STACKING THE DECK

Billy Coffey is at a diner waiting for his lunch when a stranger approaches him and asks a question: "Do you go to church?"

Billy C. answers, "Yes."

The stranger asks: "Do you think non-Christians will go to heaven or to hell when they die?" But he doesn't wait for an answer; he goes on, "Christians say that God is love, but if you don't go along with the program, then you get eternally punished. That doesn't sound like love to me, that just sounds hypocritical."

A STACKED DECK

That query is the attitude of many. It's the type of question Oprah Winfrey and Larry King would ask to embarrass the believer. What we need to realize is that the way the question is phrased presents the Christian with a deck stacked against him. (The phrase, "a stacked deck" means to make arrangements that result in an unfair advantage over someone or something. Like fixing a deck of playing cards in one's favor during a game.) It's a loaded question and needs to be recognized as such because not all of the theological cards are on the table.

But, instead of being at a loss for words, the Christian can reply like Billy Coffey did, with some additions:

"Not really. How old are you? I'd guess you're around 50. God has spent fifty years trying to get your attention. He has done this in many ways--one of the fundamental ways is that whenever you've looked up at the night sky, you've seen the power, intelligence, and precision of His handiwork. By that, He's been telling you every cloudless night, "I exist," night after night, week after week, month after month, year after year. Evidently, your response has been that of wanting Him to stay as far away from you as possible. Your choice, every time has been, "No. I don't want to know You."

"Then, over the course of those 50 years, there's no telling how many opportunities you've had to respond positively to His invitation to know Him--opportunities through reading the Bible that He spent 1400 years to produce for you. There's no telling of the countless number of people who crossed your path, invited you to a church meeting, a campus meeting, or talked to you about Christ. And what about those thoughts you've had about eternity, it's a concept God has hard wired into your mind. 

"He's been loving, gracious and patient with you for five decades, but at each opportunity, you've wanted nothing to do with Him or His Word, and certainly not His Son who died for all your sins. Instead you've spent your decades watching "Jeopardy" and the weather reports or keeping up with the the latest celebrity to catch you fleeting fancy. If you were honest, you'd say, 'I really haven't cared about spiritual things.'

"The thing is, since you've wanted nothing to do with Him all these years and if you continue with that attitude, He'll honor your request that you want to be as far away from Him as possible.You'll have all eternity be far, far away.

"But don't stack the deck with a question you've preloaded and don't call Him 'hypocritical.' You don't have that option."

SUFFER, LITTLE GERMAN CHILDREN

 There is a Greek word in the New Testament that tells us that things don't "just happen." That word is "kosmos," which indicates that the world since the Fall of man in Genesis 3 is a system, and is deliberately arranged in such a way so as to leave God out.

II Corinthians 4:4 describes one aspect of this system: "The god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." All you need to see this blindness is to have a five-minute conversation with the average church-goer about the content of the gospel and you'll find that he inflates it with works.

"Kosmos" indicates there is a conspiracy, that things just don't happen. Kosmos and II Corinthians 4:4 rip off the curtain and show that there is an intelligence behind the conspiracy.

A blindness to the gospel is only one of the aspects of the way Satan has organized the fallen world. Germany in the 1930's furnishes us with a case study of the organized way in which Nazis left God out. 

THE GERMAN CHILD AT PRAYER

German children were the primary target of Nazism: Children were taught to pray to Hitler instead of God.  The Nazi Welfare Committee taught the children of the poor to pray before meals and to end their prayer with: ‘For this food, my Fuehrer, my thanks I render.'  

Another official child's prayer ended: "My Fuehrer, by Fuehrer, my faith and my light, Heil my Fuehrer." 

ASPECTS OF THE CONSPIRACY

They taught the Hitler Youth (an official organization) to rebel against their parents, to be contemptuous of religion, and to use crude and offensive language. The Nazis forbade parents to give their children Christian names and ordered parents to give them names like Dietrich, Otto or Siegfried. The government prohibited parents from teaching Christianity in the home. These things organized attempts to leave God out; the Kosmos at work.

In addition, the remedy proposed by the Nazis to solve their enemy of Christianity was to take Christian children, whose parents insisted on teaching them Christian virtues, away from their parents.  

WAIT. WHAT?

Some of these aspects of the conspiracy have a familiar ring. For example, "they encouraged the youth to be rebellious against their parents." That sounds familiar, doesn't it? Such encouragement comes to us today via the media which portrays parents as dim-witted and hopelessly irrelevant. Who wouldn't rebel against such pathetic people; they aren't worth listening to. Then the media portrays the youth as sullen, pouting, and, in the end, disobedient as their parents stand helpless to stop the rebellion. This gives the indication to the youth and to the parents that an attitude and such behavior are normal.

The Nazis encouraged coarse language, right? That sounds familiar too. Movies are literally crammed full of it, from the mouths of every character in the movie--men, women, youth, and even children. What this does is to communicate to the youth that this type of language is normal, that is, that's what normal people do and if you don't, you aren't normal, you're weird, you don't fit in.

AN INCIDENT IN 2013

"The German government forcibly seized four children from their parents in a raid in Darmstadt. Why? Because the Wunderlich children were home schooled – an illegal activity viewed by the German government as 'child endangerment.' (Notice that the Kosmos gives "moral" reasons for what it does.)

"Police were armed with a battering ram, and held the father, Dirk Wunderlich, to a chair while they removed the children. A team of 20 social workers, police, and special agents entered the home. The children were taken to unknown locations and officials told the parents they would not be seeing their children 'anytime soon.'

"Not only did the German government seize the children – they seized the children’s passports as well. This prevented the family from attempting to move to another country where homeschooling is permissible. According to Wunderlich, the children could be taken from them permanently if they made such an attempt. 'Our children are prisoners of the German government,' he said."*

This world-system is organized in its rebellion against God. And it is strong. But Christ said, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the Kosmos." It's coming judgment is certain. In the meantime, suffer, little German children. The Kosmos is at work.
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* After a hearing, the children were allowed to go home as long as the parents put them back into the government school system. At least their children have been allowed to return home; however, the larger issue of the lack of parental freedom in Germany is still a large obstacle.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN NONSENSE?

Dennis Prager is an articulate Jewish scholar who is a keen observer of the American culture. He's concerned about the lack of wisdom in our society he's been observing. He points out that this lack of wisdom comes at a time when we have more information at our fingertips (via one click of a mouse) than any generation in history. Facts are readily available, yes, but no wisdom. He goes so far as to point out that there's a war going on against wisdom and he cites the following examples:

1. There is a movement to lower the voting age to 16. (At 16, all I could think about were the New York Yankees, doing homework, playing ping-pong in our garage, and playing basketball in our driveway.)

2. Two professors were accused of being racist for writing, "Get married before you have children and strive to stay married for their sake. Get the education you need for gainful employment, work hard, and avoid idleness. Go the extra mile for your employer or client. Be a patriot, ready to serve the country. Be neighborly, civic-minded, and charitable. Avoid coarse language in public. Be respectful of authority. Eschew substance abuse and crime."

3. The social media mob condemned of a girl for wearing a Chinese dress to her high school prom.

4. The belief that there are more than two genders. (Like the T-shirt I saw, "Gender is fluid.")

5. Providing college students with “safe spaces” — with hot chocolate, stuffed animals and puppy videos — in which to hide whenever a speaker with whom they disagree comes to their college. (I seriously disagreed with college algebra, but found no safe space.)

6. The English department of the University of Pennsylvania removed a portrait of William Shakespeare, replacing it with that of a black lesbian poet.

7. The idea that no culture is superior to another morally or in any other way. (We can render no judgment to the Aztecs even though they practiced human/infant sacrifice.)

8. The principle that certain ideas aren't morally superior to others, and certain literary or artistic works aren't superior to others.

9. One professor told another professor a harmless joke and found himself up for disciplinary action.

10. An influential educator, author, and philosopher says that there are two things which rank as the greatest dangers to the world and one of them is Christianity.

EXPLANATION AND SOLUTION

That's just the tip of the nonsense iceberg. It would take too much time to talk about how some universities have issued directives that campus Christian organizations can't ban atheists from leadership positions or how everyone attending Hanover Park High School in New Jersey can now join the cheer leading squad regardless of their talent or skill or how colleges are doing away with voting for homecoming king and queen or whatever other event for which there have been kings and queens elected.

The question is, how do we explain all this nonsensical war on wisdom? Is there something deeper than the ideas and actions listed above are part of a political philosophy and agenda? Yes.

How would we explain the war on wisdom? We don't have to. God did. In Romans 1, God says, "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools . . ."

The explanation for all the dangerous nonsense is a spiritual, not a political one. Solomon speaks to the point: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." "The fear of the Lord" is a positive response to God and His Word. When a culture responds negatively to God and His Word, certain results automatically come.

If the explanation for the nonsense is a spiritual one, the solution is not a political agenda nor the political process nor the election of the "right" candidate. In his first State of the Union Address, President Carter said, "Government cannot solve our problems, it can’t set our goals, it cannot define our vision. Government cannot eliminate poverty or provide a bountiful economy or reduce inflation or save our cities or cure illiteracy or provide energy. And government cannot mandate goodness."

Paul says the solution to the war on wisdom is a spiritual one: "Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col. 2:2-3)

 

 

MY EXCLUSIVE CLUB V

CBS, NBC, and ABC TV took to the streets on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. Their purpose was to interview people at random. Their reporters were on the streets of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas.? Why? What was going on that afternoon? They found large groups of people, black, white, men, and women of all ages along with a few teenagers all standing and all stunned.

Why? What was going on in America that afternoon?

Only a short time had passed since the news bulletin had shattered the airways: President Kennedy had been assassinated. President Kennedy was dead.

The reporters want to know the thoughts of the men and women on the streets of those cities. As they step up to the various individuals in the groups on the streets, the viewer today notices huge contrasts between the way Americans were back then and the way we are now. Back then, the groups in those cities and around the country had been Christianized.

The first thing we notice about everyone in the groups is that they're neat, well-groomed and well-dressed. The men are leaving work wearing coats and ties, topped off with a firmly in place hat. We notice that no one is sloppy in attire.

But there's more. There's something different about their demeanor. The reporter puts the microphone before each one and asks, "What are your thoughts about what has happened today?"

Their answers are calm, measured and the others in the group listen respectfully to each one who speaks. Each one waits until the reporter comes to them before they render their thoughts, each in turn. No one shouts at anyone, no one screams, no one interrupts. Two teens interviewed by a reporter, answer, "Yes, sir" when he asks if he may interview them. There are no angry words, although some say they're angry, their words don't indicate rage or anger. It is a scene of calm. Their words are subdued.

Another thing: no one, not one, uses improper grammar. They know how to speak and these average ordinary folks know how to use the English language with proper grammar. Everyone of them.

Nor was there any cursing, no language that had to be censored--this was all broadcast live from the streets of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Back in that day, this decorum was exactly what was expected of men, women, and youth.

One woman's remarks to the television audience are of special interest. She says that what has happened is both sad and disgraceful, she says, "We are a Christian nation and such shouldn't happen in a Christian nation." (We might wish that she had said, "We're a nation highly influenced by  Christianity.")

Contrast that with what we witnessed on that November day, 2016, when the candidate almost everyone expected to win didn't. Rioting hit the streets of Portland and Oakland as Hillary Clinton supporters reacted badly to her loss,while death threats against the new president-elect flooded social media. Mobs broke windows and set cars on fire in Oakland as irate "protesters" lit flares and blocked freeways.

Students also hit the streets of Eugene and Portland, Oregon to protest against a democratic election. Demonstrators could be heard chanting obscene chants as they marched in unison. Occasionally, these marches led to riots. The walkouts by high school students, some encouraged by teachers and administrators, led to one 15-year-old Republican supporter's getting beat up by class mates, while other acts of violence took place against those who admitted to voting for the president-elect. 

Christianized American was a civil place, a place where people had respect for one another, but it's now a place only seen our our rear view mirrors, a place gone forever.