The Biblical Examiner 
An Examination of Biblical Precepts Involved in Issues at Hand 
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Feb., 2001

In This Issue:

 

A Dangerous Conspiracy

Genetically Engineered Foods

Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. (Lev. 25:18, 19. Cf., 1 Cor. 10:1, 1:2. See also, Psalms 67 & 85.)

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex (i.e, terrify) them in his sore displeasure. (Ps. 2:1-5.)

From the beginning and from the lowest homeless man in the street to the highest man in authority, sinners have united in their common hatred against God the Father's Christ. (Acts 4:27, 28.) Like raging storm of a hurricane, Christ-haters lash out against the Lord Jesus, the Word of God. Their goal has been and continues to be "prosper" apart from the bands and cords of God's governing authority, as revealed in His total Word, Christ Jesus. Yet it is a vain (fruitless or futile effort motivated by pride) imagination, for they will not succeed. Like the strongest lighthouse, the Father has established the everlasting Son, and vain, angry men will not prevail. (I realize that "high-tech" has taken over, but I find it sad to see the old lighthouses along America's coast being deactivated and even moved.)

• Against the Lord and His Christ

Spurgeon tells us that,

A medal was struck by Diocletian, which still remains, bearing the inscription, "The name of Christians being extinguished." And in Spain, two monumental pillars were raised, on which were written: -1. "Diocletian Jovian Maximian Herculeus Caesares Augusti, for having extended the Roman Empire in the east and the west, and for having extinguished the name of Christians, who brought the Republic to ruin." 2. "Diocletian Jovian Maximian Herculeus Caesares Augusti, for having adopted Galerius in the east, for having everywhere abolished the superstition of Christ, for having extended the worship of the gods." As a modern writer has elegantly observed: "We have here a monument raised by Paganism, over the grave of its vanquished foe. But in this `the people imagined a vain thing; ` so far from being deceased, Christianity was on the eve of its final and permanent triumph, and the stone guarded a sepulchre empty as the urn which Electra washed with her tears. Neither in Spain, nor elsewhere, can be pointed out the burial place of Christianity; it is not, for the living have no tomb." (Treasury of David.)

• A Conspiracy

I believe in conspiracies, and Psalms 2 identifies the conspiracy, telling us that the wicked conspire against the Divine Sovereignty and Divine Governance of the Word of God. Sadly, Jeremiah 1:9 tells us that the primary seat of the conspiracy (treason, unlawful alliance) is among God's people, and that conspiracy is identified as their refusal to submit to the final authority of God's word, and of serving the pagan gods around them. The Lord continues (v. 11-14) by saying that He will bring such evil upon them that they will be unable to escape, and though they cry unto Him, He will not hear their cry. (Comp. Deut. 32:18-25 with 1 Cor. 4:15, Phil. 1:10, 1 Pet. 1:3, 1 Jn. 5:18. God's wrath burns even against those He begat through the gospel of Christ, for that Rock was Christ. Heb. 12:29, 1 Cor. 10:4. Nor can man chose what evil to receive of the Lord, Ps. 47:4.)

We must ask - if His people have forsaken the final authority of God's word and act lawlessly against God's laws eternal laws, then what can be expected of the pagans?

This pastor finds a recent effort by the lawless to overthrow the laws established by the Creator (Christ, Eph. 3:9) quite distressing, and worth a closer examination. Again, the saying is proved, "Education without God only makes man more effective in his rebellion." Just as professed Christians use their "skill" with the Word of God to remove its bands and cords from themselves, the pagans use their God-given technological skills in their vain attempts to throw off the bands and cords of the Creator. The attempts by both professed Christians and the unconverted can lead to only one conclusion - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Rom. 1:18.) What kind of wrath are we storing up for ourselves? The following headline from the Indianapolis Star (11/5/00) read:

From crop producers to restaurants, the issue of gene-altered crops has become...

• A Growing Concern

World-wide and at all levels of society, people are up in arms about genetic engineering. Locally, gene-altered foods have made the news here in the "Corn Belt" where we live. One side (huge profits at stake) tells us that altered foods are good, while the other side is trying to warn of danger. The following is an attempt to alert (and maybe alarm) the reader to what is at stake. The use of gene-altered food has been quietly going on for several years now, while big money has done its best to keep the issue out of the public eye. The "Taco Bell" and then the "StarLink corn" situations rightly brought the issue to the light of day. However, the public is being left in the dark about genetically engineered foods, no doubt to keep the consumer from rejecting the altered food.

• Terms defined

GE - genetic engineering or genetically engineered

GEOs - genetically engineered organisms

GMOs - genetically modified organisms (used interchangeably with GEOs)

Monsanto is a leading producer and promoter of GEO, though the French-owned Aventis CropScience (StarLink) is the one that has been in the news lately. Monsanto develops and produces seeds to work with its Roundup herbicide. These Roundup Ready crops, e.g., soybeans, are genetically modified by Monsanto to resist their herbicide. Many scientists predict, however, that it is only a matter of time before the weeds also become "Roundup Ready." However, no one knows what cross-pollenation there is between domestic crops and other weeds and grasses, nor the long term effects upon those who eat foods from those processed GE soybeans.

• What is genetic engineering?

Genes are the building blocks of life- they make a tomato a tomato and a human being a human being. Genetic engineers cut, splice, and transfer genes between totally unrelated living things to produce combinations that would never occur naturally-like fish and strawberries, viruses and vegetables, humans and animals. Many leading scientists say that the process is unpredictable, unstable, and dangerous.

• What Genetic Engineering is not

Genetic Engineering is not a natural extension of traditional cross-breeding. In traditional cross-breeding or hybridization, the Creator will only allow mixing of genes from the same or closely related species. Genetic engineering allows scientists to completely ignore God's established natural reproductive boundaries. Instead, through invasive viruses or instruments like gene guns, DNA from completely unrelated organisms- e.g., fish and strawberries, bacteria and soybeans or humans and pigs-can be intermingled:

And what's worse, the technology itself is imprecise, uncontrolled, and random-it's like performing heart surgery with a shovel. When we insert genes that would not naturally be a part of a living organism, we should be prepared for a host of unexpected consequences-consequences for the organism being modified, the ecosystem of which that organism is a part, and for the people consuming some or all of that organism as food. (Gary Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Clinical Neurophysiology, North Shore University Hospital; Associate Professor, New York University School of Medicine.)

• Is Genetic Engineering Safe?

Enthusiastic genetic engineers and corporations like to create the impression that the precision of recombinant DNA technology in the living organism is the same as that realized in the test tube. This is a severe misrepresentation. The interactions within living cells are infinitely more complex than those occurring in today's largest supercomputers. No one can honestly assert that a genetically modified food is safe. This implies that an infinite number of tests have been carried out. The fact is, the tests haven't been done. We don't even know what type of ill effects to look for or which questions to ask. This oversimplifcation completely denies the reality of the situation. Caution must be the guiding principle. (Liebe Cavalieri, Ph.D., DNA researcher for over 30 years, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Professor of Environmental Sciences, State University of New York.)

Though our technology permits "technological tinkering," our ignorance of what that tinkering will do is vastly greater than our understanding. (David Ehrenfeld, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.) Monsanto can only claim scientific soundness because they are able to answer the technical question, "Can I move this gene and this characteristic from A to B?" However, they cannot answer the question of what happens to a cell or to the whole organism when you insert a foreign gene. (Richard Strohman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley.)

• $$ - The real concern

From the farm to the finished products, those involved in GE are trying to protect themselves from potential lawsuits from angry consumers: What if a woman gives birth to a physically handicapped child, and blames the problem on GMO grain. Can she sue the grain developer, biotech farmer, elevator and all involved in the processing of GMOs? What about pollen from the biotech fields spread by bees and the wind to non GMO fields? Note that all the concern, from seed providers to the end processors, is over the legal ramifications, not over the harm that might be done to the food supply. Example:

Jesse Cool, a popular restaurant owner, wondering what would happen if she served a tomato spliced with an oyster gene and a customer got sick. "I could get sued," she says. (Time.)

• Who makes the money?

Money for the farmer or high profits for the seed and chemical supplier?

Repeated studies show decreased yields on many GE crops-down by 6-11%. (Source: Iowa State University, University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska, USDA.)

Since GMOs were introduced, US corn exports to Europe dropped by 96% in 1999; soybean sales to Europe dropped from $2.1 billion (`96) to $1.1 billion (`99); corn and soybean prices dropped to approximately half of what they sold for prior to the first GE crop plantings in `96. And all the while the farmers' cost for seeds and chemicals have risen dramatically. Biotech farming reduces the farmers to contract laborers who grow the company's crops for the company's market. "Genetic engineering is part of the failed farm policy which is driving farmers off the land." (Safe Food, pp. 18, 15.) England's mad cow disease situation has made Europeans even more determined against any "genetically modified corps," leaving Europan meat producers scrambling to find clean feed supplies for not only their beef, but for all their animal and pottery feeds. (Indpols Star, 12/7/2000, D2.) In addition, Europeans are rightly skeptical of any government assurances that GE foods are safe. (See Mad Cow below.)

StarLink and money

Aventis agreed to pay a 25 cent per bushel premium to the farmers who used their seed, but failed to tell all the farmers of the non-food (animal feed and industrial use, e.g., alcohol production) restriction placed on the grain, so it got mixed into the food supply. Mission Food was a primary processor who got `stuck' with the restricted corn, and had to recall 5-6 million pounds of finished product (Wal-mart, Kraft, Wendy's, Applebee's, Krogers, &c.) at the cost of as much as $10 million. Current biotech premiums are about 10 cents for corn and 20 cents for soybeans, but cleaning cost to farmers is about 60 cents per bushel, so the temptation is great to get the premiums and not clean the equipment, and thus contaminate food grain. Technically, as little as one GMO kernel of corn or bean can contaminate an entire bin, so all grain handling equipment must be cleaned - combines must be cleaned after harvesting GMO, which can take up to half a day; trucks and wagons must be swept clean; augers and bins must be cleaned; so must grain elevators and shippers such as railroad cars, as well as the processing plants must be thoroughly cleaned. Some farmers say that virtually no quantities of non-altered crops are genuinely pure. (Monsanto's Roundup Ready GMO corn has shown up in Britain, where it was not welcome.)

No Labels. No Control Group. No Experiment. No Science.

We are told many times in the public media by both the developers and the Federal government (whose policies were established by Monsanto under Clinton; see 1992 and Monsanto below) that "biotech crops haven't been shown to be harmful to humans", "It's as safe as traditional food...", "there is virtually no chance that anyone could be harmed" and "there is little, if any, health risk."

One of their most misleading claims is, `Well, there's no evidence that anyone has ever died, gotten sick, or even gotten a rash from GE foods; and this is their idea of scientific proof. How can anyone make a claim like this when the food is not segregated or labeled? People die, get sick, and get rashes all the time. How can we know if some of these things were caused by GE foods or not? We can't. That's not science or scientific evidence. Experimental science demands that you have a control group and an experimental group. If these foods are not labeled, you have no control group, you have no experiment, and you have no science." (Philip Regal, Ph. D., Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota.)

No extensive tests have been done to assure its safety. I would think that a major concern is that if GMO corps do prove in the long run to be harmful, will there be any non GMO seeds left?

[T]he issue that is now on the front burner dates back to 1992, when the FDA decided that biotech ingredients did not materially alter food and therefore did not require labeling. Nor, the agency declared, was premarket safety testing required, because biotech additives were presumed to be benign. Last March the Center for Food Safety and 53 other groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, filed a petition to force the FDA to change its policy. (Time. Emp. added. Rather than safety testing, the FDA will simply ask for voluntary labeling of GMO foods. Time did not mention that 1992 was when Clinton started letting Monsanto make FDA policy.)

No Pure Seeds?

Going...Going...Gone...Two Thousand Vegetable Seeds Eliminated!

Seminis, the world's largest vegetable seed corporation, announced on 28 June, 2000, that it would eliminate 2,000 varieties - or 25% of its total product line - as a cost-cutting measure. Seed industry consolidation is dramatically narrowing the availability of non-hybrid vegetable varieties and a wealth of seed diversity is being lost forever. (Geri Guidetti, The Ark Institute http://www.MannaPages.com <(http://www.MannaPages.com> - <http://www.godsplan.com)>

The Ark Institute is pleading for people to use their open pollinated seeds, making the seeds available at their cost. Go to http://www.arkinstitute.com for complete details.

• So, what are the risks?

· Toxins and allergens: GE can damage the functioning of the natural genes of an organism and cause unanticipated toxins, allergens, and reduced nutritional content in our foods.

· Superbacteria: Genetic engineers incorporate antibiotic-resistance genes into nearly every GE organism as markers to indicate that the organism has been successfully engineered. Doctors warn that this could lead to the creation of superbacteria, the diminished effectiveness of antibiotics as medicines, and the development of new, antibiotic-resistant strains of infectious diseases like meningitis.

· Environmental hazards: GE threatens our wildlife, alters natural habitats, perpetuates our dependence on pesticides and herbicides, and exposes the entire ecosystem to irreversible pollution.

· Paralyzing food losses: GE has given the world millions of acres of crops with unnatural genetic uniformity. When a pest, fungus, bacteria, or virus adapts to a GE corn. it will literally have a field day, causing communities, even nations, to be left with extensive and paralyzing food losses.

Does genetic engineering affect your life?

· If you're a parent, you might be concerned that your kids are gobbling up GE candies and pizza or that your newborn is drinking infant formula with GE organisms in it that have never been tested on humans.

· If you're pregnant, you might start to wonder if the milk you're drinking will harm your fetus because it comes from cows that have been injected with a GE hormone that's linked to cancer.

· If you're taking vitamins to supplement your diet, you might be concerned that your vitamins contain GE ingredients that could be reduced in nutritional value.

· Or maybe you have breast cancer and are eating extra soy products because your doctor told you soy isoflavones might help you get better. But those soy products may come from Monsanto's GE Roundup Ready soybeans, which no one knows are safe to eat, and that those soybeans might turn out to be saturated with the herbicide Roundup and actually have lower concentrations of isoflavones.

· Or maybe you have food allergies and have to know before you eat something whether there's anything in it that could make you sick.

· Or maybe you have religious beliefs that preclude eating foods containing mixed species.

· Or maybe you just don't like the fact that the government doesn't require rigorous safety testing or labeling of GE foods. (Safe Food.)

• You are what you eat

Unless you really know what foods to watch for, you are probably eating GE foods every day. "More than half of all domestically grown soybeans, a quarter of the corn and a smaller percentage of potatoes are now grown from the new genetically engineered seeds." And the GMOs quietly make their way into everything from soups to salad dressing. (Campbell's Soups, Kellogg, General Mills, Coca-Cola and Kraft are among those using GMO. Gerber started to, but backed away under protest from "Greenpeace.") Though the lettuce and tomatoes in a salad may be from non-GMO crops, the commercially prepared salad dressings probably contain GMO ingredients. A surprising amount of human food, salad dressings especially, contains soybean oil, and GMO soybeans have been in the food stream for some time now; both biotech and conventional soybeans are readily accepted by processors.

And thus, "by most accounts, 60 percent to 70 percent of all processed foods in the United States already contain at least some genetically modified ingredients - only four years after becoming available." "The biotech industry intends to genetically engineer all of our food within five to ten years," even though there is no sound scientific proof that GMO food is safe. "From pizza to chips, soda to infant formula, ice cream to cookies, vitamins to candies, GE organisms are in foods we feed our kids every day; `virtually every, grain, legume, vegetable, fruit, nut-indeed, every food you can think of-is in the GE pipeline.' " (Emph. added.)

GMO Papayas from Hawaii have met no customer resistance, but have customers been told that what they are purchasing is a GMO product? African sweet potatoes are being modified so surrounding weeds can be sprayed without killing the potato - thus liberating Africans from the slavery of pulling weeds. (Time, p. 46.) 50% of our cotton also has been modified to produce toxins against specific insects. If you will observe, cottonseed oil is commonly used as a food product. (Cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops.) Transgenic contaminants were found in what was supposed to be "clean" canola seeds from Canada planted in England, France, Germany and Sweden. The seed was contaminated by windblown pollen from neighbors' GMO canola fields.

So far, the US has not seen the public pressure against GMO as there is against GMO overseas (several countries - France, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Britain, &c. [Japan absolutely forbids GMO], ban GMO food ["Frankenfood"], hurting our exports). No doubt the primary reason there has been no pressure in the U.S. is because the people have not been told that their food supply has been and is being corrupted. And there is no turning back from that corruption, for once a plant has been genetically altered, it cannot be returned to its unaltered state.

Though congress is considering requiring labeling GOMs at the retail level, restaurants are specifically excluded from the proposal. Of course, there is massive lobbying from the big seed companies, e.g., Monsanto, to prevent requiring both testing and labeling. Though 2/3 to 3/4 of Americans want biotech food labeled, companies fear such disclosure could spell disaster, and they will not be able to recoup their investments. They see the answer to consumers' concerns not in testing the GMOs, but in education - changing the public's mind:

Monsanto, Novartis and five other biotech companies rolled out a $50 million television advertising campaign, with soft-focus fields and smiling children, pitching "solutions that could improve our world tomorrow." (Time.)

The Food and Drug Administration wanted to allow GE modified ingredients in foods certified as "organic," but was stopped when consumers learned of the plan. It is interesting that organic farmers are required by law to label their product, and that label is their's only after very rigid inspection. Yet biotech products, which are rejected by other countries, do not have to be labeled.

The Food and Drug Administration is the primary agency for overseeing our food supply, and it has said that GMO foods are "substantially equivalent" to conventional crops, so they do not need to be labeled. Of course, we have not been told that Monsanto is the one who established the FDA policy concerning GMO.

• Irradiation

As a side note: The FDA has been told by "lawmakers" to remove the word "irradiation" from labels, and replace it with "cold pasteurization." Consumers are rejecting zapped food, so meatpackers pressured congress to reword what they are doing, hoping that consumers will then buy the zapped food. " `It's hard to continue to be supportive of irradiation when there is this continuing effort to hide it from the public,' said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute." Irradiation is used on spices, herbs, seasonings, fruits, vegetables, poultry and ground beef. Thus rather than prove that X-ray treated food is as good as non-irradiated food, the effort is in public relations. I have heard nothing good about "irradiation."

• rBGH, Growth Hormones in Milk

The FDA approved the release of Monsanto's genetically engineered drug rBGH (or rBST) to dairy farmers in November 1993. rBST was tested for 90 days on 30 rats before it was approved for sale. 90 days, 30 rats, and then it was approved without labeling to go into our dairy cows!

Monsanto's rBGH increases milk production. It also increases udder infections (mastitis) and reproductive problem in cowsand shortens their lifespan. To treat the mastitis, farmers have to give their cows anitbiotics. Studies have shown that milk from rBGH cows often contains residues from those antibiotics. And because rBGH-induced mastitis leads to increased amounts of white blood cellsor pusthis is also secreted into rBGH milk. But the risks of rBGH go far beyond even this. (Safe, p 22.)

• Cancer

"More troublesome is the fact that rBGH has been linked to increased risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancers. rBGH causes cows to make more of a compound called insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1, which research has shown stimulates growth of breast cancer and intestinal wall cells..." The traces of IGF-1in that end up in milk are not destroyed by pasteurization nor digestion, and are absorbed into the blood by those who drink the milk. Nursing mothers who drink this milk pass in on to their babies through their breast milk. (Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.)

rBGH is banned in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries because of its potential risks posed to human health. Moreover, American farmers do not need rBGH; there is already a surplus of dairy products which has driven their prices down, even putting small dairy farmers out of buisness.

• 1992 and Monsanto

1992 was a very good year for Monsanto, who appears to have taken control of the FDA when Clinton came into office:

USDA Secretary Dan Glickman worked for a law firm that represented Monsanto prior to his appointment to President Clinton's cabinet.

Michael Taylor was a Monsanto lawyer before he was appointed FDA deputy commissioner for policy. After Taylor helped draft the FDA's 1992 policy on GE food and rBGH, he returned to corporate life and became Monsanto's vice president for public policy.

Margaret Miller, a former laboratory supervisor for Monsanto who helped develop rBGH for the company, became the deputy director of Human Food Safety and Consultative Services at the FDA, and helped streamline FDA approval for rBGH.

Micky Kantor, President Clinton's former personal attorney, Commerce Secretary and U.S. trade representative has been on Monsanto's board of directors since 1997

Michael A. Friedman, M.D., former acting FDA commissioner, became senior vice-president of clinical affairs for Monsanto's pharmaceutical division, G.D. Searle.

Linda J. Fisher, former assistant administrator of the EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, became vice-president of federal government affairs for Monsanto. (Safe Food News, 11.)

Is it any wonder why Monsanto has been able to get FDA approval for its, no doubt highly profitable, genetically altered seeds, and that the FDA has refused to require testing and labeling? Because of pressure by the biotech industry, we do not have a single law on the books addressing the new biological threat. I wonder why?

Monsanto claims that GMO food is both healthier and better for the environment. (My opinion is that the basis for Monsanto's claim is that GMO makes their bottom line look better, so who cares about health and safety - the love of money is the root of all evil, including permanently corrupting our food supply.)

• God made a mistake!!

Not only is Monsanto's goal, and others involved in GE, to improve on God's creation, but the Rockefeller Foundation is investing vast sums of money to "remedy" God's unfortunate oversight when He did not make rice high in vitamin A.

The Rockefeller Foundation is a major supporter and financier of GMO research, particularly into a new strain of rice with extra beta-carotene, called Golden Rice. The Creator made rice, a staple food worldwide, with no beta-carotene, vitamin A, so the goal of two scientists financed by the Foundation is to "remedy this unfortunate oversight in nature." It is hoped that this new strain of rice, which is genetically crossed with daffodils, will feed the world. The rice seed will be given to "poorer" nations, but sold in the US and other affluent markets. (From the lengthy Time article.)

However, malnutrition is not a result of rice not having beta-carotene; it is a result of the lack of use of other foods with beta-carotene. (Yams are high in beta-carotene.)

"I never did like people tampering with what God put on the earth. Food is part of a matrix, in which everything has a purpose. Everything has a role. What will happen to that matrix if we put fish genes in tomatoes? We don't know."

"Thinking himself wise, man continues to exalt his foolish and uncontrolled pride, believing he can improve upon the unparalleled working of a flawless and all-knowing Creator. What judgement will we bring upon ourselves for this haughty and disdainful tampering?"

"To me genetic engineering is like spitting in God's face and saying, `God, sit down and watch us correct your dumb mistakes, because evidently you know not what you do.'"

"Knowing that God is sovereign, this disturbs me greatly." (Dr. Joseph Moorman, 4th District Commander, Chaplain Core, Detroit Police Department; Education Director, God's Holy Temple Church.)

• EPA vs FDA

The Aventis' articles mentioned its problems with the FDA and with the EPA - the Environmental Protection Agency. Those reading the articles, unless they have information from elsewhere, would think that the authors of the articles got their letters mixed up - FDA and EPA. The mainstream media has not told us why the EPA has the authority over StarLink. Starlink is not approved for human consumption, but it made its way into the food chain anyway. Aventis tried to recall the corn at the cost "significantly below" $1 billion, but has been unable to account for about 1.2 million bushels of the 1999 crop. "The EPA has not approved the corn for human consumption because of questions about whether it can cause allergic reactions," so Aventis asked the EPA to temporarily approve the grain for food, so it will not have to trace and recall the grain.

The EPA is involved because StarLink is genetically engineered to be toxic to insects, so it was never approve for human consumption. In other words, gene-altered crops, e.g., corn, potatoes and cotton - that are engineered to produce their own "Bt" (Bacillus Thuringiensis) pesticide are listed by the EPA as pesticides, not as foods, which would fall under the FDA. Bt is a natural pesticide used by organic farmers, but normally the Bt pesticide is sprayed on, and naturally dissipates, or it can be washed off before eating. However, GE corps that produce their own Bt pesticide continue producing that pesticide, and there is no way of removing it. No one knows yet the results of eating Bt pesticide. Scientists agree, however, that the widespread use of GE, Bt crops will result in pests resistant to Bt pesticide, which will be very hard on the organic farmers. Obviously, the pesticide is entering the human food chain through feeding livestock GE feed grains.

• Potatoes

Bt potatoes have been on the market for some time. When asked why Bt toxin was not treated as a food additive, James Maryanski of the FDA said, "That's easy. Bt is a pesticide, so it's exempt" from FDA regulation. Maryanski explained that the FDA requires a "reasonable certainty of no harm" in food additives, a standard most pesticides are unable to meet. On the other hand, the EPA operates on the assumption that if the original potato is safe, and the Bt protein added to it is safe, then the end product (the New Leaf potato) is safe. And the EPA determined safe by feeding the Bt toxin, not the Bt potato, to mice, with no side effects. If you will notice, however, the Bt sprays used in gardening carry a lengthy warning label, but the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which gives the FDA sole jurisdiction over labeling of plant foods, specifically forbids the FDA from including any information about pesticides on food labels. When Monsanto's director of corporate communications, Phil Angell, was questioned about the safety of their biotech food, he said:

Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech foods. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDA's job. (Safe Food, p. 9. See the entire excerpt from Michael Pollan's Playing God in the Garden, which was the cover story of the October 25, 1998, New York times Sunday Magazine. Angell failed to mention, however, that Monsanto apparently established the FDA's policy on biotech foods, and that many of Monsanto's foods fall under the FDA.)

• Mad Cow

Europe well remembers the "Mad Cow" disease. "For 10 years, British officials consistently misled the public by deliberately playing down the possibility that mad cow disease could be transmitted to humans." But after a lengthy investigation, it was found that it would - 83 people are known to have died from the disease, and 7 more are known to have the human form of the disease. It is always fatal. There is no way of knowing how many will come down with the disease because it can have an extremely long incubation period - 25 years or more. Those who ate the tainted beef in the 80s are still at risk. Moreover, the Swiss Red Cross is refusing blood donations from those who spent over 6 months in Britain between 1980 and 1996. Farmers were assured that the tainted feed (tainted with animal protein, or left over meat and bones from processing, which was added, no doubt, to increase the "bottom line," 1 Tim. 6:10) which led to the mad cow disease was fine. Then when it affected the cows, the public was assured that the disease would not harm humans. Now the government admits that it does harm humans after 83 deaths directly attributed to the tainted feed. The government is also saying that it could be 25 years before the cost of human life is known,

2 families file lawsuit over mad cow disease. Dead man, sick man were poisoned because European officials acted too slowly, suit claims. PARIS - the families of two French victims of a brain-wasting disease filed a lawsuit Friday accusing French, British and European Union authorities of not acting quickly enough to stamp out mad cow disease... (Indianapolis Star, 11/18/00.)

• And,

"The latest hazard facing farmers" is the threat of being sued. A Greensburg , Indiana, farmer told The Star that he was no longer planting biotech crops. Though well aware of their "advantages," he sells to U.S. and Japanese processors of speciality foods, and they want nothing to do with genetically altered crops. And any contamination could lead to a lawsuit. (Editorial, Indianapolis Star, 12/19/00.)

Those involved in distributing GMO foods have legitimate concerns about lawsuit. They should look and learn from what happened in Britain. But will it be too late by the time U.S. public pressure forces more investigation into the GMO food contamination?

"Panel wants biotech food to carry labels, but report's language may be vague enough to allow U.S. to continue practice of not labeling."

A 19-page report prepared by the U.S. and the European Union urged the U.S. and Europe to set "content-based mandatory labeling requirements" for foods that contain "novel genetic material" (Europe's term). But because the FDA holds that GMO corps are essentially the same as conventionally bred crops, it continues to say that mandatory labeling is not warranted. Though consumer groups are pressing for labeling, the Clinton administration continues to resist pressure to require labeling. (AP, Indianapolis Star, 12/19/00.) I wonder why?

We are being assured that GMO foods are safe for human consumption, but those assurances are not based in scientific reality. There are no conclusive tests. How long of an incubation period is needed before problems show up to the degree that the cause of those problems must be traced?

Rather than money being spent in testing the food, it is being spent in public relations and further tests to make GMO easier to recognize and thus trace for recall if necessary.

• Appendant

In a NPR (National Public Radio) report, we are told that Monsanto is promoting GM seeds (cotton) in India. Though India's government approved Monsanto's cotton seeds for large scale field trials in India, the farmers are rallying against the GM seeds, saying that if India permits Monsanto's seeds, the farmers will be trapped, dependant on foreign technology. The farmers say that GM seeds will make traditional seeds hard to find, seeds that they can save and replant. Or that their traditional seeds could get contaminated by engineered seeds in neighboring fields. (Note that cotton seed oil is used in may foods, ed.) And the big malti-national companies would control the market for seeds, the most basic source for a farmer's livelihood and life.

On the other hand, the protesting farmers are only a small fraction of the total farmers in India. The powers that be, particularly the ones who own large farms, are trying to decide if they want to remain independent, as they worked so hard to be from the British empire, or again become captive to another power, particularly Monsanto.

The primary argument is over environment safety, not over human safety. And the US government is one of the major sponsors, paying big bucks to a USDA representative to travel the world praising GMO crops. (Note that Monsanto took control of the USDA when Clinton took office, a fact NPR failed to mention in their 21 minute report_sure looks suspicious to me.) One of the primary arguments for GMO is that certain corps, e.g., rice, sweet potatoes, do not provide a balanced diet, and those dependant on that one food starve to death. However, those opposed to GMO point out that the problem is that the farmers fail to plant a variety of corps that will give a balanced diet. The problem is not that rice does not contain vitamin A, nor that sweet potatoes do not contain protein; the problem is a lack of other foods in the diet. (All Things Considered, 12/26/00. http://npr.org)

There are some points that stand out in the whole GMO arguement:

First, GMOs represent power and money for those controlling the seeds, so the fight boils down to a fight over who will control the food production of the world. Will that production remain in the hands of thousands of individual farmers, or will it move to a centralized location, such as Monsanto?

Second, another thing that stands out in the GMO controversy is that the supporters are not proving that GMO is safe for human consumption or safe for the environment. Rather, they are simply working a big, world-wide public relations machine to convince people of the safety of GMOs. And the taxpayer (USDA) is a big financier of that machine, thanks, no doubt, to Monsanto's efforts within the USDA and the FDA.

• What can we do?

There are stores that carry non-GMO foods, but their prices are quite high. And labels are starting to show up on the regular grocery shelves that say, "Non-GMO." I would also urge folks to check out www.safe-food.org <http://www.safe> Furthermore, we need to be contacting our representatives and asking them to at least require labeling of GMO products.

The above is gleaned from the Indianapolis Star, 10/6, 27, 11/5, 11, 16, Time, 7/00, and from the Safe Food News, Genetically engineered foods-are they safe? (Published by Mothers for Natural Law, PO Box 1900, Fairfield, IA. mothers@natural-law.org <mailto:mothers@natural-law.org> ! www.safe-food.org <http://www.safe>) I only identified sources in key places, and only used a small portion of the material documenting the danger of GMOs.

• The Word of God

Does the word of God address the situation?

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom. 1:21.)

GMO is one of the more obvious areas where man refuses to glorify God as God, and has become vain in his imagination - he thinks he can improve upon the All-Wise Creator's work. And thus his foolish heart is darkened, so he cannot see the results of his actions. Following Romans 1 to its conclusion, we see that open sodomy and evils of all kinds now permeate our society, as man refuses to glorify God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Creator.

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. (Deut. 28:1-5.)

Above is, at times, an overused passage, but we will use it anyway to open the following discussion. If thou shalt..., then the LORD thy God will... bless the crops, children, trees, cattle and even the storage of the crops. (I saw a film some time ago of mice in Australia they looked like a grey ocean wave sweeping over everything in its path.)

The obvious opposite of bless is curse - an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group; something causing misery or death; a severe affliction; an evil spell. And in this case, the "supernatural power" who inflicts evil is the LORD God, and he inflicts it on not only individuals, but on groups of individuals, e.g., nations.

I heard Rush Limbaugh (November 10, 2000) complaining that it seems that rather than good triumphing as it had in the past ("they will get their comeupens"), good seems to have lost its way to evil in the last 10 years. Instead of good wining out, evil now wins out in the long run, referring to the Clinton-Gore years and the election of Hillary to the Senate and the continuing conflict between Bush and Gore (December 1, 2000).

• A Few Problems

First, the publicly taught and accepted theory of evolution is coming to a head. For if all creation is no more than a random collection of atoms, then man is justified in rearranging those atoms to improve what evolution failed to do. He thus has no fear of wrongly mixing and changing DNA structures at all levels of life, including mixing humans and animals.

An interesting note: Another logical conclusion for evolution that says man and animals have the same "roots" An European Bio-tech company recently patented a process for mixing human and animal DNA

Patent allows creation of man-animal hybrid

Special report: the ethics of genetics

Antony Barnett, public affairs editor Sunday November 26, 2000

A biotech company has taken out a Europe-wide patent on a process which campaigners claim would allow `chimeric' animals to be developed with body parts originating from humans.

An Australian company, Amrad, was granted the patent last year, which covers embryos containing cells both from humans and from `mice, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats or fish'.

Church groups have already reacted with outrage, denouncing the patent as `morally offensive'.

Details in the patent do not make it clear what use these mixed-species embryos would be put to, but experts are in no doubt that the potential is there to create a hybrid creature.

Dr Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch, said: `The company is saying that it wants a patent on a process which could produce chimeric animals using cells from a whole range of species including humans. Many people will find the thought abhorrent.'

A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: `To patent a process where human life is used as a kind of bank to deposit into animals is morally indefensible.'

Dr Donald Bruce, a spokesman for European churches on bioethics, said: `This patent should never have been passed. If people are talking about using human cells in animals, that is completely unacceptable.'

Last month the European Patent Office claimed it would never grant a patent on mixed-species embryos as they are considered against `public order and morality'. But this patent, discovered by a researcher in Greenpeace's German office, was taken out in January 1999 and has since been sold to US company Chemicon International.

Thomas Schweiger of Greenpeace called on the European Patent Office to withdraw it. He said: `The chimeras may be non-human but they may contain human organs, body parts, nerve cells and even human genetic codes. The company does not give concrete medical uses and obviously intended to give the company broad monopoly rights on the process and chimeric creatures.'

Schweiger believes that one possible use might be to grow human organs in animals for transplantation.

According to the patent the chimera-creating process starts by isolating a special hormone, the objective of which is to stimulate the growth of embryonic cells (from murdered, unborn babies, e.d.); known as stem cells. These stem cells are the `master cells' which could in theory be used to produce virtually any type of replacement tissue for a damaged body.

Amrad chief executive John Grace denied his company had ever conducted research in this field and said the patent would not be used to create animals with human cells. He said the process was mainly used to produce genetically engineered mice for research.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2000 (http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,403160,00.html)

Though I have disagreed with "Greenpeace" in the past, they are the ones demanding accountability from these wicked people who are mixing species of plants, fish (Purdue researchers are placing human growth genes or other growth genes into fish to get a super fish, which then crowds out native fish because of their size), animals and humans, including sounding the alarm against GMO foods. It is sad that there are no sound Christian organizations doing what Greenpeace is doing. Evidently, the Lord God Himself has raised up a pagan organization to do what His people should be doing that is, standing against wicked men and their evil intentions to overturn creation as made by the Word of God (Heb. 1:1-4):

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen. 11:5-9.)

We know from God's word that He will not allow man's evil imagination to proceed beyond a certain point, but what is that point, and what will He do to stop man? I am convinced, however, that His intervention will not be with a "rapture," nor with His literal sword (though He certainly sent His literal sword against national Israel for what they did to His Son the Roman army in 70 AD). Christians will reap the results of their indifference to the social ills around them.

Second, as developed in another article (Election Reflection, 2000), America's violation of its founding covenant is coming to a head. The Mayflower Compact, or covenant with the Lord God was willingly entered into by God's people. They knew the conditions and results which would come upon their posterity if that posterity failed to keep their end of the covenant. And the results agreed to by our founding fathers are coming to pass. It appears that God has given many who are in position to corrupt our food supply over to a reprobate mind.

Third, as mentioned previously, the seat of the conspiracy is among those who identify themselves as God's people. It is the theology that teachers we are "Under Grace not Law" that is coming to a head. Just as many professed Christians despise the Old Testament and misuse theology to justify removing it from the Word of God and its legal authority over them, the reprobate misuse their technological skills to void the Old Testament laws, e.g., Genesis 1:11-25, Deuteronomy 28:1-4, from their authority over them.

Reprobates, both inside and outside of the church, desire to prosper in their nations, families, communities, crops and herds apart from the bands and cords of God's laws governing His creation. The reprobates' determination to cast the Old Testament laws of sowing and reaping from himself SHALL bring upon him and his society the supernatural curse of the LORD God of creation. Note that man's warfare against God's nature as seen in his GMO efforts, must result in God's creation being at war against man. And God is the One Who will choose the battle ground; He chooses what evils to bring against those rebelling against His wise ordering of creation. (Isa. 66:4.)

The best of fallen man's theological and technological efforts are going into breaking the bands and cords established by the Creator in His Creation. Though they may feel they have succeeded, they have not. Without God's merciful intervention against those desiring to break God's bands and cords, we could see some unbelievable results, such as the total corruption of our food supply. My prayer is that the Lord will break the power and influence of those who are working against God's lawful order.

Let me add some more from Deuteronomy 28: Vv. 9, 10. A small boat with only a couple men aboard, unafraid, boldly attacked a U.S. warship, the USS Cole. V. 12, the weather is in a turmoil. V. 13, foreign debt - trade deficit owed to foreign nations, especially to a nation out to destroy us, China, is huge, and growing daily. And new and strange diseases are coming about for which modern medicine has no answer, e.g., Ebola. V. 28, madness, astonishment of heart, i.e., "Social Phobias," are being "discovered" for treatment by expensive drugs. And just in case someone refuses to make the connection between Deuteronomy 28 and modern America, the LORD has now brought to our shores the WEST NILE VIRUS, which is spreading rapidly across the U.S., in fulfillment of vv. 27, 60 (see also 7:15). Some of the above will get attention in upcoming articles.

• World Hunger (?), the answer

"Turn unto me with all your hearts," said the Lord Jesus Christ. And that turning must start with the "priests" at the house of the Lord, and with those who profess to be the Lord's people. And there shall be plenty of food for everyone, v. 26. On the other hand, the more man tries to turn from the plan established by his Creator, the less food there will be. (Joel 2:12-27, Mark. 12:39, James 4:8, 9.)

I might point out that no doubt one of the primary reasons the "priests" who operate under the name of "Christian" are able to turn from the entire word of God is because Christians continue to support them even though they have turned.

Election Reflections

I realize the election is settled, so the wording is outdated in some instances. However, the premise upon which the following is based is valid, regardless of who won.

Probably like many of you, I have been following the election situation. No doubt, it is the most unique situation in U.S. history, as well as the most revealing. I will try to present the following in an orderly manner, but the more I worked with it, the longer it got.

Our text is: And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do... (Exodus 24:3-8.0

The people agreed, and they willingly entered into a covenant with the God of the covenant. Then the Lord told them what would happen if they failed in keeping the covenant, But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;... And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:... I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. (Leviticus 26:14-25.)

The covenant was willingly entered into by God's people. They knew the results if they failed to keep up their end. And the rest of the Word of God is a record of the ups and downs of God's people, according to their relationship in obedience to His word.

Now, let's apply that to our day -- it was clearly the Christian God Who established America. This nation was founded upon and by the Christian God, and this God is identified as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Jn. 8:54.) In other words, any god who is worshiped other than through the finished work of Jesus Christ for sinful man is not the God of the Bible, whether Old Testament or New. That god is another god as warned against in the First Commandment.

These united States were to be the theater of the development and triumph of the Christian religion, the gospel of Christ. The Mayflower Compact was clear - the purpose of the new `American' undertaking was "for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith,..."

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc. having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the general good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Codd the 11. of November, in the year of the reigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620. (Emph. added.)

Before they even stepped off the Mayflower, these men agreed among themselves, and they as a unified body covenanted together with God that the purpose of the civil nation they were about to start was for the glory of God, and for the advancement of the Christian faith. And they agreed that that Christian faith revolved around the sovereign grace of God and the finished work of Christ. They agreed that the laws governing their new nation would be basically God's laws as found in His Holy Word, particularly in the Old Testament.

John Winthrop, aboard the flagship Arabella, spelled out what would happen to his national posterity if it forsook the covenant they made with God:

We are entered into covenant with [God] for this work. We have taken out a commission. The Lord has given us leave to draw our own articles; we have promised to base our actions on these ends, and we have asked Him for favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then He is has ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect strict performance of the articles contained in it. But if we neglect to observe these articles, which are the ends we have propounded, and - dissembling with our God - shall embrace this present worked and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us and be revenged of such a perjured people, and He will make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant. ("Written by John Winthrop, 1588-1649, aboard the flagship Alabella. This document spells out what happens to a people when they forsake their covenant with God. Our nation needs to heed its warnings." God and Government, The Restoration of the Republic, V. III.xi. Emp. added.)

Thus they again agreed together that the Law of God would be their law, and if their posterity departed from those laws, then the Lord Himself would break out against them and their nation in His wrath. And can we blame them for calling down the vengeful wrath of God against their posterity if that posterity departed from the way the fathers paid such a high price to establish before the Lord? I dare say that any committed Christian businessman would desire God's curse against anyone who took over his businesses after he is gone, if the heir did not continue to build upon the foundation the founder paid such a high price to establish. In other words, he built his business upon Christian principles, and he does not want to see what he worked so hard to build used to serve the world, flesh and the devil.

Note the establishment and the wording of America's first constitution:

The first organization of civil society and government was made, in 1639, at Quinipiack, now the beautiful. city of New Haven. The emigrants, men of distinguished piety and ability, met in a large barn, on the 4th of June, 1639, and in a very formal and solemn manner, proceeded to lay the foundations of their civil and religious polity. (The Christian Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States, B.F. Morris, Introduction, p 52. G.W. Childs, Philadelphia, PA, 1864.)

The subject was introduced by a sermon from Mr. Davenport, the pastor, from the words of Solomon, "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." After a solemn invocation to Almighty God, he proceeded to represent to the Plantation that they were met to consult respecting the setting up of civil government according to the will of God, and for the nomination of persons who, buy universal consent, were in all respects the best qualified for the foundation work of a church. He enlarged on the great importance of thorough action, and exhorted every man to give his vote in the fear of God. A constitution was formed, which was characterized as "the first example of a written constitution; as a distinct organic act, constituting a government and defining its powers." The preamble and resolutions connected with its formation are as follows: -

"Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Almighty God, by wise disposition of his divine providence, so to order and dispose of things that we, the inhabitants of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield, are now cohabiting and dwelling in and upon the river of Connecticut, and the lands thereunto adjoining, and well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requireth that, to maintain the peace and union of such a people, there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion should require; do, therefore, associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one public STATE or COMMONWEALTH, and do enter into combination and confederation to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our LORD JESUS, which we now profess, as also the discipline of the churches, which, according to the truth of said gospel, is now practiced amongst us; as also in our civil affairs to be guided and governed according to such laws, rules, and orders, and decrees as shall be made.

"I. That the Scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in all duties which they are to preform to God and to men, as well in families and commonwealths as in matters of the church."

"II. That as in matters which concern the gathering and ordering of a church, so likewise in all public offices which concern civil order, as the choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, they would all be governed by those rules which the Scripture held forth to them."

"III. That all those who had desired to be received free planters had settled in the plantation with a purpose, resolution, and desire that they might be admitted into church fellowship according to Christ.When these resolutions had been passed, and the people had bound themselves to settle civil government according to the divine word." Mr. Davenport proceeded to state what men they must choose for civil rulers according to the divine word, and that they might most effectively secure to themselves and their posterity a just, free, and peaceable government. After a full discussion, it was unanimously determined...

"IV. That church members only should be free burgesses; and that they only should choose magistrates among themselves, to have power of transacting all the public civil affairs of the plantation, of making and repealing laws, dividing inheritances, deciding of differences that may arise, and doing all things and businesses of a like nature." ... (Ibid., 66-68. Emph. added.)

Since there was not yet an established church, a church was formed with its proper officers. After this, the church members elected proper civil offers, with Theophilus Eaton the first governor of the civil commonwealth.

The General Court, established under this constitution, ordered... "That God's word should be the only rule for ordering the affairs of government in this commonwealth." (Ibid., 66-68.)

And thus we see that the civil government was patterned after the church, and civil officers had to be church members. The only influence the church had upon the civil government was preaching to and teaching the church members. (Interesting thought: There are Christens who believe Christians should not be involved in politics. Thus, those who first landed at Plymouth Rock were in sin - they professed to be Christians, and they, out of necessity, formed a civil government.)

Our point is this: The fathers of this nation entered into covenant with the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, they agreed to God's wrath against their posterity if that posterity departed from the law and commandments of the Lord God.

There are many areas today where we see God's wrath against the posterity for not only departing from the covenant made by our fathers with God, but their posterity is at war against the Covenant God and His Law-Word. In this message, we are only looking at the one that is currently on everyone's mind, the 2000 election.

Among the many news reports I have heard, I heard one reporter say that the battle was between the white American male and the "minorities," blacks, and Spanish. Thus, the 2000 election shows us that America is no longer as it was founded, a White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant Christian (WASP) nation, though the White Christian male still has a large influence.

Over the years, the goal of the God-haters has been to break the WASPs hold in this country, and this election proved that they have succeeded. The Indianapolis Star had an Op Ed piece by David Broder, "A nation evenly but not deeply divided." In it, he said,

"This nation has rarely appeared more divided than it does right now, even though no single is- sue dominates the political debate, as slavery did in the first half of the 19th century or the welfare state did for a half century after 1930. Both the House and Senate are split down the middle, with mathematical precision. The presidential vote was about as close as it could be. Even at the grass-roots level, there is parity between Republicans and Democrats in the legislatures. However you sliced the election returns, you saw division. Men voted one way; women the other. The races divided in their partisan preferences. The cities went Democratic; the small towns and rural areas Republican. The suburbs the buffer zone of politics, split evenly between A1 Gore and George Bush, a phenomenon you could see with your eyes as neighbors planted lawn signs for the opposing candidates. As Benjamin Barber, the Rutgers University student of American politics and society, said, "There are two Americas, and when you look at the electoral map, the division has never been clearer." Barber said that a cultural divide underlies the geographic. "One is an old-fashioned America of traditional values. The other wants a much more open, diverse society, less judgmental of people. One America wanted to impeach and remove (President) Clinton; the other wanted to exonerate him."... (Indianapolis Star, November 10, 2000.) "The division is evident in Cedar County, Iowa - it was dead even for Bush and Gore, each receiving 4,025 votes."...(Chicago Tribune, 10/13/00.)

Mr. Broder points out that Gore represents "a much more open, diverse society, less judgmental of people." In other words, Gore represents an America that wants to get as far away from the Christian God of the Bible as possible, and follow its own heart into every kind of imagination - sodomy, abortion, adultery, &c. (See Ps. 2.) Gore represents those desiring to be his or her own god, each establishing his own code of moral conduct without being condemned by others. (What he stands for is the logical conclusion of the "age of Grace" - that is, we are under grace, so we are no long under law; we can do what we feel is best for us, and on one has the right to judge us.)

On the other hand, Bush represents "an old-fashioned America of traditional values." In other words, Bush represents the Christian moral foundation of this country, the foundation that the founding fathers laid in 1620.

Now, I am not at all implying that Bush is our kind of Christian, nor am I saying that he is any kind of a Christian at all for that matter. But I do know that the WASP forsook Buchanan and went for Bush. Even with all the support the "Christian" community could muster, the majority of the vote went to Gore, implying that America has now turned its back upon its Christian moral values, and the covenant made so many years ago.

Please note that I am only saying that the public perception of Bush and Gore is such. I personally believe Bush is owned lock, stock and barrel by the same one world community that owns both Clinton and Gore. The establishment saw that the voters again could only choose the lessor of two evils; both are as one world as anyone can be. America may have a little longer before total destruction under Bush than under Gore. However, if Gore's environmentalism stands against GMO, I would have to support him over Bush, if Bush supports it. But the Clinton-Gore administration is the one that really gave the boost to GMO.

Regardless, what has happened? Hillary has been elected, and Gore has the popular vote. Both Hillary and Gore have been closely tied to the most scandal-plagued administration probably in U.S. history. This election shows that we are in for some very difficult times because the covenant made by the founding fathers with the Lord, as revealed in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has been broken.

Note that Gore shose an antichrist as his running-mate - that is, a practicing Jew. Jesus Christ clearly told the Jews that the god they worshiped, which did not point to Himself, was a false god and not the God of Abraham. Thus the Christian God is defined as He Who: 1) can be approached by all nationalities; 2) is approached only through the shed blood of His Son, Christ Jesus, and 3) is revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ (thou shalt call his name JESUS, Matt. 1:21.) Thus, He is not the god of those who practice the Jewish religion any more than He is the god of the Muslims or Hindus. Nor is He the god worshiped by the majority of "religious" people today, for their god does not require the blood sacrifice for sin. These united States do not have a Judaic/Christian heritage; they have a distinctly Biblical Christian heritage, emanating from the desire to spread the gospel of Christ to every creature.

We saw in Exodus 19:8 & 24:3, 7, that God's people at the mount said, "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do." (Compare Jn. 14:15 with Acts 7:30-38: It was Jesus Christ Who spoke to God's people at the mount.) God's people at the mount agreed to do the Law of God as revealed through Moses, and spoken by Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:11 (Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.) tells us that God recorded for our instruction in His word what happened to His people as the posterity of those at the mount failed to do what their fathers promised they would do.

The founding fathers of this nation (the U. S. of A.), with no thought of whether or not they were descendants of the Hebrews of old, said, "All the words of God's Law we will do." And thus they made a covenant with the Christian God of both the Old and the New Testaments, for the God they covenanted with is revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The founding fathers of this nation promised to base the laws and actions of their new nation in Holy Scripture; they promised the Christian God that if He prospered them, they and their posterity would render strict obedience to God's Word; they made it clear that if the nation they founded departed from the covenant they made with the Christian God, that God's wrath and vengeance would be upon the faithless people, their own descendants, for breaching their covenant.

America's founding fathers' agreement with the Lord God placed the following generations of Americans within the same covenant - conditions of possessing the land that have stood since Abraham. (One man's disobedience placed all his posterity in sin, just as one man's obedience places all of his posterity in righteousness. Rom. 5:12, 19. And thus covenants made by fathers can place their children within the agreements.) The original covenant was not between the civil authority and the people under that authority; the covenant was between the people and the Christian God of the Bible Who established their nation. (Lev 25:18, 19, Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.)

We must all admit that the covenant has been broken, but which covenant? Those looking and hoping for a political solution requiring no repentance and obedience to God's Word (i.e., Bush supporters) say the covenant that is broken is between the Federal civil government in D.C. and the people, i.e., the Constitution. However, that is NOT WHAT John Winthrop would say if he were alive today.

Those of us who believe God's word know the covenant that is broken is the one between the people and the Christian God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fathers of this nation promised God they would render strict obedience to God's Law-Word, and they agreed to God's righteous vengeance if they or their children departed from that covenant. Every weapon that fallen man can bring to bear has been used against that founding covenant to pattern America's laws after God's Law-Word. The state education system has been, probably, the most effective weapon. (A few years ago, the largest employer in our area was laying off many Americans from their high paying jobs, and replaced them documented and undocumented Mexicans. There was such a community stir over the loss of the good jobs that the company held a public meeting to defend its use of Mexican labor over American. At this meeting, a white school teacher from Lafayette stood up and rejoiced that America's Anglo-Saxon culture was being destroyed.)

And the pulpits have been just as effective, as pastors stand up and say that the Law of God no longer is binding in this age of Grace.

Today we are seeing the obvious results of the departure of the descendants of those founding fathers departing from the God of the covenant.

Everyone of us needs to renew the covenant we entered into at our baptism. That covenant is the same as the one made by the fathers of our nation.

I have been struck by the many things that seem to be coming to a head: Generic Engineered food has started coming into use in the past 20 years; "social phobias" have been running rampant starting about 20 years ago; and new diseases about which the medical community knows nothing coming about.

It is not the White House that needs a good cleansing. We are in desperate need of God's grace, a grace that opens eyes and brings about genuine Christian conversion.

Personal note.

This past year has been quite a year. Of course, my heart problem was in October, 99. Then my wife passed away in June, and then my dad passed away the first of August (he was 85, and had struggled with cancer for about 25 years), and then I ended up in the hospital again just after Thanksgiving, `99. Below is the e-mail I sent out the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Friends:

My apologies if you receive this message more than once. I sent it to a few last night (my "family" list that I kept posted about Carol's condition this last year), and some of you are on more than one of my e mail lists (family, update and examiner) So please excuse the duplicate messages.

I am scheduled for an Angygram (? one would think I could spell the word after four times on the table) 6:30 AM Monday morning, St. E. Hospital. (I am to be there early, but will have to wait, for I am not the first in the schedule. The doctor told me last Wednesday not to do anything, though I could watch TV, if I did not get worked up over a football game. The problem is a breathing "discomfort" when I exercise. It could be caused by a piece of plaque breaking loose in the heart, emotional stress or even "emotional" in relation to Carol's diagnosis which was about a year ago from when the "discomfort" started. It may be nothing, or it may require another stent we will know Monday.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. And He may require some drastic changes.

My last two blood samples have not produced good results: 8/21/00 "Based on Cardio CRP and Total Cholesterol/HDL-C stratification, the relative risk for cardiovascular event is 4.2 times greater than individuals in the lowest quintiles for both of these tests." 10/23/00 "7.2 times greater..." And as is well known, stress plays a large part in increased risks.

I had blood work done a week or so ago, and will find out the results Wednesday, Lord willing.

Though our church is quite small, I seem to be working outside of my primary calling at this point in my life. So, at this point, I am praying that the Lord will provide the means for me to go full time with the Examiner, which, of course, can be done from anywhere in the States. The Lord seems to have blessed that area greatly, and I certainly enjoy the study, research and writing. There is very little stress for me in the Examiner, except for the mailing deadline I must establish in my own mind to get it done.

If those on the mailing list would support us with even $25 a year, that would be sufficient to mail monthly, as I would like to do. I still have a 15 year old girl at home, so whatever decision made must take her into consideration, for she is my first responsibility. (She is a godly young lady, who has not given a moments problem.)

Also, soon after my first "heart attack" (though the heart attacks no one), the Lord placed me in contact with an excellent "alternative" doctor in Indianapolis; he is also a "Reformed" Christian, as is his office staff. He has been working with me from that angle, including EDTA chelation, so I cannot get far out of his sight until he says he has done about all he can for me.

Next morning's responses from the few e mails I sent out Friday night:

"Dear Brother Need,

Thank you for including me on your list. I assure you of my prayers for you this Monday morning. Also I will help you all I can with the cost of your ministry. I will give you at least $100 per year and will send out the first part tomorrow. (Sat.)

I love your work and I know the desire of a writers heart to get with the paper full time. I have a lingering "itch" along the same line."

"Dear Bro. Ovid:

I will be praying for you. If you can go full time with the Examiner, consider moving to Florida. I could help you as we had discussed earlier. I really do hope you are OK! The Examiner is important for the propagation of

the Christian faith."

"Ovid:

You are in my prayers. Please keep us informed. Your idea sounds wonderful."

FINAL WORD:

So, dear friends, keep us in your prayers, for this is indeed an important step that is under consideration. You all have read enough of my material to know that I am firm in my Biblical conviction of the Sovereignty of God, and His Divine Providence controlling all events in history, including my personal history. He is in control, and these things have not taken place for naught. He has certainly stirred up my nest, and we will see what He brings about.

FOLLOWUP

The discomfort continued to worsen even when I was in bed, so I went to the emergency room at 2:30 AM the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving. They put me right to bed, of course, and would not let me move much. The angygram showed that the stent they placed in the heart, October 29, 99, had plugged up. They did a "roto rooter' on it, and all went fine. This procedure "chops" the blockage up into pieces smaller than the red blood cells, so it goes out through the kidneys. The worse part of it all was having to lay absolutely still for 13 hours after they did the procedure, to prevent the artery where they went in through the groin from breaking open. I guess there is a 30% chance that the stent will plug up as it did with me; my prayer is that it will not plug up again.

The doctor was very pleased with the results, and said it could not have gone better. There is a 30% chance of it happening again, but the "roto rooter" is sure better than the bypass surgery. The angygram picture showed no further buildup of blockages around the heart; in fact, the heart was starting to grow bypasses around the blocked stent. I am continuing the chelation, which I stopped for about 9 weeks while my wife was in the hospital and while we were gone the three weeks after the funeral. I started again a few weeks ago. (See <icanbehealthy.com>)

My time is very badly cut up, having to take Christina to and from school in Crawfordsville (30 min each way). It has certainly cut into my study time, which normally was at the office between 4:30 AM to 10:30 AM, and then doing other responsibilities until 5:30, and at times on late into the evening. Now, I cannot leave the house until I am ready to take her in to school, and then I must pick her up, come home, and fix something to eat. (Praise the Lord that He has me in a place where I can do these things.) The Lord provided a good lap top while Carol was in the hospital, so I can do most of my work at home. Nonetheless, my time is extremely limited that I can "work." Please pray with me that the Lord will direct me into the area where He can most effectively use me. My heart is in the study and writing, and my health may require that I place all my time and energy in that area.

However, I am content in whatsoever state I find myself. The Lord clearly moved us to Linden Baptist Church in January, 1983, and I will continue my best in His place here until He clearly directs otherwise.

Medical-Industrial Complex

Being a pastor, I am not into multi-level marketing. However, after my heart problem and experience with the medical profession, I am into any non-prescription product that will improve my health. As I have worked to change my diet, I have found that we seem to be caught in the true proverb: The love of money is the root of all evil.

The food industry promotes things very high in cholesterol (junk food); the medical industry (doctors and pharmaceutical companies) claims that high cholesterol causes heart problems, so we must have cholesterol lowering medication, which the pharmaceuticals gladly provide for a very high price. Meanwhile, the medication can cause liver damage, for which pharmaceuticals gladly provide high priced medication.

The food industry puts salt in EVERYTHING, no doubt to enhance the flavor. Salt raises blood pressure, for which the medical industry gladly provides pressure lowering, high priced medication. We are not told that the medication can cause heart damage, and drains the body of much needed vitamins and minerals.

Sugar is another ingredient that is almost IMPOSSIBLE to avoid. Sugar plays havoc with several things, not the least is the body's sugar level, diabetes. The medical industry gladly provides high priced medication to deal with diabetes, again, not really telling us the long term results of the medication. Sugar also promotes tooth decay, for which the dental profession pushes fluoride. The discussion about fluoride has been around long enough not to discuss further here. Hyperactivity has also been linked to refined sugar, so medication is developed to deal with the hyperactive child. (Meanwhile, a non-sugar sweetener common in Europe, Stevia, is banned as a sweetener in the US, though it is found as a "dietary supplement.")

The praises of red meat and grains containing gluten are heard everywhere, yet they cause the blood to thicken and clot. (I am not a vegetarian, but our life-style as well as the processed foods we eat have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, so we must reevaluate our diets.) So the medical industry works to develop a drug to make the blood not as "clotty." Just recently, there was an AP article, "Super-Aspirin: Deadly Tests?" The pharmaceutical industry has been testing a "super-aspirin" (plain aspirin improved) which was hoped would keep blood vessels flowing smoothly after angioplasties and mild heart attacks. The hope was that the pill would stifle platelets' tendency to clump together by 50% or more. However, the combined studies found that taking super-aspirin increases people's risk of death by 36%. (Daniel Haney, 1/28/01.)

Hostility

Only as a last resort will the medical profession snuggest a change in diet. I guess I am a little hostile about the whole situation; though my blood pressure is as low without the medication (100/80, 1/28/01), my cardiologist demands I take the blood pressure and cholesterol medications, or he would no longer see me. (He did my angioplasties, and I go back to see him every so often. He typically sees no answer for anything except more medication.) And as I have tried to change my diet, it is very difficult to find foods without salt, sugar and gluten, unless you fix everything yourself. And I am not a cook. (This past year has shown me the truth of Gen. 2:18, 20. A man can be much more effective in the Lord's calling with a help meet.)

It seems that everything we eat is designed to destroy the body's natural immune system, providing the Medical-Industrial Complex with a golden cash cow. Why in the world would the AMA, ADA and the pharmaceuticals permit anything that would cut into their income?

Multi-level and Egcel

God designed the body to take care of itself, so we must take care of the body. From all indications, Egcel will help improve circulatory and immune systems dramatically. The only way Egcel (in BioChoice) is available is through multi-level, so here I am. Because it is a new product with many health benefits, it is a good opportunity to personally save a few dollars using the product. Furthermore, as the product becomes widely known, it is also a good time to get into the distribution network. At the very least, you should spend a few moments checking out not only the product, but the distribution network. It might be a good opportunity for you to gain an extra income; but more importantly, BioChoice is an excellent choice for improved health.

What is Egcel?

Egcel is a dry egg powder and the essential ingredient of BioChoice Immune Support Dietary Supplement drink mix. Egcel contains active antibodies to over two dozen enteric bacteria. In addition, Egcel contains immune "co-factors"... Specific antibodies and other immune co-factors enhance the effectiveness of the immune system.The ingestion of passively transferred immune co-factors can help provide protection from exposure to foreign agents. Suggested Benefits - BioChoice containing Egcel is a dietary supplement with the following structure function claims: Balances and supports the immune system * Helps maintain cardiovascular function and a healthy circulatory system * Helps maintain digestive tract health * Helps modulate auto-immune responses of the body * Helps maintain flexible and healthy joints

In as few words as possible: Chickens are inoculated with inactivated multi-valent bacterial vaccines. The hens then produce eggs containing antibodies against those specific vaccinating antigens. The eggs are processed (the idea and process were developed by DuPont and ConAgra, the world's second largest producer of food sources; Legacy for Life, Inc. is a spin off from the two—though the research has been ongoing for many years, the product is just now coming to market) in a way to make the antibodies and immune factors available to the human body, and is only found in BioChoice (a dietary supplement containing DCV egg powder, Egcel, in conjunction with soy and milk proteins, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, dietary fiber, and flavorants). The results in the immune system have been documented in double-blind tests, but the medical profession refuses to recognize the benefits.

Check it out:

<http://www.biochoice.net/reference/overview.cfm> For a history of the company, see <http://www.legacyusa.com/distributers/about/CorpProf.html>

Met me at <http://www.legacyusa.com/needco> for information or to order, or call me at home, 1 877 777 6620 (toll free), and I will send you a short audio tape.

Pastor Need

My Amazement with the Acceptance to Harry Potter

By Jessica Need-Deshong

I am a senior at Purdue University, and spend much of my time in the labs provided for computer graphic students. Over the last three weeks, I have seen Harry Potter designs flying from the printer. Just a few days ago, I looked over to screen of the young freshman next to me, and stated, "Boy, it seems like everyone is working on Harry Potter", hoping to get a reply without posing the question. The young man looked at me, and said, "It is our class project." I then asked, "for what class?" He told me and I realized it was a freshman class. The young man went on to tell me how that the text book required for the class was a the original Harry Potter book and that they were designing new covers as a part of a contest to see which cover design would win out when selected by elementary students! The university teacher was giving these designs to her mother her teaches at an elementary school so the children could participate in the selection of the best cover and proudly display it in their classroom.

USA Today published an article on October 23, 2000 titled Harry Potter's `mom' enchants essay wizards. This article spoke of children as young as 8 years old taking part in an Scholastic's "How the Harry Potter Books Have Changed My Life" essay contest. A 13 year old stated, "I'm going to write a book about the experience."

It is ashamed that such raw talent is being encouraged to engage in such a wicked area.

Jessica Need-Deshong (Jessica, my 23 year old daughter, graduated from Purdue's School of Technology, Computer Graphics, December 17, 2000.)

Editor's note: Rowlin was interviewed on NPR not long ago. She said that she was amazed at the response to the writing "contest": "How the Harry Potter Books Have Changed My Life." She said there were 10,000 entrants in the contest. Evidently, government school teachers promoted the contest. If they would promote anything like "How The Bible Changed My Life," they would be fired on the spot. Yet these same teachers can ask the same kids to write an essay on "How Witchcraft Changed My Life." Parents, get your (God's, Ps. 127:3) children out of those synagogues of Satan.

The Wizard Behind Harry Potter

...(J.K. Rowling, is) A writer from the age of six, with two unpublished novels in the drawer, she was struck on a train in 1990 when Harry walked into her mind fully formed. She spent the next five years constructing the plots of seven books, one for every year of his secondary-school life. ... A broomstick's hopy away from the bookstore (where Rowling was signing books, ed.), Annie Williams, deputy head of Christ Church Primary School in down-at-the-heels Camden, swears by Harry. "When I read Sorcerer's Stone to a class of thirty 11-year-olds, ten of whom have special needs, they were so inspired that I prepared work sheets based on the book to help them with grammar." Soon they were writing newspaper articles about the book and composing postcards from Hogwarts. "Their written work has improved dramatically." (Readers Digest, 12/2000. Emp added.)

Did you see?

Turkish official: Pokemon bad for health

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey's health minister urged TV statins Saturday to replace Pokemon cartoons with other children's programs after a 7-year-old girl jumped off a balcony, apparently believing she was a Pokemon character with superhuman powers... Earlier, a 4-year-old boy sustained injuries after a similar jump... (AP, Lafayette Journal and Courier, 11/26/2000.)

YOU WILL

By Christina Need (15)

You will succeed
You will go on
You will still live
When all hope seems gone

A loved one may die
And all hope may fade away
You may feel dead inside
But Christ will keep you alive
And all hope will survive

You will succeed
You will go on
You will still live
Life will carry on

When all doubt
Seems to pull you down
You think you won't see light at the end
When all hope floats around
And you have to face the world again

You will succeed
You will go on
You will still live
When it seems all wrong

You though you had lost it
But it's still there
The hope, the hurt
The love, the care

Listen to the quietness
And give yourself peace
And happiness
When all the pain has went at last
And you seemed to have
Given your very best

You will succeed
You will laugh
You will gain more
Through the time we've had

We will succeed
We will go on
We will see through this
As time carries on

Written and read by Christina Joy Need (15) at her mother's funeral, June 24, 2000

"What does not kill you, makes you stronger."

The Move to Paganism

Years ago, my family and I were watching the Disney movie, "POLYANNA" and were all caught up in the story. We were feeling sorry for Polyanna, felt her aunt was a wicked, self-righteous tyrant, and felt the preacher was, without a doubt, not fit to be called a preacher. In fact, when the preacher began to preach his "sermon" we were caught up in the emotional fury against him until one of the children piped up. "Isn't that sermon, "SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD?"

Sure enough it was. We had read the children the famous sermon of Jonathan Edwards as a part of our home schooling just a few days before and the kids recognized it. Suddenly we had the oxymoron. The great sermon of yesterday was the message of the bigot today.

One of the greatest evidences of apostasy in our world is the fact that we are so oblivious to truth that we consistently accept contradictory premises without ever understanding what is going on. To say it a little more simply, we have become a people of the oxymoron.

Drinking and driving is considered to be one of the most serious crimes one can commit, but you can buy liquor at the gas station in many states.

If a licensed Doctor kills a fetus, it is legal but if a fetus is killed in an accident, the driver at fault can be charged with manslaughter. Even worse, destroying an eagle's egg is a crime but destroying a baby in the womb is a choice.

I cannot imagine a greater oxymoron than that of the "Christian Right" in this country who want to lay claim to our Christian heritage while calling the doctrines and preaching upon which the nation was founded, heresy.

If America was founded as a Christian nation, it was because God saw fit to send, what we commonly know today as, The Great Awakening." This was a revival that swept up and down the nation, and awakened the people to the liberty in Christ, which came only to those who had entered into a "covenant of grace." When they came to understand their liberty in Christ, it eventually made them hunger for civil liberty as well. The preachers of the Great Awakening believed, with minor exceptions, and preached a God centered salvation, meaning they believed that God was the author and finisher of our salvation.

Today there are those who desire to lay claim to the blessings of this revival while loathing the doctrines. Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon, "SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD" on July 8, 1741 at Enfield, Connecticut. God used it in such a mighty way that it became the defining sermon of the Great Awakening. It is said that Edwards read his sermon in somewhat of a monotone yet the convicting power of the Holy Spirit came over the congregation assembled that morning, so powerfully that the deacons began to hold onto the pillars of the church feeling that they were actually sliding into Hell. People crying out, "What shall we then do" interrupted Edwards several times throughout the course of the sermon. The end result was that God swept over the place and a mighty revival came.

Today, many say that they would love to have the revival that came in Edwards day, but I doubt you would ever hear them preach the sermon. Can you imagine a sermon in the average fundamentalist pulpit today with an outline that included the following points?

There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment.

They deserve to be cast into hell.

They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell.

They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God that is expressed in the torments of hell.

The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him.

There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints.

It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand.

God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment.

And if those points weren't enough, consider the following in the application of the sermon.

"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment."

Edwards forgot all about the love of God. And whatever happened to "Something good is going to happen to you today!" How could God ever bless preaching like that?

Here is the oxymoron. Those who want to claim the blessings of a "Christian Nation" totally reject the theology of Edwards, and yet if this ever was a Christian nation, this is the preaching that God blessed.

Where did such preaching go?

When the War for Independence was over, it didn't take long for the people of the newly independent States to forget what God had done. The French had helped us to win the war but brought with them a new concept of God called Deism that made a mockery of the sovereignty of God and made salvation man centered. To be sure, few people adopted Deism in its pure form, but all kinds of new religions sprang up with these premises interwoven into the fiber of each. Such religions as Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, and Christian Science, each denying the deity of Christ, sprang up. Others like the Church of Christ and the Armenian C.G. Finney preached a man centered salvation.

In Massachusetts, the children and grandchildren of those who fought for independence from England became Existentialists. The Existentialists became Unitarians, and the Unitarians became Abolitionists. Their main thrust was that Jesus Christ was not God and salvation to mankind could come only if and when slavery and alcohol were done away with.

The one thing that all of these groups had in common was their disdain for the old preachers. Their greatest enemy was the preacher who had preached the sovereignty of God and that salvation was a gift from God. Eventually, they were able to completely take over the northern states and when they could not do so in the south, they fomented a war. Contrary to what is taught, even in our Christian schools and Bible colleges, the War Between the States was not fought over slavery but over the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. After the war preaching that God is sovereign in everything, including salvation, was replaced by an emotional, man centered message that relied on gimmicks, oratory and charisma. All that was needed for revival was to have the right music the right three points and the right poem.

The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century were marked by large crowds and high profile preachers leading to full altars and great numbers of "converts." In the meantime, America went to Hell. While people were "getting saved" in unprecedented numbers, we ceased to be a Christian nation. We made alliances in war with the most ungodly nations and ultimately became a part of the United Nations. We adopted the socialistic principles of the graduated income tax, social security, and welfare each of which is designed to minimize man's dependence on God. Christians allowed their children to be educated in schools that taught evolution, socialism and humanism. Christian young people became, for the most part, as susceptible to illegitimacy and moral scandal as the pagan.

Finally, at the end of the 20th century, the ungodly began to triumph over his conquest. Those who hated the doctrine of the sovereignty of God suddenly found that they had just been the transition between a nation blessed of God and a totally secular nation. When the secularists began to do to those who held the new doctrines that which they had done to those who held to the preaching of Edwards and the men of the Great Awakening they began to cry foul. When the secularists began to triumph that this is no longer a Christian nation and never really was, these people began to embrace that which they had long denied.

The amazing thing is that there is still the common belief that the doctrines preached in the early days, were heretics, while believing this is a Christian nation, founded on Christian principles.

You can't have it both ways.

Pastor Bob Cosby <http://www.brandedforchrist.org>

Russian Invasion of Israel

Ongoing Delusion of Israel

First Millennialists

By Thomas Williamson, 3131 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60608

One of the main themes in the teaching and preaching of many evangelical churches that follow the popular dispensational belief is that of the coming Russian invasion of Israel. The Proof text for this alleged future event is Ezekiel 38-39 even though the passage makes no mention whatsoever of the Russians.

The reason that this teaching is so popular is that it has become associated in the popular mind with the Pretribulation Rapture. It is believed that when the Russian armies start to march on Israel, then the Rapture must shortly follow or even precede that event, even though there is absolutely no mention or hint in Ezekiel 38-39 of any Rapture-like event.

"Russian invasion" enthusiasts are confirmed in their conviction by the commentary on Ezekiel 38 in the Scofield Reference Bible which states "That the primary reference is to the northern (European) Powers, headed up by Russia all agree."

Apparently Scofield did not have access to such commentaries as Matthew Henry, Clarke's Bible or Jamieson Fausset and Brown. All these commentators, while mentioning various theories including the Russian hypothesis, agree in applying Ezekiel's prophecy mainly to the invasion of Israel by the Syrians under Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C.

The tradition of a modern Russian invasion of Israel to take place in our generation in conjunction with the Pre-tribulation Rapture and the horrors of the Tribulation has become so strong among modern-day millennialists that nothing can shake it. Dwight Wilson in his excellent book "Armageddon Now,' has chronicled how fundamentalistprophecy experts throughout the 20th Century have closely watched every event in Russia, and every aspect of Russian foreign policy, to "prove" to their hearers that the Russians were inevitably going to march on Israel within the next few years.

This kind of teaching is immensely popular with the masses in the premillennial churches. Whenever the subject comes up, people nod knowingly, saying that any time now, those Russkies are going to move on Tel Aviv, and when they do, the Lord's people are going to be Raptured out. Like Pavlov's dogs, they salivate whenever the Russian invasion is mentioned.

All earthly problems will soon be over forever—health problems, financial problems, family problems, fear of death, all magically whisked away by the glorious news of the Russian invasion which is thought to usher in the Rapture. Though the atomic bombs may fly when Russians invade, there is no need to worry, because it is expected that the Lord will yank His people out first, with all the infidels "Left Behind" to fry down below.

The blessed hope of the Russian invasion is regarded as an essential part of God's plan for the Jewish people, which is to have two-third' s of them slaughtered in Palestine, scaring the bejabbers out of the ragtag survivors of this onslaught so that they will he willing to become Christians. Modern evangelicals who believe this instead of warning Jews not to go to Palestine and risk a 67 Percent chance of being slaughtered in this macabre version of "Russian roulette," are actually doing all they can to encourage Jews to emigrate to Palestine and be killed. And then they brag about how much they love the Jews.

The years and decades have passed by, and in all this time the Russians have shown absolutely no sign that they are going to march on Israel. Nothing remotely resembling a Russian incursion on the Holy Land has materialized.

Meanwhile the unexpected fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 put the dispensational prophecy gurus in a panic,scrabbling to cover themselves. The prophecy buffs insisted that the Soviet Union had not really disappeared from the earth—it was all a sly, clever trick of the wily Commmunists. The faithful were assured that the Soviet Union like the South would rise again, and that they would yet get their act together and finally stomp on Israel at long last.

For the most part, these exhortations to faithful belief that "the Russians are coming" was successful. The true believers continued to patiently wait for those pesky Russians to stir themselves up and get moving. Like South Sea cargo cultists waiting for their ship to come in, many American evangelicals continue to scan their daily newspapers, yearning for any sign whatsoever of that glorious event that will soon end all of their earthly miseries forever, even if it plunges the rest of the world into war.

For many dispensationalists, the Russian invasion is "the blessed hope," since they have been taught to believe that it will happed in conjunction with the Rapture, a 7-year Tribulation period, and then the millennial rule of Christ from a literal throne in Jerusalem, even though none of these things are mentioned in the Ezekiel passage.

It does no good to point out to them that the Russian army is in a state of collapse, and that Russia no longer has the military strength to control their own territory, as demonstrated by the 6-year revolt in Chechnya, let along go gallivanting off into the heart of the Middle East. They believe that the Russian army is still all-powerful, and that they are allowing the Chechnyans to whip and humiliate them as a diabolical ploy to fool the world into thinking that they are powerless. The true believers will insist that everything is fitting together for the Russians to invade Israel at long last, just like Ezekiel predicted 2,600 years ago.

But did Ezekiel really predict a Russian invasion? His prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 makes no mention of Russia. The main proof -text for the Russian invasion is 38:2 where the phrase "chief Prince" is rendered "prince of Rosh" in the American Standard, New American Standard and New King James versions. (The King James Version and mostmodern versions render it as "chief prince" rather than transliterating the Hebrew word "Rosh" which means "chief, principal.") Even many King James Only zealots insist that the passage refers to a Russian prince rather than a chief prince, thus ignoring the correct rendering in their own favorite version of the Bible.

The prophecy experts insist that Rosh means Russia. However, the word Rosh appears hundreds of times in the Old Testament, always as an adjective, never as a proper name describing any nation or geographical region.

According to Strong's Concordance, Rosh means "the head ...whether literally or figuratively (in many applications, of place, time, rank, etc.): band beginning, captain, chapter, chief (-est place man things), company, end ...excellent first, forefront... principal, ruler, sum, top." There is no mention of Rosh meaning Russia or a Russian. The word Russia is believed to be a Finnish word meaning "rower," referring to the early Viking explorers who rowed down the Russian rivers. There is no etymological connection between Russia and the Hebrew adjective Rosh.

The only other place where Ezekiel uses the word Rosh is in 27:22, where it refers to chief spices, not Russian spices. The first place where Rosh appears in the Bible is Genesis 21:22, where it refers to Phichol as chief captain, not Russian captain. Phichol was a Canaanite, not a Russian.

In 2 Samuel 8:18 Rosh refers to David's sons, who were chief rulers, not Russian rulers. In 2 Chronicles 26:20 Rosh refers to Azanah who was chief priest, not Russian priest. In Daniel 10:13 Rosh refers to the archangel Michael, who was one of the chief princes, not a Russian prince nor a Russian archangel. In Habakkuk 3:19 Rosh refers to a chief singer in Habakkuk's choir, not to a Russian singer.

(Nowadays, one of the chief holidays in the Jewish religious calendar is "Rosh Hashana," which means "Head of the Year," not Russian Year).

To say that Rosh refers to Russia in Ezekiel 38:2 is absurd, yet this is the sort of thing that passes for deep, scholarly Bible study in dispensationalist circles nowadays.

But what about Meshech and Tubal, Ezekiel 38:3—doesn't that refer to the Russian cities of Moscow and Tobolsk? Well, no. Moscow, founded in 1147 A.D., and Tobolsk, founded in 1587 AD., were not in existence when Ezekiel gave his prophecy. The word Meshech sounds like Moscow, but it also sounds like Mexico, which proves nothing. The word Meshech, meaning sowing, possession, or precious rice, has no etymological relation to Moscow which is a Finnish word. Meshech was a son of Japheth, and it is believed that the tribe of Meshech lived in what is modern-day Turkey.

As for the tribe of Tubal or Tibareni, this is believed to be a tribe that lived to the north of Syria, thousands of miles away from the modern Siberian city of Tobolsk. Tobolsk with a population of about 62,000 is hardly one of the great cities of the world, or even of western Sibera. Why would Ezekiel pick such a small, obscure town if he wanted to identify Russia?

(If we are going to play the "sounds like" game of charades, perhaps we should point out that there is a city in modern Quebec called Magog. Perhaps Quebec will invade Israel, which makes as much sense as the Russian hypothesis).

But didn't Ezekiel say that the invasion would come from the north? That must mean Russia right? No—there are any number of nations that could invade Israel from the north. When Jeremiah prophesied of the invasion of Israel by Babylon, he said that the Babylonian armies would come from the north, Jeremiah 1:13-15, 4:6 6:1, etc. No one has suggested that Jeremiah was really talking about Russia.

Well if Ezekiel 38-39 is not talking about a Russian invasion, what is it talking about? The first thing we mustrecognize is that if we follow the literal method of interpretation, as demanded by dispensationalists, then it is quite evident that Ezekiel was talking about an invasion in ancient times. He describes the invaders as riding on horses all of them (even the commanders), 38:15. No modern-day armies travel exclusively by horse, not in Russia or anywhere else.

Ezekiel describes this army as fighting with bucklers, shields and swords (38:4), with shields and helmets (38:5), with shields, bucklers, bows and arrows, handstaves and spears (39:9). No modern armies use such weapons today, not even the Russians. To spiritualize these references into modern weapons is forbidden by the dispensational principle of Bible interpretation, "Literal When Possible." To be consistent, all dispensationalists must admit that Ezekiel prophesied of an army in ancient times using weapons which are totally outmoded and obsolete today (especially against a modern nuclear power like Israel)!

As for the reference in 39:9-10 to the Israelites using the weapons of the invaders for fire-wood for seven years this would fit ancient times a lot better than it would the contemporary, nuclear-powered nation of Israel.

The teaching of many commentators, that Ezekiel was prophesying of the attack on Israel by Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C., is by far the best explanation of Ezekiel's prophecy. Israel was invaded by many armies in ancient times and was defeated by all of them, with the exception of the army of the army of Antiochus, which was defeated by the heroic Maccabee brothers.

This event was so important for God's people to know about in advance, that it is prophesied also by Daniel (Daniel 8 and 11:21-35) and Zechariah (Zechariah 9:11-17). The reason it was so important for the Jews to know in advance about the invasion ` and defeat of the Syrian Greeks was this: none of the other arm that invaded Israel, from the time of restoration from Babylonian Captivity to the coming of Christ (whether Persians, Alexander the Great, Rome, etc.), came with the intention of wiping out the Jewish people and religion, and thus there would beno particular reason for the Jews to fear those armies or try to defeat them.

Only the Syrian army under Antiochus came with the express purpose of stamping out the true religion of worship of Jehovah. God's people needed advance assurance that God would be with them to help defeat that enemy, so that they would remain on earth until they fulfilled the divine intent of bringing forth the Messiah into the world.

That is what Ezekiel 38-39 is all about. It has nothing to do with the Russians or with events in our generation. So we can drop the ethnic bashing and prejudice displayed toward the Russians and their alleged allies from Persia, Ethiopia, Libya and Gomer (mistakenly assumed to be East Germany) on account of an invasion that has never taken place and probably never will.

We can also stop scanning the news headlines for some clue showing that the Russian Bear is finally, at long last, going to begin his march to Palestine. Instead of feverishly searching for evidence of our escape ticket from the problems and challenges of life on Planted Earth, we should be making plans for the perpetuation of true Christianity for future generations to come.

Who knows—maybe it will be easier to attract converts to our faith if we stop discrediting ourselves by kmaking all sorts of dazzling, sensational prophetical predictions that never, ever come true.

Anything is possible—maybe the Russians actually will invade Israel some day. If it happens, there is no Scriptural reason to see it as a fulfillment of any Foible prophecy or a sign of the Rapture. It is unwise for us to give people the impression that the Russian invasion will happen in our generation, and that it will usher in the Rapture, Tribulation and earthly millennial reign of Christ, when there is no Scriptural evidence for any of this. The Russian invasion of Israel is a delusion of modern pop dispensationalism, not a fundamental teaching of Scripture.

(From The Christian News, 12/18/2000. Used by permission.)

Left Behind, Si-Fi for "Christians."

Entertainment Evangelism!

Tim LaHay and Jerry Jenkins again prove the contention made by MacPhereson THERE'S BIG MONEY IN MILLENNIALISM, a fact first discovered by Biola College in the early 1900. Dispensational millennialism/"Pre-trib" rapture became the "shibboleth" for fellowship at the start of the twentieth century "because of its tremendous fund-raising potential."1

It seems that many people are strangely fascinated with "prophecy," a sad fact that I have learned the hard way as a pastor. They are almost like Saul who went to the witch to find out what was in store for him. We have lost several good families from Linden Baptist Church because I did not emphasize prophecy as it is presented from the vast majority of Baptist pulpits today. I have found that numerous Christians, and even unsaved, will drive many miles to hear the exciting news of how the present fulfills Bible "prophecy," and what the future holds. I have been in more than one mega-church (in the late `60s and early `70s) where the two major themes were Salvation ("ask Jesus into your heart"), and a soon-coming secret Rapture and Tribulation.

I went to Sam's Club some time ago, and at the entrance were at least two 4x8 tables piled up with several different titles of the Left Behind series. A few days later, they were almost all gone. But try to get those with the Left Behind mentality to read their Bibles consistently, or spend the same amount of time and excitement in the word of God, and you will normally find a completely different story; they find the Bible boring, boring, boring.

What about Left Behind ?

The movie "is based on a popular series of best selling books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins":

These novels, fictionalized accounts of the so-called Rapture of the church and the rise of the Antichrist during the subsequent seven-year "Tribulation," are "true to prophecy," according to their authors. LaHaye and Jenkins claim to base the series on the Biblical book of St. John's Revelation. They make the same claim about the soon-to-be-released "Left Behind" movie.2

The movie is the most expensive "Christian" film to date, costing over $17.4 million to produce. Its "creators are pressing Charismatic, Evangelical and Fundamental churches to band together and financially sponsor its showing in local movie theaters around the country."

... In Lafayette, it is being sponsored by The Carpenter's Son (owned by two Catholic men, ed.). We have materials to help churches promote it, such as posters (large and small), door hangers with discount tickets attached, and free discount tickets for churches who participate. These materials will be available at the Carpenters Son for churches to pick up. We will be showing a short video, featuring Kirk Cameron, at the Pastor Luncheon on January 23, which will explain the scope and purpose of the Left Behind Event. This is a unique opportunity for churches in the greater Lafayette area to promote a film that is family entertainment with a message. Contact Steve or Cliff at The Carpenter's Son for additional information and to pick up any promotional material." 3

Of course, a goal of those promoting Left Behind (they are in it for the $$) is to have churches showing the videocassette at their evening services.

Entertainment Evangelism

The film is being promoted as an "evangelistic" tool to help reach the unsaved, i.e., entertainment is thus seen as a tool to convert the wicked. I must say that the idea of "Entertainment Evangelism" (entertainment used to present the "gospel") is common in the modern churchI have found that people are looking for "Christian entertainment" in their "worship services"that is, they want to be entertained rather than have their duties to their God clearly presented to them. The Scriptures, whether Old Testament or New Testament, never offer "entertainment" as a means of reaching the unconverted, nor of drawing the converted into a closer relationship with the Lord God.

The means of reaching the heart of man has always been, is and will always continue to be the preaching of the Gospel of Christ as found in the total of Scripture, including preaching of the law of God. (1 Cor. 1:21ff., Rom. 4:15, 5:20.) Note that Romans 3:19 (Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.) tells us it is the preaching and teaching of the law that convicts the guilty before God, so that guilty person will come to Christ to be justified by His grace. Let me askis a reason for the lack of good solid conversions today a result of the average preacher's and Christian's hatred of God's law?

Moreover, v. 19 follows v. 18, There is no fear of God before their eyes. Well, where does the fear of God come from? from a scary movie, e.g., Left Behind, or from the preaching of the word of God, particularly the law? (See Deut. 17:19, 28:58, 31:12.) Does the knowledge of sin that leads to justification by grace through faith come through "entertainment," or through the preaching of the law ? What saith the Scripture?

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:20.)

The natural man finds the preaching of the law, which alone drives men to the justifier (Rom. 3:26), offensive, so he seeks anything that will be unoffensive, e.g., Entertainment Evangelism. I know of no place in the Scripture that offers anything except the convicting power of the Spirit of God to draw people to genuine conversion, e.g., emotions worked up in order to get a "commitment." I am continually amazed and distressed at how easily Christians are led astray by whatever wind that is blowing. And a new president, who is a professed Christian, will not solve the destructive problems created by easily deceived Christians.

Left Behind wants to be another supernatural thriller, but it asks non-Christians to enjoy an End Times story involving evil international bankers and conspiracy theories so byzantine that they cry for a flow chart.4

Some admirers of the Left Behind book series have expressed disappointment with the film adaptation. But let's place the blame squarely where it belongs: the typical Christian mistake is in treating a theatrical film primarily as an evangelistic tool, and in thinking that telling End Times horror stories qualifies as evangelism (and "family entertainment," ed.). Even the most gifted screen writers and director would have trouble turning Left Behind into a blockbuster. 5

Music from Hell

There is another common link with the film and with the modern church movementthe film's music:

The musical entertainment of this film certainly does not meet the Scriptural test. According to the promotional letter the writer received, religious rock musicians-contemporary Christian Musicians [CCM]-such as Bob Carlisle, the author of the religious hit "Butterfly Kisses", Clay Crosse and Rebecca St. James provide the musical background for the movie. Rock music, in any form, even if it includes religious lyrics, is not a legitimate vehicle to convey the gospel message. 6

God's Wrath Entertaining

Though Scripture requires that I disagree with any teaching of a "Rapture" followed by a "Great Tribulation" (see http://www.biblicalexaminer/pdf.html), it is a sad day when "Christians" find entertainment value in their belief that God's wrath will be poured out on the unconverted here on this earth. There should be no entertainment value to a Christian in the thought of the unconverted suffering (though I must admit the thought is appealing to my fallen nature). And we must say the same for the book seriesthe readers find God's wrath entertaining enough to keep the series on the best seller list, and to urge others to read them.

Another serious flaw is that the movie must appeal to all classes of people, "New-Evangelicals, ecumenists and perhaps even Roman Catholic[s]" in order to be profitable for those who have made the $17.4 million investment.

Evangelism Without the Gospel!!

Those who made the film desire that it be used as an evangelistic tool to reach people for Christ. A pastor friend has viewed the video, said some positive things about it, but has some concerns. He says that in depicting worldwide post-Rapture chaos (plane crashes, car accidents, etc.) the film greatly overestimates the number of true believers in the world, and that one could get the impression there are MANY on the road to life (Jesus says FEW are). He says the movie emphasizes repeatedly that all infants and children (even of unsaved parents) will be removed from the earth, but points out that a one-year-old at the time of the rapture would be eight at the time Christ returns to earth to rule and reign plenty old to be saved then or prior. He says some of the music is horrible "Christian rock" of the worst kind. But the most serious problem of all is that the GOSPEL is sadly missing in this supposedly evangelistic tool. The name of Christ is mentioned only three times (during about a one-minute segment). There is no mention of the Cross, the empty tomb, no emphasis on the sinfulness of man and no clear presentation of the terms of salvation. Lastly, this pastor is concerned that the film will bring thousands of professing Christians into secular movie houses. Be warned, be wise, beware! [For an expanded elaboration and entire review, send a SASE.] 7

The producers hope to use Left Behind to open the doors of Hollywood to other religious theme movies. (Though it is an old movie, I found Chariots of Fire one of the best religious theme movies, and A Man Called Peter close to it. What, may I ask, is wrong with "religious" movies along those lines, rather than "si-fi" movies like Left Behind that have absolutely no Scriptural basis?) Left Behind portrays Christians suddenly disappearing, "leaving behind their clothes, eyeglasses, crosses, and even their Teddy bears. (All children are caught up, which makes even the "age of accountability" concept look spiritually stingy by comparison.)" It sounds reminiscent of the painting we see at timesa scene of a city with cars out of control and an airplane crashing into a tall building, as the operators-occupants float toward heaven. "This sort of haunting imagery may sell books, but it is not what the Bible says." And selling millennial book has made fortunes for many "Christian" writers.

The movie is supposedly based upon the Revelation, but "many Christians throughout history have made sense of Daniel and Revelation without relying on premillennial dispensationalism."

LaHaye and Jenkins, by overlooking these complementary themes (wedding of the Lamb, the great multitude in heaven shouting "Hallelujah! Our Lord God Almighty Reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!" And the rewards awaiting the faithful, ed.) in Revelation and focusing instead on just one slant the potentially frightening aspects of the Last Judgment sidetrack their readers from the positive Gospel encouragement of the Apocalypse: The joy of the Lord's return. They thus obscure the Gospel truth of just how beautiful the end will be for all believers in Christ, not just those relatively few believers (as the authors assert) with a special, inside understanding of End Times theology...

This brings to mind an even greater error and danger of the "Left Behind" books: The idea that there will be a "second chance" for people who do not have trusting faith in Jesus Christ. This too is completely contrary to the Bible, which teaches that NOW is the time of salvation. When Christ returns on the Last Day, all things will come to an end, with no second chances. The resurrection of the dead, and the taking of those still alive at the time, and their judgment, will be total, involving everyone who has ever lived. This is why Christians have such a burden to tell the good news about Jesus now, before this present age ends.8

One of the serious fallacies I had to face with my "dispensationalism" was the theory that after the Rapture, those left behind will have a chance to be saved, an idea I could not justify from Scripture. However, greater minds than mind dealt with the problem by saying that those who had heard the gospel before the Rapture would be supernaturally hardened, so they could not believe after the Rapture, though confronted with the loss of many around them. Or if someone did by chance get saved during the Tribulation, it would be at the cost of his or her head. These ideas of a second chance is as foreign from the word of God as any since-fiction writer could dream up the original Star Trek revisited. From what I understand, today all over the world, particularly in Moslem countries, people are laterally losing their heads for their conversion from the Moslem religion. For them, the "Great Tribulation" has been going on for many years now, say, 2000 or so.

The historic position of Christianity, embraced by the majority of Christians in the world today, is that there is just one great occurrence at the end of history: Judgment Day. That day, for all its power and majesty, will be far simpler and more conclusive than the complex, ongoing chain of events envisioned in the "Left Behind" books...

Like other flawed apocalyptic views, the LaHaye/Jenkins view relies on date-setting for anticipating the end (when in fact no one knows the hour when Christ will return). It looks for "signs" of prophecies being fulfilled in the churning events and endless flare-ups of the Middle East (another iffy proposition). The entire "Left Behind" series, including the "Left Behind" movie scheduled for release in February, is an unbiblical flight of fancy (known by the term "dispensational premillennialism") receiving far more press than it deserves. 9

The early 1800s saw great millennial excitement, motivated by the French Revolution, with a Rapture date set for 1845 by those afflicted by the fever. The latter 1800s again saw millennial excitement, motivated by the War of Northern Aggression. The French Revolution set the European stage for the introduction of "Rapture Fever," and the War of Northern Aggression set the stage for American "Rapture Fever. The most recent date set by those afflicted by the fever was 1988. These statements are proved in my book, The Death of Victory.

We should also note the further damage done by books and movies such as Left Behindthey naturalize Christianity even more by telling Christians and non-Christians alike, "Don't worry; be happy. We will all soon be gone in the Rapture, and someone else can clean up the mess we have made by our indifference."

Quoting from The Death of Victory, pp, 163, 164.

What is known today as Dispensationalism God working in different ways in different periods of time was a solid plank in the rising millennialism. Clearly, "it as a product of nineteenth-century thought." Supporting the explosive growth of Marxism, it taught that a new age of peace and freedom can only be accomplished by the sword.

Dispensationalism and Marxism have some striking similarities:

Despite its overall similarities to older Christian views of history, dispensationalism has a number of peculiarities that identify it as a product of nineteenth-century thought. These have to do especially with its explanation of how dramatic historical change takes place, a common preoccupation of the thought of the era. In the prevailing naturalistic explanations of change the principal model was development through conflict. This is apparent in the work of the two most influential theorists of mid-century, Darwin and Marx. Marxism in fact has some formal similarities to the nearly contemporary development of dispensationalism. History is divided into distinct periods, each dominated by a prevailing principle or characteristic. Each age ends in failure, conflict, judgment on those who rule, and the violent introduction of a wholly new era. History thus proceeds in dramatic steps toward a final age of peace. The crucial difference is that in the Marxist scheme the scientific approach to history assumes that the laws of change are governed by wholly natural factors of human behavior; in dispensationalism science discovers revealed principles of supernatural laws that have guided historical change. (Fundamentalism, 64. Pierce, in The Rapture Cult, shows how millennialism neutralized the enemies of Communism.)

Serious charges were leveled against the millenarians in 1918:

In "The Premillennial menace," (an article published in the Biblical World, ed.) Case surpassed the standards being set in the journal and produced so distorted a portrait of the millenarians (led by R.A. Torrey, speaking in Carnegie Hall, Nov. 25-28, 1918, ed.) that one is tempted to believe he was being satirical. These men, Case argued, were subversive to the American war effort, "fundamentally antagonistic to our present national idea." "Premillenarianism is a serious menace to our democracy," it "throws up the sponge... raises the white flag," is a "spiritual virus," and the "most helpless of all gospels." As if these epithets were not adequate, Case noted that the millenarians operated with a "thoroughness suspiciously Teutonic" and implied that they were financed by German secret agents. As the frosting on the cake, Case insisted that millenarians were indistinguishable from the Russellites and lent themselves to the same purposes as the IWW. The Fundamentalists, apparently, never cornered the market on invective. (Roots, 236. Russellites, a Protestant sect begun in 1874 by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), called Jehovah's Witnesses. Among many things, they believe all allegiance is owed only to God and to nothing of this world. They refuse military service, and are excluded from having to salute the flag in public. They grow primarily by proselytizing, which is also how the dispensational movement grew.)

Millennialism threw in "the sponge." It effectively yielded America's Democratic Republic to the forces that sought to overthrow it. The millennial system neutralized Christianity world-wide. The millennial conquering of the nations permitted Marxism (the "New World Order," Communism) to march in its world-wide conquest with no significant Christian opposition. The millennial expectation of an imminent, any moment return of Christ to straighten out the mess with his rod of iron is justly charged with allowing Communism to prosper; (Cult, 42, 51, &c.)

Marxism was a major beneficiary of millennialism. In fact, America's 1933 recognition of the Communist USSR government would never have happened if the Moody Monthly had not said that the Second Coming would solve the problem. (Ibid., 38. "Dec. 1933, p. 208. Quoted by Spann (Ref. 13).")

The national media, e.g., US News & World Report, appears to favor the premillennial view of Christianity. In doing so, they tell Christians that resistance to the "New World Order" is useless, for it is prophesied in Scripture:

Premillennialists, who include most evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, take a much more pessimistic view of history. For them, says Grenz, the world will grow nastier. Only "the catastrophic return" of Christ, he says, will "inaugurate the golden age on earth."

…While there are differences of opinion within the tradition, the dominant view, called dispensationalism, has its roots in the teachings of John Nelson Darby, a 19th-century Englishman and founder of the Plymouth Brethren… (U.S.News & World Report, Dec 19, 1994. See Cult, 48, 50.)

Socialism, i.e., centeralized government control of everything within its reach, is a result of Christians withdrawing from society to become personally more spiritual. One can, therefore, assume that the system the millenarians took with them in their missionary zeal was a major reason the nations of the world fell into the clutches of the wicked one. Clearly, when Christians are taught not to be involved in an area, that area will be delivered to the forces of antichrist by default.

End of quote.

In other words, the Left Behind mentality has little or no motivation to stand against the "New World Order," and other wicked efforts by evil men and nations.

I am not saying that folks cannot or will not be converted after being "awakened" by Left Behind, but if they are, it will be despite the movie. I personally have used "scare tactics" to scare people into making a "decision for Christ." However, when the scare wore off and more often than not, they went back to serving the world, the flesh and the devil.

Therefore, though we do not know when our Lord will return, we are nonetheless able to look forward to His Second Coming with confidence, hope, joy and anticipation, always being read-to welcome Him-who promises us, " `I am coming soon. Amen.' Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20). 10

Endnotes:

1 The Rapture Plot, 222, 223.

2 The `Left Behind' View Is Out of Left Field, Christian News, Dec. 18, 2000.

3 From a promotional E-mail sent out by the book store. Emp added.

4 Believers Dream Again of a Breakthrough Film. Left Behind is not it, Christianity Today, 12/4/2000.

5 Ibid.

6 Sorry, we can't recommend this endeavor, Fundamentalist Digest, Nov.-Dec., 2000. Emp theirs.

7 Calvary Contender, 1800 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35816. Emp added.

8 The `Left Behind' View Is Out of Left Field, by Dr. A.L. Barry, President, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Christian News, Dec. 18, 2000

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

Pastor Ovid Need jr

Online Bible now "Online Bible Millennium Edition 1.01."

Contains well over 500 megs of material, including, but certainly not limited to ten English versions, Commentaries (e.g., Barnes' Notes, JFB, Poole, Matthew Henery, CHS, Geneva Bible, Gill, Four Fold Gospel, Robertson NT Word Pictures, Family NT Notes, Peoples NT Notes, Scofiield's notes), Thompson Chain Topics, Marginal Readings, Strong's numbers, both Hebrew and Greek lexicons, Bible Dict, Home School material (e.g., McGuffey's Readers), word search in commentaries, plus much more. Check our web site.

$35, post paid. Audio CD available for an additional $45 with Alexander Scourby reading the 1769, AV. (I have his reading, and it is great. He will read whatever verse you have the cursor on, or will start at that verse and read until you stop him.) At this point, the price includes a spiral bound manual, but it may be available without the manual, so if you do not need the manual, let me know, and I will refund any extra money. Because of the cost involved with Scourby's reading, I will only order this CD as I receive the money, so allow a couple weeks to get the program.

I know some may say, "Bro. Need. I wish you would make up your mind about the cost of this program. I bought one at a much higher price. Now what?" All I can say is that I look for the best prices, and pass the program along at the lowest price I can. I can make this version available for about the same cost I had to give for the previous version. The ME is from a different supplier and under a different name, though the same man is putting the program together. (Mr Larry Pierce, who has put this CD together, has been on our mailing list for several years now, and he lets me know when there is a better price available.)

Minimum Requirements: Pentium 133, 64 MB RAM, 1 MB Video RAM, 16-bit Sound Card, CD-ROM Drive. Everything, including Scourby's reading can be loaded on the HD; otherwise, allow a couple of megs to run the program from the CD. If you run the Bible program from the CD, you will not be able to use Scourby. Scourby can only be used when the program is open, and makes good background `noise' for the house.

Order from: Ovid Need, The Biblical Examiner, PO Box 6, Linden, Indiana 47955 (765 339 4609).

The Death of Victory

The Death of Victory (Tracing the Roots and Implications of Modern Otherworldliness) is now ready to order. 329 pages (30 pgs of index), hard back, with Foreword by R. J. Rushdoony. $30 post paid (I must purchase them from the printer also. Some have already prepaid for this book. If you have, please tell me. I tried to keep records, and I think I have all who have sent funds. You can also order this book through any book store; if it is not yet, it will soon be listed in Ingram's "Books in Print," which every book store has. If it is not available when you order it, I will not cash the check until I ship the book. Check for volume discounts.)

The Death of Victory traces, with abundant documentation, modern dispensational theology, i.e., God working in different ways in different periods of time, from its roots in the late 1700s to late 1900s, as well-known Christian men changed the course of Christian history from victory to defeat. Their unique ideas were considered unorthodox, even heresy, by the Christian leaders of the day. However, through hard work and dedication, their unique ideas became orthodox, and non-dispensational theology became unorthodox. Those involved in propagating the new theology were men such as John Darby, George Müller, Hudson Taylor and D.L. Moody. It was Moody's Northfield conferences, the Civil War and the publication of Scofield's popular Reverence Bible that allowed dispensationalism to become a legitimate Biblical doctrine in America. This is the TOC, which will pretty much define the book:

Foreword, IX

Introduction, 1
Part I - Overview, 5—The Importance, 5; Morgan Edwards, 6; The Brethren, 8; The Mystics, 10;
The French Revolution, 11; Who's Who, 14
Part II - In the Beginning, 19—Death Introduced, 19; Death and Dates, 22; The Terrors of Satan, 25
Part III - Ben Ezra, 29—Rome's Gain, 29; Rome and Ben-Ezra, 31; Lacunza and Ben-Ezra, 34; The Jesuits, 36;
Irving and Ben-Ezra, 40; Irving and Ben-Ezra Unite, 41; A New View of Revelation, 43;
New Doctrine Introduced, 45; Zionism, 48; National Israel Exalted, 52; Jewish Hope Christianized, 53;
The Defeated Church, 55; Everything Around Israel, 57; The Advent of the Lord, 60;
The Millennial Reign, 65; The Resurrection of the Dead, 65; A Motive for Holiness, 66;
Death for Victory, 68; Prophecy, 69; Novelties, 71; Law, 73; Christ, 76; Satan, 78; Redemption, 80
Part IV - Prophecy Conferences, 83—Christ and Prophecy, 83; Henry Drummond, 84;
The Albury Park Conferences, 86; Zionism and Joseph Wolf, 89; Powerscourt Conferences, 92;
Powerscourt and the Rapture, 94; Tongues and the Rapture, 96; Tongues, Irving and his Church, 101;
The Rapture, 103
Part V - The Men and Times, 107—The Anglican Church, 107; Social Climate, 110; Irving, Cronin, Bellett, 111;
Anthony Norris Groves, 113; John Nelson Darby, 117; Darby, Continued, 120; Newman and Newton, 123;
George Vicesimus Wigram, Percy Francis Hall, 125; George Müller, 127; Hudson Taylor and Others, 129
Part VI - Development and Doctrine, 133—Millennialism and Money, 133; Millennialism Develops, 136;
Chiliasm and Premillennialism, 137; The Imminent Return, 139; Against the Future, 141; Zeal Corrupted, 144;
Church with no Earthly Function, 145; Just Wait, 146; Unity in Death, 148; Developing Doctrine, 149;
Prophecy and the Church, 150; Darby vs. Newton, 152
Part VII - World-Wide Conquest, 155—The Foundation of Conquest, 155; Primary Areas of Conquest, 157;
Switzerland Invaded, 160; Darby's Switzerland Lectures, 163; Various Nations, 165;
Millennialism and Marxism, 167
Part VIII - War Against Orthodoxy, 171—Resistance to Millennialism, 171; Baptist and Presbyterian, 172;
Against the.Baptists, 174; Against Obedience, 177; For Two Gospels, 178; Significant Millenarian Victories, 180;
Bible Readings, 182; Moody's Conversion, 184; Moody and Darby, 187; Moody and Moorehouse, 188;
Moody and Bible Readings, 189; Moody's New Message, 190
Part IX - America Conquered, 193—America Invaded, 193; The War Between the States, 194; Key Events, 196;
Millenarian Bible Conferences, 199; Northfield, 200; Keswick, 201; Millenarian Training Institutions, 205;
C.I. Scofield, 206; Various Men, 211
Part X - Darbyism-Millenarianism, 215—Starting Over, 215; Dispensationalism, 217; Paul's Writings, 218;
According to Darby, 221; Daniel, 224; The Great Tribulation, 225; Antinomianism, 227; Sin, 230;
Sin Defined, 232; Sin and Judgment, 234; Conscience and Guidance, 235; Corrupted Words, 237;
The Great Escape, 241; Phenomenal Growth, 242; Conclusion, 244
Appendix A - Letters of Explanation, 247—Albury Park, 1826, 247; Darby's Letters, 251
Appendix B - Various Meanings, 275
Appendix C, 291—Manuel Lacunza, 291; Joseph Wolff, 291
Bibliography and Additional Reading, 293; Scripture References, 299; Index, 303

Good Preaching Tapes

For those of you who do not have a good church nor good preaching, let me urge you to order some tapes from
Pastor John Weaver. You can order sets or singles. They are $4.00 each plus shipping. Sets vary in price.
Example: "The Christian and Debt" consists of 8 tapes in a vinyl folder. This set covers  not only what
the Bible says about debt but also how to stay out of debt. He also has a 6 tape series on
"Losing the Glory," dealing with I Samuel 4:1-22, and God writing Ichabod over the church, and His judgment
on America. The set is $25.00 in a vinyl folder. He has many tapes on historical subjects like the Death
of Stonewall Jackson, The Christian Character of Stonewall Jackson, The Conversion of Gen. Richard S. Ewell,
and are all $4.00 plus shipping. One of the most needful tapes is "Keeping the Heart," an explanation
of Proverbs 4:23. Ask for a catalogue when you order.

Order from Freedom Baptist Church, P. O. Box 394, Fitzgerald, Georgia 31750.

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