Divine Warning: You Will Be Betrayed!

   "It's Duck season!""Wabbit season!""Duck season!""Wabbit season!" So goes the gag from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he & frenemy Daffy each try to persuade Elmer Fudd which of the two he ought to be hunting (likely a reference to McCarthyism). Well, dear Reader, one day it will be Kwistian Season! It is written:
 "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.....and he had power to give life unto the image of the Beast, that the image of the Beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed." (Revelation 13: 7, 15)
   During the McCarthy era, people were accused of "un-American activity"; in the new era, those of us who will not worship the image shall be accused of "intolerant and unloving activity" perhaps! The fallout from that is, to save their own necks, people will be naming you & me as enemies of global harmony and peace. According to Jesus Christ Himself:

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." Matthew 24: 9-10

"Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death." Mark 13:12

"And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death." Luke 21: 16

This is a message so vital that it was included in all three synoptic Gospels, yet how many are preaching this?

How much easier (and more lucrative) to simply tell Christians we're all going to a big party in Heaven before the junk hits the fan? And it don't get no better, guys, for David says:

"...it was not an enemy that reproached me: then I could have born it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him;

But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.

We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company." Psalm 55: 12-14

   OUCH! People from your own church will backstab you!? The Prophet Micah adds, (7:5-6)

"Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house."

   It is a grim picture, and tough times to be living in. Here's the takeaway: 1) do not be bitter against those who do this- they'll be under a lot of pressure to do so. 2) don't you do this to others! Pray for the strength to keep your mouth shut and not give away anyone else! I know this one was tough, but the warnings of Jesus don't get any easier from here.

   I remind you, brethren, Jesus didn't say these things for no reason. He wants to prepare us for what is coming our way, so we won't be caught off-guard when it happens.  Remember the "Ebola scare"? One person died. They are false prophets, but Jesus is the Faithful and True Witness! Of Whom the Father says, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." 

Th-th-th-that's all, folks!

Peace to the brethren. Fight the good fight. God save the faithful.

Divine Warning: You Could Be Deceived!

   Halloween night, 1938: the U.S. is invaded- by Mars! Orson Welles' famous radio broadcast was just a drama---but many thought it was real! Forrest Gump showed LBJ his butt- or did he? What is real, what's not? It's getting harder to tell.

"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ': and shall deceive many....and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many...there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24: 4,5,11,24

   Don't think you can be deceived? We live in a world of illusion. The world is real, but just the way light & sound behave, the ways our eyes & ears work, illusions are everywhere! Ever see a baseball game? The players on the field look about an inch tall. Perspective is an illusion, as is the Doppler effect. Our own minds play tricks on us.

   The truth is, if you think you're too sharp to be fooled, you're a prime target for deception! In fact, the one deceiving you doesn't even need to be smarter than you. Believing lies just comes natural to us! We are highly susceptible to deception. And Jesus warns us to be on our guard.

   "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.",  Paul told Timothy. And to the church at Thessalonica he warned: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie..." 2 Th 2: 9-11

   And speaking of 9-11, (just kidding, I won't go there).

   Anyway, when the Antichrist arises, do you think he'll appear in the form of Baphomet, or have horns and a 666 tattoo on his forehead? "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field..."  And he's had a few thousand years to perfect his craft. "And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 11:14

      No, rather: but he'll come in a non-threatening, appealing guise. Christians will be fooled. "Not me! I'm Spirit-filled!" How many people believe Disney is good, wholesome family entertainment? His films are in nearly every Christian home in this country. Yet these movies are filled with occult themes and sexual subliminal messages, as well as racism.  He was a high-level Mason and a pedophile. We were all fooled!

   Friends, we need to take the warnings of Jesus seriously. Don't think for a moment you can't be deceived. Stay humble before God, and pray for His wisdom to discern what's real & what's not, what's of God and what's of the Devil.  Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "You worship you know not what". That's a scary thought.

   Brothers and sisters, we can't be too careful. "Trust no one, question everything!" is good advice in these days. And please don't think someone else has already checked it out for you. "Yeah, but, So-and-so is in the Truth Movement".  The Truth isn't a movement; He's a Person- Jesus Christ!

   We can get through this mess if and only if we follow Jesus' warnings. Stay thirsty for the truth, my friends. Fight the good fight. God bless the faithful.

Peace.