Once again we see some common themes emerging from the news today. The first article is long but most definitely worth reading; below are just a few of the most germane quotes:
Under the relentless thrust of accelerating over-population and increasing over-organization, and by means of ever more effective methods of mind-manipulation, the democracies will change their nature; the quaint old forms—elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest—will remain. The underlying substance will be a new kind of non-violent totalitarianism. All the traditional names, all the hallowed slogans will remain exactly what they were in the good old days. Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial—but Democracy and freedom in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit.
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited,published 1958
However, this post isn’t about Brave New World. While that book is indeed a creative warning, it is still fiction and a work of art more than anything else. Twenty six years after its publication, Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited, in which he takes stock of the post World War II period. His analysis is grave. He saw the world progressing toward his nightmare much faster than he anticipated. Brave New World Revisited is a brilliant work of non-fiction and filled with almost incomprehensibly prescient predictions. It also provides a great deal of advice to future generations. Advice which we must immediately heed.
From Chapter 4: Propaganda in a Democratic Society
For conditions even remotely comparable to those now prevailing we must return to imperial Rome, where the populace was kept in good humor by frequent, gratuitous doses of many kinds of entertainment—from poetical dramas to gladiatorial fights, from recitations of Virgil to all-out boxing, from concepts to military reviews and public executions. But even in Rome there was nothing like the non-stop distractions now provided by newspapers and magazines, by radio television and the cinema.
My Thoughts: This brings me to a short story I’d like to share. I was on the plane as I was reading this and I put down my book for a second to look around me. I had an aisle seat, and so was at a good vantage point from which to take stock of the plane. I was actually stunned to notice that there was not a single other person reading a book anywhere around me. I actually enjoy the lack of Wifi on flights as it forces me to engage in some old school book reading. To my surprise no one else seemed to see it that way. Horrifyingly, the only people that weren’t dozing off or watching television were still on their smart phones. Even worse, at least five of them seemed to be playing the same game! It looked like some sort of Tetris game with jewels. So despite the lack of Wifi, humanity’s ability for mindless entertainment and distraction prevailed. Wifi or no wifi, these folks were going to be on their “smart”phones one way or the other.
From Chapter 5: Propaganda Under a Dictatorship
Assembled in a crowd, people lose their powers of reasoning and their capacity for moral choice. Their suggestibility is increased to the point where they cease to have any judgement or will of their own. They become very excitable, they lose all sense of individual or collective responsibility, they are subject to sudden accesses of rage, enthusiasm and panic. In a word, man in a crowd behaves as though he had swallowed a large dose of what I have called “herd-poisoning.”
My Thoughts: This is something to always be aware of. Oration to crowds is the most effective form of propaganda distribution and brainwashing.
From Chapter 5: Propaganda Under a Dictatorship
In Hitler’s words, the propagandist should adopt “a systematically one-sided attitude towards every problem that has to be dealt with.” He must never admit that he might be wrong or that people with a different point of view might be even partially right. Opponents should not be argued with; they should be attacked, shouted down, or, if they become too much of a nuisance, liquidated. The morally squeamish intellectual may be shocked by this kind of thing. But the masses are always convinced that “right in on the side of the active aggressor.”
His ultimate conclusion, and one with which I agree, is that we need to decentralize to main free.
The older dictators fell because they could never supply their subjects with enough bread, enough circuses, enough miracles and mysteries.
Pastor Robert Jeffress On Heaven And End Times Prophecy, Including Paving The Way For The Antichrist
Pastor Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, has released a new book that answers people's most pressing questions about heaven and what the end times will look like to Christians and those who do not believe in Jesus Christ.
In an interview with The Christian Post on Thursday, Pastor Jeffress spoke about what has become the most controversial part of his book, Perfect Ending: Why Your Eternal Future Matters Today, in which he highlights how President Barack Obama's policies are paving the way for a future world dictator, known as the Antichrist.
"For example, after 9/11 Americans willingly gave up certain freedoms and rights in order to protect our country," he added. … "We are being taught that we are to surrender our personal rights for a greater good. And, I think in the same way, it will be argued one day, during the days of the Antichrist, that everybody ought to receive a mark, for security purposes, that will allow them to engage in commerce …"
Jeffress strongly believes that Christians should not be fearful of the end times, because "Christians will not be here to experience the great tribulation under the Antichrist."
That being said, Jeffress also emphasizes that he's not saying Christians won't go through tribulation in their lives. "The Church in every age has always suffered persecution. But the distinguishing factor of the great tribulation is that this will be God pouring out His wrath on mankind," he affirmed. Citing Romans 8:1, Jeffress adds that "the Bible promises that there is no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Jesus."
"A TIME/CNN poll recently revealed that 59 percent of Americans believe the book of Revelation accurately predicts future events. And yet, to many people, the book of Revelation is a mystery. The great amount of space that the Bible devotes to future events means that it's an important topic and one that God does want us to understand," he said.
Jeffress told CP that he wrote the Perfect Ending to help clear up misconceptions about the future and help people understand what God has planned for believers and how it relates to everyday living.
"I would like people to live in the present with eternity in mind. If there is, in fact, going to be rapture one day, in which we leave everything behind, shouldn't that loosen our grip on our material possessions right now?" he asked. "If there is a great white throne judgment in which all unbelievers are going to be judged and sentenced to an eternity in hell, shouldn't that motivate us right now to share Christ with as many people as possible? If we, as Christians, are going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be rewarded for our obedience to Christ in this life, shouldn't that be a powerful motivation to live a Christ-centered life right now?
[Note: This is a letter that is well worth reading]
The following is a letter from Pastor Victor Styrsky, Eastern Regional Coordinator for Christians United for Israel. Pastor Styrsky has been a pastor and an ally of Israel for more than thirty years, and is author of Honest to God – Christian Zionists Confront 10 Questions Jews Need Answered . Recently, Pastor Styrsky was invited by Evangelicals for Social Action’s co-president Dr. Paul Alexander to their ”Impact: Holy Land” conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In response, Pastor Styrsky wrote the following letter explaining why he could not in good conscience attend an event he believed was intellectually dishonest and anti-Israel.
Dear Paul,
Thank you for your invitation to speak at the upcoming Evangelicals for Social Action “Impact: Holy Land” conference.
While I celebrate diversity of opinion, it is immoral to distort facts in order to advance an argument. Regrettably, many of your event’s speakers simply do not approach the Arab-Israeli conflict in an intellectually honest manner. Therefore I must decline your invitation to participate in what I believe will be an anti-Israel event where false witness will be born against the Jewish state and its people.
I understand that you might deny this characterization, thus please allow me to provide a few examples of the information that has led me to this conclusion:
Accusing Israel of apartheid policies, as does the 2009 “Kairos Palestine” document, is a staple of the anti-Israel movement. Two event speakers, Sami Awad and Dr. Yohana Katanacho, are signatories to this document, yet the accusation is patently untrue. All citizens of Israel enjoy equal rights. Every person in Israel has the right to worship, speak and live freely. There are of course numerous examples of Arab Israelis holding positions in Israel’s parliament, military and judiciary.
Those of us who have traveled to the Holy Land have seen with our own eyes that which exposes the dishonesty of the Israel-apartheid slander. As CUFI African-American Outreach Coordinator Pastor Michael Stevenswrote “We have met with African Israelis who have been brought home to Israel from an ancient exile in Ethiopia. We have met with Arab Israelis who are thriving in the freest country in the Middle East. And we have met with brave Palestinians who share with us the persecution they face as Christians living under Muslim rule.”
To the extent the Kairos document is referencing the West Bank and Gaza, it ignores the fact that the majority of Palestinians live under Palestinian Authority rule, and that the Palestinians have repeatedly rejected every Israeli overture for peace. The movement with which you are associating acknowledges none of these facts – it simply abuses the term apartheid to demonize the Jewish state.
Another hallmark of the anti-Israel movement is to ignore (even justify) Palestinian terror, while falsely accusing Israel of all manner of evil. For example, in one blog post, event speaker Jonathan Kuttab condemns Israel’s (legal) blockade of Gaza and glosses over the reason for its existence: thousands of Palestinian rockets raining down on Israeli civilians. Further, he never mentions the thousands of tons of food and humanitarian aid Israel imports into Gaza each year. It seems in Kuttab’s world, Israel is worthy only of condemnation, while every Palestinian transgression must be excused.
For his part, Awad referred to activists on the Mavi Marmara as “nonviolent,” though photos of their weapons and video of their actions prove otherwise. And in spite of his claim to support nonviolence, Awad has written that activism “is not a substitute for the armed struggle.”
The list of offensive assertions made by those associated with this conference is far too long for a letter of this nature – needless to say, just a modicum of research reveals “Impact: Holy Land’s” true and disturbing nature.
Paul, you should not be surprised at my conclusion as you have willfully associated yourself with the very worst of the anti-Israel movement in the Church today. For example, in addition to hosting this conference, you are a signatory to the Kairos USA document – described by the Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman as “…a flagrantly one-sided, anti-Israel diatribe.”
From the Black Death of the Middle Ages, to the Great Depression’s impact on the Weimar Republic, to the Arab-Israeli conflict, there have always been non-Jews who were eager to blame the children of Israel for the world’s ills. But through the generations, there have also been Christians who stood with their Jewish brethren. Thankfully, today in America, this is the rule, not the exception. Whereas once those who stood with the Chosen People may have been in the minority, I am very proud to say that today Israel has far more friends than detractors in the American Christian church. And I will not be associated with your efforts to undo this progress.
Israel is an imperfect yet wonderful country. Though in every generation darkness has tested them, the children of Israel remain a light unto the nations. Though they are surrounded by enemies who seek their destruction, the Israeli people still welcome the stranger and pursue peace with their neighbors,
I stand with Israel because I am a Christian. From Genesis 1:1 forward God’s message is clear, the Jewish people are His Chosen People; those who bless them will be blessed and those who curse them will be cursed.
Shalom,
Pastor Victor Styrsky
Eastern Regional Coordinator
Christians United for Israel
[Video link is worth watching]
It is no coincidence that the Pentagon is purposely equipping these departments with military gear for civil unrest.
Currently, America is in worse shape economically than it was prior to the 2008 financial crisis. For one thing, America’s manufacturing might has disappeared due to the myriad of government regulations.
“Unfortunately, the current strategy is chock full of its own pitfalls, the least of which being the real possibility of a hyper-inflationary environment developing over coming months and years.”
In essence, by propping up the U.S. “house of cards” economy with the current round of quantitative easing, the Fed is only advancing the collapse of the dollar and the mass chaos that will ensue.
Other federal agencies are also making preparations for this mass rioting and panic.
The assumption by global depositors who have entrusted their national savings with the Federal Reserve and US Government has always been that when they request to repatriate their holdings the Fed would simply open the vault, access said assets and ship them back to where they belong.
That’s exactly what Germany expected would happen last year when the country requested that the Federal Reserve return about one-fifth of their gold reserves. But that’s when things got really dicey. The Fed announced that Germany’s gold would be returned… but it would take seven years to get back home.
The response to Germany’s request turned heads all over the world and raised concerns that the Federal Reserve had squandered its gold holdings. But this isn’t the only red flag that was raised. Public pressure reached such levels that the Fed was forced to take steps to maintain confidence in its operations, so it started shipping gold to Germany. Except it turns out that the gold being sent back to the Bundesbank wasn’t actually German gold. It contained none of the original serial numbers, had no hallmarks, and was reportedly just recently melted.
The implications are earth shattering and hit the very core of the problems facing America today. The whole system as it exists is just one big paper IOU.
In this must-watch interview with Future Money Trends, Jefferson Financial CEO Brien Lunden weighs in on Germany’s gold, what is happening at the Fed and what other central banks are doing right now. Brien also shares his thoughts on where the gold market is today, what to expect in coming years as gold supplies tighten up, how mining companies like Brazil Resources are taking advantage of the current environment, and how to profit from gold in coming years.
Gee, it’s just peachy that we are giving Iran additional time to go completely nuclear. And we are giving them billions in dollars to help them out. Don’t want them to run short when they get ready to take out Israel, you know… Iran could have a bomb in as short a time as 2 to 3 weeks – Israel estimates 1 to 2 months. As we give them trust and money, they are vowing to annihilate Israel. That makes us complicit in the planning and carrying out of genocide.
It’s not just Israel though… the Great Satan is definitely in Iran’s battle plans for war. They have beenstrengthening ties with Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia – guaranteed to bring terrorism to our homefront and Obama will have American blood all over his hands – again.
Solidly, over the past week, Iranian media outlets have been highlighting a 10-day visit to Latin America by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs, Majid Takht Ravanchi. The Cuban government can’t wait to cuddle with the Iranian theocrats and become ‘strategic partners.’ They are spouting the same tired old rhetoric that the Iranians have every right to nuclear power. What they really mean is, they have every right to a nuclear bomb and global aggression. The line is long to join the Axis of Evil these days apparently.
Under the guise of strengthening trade and economic expansion, despots will unite across the globe with a common goal. The destruction of the free world and the rise of communism and theocratic totalitarianism. Iran’s Fars News blathered on about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who “described Iran as a great power that deserves special respect.” That’s communist respect. Mass murdering asshats have to stick together after all. A hot topic was ending the hegemonic powers’ monopoly on world resources. In other words, taking what is America’s and giving it to the more deserving communists. That is what redistribution of wealth is all about. It’s not helping the poor… it’s helping communist regimes.
Also see:
6 comments:
In regards to the anti-Israel article, does anyone know about 'Kairos Training' ? I ask because a church that I used to attend which has gotten into the spiritual mysticism and other things, is now offering a 9 week course on kairos training.
Lots of great posts ... Things are moving so fast now!
Philippians 3
20 But our citizenship is in heaven - and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
From what I understand, Kairos is an attempt to do cross-cultural outreach (originating in the Philippines) with the purpose of evangelizing the world-- one of the conditions Kairos founders believe has to happen before the Lord's return can take place. Am not familiar with their theology.
http://www.kairoscourse.org
I saw Robert Jeffress on Bill O'Reilly a couple nights ago talking about his new book, Perfect Ending. Of course the interview only lasted less than 5 minutes, such irony. Only a few minutes of time, on "one" major network channel, talking about the most important subject that should be front & center-- end time prophecy. Ah but I forget-- the majority of people are too preoccupied playing games & checking their SMART(?) phones.
"… for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
An online acquaintance has been keeping me updated on the chemical spill in WV. Am wondering if agenda 21 has kicked into high gear.
http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/Another-Chemical-Found-in-Elk-River-after-Recent-Massive-Spill-241404081.html#.Ut_6Fr7RdQc.facebook
Kem
Kem, I'll check on that WV spill. I should be more interested since it occurred in my "back yard". I did hear this morning news that their was a second chemical stored in the tank that the company failed to report. I supposed this could be terrorism but that seems unlikely. No one is taking any heat other than Freedom Industries the owner of the plant located near the river.
Kara lee, the article on the TX pastor's book was interesting. The comment section however were comparing him to hucksters and Harold Camping. The lost are so deceived and blind. The more obvious it becomes we are in the end times the more vocal our opposition becomes.
That article on Brave New world was an interesting read. A bit tough for me to follow but many points seemed to the road map current day elites are following to implement their evil agenda. Sigh...
Excellent letter on truth about Israel . Thanks Scott.
The article just posted on the EU's views towards Israel is equally revealing. Wow - what very very strange, surreal times we are living in
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