Our neighbor recently put up a yard sign. It can’t match the professionally printed sign, above, for production values; but it does deliver the same sort of message.
Our neighbor’s sign, hand-scrawled, says “Patriotism=Scoundrels.” I guess they didn’t like the results of the last election. It also has one of those “not allowed” symbols, a circle with a slash through it, next to the word “Clingers.” That must refer to those Americans famously denounced by President *Batteries Not Included as “clinging bitterly to their god and their guns.”
Well, as long as liberal politicians can’t offer eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and regeneration of the soul, I think it would be much wiser to continue to cling to God, who can and will do all those things.
My question is: “Who is this sign’s audience?” Who is it for? I remember these people voted for Nader in 2000 and then were outraged that Algore lost the election to George W. Bush. But do they really think “patriotism,” whatever they think it may be, is bad? And if it is, what do they propose to put in its place?
The last may be one of those questions it’s better not to know the answer to.
I believe that all men are equal in God’s sight and that we should show love towards all wherever possible. But the Bible writes of national groups and seems to respect boundaries, whether cultural or otherwise. God promised Abraham a land with some very specific borders, so He must have at least some use for such boundaries.
In the restitution of all things, I am certain that all nations will live in peace and cooperation, but different peoples, different circumstances, different geographic characteristics will still be present, at least to some degree. One can’t expect a people that live in a maritime economy to have have a culture that is identical to people living an agrarian life.
There are many things about the culture of Japan that I respect, but I would certainly not fit in over there, and I doubt that I ever would. Nor would it be reasonable for me to expect a Japanese person to fully adopt the culture of the US. Difference does not equate to hatred, or even disrespect.
“No nations, no borders,” etc.–ironic, isn’t it? These people say they want “freedom” and “justice,” whatever they mean by those words. But the alternative to all our nations, with all their borders, can only be a big fat bloated world government which would need dictatorial powers to survive for more than a day or two. It would be monstrous beyond anything else we’ve ever seen in history.
I fear that at least some of these people are demon-deluded, which is why they are unable to see how utterly absurd their ‘arguments’ are.
I would agree, Linda.
Revelation 16:13 “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole [i]world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”
There is some major delusion happening all around us and it’s interfering with the reasoning abilities of many people. F’r instance: Europe is plagued with lone wolf acts of terror, but some leaders want to import MORE refugees from countries that are reputed to sponsor terrorism. Israel is being blamed (by some) for acts of terrorism committed by people over which they have no control. (I expect this to intensify in the foreseeable future.)
But it serves God’s purposes. 2 Thessolonians 2:11 “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
I think those verses have done more to set my mind at ease than any other, when it comes to explaining the current behaviors we see everywhere around us.
Yesterday, Lee posted a video of Marines singing a hymn that includes the refrain: “there’s no God like Jehovah”, several times in a row. My eyes teared up, just knowing that there are people out there that recognize the Creator, above all other gods.
This is a rough time. We are in a psychological war, and it could go beyond that at any moment. Our only hope is the salvation our loving Creator offers, and the opposer will do everything in his power to cast the illusion that we can’t rely on God. All we can do is stand fast.
Unknowable, I’ve visited your website and you seem to have what I refer to as a ‘math mind’, something with which I was not gifted.
If Lee has no objection, may I recommend a book – other than Lee’s, of course 🙂
“Signs In The Heavens And On The Earth . . . Man’s Days Are Numbered . . . And He Is Measured” by Douglas W. Krieger. It’s quite a read – even though the math is too complex for me. I did manage to read ‘through’ the math to its conclusions. It’s an astonishing book! If you decide to read it, would you be so kind as to verify the math for me? There is, on Amazon, a ‘Look Inside’ available, and there is also a kindle version, however, there are many charts that are not as clear in the kindle version (I have both the hard copy and the kindle for that reason).
I don’t mind if you recommend a book, but I don’t hold much with reading signs in heaven, etc. After all, Jesus did say the time of His returning was known only to the Father, and to the Father alone–and that it would be a very big surprise, “like a thief in the night.”
Thank you, Lee. It’s really not a woowoo book. It’s much more complex than that. He uses the Sacred Cubit, etc., measuring the New Jerusalem and much much more. Too much to explain, but take a look at the available portion on Amazon. You may be surprised.
I’ll take a look. But as someone raised in an Adventist sect, I’ve explored chronologies considerably and came to the conclusion that the chronological approach doesn’t work.
Jesus stated that only the Father knew the day and hour. Even Jesus’ wealth of knowledge didn’t make it possible to calculate the End. The sign that Jesus gave was when ALL the things mentioned in Matthew 24 happened at the same time, then the End would come. I see that happening today.
IF, and please note the emphasis on the word “IF”, the Times of the Nations ended with Jerusalem (the old city) coming under Israeli rule in 1967, it would follow that the generation that saw that event would not pass away before all is concluded. But that’s about as chronological as I get and I’m not representing that as anything more than the opinion of one man, who indeed remembers the lead up to the Six Day War and thinking (at the tender age of 12) that Israel would be doing well to survive.
Beyond surviving, they literally dominated, destroying Egypt’s Air Force within the first two hours and stopping the advance of the troops of at least three nations. After a grueling battle fought on Mt. Scopus, the Jordanian troops fled and the Israelis fully held Jerusalem for the first time in nearly 2,000 years. I will leave it to the reader(s) to make their own conclusions regarding how this fits into God’s plans, but if you conclude that it was miraculous, you will be far from alone.
In Jeremiah 23, our God makes it known that His fame for regathering Israel will exceed the fame He had for delivering them from Egypt. I truly believe that is happening before our eyes. When I gave up on Adventist chronologies I prayed and asked: “Now what?” Immediately, the regathering of Israel came to mind and has been the anchor of my hope ever since.
Thank you so much – and I agree with you. Israel’s regathering is key. In fact, having been born in 1948, I’ve often wondered if I would be here for the end of days.
My unfortunate handicap is that I’m not math oriented and pushing 70, I doubt very seriously that will change.
One thing to keep in mind, my sister, is that salvation isn’t a trivia contest. Much is being revealed in our day. Daniel’s prophecy states that in the Last Days, true knowledge would become abundant, and I see it happening. Yesterday I had a conversation with the cashier at a restaurant and was surprised to end up discussing fairly deep points of Theology with a girl young enough to be my granddaughter, and she was well informed, IMHO.
At six years your junior, I think it’s likely that our natural lifespans will include the time of deliverance. I say that because it won’t take much more trouble, before all flesh will be in peril. God won’t forget us.
Amen! The book I referenced essentially covers Daniel’s 70th week in great mathematical detail. At my age, I don’t consider myself a gullible person and don’t follow whims and crazies who just want to fly out of here. I’m a serious lover of God, Our Lord Jesus The Christ and His Truth. Indeed, knowledge is increasing – and at a breathtaking pace! Praise God! We are commanded to watch, and I’m doing my best. I appreciate your help, Unknowable.
Another thing Krieger does in his book is an overlay of The Passion Week of Jesus and Daniel’s 70th week, dividing the 3 1/2 days in both cases. He makes a very convincing presentation.
*sigh* I’m getting it from two directions tonight. Some of the folks on my chess page want me to cut loose from the Bible, don’t be so dependent on it. Or, I could interpret every verse with a microscope in hopes of baring secrets that way wiser scholars than I have missed for centuries.
If the Bible is not God’s word, then we don’t have God’s word. No, I refuse to trust “the Holy Spirit within you” as a source of information and authority–not if He’s hiding out in my sinful flesh. The farther we venture from the Bible, the closer we come to real trouble.
But I accept that there are aspects of Scripture that are not clear to me now and will never be clear to me, unless sometime after the regeneration of all things, God chooses to make them clear.
And so my advice to everybody is: Put your head down and keep pulling the plow. God will let us know when we can stop.
The 70th week, from Daniel, is definitely a loaded subject. I’ve heard any number of opinions regarding it, from preterist, it all happened in the past, to a 7 year tribulation, to a 3 1/2 year tribulation to ????? My own opinion is that there is not yet enough information to make an iron-clad conclusion.
That’s the amazing thing about prophecy. It can contain all the information needed, but not be comprehensible until a key event occurs and unlocks the meaning. I can only conclude that this is deliberate on the part of God.
The Bible is either the word of God, or it isn’t. My opinion is that it is, and that prophecies we see fulfilled in our time provide more than enough proof. But I will echo Lee’s sentiment, God will let us know when to stop.
If we had a derivable date it would not be to our benefit. Deliverance could come tomorrow, or much later. In the meantime, I have to go to my job every day, and I thank God that I have a job, many good people do not. Even if I could KNOW, for a fact that the End was one year from today, I’d still have to work up until chaotic conditions made that impossible.
I continue to learn as much as I can, to pray for answers and I keep on the watch. I’ve been on the watch all of my life, but there seems to be a lot more happening of late. Our trust will not be in vain.
Sorry you’re having a rough time with your buddies, Lee. But our instructions are to study to show ourselves approved – and to watch and pray always.
As long as we’re still allowed to use the word “patriotism,” we should use it more often. When colleges add “patriotism” and “patriots” to their list of racist words, I wonder what they will replace it with???
Haven’t you heard? We’re all supposed to be Citizens of the World! Libs have been pushing this since the 1930s.