Education Nightmare - By Hal Lindsey -
Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com
With school restarting across America, this seems like a good time to reexamine the fruit of our current educational efforts. Here are a few examples;
On Sunday August 12th, young people marched through the streets of Washington, DC. They said they were there to fight "hate." As they marched, they chanted, "No border, no wall, no USA at all!"
I mentioned last week the newest member of the New York Times editorial board. Her words are those of an out-and-out racist - openly judging people based on the color of their skin. It's apparently okay with the New York Times because she focuses her racial hate on white people. She has also advocated the killing of all men.
"Antifa" is supposed to be short for "anti-fascist." Members of the antifa movement use violence to silence those they disagree with. They use physical intimidation to impose their views and values on others. In other words, the "anti-fascists" are themselves fascist. Their thinking is so skewed that they can't seem to grasp this obvious fact.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old self-proclaimed socialist, recently won the democratic nomination to represent New York's 14th congressional district in Congress. She sends fact-checkers into a frenzy with her many bizarre, almost laughable, theories and claims. Yet she has an economics degree from Boston University, where she graduated fourth in her class. That education probably cost about $75,000 a year. And she turned out to be a socialist.
History is full of repressive, socialist regimes directing the lives of millions of miserable people. But you don't have to look deep in the past to see what socialism does to a country. Just look at Venezuela today. A few years ago, that nation was on top of the world. They have amazing natural resources, including a vast oil supply. But former President Hugo Chávez proudly led his nation in a "socialist revolution."
Today, Venezuela is falling apart. This week, we learned about hospitals without running water. In fact, much of the nation is without running water. This formerly wealthy country is now full of malnourished people. The International Monetary Fund just predicted that inflation in Venezuela will soon hit 1,000,000%. Let me spell that out so it can really sink in. They are headed for an inflation rate of one million percent! With that, a lifetime of savings can be wiped out in days. But money doesn't buy much anyway when store shelves are empty. A mass exodus from the country has left it bereft of teachers, doctors, engineers, and oil workers.
It seems obvious that the United States would not want to make the same mistakes. But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this rising political star, wants the socialist model for America.
These things are shocking. But they shouldn't be. They are the result of an education system run amok. Ocasio-Cortez advocates the socialism that her professors taught her. Antifa believes that it's okay to use fascist intimidation tactics in the battle against "hate" groups because their schools taught them relativistic notions of right and wrong.
There are amazing teachers out there doing their best to stem this tide of destruction. Also, many local school boards are doing everything they can think of to protect our young people.
But an elite few inside a small number of universities write the textbooks, design the curricula, and set standards for accreditation throughout America's schools. These elites don't like America very much. And their feelings toward Christianity - especially Bible-based Christianity - are even worse.
Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil." That "woe" firmly applies to this generation of Americans. Calling evil good and good evil is a cornerstone of education in the twenty-first century.
The best way to learn a language is to immerse oneself in a culture that speaks that language. It's also true of moral languages. The moral language spoken by our culture has a name, though most people don't realize it. It's called Humanism. It is the exaltation of humanity and the rejection of God.
Humanism is taught on television shows for toddlers, in Broadway musicals, in books and textbooks, in pulpits, in popular songs, on the news, in film dramas and film comedies. It is the moral language of our culture. It is the context within which our children see the world. This is not a baptism by sprinkling. This is full immersion.
In his book, God's Prophetic Voices to America, Dr. David Reagan goes to 2 Timothy 3 to show what this ultimately means. That chapter begins by saying, "In the last days perilous times will come." Then it tells the characteristics of last days humanity that fill these times with peril. Dr. Reagan points out that those characteristics include three things that people will love above all else in the last days - self, money, and pleasure.
He writes, "The love of self is Humanism. The love of money is Materialism. The love of pleasure is Hedonism. These three go hand-in-hand. Whenever Humanism is your religion, your god will be money and your life-style will be given over to the pursuit of pleasure."
Dr. Reagan goes on to say, "There is a fourth element in this equation. The inevitable product of the love of self, money, and pleasure is Nihilism. That is a fancy philosophical word for despair. And that is exactly where our nation is today."
What is the answer to this seemingly overwhelming tide? Jesus Christ. Those of us who claim Him need to turn to Him with all that we have. We need to do the things we've been taught from the beginning. Study God's word. Pray. Witness. Fellowship with one another. Engage the world in His love.
As the new school year begins, pray especially for the young. May our youth learn to receive the Lord Jesus as the One who died for our total forgiveness. May He guide you into eternity.
Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com
America faces an uncertain time. Across the political spectrum, people are talking about a "Second American Civil War."
But what's happening in the United States is happening everywhere. From North America to Central and South America. From Europe to the Middle East. Africa stays in a state of perpetual turmoil. India and Pakistan. Ukraine and Russia. Yemen and Saudi Arabia. North Korea and South Korea. China and all of its free neighbors.
Conflict boils over.
We have entered a period of worldwide political chaos. It's exactly the situation that the Bible says will bring about the Tribulation period of the last days. That's the time when the Book of Revelation will come to life. It will include a series of unthinkable disasters - natural, environmental, political, and spiritual.
This is not politics as usual. And it is not confined to a single political party.
In Mark 13:8, Jesus said that in the last days, "Nation will arise against nation." When we go back to the Greek, we see that the word for nation literally means "people group." It's not just talking about war between countries, but also war within them.
And that's what we're seeing in America - and the world - right now.
But an even sadder war is unfolding -- the war of parents on their children.
In just recent weeks, we learned about a Georgia man who left his 22-month old son to die in a steaming hot car.
A Texas man who slit the throats of his 8-year-old son as he pleaded, "Daddy, I'm sorry!" and his one-year-old daughter as she cried.
A Colorado man who confessed to killing his pregnant wife and probably killed his two young daughters and buried them in a crude oil well.
A Jordanian Muslim man living in Texas who tried to kill his daughter because she shamed him by leaving Islam. He managed to kill her husband and her best friend.
In 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul says that "in the last days... men will be... unloving...." (2 Timothy 3:1-3 NASB) The King James Version says that "men will be... without natural affection...."
"Natural affection" is a translation of the Greek word, "stergo." It refers to the love that binds parents and children together.
The word actually used in this scripture is "ast�rgous." It adds an "a" to the beginning. The "a" is a negative. A "theist" believes in God. An "atheist" does not believe in God.
"Stergo" means the "natural affection" we feel toward our children or parents. "Ast�rgous" means "without natural affection." It's not just "unloving" or "unkind," as so many translations say. It refers specifically to people not having the affection that is natural for their own kids or parents.
In the United States alone, about 500 children each year are murdered by their own parents.
Of course, that figure is dwarfed by the 60 million unborn babies who have been murdered by their own mothers since Roe v. Wade in 1973.
But these sad statistics -- each representing an even sadder story -- just prove the reality that we are in the "last days" that Paul described.
Lauren Geoghegan and her boyfriend Jay Austin, both 29, believed in a world filled with goodness and light. In fact, in April Jay wrote: "Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own."
Were he alive today, Jay might not think "evil" is such a benign thing. But he is not. Neither is his girlfriend.
In July of 2017, Jay and Lauren set off on an around-the-world bicycling adventure. It ended tragically in Tajikistan when they and two other cyclist-tourists were brutally run down by five terrorists in a car. The young men then jumped out of the car and stabbed Jay and Lauren and two others to death. A fifth cyclist survived the attack.
Later, ISIS released video of the young men smiling and posing beneath an ISIS flag.
Sadly, Jay met evil face to face and learned that it is not a "make-believe concept." Evil is real and the father of evil roams the earth desiring to ultimately destroy all of us.
Britain, too, is learning the hard way that evil is real. London is witnessing an explosion in stabbings, as well as car and acid attacks. There's a section of London known as "murder mile." In fact, in the last few years, violent crime is exploding all across Europe.
London's Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, blames the crime wave on "government cutbacks." But, increasingly, others are beginning to realize that the real source of London's increasing terror problem is radical Islam.
In fact, it's happening across Europe.
In Sweden, for the first time in more than a century, it looks like the socialists may lose their lock on the Parliament. The Sweden Democrats are poised to become the largest bloc in Parliament after the September 9 elections. Though the mainstream Swedish media paint them as "racists," they are not. They are pro-traditional-Sweden and this year's elections are being primarily driven by concerns over rampant immigration.
When interviewed by a local TV news program, an unidentified Swedish citizen asked the question apparently on the minds of many Swedes: "Why should Sweden become a Middle Eastern country?"
But it's not just Sweden beginning to fight back. Six European countries, including France, have now enacted nationwide bans or partial bans on the wearing of face veils. Three others have bans in local cities. And four countries, including Germany, have legislation against veils pending.
It is a safety issue since the police need to see faces. Also, the EU's fight against terror increasingly depends on surveillance cameras that can't see through veils. These cameras are hooked up to computers with facial recognition software.
But it's more than just a safety concern. Europeans are finally beginning to realize that they are losing their historical cultures.
Revelation 1:5 calls Jesus, "The ruler of the kings of the earth." (NASB) Knowing that, you might wonder why this world is in such a mess!
But it's important to understand that, even though Christ has the right to rule the earth, He isn't exercising His authority over the kings and kingdoms at this time. Satan won a temporary legal right to rule the kingdoms of the world when Adam foolishly relinquished his God-given authority to him in the Garden of Eden.
When Satan tempted Jesus by offering Him "all the kingdoms of the world and their glory...." (Matthew 4:8-10 NASB), the Lord did not dispute Satan's temporary legal claim to those kingdoms -- and the right to offer them to Him.
But Jesus knew that when His work on the cross was finished, Satan would be, too! In John 12:31, Jesus said, "The ruler of this world shall be cast out." (NASB)
It's only a matter of time until Christ comes back to earth and claims His rightful role as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! What a day that will be!
But the Apostle John assures us that, in the meantime, we have not been left to ourselves. He proclaims that right now - just as we are - we are loved with the continuous and pure love of Christ. Sometimes we're tempted to think that the love of God had its highest culmination in the past, when God gave His Son to die for mankind.
But the case is just the opposite. God's love then was for His enemies. Now, it's for His friends. Then God's love reached out to man in all his ugliness and sins. Now it floods believers who have been washed from their sins and clothed with Christ's robes of righteousness!
Revelation 1 says, "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:5-6 KJV)
He has "washed us from our sins" - past tense. It's already done. If only we could get it through our heads that we have been cleansed from our sins and their eternal judgment! He "has made us kings and priests" in Him. Again, that's past tense. It's done!
The fullness of God's great love is a present reality and His forgiveness of our sins is a past fact. We don't have to wait and work to be forgiven. The work was fully accomplished when Christ shed His blood for us two thousand years ago. All that remains is for us to accept the pardon, which God is so eager to give us and to delight in the realities of His ever-present love!
Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com . Check your local listings.
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