Armed To the Teeth!

“Silence in the face of evil-is evil itself'”

Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

I have been thinking about something. When I was a child whatever my parents would tell me-I believed. For that matter, whatever most of the adults in my life told me-I believed. They wouldn’t steer me the wrong way-right?

Going to school and church seemed to be safe places to believe the adults that taught you, so I did. Back when I was going to school it was pretty safe to believe what I was told or taught-or was it?

As adults, we have been trained and indoctrinated to believe that the people in authority know more about the topic than we do, and they are willing to share truth with us for our benefit-aren’t they?

We have been conditioned by so many people that make us believe that they really know what they are talking about when they say their product will work for us to…grow hair…make us wealthy…help us sleep…you get the point. Ever wonder if they are really telling us the truth? Ever wonder if our teachers told us the truth? Ever wonder if your pastor or priest is telling you the truth?

I am not saying these things to bring doubt into your mind. I am saying them to make you think and research-not just blindly accept what is being taught to you.

There are certain truths that are absolute. Toss a ball in the air and it will fall down-gravity. Discovered by Sir Isaac Newton in the 1600’s and proven by everyone who has tossed a ball into the air. It happens every time.

Other truths are in the ‘perception’ of the one presenting the truth, and that person might just have an ulterior motive. Maybe money, maybe fame or power. Whatever their motive is, it is not for your benefit! So, how do we ferret out the truth? In many instances we can try the product and see if it benefits us. That is the advantage of our capitalist society. Anyone can pretty much advertise a product and we will try it if it seems like something to make our lives better.

Some things are more dangerous when we listen to the narrative about them and we believe it. We are facing an era in our history when the narrative that we are expected to believe is becoming dangerous-very dangerous! What do I mean? Well, let’s go back in history to Nazi Germany. Germany, a beautiful country, prosperous and lovely people, not much different than America. Until…Hitler.

Power hungry and capable of persuasion, Hitler was able to convince many people that he had the right idea and they followed him-until it was too late to turn back! Even the churches, suspecting what was happening as trains filled with innocent Jews were carted to concentration camps-and death chambers, played their music and sang a little louder in church services so they would not hear the screams. The church failed to do what Jesus taught them-LOVE. Instead it went along to ‘get along’ with the Nazi’s, and have their own lives spared.

I do have a point I want to make. The people in Germany were no different than we are. They trusted a government that had done a good job providing for the needs of the country. But when things in the country began to be questionable, people didn’t think much of it because the government had always taken care of them and told us the truth. Here is where we need to learn from their mistakes!

People, we need to think for ourselves and align what is being said with the only Truth we can believe in and rely on 100% of the time-God’s Word! The only way we can align with it is to read it, listen to it, go to a Bible preaching church and live it. The Bible itself tells us to question everything that comes from the pulpit. But question it against the Truth of the Word.

It appears that this administration is trying to get us to accept truths that are not Biblical or Godly in their substance. DO NOT BELIEVE OR FOLLOW THEM. We are in an age where people have been imprisoned-in our country-for standing up for their beliefs. So be it! Our examples are Paul, John the Baptist, Joseph, John the Apostle, and others that were imprisoned in some form or fashion as the result of not ‘going along’ with the ‘power’ that is abusing it’s power. Today we have the example of the people imprisoned for years for the uprising at the capitol on January 6th. They were out of hand, and fines and misdemeanors were probably appropriate, but prison? for years? That is a huge over-reach!

How about the man who was protesting outside an abortion clinic? He was arrested by police and sentenced to 11 years in prison (Paul Vaughn). He got time while the protesters who actually used violence against police officers after George Floyd died in the summer of 2020. Apparently, justice is not always blind, but Lady Justice is looking through a ‘bi-focal-lens!

In Bible times there were wars between good and evil where the enemy was vastly over weaponized and had several times more soldiers. Still, the Israelites held their ground and overpowered the enemy, because they were on God’s side. We in the USA must always be aware and always not only be on God’s side but proclaim that we are on God’s side!