Lessons from an Old Tragedy

Left to right: Mary Ann Jordan, Kathy Emmons and Ellen Harnish

It's been 50 years since Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses after he broke into the dormitory of South Chicago Community Hospital on a hot summer night in 1966.

Speck was a stoner and a loser from Dallas, Texas, who was staying with relatives in Chicago in July, 1966 when he decided to commit a burglary after a long night of drugs and drinking. The residence he chose was a townhouse located on 100th Street in Chicago's Jeffery Manor neighborhood, which was functioning at the time as a dormitory for student nurses.

After Speck broke into the townhouse, he encountered the nursing students and he changed his plans. He proceeded to torture, rape and murder eight young women one by one before he finally called it a night. He was later caught when one nurse, who managed to escape Speck's attention by hiding under a bed, identified Speck to the police. 

Speck was subsequently tried and convicted of the murders, and he was given the death penalty. However, his sentence was later changed to 400 to 1,200 years in prison when the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the death sentence due to a technicality. 

It seems that 250 potential jurors were unconstitutionally excluded from Speck's jury because of their conscientious or religious beliefs against capital punishment. Because of that technicality, Speck, who deserved to die for his crimes, was given the mercy he refused to offer his helpless victims. Speck eventually died in prison on December 5, 1991, just a day before his 50th birthday.

Unless he repented of his heinous crimes and truly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, Speck is burning in hell where he belongs. Judging by his behavior during his 25 years behind bars, it's highly unlikely that Speck ever had a change of heart. He got into trouble frequently during his prison life and he showed little remorse for the promising young lives he snuffed out on a hot summer night in 1966.

Many well-meaning folks will excoriate me for my opinion concerning Speck and his eternal punishment. Aren't Christians supposed to be all about God's love and forgiveness? Of course. Then why the unforgiving attitude toward Speck, and other mass murderers?

It's not an unforgiving attitude. I truly hope that all mass murderers and violent criminals repent and confess Christ as Lord because if they don't, their punishment in an earthly prison will pale in comparison to the punishment that awaits them in hell.

And there's also a distinct difference between God's grace and mercy, and His punishment. In the ancient times, King David, who's considered one of the greatest human kings who ever lived, and "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22) committed adultery and murder when he impregnated another man's wife and subsequently had the man killed to keep him from finding out. (2 Samuel 11)

Certainly, David realized his sins and repented. Though God forgave him, David was severely punished for his transgressions: "This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel." (2 Samuel 12:11-12)

The Lord also struck down the son born to David and Bathsheba--the woman David committed adultery with--seven days after he was born. David later married Bathsheba and they had another son Solomon who was considered one of the wisest men on earth and built the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

And so, what are the lessons to be learned from the terrible tragedy that occurred in Chicago 50 years ago? First of all, fear God and shun evil. Otherwise, you'll live outside of God's hedge of protection and something terrible could happen to you.

Is that casting judgment upon those student nurses? Absolutely not. Only God has the authority to judge human hearts. But realize that bad things often happen to sinful, rebellious people. If you're living in any sort of sin from fornication to adultery to idolatry etc., then don't be surprised if you encounter misfortune.

Hopefully, you'll escape with your life and repent before it's too late. Had Richard Speck confessed his sins to Christ and accepted Him as his Lord, he would've escaped eternal damnation. Even for the horrible crimes he committed. Here's a lesson that Christ taught on the subject:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

The second lesson from that tragedy teaches us that part of God's grace and mercy is His discipline. Unless we truly understand that we're accountable to God for our actions, we'll go astray and fall back into sin. No Christian is beyond that possibility:

God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:10-11)

Those are the lessons we can learn from a horrible tragedy that happened a long time ago in a different time. 

Curses and Christ

The tools of witchcraft

Can true born-again Christians be harassed by demonic spirits? Can they become demon-possessed? And can witches and shamans put curses on them?

The answer is an emphatic no. Then why do some churches and ministers teach the opposite? There are two reasons; (1) many people who profess to be Christians simply don't know the Bible, and (2) some people do it for economic reasons. 

Economic reasons? Yes, economic reasons. They earn big coin by suckering gullible folks into believing that they may be troubled by demons and generational curses. And then they offer--for a fee of course--to chase away the demons and break the curses. Consider it a Christian form of fortune-telling. Or, just call it what it really is--a financial scam.

A woman named Beth who operates a blog called The Other Side of Darkness makes the claim that Christians aren't delivered from demons and curses just because they are born again into eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. Here's a sample of her teaching: 

Although Jesus bore all of our sin, this did not remove curses that are in place. There are laws in the spiritual realm that need to be upheld. The spiritual laws of Jeremiah 17 state that a man that makes of himself god, will be cursed. That will be upheld by God, just as all the other spiritual laws have been. If you are suffering from the effects of what you believe are a curse, then it is important to understand that it is not your fault. Somewhere in your family line a relative has made a choice to either purposefully or ignorantly bring ill intent into their blood line.

There's simply no evidence in the Bible that even suggests that Christians remain under curses and demonic oppression even after they've been saved in Christ. Yes, everyone who makes himself a god is cursed. However, every curse is broken in Christ. If those curses aren't broken, then Christ's death on the cross was insufficient. However, it was totally sufficient.

What does the Bible say concerning God's protection of His people? It says this:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. (Psalm 91:1-8)

 That's pretty easy to understand, isn't it? God protects His people from the forces of spiritual and physical evil. Here's more:

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  

You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  

He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:9-16)

 Certainly, true Christians can rebel against God and bring punishment upon themselves. But that punishment comes because God is trying to warn them to repent and get out of sin. The writer of Hebrews made that point extremely clear when he quoted Proverbs: 

My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? (Proverbs 3:11-12)

If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 

They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

 I'm sure that Beth means well. She escaped the Mormon Church to become a genuine Christian. That was no small accomplishment because the Mormon Church is a cult that makes it extremely hard for those who attempt to leave.

But there's no excuse for teaching false doctrine. You must know the Bible thoroughly before you embark in ministry. Otherwise, you become the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the last days: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) 

Sadly, many well-meaning people are doing that these days. And to the great harm of the church.

A Nightmare's Final Days

We're coming to the end of one of the most turbulent periods in American history. That period began in 2007 with the Great Recession, followed by the failed presidency of Barack Obama.

Though Obama certainly had nothing to do with the recession that began with the housing market crash, his administration's inept economic policies crippled America's economy and inflicted pain upon millions of people.

Even worse, the United States--once the most powerful nation in the world--became an international laughingstock under Obama. The Russians built up their military and nuclear arsenal; they annexed Crimea and they dared the U.S to respond to a series of increasingly provocative military confrontations.

The Chinese manipulated their currency in order to damage America's economy; they hacked into America's economic cyber-infrastructure and they used their economic strength to build up their military and challenge the U.S. in the South China Sea.

The Iranians literally robbed the proverbial bank without a gun when the Obama administration lifted economic sanctions against the Persian state in order to sign a one-sided nuclear pact that allows Iran a clear path to develop nuclear weapons. That horrible deal was consummated in order to craft Obama's mythical legacy as a global peacemaker.

Of course, there were the lies. There were multitudes of them. There was Obama's denial in the face of the evidence that his IRS intentionally targeted conservatives; his promise to Americans that they would be able to keep their health insurance plans under his new healthcare bill; his pledge to keep the government's nose out of churches and his assurance that the Iranian nuclear deal would prevent Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction.

But of all the sins committed by the Obama regime, perhaps none was worse than America's betrayal of Israel, her most loyal ally in the Middle East. And that betrayal has brought the United States perilously close to divine judgment.

In the ancient times, the Lord promised to bring harsh judgment against anyone who persecuted His people: To the patriarch Abraham, He said this:

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:2-3)

That promise was fulfilled through Abraham's son Isaac. The nation of Israel came into existence through him, and the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ came into the world through the Israel, fulfilling God's promise to Abraham.

Throughout history, whenever nations have threatened Israel either overtly or covertly, they've come under God's heavy hand of judgment. When Great Britain violated the terms of the Balfour Declaration by giving away land to the Arabs that was promised to the Jews, the powerful British Empire disintegrated. Once a bastion of Christianity, Britain is now being taken over by Muslims.

When George W. Bush coerced Israel into turning over Gaza to the Palestinians in August, 2005, the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas were devastated just days later by Hurricane Katrina.

Was Katrina merely a coincidence? Or did the Lord punish the United States for dividing up His land that He gave to the Jews and to no one else? Here's what He spoke to the prophet Joel about 2,700 years ago concerning His coming judgment of the nations that persecuted Israel throughout history:

In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink. (Joel 3:1-3)

Obama, of course, wants to divide up Israel by creating a Palestinian state and forcing Israel to retreat to pre-1967 borders that would doom the Jewish state if that ever happened. Obama has purposely leaked Israel's military secrets to the world, and he's threatened the Jewish nation for building settlements in its capital city of Jerusalem.

And obviously, Obama's Iranian deal puts Israel in harms way. The Iranians have pledged to destroy Israel, and they will try to do that unless God intervenes and prevents that from happening. And He will prevent that. But not before He brings judgment upon the United States for enabling the Persian state to threaten His chosen people.

Hopefully, America's next president will undo the damage Obama has inflicted upon America and Israel. If not, then fasten your seat belts. Because bad things are coming to America. And very soon.

The Transformation of Desolation

Few people probably understood what Barack Obama had in mind when he promised to fundamentally transform the United States of America if he was elected to the presidency in 2008.

But now most folks do. Obama's latest transformation involves banning gender distinct bathrooms from America's public schools. The Departments of Education and Justice recently issued "guidance" letters to the public schools advising them to ensure that "transgender students enjoy a supportive and nondiscriminatory school environment."

The letters provide more than just advice and guidance to the schools. They're coercive and threaten to withhold federal funds from schools located in states that reject the Obama administration's "guidance" on providing gender neutral restrooms.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory blasted the decision and appealed to the legislative and judicial branches of the government to intercede and stop Obama's madness:

Most Americans, including this governor, believe that government is searching for a solution to a problem that has yet to be defined. Now, both the federal courts and the U.S. Congress must intercede to stop this massive executive branch overreach, which clearly oversteps constitutional authority. 

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz aptly summed up the situation by stating that the transgender bathroom directive is just the latest form of dictatorial mandate forced on America by an oppressive government:

America has woken up to yet another example of President Barack Obama doing through executive fiat what he cannot get done through our democratic process. Having spent many years in law enforcement, I've handled far too many cases of child molesters, of pedophiles, of people who abused little kids. The threats of predators are serious, and we should not facilitate allowing grown men or boys to be in bathrooms with little girls. 

It's futile to lay all the blame for this at the feet of Obama who's a terrible president and a repugnant human being. The real blame belongs to the people who elected and reelected Obama to the presidency. Without their votes, he would've stayed in Illinois where he belonged.

And so, the folks who voted for Obama have no right to complain about him now because they made his presidency possible. Even worse are those who believe that they can reverse Obama's fundamental transformation by simply electing the right candidate in the upcoming presidential election in November.

Unfortunately, that person probably doesn't exist. America's political process is controlled by lobbyists who throw big money at politicians and political parties to get what they want. That's how America got stuck with Obama.

He was foisted upon a gullible and ignorant public as a fresh face who would end wars and bring peace and prosperity to America and the world. But in reality, he was nothing but a puppet of wealthy leftists who desperately needed someone to win them an election after consecutive losses in 2000 and 2004. And Obama was that man.

According to statistics published by the Williams Institute, only .03 percent of America's population identifies as transgender. In a nation of approximately 319 million people, that's practically nothing. That equates to about 951,000 people. Why should the majority of the population be forced to accommodate a tiny minority whose lifestyle is condemned in the Bible? Because Obama knows better. In his own eyes, he's one of the smartest people on the planet.

The growth of transgenderism in America and the west is just the latest example of the encroaching moral depravity that's been made possible by the Christian church's abdication of the culture that began a long time ago. The church lost its influence in the world by focusing inward on building bigger churches rather than focusing outward by expanding Christ's heavenly kingdom through the Gospel. As such, the church has made itself irrelevant.

What does the Bible say about transgenderism? It says this: "A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this." (Deuteronomy 22:5) 

Yet Barack Obama would argue with God that transgenderism is normal. He'll find out otherwise on Judgment Day when he stands before Jesus Christ and tries to win that argument.

Bad Days Getting Even Badder

The scene of another shooting on a Chicago area expressway

Count them: There have already been 16 shootings on Chicago area expressways since the beginning of the year. Last year, the total was 40. In 2010, there were only six.

The latest shooting involved a young man and woman who were shot dead as they traveled in the northbound lanes of the Kennedy Expressway in the early morning hours of May 15.

Their vehicle, a silver Chevy Tahoe, was riddled with bullets, indicating that the shooting was likely gang-related. Police found a semi-automatic weapon on the floor of the SUV, which reveals the murder victims knew they were targets. 

It's gotten so bad these days on Chicago expressways that the Illinois State Police have dispatched special patrols to watch for shooters and road rage incidents. State Police Captain Tad Williams says that "people should not have to worry about their safety while driving on the expressways." 

But in fact, they are worried because things are getting much worse. Chicago is home to hundreds of violent, heavily armed gangs that have taken control of the streets and are terrorizing residents who are too old, infirm or poor to escape the city for safer venues. 

How bad has it gotten in the Windy City? 

Murders in the nation's third-largest city are up about 72 percent, while shootings have surged more than 88 percent in the first three months of 2016 compared with the same period last year, according to data released by the Chicago Police Department. The grim rise in violence comes after the Chicago Police Department reported 468 murders in 2015, a 12.5 percent increase from the year before. There were 2,900 shootings in 2015, 13 percent more than the year before, according to Police Department records. 

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's mini-me, typically blames the increasing violence on the availability of guns rather than on the obvious; a godless and immoral culture. Here's what mini-me said: 

We have a challenge right now, specifically but not limited to the South and West Sides. We have a level of shootings and gun violence that's unacceptable and must come to an end. It means we have to have a leadership and lead from the front and get not only our officers' morale level up but our violence level down.

That's political speech that means absolutely nothing. Getting rid of guns and increasing leadership won't get rid of violence. But instilling biblical Judeo-Christian values such as the fear of God and respect for authority will. Emanuel won't say that because he knows what would happen if he does. And so, he takes the easy way out by mouthing empty platitudes that are politically-correct bull-sheist.

Certainly, the increasing violence isn't limited to Chicago. It's increasing all over the United States and the world, which isn't an anomaly. It's the fulfillment of ancient biblical prophecy that warned of terrible times in the end times directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christ said this: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13)

The apostle Paul also warned that the last days will be exceedingly wicked: 

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

The increasing wickedness is directly related to the increasing godlessness that's spreading across the world like a deadly malignancy. Though many folks love to complicate things, it's really very simple: People can't live without God. When God's laws are impugned and mocked, people turn to evil. And yet tragically, most people can't figure that out.

What's equally tragic is the fact that where the epicenter of violence exists in Chicago's inner city neighborhoods, you can find dozens of churches from simple storefronts to ornate buildings. And yet very few of those churches have any impact on the streets. Most are surrounded by drug dealers, prostitutes, alcoholics, drug-addicts and gang-bangers. The inner city churches lost their influence over the culture a long time ago.

But don't worry. The government will ride to the rescue with draconian laws that will spy on everyone, seize their guns and smother their freedoms. That eventually leads to Martial Law which eventually leads to totalitarianism. And that eventually leads to an oppressive global government where we're headed toward, according to biblical prophecy. (Daniel 7:7, Revelation 13)

Eternal Security?

One of the most popular doctrines that's taught in the modern church is the doctrine of eternal security. What does it teach? It teaches that once a person has been born again into eternal life--or "saved"--by faith in Jesus Christ, they can never lose their salvation.

But is that biblical? Concerning the last days on earth preceding His return, Jesus Christ said something very provocative. He said this:

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. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:10-13)

What did Christ mean? He clearly meant that in the end times, evil will multiply exponentially across the world, and many people will lose their faith and drop out of the church. However, those who remain faithful to God in Christ will be saved. Saved from what? Saved from God's judgment and eternal damnation.

Why would Christ have issued that caveat if folks can't lose their salvation? That wouldn't make any sense. But in fact, people can lose their salvation. And Christ revealed that tragic reality in his prophecy concerning the end times.

And so, where did the doctrine of eternal security come from? It comes from a lukewarm, comprised church that doesn't want to serve Christ as Lord. An increasing number of professing Christians want the eternal life that Christ promises to everyone who puts their faith and trust in Him, and confesses His name.

However, they don't want to give up the old life of sin that brought them under God's condemnation. As the famous evangelist A.W. Tozer once said: Many people want to take Christ as their Savior but not as their Lord. Tozer accurately pointed out that you can only follow Christ as Lord and Savior. You can't follow Him any other way.

During his travels throughout the ancient gentile world, the apostle Paul continually emphasized in his epistles (letters) to the early churches that salvation and eternal life are precious and can easily be lost if a person willingly compromises his or her faith with the world. To the church at Ephesus, he wrote this:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Ephesians 5:3-7)

Paul preached that message to the Christians. If that message was addressed to the unbelievers, then he denied the cross by promoting a gospel of works-righteousness salvation. But that's not what he did. He warned the early believers that if they returned to their former life of sin, they'd forfeit their salvation.

To the early church in Corinth, Paul delivered a similar message:

Do you not know that evildoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Later in that letter, he told the Corinthians this:

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:1-13)

That's pretty clear, isn't it? Paul warned that salvation can indeed be lost by willful rebellion against God. Maintaining salvation isn't a matter of works. Rather, it's a matter of obedience. And a significant part of that obedience is keeping God's commands and rejecting evil. It's just that simple.

Paul also delivered another relevant prophecy concerning the end times. It concerns false doctrine. Here's what Paul wrote:

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)

That prophecy applies to those who reject biblical truths to embrace the eternal security doctrine.

A Glimpse of a Dreaded Future

John Kerry

After he slammed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the recent commencement speech he delivered at Northeastern University, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pulled the proverbial curtains back on the world that global elites envision in the not too distant future.

Kerry told the graduating class this: 

For some people, that is all they need simply to climb under the sheets, close their eyes and push the world away. And shockingly, we even see this attitude from some who think they ought to be entrusted with the job of managing international affairs.

The future demands from us something more than a nostalgia for some rose-tinted version of the past that did not really exist in any case. You're about to graduate into a complex and borderless world.

Kerry ostensibly blasted Trump because the presumptive Republican nominee for president wants to build the great wall of America to keep illegal aliens from Central America out of the U.S. Those illegals contribute to crime and violence in the U.S. and they burden America's welfare system.

But you need to study Kerry's words closely because they mean something a lot more than merely condemning someone who wants to seal off the border that separates a first world nation from a third world civilization. Kerry's words also mean erasing all the borders that separate the world's 196 nations.

Certainly, that doesn't happen overnight. But that's a plan that's been on the drawing board of global elites for decades. Who are these so-called global elites? They're powerful international bankers, business tycoons, financiers, philanthropists and politicians who are convinced that the world will never eliminate wars and poverty until it comes together as one under the authority of a powerful global government.

In 1966, Georgetown University Professor Carroll Quigley published a book titled, Tragedy and Hope in which he wrote extensively of this international movement to establish a new world order:

There does exist and has existed for a generation, an international...network which operates, to some extent, in the way the radical right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups and frequently does so. 

I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments. I have objected, both in the past and recently, to a few of its policies...but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known.

Actually, the international movement toward a world government already existed before Quigley's generation. For example, in 1931, historian Arnold Toynbee said this in a speech he presented to the Institute for the Study of International Affairs at Copenhagen:

We are at present working discreetly with all our might to wrest this mysterious force called sovereignty out of the clutches of the local nation states of the world. All the time we are denying with our lips what we are doing with our hands....

And in 1948, Sir Harold Butler, the director of Britain's International Labour Office said this:

How far can the life of nations, which for centuries have thought of themselves as distinct and unique, be merged with the life of other nations? How far are they prepared to sacrifice a part of their sovereignty without which there can be no effective economic or political union?... Out of the prevailing confusion a new world is taking shape... which may point the way toward the new order... That will be the beginning of a real United Nations, no longer crippled by a split personality, but held together by a common faith. 

And so, when Kerry spoke about an upcoming world that will be complex and borderless, he was referring to the new world order. That new order was revealed by God to the prophet Daniel (6th century B.C.) and to the apostle John who recorded the Revelation in the late 1st century A.D.

Both Daniel and John were given visions of an ugly allegorical beast that featured 10 horns. (Daniel 7:7, Revelation 13:1) John also saw seven heads on this beast. The 10 horns represent 10 regions or nation groups of the coming world government, and the seven heads represent the seven kings who will rule these groups. These rulers will answer to a supreme ruler who will be the dreaded Antichrist.

Though John Kerry probably doesn't believe anything the Bible says, he wasn't the first to reveal a borderless end time world. Nearly 2,800 years ago, the Lord used the ancient King of Assyria as a metaphor for the Antichrist in a prophecy he gave to Isaiah:

By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings. As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as people gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp. (Isaiah 10:13-15)

 It was Jesus Christ who said that "there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17) 

John Kerry and his fellow elites may believe that they've concealed their plans for a world government from an unsuspecting world. But God knows all about it. He's known about it for a long time. And he bought that out into the open a long time ago.

Multicultural Baloney

John Lennon's imaginary world isn't working out so well these days, is it? The late rocker was inspired to write his legendary hit Imagine based upon a utopian fantasy he had which called for a unified world sans certain things:

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

Lennon got the idea for the song during the turbulent 1960s when the Vietnam war was raging and thousands of American soldiers were coming home in wooden boxes. Whether Lennon truly cared about those soldiers is debatable. But what isn't debatable is the impact his song's had on over two generations since its release in 1971.

Imagine has become the international anthem of the multicultural movement that dreams of uniting a diverse world by validating all cultures as equal. That's a difficult task considering that some cultures don't want to be equal with others, particularly the Islamic world that disdains all cultures that aren't Islamic.

And of course, the secular world particularly loathes Christianity and conservatism. Secularists and gays condemn bible-believing Christians and conservatives as intolerant bigots. They want absolutely nothing to do with those people or their values.

However if that shoe fits your adversaries, then you've also got to wear it. You can't be tolerant if you're unwilling to accept those you despise, no matter how sincerely you promote yourself as open and accommodating. Tolerance is a two-way street that means tolerance for everything and everybody, including your enemies.

Thus, multiculturalism only works in the minds of dreamers such as Lennon who imagine this:

You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one.

Indeed, the world will be as one at some point in the future. The Bible informs us that for 3-1/2 years, the world will believe that it's truly achieved peace and unity. (Daniel 9:27) And then the all-proverbial hell will break loose. The apostle Paul gives us a prophetic heads up:

While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

Paul's warning alerts us that the world will live in harmony for 3-1/2 years under the dreaded Antichrist and his world government. But that false unity will break down and war will explode across the planet, necessitating the return of Jesus Christ. Until that time however, the world will continue to seek its own multicultural paradise.

Obviously, that's not going so well. In the United Kingdom for example, the Muslims have been extremely reluctant to go along with the multiculti program: 

Last October, Andrew Parker, the director general of Britain’s Security Service, said that "the scale and tempo" of the danger to the UK is now at a level he has not seen in his 32-year career. British police are monitoring over 3,000 homegrown Islamist extremists willing to carry out attacks on the UK.  

It's not going so well in Germany either where Muslims have resisted the invitation to jump on the world-as-one bandwagon:

Reports that women in Cologne, Germany, have been groped and robbed by men described by authorities as having "a North African or Arabic" appearance should be warning enough, but there are other and more ominous warnings that suggest worse lies ahead, unless the problem receives immediate attention and action. And it’s not just Cologne.

That "North African or Arabic appearance" is a euphemism for Muslims. It's unsurprising that they're reluctant to assimilate into a secular, multicultural society because their holy book the Koran condemns multiculturalism.

The world will never have true peace and unity until the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ lives in the hearts of all people. True unity begins when people stop living for themselves and begin living for God by being born-again in Christ. Paul explained it eloquently:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

That's true unity that can't be manufactured or legislated by an oppressive, totalitarian government. That unity comes from heaven above rather than from the foolish minds of utopian dreamers such as John Lennon.

Why Evil Triumphs

The Nuremberg Trials

The Holocaust Remembrance Day was recently observed throughout much of the world. For many older folks--whether they're Jews or not--the Holocaust was one of the darkest periods in human history. Ten million people perished during that nightmare--six million of them Jews.

In Israel, where many Holocaust survivors eventually ended up, the day is known as Yom Hashoah V’Gevurah. And, as those survivors who are still around well understand, had Adolf Hitler not been stopped by the brutal Russian winter of 1941, there would be no Israel because the Jewish people would've likely been eliminated from the world. Completely.

However, for many younger people, the Holocaust is just ancient history that doesn't mean anything to them. They weren't around when it happened, so why should they care? It's completely irrelevant.

But it shouldn't be. Why? Because the Holocaust provides a us with a valuable lesson concerning what happens to people who completely reject God and embrace evil. They become vile and wicked. Let the apostle Paul explain it: 

"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) 

Paul's revelation helps us understand Hitler and his Third Reich that rejected God as a myth conjured in primitive minds. Oh sure, the fuhrer often referenced God and invoked the name of Jesus Christ in his hypnotic speeches.

But that was merely for propaganda purposes. Germany was a predominantly Lutheran and Roman Catholic nation in the 1930s. The fuhrer knew that in order to gain the confidence of the German people, he had to speak their language. He pretended to be a Christian in order to gain the votes necessary to become Germany's Chancellor in 1933. And once he accomplished that, the mask came off.

And when the mask came off, Hitler revealed his true persona. He was an atheist who believed that he had a responsibility to make the world a better place by cleansing it of undesirable groups such as Jews, Slavs, Poles, the mentally and physically handicapped, and homosexuals. He would then repopulate the earth with a master race of Aryans selectively bred from the finest human stock.

Though Hitler was considered a reactionary, he was in fact a leftist who embraced evolution. He saw human life as nothing more than the end product of millions of years of random evolutionary forces. To the fuhrer, human life was cheap and meaningless. It was no more significant than ant life or plant life.

Though Hitler is frequently invoked by the left as the epitome of evil, the left's worldview is identical to the fuhrer's worldview. The left supports eugenics, population control, totalitarian government and the eradication of "undesirables" such as Christians, Jews, conservatives, the elderly and the infirm. Those were Hitler's views.

One of the left's heroes is Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood who was an arch-racist who advocated for the elimination of blacks, Jews and eastern Europeans from the world. Concerning the mentally infirm, who she despised, she said this:

We are failing to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying...the dead weight of human waste...an ever-increasing spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.

Sanger wanted to eliminate her undesirables through sterilization so they couldn't procreate. Those who managed to procreate would be "encouraged" to abort their unborn babies so they wouldn't contaminate the world. Hitler admired Sanger's ideas. But he believed that mass murder was quicker and more effective than sterilization.

I want you to look closely at the picture above. It contains many of the faces of Hitler's henchmen such as Rudolf Hess, Hermann Goring, Joachim Von Ribbentrop and Wilhelm Keitel who were charged with crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials.

They weren't haters. Rather, they sold their souls to evil. They bought into Hitler's delusion that their leader was commissioned by fate to lead the world into 1,000 years of peace and prosperity. And they went to their graves believing that.

How is that relevant today? We have the same belief system operating today. There's a group of international elites who possess the same worldview that Hitler possessed. They want to resurrect the fuhrer's Third Reich, and they'll eventually accomplish that. And then the world will be as one. Under the dreaded Antichrist and his tyrannical world government. 

Supernatural Counterfeits

Leaky icon: A strange oil leaks from St. John the Baptist

Though secular humanism seems destined to eradicate faith from the earth, biblical prophecy reveals that in the last days directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ, incredible miracles are going to prevail across the world.

But those miracles won't come from God. Rather, they'll come from a dark spiritual source. The apostle Paul issued this prophetic caveat: "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)

And Jesus Christ warned: "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:24-25)

Both Christ and Paul revealed that the future belongs to supernaturalism rather than secularism. But that supernaturalism will come from Satan rather than from God. Thus, the current dearth of miracles isn't going to last. At some point, the world's going to witness an explosion of supernatural events that will lead to the greatest spiritual revival in human history.

However, this will be a counterfeit revival that will eventually lead to the Antichrist. Paul revealed that when this revival begins, the appearance of the dreaded Antichrist will be close at hand. 

Christ compared these events to birth pangs. When the birth pangs become more frequent, the baby's arrival is getting closer. When the counterfeit miracles become more frequent and powerful, the end is near.

For now, the miracles are few and far between. But they're happening. One of them recently occurred at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church that's located in Homer Glen, Ill. Homer Glen is a leafy suburb located in Will County about 25 miles southwest of Chicago. It's where a lot of folks who were fed up with Chicago's violent crime and traffic congestion have relocated to in recent years.

Apparently, Homer Glen is a town of miracles. Officials at the Assumption church recently noticed a strange substance flowing from a portrait of St. John the Baptist. They described the substance as myrrh oil because of its texture and aroma. 

Could someone be playing a trick by pouring the oil on the painting? Absolutely not, according to church officials. The oil is coming from inside the painting. Could the portrait be sweating the oil naturally? 

Not according to the officials who claim that the substance is foreign to the paint that was used for the portrait. And the officials also claim that nothing is leaking into the painting from the wall behind the portrait.  

And so, it indeed appears to be a "miracle." Some folks claim that the portrait even has healing powers. Church officials are offering cotton swabs dabbed with the oil to the faithful. A woman named Kathy Limber believes that the oil is healing her of leukemia: Ever since I've gotten anointed by the oil, I keep praying and I keep being anointed by it. My numbers have just gotten better and I just have more energy. I just feel amazing.

A man claims that he was healed of an artery blockage after he applied the swab. Another man claims that he fully recovered from hip surgery just two days after he used the swab. Still another man claims that he was healed of a chronic nerve condition after he acquired one of the swabs.

What's wrong with the Assumption miracles? If folks believe they're being healed of serious illnesses and medical conditions, isn't that a good thing? No, it's not.

But why not? Because these people aren't trusting in God for healing. Rather, they're being led to believe that anointed portraits and statues of religious figures have supernatural powers that can heal them. However, the Bible emphatically declares that God heals us rather than idols.

Here's what the Lord told the ancient Hebrews when He gave them His laws and commandments: "If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you." (Exodus 15:26)

That Lord is Jesus Christ. In the 8th century B.C., the prophet Isaiah wrote this concerning the Jewish Messiah: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

Satan isn't a secularist. He isn't adverse to miracles. He uses them to turn people away from God's truth toward spiritual deception and eternal doom. But isn't he all about death and destruction? Of course. But he'll gladly give you a few more years of life on this planet in exchange for your soul. And when he has your soul, he's got you forever.

Think about that. Not every miracle is a good miracle. For Satan, the end justifies the means. And so, consider this: Unless the miracle points you directly to God and His grace revealed in Jesus Christ crucified for your sins on Calvary's cross and His resurrection from the dead, then be wary. And beware. Because what's coming is going to deceive even the elect if that's possible.

The Modern False Prophets

Glenn Beck

Like a modern day John the Baptist, Glenn Beck has been traveling around the United States for the past several months, speaking to tens of thousands of people in order to prepare them for the coming of the messiah.

However, in this case the messiah is Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential candidate that Beck hopes will deliver Americans from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the same way that Moses--with the hand of God--delivered the Hebrews from Pharaoh, the wicked ruler of ancient Egypt.

Beck truly believes that unless America elects Cruz to the White House in November, the United States is doomed to fall under God's judgment. Beck has become quite a preacher lately, combining Mormonism with charismatic Pentecostal-evangelicalism to warn America that her hour of reckoning is near. Either elect Cruz, or else.

Beck is seconded by the Rev. Rafael Cruz, Ted's charismatic, born-again father who claims that God ordered Ted to run for the presidency. Here's what Pastor Cruz said recently:

My son Ted and his family spent six months in prayer seeking God's will for this decision. But the day the final green light came on, the whole family was together. It was a Sunday. We were all at his church, First Baptist Church in Houston, including his senior staff. After the church service, we all gathered at the pastor's office. We were on our knees for two hours seeking God's will. At the end of that time, a word came through his wife, Heidi. And the word came, just saying, "Seek God's face, not God's hand." And I'll tell you, it was as if there was a cloud of the holy spirit filling that place. Some of us were weeping, and Ted just looked up and said, "Lord, here am I, use me. I surrender to you, whatever you want." And he felt that was a green light to move forward.

Is that a true story? Let's hope that Pastor Rafael isn't making that up because Christianity already has a lousy image in the world, courtesy of all those pedophile scandals and prosperity scams. Prosperity scams? Think of them as modern indulgences, or the promise of blessings and answered prayers for money.

Beck certainly isn't making it up because he admits that he's spent about $500,000 backing his messiah wannabe. What's intriguing about that admission is Beck's further admission that he recently laid off 40 employees from his Blaze media company, although the political commentator claims that the layoffs had nothing to do with his spending spree on Cruz.

Rather, he claims the layoffs were done to satisfy a bank that loaned him a large sum of money to help him keep the financially struggling Blaze going. Certainly, that's business, but it looks and smells extremely bad when innocent folks lose their jobs while their boss is blowing a ton of cash on what looks to be a loser presidential candidate.

But maybe God did speak to the Cruz family. Maybe we'll witness a miracle in Cleveland at the Republican convention in July. Maybe front-runner Donald Trump will announce that God has told him to step aside and make way for Ted Cruz. Anything's possible, isn't it? But that's highly unlikely.

There are two valuable lessons to be learned from this: (1) True Christians don't try to do God's will via the ballot box and (2) the bible warns us that many false prophets will appear in the last days and deceive multitudes.

Concerning the first lesson, the apostle Paul wrote this: "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 2:4-5)

Paul reasoned that the gospel is advanced by the power of God rather than by secular means such as elections. In other words, godly civilizations don't come about by elections; they come about when the church successfully contends for the faith by making and keeping it relevant to the world. A godly civilization produces godly politicians rather than the corrupt and lying wretches that have become commonplace in America and in other places in recent decades.

Secondly, many people invoke the name of God to lend credibility to their endeavors. While some folks fabricate prophecies, others do hear things. Unfortunately, they hear the words of demons rather than the word of God.

Paul warned: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) And Jesus Christ Himself issued this prophecy: "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)

I seriously doubt that God spoke to the Cruz family. Certainly, God does allow nations to choose their political leaders. And as a wise man once said: Wicked people choose wicked leaders after their own hearts. Reality tells us that unless Ted Cruz is wicked, then he's not the leader for modern America. 

The Unholy Baptism

Since the mid-20th century, crime and moral depravity have exploded across the world, and particularly in the west. Certainly, those increases fulfill prophecies that Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul revealed concerning the end times.

Christ revealed that "because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:12-13) What did Christ mean when he stated that "the love of most will grow cold"? He clearly meant that many people who will claim to be His followers--or Christians--will lose their love for God and turn away from the faith in the last days.

But how does that translate into the increase of crime and moral decadence? When people lose their love for God, their faith declines. And they no longer honor or respect His laws and commandments. Nearly 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote this: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7)

The apostle Paul echoed Christ's prophecy with this message in his second letter to fellow apostle Timothy: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

There's a cause and effect relationship between the world's increasing rejection of God and the rise in crime and depravity. But there's also an overlooked factor in that relationship, and that factor is the use of hallucinogenic drugs, and the practices of occultism and eastern mysticism that have increased exponentially since the middle of the previous century.

What's the common denominator? Drugs, occultism and eastern mystical practices bring people into direct contact with demonic spirits that influence their worldview and encourage them to violate God's transcendent moral laws. Paul recorded another relevant prophecy that directly relates to the increase of crime and depravity, and the rising popularity of psychedelic drugs, occultism and eastern mysticism: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

Why did hallucinogens, occultism and eastern mysticism become so popular in the previous century? Because they promised people a new consciousness that promised them happiness and an escape from fear and anxiety. And they promised to prepare the world for the next alleged step in the evolution of human consciousness.

But in reality, hallucinogens, occult practices and eastern mysticism bring people into direct contact with demonic spirits that seduce them into embracing an imaginary world that doesn't exist. For those people who rejected God's caveat that forbids them from getting involved in such practices, they're given "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 2:11-12)

Emanuel Swedenborg was a famous medium who trafficked in demons for much of his life until he finally realized who the spirits were who he was communicating with. He issued this warning: When spirits begin to speak with a man, he ought to beware that he believes nothing whatever from them; for they say almost anything. Things are fabricated by them, and they lie. They would tell so many lies, and indeed with solemn affirmation that a man would be astonished. If a man listens and believes, they press on, and deceive, and seduce in many ways. Let men beware and therefore not believe them. (Samuel M. Warren, A Compendium of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, 1977)

What does God's word say regarding hallucinogens, occultism and eastern religious practices? It says this: "There shall not be found among you . . . anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them (the nations that practice these things) out before you." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

Though the Bible never mentions hallucinogens, it refers to sorcery which was the ancient equivalent of modern psychedelic drugs. Some bible translations use the Greek word Pharmakeia, which is where the word pharmacy comes from. Sorcerers concocted potions that were designed to put folks into altered states of consciousness so they could make contact with the spiritual realm.

The Book of Revelation contains a scripture that indicates the entire world will be seduced by sorcery, or drugs in the end times before the return of Christ. (Revelation 18:21-23) Considering how popular hallucinogens have become over the past 50 years, it's hard to dismiss that scripture as a coincidence. Indeed, the nations of the world are succumbing to hallucinogenic drugs on a massive scale.

One of the reasons for the increase in psychedelic drugs is the search for spiritual truth, or experience above the mundane, boring existence of everyday life: But in the search for God, many people take the broad way, the fork in the road that leads to destruction. That road is the search for experience, not a submission to belief. They seek feelings, and when they cannot find them, they turn to drugs. A melding of drugs and the spiritual is the most dangerous kind of sorcery, because it dulls the senses and creates a false god: self. The End Time: Pharmakeia: psychedelic drugs and spirituality

Not everyone who takes hallucinogens, or gets involved in occult or eastern mystical practices encounters demonic spirits. However, they do give Satan a legal right to invade their lives and influence their minds. And that's a right that he'll never fail to take advantage of.

What happens to people who use hallucinogens or get involved in occult and mystical practices? Their worldview often changes from a Judeo-Christian worldview to an eastern, pantheistic worldview. And they often become nihilistic and extremely antagonistic towards authority and Christians.

A study published by Psychology Today concerning the spiritual transformation of psychedelic drug users underscores that: Psychedelic drug users endorsed more mystical beliefs, such as in a universal soul, no fear of death, unity of all things, existence of a transcendent reality, and oneness with God nature and the universe…psychedelic drug users defined spirituality as one's relationship to God, or whatever you perceive to be the "Ultimate Transcendence."

Christian researchers John Ankerberg and John Weldon have interviewed several people who've come into direct contact with demonic spirits via drugs, occultism and mysticism. Not surprisingly, these people have reported receiving nearly identical messages concerning God, death, sin, eternal judgment and hell. They reported that the spirits told them that God is an impersonal being; there is no sin, death is an illusion and there's no eternal judgment or a place called hell.

According to Ankerberg and Weldon, who do the spirits claim to be? The spirits claim to be many things. Judging from their own teachings, by far the most common assertion is that they are the spirits of the human dead…the spirits most often claim they are human spirits who have survived physical death. They also claim that they can reveal important information to men that will hasten their spiritual growth. (Ankerberg and Weldon, The Facts on Spirit Guides, Harvest House Publishers)

Of course, the "spiritual growth" that the spirits promote is a very eastern, new age spirituality that's found in Hinduism and Taoism. Not surprisingly, those are pagan religions that utilize occult practices to contact "deities" that are demonic spirits in disguise. It's not uncommon for people who use psychedelic drugs to begin practicing eastern religions because the spirits they encounter on drug trips often encourage them to get involved in eastern mysticism.

One of the more popular demons that's deceived multitudes is a spirit that calls itself "Ramtha." Ramtha has been channeled by a medium named J.Z. Knight who's become quite popular by allowing the demon spirit to promote Satan's messages through her. Here are samples of the lies this demonic spirit has promoted: The Christian God is an idiotic deity…God the principle is all things. There is no such thing as evil. For 2,000 years, we have been called sinful creatures, but we are equal with God or Christ. God has never judged anyone. There is no hell and there is no devil. There is no death, but there is a belief in death. Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem.

You can understand why God's word in the bible forbids all contact with the spiritual realm. Why? Because people will come into direct contact with demons that will deceive them and lead them into eternal damnation.

Indeed, hell exists. Indeed, the devil exists, and he works relentlessly to prevent the salvation of every human being that he can through his lies. Consider the lies of "Ramtha" and consider this lie that Satan spoke to Eve a long time ago in the primordial Garden of Eden when he enticed her to rebel against the Lord and eat fruit from a forbidden tree: "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. ^"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)

That's the same lie that Satan has told through his fallen angels for thousands of years. It was that lie that brought sin and death into the human race. And because Eve and her husband Adam chose to believe that lie and sin against the Lord, every human being since then has been under the curse of death and eternal damnation.

That necessitated God to send His only begotten Son into the world to save mankind from the curse of eternal death by His own death on the cross for all sin.

How do we escape the curse? Paul explained: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, 'Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.' For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Romans 10:9-13)