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.

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.

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.

Signs in the End Time Skies

When Jesus Christ was asked what specific signs would alert the world that His return was getting near, He said this: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." (Luke 21:10-11)

What was Christ referring to regarding great signs from heaven? Was he referring to airplanes that have populated the skies since the 20th century? Or, was he referring to fearsome storms such as monster hurricanes and killer tornadoes that seem to have become more prevalent over the past 100 years?

He was referring to neither. Rather, He was referring to spiritual experiences that have grown exponentially since the 19th century. Specifically, what sort of spiritual experiences? Spiritual experiences such as the appearance of Marian apparitions that have been increasing, and the increase in UFO sightings that have multiplied since the 1960s.

But how can UFOs be considered spiritual experiences? Because they're demonic activity disguised as extraterrestrials that convince people that life exists elsewhere in the universe. But how can we know these beings are really demons, or fallen angels serving Satan? Because of their messages that usually contain an eastern, occult worldview.

Thomas Kulp, who writes for ufoevidence.org, stated this: Must we conclude, then, as many have, that extraterrestrial beings are visiting Earth? This is, in fact, the message that has been communicated by the aliens themselves on various occasions, a message often cloaked in New Age terminology. A common motif is that Earth is on the verge of a dire catastrophe from which the aliens, as representatives of a more highly evolved race, can save us.

Christian researchers John Ankerberg and John Weldon have studied the UFO phenomenon for many years and have come to this conclusion: In light of the messages given by the UFO entities, how credible is it to think that literally thousands of genuine extraterrestrials would fly millions or billions of light years simply to teach New Age philosophy, deny Christianity, and support the occult?

Why would they do this with the preponderance of such activity already occurring on this planet? And why would the entities actually possess and inhabit people (as in Walk-ins and channeling) just like demons do if they were really advanced extraterrestrials? Why would they consistently lie about things which we know are true, and why would they purposely deceive their contacts? But the UFO phenomenon simply does not behave like extraterrestrial visitors. 
It actually molds itself in order to fit a given culture. UFOs - Demonic Deception?

Why has UFO activity been increasing since the mid-20th century? Because, the world is moving farther away from God, and has become ignorant of His laws and commandments. As such, a world that doesn't know God nor His laws, certainly can't distinguish between spiritual good and evil.

An organization called Godandscience.org has conducted extensive research concerning the areas where UFO activity is the greatest. Here's a summary of their research: In the United States, the frequency of UFO sightings is strongly correlated with the percentage of unbelievers within a state, and negatively correlated with the percentage of believers. 

In addition, the tremendous rise in UFO sightings in recent years parallels the rapid secularization of the U.S. population. No other demographic factor is as strongly correlated with UFO sightings as religiosity. These data, coupled with biblical insights, leads us to conclude that supernatural demonic forces are responsible for at least some of those UFO sightings.

The model makes testable predictions about the future UFO sightings frequencies. The implications of the study suggest that demonic supernatural beings exist, providing further evidence that God exists and that Christianity properly describes the spiritual nature of the universe in which we live. UFOs and the Existence of Supernatural Demonic Forces

What about the increase of Marian apparitions? Though they're religious in nature, they're also demonic. But how can we be sure of that? Because the apparitions draw attention away from Jesus Christ to Mary who has become a mediatrix and co-redemptrix in the Roman Catholic liturgy. Like UFOs, the Marian apparitions manifest in areas where there's tremendous ignorance of God and His word in the Bible that condemns idolatry and the worship of created beings, including Mary.

For example, here's a message spoken by a Marian apparition in Kibeho, Rwanda on September 15, 1982: One must meditate on the Passion of Jesus, and on the deep sorrows of His Mother. One must recite the Rosary every day, and also the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, to obtain the favor of repentance. Messages of Our Lady of Sorrows in Kibeho, Rwanda

And here's a message spoken by a Marian apparition that appeared to Sister Agnes Katsuko in Akita, Japan on July 6, 1973: My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed Me well in abandoning all to follow Me. Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Be patient. It is the last trial. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men. Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us pray it together. Our Lady of Akita

Why are these apparitions and their messages demonic? Because they redirect faith away from Christ toward either Mary or Roman Catholic liturgical traditions. Since many of these messages sound authentic, many unsuspecting and biblically ignorant people embrace them. Thus, as the world grows further away from God, the spiritual deception will continue to increase.

The apostle Paul revealed that as the world draws closer to the advent of a world government and the eventual appearance of the dreaded Antichrist, spiritual deception will intensify. In his second epistle to the church at Thessalonica, he wrote 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)

But why are these people being deceived into eternal damnation? Paul continues: "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 2:10-12)

Thus, spiritual deception is predicated upon the willful ignorance of people who have rejected the Bible as the inerrant word of God. And without the biblical knowldge to determine spiritual truth from demonic deception, people are susceptible to just about any spiritual phenomenon.

And UFO activity is one such phenomenon that has convinced multitudes that life exists elsewhere in the universe. If it does, the Bible never mentions it. In fact, if life exists elsewhere in the universe, then it's doomed because the apostle Peter revealed this concerning the return of Jesus Christ: "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3:10)

Could that be the reason why UFOs are being seen with more regularity these days because extraterrestrials know what's coming? Not likely. However, the real reason for the increase in UFO activity is because the world has become ripe for spiritual deception.

Are UFO sightings increasing? Indeed, they are. According to NUFORC (National UFO Recording Center) statistics, UFO sightings have more than doubled since the dawn of the current century. For example, in 2000, NUFORC reported 3060 sightings across the world while the center recorded 7,986 sightings in 2012 and 7,682 in 2013. Certainly, some of those sightings were hoaxes or natural phenomena that was mistaken for UFOs. But no one can deny that UFO sightings are increasing, and that fulfills Christ's prophecy concerning the end times.

A website called educatinghumanity.com claims that the increase in UFO activity is often tied to natural or manmade catastrophes. How can we explain that? When terrible things occur, many people become spiritual and they pray. However, if they're following a false religion or the occult, they're praying to demons. In the ancient times, these demonic spirits often appeared as gods and goddesses.

Today, they're more likely to appear as space aliens or extraterrestrials. Why? Because many folks believe that life exists elsewhere in the universe. And the demons will often manifest that way to perpetuate the extraterrestrial fraud.

There's an undeniable link between UFO activity and the occult. And those who seem to be most susceptible to seeing UFOs or experiencing an encounter with space aliens are those who've been involved with the occult.

Jefferson Scott of jeffersonscott.com writes: Victims of satanic ritual abuse, child abuse, and split personalities are all prime candidates for UFO contact-as are the children of those who practice the occult. One distressed parent was told by an alien that "The children belong to us." This is an especially disturbing fact. Innocent children of adults who engage in occult practices are essentially handed over to the demonic as playthings. Their right of choosing was taken from them by their parents.

Not surprisingly, the religious messages spoken by these space aliens is nearly identical to the messages that demons promote to those who are involved in the occult. Scott writes: The aliens seem especially hostile to Christianity, except when it's seen as just another path to the divine. When it's held out as the only true way, it is bitterly opposed. Sounds more like our world's philosophy than another world's.

The aliens are especially careful to trivialize Jesus Christ. He was just an alien, they say. Or he was a hybrid offspring between a human woman and an alien. Or he was one of their agents, right alongside Buddha, Muhammad, and Confucius. "And why do you need him anyway," they wonder, "when we can do everything he could?"

Indeed, Christ's prophecy concerning signs in the heavens is being fulfilled in our time with the increase in UFO sightings and Marian apparitions. And they will continue to increase until the dreaded Antichrist appears and assumes control over a one-world government.

End Time Delusions Part II: Socialism

Lenin, Engels and Marx

The apostle Paul was well acquainted with lies and deception in his day. After all, he had embraced a counterfeit religious system for his entire life until he discovered the truth during an encounter one day with Jesus Christ while traveling to Damascus. (Acts 9)

Paul was certainly capable of understanding God's truth concerning the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ, because he was a biblical scholar. However, for Paul, the truth took a back seat to the cultural traditions and teachings of the ancient rabbis who Paul deeply admired. 

And so, despite the prophetic biblical evidence that proved Christ as the Messiah, Paul cast his lot with the rabbis who had established their own religious system that perverted the laws and commandments that God gave to his ancestors through Moses. 

That counterfeit system absolutely denied the Son of God Jesus Christ and directed the Jews to look for another messiah fashioned in the minds of the rabbis. Paul embraced that system until his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

After Paul had his spiritual awakening, he continually stressed the need for people to investigate the facts before deciding whether to believe something or not. Concerning those in the early churches who were skeptical of all prophecies, Paul wrote this: "Do not quench the (Holy) Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) 

Testing, research and investigation are essential for distinguishing between truth and falsehood. Without that, there's simply no way to determine what's true and what isn't. Unfortunately, we live in a time where ideology often trumps hard evidence. 

Many folks choose to believe something because it sounds good, even if it isn't true. Paul recognized that in his second letter to fellow apostle Timothy when he recorded this prophecy concerning the end times: "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)

One such myth is socialism that's being increasingly embraced by the western world as the socioeconomic panacea for poverty, crime and moral depravity. What is socialism? Merriam-Webster defines it: 

Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. A system of society or group living in which there is no private property. A system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state: A stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

Socialism is the proverbial bridge between free enterprise capitalism and totalitarian communism. Once a society gets on that bridge, it's extremely difficult to turn around and get off. If you don't believe that, then ask anyone who lived under the iron fist of Soviet communism while it existed for 70 years in eastern Europe. Communism crushed hopes, ruined dreams, devastated souls and destroyed millions of lives.

Its failures were sensationally catastrophic. Not only did it lead to the near total destruction of the industrial infrastructure of eastern Europe, it murdered millions of souls through its godless, atheistic gospel that denied God and persecuted those who believed in Him. 

And it ruined academic and economic incentive by punishing achievement and rewarding failure. But how? By confiscating the wealth from the productive class and giving it to those who had no desire to succeed in life. After all, if you can get something for free, then why work for it? And if the government is going to take away the fruit of your labor, then why bother earning it?  

Who was the architect of socialism? He was a pseudo-intellectual named Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher and an atheist who didn't understand human nature. Marx believed that the world could be made a better place by doing away with economic classes and redistributing the wealth. 

And he believed that in order for that to occur, the government would have to seize control of private property and own everything. One of Marx's famous sayings was this one: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. While that sounds innocent, it's deadly when governments acquire the power to force people to give up their property and wealth so they can give it to others.

The epic failure of socialism can't be underestimated. Despite it's spectacular failure in eastern Europe, many western nations have embraced it and are paying a steep price. Greece is bankrupt and other nations aren't far behind. The United States has rung up a colossal $19 trillion debt, and unless the U.S. gets its economic house in order, America's destined to become a third world sewer within 20 years.

Socialism has never worked anywhere it's been practiced. And it will never work because it can't work. It's antithetical to human nature; it breeds crime, poverty and depravity, and it bankrupts cities and nations. For a prime example, look at almost any big American city such as Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis or Philadelphia. They've been ravaged by socialism. 

It was Margaret Thatcher who once said that the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. You also run out of hope and freedom. Unfortunately, most people fail to realize that until after that happens. And then it's too late.

End Time Delusions Part I: Evolution

Evolution: Fact or Fiction?

In his second of two letters he wrote to the early church at Thessalonica, the apostle Paul reasoned that lies succeed and metastasize because people accept them without investigating them.

For example, Paul explained that heresy spreads rapidly in the absence of biblical accountability. But deception only prevails because people are willingly to accept it without testing it. Here's what Paul wrote: 

"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 2:10-12)

Paul wrote that in the context of an end time prophecy concerning the dreaded Antichrist who is going to appear and dazzle the world with supernatural powers. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) Though this man will be extremely evil, he will be embraced by the world as a savior because the world will refuse to investigate him to find out who he really is and where his power comes from.

However, Paul's wisdom applies to much more than spiritual deception. It applies to many things, including science. Perhaps the biggest lie that's been perpetuated across the world for the past 150 years is Charles Darwin's atheistic theory of evolution.

That theory proposes that life wasn't created by God, but occurred naturally in a primordial mud-pond hundreds of millions of years ago when enzymes, chemicals and proteins came together to form the first living cell.

Though even Darwin admitted that evolution was merely a theory, it's been taught as proven, factual science in grade schools and universities across the world for a long time. Millions of people accept it as truth, even though it's never been observed to occur and paleontologists have never discovered a single example of a so-called transitional species.

Who was Darwin? He was a theologian and an amateur scientist who didn't understand the diversity that existed within animal species. And he was angry with God because he lost his young daughter Annie to death. And so, some believe that Darwin took out his revenge against God by conjuring up a theory that explained the existence of life in purely natural terms.

Obviously, the existence of DNA wasn't known during Darwin's time. DNA is the blueprint for life. Each living cell contains about 1.5 gigabytes of data, or digitally coded information (DNA). Each gigabyte contains about two billion bits of information. And the human body contains about 100 trillion cells and 150 trillion gigabytes of information.

World renowned microbiologist Michael Behe knows a thing or two about the complexity of human life. Concerning cells, he said this:

The typical cell contains about 2,000 mitochondrion components. Each of the little compartments contains machinery necessary to capture the energy of foodstuffs and store it in a chemically stable and yet readily available form. The system uses a flow of acid to power its machines, which shuttle electrons among a half-dozen carriers, requiring an exquisitely delicate interaction between components. The cell controls how much and what kinds of chemicals it makes; when it loses control it dies. (Darwin's Black Box, pp. 188-193)

Needless to say, the human body contains a staggering amount of information that's arranged in a specific order that enables the human body to function. And yet proponents of evolution want us to believe that life resulted from a random, unintelligent source. Behe continues:

Life on earth at its most fundamental level, in its most critical components, is the product of intelligent activity. The conclusion of intelligent design flows naturally from the data itself--not from the sacred books of sectarian beliefs.

Furthermore, science has no explanation for life itself. What makes an organism live? We know that an electrical appliance or a computer can't operate without electricity or battery power. What's the energy source of life? It's the spirit. As the apostle James wrote, the body is dead without the spirit. (James 2:26) And so, life is the ultimate mystery that science will never be able to solve.

Had Darwin known about DNA in his day, he undoubtedly wouldn't have written such a foolish and dangerous theory. Even the eminent scientist Albert Einstein dismissed Darwin's theory as impractical and unworkable. Einstein reasoned that if the physical universe originated from a "Big Bang," as evolution postulates, then all the organic matter necessary for life would've been destroyed by the intense heat from such an explosion.

What makes evolution so dangerous? It denies God. And if God doesn't exist, then His commandments and transcendent moral laws are merely human constructs that can be changed or eliminated without any divine repercussions. There's a direct correlation between the increasing acceptance of Darwin's theory and the metastasizing crime and depravity that's plagued the western world for the past 60 years.

Even worse, if God doesn't exist, then no one's morally accountable for their behavior and there's no judgment awaiting anyone after they die. In other words, if evolution is true, then mass murderers such as Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong and Josef Stalin fare no worse in death than Pope John Paul II or Mother Teresa.

Atheism isn't a modern phenomenon. It existed in the ancient time of King David who wrote this 3,000 years ago: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no god.'" (Psalm 14:1) Why is evolution so popular? Because it offers rebellious people an escape from God's judgment. That's a terrible delusion.

When he was asked to critique his own theory, Darwin gave an honest answer: If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. (Origin of the Species p. 154) 

Indeed it has broken down. Unfortunately, those who prefer delusions over hard evidence continue to embrace it. And unless they come to their senses and repent, they're in for a terrible surprise after they take their final breath.

Voodoo Economics

China's recent economy woes have shaken the world

Though many folks consider the economy to be complicated, it's actually quite easy to understand.

What's so easy to understand about the economy? Simply this: When people have more money, they spend more. That helps the economy. Conversely, when they have less money, they spend less. And that hurts the economy.

How's that related to the recent economic downturn in China that's reverberated across the world, causing stock markets to suffer significant losses? China's economy has contracted because its manufacturing industry has slowed down significantly over the past two years. China's response to the slowdown has been to devalue the Yuan with the hope of reinvigorating its economy.

A devalued Yuan makes China's products cheaper and more attractive on the world market. That hurts manufacturers in western nations that can't compete with cheap Chinese products. And that scares investors away who withdraw their money from companies that can't compete with China. When the investors pull their money out of those companies, the stock market sinks.

Economic experts blame the U.S. Federal Reserve and the big British and European banks for contributing to the problem by printing too much money that's inflated the price of products manufactured in the U.S. and Europe. That makes big and small companies look to China for cheaper products that return greater profits than products made in the western world.

But there's another side to China's economic slowdown, and that's the deepening global recession that few people want to talk about. Remember, when folks have less money, they spend less. And folks around the world, and particularly in the United States and in many European nations don't have a lot of money to spend these days because their economies stink.

Why do their economies stink? Because those nations are utilizing Marxist economic principles that confiscate wealth from the productive class and redistribute it to the unproductive class. How do nations do that? Through high taxes on their citizens, and oppressive taxes and regulations on businesses and corporations. 

Those punitive taxes and regulations on western corporations have been beneficial to China because, thanks to global trade agreements in recent decades, the Chinese have become the manufacturing capital of the world. Many of the goods you now buy at your local retailers are manufactured in China, from toys to electronics to clothes, shoes, appliances etc.

Those products used to be made in places such as the U.S. until the trade agreements made it possible for companies to relocate to China where they could pay slave-labor wages to peasants to manufacture products that are shipped all over the world. China, in turn, has borrowed huge sums of money to build a massive industrial infrastructure to manufacture those items that are no longer made in the U.S. and in other western nations.

However, the factory orders are down because the global economy is in a recession. And as a result, the Chinese are having trouble paying down the debt from all that money they borrowed to build their manufacturing industry. Simply put, the money's not coming into China. And that's causing turmoil in the world's financial markets.

Some conspiracy nuts claim that a cabal of global elites want to cause a global depression by blowing up the world economy. And they point to China's economic problems as the beginning of that plan that they claim will cause international panic and result in the creation of a world government.

There's no conspiracy to blow up the world economy. The current global economic problems are the result of greed, bad decisions and poor planning. Greed on the part of western corporations that have taken advantage of international trade agreements to relocate to places such as China where they can turn huge profits; bad decisions by nations to print too much money that's causing inflation, and poor planning on the part of the Chinese to overbuild their manufacturing industry beyond global demand.

That's why the economy is sputtering. However, there are indeed globalists who believe that the world needs a massive central government and a central bank with a global currency that would prevent economic disasters. And indeed, such a government is coming. When will we see it? We don't know. But it's coming.

In the late 1st century, the apostle John recorded this metaphorical vision from God concerning an end time world government: "And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority." (Revelation 13:1-2)

The beast John saw represents a global government that will consist of 10 nation groups ruled by seven powerful leaders who will be under the authority of the dreaded Antichrist. And this government will institute a fully electronic economic system that will do away with paper money, coins, checks, credit and debit cards.

This will be the economic system of the Antichrist. John continued: "He (Antichrist) also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17)

The cashless system of the Antichrist will become the ultimate expression of voodoo economics. It will not only purport to do away with economic problems, it will also do away with those who refuse to accept the mark because it will damn them in eternity if they receive it. (Revelation 14:9-12)

The Return of Christ: Part I

After a year of turbulence and upheaval across the world, what does 2016 promise? If nothing else, it will likely remind us how close we're getting to the return of Jesus Christ.

How can we possibly know when He's coming back? We don't know the exact date, but we do know that the time is near based upon several specific signs Christ revealed. 

Concerning those signs, Christ said this: "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:32-35)

What are the specific signs of the end times? The first sign is spiritual deception: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many." (Matthew 24:4-5) 

That sign warns Christians to watch out for false messiahs that would begin appearing in the end times. Certainly, false messiahs have existed since the beginning of the church age. But Christ warned that clever messiahs backed by demonic power will appear and deceive many: "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 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 24:23-25)

That sign began to manifest in the early 20th century with William Seymour's Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, Cal. Seymour was a charismatic preacher and a false prophet who predicted that the world would begin to experience an explosion of miracles in the 21st century directly preceding the return of Christ. 

Where does the Bible predict that? It doesn't. Rather, it reveals that a counterfeit revival will take place that will deceive millions and lead them to the Antichrist. The apostle Paul explained: "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)

Asuza Street spawned the Latter Rain, Vineyard and Third Wave Movements, and offshoots such as the Word of Faith, Laughing Revival, and Signs and Wonders Movements. Key teachings of the Third Wave Movement include what is known as "power evangelism." The basic premise of power evangelism is that the preaching of the gospel must be accompanied with signs and wonders in order for people to respond in faith. Proponents of this view have an unbalanced focus on miracles, speaking in tongues, healing, and prophecy.

Some of the big names who are promoting the counterfeit revival include Mike Bickle, Benny Hinn, Sid Roth, Perry Stone, Roberts Liardon, C. Peter Wagner and Rodney Howard Browne. These are just some of the false prophets that Christ warned us would appear in the last days. And these pseudo-prophets have convinced many people that a great revival is about to break out across the world.

Paul revealed that the popularity of false prophets in the end times will be directly related to those who reject the truth for so-called "new revelations" not found in the Bible: "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)

Another sign that Christ revealed would alert us that His return is near is this one: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." (Matthew 24:6-7)

Wars and disputes between nations have been going on since the beginning of time. However, the world has experienced more wars and conflagrations between nations over the past 100 years than in all of the previous centuries combined. According to warsintheworld.com, there are currently 66 nations involved in wars and 680 militias and separatist groups fighting to overthrow governments across the world. 

Approximately 160 million people died in the wars fought during the 20th century, making the previous century the bloodiest in recorded history. And with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the current century could see even more casualties. 

What are the other signs that Christ revealed concerning the last days? There are several others. In Part II; the increase of earthquakes, famines and pestilences.  

The Holocaust Agenda

Agenda 21: Agenda for a global holocaust

What's Agenda 21 and why is it so dangerous? Agenda 21 is a plan concocted by the United Nations to create a one-world government that will have absolute power and authority over every human being on earth.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? Yes it is because a global government that possesses absolute authority will use that authority to eliminate millions--if not billions--of people from the planet. But why? Because those who are pursuing a world government are convinced that too many people inhabit the planet that causes poverty, increases crime, depletes the earth's natural resources, contaminates the environment and leads to wars.

Former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev wants to see the world's population radically reduced: The ecological crisis, in short, is the population crisis. Cut the population by 90 percent and there aren't enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage. 

Author Dan Brown (Inferno) is another man who's on board with a massive global population reduction: Ozone depletion, lack of water, and pollution are not the disease—they are the symptoms. The disease is overpopulation. And unless we face world population head-on, we are doing nothing more than sticking a Band-Aid on a fast-growing cancerous tumor.

Therefore, in the name of prosperity and environmentalism, a significant number of people must be eliminated from the world. And the only way that can be achieved is through a totalitarian government that has absolute, unlimited power.

If that sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, then consider this quote from Initiative for the United Nations, Eco 92 Earth Charter: The present vast overpopulation, now far beyond the world carrying capacity cannot be answered by future reductions in the birth rate due to contraception, sterilization and abortion, but must be met in the present by the reduction in the numbers presently existing. This must be done by whatever means necessary.

Whatever means necessary? That sounds like mass murder. Certainly, few people can even begin to comprehend that an international movement exists that wants to decrease the world's population by up to 90 percent. That sounds so ridiculous that no one would believe that except simpletons and conspiracy nuts. But that movement indeed exists.

Consider this quote from the Club of Rome, one of many influential groups affiliated with the U.N. that is actively working toward a world government: The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a new enemy to unite us we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy then is humanity itself.

How does the U.N. and it affiliated groups plan to create a one-world government? Through the global warming-climate change scheme that's designed to coerce the world's 193 nations to forgo their sovereignty for the security of a global government. But specifically how? Through money distributed to thousands of media and grass roots organizations that will implement the climate agenda. And through the gradual transfer of economic and political power from individual nations to the U.N.

A significant part of the climate agenda entails creating an international panic by warning the world that unless action is taken--and soon--the earth and all of its life forms are doomed. From the theeconomiccollapseblog.com: The UN is not asking permission, but issuing a command that the entire planet will commit to 17 sustainable development goals and 169 sustainable development targets designed to radically transform our world by 2030. The UN 2030 plan promoted by the Pope (Francis) will advance Agenda 21 on steroids. Through a controlled media the mass populations will be told that this is all about saving the environment and "ending poverty." But that is not the true agenda of Agenda 21. The true agenda of Agenda 21 is to establish a global government, global economic system, and global religion. When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spoke of "a dream of a world of peace and dignity for all" this is no different than when the Communists promised the people a "workers paradise."

The prophet Daniel, who lived about 2,600 years ago, received a metaphorical vision from God concerning four world empires depicted as beasts that would rise and fall before the end of time and the return of Jesus Christ. Concerning the final empire, Daniel wrote this: "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns." (Daniel 7:7)

The apostle John, who lived about 600 years later, received a similar vision from the Lord while in exile from Rome on the island of Patmos. Here's what he described: "And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. (Revelation 13:1) 

Daniel's fourth beast and the beast that John saw are one and the same. They represent the coming world government. The 10 horns represent the 10 regions or nation groups that will be ruled by seven kings. Daniel described this beast as extremely powerful and frightening. According to the prophet, this beast will crush and devour its victims, indicating that this government will commit mass murder on a global scale. 

Furthermore, John's vision revealed that this government will be ferocious and spread rapidly across the world: "The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion." (Revelation 13:2)  The leopard is a predatory animal that's extremely fast. The bear is one of the strongest animals on earth and the lion is extremely fierce. The analogies that describe the attributes of this government can't be underestimated.

When will this government arise? The U.N. would like to see it in place by 2030. That's just 15 years away. Whether that happens in 2030 or not remains to be seen.

But when--and not if--it happens, this government will institute a global holocaust. It will decide who stays and who goes in the name of environmental stewardship. Those who are considered too old, infirm, mentally deficient or belonging to an inferior race will be eliminated. Remember Adolf Hitler's contemptuous crack about wanting to eliminate "useless eaters?" This government will carry that out.

Concerning that dreaded time, Christ warned: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect (Christians) those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)

So when you hear influential folks peddling the hysteria of climate change-global warming, understand what that's about. And understand what it leads to.

Why Nations Die

Mythical hope and naked reality

If nations are only as strong as their leaders, then it's easy to understand why so many western nations are in rapid decline. Thus, political leaders are a mirror reflection of the people who elect them.

Unlike much of the eastern world, Africa and the Middle East where political strongmen and dictators seize power and use their militaries to hold on to it, western leaders are chosen by their people. If the people are morally strong, they will choose morally strong leaders. But if the people are corrupt and morally depraved, they will choose wicked leaders after their own hearts.

However, that's not an indictment of bad leaders. Rather, that's an indictment of the people who choose them. When Bill Clinton was America's president during the 1990s, he was plagued by endless scandals involving philandering and rape. Someone remarked at the time that what Bill Clinton did in his private life was irrelevant to what he did as America's CEO.

But that's dead wrong and it underscores the world's moral myopia concerning sin. Political leaders are responsible for setting a strong moral example for their people. Thus, a political leader who is openly debauched and promiscuous will give young people the impression that it's cool to fornicate, use drugs, get drunk and commit adultery. 

Those who choose that sort of lifestyle will put themselves on a path to spiritual ruin, poverty, self destruction and ultimately eternal destruction. Sadly, many young people go to college today not to pursue a higher education, but rather to party and use drugs and have sex. 

It's no wonder why the western world has fallen behind Asia in academic achievement, technology and productivity. While westerners are partying their way to hell, the eastern world--and particularly Asia--is rapidly rising as an industrial, economic and technological powerhouse. Why? Because the eastern world and Asia have embraced the morals that the west has discarded.

Some folks are beginning to take notice. Sam Gerrans, an author, translator and activist who resides in the United Kingdom has certainly taken notice of America's rapid descent into the moral abyss. For example, he noted that a record number of Americans now depend on psychotropics to cope with life's daily pressures: According to the Scientific American, use of antidepressants among the US population was up 400 percent in the late 2000s over the 1990s. Many of these drugs are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These are the type of FDA-approved narcotics lone gunmen are frequently associated with, and their psychoses often attributed to a forced or sudden withdrawal from such drugs.

Gerrans has also noticed that America is becoming a violent, depraved nation: During the objective hardship of the 1930s, there was surprisingly little crime. People were brought up with a conception of morals and right and wrong. Frugality and prudence were prized virtues. Communities were generally fairly cohesive. Relative to then, society today is undisciplined, unrealistic and selfish. 

Certainly, there's a cause and effect for this. We already know what the effect is. But what's caused this? It's been caused by the Christian church's abrogation of the faith for universalism and temporal riches. Beginning in the mid to late 19th century, the Christian church fell into laziness and apathy and stopped contending for the faith. Though it didn't happen right away, the church lost the culture to secular humanists who imposed their godless worldview through politics, the education, entertainment and media industries. As they say, the devil never takes a day off.

The fall of the west and America is also prophetic. In his epistle to the early Roman church, the apostle Paul revealed what happens to people who reject God and His transcendent moral laws: "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)

That's an ugly reality. Can that be reversed? It can but that seems unlikely, considering that biblical prophecy reveals that the epicenter of world power will reside in the eastern world (Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38-39) rather than in the west preceding the return of Jesus Christ.

Thus, the west's glory days appear to be over. And when the western world finally collapses under the weight of its own sin, many will look to the east and see what they once had. But by then, it'll be too late.