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Is God Politically Correct? Part 4
Since the world celebrated its
New Year yesterday, I thought it would be appropriate to comment a little on
a few things before we get into today’s message. It seems that world events
are moving so fast now that it is more and more difficult to keep up with
them.
To the brethren in the various
churches of God reading this message, I would like to comment that
historically, for some strange reason, big events seem to happen in God’s
Work in January, and especially the first part of it. I think we may really
see some fireworks in the coming weeks, and God generally does things in a
way that surprises us mortals. So stay tuned. I think God’s repudiation of
the hirelings is about to rise to a new level.
As to world affairs, the Euro is
now an alternative world currency to the dollar. If the Euro does well, the
downfall of the bankrupt dollar backed by a bankrupt US government could come soon and it could come quickly. It
is also possible that some of the behind the scenes shenanigans and cooking
of the books by member countries could launch the Euro as a lead balloon. so we just have to watch and see, but if there is a
significant dumping of US dollars around t he world in favor of the Euro, the
economic holocaust could come on the US within a very short time.
If anyone has been really
paying any attention to the Iraq situation, you will notice that much of our forces are
leaving after the “show of force” or, perhaps, the SHOW OF FARCE by the
morally bankrupt Clinton regime in its cynical attempt to draw attention away
form its impeachment crisis. Even a cursory examination of the facts will
show that this whole farcical exercise was totally in vain, as Saddam refused
to change his position one iota under the latest military pressure.
Also hidden behind the scenes is
the fundamental weakness and impotence of the US military forces, as they slink away after total and
utter failure. In fact, Saddam is making this into a publicity heyday for
himself, and is stronger after the Clinton farce than before, with his
attempts now to repeal by force the so called “no fly zones” imposed by the
UN after the war.
Another factor that most
Americans forget is that the US and Britain are almost totally isolated in this adventure. France and Russia are openly opposed, but most of the rest of the world is
opposed behind the scenes. So now, the US forces ride away into the sunset leaving behind, once
more, Saddam Hussein still in power oppressing his people… The US could have helped democratic forces within the country
overthrow Saddam after the Gulf War, but they wouldn’t even listen to these
people, instead throwing them to Saddam’s wolves. It’s a sad commentary and a
shame and a spot on the US that it encouraged the Kurds and others to rebel against
Saddam, but then the US abandoned them to their not so pretty fates. But God is
not mocked, these sins of our leaders will find us
out as a nation.
I think we should be aware that
terrorist attacks within the US itself are probably imminent, perhaps even using
biological and chemical weapons, which could be released by terrorists who
could then get away.
I don’t generally recommend
violent movies, but I do sometimes watch one. The Siege is just now screening here
in Costa Rica, so I know it is old news to most of you, but I think
this movie is very interesting. One statement made by one of the terrorist
leaders in the movie is “you people arrogantly believe you have the right to
tell everyone else in the world how to live, so you interfere in our affairs.
You must accept the consequences and begin minding your own business.”
It is amazing to me how some of
our founding fathers understood some of God’s principles even thought hey
didn’t understand His Truth. But most of these men DID read the Bible on a
regular basis, so I am sure that they gained much of their wisdom from there.
One thing that really
infuriates God about our nations, as covered in our Fundamentals series
and also in The United States and Britain in Prophecy, is the fact
that both ancient Israel and Judah, as well as our own people, looked to
their own armies and their own strength for their protection, and they also
many times ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH FOREIGN KINGS to “protect”
themselves, as if the kings of other nations could protect them if God did
not.
Instead of relying on God, over
and over again Israel has relied on ITSELF AND ITS LOVERS [so called allies]
for protection. But, unlike normal prostitutes, Israel over and over has made the mistake of thinking that if
it PAYS OFF its allies [lovers] that they will be there when needed in a
pinch. God shows in His Word that NOTHING CAN BE FARTHER FORM THE TRUTH, AND
THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE BIG REASONS FOR OUR NATIONAL DESTRUCTION!
Down through history, we have
made the same mistakes over and over and over again. But George Washington,
our first President, understood the folly of such alliances when he told the
young nation to MIND ITS OWN BUSINESS, A ND NOT GET INVOLVED IN ENTANGLING
ALLIANCES with overseas “lovers.”
Another thing the founding
fathers condemned was the idea of having a STANDING ARMY. Rather than relying
on a standing army, the founders wisely advised that the “militia,” which was
then the term for the citizenry at large, should each and every one be prepared
to fight against the enemies who might be foolish enough t invade this
country. This is very similar to the Swiss model, which has only retained its
neutral stance by being an armed camp. Washington had a similar vision for the US. He and others wisely told us to be a neutral country,
yet ready to defend itself WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A STANDING ARMY.
But, if you read the booklet on
military service and war, you notices some very
important things. If a nation will only get close to and rely on GOD IN FAITH
for its protection, then GOD HIMSELF WILL FIGHT OUR BATTLES FOR US AS LONG AS
WE REMAIN TRUE TO HIM! Once you understand things form God’s perspective, the
veil of Satan’s lies is lifted from your eyes and you can see which way is
right and which way is wrong and which way is up an which
is down.
It’s sad to say that many in our
own churches don’t seem to really understand these simple points. Rather than preach
GOD’S OWN TRUTH on these matters, there are certain opens who will wax
eloquent in sermons or in writing about this military hero and that military
hero or write about how we had to get involved in this war or that war in
history. What balderdash. When will even God’s own people, let alone the
world, come to the understanding that all war is wrong and evil and inspired
by Satan the devil. There is no good side in a war -- all are bad! If we
would only rely on God for His help and protection, then peace would come
down on this earth like a cascade of fresh cool water in t he middle of the
hot and terrible desert!
It is appalling in the extreme
when one of the publications put out by a so called branch of God’s church
devotes an entire issue to military adventures of the past and idolizes so
called great leaders of the past, without mentioning that GOD’S WAY OF PEACE
would have been much better and that an appeal to God as the protector of the
nation makes far more sense than all of the atomic bombs, nuclear submarines,
a nd other instruments of death ever manufactures.
As long as man relies on HIMSELF for his protection rather than on his
creator, and as long as man remains in stubborn, stiff necked rebellion
against that same God, he will have to continue to write his story in his own
blood and his own destruction.
Jesus Christ
is called The Prince of Peace, and it’s about time that we started to act on
that basis!
Let me make just one more
comment. It was well known that the usurper, Joseph Tkach,
Sr., was a fan of George Patton, and supposedly watched the filthy movie by
that same name over and over again. That was disgusting enough, and showed
that this man was totally devoid of any understanding of God’s way of peace
and life. But then, it became nauseating in the extreme when this vain and
evil man had Gerald Waterhouse go to all of the churches for well over a
year, extolling the imagined [because they were not true, they were made up
out of whole cloth] war time exploits of “war hero Tkach”
during W.W.II. Proof later surfaced that these stories, along with most of
the rest of Tkach’s so called “personal history”
were no more true than a fairy tale. But the point
is, brethren, that those at the top in Pasadena somehow thought the stories of these imagined exploits
would show Tkach as a “man’s man” and a “true
leader.” All that this ever showed me was that these people were almost
devoid of true Christian understanding, and that they were not worshipping
the same Christ that I was because my Savior and yours says that we
should turn the other cheek and show humility, mercy and love -- not false
bravado and macho posturing such as this world’s leaders engage in!
I am also reminded by all of
that prating and praising of “strong man Joe” of the “leaders of the
Gentiles,” to use Christ’s phrase, who love to have the chief seats and the
praise of the people and the empty applause. This was also brought out by Joe
Sr., who when the people clapped for him [which he encouraged them to do, in
stark contrast to Mr. Armstrong, who wanted the people to focus on the
message rather than the messenger, so didn’t permit people to clap after his
sermons] acted like a trained seal catching fish. He even engaged in little
performances to encourage the cult of personality he was trying to build
around himself. He wanted to appear as “good old Joe” to all of the people by
kissing babies and doing other publicity stunts and photo ops. he was all form and no substance, like a piece of cotton
candy. It looks big and pretty, but has no substance to it. And that is also
the way this world’s religions are. Big, puffy, airy, full of lovely fluff
but devoid of anything of substance.
But “strong man Joe’s” imbicilic exploits remind me of the “strong man” who
started all of this nonsense at the beginning of history. Nimrod was called a
“mighty hunter before the Eternal,” which meant that he was a “strong man”
who held himself out for adoration and worship and praise to the exclusion of
God. You will soon be able to read this whole sordid story in the Compendium,
when it is finally uploaded to the library.
But there is mention of this founder of human misery and gentile style rule
in other sources such as the book The Two Babylons,
among others.
I think it’s abundantly clear
that for much of his time Mr. Armstrong tried to stop the raising of a cult
of personality around himself. He failed because he surrounded himself with
hirelings and sycophants who had no understanding of HOW GOD WANTS HIS CHURCH
TO BE GOVERNED! Chief among these men and their ilk have got to be Gerald
Flurry and Roderick Meredith, who believe I a Nimrod type of “strong man”
ruling over the church, in contrast to the way Christ
and the Bible clearly show how things should be. Once you truly understand
these points, a lot of things make sense. But if you are deceived on these
points, then you are prone to following personalities rather than God, just
like the world around you does! [For a complete discussion on the church
government issue, read our article on church government, found in t he library section of this website.]
Well, I have really
strayed from what I originally intended to do, but we must be reminded of our
sins and where we fall short of God’s ways so that we can repent and change
those ways in our lives. We as a church see the consequences of the sin of
gentile leadership and its cult of personality and its strong man views, but
we still have not solved this problem. We must, and we had better ask God to
reveal to our minds where and how He is working today.
There is only enough time left
to give our original topic for today the time of a split sermon, but I
thought the above was something that needs to be brought out so that we can
see the problems we are having and repent. The world and its ways have
encroached upon God’s Church in the past 30 years more than we would like to
admit, a nd we must wake
up and repent of this evil before it is too late.
For the remainder of this
message, I am going to quote portions form the introduction to Mr.
Armstrong’s book, The Missing Dimension in Sex, most of which is in
our library. We hope to upload the remaining chapters shortly.
But I would suggest that you review the material in this great book, as it
straightens our minds out on this all important subject of sex better than
any other book that I know of! so here is what Mr. Armstrong had to say on
this subject:
SEX IN THE 80's - WHERE HAVE
SIX
DECADES BROUGHT US?
The world has emerged from the
age of hush! A moral revolution has swept the world! Few under thirty have
any conception of what the previous 4,000-year-long world was like. Few over
thirty are aware of the extent to which the "New Morality" has
progressed - in reverse!
Little was known about sex.
[Note: I do not believe we should return to Victorian prudery, but neither
should things be the moral mess we have today. We need to have BALANCE. -- MJA ] The subject was never discussed. It was unlawful in
the United
States to
publish, sell or distribute any knowledge about sex or teaching in its use.
Certainly young married people sorely needed proper information. After World
War I the legal dam was removed. The floodgates against published sex
information opened. An avalanche of books, magazine and newspaper articles
flooded over the United States like a tidal wave. One can hardly pick up a magazine on
a newsstand that does not feature at least one article on sex.
The medical doctors, the
gynecologists, the psycho-analysts, the "sexologists," ground out
"authoritative" books conveying information and teaching on the
subject of sex. Yet in all this dissemination the MOST ESSENTIAL DIMENSION OF
KNOWLEDGE WAS MISSING! It has remained for this present volume to reveal that
all-important dimension, its real meaning and purposes.
This missing dimension in
knowledge has not been revealed by religion, by the medical fraternity, by
the "authorities" on the subject nor by higher education. You will
find it only in this book. Do NOT GLANCE OVER and past that portion of this
book. It is a million times more valuable than the technical-physical knowledge. The
latter without the former can be, ultimately disastrously fatal! For this is
in true fact, the most important and necessary book ever published on sex!
Today we live in a different
world. Sex is everywhere discussed, and almost as promiscuously indulged. But
the new "freedom" is by no means limited to the sexual response! The
modern plunge has dived much deeper than even a modern society is aware!
First, take a swift overview of "progress" from our vantage point
in the 80's! Then a surprised (to those of thirty and below) glance back into
the pre-World War years as it had been for some 4,000 years! Our camera zooms
now into the Western world before and after - two divergent human societies!
The contrast ought to arouse the
reader to sober thought! - but will it? Or have we
become too lukewarm to be concerned? Our own future and eternity hangs in the
balance! Today's condition and trend is so frightening in what it portends,
it ought to shock every individual out of complacency into desperate action
to reverse the ominous tide!
But the FACTS OF LIFE as we
speed through the eighties have not hit us SUDDENLY in a twenty-four-hour day
or a single week! The deadly contrast is not so apparent - because it came on
us gradually over a period of six decades - two full generations. The
"New Morality" world was spawned after the turn of the century. It
developed from the embryo stage during World War I. It surged, mostly among
teens unnoticed by their parents on past World War II. The emergence of
television after that war gave the trend great impetus. Acceleration sped the
downward plunge. The "New Morality" really
surfaced during the sixties, blossomed into full bloom in the seventies.
Where are we NOW - after a year
into the eighties? In the United States ONE MILLION TEENAGE GIRLS, UNMARRIED, GET PREGNANT EVERY
YEAR! Conditions in England, Sweden and Western
Europe rival this. Two Johns Hopkins
University professors, Melvin Zelnik and
John F. Kantner, in a very recent study, report
that 50 percent of the nation's teenage girls - age 14 to 19 - have had
premarital sex. The survey showed the percentage has significantly increased
since 1971!
Today, with the avalanche of sex
literature and sex education published since World War I and with sex
everywhere freely discussed, the teens are indeed "wise" in sexual
discussion and sexual experience, but still woefully IGNORANT in sex
knowledge. Syracuse University Professor Sol Gordon says fewer than 10
percent of all teenagers have been given any school sex education. And of
course they receive little or none from their parents. The gutter- knowledge
acquired from their peers is woefully inadequate. Yet they are "wise in
their own conceits." Like the boy whose father in agitated embarrassment
said, "Johnnie, I think it's time we had a talk about sex."
"Fine, Dad," came the answer. "What'd you like to know?"
Sex ignorance is testified by
the fact of 250,000 reported adolescent gonorrhea cases annually. Not long
ago a third of marriages in the United States resulted in divorce. Today the divorce rate has swelled
to one half of all marriages! The foundational bulwark of any healthy, stable
and permanent society is the FAMILY UNIT.
Before World War I it was a rare
married woman who worked away from home. I remember, during World War I, my
own surprise at seeing women employed for the first time as elevator
operators in the Marshall Field store in Chicago! Such jobs never had been for women! Today only 13
percent of U.S. families include a working father, home-making mother
and one or more children! What would an Abraham Lincoln think of that! Or
even a Theodore Roosevelt! Or a Woodrow Wilson! Would they not turn over in
their graves - if they knew?
Over two-and-one-half million
American men and women avoid marriage altogether - yet live together, either
as unmarried heterosexuals or as homosexuals. By 1990 a virgin standing at
the marriage altar will be a phenomenon. Many ask today, why marriage at all
anyway? Some "experts" say marriage will soon be a thing of the
past. There is today a definite conspiracy, active on television, in
newspapers and in universities, to do away with the institution of marriage.
Though most people in the
eighties will marry at least once, there will be a broad variety of options.
This will include living alone by choice - though by no means will it
preclude sex. It will include single parentage by women, unmarried twosomes -
both homosexual and heterosexual. It will include communal living and
unrelated families. The number of unmarried couples living together doubled
in the 70's! Today "authorities" say "change in partnership
may be seen as predictable, understandable, even
desirable. We'll back away from the notion of lifelong marriage."
Loosening attitudes toward sex,
shout the "expert" conspirators, will help propel these changes.
With legalized abortion, and improved contraception, coming on the eighties
horizon are an anti- pregnancy vaccine, birth control implants under the
skin, and a birth control pill for men! Sex will be equated with fun,
pleasure, enjoyment - not babies! Since it is a basic truism that a solid
family structure is the foundational bulwark of any stable and permanent
society, this fact means only one thing - CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT IS ON
THE WAY DOWN - AND OUT - unless that great "Unseen Strong Hand from Someplace"
soon intervenes and saves today's sick society.
But before we leave the world
scene of the eighties, bear in mind the present WORLD IN REVOLT is in
rebellion against much more than pre-20th century sex repression. And the
modern downward spiral of humanity involves a much wider area than sex alone.
Today the family structure of Western life is endangered by much more than
illicit and promiscuous sex. Along with the modern sex rampage of adolescents
has come other addictions that titillate, arouse, stimulate and please the
physical senses.
Accompanying sexual indulgence
has come, in teen life, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, modern X- rated movies, gangsterism, violence. They look
for every pleasing, stimulating sensation. Some appeal to the sense of feel.
Some to sight. Some to hearing - like rock and disco music with the sensual
beat and the rhythm. Some to the sense of smell. People smell tobacco smoke.
Cigarette ads speak only of "taste." But you cannot taste smoke!
Believe it or not, you cannot taste smoke! But as the smell of tobacco smoke
becomes addictive in the nostril, and affects body and mind in the lungs, so
"pot" (marijuana), opium and other smoke affects the MIND, and
stimulates. One gets "high" - experiences new sensations. Heroin
and other hard drugs even more so. Nearly all who become hooked on the hard
drugs started on marijuana.
The movies bring
"pleasures" through the sense of sight and of sound. Kids spend
hours a day before the "one-eyed monster." It provides a ready-made
daydream. And misuse not only dulls the mind, television has been a prime medium
by which the anti-family conspiracy has injected its deadly poison into
juvenile and adult minds.
Make no mistake. Television is
an industry devoted to ENTERTAINMENT - pure and simple! Of course one finds
occasionally on TV a truly educational and/or worthwhile program or
documentary. But TV is a BUSINESS for PROFIT in America. It provides ENTERTAINMENT so that people have
"commercials" selling goods and services thrust before them. The
entertainers - even news announcers who are themselves primarily entertainers
- say before a "commercial break," "Stay tuned," or
"We'll be right back - don't go away." The viewer is literally
forced to allow the commercial huckster to inject his sales pitch into the
mind.
Another modern evil - seldom
recognized as such - is the working wife and mother. Family life has
undergone a RADICAL REVOLUTION! Teens have sex games at home in bed while Dad
and Mom are at work. Children do not eat with parents. They seldom go to
movies with parents. Parents have their lives, associates and friends apart
from the children. Parents never think of, teaching children, being with
children, maintaining a FAMILY RELATIONSHIP! Parental responsibility is
totally neglected. In due time parents are going to be brought to account for
this neglect of basic responsibility.
But Now, What a Surprise for
the Under-Thirties!
The young people of today have
little awareness of the sex and family conditions in pre-war years. In fact,
until 1914 there had been little basic change for some 4,000 years! The prior
to 1914 years were as different from today's world as day is from night!
Parents then, even as now, taught their children nothing about sex. They
themselves knew nothing! Their parents never had taught them! Besides, it
would have been too embarrassing! The commonly accepted dictum was,
"Keep our children innocent through ignorance until marriage - then
instinct will teach them."
But instinct did not teach them.
Humans unlike animals, do not come equipped with
instinct. Blindly, with a smattering of gutter-acquired misknowledge,
the newly married blundered their way into disillusionments, shattered
dreams, bitter resentments and frustrations - and too often the divorce
courts, although divorces were still a rarity.
True, a very large percentage of
girls were kept "pure." The girl, up until 1914, who lost her
virginity unmarried had also "lost her
honor." Of course a double standard had developed. Every man wanted a
virgin for a wife, but a majority were less careful
about male virtue. Yet the girl who had "gone the limit" was
"damaged goods."
Those under thirty today know
little about prevailing attitudes and sexual behavior prior to the two world
wars. Contrariwise, if a girl who died at age 22 prior to 1917 were
resurrected suddenly back to life today, she would be appalled! - horrified!
- at the prevailing attitude and behavior of
22-year-old girls today!
Just what are the generally unrealized
FACTS? What was the real origin of the then traditional Christian
morality? And conversely, what triggered the moral revolution - the so-called
"New Morality"? How did TODAY'S moderns come to accept present
attitudes and behavior patterns? What has finally, after thousands of years
of the "sex-is-shameful" repression, plunged the world into
prevalent sexual "freedoms"?
And what after all, is the PLAIN
TRUTH? What after all, are the TRUE VALUES? Was the pre-World War concept
better for humanity? Is the present "New Morality" really
advancement - really better for those who are swept along with it?
People who lived prior to the
20th century would be aghast if they could see life as it is lived today. Up
until World War I people believed in marriage and family life. My own family
was typical. I had never known of a divorce or a broken home and family in
any of my relatives or ancestors. Marriage was "until death do us
part." Any other status or life-style would have been strange and
shocking. But what brought this drastic change?
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