HUMAN NATURE AT ITS WORST  #215

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… I had a blog ready to publish this morning, but as I was giving it a final perusal, I was immediately drawn to another topic that seemed timely, and certainly worthy of presentation in light of what has gone on in St. Louis for the past few days. I was just minutes from pressing the publish button to share “The Gift”, but instead I will write today about the antithesis of God’s Gift of Grace in a blog that I will appropriately call, “Human Nature At Its Worst”. I chose that title because in God’s manual – appropriately titled The Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), the term “sin nature” has been appropriately translated by our culture into “human nature”.  Both terms have the same meaning, which is “focusing on self”, but as you can see, the term “human nature” is much more politically correct because it packs considerably less sting!  For instance…”Well, yes I did cheat on my wife, but you have to understand, I just wasn’t getting what I needed at home”; or, “Well, I did fudge a bit on my income tax, but after all, the government gets enough of my money as it is.”  Our human nature always finds a way to justify pursuing what it wants.

Back before the November election, I wrote a number of blogs in which I referred to a Liberal Progressive Agenda (LPA). I don’t want to drag all of that material up again, other than to say that I believe the agenda is still alive and well and that it is wrapped in evil. I will tell you momentarily why I say that, but first I want to digress for three minutes and invite you to hear an inspired presentation by the late, great, Paul Harvey, who fifty years ago gave us a glimpse into the headlines of today with awe-inspiring accuracy.  This is a perfect introduction to what I am about to write.  Click here.

For the past few decades there has been an insidious movement festering in our country, progressing at a patient, methodical pace and with a very clear goal in mind.  And that goal has been to fundamentally transform America.  At the heart of that movement is the exaltation of human wisdom over God’s wisdom, and a big government that we will come to depend on as our provider. Even though the last election slowed down the speed of this endeavor, it certainly did not bring that movement to an end, as was witnessed in St. Louis this past weekend.

Let’s look at Genesis 3:1-6 to see how Satan deceived Eve by appealing to her “human nature”. The serpent, the shrewedest of all creatures, asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?” (a lie, but it cast doubt)  Then he went on to tell her, “God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.”  (You won’t need God; you can become your own god.)  “The woman was convinced.  The fruit looked so fresh and delicious and it would make her so wise. So she ate of the fruit.” (Notice that Satan wrapped the temptation in an irresistible way, as he always does.)  So too does the LPA.

There are many examples of the LPA that I have written about before, but for today’s message I want to focus specifically on the demise of our family structure, the politicalization of the Constitution, and  the exaltation of human wisdom over Godly wisdom.  Jonathan Cahn, in his best-selling book, “The Harbinger”, makes two powerful statements that capture the state of our culture today.  He said,  “As God was expunged from American life, idols came in to fill the void; idols of sensuality, idols of greed, of money, of success, comfort, materialism, pleasure, sexual immorality, self-worship, self-obsession. The sacred increasingly disappeared, and the profane took its place.” And again he stated, “America was founded on prayer. Therefore, the removal of prayer from its public life was a central part of its fall from God. A nation that turns away from prayer will ultimately find itself in desperate need of it.”

Just as Satan is the great deceiver and the father of lies, so is the power behind the LPA.  Much of their style is right out of Saul Alinsky’s playbook, “Rules for Radicals”, and here are some quotes that may startle you.

• “To gain the peoples trust a new organizer must show a intense anger over some issue.  Expressing love for the community accomplishes nothing.  It is only a sign of meekness.  Anger, on the other hand, unites the organizer with the people in a common cause.  It builds faith, faith in the ability and power of the organizer to bring change.”
• “The organizer’s job is to inseminate an invitation for himself, to agitate, introduce ideas, get people pregnant with hope and a desire for change and to identify you as the person most qualified for this purpose.”
• “Power is the reason for being of an organization. Power and organization are one and the same. When those in the status quo turn and label you an agitator, they are completely correct, for that is, in one word, your function – to agitate to the point of conflict”.

The largest training center for Socialist activists in the United States is a community organizer training institute in Chicago called The Midwest Academy.  Once their training is complete, organizers go to wherever they are most needed, which is seldom back to their own community.  The Alinsky method for doing that is to stir the pot and get people really mad about something.  Then present yourself as the best hope for improvement and change.”

Now let’s superimpose what we just read over last weekend’s disturbance in St. Louis and in surrounding communities. A verdict was delivered concerning a shooting that was met with anger and frustration from some factions of our community.  They vowed to protest, which is their legal right, and many turned out to voice their opinion.  However, the LPA agitators ramped up that protest.  I say LPA agitators because just like Ferguson, it was no happenstance that many (hired?) outsiders were transported to Saint Louis to capitalize on the mood of the protestors, and to whip them up into an aggressive frenzy that resulted in destruction of property and many injuries. We have seen it so many times in the last year that it is almost expected, and even worse…tolerated. What a sad commentary on our society right now.

But going back to Jonathan Cahn’s comments, we are a society that has expunged God from our midst, and without that moral compass, we look a lot like the Israelites in the wilderness before God gave them civil law, moral law, and His standard all wrapped up in the 10 Commandments.  And just like the Israelites even after they received the Law, we too find the Commandments too confining, so we look for idols and excuses to appease our human nature.  When we are focused on “self” and getting what we want, our emotions, our mind, and our will produce these character defects: anger, jealousy, hatred, fear, guilt, shame, remorse, bitterness, anxiety, depression, immorality, impurity, sensuality, strife, envying, carousing, lying, cheating, stealing, etc.etc. When your heart is filled with these feelings, nothing good ever results.  All of those character defects have their root in evil, and what we saw this weekend was the acting out of those feelings.

One very successful tactic of the LPA over the years has been to chip, chip, chip away at the fundamental pillars of our society (ie. the Constitution, our Christian beliefs and our sense of reality.) The Constitution, much like the Ten Commandments, is viewed by many as too confining and out of date.  I personally cringe when I hear it referred to as a living, breathing document that should be updated in order to be relevant in our culture. The wisdom of our Founding Fathers has certainly withstood the test of time, and we need those fundamental, moral and legal truths to guide us when we have liberal judges who are too quick to try to reinterpret these monuments for political purposes.  There is no shortage of name-calling aimed at those who still revere that document’s brilliance.

Ten years after the removal of prayer and Scripture from our schools, the legalization of abortion became the law of the land in 1973, and over 58 million babies have been killed.  Since that time there has been a steady assault on Christian values and Christian teachings by the LPA.  The Ten Commandments have been removed from public buildings; Christian holidays and symbols have been under assault; Christian pastors and Christian business people have come under attack for standing on their religious principles; and what was sacred is now mocked and ridiculed, and what was profane is now basking in the spotlight.

Unfortunately the LPA has a huge support system when it comes to changing our sense of reality. When it comes to numbing down and dumbing down our culture, the entertainment industry and the media are more than complicit.  The traditional family structure is being challenged by the “new norm”;  the definition of male and female has radically changed and anatomical body parts is no longer a determining factor. Sex, violence and the supernatural (not Godly but demonic) has overtaken the airwaves, theaters and gaming industry. The more we are exposed to these graphic presentations, the more numb our senses become to good vs.evil and right vs.wrong. Instead of being washed by the blood of the Lamb, we are immersed in a blood that is perpetrated by evil.

Unfortunately I don’t think the solution to our core problem is just a political solution or legal solution.  I think we are facing a spiritual problem that has resulted from our churches and our culture drifting away from God’s way and his principles.  I believe it is time for the churches to step up and boldly proclaim the truth of God’s word without compromise.  I believe our culture is in desperate need of, and in search for, something that will fill that preverbal “hole in our collective soul”.  When our minds and hearts are filled with the teachings of Jesus, this is what results: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  This happens when we are God-centered rather than self-centered.

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May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

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