“Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him (Jesus) in his talk.” (Matthew 22:15)
Centuries have passed and still the minions of darkness twist truth and attack those who dare speak it. I’m certainly not Jesus, but I do know Him. I pray that you do too.
2015 was a year of fading hope and seismic change. Better days are promised by candidates who will fix our economy, cut our taxes, raise our taxes, kill our enemies, or tell us that our enemies are really our friends.
As usual, politicians aren’t addressing the foundational moral problem of a nation in open rebellion against God. That’s it, that’s the point. Everything else is symptom of this one issue.
It’s Jesus that saves, not office-seekers.
Don’t be distracted by all the “better days ahead” campaigning. If you understand the dreadful implications of last years’ wicked court rulings and ongoing executive actions, then you’ve probably discerned that this party’s just getting started. I hope you had a Merry Christmas because it’s doubtful that you’ll have a happy new year.
Yet the joy of the Lord rises above individual circumstances. If you have faith.
If you don’t, if you don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord, then all the misery of humanity’s past and present, and all the suffering yet to come would be preferable to the eternity that awaits you.
The subject of Caesar is foremost in the news today as it was in Jesus’ day. The power of government for the good, rarely, and for evil, usually, determines history.
Caesar was the title held by the Roman Emperor. His decrees were law throughout most of the civilized world, a time and place of brutal conquest. Any opposition to Caesar’s rule was quickly and mercilessly dispatched.
Understanding the Pharisees motivations, we pick up Jesus’ story as begun at the top of this article.
“And they (the Pharisees) sent out unto him (Jesus) their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.” (Matthew 22:16)
Ah, the disarming tact of flattery.
“Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:17-21)
Render, not surrender. To render is to provide or give, limited in this instance to the things that are Caesar’s. Today’s Caesar wannabees have a counter-offer: surrender everything unto Caesar because Caesar knows best.
Surrender Your Speech.
Politicians and the mass media are masters at word manipulation. They know that changing what you hear influences what you say and think. Hence, illegal aliens have become “undocumented immigrants”. Those who favor legally killing babies in their mothers’ wombs are “Pro-Choice”, those that defend unborn babies are “Anti-Choice”. “Pro” is good, “Anti” is bad.
Muslim invaders are “refugees”. Poor things, I guess there aren’t enough women in their own countries to brutalize and rape so they need new hunting grounds in Europe and the US. Yes, this is all planned.
You’ll hear statists blather about “common sense laws”. Stated plainly, they want to take from you that which is uniquely yours; your rights as a free individual. View such overtures as either contempt for you or a declaration of war against you.
It’s probably both.
Likewise, the “greater good” is a collectivist term used to dismiss individual preeminence. Collectivist thought is rooted in Marxist theory.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, avowed atheists, devised the political ideology which has become known as Marxism. From Marxism springs the various other totalitarian isms; Fascism, Communism, Socialism and Nazism. All reject the God of the Bible, all make government, god. There are only two classes, those in power and the peasant class who serve them.
Call them what you will. Leftists, liberals, socialists, progressives, Democrats, and yes I’ll say it, the Republican establishment leadership, all have the same goals. Forget rhetoric, they all work for the same thing.
They are the same thing.
How free is speech becoming? In New York City you can be fined up to $250,000 for intentionally not addressing a transvestite in the gender they wish to be called by.
“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5)
You may not be able to say what you think in NYC but you can at least pee on the sidewalk. Yep, you can legally urinate in public after the city council voted to decriminalize such behavior. Weren’t we just talking about Marxists and their “common sense” laws?
Watch what you say and certainly watch where you step.
This nation was established on the Godly principles of individual liberty and self-determination. We’re a Constitutional Republic with a mandated limited government, one designed to protect individual rights, first and foremost, from government itself.
We are not a democracy.
“Republic” and “democracy” are not interchangeable words. They are radically different.
The founders loathed the concept of democracy which is simply a government where a majority rules, otherwise disparagingly known as “mob rule” in which there are no limits, only the increasingly despotic aspirations of the power elite.
Democracies always degenerate into dictatorships. The same, it appears, with a Republic whose people have been deceived into thinking they’re a democracy.
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” – Patrick Henry
Surrender Your Guns
Our “force” alluded to is the right to keep and bear arms, a God-given right placed off limits to governmental nullification by the Second Amendment.
If obsessed (or a better word, possessed) Barry Soetoro, aka Barack Hussein Obama, were genuinely concerned about protecting innocent life, he wouldn’t have supplied guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, wouldn’t continue to supply funding, training, logistics and military grade weapons to Muslim terrorists, nor would he be a champion for the ongoing slaughter of babies through abortion.
Don’t mistake his passion for evil as compassion for people.
I could write several pages on the biblical and Constitutional right to self-defense and in fact, I have. The article is titled “Comply or Resist” and can be read at this link. https://www.raptureready.com/soap/wyett4.html Please take the time to do so.
Surrender Your Children
From forced vaccinations to years of Marxist, anti-Christian indoctrination in public schools, who do your kids really belong to? It’s a truly amazing transformation. People who hate us, who hate our faith, culture, and nation, are convincing many of our young (and older too) to hate the very same things. In effect, to hate ourselves!
You see the young, glassy-eyed Bernie Sanders supporters? Do you think they came up with embracing socialism (national suicide) on their own? Colleges are cesspools of Marxist brainwashing. You know what’s being taught in elementary schools?
Look through your kid’s textbooks. Check out their homework assignments. Go to their schools and see what’s posted on the walls. Is this what you want children to learn?
Surrender Your Military
You know about the cuts in weapons systems, research and manpower, the Army drawn-down to pre-World War II levels. You’re also aware that the number of ships, planes and fighting vehicles have likewise been reduced, the Navy to Pre-World War I levels. This is what happens when you put America-haters in charge.
Homosexuals in and given preference while top, uncompromising officers and enlisted personnel have been forced out. Many others have left voluntarily due to low morale.
What’s the military mission today? Why social engineering and diversity training of course, not fighting and winning wars. Men are forced to wear high heels and don fake bellies and breasts to make them more sensitive to diverse women’s needs. The goal is “sensitive” emasculated troops, not macho warriors.
So how’s our military perceived by our enemies? Let’s look at Iran’s recent actions. They just flew a drone over the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. No shoot down at approach, no U.S. response other than whining and complaining. In another recent incident, the Iranians sent a naval vessel to within 1500 yards of the Truman and fired missiles, though not at the Truman. No blowing them out of the water upon approach, no US response except more whining and complaining.
But there was a different response two weeks ago when ten US sailors on two small ships were captured by the Iranians in the Persian Gulf. The sailors didn’t resist nor did other American forces come to their aid. The next day Secretary-of-State John Kerry thanked the Iranians for releasing our captured sailors.
Thanked our enemies.
I’ve heard about courage under fire. How about cowardice under orders? This whole incident smells awfully fishy to me.
The Iranians gleefully showed photos of the sailors on their knees, hands on head in surrender. They stated that the Americans were scared and even crying. Making matters worse, the Navy officer in charge apologized to the Iranians. He sounds like a really sensitive guy.
Senior U.S. officials are also reported to have apologized to the Iranians. That nuclear deal with Iran just looks better and better, doesn’t it?
But the traitors aren’t finished, though we as a nation may very well be. The latest idea is to put women in combat. Not just lowering standards for regular combat units but Special Forces as well. The Israelis tried this briefly in the sixties with devastating consequences. Studies and drills on combat effectiveness prove this to be a terrible idea.
I’ll state the obvious. There’s a reason men and women don’t compete against each other on the athletic field. Men are bigger, stronger, faster and more aggressive. Men don’t fight against women in the so-called combat sports like boxing, martial arts and mixed martial arts even where weight classes are established to level the playing field somewhat.
You know why, you know what the outcome would be. Those who “feel” otherwise are living in a Hollywood fantasy world.
In war there are no referees, no rules to make it a fair fight, no weight classes, and no mercy. Those who consider women in combat as a wonderful opportunity for gender equality need to be at least checked for a pulse; forget the EEG, there’s no brain-wave activity.
Surrender Your Culture
There are two primary coercive forces at work against our culture; cultural Marxism and cultural jihad. Political Correctness is another name for Cultural Marxism. It attacks the moral foundation of a nation. Abortion, atheism, homosexual “rights,” climate change, social justice, socialism, drug legalization, and class warfare are all facets of cultural Marxism.
I’ll tell you a secret; communism wasn’t defeated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It merely changed its tactics from direct confrontation to conquest by infiltration and subversion. Oh, but the Soviet Union changed its name back to Russia. We won.
Really?
China, North Korea, and Cuba are still communist nations, amongst others. The Soviet KGB changed its name to the FSB and is as strong as ever. Vladimir Putin got his start as a KGB officer.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Marxist theory is openly taught in the U.S. education system and has become the dominant ideology of the Democratic Party. Hillary, Bernie and Martin O’Malley are all Marxists, whether admitted to or not. The Republican Party is fast succumbing as well.
A nation without God is a nation without discernment.
Then we have cultural jihad; the entering of non-Islamic cultures by Muslims with the explicit purpose of dominating and destroying those cultures and replacing them with Sharia (Islamic) Law. Look at Europe today.
It’s our tomorrow.
I still run across people that buy into the lie of Islam being a peaceful religion. All one needs to do to make a correct determination is answer a few questions. Who was Mohammed, what did he teach through the Quran and Hadiths? Was his life and actions consistent with his teachings? What is the history of Islam? What are the goals and methods of Islam?
Then I hear about the nice Muslims out there. Let me tell you about that. A good friend of mine supports a ministry in Nigeria. There was a village there where Christians and Muslims had lived peaceably together for years. One morning a group of outsider Muslims attacked the village. The fleeing Christians were herded to the center of town to an area strategically blocked off and trapped. The Muslims hacked them to death with machetes.
Every last man, woman and child.
Are you wondering where their Muslim friends were? They’d fled the night before. They knew what was coming but didn’t bother to tell their Christian neighbors. This is Islam.
To claim a Muslim faith is to associate oneself with the diabolical ideology of Satan. Whether or not such a person is actively waging jihad, yet, is irrelevant. They claim affiliation with a totalitarian system of governance that condones child rape, torture, gang rapes of women, slavery, and gruesome mass murders. These atrocities are absolutely foundational to the spread of Islam and cannot factually be separated from it.
No decent person, no peaceful person associates with Islam. Period. You claim the faith, you own the legacy.
We have largely surrendered our speech, children and culture to Caesar. Our guns are slated for “next.” None of this could’ve happened without our surrendering of Christian faith first. In doing so, we’ve surrendered our nation.
I hear it said that social issues don’t matter, we should focus on the economy. The words “social issues” mean morality. If morality doesn’t matter, why are evil people fighting so hard to eradicate it from society? Most importantly, does morality, or a better word, obedience, matter to God?
It’s been a saying in America for over two centuries that man will either be ruled by God or by tyrants. The essence here is that man will either have the internal discipline and control of knowing he’ll answer to God for lawlessness, and through the indwelling Holy Spirit will thereby choose morality.
Or man will reject God, have no internal controls or moral absolutes to guide him. In such an instance, sin will rise exponentially until a human tyrant feels justified in imposing despotism to maintain order.
You surrender to or are forcibly subjugated by Caesar.
And here we are.
As I’m called to do, I give you this warning.
The Christ that’s returning to Earth for His Bride (those saved who faithfully await His coming), will execute a different mission than His first time here. His sacrifice on the cross, His loving gift of salvation and His longsuffering mercy have been rejected by many, even openly scorned.
Those that do so choose to take the penalty of their sins upon themselves. They choose the wrath of God rather than The Lamb of God.
God does not change. As it was in the past, so will it be again.
One final time.
“Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not” (Isaiah 65:12).
Whether or not it’s too late for the world is up to God, but your individual eternity is up to you. The hour grows late. If you haven’t yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to forgive your sins and change you from the inside out, do it now. As a lost soul self-condemned to Hell, don’t continue to risk your next breath being your last.
If you are saved, Brother or Sister, stay the course. Finish the race.
Caesar can take all that I have, including my life, but Caesar can’t have my soul. That, I’ve already surrendered to Christ Jesus.
My life has been a rough journey at times and likely will be again in these darkening days. But oh, what a destination that awaits!
May God bless you, keep you and protect you.
Patrick