
My old heart is telling me we are reaching the point of a new Enlightenment, spurred by the growth of the Internet and other forms of mass communication, which has exposed the shackles imposed upon us by the Establishment enabled increasing numbers of us to understand who is really running our lives and for what nefarious purposes (Sadly, for my religious friends, I have to point out that some of them are highly-placed believers in a metaphysical Almighty).
Personally, I don't give a fig what god people subscribe to - or don't. But this much is clear to me: we need to sink, not magnify or sustain, the differences between us and unify to fight and defeat our common enemy - be he Globocap, the Elite, Davos or the Devil himself. Division equals defeat. And nobody knows this better than our common enemy.
Michael, please read The Gospel of John. You sound as if you're a dear fellow, but on The Day of Judgment, the only thing which will matter for your soul will not have been your beneficence, but whether you were clothed in the righteousness of The Lord Jesus Christ.
You start by saying you don't have a religious bone in your body. Michael, we all start life as sinners in need of the grace of God. Some of the most splendid saints will be men and women who lived seventy five rotten years before the grace of God slapped them senseless and showed them their desperate need of His Son, Jesus. And Hell will have among its residents people who have been termed "the delightful damned," honorable, moral, well meaning people who had a strong sense of the difference between good and evil and had the kind of yearning for the triumph of goodness which you have.
Why will they be in Hell? They will be there because their benevolence notwithstanding, they had no use for The One who created them, died for them, and would have saved them if they had only believed in Him.
Yes, of course, read other parts of the Bible, such as the Psalms, Isaiah, and the other three Gospels, but start with The Gospel of John, then read on into and through the next book, The Acts of the Apostles. The central contention of Christianity is stated throughout the book, starting with John 1:1, and summarized most beautifully by what Jesus says in chapter 11, verses 25 and 26.
Revelation 22:17.
Thank you, sincerely, for your concern and advice.
Sadly, you are wrong.
About what?
We are not in a "reaching the point of a new Enlightenment." Are people waking up to the evil around them? Yes. But as seen here just becaue they recognize what has been happening (in the US' case planned over 100 years ago to take us down from within) so many believe something they have been told and not something they have read from the Bible.
Generally, those who would strip us of our free will (God given, Christians would argue) and what are widely perceived as "inalienable" (if only) human rights and freedoms which historically we have fought to win and retain.
Right now? For starters, the Committee of 300 and their co-conspirators in enslaving projects such as Agenda 21, the so-called Great Reset, etc.
I am sorry if I sound like the archetypal conspiracy theorist beloved of so-called "fact checking" organisations, but I can assure you I have reached this conclusion only after many years of intense (and at times extremely depressing) research.
History demonstrates that there nothing new about the desire of a few to dominate and disenfranchise the many. The characters and stage may change but basic script has remained the same for millennia, precipitating the rise and fall of entire civilisations.
Today, I believe we are on the brink of another, and possibly final, manifestation of this destructive phenomenon, via a so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution which envisages our future as a race of transhuman cyborgs subject to the whims of a ruling, unelected technocracy.
I am sure I don't need to bang on, as the parasitical predators' plans to bring it to fruition are already in the public domain - and even openly boastedf about by representatives of participating institutions, from individual governments to international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organisation, etc etc. However, should anyone need further info, I will do my best to provide it.
Agenda 2030
Sadly, those of us who attend the Traditional Latin Catholic Mass are considered terrorists. My heart and soul sing with joy on Sunday mornings. We are blessed with absolutely wonderful homilies that explain liturgy and inspire me for the coming week. If I am a terrorist so be it.
Amen, Christine. Attending the Traditional Latin Mass, each Sunday, fills me with awe, reverence and love of God. That it was snatched from us, by our infiltrated Church, and still in danger of being ‘cancelled’ shows the height of evil in our world.
Christine, I have to say that it's only non Christians who would consider you a terrorist, presuming as I do that you didn't make this comment in the Belfast of 1970.
First of all, I work with numerous atheists and progressive Christians who have asked me in the past about how someone as educated and well read as I am can either believe at all or be part of such a backwards church caught up in the medieval world (Orthodox). I talk about myrrh streaming icons or oil coming from saints relics and they leave me alone. Some have asked me for more information.
Secondly, parishes in my area of the country, and across the nation, are flooded with inquirers and catechumens. There’s definitely a reaction to all of the past decades of aesthetically and spiritually brutal materialism.
Same. Our church is full of catechumens. One will be chrismated this Sunday. It’s a wonderful blessing for us and the world!
The second sentence in your first paragraph has me smiling. There is nothing quite like trenchancy, is there?
I can’t remember when I last read such an encouraging message! The news is dire and with media captured by the dark side, their every word and action is designed to further the evil.
And then this.. all I can say is Praise Jesus!
“Why was God so present? Because he was invited.”
When I read that, I just stopped and let it hang in space for a few moments.
So simple, yet so profound.
We allow that still, small and quiet voice to be drowned out by the noise of humanism.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Thank you for emphasizing that very important point, David.
We MUST 'invite' Father and King Jeshua inside our souls and hearts, or they certainly will not enter. Because why would either of them desire any close fellowship or relationship with the likes of (fault-filled and sinful us) without being invited to dwell inside our 'houses' in a spirit of love and service?
Folks, please, ask them both to reside within you in this manner, and I guarantee they will.
Elizabeth: Thank you for this. All of your pieces here on Substack are exceptional. And this one is among the best of the best. I think you’ve spoken to the heart of many of us who have gone about our lives rather quiet about our Christian faith. But this does not mean it’s not alive and well in us, and is now manifesting and being celebrated more visibly in our everyday lives and, as you say, in the rest of the known world.
My mother’s maternal side of my family was among the early Swiss Mennonite settlers and clergymen who put down roots in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. My father had grown up Lutheran but by the time he had a family of his own he’d never set foot in any church except when forced to for weddings and funerals. My mother, on the other hand, dragged me and my three siblings—all brothers—to our suburban Connecticut white clapboard Congregational Sunday school and church, and we resisted mightily. So much so that one beautiful Sunday morning—an Easter Sunday in my early teens—we all complained so noisily that as we were all piling into the car to go to the service, she threw up her hands up in despair, marched back into the house, and wept as if, I’ve come to see, for our lost souls. As for me and my brothers, as we slammed the car doors closed behind us, we nearly kicked up our heels and felt as if we’d each been handed a get out of jail free card.
Yet, the faith of those early Mennonites must have been bred in our bones. My brothers (one died in 2022) and I have over the years gravitated back toward Christianity, as if caught by G. K. Chesterton’s character Father Brown and his unseen hook and twitch upon a thread. While I approached the faith academically through countless books and years of study at a renowned theological seminary, my brothers found themselves drawn to the sway of Evangelical churches. And perhaps it is no small coincidence—I’ll call it divine intervention—that we all found ourselves immune from Covidmania and aware of, and resistant to, the evil machinations operating behind it.
Yes I think a Christian faith is powerfully genetically embedded. I think too it protected me mightily when I was out in the dangerous world and quite vulnerable. Same with us on Covid, by March 15th, I could SEE it was rubbish somehow. Thank you for this
Elizabeth: Thank you for your reply to my comment. And, again, thank you for all your exceptional and articulate observations. FYI: After publishing several posts over the past few years with Lew Rockwell about the current state of the world, I’ve just launched my own Substack column. This is hot off the press today. I've attached a link. Thought you might like to check it out. Would love for you to subscribe. It’s free, although paid subscriptions or a one-time Ko-Fi donation are available. All best, Jim
https://jameskullander.substack.com/p/create-dangerously?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=727013&post_id=145725245&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=aplvz&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Evidence for demonic possession is abundant for all who will see. But, "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" 2 Cor. 4:4. In AD 30 when Jesus and his disciples were preaching, demonic possession was common and still is, despite modernism's disdaining pronouncing it a relic of the ignorant past, all the while demonstrating its re-ascendence in endless rioting, street demonstrations, and in Hollywood productions, rock concerts, and modern art.
From what I can "see", almost everyone in a leadership position presented to us by the media is possessed. As are many presstitutes and celebrities. The main purpose of satanic blood sacrifice is to lower the frequency of the place and the participants to create portals for demonic entities to enter into our 3-D reality, using those vessels and taking them over to the dark side. Just look at photos of celebrities at the beginning of their career, and then of photos once "they have made it". As Bob Dylan confessed in an interview, he sold his soul to the Devil. That seems to be the recipe for "success", or the price to pay for worldly stardom.
Absolutely and 100%. There is no other explanation that makes sense as to why people would destroy them and their own souls this way - by sacrificing them to the altar of avarice, war, greed, and personal gain.
I agree with this, Athena. But knowing what a joker Dylan has always been, that's what my attention went to.
Athena, I have to think that Dylan, the master send up artist of the last century, was up to his old tricks in that interview. If you're a Dylan fan, you may know that Christopher Ricks is generally considered "the preeminent" Dylan "scholar" ( I guess ) in the world.
Ricks' one attempt to meet Dylan was backstage at a Dylan performance. Dylan walked up to him, said, "The famous Professor Ricks," and kept on walking.
I don't at all deny the reality of the demonic. We've all heard of or seen movies about "haunted house challenges." Here's a "haunted book" challenge: Hostage to the Devil, by Malachi Martin. I tried to read it three times, but each time was so traumatized I was able to finish the book only once.
Not for a moment do I doubt the reality of the demonic. I am convinced I have seen four demon possessed people in person. I have no question about whether a first cousin of mine is demon influenced. It's as obvious as it is that Orson Welles liked pie.
I am no Dylan fan and don't know that much about him. In that interview, though, he did not look like he was joking. By the way, you mention his "old tricks". Satan is a known trickster...
That said, my comment is not about Dylan; I just used him as an example, pars pro toto, because I am not sure anyone makes it to the top without signing a blood pact with the "Chief Commander" himself.
As an aside: there are various levels of "possession". We all are, to an extent, possessed by low vibrational energies and entities. The more we give in to their impulses rather than listening to our higher self/nature, the easier it becomes for other similar, harmful energies to enter our system. Some people are almost entirely run by them and have practically no free will left. However, participating in a ritual sacrifice and/or signing a pact with the Devil, thus consciously allowing him or other demons to take over our being, is a at a whole other level.
Hi, Athena. I had to give myself a day off from email, so now, on late Monday afternoon, I just saw this. It's a fascinating comment. I'm not sure what I think about it.
We don't have any recordings of Paganini, but everything I've ever read about him suggests that he was the Art Tatum of the violin. He was a born showman as well as a great musician, and appears to have encouraged the story that he had sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his mastery. Who knows if it's true?
People Who Get To The Top have to be tremendously attractive in some way to do it, but that doesn't war against your suspicion. The Devil disguises himself as an angel of Light, after all. Still, demoniacs are not attractive, so the degree of demonic investment in anyone's big time success is always debatable.
I was writing about this recently and it might have been here: I know I've seen three demoniacs in my lifetime, and possibly a fourth. I'm 72, so can't legitimately be accused of demon spotting. The first was in 1969, the possible in 1989, the second in 2000, the third in 2004. How do I know? With the first, I didn't, not at the time. This was a girl I'm not even sure I'd exchanged a sentence with, and hadn't seen for a year and a half, at least. She'd been the quietest child you could imagine. But on the spring day in 1969 when I saw her a half block away, the quality of the smile on her face gave me the instant creeps, and I crossed the street to avoid her.
Three times I tried to read Malachi Martin's "Hostage to the Devil." In 1977, two case histories in, I had been so unnerved by the book, I'd had to give it up. In 2008, I made it through with a reissued copy. A year later, I just could not do it again.
I have never read anything which came close to being as traumatizing as that book. Malachi Martin was a laicized Catholic priest. In the book, which is about the possession and exorcisms of five Americans in the years between the early 1960s and the mid 1970s, Martin introduced an idea of his, the concept of perfect possession. Martin believed there were people who were possessed, knew it, and didn't mind it a bit, because their lives were working out exactly as they had wished. ( In addition to the demoniacs I know I've seen in person, in 2012, I had an interesting little encounter with someone who may well have been according to Martin's idea, perfectly possessed. It's a great anecdote, involves a crucifix - really - but it's probably best that I not tell it here. )
Why am I so sure that those three people were demoniacs? Each was extremely different looking from the other two, yet each had a smile identical to those of the other two: not of this world and nothing less than appalling. I think it was Supreme Court Associate Justice Byron White who said of pornography that he knew it when he saw it, and that really is enough for me to tell you about that smile. The "possible" in 1989 seemed to have it, but that may have been only a look of deeply gay interest, destined, alas, to remain unfulfilled.
I've seen that smile on one other person, someone on television in a brief news segment about thirty years ago. This was a man being led out of a courtroom in Moscow. His crime? Having murdered and cannibalized two hundred little boys.
Having the interest and savvy which you do, you may have read "Hostage to the Devil." If not, and you attempt it, be prepared to be horrified. Do you know about Anneliese Michel, the young German woman who died in 1976? I just do not know what to think there. If you're unfamiliar with her story, there are several videos about her on YouTube, and maybe a book or two.
There is also the documentary, "The Devil and Father Amorth," which I have not seen yet. Have you seen it?
I absolutely started to see that this year. People are possessed by demons. And I was quite recently still an atheist. Not any more. I am back to my Catholic roots, and led there by C.S. Lewis. I now see that the vaccines seemed to be a demon delivery system also, as the people who got them overwhelmingly turned into shells of former humans. Not all, but many. And even the ones that aren't worshipping satan (mostly unknowingly) by their acts are a little "off" and not as God made them. It's sad, but perhaps some of them will be able to reverse the damage. God is forgiving.
C.S. Lewis was part of my conversion 50 years ago. I am grateful.
I wonder how many of us he has led? How spectacular. I always found it amazing that he died the same day JFK was assassinated.
Mary, here's a book every lover of C.S. Lewis should read: A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken. The book is Vanauken's memoir of his marriage, which began with his and his wife's being pagans. Vanauken's pursuit of a Master's degree after World War II led them to Oxford a decade later, where the friendship and influence of Lewis was decisive in their becoming Christians.
It's a magnificent book, never to my knowledge out of print since its publication almost fifty years ago.
Beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I will look for it.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I've noticed they effect people in a similar way to psychiatric drugs. Dull and apathetic. Even less discerning than before they took the shot. They certainly were deceived.
The police shooting of the woman after she rebuked him in the name of Jesus sure looked like some demonic possession with horrific consequences f
Yes it did.
"The Third brought the social gospel..."
Which is the very root of leftist progressivism today. That's what grew out of that form of faith and public action. All that is missing from it today is that old-timey Godliness. Instead it is now the vindictive, non-redemptive wokening.
I question that also… especially social gospel and public education. Public education was socialist from the start. And now it is full on communistic.
Like so many other movements, the progressive movement gave us both good and terrible changes.
The little good has been largely outweighed by the bad.
That’s what happens in almost every large social movement as time goes on: evil shows up and it has happened again. See Matthew 12: 43-45, study the history of the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament, and read The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn. We always come to the point where we must return to our faith. And now we are witnessing the 4th Great Awakening. What a glorious time to be alive and participate in the restoration of Christ as the center of our nation.
What has always been great about this nation is that everyone can pursue their faith, their happiness, in their own way. What has ruined this nation is every attempt to define the ONE way for all.
Evil doesn't just show up, it lives in every human heart (per Solzhenitsyn).
Evil does live in every human heart but one, that of God Incarnate, The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us, died for us, and was raised from the dead.
However, this most magnificent of truths will only seal your condemnation to Hell unless you believe on The Lord Jesus Christ.
Please read The Gospel of John. The primary assertion of Christianity, that God became Incarnate in Jesus, is delineated simply and beautifully in John's Gospel. Pay special attention to John, chapter one. The most beautiful and poetic assertion of who Jesus is you will learn in chapter eleven, verses twenty five and twenty six.
The writer of The Epistle to the Hebrews asks rhetorically, "How shall they ( we ) escape if they ( we ) neglect so great a salvation?" The obvious, tragic answer is that no one will.
Revelation 22:17.
Read Job.
Thank you, William. What you write about is in the Bible. Sadly, it seems most commenters hear go by what they have been told without checking it through Scripture.
William- You're a pure Zionist. Throw out your Scofield Bible.
Kai, prove him wrong. If you are a Christian, you are a ZIONIST. Period. Here is the definition to help you: "a movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel."
So interesting here that if you quote the Bible or write about Biblical beliefs, you are bashed. So very sad.
If that is what your faith teaches you, that’s fine. But it is not what mine teaches me.
I’m not aware of any good. Can you elaborate?
No matter what era we examine, there are always evil people and society discourages it as best it can, but there are eras in which America as a nation has recognized evils that we have agreed must be eliminated, such as slavery, or child labor, or religious intolerance, or denying the vote to large groups of citizens. Elizabeth Nickson’s piece talks about this phenomenon: we refer to them as Great Awakenings , times when the nation renews its covenant with God and acts on it, just as the ancient Israelites did throughout the history of the Old Testament. We are in one of those times now when great evil must be confronted. I honestly don’t know how anyone cannot be aware of any good that America has been responsible for. I’m not arguing that we are perfect or that we ever have been, but the chances of good being done here is greater than almost any other place on earth. Since the end of WW2, however, we have lost our way.
Religious 'intolerance' is at the very heart of real Christianity that proceeds from Father through Christ . . . and proceeds NO other way.
Christ says we are either on His side, period, or we are AGAINST Him. Tolerating cults, religions etc. that do not center on God the Father and Christ is anti-Christian.
Sorry, Michael, but I disagree with your view.
No apology required, you are entitled to your opinion and I appreciate your honesty with me in this important matter, although we disagree fundamentally and seriously on the point I addressed.
Well…. In the West we once knew how to deal with evil. Throughout the Middle Ages, Europe executed about 1% of the male population every year. Result: removing lotsa bacteria from the gene pool.
Why do we now essentially refuse harsh sentencing to evildoers?
Why is one on Death Row - far - more likely to die of old age than execution as decided by a jury of his peers?
Because of one of those Progressive ideas that was not present in the rise of Western Civ, that was not to be found in Greek city states, the Roman Empire, Charlemagne’s creation of what we today call “Western Europe,” in the creation of the most advanced, free and prosperous civilization in the known universe, or in the millennia-long struggle for and rise of Western Human Rights now evaporating within our empathy-driven, feminized society: women’s suffrage.
Why are our women no longer safe walking their own streets? They vote based on empathy: “Oh, that poor …” illegal alien, incarcerated thug, crappy teacher…
Why do we have actual adults supporting trans insanity? Why do we have little girls being raped in their school bathrooms by males being allowed to pretend to be female? Why do women athletes who have sacrificed almost everything since they were 5 yrs old being defeated in competition and their dreams destroyed by men in dresses? Because it would be “mean” to those boys and who cares about the girls and young women? Not their D-voting moms - 60% of women, overall, and 77% of single women vote for the party that loathes them and wants to make them disappear. Are you a “chest feeder” or a woman?…
Yes, we are in a time in which evil must be confronted. But that means killing the evil doers, incarcerating the bad guys, overthrowing corrupt government, accepting insanity as insanity, voting for and then enforcing - as harshly as is necessary to achieve their purpose - the laws.
Instead, the majority of women continue to vote to make themselves ever-more-vulnerable, ever-less-likely to be defended by men women can’t seem to stop criticizing, and for a party and policies that reject the very idea of womanhood.
Women are humanity’s most valuable beings. Only they can ensure our future. Yet they vote, every election, to endanger themselves even more. They voluntarily reduce fertility to the point of collapse of the same West that gives them all their rights, opens their door, carries their packages and tries to protect them from harm and invasion from other cultures who value women not at all.
No successful matriarchy presents in the history books. Yet the feminization of the West today essentially makes us a matriarchy.
We can have a safe, fair, educated and prosperous society with longevity, or we can continue female suffrage.
Look around objectively and tell me - unemotionally and based on facts - where I am mistaken.
What good did the progressive movement give us, please?
Well, not having children killed by factory machinery, for one. Not having workers burned to death because heartless, heedless owners locked them in to make sure that during their twelve hour workday, they wouldn't get a five minute break, for another. Being able to buy food which one can be reasonably certain isn't contaminated with sawdust and maggots. Minimum wage. The right of workers to organize trade unions. Disability insurance. Your Social Security. Reasonably clean air and water. A limitation to the sickle wielded by plagues.
Many others.
Fair enough. However, are you certain it was the modern Progressive Movement that specifically arranged these benefits? That is, the Progressive Movement after, say, 1960? I have a v difficult time reconciling the Progs after the Sixties or Seventies with any organization or movement that provided much of anything useful or authentically beneficial after this time.
Thank you for answering, if you so wish. I am not afraid to learn new things, if and only if those new things are true.
Not at all!! I took you to be referring to the progressivism of a hundred years ago, not to the monsters who assault us from every direction these days.
Yes, that qualification makes a huge difference. Thank you for showing me patience in your reply.
In the last several decades progressivism has emerged as a liberal authoritarian movement.
Unfortunately very true. I've researched the past revivals as well and been shocked by how they got worse over time, led to our current condition and continually broke Christianity down into its crude postmodern form, culminating in "the sinners prayer" and "God is purely loving never angry or judging". We lost fear of God a long time ago in these "revivals"