THURSDAY STUFF: AWAKE YOU WHO SLEEP - XIII - A

AWAKE; XIII: - A

Where Does it All Lead?

Even though we see it all so clearly, it's still difficult to comprehend. What does it all mean? Where is it all leading? Why is there so little peace in the world when we have such unprecedented knowledge and unlimited potential?

The book of Revelation describes the end times. It speaks of a One World Government, a godless dictator, total regulation of all business, plagues, crime and rebellion, and devastating disasters. To many, it seems like something in the distant future. But there are "signs of the times" in today's headlines - signs Jesus said would herald His return.

Some people argue that the characteristic of 'end time' people have been our character throughout the ages and that people haven't really changed. In its simplest form, that is true. It's not that we don't do the same things, what's relevant is that we do it with increasing intensity and we are teaching new ways of doing it. Certainly, these things have been happening since the beginning of time. However, the intensity of these things today is such that we dare not blind our eyes to their meaning.

Jesus said, "You can read the signs of the weather in the sky, but because of spiritual blindness you cannot read the signs of the times." Our Lord was saying the Jews of that day were blind to the signs of their time. He indicated that only those who have spiritual illumination and discernment from the Holy Spirit can hope to understand the trends and meanings of history.

After his first imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote Timothy, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." [1Tim. 4:1] Writing to the church in Ephesus (A.D. 66-67) while he was imprisoned under Emperor Nero, Paul again wrote Timothy, "...There will be terrible times in the last days." [2Tim. 3:1]

We are now living in the "last days!"

The only way to understand the big picture is to look at the Bible and the various categories of signs that the Bible predicted would come together just before the return of Christ. The key to understanding current events is in some familiar old scriptural passages. Jesus Himself gave us the best insight shortly before his execution on the cross.

General 'signs' Jesus said would be visible prior to His return:

A.) Deliberate deception by men of God’s Word;

B.) Rise of false Christs;

C.) Increase in wars and rumors of wars;

D.) Famines, Pestilence & Earthquakes;

E.) Discrimination and hatred against Christians;

F.) Backsliding, turning from the faith, betrayal;

G.) Hatred of Christian against Christian;

H.) False Prophets and “New Age” leaders;

I.) Lawlessness abounding;

J.) Love and concern for others grows cold;

K.) Gospel preached worldwide.

There are signs that we are heading ‘head-over-heels’ right into the ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. This was one of the things, foretold in Holy Scripture, as a sign of the end times.

The biggest advance in the history of the world, that will help to usher in the One World Government, is in the field of TECHNOLOGY.

The book of Revelation reveals that the Antichrist will be able to track and control all financial transactions and that NO MAN will be able to buy or sell anything unless he has the mark.

“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark of his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” [Revelation 13:16-17]

Not until recent times did people understand how this prophecy could possibly come to pass. There was simply no way that anyone could control the buying and selling activities on such a large scale. Certainly it will be a monumental task to keep track of all men, and their financial transactions, all across the globe.

Advances in computer technology have placed the world on the verge of an identification system capable of monitoring virtually every human transaction - an ominous development for serious students of Bible prophecy. Modern technology has created a new electronic world without borders. With modern computer technology, satellites, and devices like the Global Positioning System device can track anyone within 3 feet anywhere in the world. And new developments in biometric and smart card technology make such a feat seem more plausible as well.

In just six years, the advancements have been breathtaking. Indeed, Antichrist’s world government is not only believable but seems to have arrived. No one knows how the mark will be imprinted on the hand or the forehead and I am not saying everything described here will necessarily become the mark of the beast. Given rapidly evolving modern technology, if the Lord tarries a bit longer there may be some development that would fit the bill even more closely. However, there are some good candidates and numerous ways this could be accomplished today, they are:

Subcutaneous implant:

The technology now exists and has been successfully tested to allow an identification device of some type, including a tiny microchip, to be implanted under the skin of the hand.

Programmable subcutaneous visible implants could contain bio-sensors to monitor temperature and blood pressure, and display these readings -- clearly a medical advancement. But the devices could have a more serious purpose. They could be used for electronic tagging. Whenever anyone wanted to buy or sell something, he /she could be required to wave his hand over a scanning device that would read the chip, identify the buyer or seller, and validate or invalidate the sale.

Interval Research (Palo Alto) has patented a "programmable tattoo." The biologically inert subcutaneous implant is constructed of a flexible material so as to conform to the skin's surface. The small liquid-crystal display can be inserted just beneath the skin (e.g., in place of a wrist watch). Because human skin is partially transparent, the display is clearly visible. The implant also includes a receiver for receiving programming information from a user, and a display for displaying the programming information through the skin. The display is connected to a control chip and power comes from a small battery. Both of these are implanted beneath the skin. Implanting is an outpatient operation and the battery can be recharged inductively, by holding the wrist near a charger.

We have already demonstrated our willingness to accept devices to electronically tag or track individuals. It has become quite commonplace, for example, for law enforcement agencies to require individuals to wear electronic bracelets in order to monitor their activities.

Digital Angel:

The Digital Angel™ technology incorporates a microchip that can be worn close to the body and includes bio-sensors that can measure the biological parameters of the body and send the information with RFID (radio frequency identification) technology to a ground station or computer. It will also have an antenna that can receive signals from GPS satellites, thus pinpointing the location of the wearer.

According the Digital Angel™ website, "While a number of other tracking and monitoring technologies have been patented and marketed in the past, they are all unsuitable for the widespread tracking, recovery and identification of people due to a variety of limitations, including unwieldy size, maintenance requirements, insufficient or inconvenient power-supply and activation difficulties.” For the first time in the history of location and monitoring technology, Digital Angel™ overcomes these limitations.

Some of it's potential uses, according the their web site includes: monitor patients by doctors, commodities supply chain management, locating people such as small children and the elderly, tracking parolees, people under house arrest, and individuals in witness protection programs, trace valuable items such as art pieces or computer equipment. Of particular interest is its application as an important security measure. It can carry personal identification information and transmit this information via wireless communication with personal computers.

The Digital Angel human implant, called Veri-Chips, was recently approved by the FDA for storing medical information and the company is going forward to market their implantable chips that would provide easy access to individual medical records. (WorldNetDaily, October 21, 2004) Applied Digital Solutions, based in Delray Beach, Fla., expressed hope that such medical uses would accelerate the acceptance of under-the-skin ID chips as security and access-control devices. (The New York Times, October 14, 2004)

All it takes is a syringe-injected microchip implant for patrons of the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain to breeze past a "reader" that recognizes their identity, credit balance and even automatically opens doors to exclusive areas of the club for them. "By simply passing by our reader, the Baja Beach Club will know who you are and what your credit balance is," Conrad K. Chase explains.

Iriscans:

Iriscan technology is already being introduced in financial organizations here and abroad that require non-intrusive, non-contact, and accurate electronic identification. Iriscan technology identifies people by analyzing the unique pattern in the iris of the human eye. The iris is the colored ring of tissue that surrounds the pupil of the eye and is a complex combination of patterns that can be recorded and stored by the computer. The iris-recognition product captures a photographic image of the iris, analyzes its unique visual structure, and then compares it to previously stored Iris codes for authentication of identity. ["Security for Your Eyes Only," Byte, May 1998.] Imagine this technology being in place providing access control to facilities and point-of-sale control. It's already in place at some bank ATMs.

Thermograms:

Thermograms are a type of imagery that translates a person's heat-emitting facial features into an infrared image. Registering the various heat peaks and valleys in surface, the Thermogram looks like a colorful, face-shaped topographic map. Like a fingerprint, each person's face creates a unique thermal pattern. Captured by a special infrared camera, the image can be digitized and stored in a computer. Later, the person is re-photographed and the new thermal image is electronically compared with the old. ["Smile, You're on Thermogram," ID Systems, August 1995.]

Bar Codes:

Bar codes are everywhere: they are as familiar as a trip to buy groceries. Now part of almost every package that crosses the supermarket, drugstore, and retail counter, bar codes stand poised to move into many other facets of society.

In their quest for better device identification, the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA are testing coding systems that pack in much more information than current bar codes. These new "two-dimensional" bar codes can squeeze in enough information to fit the Gettysburg Address into a two-inch square. "It's a technology that will open up a whole range of applications," says Richard Bravman, vice president of marketing for Symbol Technologies, Inc., in Bohemia, N.Y., one firm with a new bar code system.

This next generation of identification codes needs no centralized database. Instead, the symbol itself can contain all the necessary information, says Bravman. Thus these codes can help companies and the military keep better track of products that "cross organizational boundaries," he adds. When the device, substance or person travels to a new warehouse, store, hospital or location, all its data go along, in compact form, accessible to anyone with a machine that can read the symbol.

"It's a portable data file," says Doug Mohr, mechanical engineer in program development at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in Idaho Falls, who is evaluating these technologies for use by the federal government. At the Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center in San Antonio, Tex., hospital administrators expect that within a year patients there will carry ID cards with medical histories and personal data encoded on the back. The hospital had evaluated other types of codes, including current bar codes, but discovered with the two-dimensional format that "we didn't need to tie up our database memory," says Lt. Col. Frank J. Criddle, an emergency room physician at Wilford Hall.

Miniaturized, some of these new codes can identify electronic components, jewelry or even medical devices. "It represents a giant step in component traceability," says Robert S. Anselmo, president of Veritec, Inc., in Chatsworth, Calif. He boasts that his company's symbols could fit on a grain of rice. Others say they can make their codes invisible to the eye but still readable to a scanner.

Besides the various chips, scans and barcodes, there is the so-called “smart cards”. The smart card - a piece of plastic with a computer chip on its face - is becoming entrenched in the United States with uses from defense and health care to retailing and transportation. It looks and acts like your average bank card, but it knows a lot more about you than you may think. The cards have replaced food stamps for many and meal tickets for students in college. Marines and peanut farmers are whipping them out for boot polish and crop reports. The Clinton Administration announced a nationwide system to use electronic banking technology to deliver billions of dollars in government benefits and President Clinton's proposed health-reform plan would have required every American to carry a health identification card bearing, at a minimum, his or her Social Security number.

For businesses, the card is a shortcut to valuable market research. With your card in its computer, a company could learn your ZIP code, shoe size, what magazines you subscribe to, or the date of your sporty sedan's last oil change, and respond accordingly. Already, the Vision marketing system for supermarkets is tailoring coupons to U.S. shoppers who use smart cards. Customers insert their Vision cards into computers at the checkout line. Then the card tracks purchases and supplies the customer with product coupons, allowing the store to collect marketing data and pitch its products more effectively.

New computerized systems are being implemented for driver’s licenses. Instead of the cumbersome Polaroid’s, the new system will use a special camera that will store the photographic image that is on the card on a computer instead. Weight, eye color, and signature will be stored on a magnetic strip on the card as well as to a computer data base. Copies will be shared with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, giving agents quick access to photographs of suspects and victims. The KBI will share copies with other law enforcement agencies. [Dave Ranney, "Say goodbye to Polaroids next time you get your license renewed," The Wichita Eagle, April 19, 1994]

Next week, Jan. 3, 2008 The Conclusion to the

“AWAKE YOU WHO SLEEP” series.

A Special Message

FORGIVENESS, WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN?

During this season of forgiveness, this season of great joy, there is one thing that many Christians tend to forget, concerning forgiveness, and that is that before forgiveness can be extended to the wrong doer, it must be asked for.

For some reason, which I cannot fathom, the vast majority of Christians today, have the idea that we are to forgive everyone who has done us wrong regardless of their conduct, this notion is false. The Bible points out that to obtain forgiveness from God or man; one must feel remorse and be penitent about his/her actions and then they must “ask” for forgiveness.

If a church teaches that we are to forgive all who have offended or hurt us, regardless if they asked for our forgiveness or not, they are doing a huge spiritual disservice to both those who have suffered a hurt and those who have inflicted the hurt. Every example in Holy Scripture teaches that whenever someone was forgiven of their sins or a debt, that forgiveness was always preceded by their asking for it and by their demonstrating a clear desire to repent, to turn away from their sinful behavior. As long as one continues unabated in their sinful and/or hurtful behavior, then they are not ready to be forgiven. Even Jesus said: “Go and sin no more.” After all, how can one be forgiven when they have not repented? There can be no repentance without remorse and a lack of remorse shows that the individual is not sorry for their actions.

Another thing that we as Christians should keep in mind is that the act of forgiveness is a personal matter between the one doing the forgiving and the one being forgiven, and no one else. So many people today want to make a big public showing, but let’s see what the Bible has to say:

“If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Also in Matthew:

“And if thy brother sin against thee go, show him his fault between thee and him alone, if he hear thee, thou has gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15). There is nothing there that states that it should be a public event unless their sin was publicly committed.

Another factor to keep in mind when it comes to forgiving and/or being forgiven is that there are those who think that once they have been forgiven, everything should be as it was before. WRONG! Often that seems to be the motivating factor for some who seek forgiveness from another, a restoration to a former association.

It will do one well to remember that forgiveness does not mitigate consequences for the act. There are consequences to sin and no amount of forgiveness can take that away. Damage has been done by the wrongful act and the consequences must be paid. For example, if someone murders another, the penalty can be very harsh. The one who committed the murder may be forgiven for the act, but the penalty still must be paid. However, if the wrong doer is truly repentant, the penalty might not be as harsh as it would have been had no remorse been shown.

I urge each of you to always bear in mind that if someone has done you wrong and they come to you seeking forgiveness, you are obligated, as a Christian, to extend that forgiveness. By the same token, if you have caused harm or hurt to another, you are obligated to not only offer an apology to those you have hurt, but also, to humbly and with a contrite heart, seek their forgiveness.

+ Gregori

Merry Christmas

The following is a very special

Christmas gift to all.

It was gently lifted from my dear friend ,

The Localmalcontent.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

MONDAY: CHRISTMAS EVE GREETING

On behalf of Munchkin and Myself

I wish each and every one of you a

very

Blessed, Safe, Christ filled

And

Merry Christmas

SUNDAYS TWO-CENTS WORTH- #22

On Saturday, Munchkin and I were tagged by my friend “The Local malcontent” out in Oklahoma, so here it goes:

1. Wrapping or gift bags?

I prefer using wrapping paper because I enjoy wrapping gifts. That is half the fun of giving gifts.

2. Real or artificial tree?

When I was a kid, I preferred real trees because of that wonderful pine scent. But, for the past 20 years I have preferred artificial trees due to the fact that it seems like a terrible waste to chop down a perfectly good tree, just to have to kick it to the curb right after Christmas. That seems so sad.

3. When do you put up the tree?

I put up my tree, along with whatever other Christmas decorations, the first Saturday following Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take down the tree?

My tree and other decorations come down right after the Epiphany. I hate it when I see people with Christmas decorations still up in March and April, and I find it equally displeasing when I see people put up their Christmas decorations as early as September/October.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Sure do! What would Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve be without it? If I have time, I make my own, if not; I buy it, 4 qts. for each of the three holidays.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

I can’t say that any one gift was my favorite. I cherished each and every one equally.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes. It is a small table top set that my bought back in 1952. She gave the set to me about ten years ago and I still put it up every year.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Well, it wasn’t really a GIFT so to speak, but it was back in 1963 when I came down with double pneumonia and had to spend that Christmas and the next 2 months in the hospital with a collapsed lung and IV’s going in both arms.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?

It really doesn’t matter to me as I feel it is the thought that counts

10. Favorite Christmas movie?

My favorite Christmas movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but I also enjoy two at movies a Christmas time; “The Bells of St. Mary” and “The Cardinal”.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

I will start buying gifts around the middle of August.

12. Favorite thing to eat for Christmas?

I have a tradition of making a roast duck dinner, followed by a nice glass of plum wine and a shot of banana liquor.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?

I happen to like clear and blue lights on my tree, with colored lights around my nativity scene.

14. Favorite Christmas song?

O Holy Night, Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy, Do You See What I See? Also, all of the Christmas music by Mannheim Steamroller.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay at home?

I do not like to travel more than 10 miles from home on Christmas.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Lets see; Dachshund, Comet Cleanser, Tiny Dancer, Gay Prancer, Millhouse Nixon, Doc, Bashful and Rudolph Nureyev. Is that it?

17. Angel on the tree top or star?

I switch from year to year. One year it is an Angel, the next it is a star.

18. Open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

My sons and I always opened our gifts right after the celebration of the midnight Liturgy, which would technically be Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?

That would have to be the commercialization of Christmas. The favorite song of the stores at Christmas is:

“Deck the stores with advertising, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

Tis the season for merchandising, Fa la, la, la, la, la, la, la.”

20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color scheme?

Yes, blue and clear lights, with blue and gold balls, silver and gold garland and tiny animal ornaments.

21. What do you leave for Santa?

A glass of eggnog, two sugar cookies and a couple of Excedrin.

22. Least favorite holiday song?

“Grand ma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”. YUCK!

23. Favorite ornament?

There are two and they are little Christmas stockings, one for “Munchkin” and the other that was for my little Mini Rat Terrier “Baby” who passed away five years ago.

Paying it forward, I tag:

Pam at Midnight Musings -

Leticia at Leticia’s World –

Karen at Light and Life –

Rita at The Jungle Hut –

and Mark at Casting Pearls Before Swine –

Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share Christmas facts about yourself.

3. Tag random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

MUNCHKIN'S SATURDAY CORNER # 40

To All of Beautiful Friends

And

Peas on earth,

Gouda Wheel

Two men

Love to all:

“Munchkin”

FREAKY DEAKY FRIDAY: _Y

THE GRINCHES WHO STOLE THE BORDER FENCE:

Well folks, Congress did it to us once again in a big way and they didn’t even have the decency to offer us a bag of sand and a jar of Vaseline.

If you remember, in 2006, Congress passed the Secure Fence Act after the American people overwhelmingly demanded that the government abide by their constitutional duty and secure our borders. This Secure Fence Act called for an 854-mile long, double layered fence to be built along sections of the U.S. – Mexican border.

Congress made a big deal publicly over the passage of this bill, in effect telling us, “See, we are listening to the will of the people.” People, I have been trying to tell you all, for a long time now, that our elected officials, from the president on down, do not give a tinker’s damn about the people who elected them. They could give two shakes of a rat’s ass what the citizens of this country want or even about the security of this country. The only things they care about are lining their pockets and the prestige they get from holding office.

Wednesday night, December 19^th, congress approved a spending bill that includes an amendment that effectively guts the 2006 Secure Fence Act. The bill passed the House primarily along party lines. The bill kills the legislation that was passed in the last Congress which mandated the building of the fence.

We the people had a reasonable expectation that a double-layer fence will be built based on the Secure Fence Act, but this new amendment removes that requirement and gives the Department of Homeland security the option as to whether to build the fence or not and as to where they will build it if they so choose to. It also removes the requirement of the mandated double-layer. So once again the American people have been duped and screwed by those we elected to represent us. How does it feel? The new provisions remove the two-tier requirement along with the five specific locations where it was to have been constructed. House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) states “The fact that this amendment was buried in 3,500 pages of legislation reflects the Democrats’ unserious approach to border security and illegal immigration.” You can bet your bottom dollar that Nancy Pelosi will make sure that no border fence bills are brought up in the House, at least not while the Democrats hold sway. The House Democrats basically adopted the Senate version of the amendment which was introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) who has led the charge to change the 2006 bill.

One can clearly see that Hutchison is blatantly ignoring the wishes of not only her Texas constituents but the overwhelming majority of the American people. This woman needs to GO and hopefully a TRUE Republican will challenge her in her next election go-around. You can bet that Hutchison is taking direct orders from her former Governor and good friend as well as our current President George W. Bush. Bush has ordered that the fence bill be killed, and just in case any of you have forgotten, our so-called conservative Christian President still wants total amnesty for the up to 30 million illegals who are in the country and he has tried on more than one occasion to force this down our throats. The only real winners in all this are the drug smugglers, the illegal immigrants and the “open border one world government advocates.”

They (the government) never had any intentions of building the fence or securing our borders because that would hamper their plans for implementing the North American Union. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that most, if not all, of our political leaders are not on the side of a Sovereign United States, rather they are on the side of big business, special interest groups and a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT! Do you need more proof? Well try this on for size.

Words have meaning. I have stated this many times in the past. National means the nation (nationwide), Universal means the whole world. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the Democrats keep saying: “We need UNIVERSAL health care,” or “We need UNIVERSAL pre-K.” If these politicians intended their health care programs to cover every citizen in the U.S. or their pre-K for all the children in the U.S., does it not stand to reason that they would call it NATIONAL health care and NATIONAL pre-K? Wake up people, they are preparing you for the One World Government, that is why they are using the word UNIVERSAL, and the majority of the people in this country are too damn stupid to see it.

We are being sold out. The Department of Homeland Security has little to nothing to do with keeping America safe and secure, but everything to do with controlling us and conditioning us for the totalitarian world government that they are pushing us into. More and more every day, we are losing more privacy rights, ever stricter government infringements on our rights to keep and bear arms are put into force. Ever greater restrictions are being placed on our religious freedoms especially on Christians. All of our financial transactions and our spending habits are being monitored. We are being told what we can or cannot eat or drink and how much. Our children and grandchildren are not only being indoctrinated in our public schools, into accepting all of the liberal B.S., but they are also told what games they can or cannot play, and they are expected to indoctrinate their parents when they get home.

It is well past time that we show the courage to call these people in congress and in the office of president, what they really are, TRAITORS! When, will you, the citizens of this country, get the courage to stand up and force every one of these TRAITORS out of office? I don’t mean vote them out in the next election, I mean FORCE THEM OUT NOW by what ever means it takes. We do not have the luxury of time to wait until the next election in the hopes that we might get some politicians with true moral values, that is just NOT going to happen. We MUST show these traitorous self-serving scum that we mean business and that the government and the country belongs to us, WE the PEOPLE, not to them to do as they damn well please.

I for one am calling for the immediate removal from office of every single member of Congress along with the President and vice-President. I am demanding that they be replaced by a temporary government and that they be tried for treason and dereliction of their constitutional duties. I am calling for the immediate securing of our borders and the deportation of every single one of the illegals in this country. I am sick and tired of hearing that it is impossible to round up and deport all of the illegals. It is NOT impossible. All the Government has to do is stop handing out taxpayer funded freebies and hand outs and force employers not to hire illegals, and arrest anyone, including members of the clergy who insist on hiding, aiding and abetting illegals. When the illegals find that they can’t get jobs, housing, food, medical care or free schooling for their kids, they will leave. And children born in this country to parents who are here illegally to not have the right to be automatic citizens.

I am demanding an immediate end to every one of the so-called ‘Free Trade’ agreements that result in the loss of American jobs. These are not FREE TRADE, they are the sell-out of American workers. I’m sorry if there are some who feel that I am being unchristian, but after all there is nothing Christian in selling out your own country.

THURSDAY STUFF: AWAKE YOU WHO SLEEP - XII - B

AWAKE XII: - B

Signs of the End Times

Even some of our national leaders exhibit this behavior, of being distasteful of moral laws and obligations. Evident not too long ago in the scandalous sexual behavior of President Clinton followed by a widespread acceptance of his adulterous sin by the American public. And we are seeing the results of that reprobate mind with the increase in homosexuality, lesbianism, abortion, euthanasia, drugs, crime, rebelliousness in youth, and every evil imagined by the heart of man.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. - Romans 1:28-32

As people become ever more brutal and Godless, gang violence has increased, drive-by shootings and other random violence have become standard fare as our streets become asphalt jungles, becoming unsafe even in the day time. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote in the American Scholar, "The amount of deviant behavior in American society has increased beyond the levels the community can 'afford to recognize' and that, accordingly, we have been re-defining deviancy so as to except much conduct previously stigmatized, and also quietly raising the 'normal' level in categories where behavior is now abnormal by any earlier standard." [Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "Defining Deviancy Down," American Scholar, Winter 1993, pg. 17.]

We as a Society have a Preoccupation with Crime:

What in the world would motivate an 11 and 13 year-old to take up a weapon and murder their fellow students? Was it the availability of guns? Or maybe an overabundance of violence produced in Hollywood? Or was it the environment these children were raised in?

Many outraged Americans are saying that crime is their No. 1 concern and politicians gladly respond by talking tough, but not talking much sense. Congress responds by pouring more money into old, failed answers - more police, more prisons, tougher sentences - quick fixes to persuade constituencies that we're "getting tough" on crime. The American dream is fading into a shadowy nightmare. More and more people are haunted by a loss of safety and hope in a world where stability and certainty are vanishing. Every day, all across America, carjacking, drive-by shootings and random violence have shattered the security families once had of being safe in their own cars and neighborhoods. People are accosted at traffic lights, when they're pumping gas, and when they're bumped and pulled over. Schoolchildren are no longer sure which of their classmates may be carrying a gun. American youths are being swept up by a wave of violence. Gang violence, rapes, murders, and violent crimes make even our nation's capital one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer said, "A new generation of killers, feeling no blame and no shame."

“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power.” [2 Timothy 3:2-5]

The Apostle Paul said that in the last days man would be "brutal." The Greek, 'anemeros' literally means "untamed, savage, or brutal." He also said that in the last days man would not be lovers of the good - possibly better translated as "haters of the good."

Why are so many people suddenly preoccupied with crime? Well, for one thing, anxiety hates a vacuum. With worries about the cold war and the economy evaporating, the fear of crime has reared up in their place. A second reason is it has become so common. Every few weeks the headlines re-supply our worst imaginings. Randomly, irrationally, crime pounds at the door of a slumber party. It pulls up beside a tourist at a highway rest stop. It catches the 5:33.

Consider the following:

In Washington, D.C., a 16-year-old boy guns down seven youngsters at the National Zoo.

A 30-year-old gunman shoots two men dead and wounds two others at his former workplace, a Seattle shipyard office.

Seven co-workers are gunned down in a Xerox office building in Honolulu.

Five people are wounded at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles, followed by the fatal shooting of a Filipino-American postal worker.

A frustrated investor kills nine people and wounds 13 at two brokerage firms in Atlanta, then kills himself. Prior to the attacks, the shooter killed his wife and two children.

Four employees of a Las Vegas grocery store are shot to death by an ex-Marine and part-time nightclub bouncer.

Six students at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., are wounded by a 15-year-old sophomore.

Two high-school students kill 13 people and then themselves at Columbine High in Littleton, Colo.

In Killeen, Texas, 23 were killed and 19 others were wounded at Luby's Cafeteria in the deadliest gun
slaying in U.S. history.

I can go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Even some of the churches in this country are telling their parishioners to DISOBEY the immigration laws of our country, when it comes to reporting or turning in illegal immigrants. When a church tells us to violate our country’s laws, then you know that we have sunk to a new low.

Violence in American homes and in the streets is increasing steadily, has reached epidemic proportions, and now disrupts millions of lives. For many children, no place is safe. Kids are victimized at school, on the streets, and in their own homes. Children are beaten, maimed, molested, and murdered by parents’, relatives and baby sitters.

The Spirit of lawlessness is breaking out across America and has spread to younger age groups. Teenagers have lost all respect for authority - they are becoming hard-hearted, sensual and violent. "The increases in violence we're observing are among very young people and they are very dramatic," said Glenn Pierce, the director of Northeastern's Center for Applied Social Research. Stripped of a vision of something greater than themselves, which even humanist Norman Lear concedes is vital to society, they become wards of the state and its surrogates, the schools and the media. And we are surprised when they behave like animals? Here is some shocking actions by our young people:

In New York City a 16 year-old boy was shot and killed by his 15 year-old best friend. The 15 year-old killed him and then stole the coat and shoes from the corpse. Worst of all, the teenage killer had no feeling of remorse.

Another 15 year-old boy sprayed bullets around the parking lot of a convenience store, killing a teenage boy. When questioned later, he had not even a tinge of guilt or sorrow. Instead, he displayed hatred and a desire to do it all over again if he had the opportunity. He had no remorse whatsoever.

14-year-old Marcy Conrad of Milpitas, California, had been raped, strangled to death, and left lying off the road in the hills outside of town. According to the local paper, at least 13 students went out to look at her body. One girl picked up the murdered girl's jeans, cut off a patch, and threw the jeans down along the side of the road. One student tried to cover the body with leaves. Another took his eight-year-old brother along to see the body. One boy went twice. Those who saw the body went back to class or to the pinball arcade. One went home to bed. Another student said he only cared about collecting the marijuana cigarette he had won on a bet that the body was real. As the newspaper reported: "The shock is the shock of the of the encounter with icy indifference, the indifference of the kids in the first instance, but much more importantly, of the culture that produced them... The depersonalization did not begin yesterday; it is not unique to this moment, yet it seems more complete - and they seem more alienated and isolated - than we have ever known before."

14-year-old Tanisha Lee was stabbed in a hallway fight at Wichita's East High School and later died.

Because we have rejected objective truth and the foundation of all that is good, we no longer even know the difference between good and evil. Our consciences have been so seared we are no longer offended by evil but tolerate it.

Since virtually all perverted behavior people engage in is now categorized under "natural behavior," a door is now opened for more wicked sins. Just thirty years ago we would have been appalled, even outraged, by the decadence and debauchery that daily fills our streets, TV shows, movie screens, music and art, video games, businesses, and political bodies. But today we rarely give it a second thought. In fact, we often give it our approval, or a least fail to speak out against it. We have gotten used to it all, even though it is not a good thing to get used to. As a society, we have gotten used to illicit sexual relationships, adolescent promiscuity, abortion, cheating, lying, stealing, prostitution, rape, divorce, and even murder. We have gotten used to financial mismanagement on both civil and personal levels. We have rejected personal and social responsibility and learned to blame anyone or anything else for our problems and failures. We have traded in our infinitely valued divine image for a nickel-plated pagan shrine erected in honor of self-interest, immorality, and social apathy. The American ideal today is me first to do what I want, when I want, to whom I want, regardless of who or what it may hurt. These are the signs of a society gone wrong.

NEXT WEEK:

Where Does it All Lead?