The Final Warning :: By Dan Payne

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20a)

May I say a quick word up front to those of you who are regular Rapture Ready readers? This article may feel a bit like “preaching to the choir” but that is not the intent. It was written in the hopes of reaching those who may be visiting raptureready.com and whose eyes may be opened to the truth of God.

Recently, the British Parliament voted against using military force to punish the Syrian regime for using chemical weapons against its own citizens. The troubling part of the vote was not so much the result but the logic used to justify it. Forget what might be the right or wrong thing to do as it relates to the current situation at the current time.

Instead of sending a message to the world that Great Britain stands united to punish the crimes of a brutal regime, they sent the message that they stand united to punish the crimes of the previous American president and his allies. They were more interested in scoring political points against their own prime minister than actually debating pesky little concerns like national security and terrorism.

It is a part of what I like to call the “Moore’s Law of Apostasy.” (The apparent doubling of those who turn their collective backs to truth in favor of lies and or hypocrisy about every 18 months.) What a wonderful time to be spinning around on planet Earth…

As the case of the school-bus-beating of a defenseless 13-year-old in Pinellas County, Florida shows us, the guilty are going unpunished more and more every day. Take another case, that of the unapologetic terrorist who murdered 13 and injured 30 other defenseless civilians and service members at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009.

Mr. Hassan identified himself as a soldier of the Mujaheddin (Muslim guerrilla warriors engaged in a jihad). Mr. Hassan was not prosecuted as a terrorist but was instead prosecuted for workplace violence. His case is headed for years and possibly decades of appeals (11 of 16 death penalty cases in the US military have been overturned) although he wishes to die as a martyr.

There is an exponentially growing movement to change the definition of what the Bible says is morally wrong into what the world says is morally wrong. The world says that the Bible is wrong so the focus is shifting from what is really wrong to what is not really wrong. What’s wrong will be right and what’s right will be wrong. (See Isaiah 5:20 above.)

For instance, does it make sense to turn the “guns” of the drug war away from the streets and toward hospital beds and cancer clinics? With a street drug like marijuana, the main mission of the minority is to alleviate some sort of physical pain; it’s the majority who just want to get “high” and hallucinate. “Like, they just want to escape from reality, man.” In contrast, with prescription medication, hardworking people who are counted on to be of sound mind to get things done in life are the majority who seek medical help to alleviate physical pain while trying not to miss a step of their personal responsibility.

Yes, there exists a much larger amount of people who use street drugs like marijuana and also buy prescription pills from drug dealers on the streets with the sole intent of abuse. Unfortunately, they are not the group of people who are being punished as a result of the DEA breathing down the necks of legitimate doctors and surgeons whose only mission in life is to tend to the needs of the sick and hurting.

So let’s legalize the “recreational” use of a drug that induces hallucinations but criminalize the prescribing of the proper amount of non-hallucinogenic medication needed by those affected with legitimately painful conditions. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s keep on pasting logos for beer and hard liquor on the sides of racecars and billboards for our children to gawk at. It is both unbelievable and sickening.

Let’s also herald those as heroes who have the “courage” to end the life of their unborn children and mock those who have the audacity to stand up against the brutality of abortion. Yeah, that’s it, those who care are zeroes and those who murder are heroes!

Why stop there? How about those who are attracted to the opposite gender? Are they tomorrow’s “losers”? I wouldn’t doubt it. Let’s legalize the marriage of the same gender and criminalize those who support only marriage to the opposite gender.

It seems like it might be easier to get away with rape or murder these days but don’t even think about trying to get away with being patriotic or loyal to the constitution. Just ask the American Legion and certain Tea Party organizations, among others. The list obviously does not stop here. It’s just getting started. We haven’t even begun to mention the underlying hypocrisy and greed that is responsible for ratcheting up the racial tension in this country.

How about what’s going on in the majority of churches today? Having an honest spirit- convicting sermon, based upon sound biblical principles like heaven and hell, and sin and punishment is viewed as wrong. But half-naked people and rock music are viewed as right. If the average church-going American from several generations ago walked in on a standard “worship” service today, I believe they would turn tail and run scared back to the sanctity of their own home.

Feel free to add to this list more evidence of the apostasy that is committed every day in our country and across the world. Maybe we should take a giant hammer and nail it to what should be the wall of America’s shame, for all to see. That way “the writing would be on the wall”, so to speak.

“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nahum 1:3a).

It seems to me that the only turning back in America is the turning of backs, to the truth.

This is the final warning.

paynedaniel@outlook.com