"MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY..."

A war is in progress; all around us the battle rages. We don’t hear the screams or see the smoke, but we exist at ground zero. We are the prize, the goal, the end game; but we are also pawns in this battle, fodder for the cannon. We have a profound interest in this war, but few realize it. The winner takes all, the loser is vanquished forever, hopeless and destroyed. Strangely, the winner had been determined before the battle was begun, His opponent fighting vainly, driven by pride and hate.

Of course I’m talking about the war between good and evil; infinite good and absolute evil. The war between God and Satan; fought between angels and demons in the great unseen world of the spirits. This war is beginning to bubble to the surface. The astute observer is able to see the effects of this confrontation in the changes that we as people have undergone in our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. We don’t seem able to place ourselves in context. We’ve lost our sense of place in the world. I believe that this is a direct result of a concerted effort by Satan to drive us away from God and all that makes us special to him. I have noticed this most strongly of late in the issue of human rights.

Satan has enlisted his followers here on earth over the last two centuries to work to destroy God’s people and His church. This effort has taken many forms and involved many people and institutions. I believe that the satanic influence is known and understood by some but not all of those that do his bidding.

I believe we are being systematically dehumanized. We are most human when we are closest to our creator. Satan needs to drive a wedge, to peel us away from God, if he is to be successful in this battle. He wants to control us, Gods creation, to put himself in the place of God, to be worshipped and adored. To do this, he must destroy our belief in God and our relationship to Him and at the same time redefine our understanding of what it means to be human.

He has attempted this in two ways. He has demonized authentic religious expression and removed it from the public arena. Satan has also redefined human rights, removing from us the gifts of freedom that were bestowed by God. These two essential elements of our humanity have been replaced by the new, satanic religions of profit and the state.

Real faith has been replaced by temporal pleasure. Those on the right worship at the altar of unrestrained and predatory free markets while those on the left bow on their knees before an ever increasing state power that promises all of their physical needs will be satisfied. Both religions promise freedom from want and pain, pleasure for the asking and limited responsibility for our actions.

Real faith requires us to embrace suffering, for it was suffering that opened the door to our redemption. It requires that not only do we take responsibility for our actions but that we confess our sins and beg for forgiveness. Real faith offers us the freedom to strive for redemption and happiness, while never guaranteeing either. We are allowed to exercise our free will, to choose or reject evil. It is up to us.

The new religion offers us so much pleasure while asking so little in return. It offers to shelter and feed us, put clothes on our back and nurse us back to health. And what does it ask of us? Just our freedom.

The old religion says that we are free to do just about anything we want, as long as we don’t adversely affect anyone else, including God. We can practice religion as we see fit, enjoy the fruits of our labor, own property and have the right to defend it. We can say what we want and believe what we please. We can assemble peaceably with whomever we choose for whatever reason we desire. We can be secure in our persons and property. We have the right to be judged by our peers if we are accused of a crime. And we have a right to privacy, to be left alone to make our way in the world. These rules and many more not mentioned are called the Natural Law. These are the laws that are written on our hearts and understood intuitively by most people; given to us by God as part of our birthright.

The new religion, in exchange for temporal comfort, demands that we deny the Natural Law and that we replace our God given rights with civil rights, more accurately described as privileges, bestowed upon us by our new high priests, the politicians and corporate leaders that have occupied the judgment seat of the one, true God. These new priests tell us that we can no longer practice our faith, except in narrowly defined environments. We can’t speak of the old God in school, out in public or just about anywhere else these old fashioned ideas might upset one of the enlightened ones. We no longer have the right to defend ourselves against aggressors because, since evil is now defined by circumstance and not by any objective standards we are not capable of seeing into the heart of our assailant and therefore do not have the right to judge his intent. We have no expectation of privacy when an employer can demand a sample of bodily fluids as a precursor to employment. Be careful what you say lest it be judged a hate crime, injuring the group of the month and violating their special protections. A right to the fruit of your labor, the labor that you cannot be forced to provide without just compensation (slavery)? The new religion forces you to tithe through taxation, applying the fruits of your labor to support the interests of the state and private businesses, whether you agree to it or not.

The new religion preaches that there are absolutely no absolutes; all actions are viewed through the prism of benefit to the state and business. What’s good for General Motors is good for America (literally). We condemn Russia for invading Georgia over energy concerns while we kill thousands in Iraq for the same reason.

Americans and the rest of the world have whole heartedly embraced the new religion and cast off the old. We have thrown away responsibility and suffering for perceived freedom and comfort. We have reconstructed the Pagan temples of old and offered up our humanity as a sacrifice to the gods of fascism.

We have sold our souls to the one that would replace God. Satan is near to his objective; the world will bow before him.

Satan is in the process of tearing down the temples of the new religion. He is destroying the global financial system and causing the failure of the American experiment, the last bastion of God given freedom left. And his followers, well, they will be left with nothing except abject, soul consuming despair. Everything that they believed in will have crumbled, leaving them nothing to fall back on. Their money will be worthless and the state anarchic. All will be lost. Satan will enter the holy of holies. And the world will rejoice.

Those that held to the old religion will not have despaired. We know that Satan’s victory will be short lived. Notwithstanding, we have much hardship ahead. The end of the war is at hand. I don’t know when but I think it is close. We need to pray and ask God for strength and wisdom. We need to open ourselves to His word and listen carefully. We need to be prepared to act as we are told, no matter how hard or crazy something might sound. I believe God will make it quite obvious to those that want to hear that what we are hearing is from Him.

We are blessed to be witnessing the triumph of God as foretold by the prophets. We are watching the final act of a plan put in place by Satan long, long ago. Be alert and observant. Someday, when you’re old, somebody is going to ask, “Were you really there? Did you see it? Is it true what they say?” Like the apostles of old you will pass on the stories, the truth of the coming of the Lord. Be Prepared.