Demon Possession or Insanity?

Richard Ramirez

Ask many people whether they believe in demon possession and they'll probably chuckle and tell you that the only folks who still believe in that today are backwards, ignorant and living in a different universe. Ask many Christians whether they believe in demon possession and they'll probably shake their heads.

Most people don't believe in demon possession anymore, and that includes a lot of Christians. Rather, they believe that demon possession was something that primitive people believed in before the advent of modern psychology. They believe that psychology has provided all the answers as to why certain people act bizarrely and are prone to violent, destructive behavior. 

And yet, psychology provides no answer as to why certain people can suddenly speak in foreign languages they've never learned, or exhibit superhuman strength they seem physically incapable of, or speak in strange voices that their vocal chords are incapable of supporting.

If demon possession was considered a reality during the time of Jesus Christ, then why isn't it recognized today? Because of unbelief. Much of the world no longer believes in the existence of angels or demons, or the reality of good and evil in the spiritual realm. As such, many folks who are demon possessed are now diagnosed with such psychological disorders as paranoid schizophrenia and trichotillomania.

Demon possession was indeed a problem during Christ's time and the Lord drove out many unclean spirits that caused the type of problems that are considered today to be psychological disorders. For example, during their travels through ancient Israel, Christ and His disciples encountered a man whose young boy was acting strangely. The man pleaded with Christ to help his son: "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not." (Luke 9:38-40)

Did Christ advise the man to take his son to a psychiatrist? Of course not. This is what He said: "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here. Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father." (Luke 9:41-42)

What causes demon possession? There are several causes, but the two most common ones are (1) contact with the demonic via the occult, eastern religions or hallucinogenic drugs, and (2) curses inherited from wicked ancestors. Not everyone who dabbles in the occult or practices eastern mysticism or uses hallucinogenics becomes demon possessed. There is no scientific explanation as to why some people become possessed while others don't.

And yet some people do become possessed. One such man was Richard Ramirez who became known as the infamous "Night Stalker" who murdered at least 13 people during his criminal rampage throughout the state of California in the 1980s. Ramirez was an extremely violent and evil man who got involved in Satanism at a young age. Ramirez's worship of the devil along with his heavy use of hallucinogenic drugs opened the door for his demon possession.

Those who are old enough probably remember the classic horror film "The Exorcist" that featured a young demon possessed girl played by actress Linda Blair. The Exorcist was based on the true story of a young man who grew up in Mt. Rainier, Washington in the 1940s. The man, who was called Roland Doe (not his real name), got involved in the occult when he tried to contact his deceased grandmother with a Ouija Board.

To summarize the story, Doe began to act erratically soon after he attempted to contact his grandmother. He reportedly began speaking Hebrew which he never learned. Furniture in Doe's house allegedly began to move on its own and Doe began speaking in low, guttural voices that belied his vocal chords. Eventually, Doe became so strong and violent that he couldn't even be retrained by chains. That sounds similar to the biblical account of the demoniac that Christ cast the unclean spirits out of. (Luke 8:26-39)

How prevalent is Demon possession today? It's quite prevalent, although not as prevalent as some people believe. How can you tell if someone's possessed? In some cases you can't unless you have the spiritual gift of discernment of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:10). In other cases, it's quite obvious, especially if someone begins acting extremely strange such as becoming violently angry for no reason; speaking in a strange voice or language, or suddenly withdrawing and speaking of either hurting themselves or committing suicide. 

What should you do if you suspect you're in the presence of a demon possessed person? If you're a Christian, you should pray to the Lord and ask for spiritual guidance in dealing with the person and the situation. If you're not a Christian, then you should get away from them as quickly as possible because they could harm you or even kill you. 

Demon possession is real. It's even worse in our time than during Christ's time because there are millions of people who have practiced the occult; eastern religions and have taken hallucinogenic drugs. Even worse, it's a problem that refuses to go away because so few people are able to recognize it. 

Whitewashing Evil

James Holmes

According to the leftist worldview, all human beings are born "basically good." And when they do terrible things, it's caused by "emotional trauma", "mental illness" or a flawed environment.

For example, when James Holmes shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in July 2012, killing 12 people and wounding several others, he was considered to be criminally insane. When Adam Lanza gunned down 20 children and six faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, he was labeled insane.

And when Jared Lee Loughner shot six people to death and wounded 19 others, including Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, outside of a Safeway grocery store in Casas Adobes, Arizona in January 2011, he was considered to be mentally insane. In fact, nearly every mass murderer in modern history has received the insanity label. Some of the more notorious criminals include John Wayne Gacy, Richard "The Night-Stalker" Ramirez and Jeffrey Dahmer. All were considered to be violent psychopaths. 

And yet, there are still some people today who believe in the reality of evil. And they believe that people who commit the kind of atrocities committed by Holmes, Lanza, Ramirez et. al. are wicked rather than insane. One such person is Dr. William Reid, the psychiatrist who spent 22 hours examining Holmes. Reid believes that Holmes was completely sane at the time he committed his crimes, and he believes that Holmes knew exactly what he was doing.

According to Reid: "Whatever he (Holmes) suffered from, it did not stop him from forming the intent and knowing what he was doing and the consequences of what he was doing." When Reid was asked whether Holmes understood the difference between right and wrong when he went on his shooting spree, he replied affirmatively.

http://www.people.com/article/james-holmes-trial-insanity-defense-challenged

Why do leftists deny the reality of evil? Because of their worldview. Their worldview is a complete contradiction and repudiation of the the Judeo-Christian worldview. The leftist worldview teaches that human beings are born "basically good" while the Judeo-Christian worldview teaches that human beings are born with a fallen sinful nature that, left unchecked, will motivate them to do bad things.

Leftists believe that people such as Holmes, Lanza, Loughner etc. do bad things because they are either criminally insane or have been provoked into evil by flaws in the prevailing culture. Thus the difference in the two world views can be summed up this way: The Judeo-Christian worldview teaches that evil begins in the human heart while the leftist worldview teaches that people are motivated to commit bad deeds either by mental illness or by a flawed world.

And so, leftists believe that they can create their own utopia on earth by "perfecting" the world. That's why they embrace the complete control of a tyrannical big government. And if the people refuse to embrace their worldview, then they'll have to be forced to embrace it via fascism.

Stop and think about this: If people are indeed born "basically good", then where does evil come from? How has the world become so utterly corrupt if human beings aren't born with a fallen sinful nature as the Bible teaches? Leftists have no answer for that question, other than to respond that some folks such as Holmes, Lanza and Loughner commit atrocities because they're either insane or they grew up in dysfunctional families.

Here's what Jesus Christ taught concerning the sinful nature that's inherent in all human beings: "What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person." (Mark 7:20-23)

And here's what the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the early church in Galatia: "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21)

When the biblical worldview has dominated society, crime, violence and moral decadence have been restrained. But when the leftist worldview dominates? Unless you're blind, deluded or both, you can see the results. The collapse of western civilization directly coincides with the rise of the leftist worldview and the decline of the Judeo-Christian worldview.

What's caused the decline of the Judeo-Christian worldview in the west? The Christian church stopped contending for the faith (Jude 1:3) and lost its power. That created a moral vacuum that's been filled by leftists.

Or as Solomon wrote nearly 3,000 years ago: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)

Had Holmes, Lanza, Loughner etc. been brought up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord, then it's highly unlikely they would've committed their atrocities. But they were raised in godless, secular households. And because of that, other people were forced to pay a very costly price.

Hitler's Recipe for a New World Order

Hijacking young minds

Though Adolf Hitler is properly considered to be one of the worst human beings who ever lived, some of his ideas have been embraced by humanists who seek to fundamentally transform the world.

Do the words "fundamental transformation" sound familiar? They should. Fundamental transformation were two words often invoked by Barack Obama in 2007 during his initial run for the U.S. presidency. Obama promised to fundamentally transform America. And to an extent he has, which is about the only promise he's kept.

But what did Obama mean by promising to fundamentally transform America? He meant that he would transform America from a historical Judeo-Christian nation into a godless secular nation where the government replaced God as the dispenser of rights. How did Obama plan to accomplish that? By utilizing his media sycophants to portray conservatives and Christians as ignorant bigots and racists who stood in the way of progress.  

While some folks believe that Obama may have been the first world leader to successfully persuade the media to attack his own citizens, he wasn't. Hitler accomplished that beginning in 1933 when he coerced the German media into portraying the Jews as the enemies of Germany and mankind.

Hitler's successful media campaign was designed to make it easier for the public to accept the subsequent atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews. After all, if the Jews were as bad as they were portrayed, then they got what they deserved.

Hitler also understood that in order for Germany to be fundamentally transformed from a historical Christian nation into a godless secular nation, he had to indoctrinate the children. They had to be persuaded to reject Judeo-Christianity as an outmoded belief system and embrace the new belief system of the Third Reich. Hitler wanted the world to view him as a messianic figure whose Third Reich liberated mankind from the constraints of an authoritarian, mythical God. 

Here's what Hitler said in 1938 regarding Germany's youth: "These boys and girls enter our organizations [at] ten years of age, and often for the first time get a little fresh air; after four years of the Young Folk they go on to the Hitler Youth, where we have them for another four years . . . And even if they are still not complete National Socialists, they go to Labor Service and are smoothed out there for another six, seven months . . . And whatever class consciousness or social status might still be left . . . the Wehrmacht [German armed forces] will take care of that." www.ushmm.org

What were young children taught by the Hitler Youth? They were taught this: "Education in the Third Reich served to indoctrinate students with the National Socialist world view. Nazi scholars and educators glorified Nordic and other 'Aryan' races, while denigrating Jews and other so-called inferior peoples as parasitic 'bastard races' incapable of creating culture or civilization."
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.

Why do wicked leaders target the minds of innocent children? Because unlike older people, young children have no intellectual point of reference. They're impressionable and they believe what they're told. If their minds can be kidnapped by evil wretches such as Adolf Hitler, they can become Lenin's "Useful Idiots" who will faithfully serve the state and not be troubled by their consciences when they perpetrate evil.

Jesus Christ emphatically warned that those who corrupt innocent children will be condemned to eternal damnation: "If anyone causes these little ones (children) to sin, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42)

Indeed. Hitler understood that the key to "fundamentally transforming" the world is the fundamental transformation of children by taking control of their minds. When you realize how many young Americans today have such utter contempt for their nation, you understand that Hitler's idea of mind control has been utilized by public school educators in America for many years. These young Americans have been taught to hate their country and see it as a denier of human rights.

When you consider that, you can see the commonality between modern humanists-leftists and Adolf Hitler. And when you dig a bit deeper, you can see that humanists-leftists and Hitler have a lot more in common than many folks would care to admit.

Apostasy and the End-Time Church

E.W. Kenyon: Doctrines of Demons

According to prophecy, as the time nears for the return of Jesus Christ, the Christian church will increasingly abandon biblical truth for dangerous heresies and unbiblical doctrines that are demonically inspired.

Concerning this prophetic fall, that's also known as the great end time apostasy, the apostle Paul wrote this: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron." (1 Timothy 4:1-2)

Paul followed up that prophesy with this one in his second letter to fellow apostle Timothy: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Are Paul's prophecies being fulfilled? Yes they are, and their fulfillment began in the 19th century with the advent of "New Thought" theology that's known today as "Positive Confession" or "Word of Faith" theology. What is New Thought-Positive Confession-Word of Faith theology? It's the belief that human beings have the power to be healthy, wealthy and successful by putting faith in their own faith and verbalizing it.

Where did that heresy come from? It originated from three heretical theologians named E.W. Kenyon, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby and Ralph Waldo Trine who believed that human beings suffered from failure, misfortune, poverty and sickness because they thought and confessed negatively. According to the logic of New Thought, people possess the power to reverse their fortunes if they merely take dominion over their circumstances, and think and confess positively. 

In other words, if you are sick, you profess the opposite. If you're poor, you profess great wealth. If you're a failure in school, in personal relationships, at work etc., you profess yourself to be successful. Though that's complete nonsense, Kenyon, Quimby and Trine were absolutely convinced that positive confession worked.

The New Thought gospel was picked up in the 20th century by positive confession preachers Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller who taught that mankind's worst nemesis was poor self-esteem rather than sin. In fact, Schuller taught that human beings committed bad deeds (sins) because of low self-esteem rather than the influence of evil in their hearts.

Peale and Schuller corrupted the souls and minds of tens-of-thousands of people by denying the reality of sin and redirecting the blame for man's evil behavior toward poor self-esteem. Schuller even claimed that Christ died on the cross not for sin but rather for poor self-esteem. If that was true then Christ must have negatively confessed himself into his crucifixion.

Many other preachers have utilized the New Thought-Positive Confession gospel to enrich themselves at the expense of their gullible followers. Mega-preachers such as Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, Fred K.C. Price and Benny Hinn have become obscenely wealthy by peddling the lie that positive confession works. It certainly works for them. However, it doesn't work for anyone else.

New Thought-Positive Confession-Word of Faith has occult roots and is also related to Humanistic Psychology. Quimby practiced hypnotism that has its roots in eastern mysticism. While at Emerson College, Kenyon became immersed in metaphysics that's a first cousin of Gnosticism. And Trine also became involved with metaphysics as a young man growing up in New York state.

Not surprisingly, New Thought philosophy has heavily influenced "Christian Psychology" that's become a substitute gospel in many churches today. New Thought-Positive Confession has seduced many people into turning away from God and trusting in themselves and self-esteem for their happiness and well-being.

Where does the Bible tell us to place our faith? In our own faith? In positive confession? In high self-esteem? Rather it tells us this: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6) And it says this: "Cast all your anxiety on him (Jesus Christ) because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

Faith in God and reliance on Christ has always worked and will continue to work. Why did Kenyon, Quimby, Trine et. al. promote a dangerous heresy that doesn't work and has never worked? Because they had no faith in God, that's why.

And because of that, they promoted a false gospel. Here's what Paul warned the early believers concerning those who peddle false gospels: "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" (Galatians 1:8-9)

Saying and Reaping

Ronnie Van Zant

Though I'm not into the positive-negative confession movement, I do know that words can have power. And sometimes, they can have deadly consequences.

Take Ronnie Van Zant, for example. Who was Van Zant? He was the lead vocalist for the popular southern heavy metal rock band Lynryrd Skynyrd that produced several hits in the 1970s.

Those who follow rock music and are old enough to remember Lynyrd Skynyrd, know what happened to Van Zant. On October 20, 1977, he died in a tragic plane crash along with band members Steve and Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. While the other band members survived the crash, they were badly hurt and required major surgery and extensive recovery time.

Van Zant and his band were on their way to a concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when the Convair CV-300 plane they chartered ran out of fuel and plunged into a swamp five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi. A subsequent investigation determined that the plane took off from Greenville, South Carolina with mechanical problems that forced it to fly with one engine. That caused the plane to burn up all of its fuel before it reached its destination, and the rest as they say, is history. 

What does Van Zant's death have to do with words and confessions? It seems that Van Zant frequently confided to his father Lacy that he would never see his 30th birthday. Former band member Artimus Pyle also recalls Van Zant telling him that he wasn't going to live a long life: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, 'Ronnie, don't talk like that,' but the man knew his destiny."

Van Zant was 29 years old when he died. Indeed, he died with his boots on during a road tour. Was his death a coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not. When you listen to some of Skynyrd's songs, you can detect an underlying tone of personal fate in Van Zant's lyrics. He was convinced that he was going to die early. And he confessed that.

Then, there's a man I worked with who told me the story of a former friend of his who cursed his father during a heated argument. My co-worker related that his friend admitted he called his father a "stroke" during the argument and his father subsequently died later that day after he suffered a massive stroke. His friend was devastated and convinced that he had caused his father's death.

Again; was that merely a coincidence? Or, did the man indeed curse his father to death?

Obviously, not everything we proclaim happens. But sometimes it does. How can we explain this? It's easy. We live in a world that's controlled by a dark spiritual realm under the authority of Satan and his demons. (Ephesians 6) Those who've never been born again by faith in Jesus Christ belong to Satan (John 8:44). And when they pronounce curses upon themselves by predicting their own demise, or upon others, their words can have deadly consequences. Satan is all about death and destruction, and if he has a legal right to destroy your life, he'll never pass up the opportunity.

What about proclaiming the opposite? If we confess positively, will we reap blessings such as great health, wealth and long life? There are a lot of folks who believe that. A theologian named E.W. Kenyon believed that so strongly that he launched the Positive Confession Movement in the 19th century within the Christian church.

Kenyon believed that people got sick, suffered misfortune and died prematurely because they uttered negative confessions. For example, when people got sick, Kenyon encouraged them to proclaim that they felt great even when they were desperately ill. He believed that the positive confession would heal the person, while complaining about the illness would only make them worse.

Is there any evidence that positive confession works? Is there any biblical evidence for positive confession? None at all, although there are those who will claim that Kenyon's methods do work. Obviously, positive confession failed Kenyon because he became ill and died at the age of 81 in 1948.

Certainly, even Christians can say the wrong things and bring serious trouble upon themselves and upon others. That's why it's imperative for Christians to be careful with their words and language.

What does the Bible say about cursing? It says this: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." (Romans 12:14-16)

Indeed, bless and don't curse. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, soul and mind, and avoid sin like the plague. And when you get sick? Should you confess your healing? Rather, "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:13-16)

The Catholic Church and the Apocalypse

Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

In the late 1st century A.D., the apostle John received an incredible vision from God that he recorded into what became known as the Apocalypse or the Book of Revelation. John's vision revealed the end times on earth concerning the rise of a one-world government and a powerful ruler who will be known as the Antichrist who will lead this government.

But that's not all John witnessed. He saw something else that was extremely unusual; a garishly dressed prostitute that sat high atop a huge red beast that possessed seven heads and 10 horns. (Revelation 17) John was familiar with the beast--it's symbolic for the future world government that will feature 10 nation groups headed by seven powerful kings who will be under the authority of the Antichrist.

But what about this mysterious woman? Who is she? John wrote this: "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries." (Revelation 17:3-4)

Furthermore, John saw this message stamped on the woman's forehead: Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Prostitutes And Of The Abominations Of The Earth. (Revelation 17:5) And then, John wrote this: "I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus." (Revelation 17:6)

Who is this metaphorical woman? She represents a powerful religion that will be partnered with the global government. But what religion is this? John received an additional clue: The woman resides in a city that's surrounded by seven hills. (Revelation 17:9)

Only two cities fit that description: Rio de Janeiro that's located in Brazil and Rome that's located in Italy. The Vatican is located in Rome and is the world headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. When John recorded the Revelation in about 90 A.D., the Catholic Church didn't exist and wouldn't come into existence for another 250 years.

But that's not all. The colors of the harlot's dress--purple and scarlet--are the colors worn by the Roman Catholic priesthood. And Mystery Babylon? That's a moniker that the Catholic Church has used for centuries to describe herself. And the golden cup that she held in her hand resembles the golden chalice used in the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist.

Whose blood is this woman drunk with? The blood of Christian martyrs. For centuries, the Catholic Church persecuted many non-Catholic Christians who refused to join the church and serve the Roman papacy. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church slaughtered tens-of-thousands of Albigensians and Waldensians for refusing to join the church.

How does all of this fit in the end times? Isn't the Catholic Church in decline? Hasn't she lost millions of members over the past 100 years? Indeed, she has. But she's going to recover. But how? Through an explosion of counterfeit miracles that will spread across the world and will eventually usher in the Antichrist.

When will this happen? We don't know. But we do know this; when the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches reunite after their 1,000 year separation, then the end will be near. Last fall (November 2014), Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in Istanbul to discuss this inevitable reunion. Afterward, they indicated that the two churches are getting closer to reuniting.

And when that happens? The apostle Paul prophesied this: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

What's so significant about this reunification? It will open a prophetic door to the Antichrist. But how? He will come from Russia where the Orthodox Church holds great power. http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp

And so, keep your eyes on the Catholic Church. She's going to play an important role in the rise of a world government, and in the Antichrist as well.

Yellow Journalism

George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos should be the poster boy for what's wrong with modern journalism today and an additional reason why Christians should keep their backsides out of politics.

Wait a minute. What does George Stephanopoulos have to do with politics? Isn't he a TV journalist employed by ABC who hosts "Good Morning America" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos"? Rather, Stephanopoulos is a Democratic Party operative who masquerades as a TV journalist. 

How did the Democratic Party manage to get Stephanopoulos onto a major television network? Actually, that's a stupid question since the majority of American journalists today are affiliated with the Democratic Party. That's evident in their journalism that nearly always slants toward the promotion of big government control and away from small government, independence and self reliance.

Stephanopoulos landed his job at ABC because he worked for former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. He served in the Clinton administration as the White House Communications Director and later as a Senior Adviser for Policy and Strategy before he left in 1996. One of his tasks during his employment in the Clinton administration was to destroy Clinton's enemies and political opponents.

Though the diminutive faux journalist officially separated from the Clinton administration nearly 20 years ago, he still serves as a Clinton-Democratic Party operative today. That was evident in his recent interview with author Peter Schweizer that wasn't only bad, but became even worse after the evidence surfaced that Stephanopoulos had donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation. 

Schweizer's book, "Clinton Cash" laid out the dots that highlighted several large donations made to the Clinton Foundation by people who then received political favors. Though Schweizer never claimed to have any direct evidence of wrong-doing on the part of Bill and Hillary Clinton, he used the timeless smoke and fire technique to suggest that the Clintons and their foundation are corrupt and warrant a federal investigation.

Nevertheless, Stephanopoulos skewered Schweizer by suggesting that the author, himself a former Republican operative, had a political agenda to promote and a very active imagination by painting the Clintons in his book as greedy opportunists. Stephanopoulos's hatchet job on Schweizer would probably have worked until the matter of his donation to the Clinton Foundation surfaced.

Naturally, after Stephanopoulos got caught with his pants around his ankles, he apologized. He should've been fired by ABC because his integrity--if he ever even had any--is gone. Only an imbecile would take him seriously now as a fair and unbiased journalist.

What does this have to do with Christians? For too many years, Christians have been relying on the popular culture to carry their water instead of getting out into the world and contending for the faith. But how? By trying to advance the gospel through the media and the ballot box. 

That doesn't work and it seldom ever has. Perhaps the last truly conservative politician who stemmed the tide of godless leftism in America was Ronald Reagan who returned the nation to the conservative principles of self-reliance and smaller government when he was elected to the presidency in the fall of 1980.

But that was 35 years ago. A lot has changed since then, including the culture that has moved well to the left of where it was in 1980. Many Americans now approve of abortion, same-sex marriage and legalized drugs as opposed to 1980 when they condemned such things. Though many folks would attribute the opinion changes to progress, the real reason is because godless secularists such as George Stephanopoulos have used their positions to spread their rotten influence throughout the culture.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul wrote this in his first of two letters to fellow apostle Timothy: "Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules." (2 Timothy 2:3-5)

Indeed. The way to change the culture begins on the street and in the trenches where the battle for the soul of America begins. It doesn't occur via the media or the ballot box. Because if you're going to try and promote the gospel that way, you're going to lose every time. 

Remember that political operatives such as George Stephanopoulos aren't the exception to the rule. They are the rule and they're a sad reflection of the culture that produced them. You want to change that? Change the culture the right way. "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2)

Christianity's Prophetic End

The Numbers tell the story

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ revealed that in the last days directly preceding His return, many people would abandon the church: "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." (Matthew 24:10-11)

Since the dawn of the 20th century, millions of people have left the Christian church. Since the early 1950s, 8,000 churches have gone out of business in America while 25 million members have left the faith. Recently, a Pew Research study revealed that 70.6 percent of Americans currently identify as Christians, which is down from 78.6 percent in 2007.

While 70.6 percent is still a majority, America's Christian population is trending in the wrong direction. And when you consider that America's overall population is growing, the church's declining membership means that Christianity is rapidly losing its influence in America.

Furthermore, as the Christian population declines, America's population of atheists and agnostics is growing. According to Pew: People who self-identify as atheists or agnostics (about 7% of all U.S. adults), as well as those who say their religion is “nothing in particular,” now account for a combined 22.8% of U.S. adults – up from 16.1% in 2007. The growth of the “nones” has been powered in part by religious switching. Nearly one-in-five U.S. adults (18%) were raised as Christians or members of some other religion, but now say they have no religious affiliation.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/5-key-findings-u-s-religious-landscape

And while Christianity wanes in America, religions such as Islam and Hinduism are growing, albeit at a slower pace than America's atheist and agnostic population. Muslims now account for nearly one percent of America's population, up from .04 percent in 2007 while Hindus now account for .07 percent of the population, up from .04 percent in 2007.

Certainly, Christianity is also disappearing in places such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia and in Northern Africa. But that's being caused by Islamists who are persecuting and murdering Christians by the tens of thousands. In the west, Christianity is in rapid decline because the faith has lost its influence over the culture.

Christianity's decline throughout the west can be traced back to the late 18th century when the European seminaries began to reject the Bible as the authoritative word of God and instead, began embracing universalism. What's universalism? It's the fallacious belief that all religions are equal, valid, and divinely inspired.

While that's ludicrous, that belief lowers Christ to the level of an ancient social activist and it promotes confusion. Why confusion? Because many religions contradict each other concerning the definition of God, sanctification and the path to eternal life. For example, Christianity promotes the Trinity while Islam and Rabbinic Judaism deny the Trinity.

Here's what the Koran says about the Trinity: O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Isa (Jesus) son of Marium (Mary) is only an apostle of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Marium and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His apostles, and say not, Three (thalathatun). Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one God; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector. (Sura 4:171)

Hinduism promotes millions of gods while Buddhism claims there is no God. Contrast that with what Christ said: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6) 

So many competing belief systems promote confusion that in turn promotes doubt. Worse yet, the church failed to answer Darwinism when it appeared in the 19th century. Darwinism, i.e. evolution, is a terrible theory promoted as factual science that claims life wasn't created by God but instead occurred millions of years ago in a primordial mud pond via random chemical processes.

Though evolution can't be proven and has never been observed to occur, it's embraced by millions of people throughout the world, and particularly in the west. The Christian church's failure to counter this lie has contributed significantly to its demise. If people no longer believe in God then they view religion as an outdated belief system created by primitive men.

Certainly, the church's demise is the fulfillment of prophecy. When the church stopped contending for the faith, it wrote its own epitaph. In his second of two letters to fellow apostle Timothy, the apostle Paul urged Timothy to "guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith." (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

Had the church heeded those words, the world would undoubtedly be a much different and better place than it is today.

The High Flying Dollar

Creflo Dollar

Creflo Dollar, the high-living prosperity preacher who wants to show you God's path to success and vast wealth, needs your help. In what way? He'd like you to send him $200 so he can buy himself a $65 million Gulfstream G650 jet. He figures that if 200,000 folks send in the coin, he'll realize his dream of flying around the world in luxury.

Oh sure. Go ahead and laugh. To the average Joe Shmoe, a $65 million private luxury jet is beyond excessive--it's morally obscene. But don't tell that to the Dollar Man who defends his request for a golden air chariot by claiming that God doesn't want his servants flying coach.

Or--perish the thought--traveling by bus or train. And so, it's time to fly the friendly skies in opulent luxury. For now, Dollar has to make do with his 1984 G-1159A Gulfstream that's akin in the prosperity preacher's eyes to driving a 1973 Ford Maverick with 200,000 miles on the odometer.

When Dollar was asked why he needs such an expensive plane, he got a bit defensive: "Let me tell you something about believing God.  I can dream as long as I want to. I can believe God as long as I want to. If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me. You cannot stop me from dreaming." 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/creflo-dollar-jet

Dollar is one of a myriad of prosperity preachers who've gotten extremely wealthy from the financial support of their faithful and gullible followers. While it's not against the law to operate a ministry and ask people for money, it's morally wrong to convince people that you know God's formula for financial success and you can teach it to them.

However, the prosperity gurus don't know any celestial financial secrets. Rather, they do know how to con people, and some of them such as Dollar have done a very good job of that. Case in point is Gloria Copeland's bold claim that those who send her $10 will be rewarded by God with $100, while those who send in $100 will reap $1,000 and so on.

Let Gloria's husband Ken, the founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries explain it as only he can: "Well, now, you need balance in this, get out there in that hyper-faith. That name-it-and-claim-it- that blab-it-and-grab-it. Yeah! We named it and claimed it and got it. We blabbed it and grabbed it and still got it! Hallelujah! And our bills are paid."
http://www.forgottenword.org/prosperity.html

Stop and think about this: If all you need is faith to become wealthy as Copeland, Dollar et al. claim, then why do they ask you to send them money? The reason why they continually ask for money is because their faith formulas don't work and never have. They're designed to con gullible and biblically illiterate people into believing that shortcuts to financial success exist via prayers of faith. 

But when you try that method, it doesn't work. However, it does work for the prosperity preachers such as the Copelands, Dollar etc. who get rich off of the big coin sent in by their empty-headed followers. When legendary bank-robber Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because "that's where the money is" he never realized that bank robbery was peanuts compared to where the real money is in the prosperity gospel.

What does the Bible say about the love of money? Let the apostle Paul explain it: "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:3-10)

Apparently, Dollar's still hasn't gotten all money he needs to buy his jet. Maybe he'll get it and maybe he won't. But if you're thinking of sending him $200 to help him fly the friendly skies in luxury, keep the money and do something better with it such as buying a needy person a good meal, clothes or helping them pay the rent.

If Dollar really believes in what he preaches, then he can ask God to direct deposit the check into his bank account. Or, better yet, send him a lifetime Greyhound bus pass.  

From Secularism to Supernaturalism

A Marian apparition in Egypt, 1968

Many folks are convinced that religion has no future in the western world where secularism seems destined to prevail. And yet, while Christianity seems to be waning, secularism has no future. Rather, a counterfeit form of Christianity is on the horizon and it will be ushered in by supernatural events.

Such as? Such as incredible miracles that will convince even the most hardened skeptics that life exists beyond the natural realm. But when will this happen? Let the apostle Paul explain: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Paul's revelation would make no sense to people who believe in God and understand the Bible. Rather, Paul's prophecy clearly reveals that a world skeptical of God's existence will be taken in by supernatural events when they begin to take place. And since few folks will possess any biblical knowledge, they'll have no way to test the spiritual source of these events.

And so, think about this: Since the Bible clearly reveals that Satan's greatest desire is to be worshiped as God (Isaiah 14:9-20), and scripture reveals that Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), then why does he allow atheism to spread and flourish across the globe?

Why? Think of atheism as a great spiritual vacuum cleaner that sucks the faith and knowledge of God out of the minds of people. Without faith in God and the knowledge of His word revealed in the Bible, and with violent false religions such as Islam murdering millions of people in the name of their gods, many people have dismissed religion as the primitive superstition of ignorant folks.

Thus, atheism serves to prepare the world for the Antichrist. While that sounds incredible, never take the devil lightly. Since he and his hierarchy of demons control the world (Ephesians 6:12), they influence the minds of fallen, godless people. 

And one of those folks was a man named Charles Darwin who published a terrible thesis in 1859 (On the Origin of Species) that attempted to explain the existence of physical life in purely natural terms sans God. Darwin's theory of evolution was so bad that it was condemned by numerous scientists even in his day. And with the advent of microbiology in the 20th century, evolution was proven a monumental fraud that possessed mathematically impossible odds.

And yet, though it's never been proven or observed to occur, evolution is taught as factual science in schools and universities throughout the world. Darwin's theory is the direct cause of all the crime, violence and moral depravity that's plagued the world--and specifically the west--since the mid-20th century. 

But how, if it's merely promoted as "science"? Because evolution denies God's existence. And if God doesn't exist, then no one is held morally accountable for their behavior and no judgment awaits them at death. If evolution is true, then rotten human beings such as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin fare no worse in death than Pope John Paul II or Mother Teresa. 

Remember that Jesus Christ also warned of a great wave of counterfeit miracles preceding the rise of the Antichrist. (Matthew 24:24-25) The purpose of these demonic events is to lead a gullible and spiritually ignorant world to the Antichrist. And a world that doesn't believe in God, miracles or life beyond the physical realm will be easily taken in by such a fraud.

In his second letter to the early church in Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote this: "For we are not unaware of his (Satan's) schemes." (2 Corinthians 2:11) Atheism is a scheme of the devil to deny God, deny His word and deny His grace to mankind in Jesus Christ crucified on the cross for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead. 

And once Satan has purged the world of the faith and knowledge of the true God of the universe, then he can introduce his own "Christ." A world that's ignorant of the devil and his schemes, and possesses no knowledge of the true God of the universe will be easily led astray by the counterfeit miracles when they begin occurring. And we're closer to that time than many people realize.

Christian Causes and Islamic Effects

Islam: Growing quickly in America

Where does Islam enjoy its greatest growth? In areas where a spiritual vacuum's been created because of the declining influence of Judeo-Christianity.

And those areas are Western Europe and North America. When the Christian church has been strong, those areas have withstood the onslaught of deception from false religions and pagan creeds. But when the church has been weak--as it currently is--then anything goes. And usually what goes is Christianity's influence.

What happened to the church? The church forgot that it was commissioned by Jesus Christ to call people out of the world and into God's kingdom through the gospel. Instead, the church foolishly tried reforming the world and subsequently lost its power. Sadly, there's not much difference today between the world and the church.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Jude warned the early church to either "contend for the faith" (Jude 1:3) or risk losing the faith to deceivers and false teachers who would come in and pervert the gospel. In what way? By redefining Christianity as just one of many paths to God.

The church heeded Jude's words until about the late 18th century when ecumenicism, religiosity and liturgical rot began to destroy the church from within. The church lost its power and along with that, its faith. And once the faith began to wane, the faithful began to leave the church in droves.

In his second of two letters he wrote to the early church in Corinth, Paul warned the Corinthians never to rely on human power rather than the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

One of the pretensions that has set itself up against the knowledge of God is Islam. It's holy book the Koran contains numerous historical inaccuracies and contradictions concerning God, the creation of the physical universe, Abraham, Moses, Mary, Jesus etc. And yet despite that, Islam continues to expand and flourish in the western world.

But why? If Islam is a false religion that can easily be proven so, then why does it flourish? Because the Christian church refuses to confront Islam. And also because Islam provides a counterfeit path to redemption and heaven. Those who believe Islam will bring them eternal life will get a surprise when they enter eternity. Islam then, provides an effective weapon for the devil and his fallen angels in preventing the salvation of human beings.

Let the apostle Paul; explain it: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:10-12) 

Like all false religions, Islam is demonically inspired and empowered. It not only serves up spiritual deception but it provides a tool for Satan to persecute Christians and Jews. And Islam only flourishes because the Christian church failed to contend for the faith and utilize the power of the Holy Spirit to demolish Islam's theology. 

Islam isn't divinely inspired. It's a combination of perverted biblical stories and Arabian myths. And anyone who possesses even a rudimentary knowledge of history should be able to figure that out after they've read the Koran.

How fast is Islam growing in America? Let tellmeaboutislam.com explain it: "There are now as many as 7 million Muslims in the United States, half of them American-born. In recent years, Americans of African, European, Southeast Asian, Latin American and American Indian descent have left their parents' spiritual paths to follow Islam, a religion that includes more than 1 billion believers from nearly every country."

Here's what those new converts have embraced: Four conflicting accounts of Muhammad's reception of the Koran (Sura 2:97, 15:8, 16:102, 26:192-194, 32:5, 53:2-18, 70:4, 81:19-24), two conflicting accounts of God's creation of the physical universe (Sura 7:51, 41:9-12) and the incredible claim that Christ's mother Mary was the sister of Moses (Sura 19:28).

There are many more contradictions and historical mistakes in the Koran. And contrary to the popular belief that Islam is a colorless religion unlike Christianity that's considered the "white man's religion," Muhammad was a racist. He taught that on Judgment Day, only whites will be redeemed while blacks will be condemned to hell. (Sura 3:106-107)

Had the Christian church pointed these things out, Islam never would've gained any traction in the west. But the church failed to do so. And now, look what's happening. As the Bible clearly states, you reap what you sow. (Galatians 6:7)

Islam for Dhimmis and Dummies

Elton Simpson

Though I'm getting a bit tired of writing about Islam, I think that it's important to have a periodic refresher course on "The Religion of Peace."

By now, many folks are familiar with the recent incident that took place at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas where two self-made Mujahideen showed up and intended to commit mass murder in the name of Islam. Evidently, the men sought retribution because the Culwell Center was hosting a Prophet Muhammad cartoon drawing contest.

When one of the men shot a security officer with an assault rifle outside the building, a Garland police officer returned fire and fatally shot both men. One of the shooters was identified as Elton Simpson, a Phoenix, Arizona resident who reportedly was a recent convert to Islam. 

According to public records, Simpson was no stranger to trouble. In 2006, he attracted the attention of the FBI because he befriended a man who was suspected of attempting to establish a terrorist cell in Arizona. More recently, Simpson began boasting via social media of his desire to go to heaven by being martyred for Allah in jihad.

Simpson got one of his wishes granted, but not the other. He's in hell right now along with a myriad of other jihadis who were convinced that killing infidels in Allah's name would bring them paradise and endless sex with 72 virgins. Simpson realizes now that he was deceived, but it's too late for him. He's stuck where he is until Judgment Day when he'll receive his eternal reward for embracing a demonic lie.

And so, for those of you who are considering following in Simpson's footsteps, here are some biblical scriptures that reveal the only true way to heaven and eternal life: (1) "I  (Jesus Christ) am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the (Heavenly) Father except through me." (John 14:6) (2) "Salvation is found in no one else (except Christ), for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) (3) "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (Jesus Christ). He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12)

The Bible was completed over 600 years before Islam appeared. It contains numerous prophecies that were fulfilled hundreds and thousands of years after they were recorded. Many of those prophecies were fulfilled by Christ when He appeared in Israel 2,000 years ago. For example Christ's virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14); His birthplace in Jerusalem (Micah 5:2) and His ride through the streets of Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9) were foretold several centuries before He appeared on earth.

What about the Koran? What verifiable prophecies does it contain? Absolutely none. But it does contain this: "Fight in the way of Allah with those who fight with you. And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers." (Sura 2:190,191) 

And it contains this: "Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward." (Sura 4:74) 

And here's one more: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned." (Sura 5:33)

Those were just some of the verses that motivated Simpson to sell his soul to Islam. He knows now what a terrible mistake he made. But it's too late for him. However, it's not too late for others to leave "The Religion of Peace" and commit their lives to Jesus Christ.

There may not be 72 virgins awaiting them in heaven, but sex isn't something they'll need or even desire when they get there. There'll be something much better awaiting them than carnal gratification. And they won't have to die for it because Christ already did that for them 2,000 years ago on the cross.

When Lives Don't Matter

A victim of an abortion

During his three-year ministry in ancient Israel, this is one of the things that Jesus Christ said: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Of course, Christ was referring to Satan who not only seeks to destroy human beings in the flesh, but who also seeks to murder their souls via false religions that deny the necessity of the cross in the redemption of mankind.

But make no mistake about it; Satan is all about murder and the destruction of human life. Murder is his most precious weapon because he uses it to prevent the salvation of human beings. Those who die outside of Christ are doomed eternally.

And so, even though the devil doesn't murder human beings directly, he motivates fallen human beings who are under his influence to do his bidding. While many folks in what passes for the modern civil rights movement are babbling about how black lives matter--as if no one else's life does--the lives of unborn babies and young infants apparently don't matter. At least not to a growing number of people.

Since 1973, when the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) legalized abortion, over 55 million babies have been murdered. And that's just in the U.S. Across the world where abortion has been flourishing in many nations much longer than it has in America, millions more unborn babies have been snuffed out by abortion executioners.

Last year (2014) the most abortions occurred in China where 7,930,000 unborn infants were terminated. Next came Russia with 2,287,300 followed by Viet Nam with 1,520,000; the U.S. (1,365,700) and the Ukraine (635,000). Though China led the way in sheer numbers, Russia actually had a higher abortion rate (68.4 abortions for every 1,000 births) compared to China (26 per 1,000 births). Russia's rate was much higher because of Russia's smaller population. 

If pre-birth abortion isn't bad enough, we now have folks who call themselves "medical ethicists" clamoring for post-birth abortions. That's right; you read that correctly. There are those who want to murder living, breathing babies because they don't believe their lives matter.

In 2012, the Journal of Medical Ethics published an article written by medical ethicists Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva who argued that newborns and infants aren't actually human beings with personalities. Thus, according to their reasoning that would've made Josef Mengele blush, these infants should be fair game for execution if their parents decide they're better off emotionally and economically without them.

Giubilini and Minerva actually said this: "Parents should be allowed to have their newborn babies killed because they are morally irrelevant, and ending their lives is no different to abortion. The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life of an individual." 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk  

Many folks will dismiss Giubilini and Minerva as kooks. They shouldn't because there are a lot of people in high places who agree with them. One of them is a radical named Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. 

Singer has called for a massive reduction in the world's population in order to rescue the planet and save the environment. Like Giubilini and Minerva, Singer doesn't believe that a child achieves "full moral status" until age one or two, so their parents should be able to "abort" them legally.

Naturally, like most people who possess such a disdain for human life, Singer is an atheist. Since atheists don't believe in God, they embrace Darwinian evolution as the explanation for the existence of life. While the Bible reveals that human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) atheists believe that human beings are merely the end product of millions of years of random evolutionary forces.

And people who believe that see no value in human life. Nearly 2,000 years ago the apostle Paul wrote this concerning people who reject the truth of God for a lie: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:21-23)

When people reject God, human life becomes cheap and meaningless. And when human life no longer matters, then anarchy, chaos and mass destruction follow. How far the world has plunged morally in just the past 50 years! How much farther will it continue to fall? That's a terrifying question. 

Two Worldviews

Baltimore on fire

There's the Judeo-Christian worldview that mandates faith in God, love for others before love of self; honesty, integrity, humbleness, kindness, meekness, patience, holiness and hard work.

And then there's the secular worldview. That worldview mandates excuses, grievances, selfishness, victimization, anger, violence and nihilism. That worldview has increasingly dominated the west over the past 60 years. And the reason why? Because the Judeo-Christian worldview has been discarded.

There are several reasons for that paradigm shift, but perhaps none greater than the Christian church's abdication of the Bible and its refusal to contend for the faith that the apostle Jude implored the early church to never stop doing. (Jude 1:3)

What does it mean to contend for the faith? It means keeping the faith relevant to whatever time and place the church dwells in. For example, when Charles Darwin introduced his terrible theory of evolution in 1859 (On the Origin of Species) that sought to explain the existence of life in purely natural terms sans God, the church should've seen the obvious danger in such a myth and debunked it.

Instead, the church ignored the threat and allowed it to grow and spread like a deadly malignancy. Darwinism is taught in millions of schools, colleges and universities across the world as factual science when it's nothing but a ridiculous theory that's never been observed to occur and can't be proven.

But how could the Christian church refute such a theory when it believes that religion and science are incompatible? Religion (counterfeit faith) and science may be incompatible, but faith isn't incompatible with science. Rather, faith supports science. 

The cells of living organisms are comprised of millions of bits of DNA that contain digitally coded information. Each DNA bit contains extensive instructions that enable the cell to function, grow and multiply. Where did that information come from? From a random unintelligent process? Only a fool believes that. 

And yet many believe that life came about that way rather than via the design of an intelligent Creator God. And if people believe that life occurred via evolution, then they either don't believe in God or they don't believe that He's actively involved with His creation.

And if they don't believe in God? Here's what they become according to the apostle Paul who wrote this 2,000 years ago: "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they 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 have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 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)

The breakdown in civility and morality in the western world is directly related to the world's rejection of the Judeo-Christian worldview. When folks don't believe in God they refuse to believe that they're morally accountable for their actions. And when that happens, then anarchy prevails. 

That explains why the world, and particularly the west is sinking into chaos and depravity. The secular worldview, that denies man's fallen nature, attempts to affix the blame for sinful behavior on social injustice, poverty, racism and income inequality. And secularism has become the religion of atheists who have replaced God with Big Government.

The secular worldview inverts the biblical worldview by making man a victim of social injustice rather than a perpetrator of evil. And the false god of Big Government is looked upon to heal the world and create a utopian paradise in the same fashion that Jesus Christ will accomplish when He returns to establish His earthly kingdom. 

The secular worldview is moving us toward a one-world government. And that government will eventually be led by a counterfeit messiah who will be the Antichrist. He will become the ultimate expression of man's denial of his fallen sinful nature and need for redemption. And he will become the ultimate proof that when man attempts to live apart from God, very bad things happen.