Hollywood & Halloween Horror! The Fascination with Evil Must Stop!

Hollywood & Halloween Horror! The Fascination with Evil Must Stop! Kelly Durant

 

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2. Have you ever tried to reason with a crazy person? You never can win an argument with them because they always justify their way of being, and their evil deeds. They don’t repent, instead, they gloat! There are different kinds of “crazy” in the world, but quite often it is due to an evil spirit possession. The evil people of the world are always raising up evil spirits to influence the youth, the weak, and those that leave behind their faith in Jesus! 

 

Jesus says trying to convert these kinds of people is like trying to reason with a wild dog or pig.  Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Groups of wild dogs or pigs can kill you! This is why so-called protesters for evil causes always gather in crowds, they have more power together. Evil people want to create a hive mentality so everyone will be overcome by evil!

 

I am bringing this matter of evil up because every year in October we have a whole month of horror films coming out of Hollywood, all the merchants in town also promote evil looking costumes and decorations, and evil decorated houses for Halloween reveal how much people are fascinated by death and evil spirits. Often in this moth there are mass murders as well!

 

3. As Christians we are to abstain from evil and the appearance of evil. It is evident that the further away from Christianity this nation has drifted, the more evil has become the replacement for what our culture indulges in. ‘Halloween retail spending was estimated at $12.2 billion in 2022. They spent a record $108 per person, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey’ (Google).

 

Many Christians have been tricked into leaving behind the healthy, good, and Godly habits we once had in society, and it is wreaking havoc on everyone. This slow acceptance of violence and evil, of perversions and filth is in direct disobedience to the scriptures as we just read, 21 ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good’. Evil is prevailing today because not enough Christians are demanding that the beautiful good things of God be the dominant theme in our communities. 

 

Evil is very seducing! When you see it in movies, hear it in amazingly catchy pop songs, and read about evil people getting away with murder as political and famous characters do, one starts to subliminally get convinced that the dark side might just be more exciting and powerful! Christians must speak against evil! Jesus warned us to ‘watch and pray’ and to resist temptation, any one of us can fall to evil, and Satan will deceive the very ‘elect’ or saved if you and I let him by not staying connected to Him!

 

4. I think all Christians should get very disturbed by how our society is filling up with hypocritical dysfunctional dystopian crazy evil people who mock and persecute the people of God while glorying themselves in their horrific acts. Even those who murder seem to escape as if all is normal politics and acceptable!

 

Satan knows how to play games with the average shallow, uneducated, non-Christian who does not have the Holy Spirit, as he tricks their minds to respect him and evil and offer evil as the solution from the evil in the world. But you and I know we cannot fight fire with fire! Vengeance is of the Lord! Romans 12:17

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

 

Observe how the same old pattern works. Satan inspires evil in people, these people do horrific things to others exploiting them for sex or labor, or even murdering them, then the abused get bitter and hate filled, so they murder these oppressors and even innocent ones as well in retaliation. So, whether it be for revenge or for pleasure, division and murder is accomplished to destroy the beautiful human lives God created. Never fall for hate of another by propaganda, Jesus commands us to love, even enemies!

 

5. Every year, there is an overrated movie, such as the ‘Joker’ that has the same old theme of Satan trying to invoke sympathy for himself. I don’t even need to see this movie to conclude its contents; it is centered around the idea that we should feel sorry for the abused mentally disturbed (demon possessed) people to the point we understand and accept it when they murder others! After all, certain people deserve to be hated and murdered, right? Righteous people in society will not show respect for the perverse evil delusional demonic crowd and in consequence the evil ones want to kill them! The same as it was with Jesus and the hypocrites in his day! 

 

How sick and self-destructive are the appetites of so many as they enjoy seeing violence done to others, but they never want to be the victim of a violent act! Here is the irony, when violence is done in real life, when evil is done as suggested people carry out as in movies, songs, and fake media, then people lose their minds!

 

You soon hear the decrying, ‘How horrible are guns and violence, how sad that our mentally ill are neglected, how is it that no one makes the pharmaceutical companies, the doctors, or the individual be responsible! Such was the case with the Colorado mass shooting when James Holmes went in like a ‘Joker’ to kill everyone he could! He was just acting out what he had learned from video games and movies! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Holmes_(mass_murderer)

 

6. Parents that let their kids play murderous video games 6- hours a day, who love evil movies where evil characters are exalted, who abuse their kids with violence and vulgar language, who medicate them with meds from greedy pharmaceutical companies are indeed a part of the problem of the ills plaguing our society. 

 

Before it use to be that 70% of the local kids went to church and everyone had a debt with their neighbor in society to be honest, good, truthful, kind, respectable, and reasonable. Those that did not grow up in the 50s, 60s, and even 70s, do not even know how good it was to feel safe with good neighbors and have unlocked front doors!

 

Currently stats show about 20% of kids are going to church and what do we deal with today? Kids that are dishonest, bad, liars, mean, disrespectful, and unreasonable. Because parents, educators, and Christians have not done their job correctly in punishing evil. Children and adults who proudly boast in their delusions, perversions, and evil, are causing us all to reap the consequences of an evil that is erodingly destroying us! https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/?fbclid=IwAR0WM8wvgNKZCWc5QaTZw7ZYIpowqAQr1Q-qqKy6cARRLivovdS-6nWRK4c

 

 

7. And how did it happen that Christians have had their hands tied and voices muted in most every public square across the country!? A person who will rise up and preach decency, common sense, Biblical values, and punishment for evil offenders and lawbreakers is quickly mocked, ostracized, and shamed! They might even be labeled as a terrorist like some mothers were about a year ago when they spoke up on what was happening in the schools! Also, they (we) get banned from Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter! Only Rumble has some freedom, apart from individual blogs. See mine at   Kdurant.blogspot.com

 

We must pray that we as Christians do not lose our love for others as Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

 

Apart from not participating in Halloween, not going to subversive evil movies, and doing our part to be decent and good, what more can we do to stop evil? Our only hope is Jesus! His Word is like water on the fire of evil! Evil people will not hang around if the subject is going to be Jesus, righteousness, and how to combat evil! Start with yourself, if you are an example of purity and holiness, others will notice, and your light will shine. But speak up too! Denounce evil! 

 

8. We must practice more what we know as in James 4:7 

‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ The devil always tries to get you to ‘turn’ to his dark side by shaming you, intimidating you, mocking you, and exhausting you to the point you give up in your battle to be righteous and good! But never, never, never give up!

 

Let’s revert back to what was in scripture after we learned we must avoid evil and the appearance of evil, 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What we see here is a prayer for us that we should pray this for each other! If we are to be ‘holy’, then we must sanctify ourselves (by reading God’s Word, praying, and supporting one another) and we must guard our spirit, soul, and mind! If we do then we will be blameless and ready to face the Lord when we die. And you could die today, never think you can do bad now and repent later, you may never get the chance! Satan does reap souls often times and God lets him if the person is given over to him. 

 

9. Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. When the culture of a nation enters a season in which it is celebrating a holiday that has its founding roots in evil, such as with Halloween, we should be praying more that we conquer dark evil with the light of Jesus!

 

Israel of old got severely punished and taken away as slaves when they abandoned the worship of God and worshipped Satanic gods such as Baal, Ashtoreth, and Moloch. Today abortionists and secret Satanic cults continue to sacrifice children. Halloween is no joke to some, they truly do practice evil. How did we ever accept equating provoking fear as something fun worthy of a sweet reward?

 

I know many will celebrate Halloween no matter what I or the preachers say, but all of us should remind others that we must avoid the appearance of evil, and avoid evil itself as well!  Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil. Satan gets others to accept evil when it is done in a joking manner, or a fun manner, but we must be wise to his tricks. His tricks carry no treat, but rather an infernal consequence unless we repent and get Jesus to clean us and save us!

 

The Two Warring Forces: Evil Is Destroying All Systems!

The Two Warring Forces: Evil Is Destroying All Systems! 10-22-23    By Kelly Durant 

Matthew 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

2. How many of you have worked in a job and known co-workers that are sabotagers? These are people who seek their own self-interests that do something evil to a place they owe loyalty to, that normally functions for the good of many, but they have no respect. These are ones who put sand in the machinery. Often, they do damage in a way so that the company will depend on them to clean it out! The Garden of Eden repeats itself over and over as many good companies, families, governments, and churches that start out good often get destroyed by the internal evil introduced by a few. Ones within their ranks.   

I’ll give you one quick example of how evil invades, which is always from within. In a former place of work where I was there was a pest control guy chatting with me one day and he told me how he keeps his contracts. He explained that if a company wanted to cancel the service because they thought they didn’t have any bug problem anymore he told me something sinister that he would do to change their minds. He told me that he had a secret spray to attract bugs so that once he had been cancelled he would then spray the secret formula and within a month thousands of bugs would return. Then, of course the people of the company would beg him to come back to eliminate the horrendous bug infestation problem! But bug infestations are nothing compared to all the evil that is being introduced today!

When younger, did you ever imagine that evil people could become so prevalent being present in everything everywhere? What if I told you that evil Satanic people have invaded every possible system in society? I am referring to evil having infiltrated to the point of totally controlling in the government, major corporations, education institutions, the medical field, and even certain church denominations!  

3. Most Christians like myself interpret the passage of the wheat and tares as a message concerning how Satan has occultly invaded the once perfectly created earth and left his seeds of evil to destroy what God had made. The most evident is that Jesus is comparing the people of God, those who are of good seed, those with Jesus producing good fruit in their lives, as being the good wheat. The people of Satan are as the deceptive tares, or weeds mingled in society alongside the good ones.

The implicit is that the good and evil have to co-exist for a time period predetermined by God, and then there will be a reaping. The reaping as we know is the great moment in time when Jesus returns to integrate God’s kingdom with the souls of good people who honored Christ. It’s compared to the great winepress as in Revelation 14.. This rapture and judgement day, will separate out good from the evil for eternity thereafter. I can’t wait for that day!

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” How exciting it is that this day will come and the saved good people who loved God and obeyed Jesus commands will finally be free from having to endure the evil deeds of the weeds, goats, wolves, and demons!

4.  If we investigate deeper, it turns out that the tares Jesus describes are weeds in Israel that are very similar in appearance to the wheat when they are young. In other words weeks or months could go by before one could distinguish what was what. This is the deception of Satan and his people, in the beginning they appear to be good, they look almost identical and they seem harmless and authentic but they are not.

Once time has gone by and their roots are deep, once they are mature it becomes evident how ugly and worthless they are damaging the wheat nearby. They suck up more than twice their share of the nutrients and water and they can quite often even destroy the whole crop! To eat them will poison you!

To clean out weeds in your garden you must do it almost daily or they will take over completely ruining all the good plants! In the case of a wheat field, it is so vast it is impossible to pluck them out, and conclusively this world is enormously vast and complex, so the evident is …we have a serious problem of evil cohabitating and damaging our world in this closing era of history.

5.  It is not easy to be a wheat stalk trying to keep your place in the sun in this world surrounded by evil life sucking weeds who want to destroy you! But over and over we are told to be patient, we are maturing and we will be victorious by remaining faithful produce good grains that are healthy, while the evil ones are setting their selves up for the day of the great judgement to be burned.  

 Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

 Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls. Our patience will get us through this world of evil but we do have a mission, and that is to preach the gospel, which is the good news, knowing that the good will win in the end! Evil must be exposed for what it is so every single person on earth will be without excuse for what they follow and support. A person who agrees with or supports an evil person becomes subjected to the evil! Never forget, the good seed of the crop will be harvested and safely stay in the barn of God (heaven) forever!

6.  Jesus exposed the evil weeds in His day! The worst evil ones were, and still are, the so called spiritual religious leaders who were false pretenders and murderers. They, being jealous of Jesus authority, purity, and compassion hated and attacked Him with lies and violence. They went berserk over His teachings hating His innocent followers. Just the presence of Jesus, just the Holy Spirit shining on a Christian’s face makes the evil ones irate because their evil gets exposed by the light. Jesus spoke up, and spoke truth and this is the example we all must follow! 

Today murderous evil is expressed in global false religions but also there is evidence of it in the so called a-religious. The atheists, communists, liberal militants, and Satanists in the world would have you believe that Christians are the worst evil hypocrites in the world but there is little evidence of this. Sadly, some so-called Christians have been traitors to the faith! The evil of these weeds (who never were really converted Christians in my opinion) mostly include crimes of stealing money and getting illicit sex. God will hold them accountable for causing many to stumble! But the percentage rate of these abuses pails compared to these other evil sources doing fraud, deceiving, and destroying overtly.

The most distinctive evil ones in the world are the Satanists, Communists, and false prophet followers from the East who have a repeated history of killing hundreds of millions of people, in particular the killing of Christians, and even the murder of their own! (see the chart of all world wars)

7. The profound effect and meaning of this parable of Jesus of the wheat and the tares is in this modern age is becoming more and more disturbingly clear. In every system most people are doing what’s right sewing good seed and others are doing the total opposite and by all appearances no one can stop them from doing the damage! How alarming! It is an imbalance of a 2-tiered system! 

The solution is never silence or indifference! Jesus spoke this parable of the wheat and weeds for us to share it to everyone. We must make known the horrible evil that exists amongst us, that evil deeds may even at first glance appear as good, but we must expose Godlessness to everyone! Jesus called out the hypocrites, liars, and thieves, and we must label evil sources as from Satan, the betrayer, 

When you are silent or indifferent concerning an evil happening you are in essence hiding the good and light. Matthew 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Darkness hates the light, it gets destroyed by it!

8. Remember as Christians this world is the only hell we will ever have to know, but for the wicked this world is the only heaven they will know! We must stay on the course of being faithful to Jesus, faithful to the “kingdoms of God”. Why do I say, ‘kingdoms’? There are multitudes of groups, organizations, and even corporations doing good, and we should support them. You are a part of one of them! The Salvation Army prints War Crys for a reason! We are at war with evil!

In this wicked world, there will always be wars and rumors of wars and sometimes it is hard to know which side is of the wheat, and which is of the tares! I think God allowed the U.S, forces to beat the Nazis in WW2 because most soldiers were Christian. There was much less abuse done by them than with the Nazi captors. But how was it with the Nazis? They would rape captives, starve them, and kill anyone at random; it was a horrific bloody show of the depravity of man when Hitler had absolute control. Absolute control corrupts absolutely!

And today the United Nations forces have been caught many times raping, kidnapping, & trafficking and yet they are on the front lines helping immigrants come to the U.S. and they speak in world meetings as if they are the saviors of the world’s oppressed?! Saudi Arabia was even voted to be the rep of human rights?!

9. We support God and country, but in the war of good vs. evil, we should expose, disempower, and shun evil leaders amongst us, or we may be guilty of supporting evil kingdoms deceived in ignorance. We will then appear not to be honestly righteous as a people, but to be a people seen by others as those who are lovers of debauchery, blindly supportive of all the exploitations of the elites in charge, of our politician’s money extortions & laundering, and arms sales to evil nations.  

Watch and pray over your own life to be sure you are making war on the right side of the fence! In the wars of the world, it seems there are always evil players on both sides but with one side being a little more righteous than the other and we do reject all exploiters and evil dominions. Jesus preached Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. And remember peace is not something you gain by compromising with evil!

When you received Jesus, you enlisted in the battle against evil! You joined a kingdom (of God) that was, and is, and is to come (soon in all its glory)! That loving kingdom is within you and me and it is like the positive on a battery that when it touches a negative pole sparks fly! Our holiness & light cannot support violence and darkness! Whose side are we on? Jesus’ side!  So, keep your sword sharp (knowing the Word of God) and fight Satan’s people that have invaded all our current systems. Pray for discernment most of all!

 

     

Ignorance Is Killing Us! Because God’s Truth is Rejected!

Ignorance Is Killing Us! Because God’s Truth is Rejected!  Kelly Durant 5-3-15  Re 10-15-23          

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

2. How many of you deal with prideful ignorant people in your daily job? The problem is ignorant people sell their selves in a way that they make you feel intimidated to even question their knowledge! Ignorant people know how to bluff and are proud pretenders! Today ignorance of the basics of God and society plagues most professional, political, and ordinary people. Like the doctor in Miami that was doing plastic surgery by injecting HomeDepot household silicon into people’s bodies!  Ignorance=destruction! A woman died too!

Ignorance takes on many forms concerning the basic functioning of relationships and society, but most of all ignorance of the Word of God is causing our society to implode! Ignorance is wastefully degrading our organized systems and causing undue damage and suffering. It is provoking embarrassment! The world scenario is like this, more than ever people are being placed in positions of power only because of their political affiliations and not due to their knowledge and capacity, so consequently the chaos of incompetence is overwhelming all aspects of organizations. Systems that use to be efficient are now degrading by ignorance! 

Frist, I will tell you a story of how ignorance affected me on a personal level one time and I hope it convicts you to beware of ignorant people! We all must improve our own general knowledge of the world and of God and become more aware of our need for the discernment of the Holy Spirit!  Here is what I suffered through one time in Atlanta. There was a person who had many community hours to do and he boasted he was a mechanic and that he could do his hours tuning up our cars replacing plugs, etc. At that time our church van needed new plugs so I bought them for him and he worked on the van for an afternoon. I only thought I was happy to save over a $100 dollars on the tune up in my ignorance at that moment! 

To my surprise 4 hours later he said well, “I could only change one plug because I got a phone call and busy and I cannot do the other plugs because, come let me show you, see they are impossible to reach”. It was true they were in very hard to get to locations and I thought, okay, that is just how it goes with some people who are incapable of finishing a job correctly. Then I noticed immediately that the V-8 was lacking the original power it had and I had a doubt about the one plug he changed. I checked it with another mechanic and it turned out he had stripped the threads of the plug putting it in and he caused a piece of it to break inside and consequently the motor then needed a head job and an expensive repair! I learned an expensive lesson: never trust boastful people who are so sure of their selves who have a dubious record of wrong doings and no proof of repentance or proof of the fear of God in their lives! This is just one case that reveals ignorance but I have lived through dozens of others cases! What is your story?

3. Proverbs 1:7 ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction’. All examples in the material world compare to the spiritual realm, so now with this tune-up illustration let’s uncover other problems. Too many people claim they know things but since they are carnal beasts and not close to God, they really know nothing at all about anything! And when their ignorance gets exposed, these impostors get furious! It is evident that ignorant people always lie, contradict, and argue about things they know nothing of! 

The world today, as it was in Jesus time, has too many hypocrites pretending to be smart and of a privileged elect class. They claim they are the lone experts of authority but in actuality they are smoke and no fire with a convincing façade. Ignorance, in particular of the spiritual things, has further reaching consequences! Have you noticed how many start up churches there are today with ignorant self-proclaimed pastors that have never really ever studied or applied God’s word in their personal lives? How do these people get knowledge or ideas to convince others? They don’t really study or read, they just imitate from other imitators and copy like Satan copies. They are like a fake counterfeit bill, imitating the light and pureness of God but denying His power. Usually these types preach strong, energetic, and fiery messages, and the ignorant congregations think they are undoubtedly intelligent, strong, and powerful!? A tragedy!

But by just looking at their lavish lifestyle and personal life it can be revealed that many of these people are consumed with greed, envy, and pride! And since they hardly ever personally interact with their people but live privileged and secluded, few people ever discover their embarrassing personal unholy lives that are gravely ignorant and faulty. They need exposure!

4. Ignorant people who have never spent time alone with God asking God to reveal to them their inner secret sins so they can repent and be remade into a new person (creation) can often appear normal and spiritual. They, in their ignorance, have actually deceived their own selves into thinking they are legitimate without the sacrifice! These are people who feel they do not need to study anything because they conclude that after all, all church Christian sheep followers are so ignorant (and sadly some are too naive) that they will follow whatever is said and invented. It is sad but true that many Christians are dubbed into accepting false pastors and false doctrines having itching ears desiring to hear what is convenient to inflate their pride. Many people want to be told that they are a privileged people, a special superior race, a people that should rule over others just because they are of a certain church with the anointed pastor! These deceived ones never ask, is it right I exercise authority over others while I am lacking knowledge and a deep connection with God? What is so destructive is they do not live out the Bible nor God’s holiness, and they make of themselves followers who copy their ignorance! 

The hypocrite pretender pastors see other pastors shouting a phrase over and over on TV and they imitate what they see. I have seen the TV sermons where they say, (Repeat), “Claim it, claim it, claim it, claim, grab it, grab it, grab it, grab that money, and take that power God has for you!” They copy sermons off of other preachers (plagiarism) instead of doing their own work of praying to know what to preach about and researching in the Word materials related to the subject. They depend on emotions to convince and manipulate people rather than the common sense divine Word of God from the Holy Scriptures to do the work!

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army foresaw how bad ignorance would get in our day and said, “The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.”

5. Why am I calling attention to this? It is a part of the signs of the times! When referring to Matthew 24 we often can identify the signs of the times such as the increase in earthquakes, the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and wars but what about the false prophets who people follow due their ignorance? Matt 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. How is someone deceived? By not knowing the truth, or by rejecting the truth!

Today the internet is overtaken by many false prophets! It was reported that many of the sites that have leaked nude pictures of some famous actresses link you to an English speaking Islamist site trying to convince you of your guilt for not obeying God (Allah) hoping to recruit you to Islam! How many millions of our young people have been exposed to this propaganda and no one reports it or stops it!? My wife and I even watched one of these Islamic recruitment videos and they could be convincing to the unsaved! These recruiters would be very convincing if one did not already have the truth of Jesus Christ in your life! And the discernment of the Holy Spirit!

People get hooked in their ignorance to false teachings and lifestyles because many false leaders know how to appear powerful appealing to their feelings of weakness because they have a demon of an Unholy Spirit! How sad it is in the U.S. people have tried to rid God from their schools, workplace, and even churches to the point there is a darkness and spiritual vacuum out there for just anything that comes along! The ignorance of God is killing us!

6.  Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 

The verse of today was prophetic for that time period, and as with all prophecies, it is fulfilling itself again in this end-time era! How sad that people have access to 30 versions of the Bible 24/7 with two finger strikes on Google to Biblegateway (& others) and they will not even read it! People today are remaining ignorant of the Word of God on purpose mainly because they do not want God interfering with their consciences and mind concerning the sins they are choosing to participate in! A thief never seems to find a policeman, right? 

Identify ignorance! We must bring to the light people that are willfully choosing ignorance spiritually, educationally, and financially! Instead of choosing the good and eschewing the evil ignorant people are killing our peace and progress by choosing the evil and shunning the good! 

People in ignorance choose the trash over the truth! With an ignorant spiritual life, if you are an introvert, you can read worthless novels, or you can play computer games until your fingers drop off! If you are an extroverted frustrated young man, mad at the world and wanting to take revenge, you can hook up others online and become a travelling protester, a gang member, or even a Jihadist! The possibility of being overwhelmed with materials to read on any subject is limitless! Sadly many people have no family, no father or mother, no church friends or anyone to consult with about what they choose! The entire country is suffering because too many people in ignorance are choosing poorly! All basic systems are breaking down!

7. Ecclesiastes 12:12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Isn’t this the truth! The other day I was watching an anti-bullying campaign on C-Span and on that subject, or any subject for that matter, all guidance is refined to a science and it is contained in hundreds of books! I would never have time to read all the hundreds of books written on that subject, but I need to be educated on that matter and on the hundreds of other things affecting our world to know how to save, help, and serve others appropriately.

I beg you to read more and read more Bible and be informed or you will fall into some new trap due to your ignorance! Ignorance will cost you money! Do you remember the hundreds of millions of dollars that were lost by ignorant people who when they got an email from a Nigerian prince that said all they needed to do to get millions of dollars from an inheritance was to open a new bank account with yours and the prince’s name on it? The prince wanted to share his millions and all you had to do was to open an account with $5,000 for him to deposit in. What happened? He didn’t deposit but instead he withdrew your $5,000 and you never heard from him again! He was no prince but a thief and being abroad far away, no prosecutions could take place. A fool and his money are quickly departed! Ignorance is not bliss, but rather a curse that will cost you and me dearly!

8. So today many assume we are surrounded by intelligent people running complicated systems in our society but instead these people are more than likely dangerous and ignorant on many basic matters, in particular ignorant in the knowledge of the Word of God! We see what is happening to people as in 2 Timothy 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. This explains why everything in society is degrading into ignorance, lawlessness and chaos! Many professionals today are amoral, carnal, prideful, and ignorant!

The knowledge of the truth only comes from the Word of God! Intelligent people may read a few thousands of books to be a lawyer or doctor, but what good is it if their soul is corrupted and they gain the world and lose their soul?  The ones in high places in the world, no matter the intelligence, are actually ignorant and on the bottom morally & spiritually without God!

Jude 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

9. So how do you and I as dedicated Christians help those who live in ignorance? As the saying goes, ‘You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink!’ We can share with others the Good News of the gospel’s truth to help them out of their sinful destructive path, but if they don’t want it, it is not our fault.  Consider Ezekiel 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand:19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

We live in a world that is a twisted paradox, yet the truth of the Bible and Jesus and excellent good teachings are out there for anyone and how ironic few discover it due to the shroud of the sheer volume of the mega million writings of dark deceivers! Never forget, it is our job to educate ourselves others on the things of God; ‘to preach the gospel to every creature!’

10. Ignorance is killing us because the people in the community at large practice ignorant habits from their carnality and false teachings! People have a free will to believe what they want, but people never calculate the consequences that those beliefs bring! The worst ignorance is the spiritual ignorance! People who are shallow, who have practically no understanding of the Bible, suffer dearly for mistakes and their mistakes affect all and make others suffer as well. 

We must face the fact there are billions of truth rejecters! Some of these may also be lazy people who are ignorant by choice! They are like this Proverbs 26:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. They know the consequences, that they will die for doing what they do, but they do not care! Sin keeps people in ignorance!

We must drive away ignorance! Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Let’s pray to hunger more to learn from the Word of God! Others may lack in knowledge of the basics of life but for a Christian, we should never be ignorant of anything! Learn and obey the Word of God and you will be prepared to live wise and avoid the consequences of ignorance! Let’s pray to desire more knowledge and wisdom from God!

Celebrate International Day: Cultural Shifts...It’s a War of Good vs. Evil

Culture Shifts: It’s a War of Good vs. Evil                   By Kelly Durant 10-8-23

I Corinthians 1:22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

2. Did you know Cultural Days are celebrated by the Salvation Army in the Southern Territory? October, being Hispanic Heritage Month (Or International Month), implies that here in Muskogee, we, with culturally diverse with people, must celebrate! We, in the Salvation Army, are atypical! The typical with most churches is they are predominately 90% white, black, Latino, or something else! In churches, across the nation, Sunday often is the most segregated day of the week! But we understand that people want to meet with those with whom they feel comfortable.  It is natural for birds of a feather to flock together, but a wealth of knowledge can be gained from mixing with those different from yourself.  I feel privileged by God to have gained 14 years of wealth in South America from 5 different countries that are not so similar in culture, music, food, or political pasts. 

Cultural events are an opportunity to get to know people from other experiences in life other than your own. I grew up in your typical mid-west American setting where 90% were white and I only met a foreigner, a Chilean, for the first time when my best friend had an exchange student live in his house.  Many youths today go to schools surrounded by hundreds of others who are or different races and from other countries. However, different can either be accepted and embraced or protested and mocked! 

Have you ever noticed how jokes about another culture shape how many people may view that other culture? When I was young people use to tell Pollock jokes; How many Pollocks do you need to change a lightbulb?  Five, 1 to hold the bulb and 4 to spin the ladder! The impression I had a long time ago I recall was that they must be pretty dumb, but I have read articles on the intelligence of different nations, and they actually rate quite high in intelligence. Read about their fight for solidarity from communism! One deduction I make concerning these jokes is that those of a competing culture concocted these jokes to counter the influence of them and to diminish their importance as immigrants. Never let others diminish you, for God you are loved!

3. Today I want you to think about how you see other cultures, how others see your culture, and then determine what you think God’s view is concerning your culture. How is your culture influencing you for good or for bad? Strange cultures are invading churches! Are you aware of the strengths and weaknesses and the historical influences overtly or subliminally influencing and control our attitudes, decisions, and habits? How Biblical is your and my culture? To be counterculture, rejecting the world, is often a positive, have you ever thought of that one?

Today we are extrapolating the implications of the cultural influences using the example of what Paul said from his time: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness”,

Basically, the bad attitudes from Paul’s time stubbornly remain today! Paul criticized his own race in 1 Corinthians. Paul really rips his own people in the book of Romans too! Today the people of the humanist secular type mentality, who are resistant to the things of the Spirit of God and the miraculous, think of themselves as the only voices that matter being the so called educated, logical, and scientific professionals. The basic same arrogant postures as the educated Jews  or Greeks who wanted a sign to believe in Jesus. Today we may compare this mentality to those who are liberals, communist, and the worldly indoctrinated. Disgustingly, half of all Americans who are perverse, cold-hearted, and evil are often the so called educated! There have been, and there will always be people who are full of themselves, doubtful, unbelieving, unspiritual, proud and unwilling to accept that more realities exist in the world than what their limited experiences and minds offer them as a reference. In other words, these closed-minded types of folks, who think they are smarter than those who believe in God, are your and my enemies because they mock and persecute. They are very divisive and ignorant, “making themselves wise they become fools” as described in Corinthians, Proverbs, and throughout all the Holy Scripture.  Faith in Jesus any culture, however, doesn’t need to be backed up by a sign, a professional, or any certain race or culture!

4. The Jews, and all cultures around Jesus in his time, were given many miraculous signs of healings, demon liberations, and even the one of the raising of the dead (Lazarus). But the sign that Jesus came out of the grave is the one that is most important to proclaim to all! If a person will not accept this amazing feat by the Son of God, then they by their unbelief cannot be saved into eternity. If you doubt that Jesus holds the keys to life hereafter, then God honors your choice; the hereafter and resurrection will simply not be there for you after you die! You chose, but…Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.

Anyone from any culture must become as a child to believe. It is God’s test. It was God’s test for the Jews, Greeks, Romans, and still is for all cultures.  Faith is not seeing to believe, faith is believing and then you will see, or I should say you will have no more doubts of the unexplainable of God because God will reveal Himself in small but noticeable ways to you through the Holy Spirit. This is my experience and that of a few billion believers worldwide.

5. It is carnal and prideful to want a sign from God, but many people want one. I even asked God for a sign to know if I should serve Him or not (but I did already believe) and soon afterwards I dreamed a few very vivid dreams confirming God was perusing me and that I needed to escape with my life away from the selfish, drug infused, self-absorbed culture in my day. This is one reason, along with being convicted by the Word of God, that I chose to serve Him as a young man at age 21. So, God will even show you or me signs, either through miraculous signs or through the witness of people with whom He makes us cross paths with. The gospel of Jesus is preached everywhere, and multitudes of people everywhere get a chance to hear, believe, and follow, or to reject and mock. But you and I must be a messenger of God’s love! Acts 2:17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 

What is my culture? American, Hispanic, or Native? It is unadulterated Christianity! But growing up American for me in the 1960s meant I had been exposed to a country in turmoil that had a problem respecting minorities. It taught me that the youth should protest against corrupt systems when it creates wars only for certain politicians to get rich. It meant that I knew I was privileged as a middle-class person to be able to work and be a little wealthier than most of the majority poor in other nations.  It also meant that I was exposed to powerful loud music, psychedelic drugs, the supernatural beliefs of the Irish, Native Americans, and of Indian Hinduism (popularized hippie yoga & meditation) practices). I also knew people who read Ouija boards and followed the Satanic Bible! Good and evil is in abundance in our American culture! I don’t know about you but right now I hate seeing evil growing like weeds overtaking the beauty of the good fruit that could exist in this so-called developed society. We are in a cultural war of good versus evil and we must fight and defend what is Biblical, righteous, holy and pure or we are failing God and allowing corruption and hell to take over!

I do thank God for the good within this technologically advanced culture.  The predominating American culture of the 1960s meant that people in society were very Biblically literate and God-fearing and many were honest, hard-working, loving and Christian.  Communities were safer, people gave their word and trust was given, fewer divorces existed, and no one locked the doors to their houses or cars. I miss those days! Christians have failed to fight evil enough!

6. Cultures shifts: The U.S is not what it was 50 years ago! Also, no longer is Cuba the richest happiest island of the Caribbean either. Stale despotic politics leading to poverty and hunger has killed the joy of these formerly highly educated and culturally wealthy people. Extreme corruption is affecting almost every nation today! Google it, you find that India, Mexico, Russia, all Muslim countries, and now even the U.S. is seen as one of the worst in corruption! 85% of Americans agree that the current corruption is at its worst and is out of hand!  (by Steve Forbes news outlet) https://www.facebook.com/SteveForbesCEO/photos/a.433882903357704.102553.372261619519833/982226698523319/?type=3&theater   

What happened to the Greeks, mentioned in verse 22? They dominated the world for a time, they brought in enough peacetime that the old men had enough leisure time talk all day and philosophize and write down interesting things such as what we read from Homer, Plato, Socrates, and the rest. They might have been a great culture before, but they degenerated. They became so proud they could not listen to anyone else’s wisdom, so they became fools.

Think about what we know now, of all the Greek mythological stories of gods with winged shoes, and others with lightning bolts, and yet they considered that wisdom.  Some of their philosophical deductions and mathematics are quite amazing when you consider the framework of the culture in which they lived. In their society you thanked God you were not born a slave, nor born as a woman! You would think they would have embraced the account of Jesus crucified and then resurrected (which is less far-fetched than their stories) but no, they were too proud of being who they were, and their culture of stubbornness made them become an old bunch of bankrupted degenerated fools who rejected God’s truth and they have not even recovered even until this day! What a humiliation despite trying to be right with God through their own form of Christian Greek Orthodoxy. Things just always had to be their way. 

7. So if cultures rise and develop, and then degenerate and fall, what are we to conclude looking at history? In the past 2,000 years the nations that have been the most Christian have prevailed! Did God allow the U.S. to defeat the empires of Japan and Germany? I think so, but only because people were repentant and praying desperately for the mega murderous Satanic evils to be defeated! In the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, the U.S. had a more Godly culture and young people dedicated their time to the churches. Today young people arriving from Cuba, Mexico, or even those born in the U.S.A. do not give time to the church because that culture is lost. Goodness and Godliness in cultures must be maintained and fought for or evil men take over like we see today! The evil kings of Judah cost all the people in the Hebrew nations to lose their freedom and they became slaves many times over. Christian leadership is absolutely essential for the light to overpower the darkness and we must shine the light of truth on hypocrites!

When it comes to culture, we must always evaluate what is good and what is evil. Here is the problem today, we have people calling the good evil and the evil good. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Woe means that God will punish and judge this!

You can see the Hebrews did a cultural shift back in Isaiah’s’ time and what happened? Their idolatries, pride, and sins overtook them to the point that God allowed them to become overtaken, humiliated, and made slaves to other pagan nations. This is the cycle of the rise and fall of nations that is all based around culture, whether the culture is worshipping, honoring, and obeying God persistently or not. Don’t blame God for the fall of this nation one day if you don’t fight for Godly values in this community. Jesus saves but He did also tell us to “go” and preach the gospel!

8. All cultures offer good and evil so how can you discern what is what if you grow up in just one and do not have anything to compare it with? The less there is of God the more the ignorance. Can you see the point of why everyone needs to mix with other cultures to discover how others do things? It is really frustrating to see certain closed cultures lose out by always relying on their own ways and people while living in another country, trying to live as they did back home in the new land instead of trying new ways appreciating a new culture. Many Americans living abroad live segregated this way. 

Christians have their own culture factions as well, depending on the denomination. People who attend a church usually have a community experience of worship, Bible study, camps, meals, and fun with people which they normally would never mix with. Rich and poor, white, black, and brown often mix together and everyone enjoys one another because we are all of the same blood, the blood of Jesus. Only Jesus can unite cultures, and the church is the last resort for racial healing! Jesus brought us the culture of ‘the kingdom of God’ which is one of love and it must preside over all! Col. 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

But be careful with the Christian culture you associate with! Some churches are stuck on philosophies, or politics, or on ancient irrelative traditions, or on doctrines proven to be erroneous, and on their own self-righteous stubbornness thinking that only they are the chosen ones going to heaven! Sadly, many so called Christian churches are essentially useless to Jesus’ cause and mission of loving people into God’s kingdom because they have accommodated the modern day cultural shifts degenerating God’s Word & mission. Cultures are always remaking their selves and you must ask the question, how are we as a collective group changing and shifting? Shifts happen! But where will it lead to, and is God in it? Again, do you really see your nation and culture as God sees it? 

9. The Salvation Army has its own culture as well, but it has adapted to the cultures of 130 countries! What is the main theme of our culture? It is holiness, service, compassion, and love! Serving others in the name of Jesus! For me, no matter how long a Captain or Major has been commissioned, if there is not a spirit of holiness, service, compassion, and love in them then they have sadly shifted away from the original culture of being what a true Salvationist is! May God help you and me to never shift away from this legacy because it is what the true kingdom of God is made of: It is in doing as Jesus did! And we always say, “Do something!”

Diverse music, marching bands, camps, clubs, shelters, rehab centers, all of these things make up our culture and you can be proud of it for enduring 158 years. Past great great-grandfathers at a great sacrifice built these operations and today people called by God maintain them all in action all with the motive to win souls to Jesus. You as Soldiers are the front lines keeping our Corps in order, inspiring, and alive with programs, mission, and effectiveness.

So, no matter your race or culture, Jew or Greek, Cuban, Mexican, Colombian, or North- American, you can have the culture of Jesus in your life superseding the surrounding culture you live in now or the one of your past upbringings. Don’t seek signs or worldly wisdom from the so-called halls of higher learning of any culture; Accept the good and eschew the evil of all cultures being aware of what is what in each of them. The reward for you will be: “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” in you! Jesus, and the entire Bible defines the culture you and I must follow…let’s pray.

Think about how you see other cultures, how others see yours, then think what's God’s view?