Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…In this crazy world in which we are living today, we are experiencing information overload. “How do you process it?”, “How do you know what to believe, or who to trust?” We are called to be discerning, but that assumes you have a solid foundation of truth on which you stand; do you? In our culture today, truth is relative, and morals are individualized because everyone wants to “be free!”; free, that is, to do what they want to do. How’s that working for you?
Throughout history, there have always been those who have professed to have the gift of prophecy, meaning they could accurately predict what was going to happen in the future. As you might suspect, by far the majority of those “barkers” were charlatans, but those with the true gift of prophecy have contributed immensely to the direction listeners have chosen to follow.
For instance, we just came through the Christmas season, a time when the birth of Jesus is celebrated. To some, this is a time of awe and wonder, but to others it is a time of skepticism, doubt, fear, and even mockery. No doubt the story is miraculous and it challenges “rational thinking”, but the prophecies from previous thousands of years have substantiated the details of the story with pin-point accuracy. While there are numerous examples of world history books, there is no book of prophecy that can even begin to compare to the Bible. (God spoke through prophets to warn His people of perilous times.) Those thousands of prophecies not only predicted the birth of Jesus, but there are many that have predicted with great detail what will happen in the “end times.” Reading those Scriptures right now is akin to reading the front page of most major newspapers.
Now I would like to introduce to you a modern prophet. Many of you will know him because of his incredibly popular radio show. Paul Harvey, (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast News and Commentary on weekdays, and at noon on Saturdays, along with his famous The Rest of the Story segments. From 1951 to 2008, his programs reached as many as 24 million people per week. Paul Harvey News was carried on 1,200 radio stations, on 400 American Forces Network stations, and in 300 newspapers.
Paul Harvey was indeed one of my favorites for many years. He was a brilliant and witty radio host, but I suspect he got his wisdom and guidance from a power greater than himself. (I am saying that because he said that about himself.) The excerpt below was penned over fifty years ago. I will leave it up to you to evaluate his accuracy.
If I Were the Devil
If I were the Devil, the Prince of Darkness, what methods of deception would I use to rule the world? What areas of society would I target? What tactics would I employ? In the transcript below, Paul Harvey in 1965 aired one of the most astonishing monologues ever recorded. Now nearly 50 years later, everything that Paul Harvey said the Devil would have to do to rule the world, has come to pass. How did 100% of what he said in 1965 come true? Was Paul Harvey a modern-day prophet? Was this glimpse of the future inspired by a supernatural power? No doubt, he was plugged into something particularly special. Ponder that as you will, but enjoy, or rather be appalled with… the rest of the story!
If I were the Devil, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness and I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, thee.
So, I would set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.”
To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good and what is good is “square.” And the old, I would teach to pray after me: “Our Father which art in Washington.”
And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d make TV look worse than movies and then make movies look worse than TV in a vicious cycle that just gets worse and worse. I’d peddle narcotics to whomever I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.
If I were the Devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves, until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.
If I were the Devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions; just let those run wild until, before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.
If I were the Devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.
If I were the Devil, I would take from those who have and give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what will you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be and thus I could undress you in public and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.
In other words, if I were the Devil, I’d just keep on doing what he is so successfully doing.
Paul Harvey…. Good Day!
I’ll be back next week with a new set of blogs. May God Bless you All!
Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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