Time magazine and the tree

Click on this link http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20080428,00.html to see the latest from Time magazine. The editors of the magazine have once again blundered into sacred American ground. Ground that was won with American blood. The photo depicts a famous scene from WWII, the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.

In February of 1945 approximately 70,000 U.S. Marines invaded the island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is a small dot in the vast Pacific ocean. It is a dormant volcano that is composed mostly of black sand, rock, and sparse jungle. Defending the island were 22,000 Japanese soldiers. The Japanese army had dug an elaborate system of underground catacombs and interconnecting tunnels. They created deadly crossfire avenues so that practically every square inch of the island was covered with fire lanes from artillery, mortars, machine guns, and rifles. The prize of the island was an airfield. The advancing American armada marching across the Pacific needed the airfield to refuel bombers and to house advanced fighter escort squardron's.

The Japanese defenders were ordered to fight to the death with the goal of every soldier to take 10 Americans with them. They knew they would never leave the island alive. Over the next 36 days, the Marines and the Japanese fought to the death. The battle became one of the bloodiest in all of modern history. 21,000, yes 21,000 Japanese soldiers died. The Marines lost 6,300 dead with thousands more wounded and maimed for life. After just 2-3 days, the island became a giant open sepulchre with dead and decaying bodies everywhere. The stench was unimaginable. The battle became one of small groups of Marines taking the fight to the enemy, inch by deadly inch. Men went days without sleep. At night, the Japanese would carry out sneak attacks armed with bayonets and knives. They would slip into foxholes and slit throats as they could. They would take Marines hostage and torture them to death. But in the end, the indomitable spirit of the U.S. Marine won the day.

The raising of the flag on Mt. Surabachi sent a message of hope to families back home in the states. People could see through the photograph that the U.S. was winning the war, and would soon be victorious. The flag represented the bloody sacrifice and bitter war that our forces in the Pacific and in Europe were fighting for the cause of freedom. It is just a photograph but it had a real and true meaning behind it.



And then comes Time Magazine............who sees fit to replace the American flag with.....a tree..all in the name of "earth day".

WHAT A DISGRACE TO THE AMERICAN MILITARY.

I love trees, I love forests, I love mountains and lakes and oceans and everything beautiful that God created. But when a tree replaces the American flag in a photograph that still has meaning today...that is going to far.

But then the editors at Time magazine will do what they want. Why, because they are free to do so. And why are they free to do so.....

Because better people then them are willing to fight for that freedom everyday.

So its ok Time magazine, you go right on printing what you want. Our military is made of better stuff than you and they can take it.

Beware of false teaching

I have read several articles lately dealing with proliferation of false doctrine. False doctrine has been around since the dawn of human history. However, today we have a deceptive insidious form of false doctrine that is creeping into every aspect of our lives. From public schools to churches, from military doctrine to banking laws; every aspect of life is under the attack of the enemy. In a nutshell, this form of false doctrine does two things.

1. It convinces us that deep down, we are good and don't really need God.
2. It promotes a different form of thinking away from freedom and absolutes; and toward community and relativity.

According to this teaching, all men are good. We are not really sinners in need of a Savior but actually can achieve a god-like status by discovering our inner self and then developing that self by way of harmonizing with those around us and with the universe. If this sounds familiar it is. It is a more exotic form of mysticism. The Biblical truths of sin and good vs. evil are watered down to the point of non-existence. God becomes whatever you want him to be.

This false doctrine also promotes a different from of thinking. In school I was taught reading, writing, and arithimetic. All these subjects require known facts and rules in order to work. Literally, 2 + 2 = 4, you don't end sentences with prepositions etc.. Today, the trend is toward holistic thinking. Holistic thinking involves your perception of things not facts. However you perceive something to be then that is what it is for you. If in your perception the holocaust never occurred then that's ok, because you are exercising your perception.

This form of false teaching involves famous T.V. personalities such as Oprah Winfrey (google what she is teaching on her daily XM radio broadcast). World leaders, media moguls and famous church leaders are in on the gig. Many churches who call themselves Christian have bought into this deception lock, stock, and barrel.

This deceptive form of thinking will be the perfect tool for the antichrist. At some point, he will step onto the world scene and easily take the reigns of the world and drive it to destruction. The concept of globalism and unification is rampant the world over. He will unite the world and give it exactly what it wants.

God calls us to live as free individuals. It is true that we are to support and love one another. To look out for each other and to worship together. But our unity is based completely on the person of Jesus Christ. It is He who unifies us as a body of believers. It is the presence of the Trinity in our lives that makes us "one in Christ". As the rapture approaches, we will see more and more people falling away from the true faith. The deception will become world wide and millions will want nothing to do with Jesus Christ. For His teaching of absolutism and the narrow way to eternal life will not fit into their "perception" of reality. He will become too harsh and too unforgiving. And that means that you and I who are true believers, advancing to maturity will become hated as well.

But thats ok, because we know the outcome.

Harpazo

The word "harpazo" is a Greek word that means "snatched away, saved from imminent danger". The word appears a handful of times in the New Testament. One of the passages in which it is used is 1 Thessolonians 4.17. The passage promises that Christians will be "caught up" and saved from imminent danger. The imminent danger from which we will be saved is the tribulation. The church will not go through the tribulation, period. We who are believers in the church age will be caught up into the clouds and meet Jesus Christ face to face. This is a promise found in the New Testament.

There are some who believe that the church will be raptured halfway through the tribulation. Others believe that the rapture will occur synonomous with the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation. Still others believe that Jesus will not come back until mankind makes it all right for Him to do so. However, when one interprets the Bible dispensationally and literally it becomes clear that the rapture will indeed take place 7 years prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The 7 years between the rapture and the second coming will be the tribulation. The tribulation will be the absolute worst time in all of human history. Billions will die and the earth will be ravished beyond comprehension. Jesus promised that if those days had not been shortened, no one would surive.

If you are a Christian and disagree with what I have said please write back. If you are a Christian and agree with what I have said please write back. If you are an unbeliever the only issue for you is to exercise faith in the Son of God, Believe, nothing else.

The moochers

Recently, my son who is a freshman in high school, was accused of being a racist. The accuser was....his teacher. The discussion in class that day revolved around illegal immigration. At some point my son made the statement, "all the illegal immigrants crossing our southern border are moochers". His teacher immediately called him a racist in front of his classmates. Was I upset, you bet; did I want to confront the man..uh YEA!! but then a superior of mine made me realize that my direct involvement would appear that I was the "hammer" behind my son's statement. So I will probably say nothing except to tell him to quit accusing my son of being racist.

On to the real issue. Illegal immigrants who cross our borders are just that, "ILLEGAL immigrants". Certainly, many of those who cross contribute to the work force in a big way. I have seen Mexican nationals working like dogs and doing an excellent job at what they do. But crossing our borders without going through the proper channels is wrong. I have no problem whatsoever with people from other countries entering the U.S. as long as they beocme U.S. citizens. But alas, when we have a congress that encourages illegal entrance, well, that problem speakes for itself.

Anyone who uses our health system and other government services free of charge is a moocher. Therefore, it is not only some of the illegal immigrants who are mooching but a vast majority of our own citizens.

You want to live in our country, great. Do it legally and get a job.