Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 7

There were many other 'interesting facts' in the book The Harbinger.

One was that in 1792, a group of merchants met in NYC, to set up a financial system of sorts. They met on the site of was called 'DeWaal Straat'. It was called that because it was in a Dutch settlement, and there was a natural wall along the shipping lines that provided protection from the English and the native Indians. They signed a document that was called the Buttonwood Agreement. The merchants called themselves, The Buttonwood Association. The Buttonwood Association became the NY Stock and Exchange Board. And now is called the NY Stock Exchange. The NYSE is on Wall Street. (DeWaal Straat). Wall Street is considered the Financial District of NYC, and and effects the Worlds' economy. The Buttonwood tree is a sycamore. A Sycamore tree was cut down first physically, and then as it is the Stock Exchange, it too, was cut down.

There is so much more that is in the book, but my intentions were to write about what I have learned, and researched and to confirm what was said in it, was not to write my own book. I was trying to give you the Cliff's notes. I think have failed in keeping this short, but earnestly encourage you to pay attention. To do your own research. To confirm everything, especially checking what is said with 'facts' to what God's word had told us.

So to sum up what has happened here in the last 12 years

I. World Trade Center (A symbol of financial power) and The Pentagon, (a symbol of our military power)were both attacked. We believe that the White House, (a symbol of our government power) was another target.

• A. Bricks fell, and a sycamore was cut down by the attacks in NYC.
• B. We responded with defiance, and a resolve to rebuild stronger and better than before, with no real repentance or regard to God at all. Just as Israel did, even repeating the verses that they said.
• C. A cut stone (granite) was placed, and a cedar tree was planted. This fulfilled scripture.

II. Six days after the attacks the Stock Exchange plummeted 684.81pt. This occurred on the 29th of Elul on the Hebrew calendar and happened to be the last day of Shemitah, a year of release-canceling of debts.

• A. The Federal Reserve had been cutting the interest rate prior to 9/11, Making the biggest cut on 9/17/01. This caused one of the biggest drops in the Dow Jones, in history. Also setting the stage for the economy collapse in 2008.
• B. September 2008, the US government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (canceling their debts). Two other large firms went bankrupt. (canceling their debts). This triggered another huge drop in the Dow Jones of 777.68.
• 1. These were 2 of the three deepest drops in the stock market of all time, and they both occurred on the 29th day of Elul, on the last day of Shemitah. This effects the US, as well as the economy globally.
• 2. God set up the system of Sabbath years to give rest, to balance the social system by way of keeping people from getting greedy, and being overcome with debt. One could say God ordained the Shemitah and made it happen. Read Leviticus 26.
• C. God had consecrated Israel as His people. George Washington consecrated the U.S. unto God. God has made promises to His people, (Jews and Christians) and God's word never changes. Prophesies are promises of good and bad. Isaiah outlines, Israel's consequences for not returning to the Lord. Our recent history could be said to outline ours.
• 1. Israel got angry and defied God with their words “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the sycamore trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars." God allowed them to become enslaved by the enemy, (Assyria) for 70 years because of their disobedience.
• 2. We got angry and defied God with our words, quoted by government officials, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the sycamore trees have been felled, but we will replace the with cedars."
•  We actually placed dressed stone and planted a cedar tree as symbols of Hope, and defiance.

III. God's ways are just. He is Never Changing. He has called us to Submit.

• A. Romans 14:11, "It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" He will do whatever he has to, in order to bring us to submission.

What is next?

The next Shemitah begins 9/28/2014. It ends on 9/13/15, the 29th day of Elul. Who knows the plans of the Lord?

What do we do? We need to earnestly pray. Repent, individually, and for our country. We need to stop conforming to the ways of our world, in the name of tolerance. Not be lukewarm with our words and actions. We need to stand apart from the world. We need to elect only officials that honor and respect our Lord, regardless of what we think they will do with our financial future, and entitlements. If they truly are followers of God they will act in the ways of the Lord, and the Lord's ways of finance are never wrong. We need to be bold. We need to begin today.

Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 6

Because of my interest in Bible prophecy and how it has in the past coincided with the Hebrew calendar, I was a little surprised. But because these things happened in my adult life time, and I was actually paying attention to these 2 incidents that rocked our country, 9/11 and the stock market crash of 2008, I must admit, my mind was a little blown. But there is more.

Instead of being humbled and repentant, Israel responded with anger, defiance, and pride, not even considering that God’s judgment was upon them. This is also how America responded. Eventually, the Assyrians returned, ravaged land and enslaved the people that had survived.

Let's take the first part of Isaiah 9:10, "The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone.."

We all know what bricks are. They were made different, 5,000 years ago, than they are today, but bricks are bricks. What is hewn, dressed, or cut stone? These are types of stones are taken from the 4 versions of the verse that I have mentioned earlier. Simply put, it's would be a stone that had to be cut or worked in some way. A hard stone that would be obtained rather than a brick made from clay. Stones cut out of a mountain. NH is called the Granite State, because of the granite being so plentiful in this area. In other words, not man made bricks, something stronger.

On 9/11/01, NYC Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani said, "We will rebuild: We're going to come out of this stronger than before, politically stronger, economically stronger. The skyline will be made whole again."

After all the rubble was cleared, we began to rebuild the Towers. On July 4th, 2004, in a ceremony to dedicate the plans for the Freedom Tower, 20 tons of Adirondack granite were laid at the site of the reconstruction. NY Governor Pataki said, "Today we build the Freedom Tower. ... Let this great Freedom Tower show the world that what our enemies sought to destroy, our democracy, our freedom, our way of life -- stands taller than ever."

It is said that the Freedom Tower will be the tallest building in America. The 5 1/2 foot stone was later removed from ground zero, on June 23, 2006 and returned to Innovative Stone, on Long Island, where it had been cut, honed, polished and inscribed in 2004. Turns out they hadn't originally placed in an area conducive for the rebuilding of the Towers. It will be returned upon completion of the project.

Now, the second part of Isaiah 9:10 "...the sycamore trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”

I had mentioned earlier that George Washington gave the first Inaugural address at a church in NY City. NYC was our nations first capital. He gave his speech at what is now called, St. Paul's Chapel. I am unclear if it had the same name at the time the speech was given. Because he (our first president), dedicated our country to God (a covenant), at what was then, and is still now a church on that site. St. Paul's Chapel was right near the World Trade Center. On the church property grew an English Sycamore. It was not the same sycamore of the middle east as those particular trees would not thrive in NY's environment, but it's name, the English Sycamore was named after the Middle Eastern Sycamore. This tree was crushed by the fallen bricks of the Twin Towers. November 23, 2003, an erez tree, which is a Cedar tree was donated and planted in the very spot that the sycamore had been growing for 100 years before.

Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 5

Today we (Christians) for the most part hold the Sabbath holy. Or at least we "Do Church", if at all possible. We do our best to keep the Ten Commandments. We no longer sacrifice to obtain forgiveness, as Jesus's blood is enough. What about other systems, or plans that God had set up for us? What about the other Sabbaths, and other Jewish Holy days? If the Shemitah is mentioned so many times in the Bible, maybe it's important enough to take another look.

Let's back track to 732 B.C. After repeated warnings from the prophet Isaiah, for people to return and to repent as individuals and as a Nation to God-God lifted his hand of protection and the Assyrians brutally attacked Israel. Rather than realizing that this could have been prevented-had they returned to God, they dug their heels and in anger and pride this was their response,

Isaiah 9:10, “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the sycamore trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”

After the 9/11 attacks, and sometime after the tears began to dry up, I looked up on the Hebrew calendar to see if 9/11 was a Jewish Holy day. It was not. I prayed a lot and got on the business of living like everyone else. But we were all changed by that one day. We put up new Flags, followed by yellow ribbons as our soldiers went off to fight the enemy. Many that hadn't been to a church in years started showing up, looking for answers, and for comfort. But then slowly the sudden hunger for God faded away.

Would it surprise you to know that the day after the 9/11 attacks, that then House Majority Tom Daschle quoted Isaiah 9:10? You can hear him in his own words here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8MDSHqwbc.

I believe he meant to quote the scripture as an act comfort, and did not realize that he was repeating the very words that Israel had used in defiance against God's judgement.

How about that on September 11, 2004, John Edwards repeated the same Scripture at a prayer breakfast, "Good morning. Today, on this day of remembrance and mourning, we have the Lord's word to get us through. 'The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.' " You can find his entire speech at...

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=84922.

So there are 2 high ranking government officials using a quote from Isaiah, a statement that was said in pride and defiance, and eventually became Israels undoing.

Both these men, were Senators and one of them a 2004 presidential candidate, took this verse out of context. Had they studied Gods word, or at the very least read the passages before Isaiah 9:8-9 they would have realized that this scripture talked of God's people responding to His judgement with defiance.

"...The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. All the people will know it—Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—who say with pride and arrogance of heart..."

Keep in mind that the World Trade Center was a symbol of financial power.

As I said earlier, 9/11 was of no significance on the Hebrew calendar, but September 17, 2001 was. It is called the 29th day of Elul. This was only significant because it was the 7th year, and the last day of Shemitah-The Sabbath year.

Shemitah or Shmita means 'release'. When the debts are canceled.

What happened on 9/17/2001? The Federal Reserve cut the interest rate. They had previously cut it by 3.5 percent, but on 9/17 they cut it by fifty basis points. They continued to cut it over the next 3 months until finally it fell below the rate of inflation which is what we mean, when we say that the U.S. is creating free money and making the dollar lose value. On 9/17/01, the stock market dropped 684.81 points. This happened on the last day of Shemitah. All this caused the ripple effects for what would be the infamous 2008 economy that we talk about like it was a bad family vacation.

2008 was not a great time in our country's economy. In early September, 2 major mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which held over 50% of the mortgages in this country, were both in serious trouble. On September 7th the Federal Government took control of both of the companies, (bailed them out). Shortly thereafter a the major financial firm called Lehman Brothers began to fail. A deal to rescue the company (bail out) fell through and on 9/9/08 they had lost 45% of its value. 9/10/08, They announced that they had lost $4 million dollars. On 9/11/08, AIG was another huge firm that announced that they were on the verge of collapse. All of these businesses got a clearing (remission) of their debts one way or another, totaling over 5 trillion dollars. Why does this matter? While all this was going on the Dow Jones, fell almost 2,700 points in a couple of weeks. With the final drop of 777.68 points on September 29th. This happened on the 29th day of Elul, the last day of Shemitah. Exactly 7 years later. Of the 3 deepest plunges in the stock market to date, 2 happened on 29th day of Elul, the last day of Shemitah. Which happens every 7 years.

Weird huh?

Book Report, The Harbinger, Pt 4

Remember all the laws and feasts, special days and years that the Lord gave the Israelites, and told them to observe, in the Old Testament? In Exodus 23, God tells His people that they are to work, plant and harvest six years and then let the ground rest on the seventh. Leviticus 25 also speaks of a Sabbath year, what was called Shemitah, and the year of Jubilee. Again His people were called to sow for 6 years and rest on the seventh. Both the Shemitah and the year of Jubilee speak of canceling debts. The Shemitah runs in a 7 year cycle. The Year of Jubilee in 50 year cycles. I have read in commentaries that the purpose was that God wanted to the poor to have a chance to escape poverty, by allowing themselves to become free, (if they had sold themselves as slaves) and free of debt, and by not using the land on the 7th and Jubilee years, it would teach His people to work hard, save and store of the 6 years and trust and obey on the Sabbath (Shemitah) years. Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings also speaks of Sabbath years. If you are like me, when you read through these passages, your eyelids may have gotten heavy and maybe would skim through the verses in the hope of getting to a part that might hold your attention. Here is an important point, When God set up this system for his people, they were told that if they obeyed His laws, they would be prosperous, and if they didn't they would face hardship. He would allow them to be attacked by their enemies, he would allow, cities to burn, crops to fail-to become desolate. He would lift his hand of protection. We, or at least I have made jokes about the Israelites being 'stiff necked' people. God was working miracles all around them , and they would forget and become distracted, whine about life being hard, and ultimately miss the blessing God had for them. Like going into the Promise Land.

What does any of this have to do with America? I ask you, are we any different? Demographically speaking, Jesus said to preach the Gospel to all Nations. No matter which Nation each one of us have come from, when we accept God's word, we are His people. So in that way, the Israelites and today's Christians are the same.

God made a covenant with Israel. When our Founding Fathers came to America and set up our government, we made a covenant with God. Our Declaration of independence-states, "...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

One signer of this document, and who was the 2nd President of the U.S. stated, "The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God." John Adams.

Another is Samuel Adams, "I conceive we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and the people willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is the Prince of Peace."

Congress, 1854 convened and stated,"The great, vital, and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and the divine truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854, "Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle... In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity... That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants."

In George Washington's opening prayer at the first inaugural address in 1789, he says, "Would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being Who rules over the universe, Who presides in the councils of nations, and Whose providential aids can supply every human defect – that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes." He goes on to say, "The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained."

This act of prayer is important because of who, what, where, and when it happened. George Washington our first president-in his first official act, dedicated our country to God, at our nations first Capital, (NYC), in a church that is now called St. Paul's Chapel, on the day that our nation's government was formed.

I am not coming from the mindset that some have that we, (The United States) are the NEW Israel. I don't believe that. I do believe that God had and still has a special covenant with the nation of Israel. I also believe that vows made unto God are important no matter when they were said. According to written American history, George Washington dedicated this country unto the Lord. And many founding fathers and leaders of our country warned of what would happen if this country turned it's back on God's ways, and it's heritage.

I think we can all agree that our country today has been heading in the wrong direction from the government that was set up a little over 200 hundred years ago. In fact, I think that the 21st century of which we live in today looks a lot like the 7th century B.C., of the Israelites.

Tomorrow, I will try to show through scripture God's warning to Israel of what would happen if they did not turn back to Him. I am going show their defiance and the judgement that was unleashed upon them. Then I want to show what happened to the U.S., 12 years ago and some very scary, mind blowing 'coincidences.'

Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 3

Dave Ramsey often says, "We will be the same person 5 years from now, except for the books that we have read." If that is true, and I hope it is, then I hope that the book The Harbinger has changed me. It is a narrative filled with Scripture and history that has already begun to change the way I am looking at what is going on in the world around us.

Definition of Harbinger-noun 1.a person who goes ahead and makes known the approach of another; herald. 2. anything that foreshadows a future event; omen; sign: Frost is a harbinger of winter. 3. a person sent in advance of troops, a royal train, etc., to provide or secure lodgings and other accommodations.

Verb (used with object) 4. to act as harbinger to; herald the coming of.

If I can paraphrase- A warning.

The book focuses on the verse Isaiah 9:10, but for the purpose of studying and confirming claims written in the book, I have looked up and studied verses that come before and after, and have read commentaries to better understand and not take a couple verses out of context. I encourage you to do the same. Don't take what I or anyone else says to be true without praying, investigating and thinking for yourself.

Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." (The Holman Study Bible)

Isaiah 9:10 “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars. (NIV)

Isaiah 9:10 The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone; the sycomores are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. (ASV)

Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." (KJV)

Previous to this verse....If you study the book of Isaiah you will learn that Isaiah was a prophet of God. His ministry spanned 40 years. A generation. He prophesies are of warnings, and judgements that would fall on God's people if they do not heed the warnings. He also prophesied of redemption and comfort through Christs birth. What he has prophesied did come true for the Israelites and I believe has manifested here in the US, as well.

The prophesies in Isaiah took place from 740-700 BC. During this time frame Israel's biggest threat was from the Assyrians. Their capital was Ninevah. If you remember this is where Jonah was sent, much to his disapproval. Ultimately, he did end up fulfilling his mission. It might be interesting to note that the Assyrian empire, is what we call Iraq today.
The book of Isaiah begins with a vision that the Lord had given to Isaiah. Judah had fallen away from the Lords way. Although they still prayed and followed the rituals and customs, their hearts had grown cold, and they basically were just going through the motions. Today we believers, would call it "Doing Church" They had also allowed themselves to compromise their lives with the customs and lifestyles of those who did not honor God. Because of this God wouldn't even listen to their prayers or accept their offerings.

Isaiah 1:15. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood.

(I ask now if we have blood on our hands, because of the abortion industry that we have allowed in our country?)

When reading this scripture I think of the NT passage in Revelation 3:16 "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Today in our country, tolerance and sensitivity has been so indoctrinated into our psyche's, we don't speak the truth outside of our church for fear of recrimination and being called judgmental. We have forgotten that when we were given the Great commission, our own nation, although not yet formed, was also included in the directive we were given.

Tomorrow I will talk about whether Old Testament Law concerns Christians today.

Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 2

Yesterday I spoke of how when a tragedy takes place, the idea that God has allowed the circumstances to take place in order to get to our attention is often scoffed, because of differing doctrinal beliefs. Differing theories among unbelievers are even more disturbing to me.

When we experience severe weather; hurricanes, blizzards, tornado's, droughts, earthquakes or even sunspots, solar flares and asteroids, there is a movement in our country that will continue to point to global warming and climate change. Blaming humans for being the reason that 'mother earth' is doling out such calamities. Never taking into consideration that maybe God is now, and always has used such disasters to bring us back to Him. Into repentance, and to what He has planned for us. And it has nothing to do with drilling for oil, or how much electricity we use, or food we consume. Yes, we need to be good stewards of the resources that God has given to us through His creation, earth. He gave the earth to man, (Adam), we need to take care of it until His return. I believe He has been trying to get our attention. But the world continues to be blind, and will justify their actions and focus on anything but God when hardships come along. I found the following comment on an opinion page following the incident with the meteor fell in Russia a few days ago.

This is a man from Queens, NY. Feb 15 2013, "This was no coincidence. The universe has given us a warning shot: our collective negative Karma is so bad that time is running out for this diseased molecule we call earth. It's like the human body's immune system which is able to keep free radicals from blasting healthy cells. But when the electrical life force is low , and toxins weaken the immune system the free radicals finding their way into the perimeter of cells which then turn cancerous. We have hurt the earth so badly , and the collective suffering of humanity and other life forms are sending out a negative cosmic signal. The universal power has now put us on the radar for possible elimination. This is not a random cosmic event. People with good intuition and wisdom somehow have this feeling in their guts."

This mindset is spreading and is actually already infiltrated our government. Legislation is constantly being pushed through that, ultimately will make us slaves to the earth rather than followers of the Lord, and stewards of His gift.

I think it would be important to look at a small 5 letter word, it's meanings , and it's consequences.

Pride-(verb tense), to take pleasure in accomplishment, boast, brag, exult,...prance, presume, puff up, strut...

The antonym is humble.

Pride-(noun tense), self-esteem, delight, ego, ego trip,...self-admiration, self-confidence, self-love, self-sufficiency...

The antonym is humility.

Proverbs 16:18(NIV) "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

I take pride in my boys. I 'delight' in them. The moment I begin to believe that I alone had anything to do with how they turned out, I'm in trouble. The moment any of us take pride or 'delight' in where we are at in life and exclude God, we are in trouble. Oops, I think we as a nation have been there for quite a while. We in America consider ourselves to be the land of the free home of the brave.

 The Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem was written in 1814. Fascinating story about how-why it was written by the way, I encourage you to check it out. Today the song is belted out at most major, (and minor) sporting events and sung, (and lip sung) at many political affairs. At least the first verse is. Did you know that there are four verses? In the fourth, which is never sung, God is given credit for surviving the battle.

"Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

Today we sing that song with pride. Pride for our nation. But I believe we forgot how we got here.

Book Report, The Harbinger Pt 1.

A few weeks ago read a book called The Harbinger. The book is written in a narrative form. It is a work of fiction but based on historical and biblical fact. I was blown away by many of the facts woven through the book. I began taking notes and researching the information that was presented as facts, totally astonished by what I was finding out. Eventually, I began to compile my notes into a 'book report'. I shared my 'book report' with a few of my close friends to see what they thought about what I had learned. I was trying to decide whether or not to 'blog' about it. Most everyone thought that the information presented definitely deserved to shared. I also looked into some of the opinions of the critics of the author and his message. I found that many that thought the ideas in the book were a complete work of fiction based their opinions largely on believing that God doesn't move in the same way today as He did in biblical times. Also, because the company that published this book has also published books by men and women that have fallen from 'grace', they wrote off this book as well. (Baby-bath water syndrome.)

I have decided to go ahead and post my "book report" in a series as it is actually quite long. Maybe you also, will write it off. Maybe it will peak your interest as well , and you will read the actual book and do your own research. If you decide to follow along with the series, please keep in mind, that all we see with our eyes, is not all that goes on around us. We live in a physical and spiritual world. God never changes. He never fails.

This first part is simply my take on where we are as a society today. I mean not to judge anyone in particular, it is simply my opinion and how I see things.

Introduction

What Comes Next?

The last few years I had been thinking and saying out loud to those who would listen, "When Israel fell out of line with God, He used judgements, (or allowed things to happen) in order to bring them to their knees and back into worship with Him. Much like we as parents have to bring consequences to our disobedient children. He is our Father , and I believe that He has, and will do the same. About 15 years ago, I had noticed that many times when things start to heat up in the Middle East, (Israel) it would often take place in September and on or around Jewish Holidays. Many of the Holy Days for the Jews are in the fall.

Also, I've noticed that whenever someone suggests that when a tragedy takes place that God was trying to get our attention, that person will be ostracized. And that because God has sent Jesus, we live in a state of Grace , and they believe He is not a punishing God. And that because the righteous also were involved in the occurrence and would therefore have to go through the same things as the unrighteous, they will surmise that God would have had nothing to do with it. I call that whole scenario collateral damage. Let's be honest, even us Christians have skewed our walk. We have let our lives get full of unimportant distractions. Time wasters that take our attention and focus off the life that God had planned for us. Be it TV, video games, the internet, shopping, our church, or our phones. Many conveniences have become mini-idols in our lives. It's not just that things have taken our focus from God and his plan for us-in this modern age, we can choose or and make our own idols. Even working can be an idol, working to provide a living but having no life. At least not one that God had planned for us.

In our busyness and distractions in obtaining the American Dream, we have allowed evil and unGodliness to overtake our country. Apathy, indifference, and compromise. Compromise, is suppose to be good, and fair. But when you have good and bad, and you compromise, you have let bad in. A little bad is still bad. "We the, 'God's' People", allowed a law to pass in 1973 that legalized human sacrifice. I'm not trying to cut down anyone that felt as though they had to make that 'choice', but that being said, when you take a life in order to make yours better, rather than trusting God to work out all the details, it is human sacrifice. Infanticide. 4 out of 10 babies are sacrificed every day for what boils down to 'a lifestyle choice'. Get rid of that 'speed bump' now, so that you can make your life easier later. No thought of trusting God to make all things work together for good. We take control and end a life out of fear that it will ruin our own. Not even considering that we might be killing a gift that God has given us. We have allowed society to indoctrinate us to believe that we are all powerful, that we can accomplish anything we set our mind to, but we have no power, unless we stop what grows within us; if it's not on our time table. Generations ago, on continents where we would consider people to be savages, people would sacrifice their kids for good crops, health, and long life. Fast forward to the present time, and we sacrifice our kids for a college education, a better job, an easier life. I see no difference between the two society's.

A decade before then, We "God's people" began to allow God to be removed from the public square. The minority still rules on this 50 years later. Prayer, if said in a public arena has to be so generic, and pardon the expression but 'God forbid' we mention Jesus the Son of God. We don't want to offend that one loud mouth in the crowd. When God is mentioned in most public arena's and even in many church's he is not Revered and referred to the One Living God. The Almighty, Holy, Ever present. To be Honored, and Respected. Instead, we honor our planet earth. The creation gets more respect than the Creator.

Malachi 3:1-6, “See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts.  But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye.  He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.  And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old and years gone by. “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed."