Apparently, millions of Americans watched or saw highlights of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the allegations made by Mrs. Christine Ford against Supreme Court Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh on September 27 and 28. Many people, including me, found these hearings disgusting, reprehensible, a major embarrassment to the citizens of our country. It's unbelievable how far we have sunk as a society in the U.S. This made for TV spectacle was abhorrent for both Judge Kavanaugh and Mrs. Ford. The only winners were the forces of darkness and evil in our country. We are definitely in End Times Can we still find inner peace despite the advances of darkness and evil? Let's discuss.
Who are the earthly representatives of evil and darkness in this story? The people who use the tools of Satan to accomplish their tasks as I commented in a recent post. Tools like deception, false witness, chaos. Essentially, those for whom the "ends justify the means" is not just an interesting concept but a core belief. Those who believe that the utter destruction of individuals or groups with lies, insinuations, and false witness justify their actions by saying that the people who are destroyed are unimportant or simply a casualty of war. Are they voluntarily doing the work of Satan's? I think the answer is clearly yes. If you are using the tools of Satan, you are doing the work of Satan.
As a Christian, it is clear to me Democrats who are using the tools of Satan are doing the work of Satan. The work of Satan is so clear to me that I struggle mentally and emotionally to comprehend how others cannot see it. Fortunately for my mental, spiritual and emotional health, Paul reminds us of the truth in 1 Corinthians 2.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV
I pray from the depths of my soul that others could see the truth, but if they are not people of the Spirit then they cannot see it. We are definitely in End Times and the deceiver is growing more and more powerful, at least for now.
I'm not saying all Democrats are bad and all Republicans are good. Jesus was very clear in Matthew 7 that we will recognize people for who they are and which side they are on by the fruits they bear, either good or bad.
15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-20 ESV
How do we know if we are bearing good fruit or bad fruit? I recently found this interesting quote by C.S. Lewis where he explains how each of us can see the truth about ourselves.
Remember that, as I said, the right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either. From Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
So how do we know if we are bearing good or bad fruit? As C.S. Lewis said, the first step is to make sure we are headed in the right direction. We do that by accepting Jesus as our personal savior. But it doesn't stop there. We need to be continually nurturing our faith through the church, small groups, Bible study, prayer, etc. to keep ourselves going in the "right direction." Satan is crafty When we fall away from nurturing activities we will surely succumb to Satan's influence. We are all human. It happens to everyone. The key is to keep striving to go in the right direction.
Back to the Judge Kavanaugh paradox. We know that during End Times everyone, including Christians especially, will experience crisis, despair, heartache, persecution and many other types of adversity. Our hope as believers is that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture will free us from the worst of these things to come. Regardless, forces of darkness are increasing and there's nothing Christians can do to stop it. At best we can help a few others escape the inevitable destruction of this runaway train. But the question remains. Can we find inner peace during End Times? Let's take a look at some examples of how two situations played out for comparison.
The first example I want to discuss is the response to the situation encountered by Senator Jeff Flake. Senator Flake is a moderate Republican from of Arizona. He would be up for election this November except he decided to retire from the Senate. As it turned out, Senator Flake was the swing vote who ultimately decided whether or not to send Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the Senate floor. Friday morning Senator Flake had committed to his fellow Republicans that he would vote yes for Judge Kavanaugh. However, as the morning discussions moved along Senator Flake started to get cold feet. Even before this episode, he had a reputation of being weak in his convictions. Late in the morning when the discussion was getting tense and the vote was coming up, Flake encountered temptation. He was verbally attacked during a break in the hearings by some of Satan's minions and he ended up crumbling. Senator Flake reached across the aisle to discuss options with the Democrats. Ultimately he voted Yes to Judge Kavanaugh, but with the caveat of a one-week FBI investigation.
Let me clarify a few things here. First, I am not opposed to a one-week FBI investigation, so long as it is conducted with integrity and without manipulation. But, we'll have to see if integrity still exists in the FBI. The proof is in the pudding.
Second, in the distant past politicians reaching across the aisle to work a compromise with their opponent was considered a badge of honor. That's how much of past legislation has been passed on controversial subjects. But times have changed, unfortunately. Good faith negotiations no longer occur in the most controversial political discussions. These days it doesn't work. If a politician reaches across the aisle on the most controversial issues the likelihood of them getting "played" is significant.
Third, getting played is exactly what happened to Senator Flake. The minions who attacked Flake were what's called "astroturf activists." What is "astroturfing?"
Astroturfing: An artificially-manufactured political movement designed to give the appearance of grassroots activism.....Unlike natural grassroots campaigns which are people-rich and money-poor, an astroturf campaign tends to be the opposiite, well-funded but with little actual support from voters.
In this case, one of the two women who verbally attacked Senator Flake work is an executive director of a left-wing advocacy that is funded in large part by George Soros. At least one of these two women claimed to be a survivor of sexual assault while screaming at Flake. But that appears to be a blatant lie. She makes no reference to being a survivor on her Twitter account. If you don't know who George Soros is, let me summarize by saying that if he were not so old, he would be a great candidate to consider as the Anti-Christ! He is a person who has publicly stated that he considers himself a "messianic figure." Soros trolls society looking for opportunities to create chaos in countries that he can use to his advantage to gain power and wealth. More than 60% of people surveyed in his home country of Hungary have a negative opinion of Soros for openly supporting and promoting illegal immigration in Europe. If you want to know more about George Soros, he's easy to find on Google.
The second example for discussion is the response by Judge Kavanaugh to the accusations at the hearings. In his 45-minute, extremely passionate opening statement, Kavanaugh made two statements that I personally believe accurately show his true character. First, clearly stated that he holds no animosity against Mrs. Ford. He was not demeaning Mrs. Ford in anything he said. Second, Kavanaugh shared the fact that his 10-year old daughter encouraged her father to pray for Mrs. Ford. To me, these two examples display more about who he is as a Christian, husband, father, and judge than anything else he said before or afterward. Judge Kavanaugh was clearly a man fighting for his personal integrity, the integrity of his family and the integrity of our democracy and due process in this country. The key is he did so in a way that honors the God serves, the faith he has for himself, and the faith he has shared with his children. Here are two well-written articles about Judge Kavanaugh that I think are worth reading.
- 10-Year-Old Saves Republic: Judge Kavanaugh’s Young Daughter Encourages Father to Pray for His Accuser Ford
- Kavanaugh showed his daughters what it means to fight for what's right -- even when it’s hard
So let me ask you this. In the two examples above, who of all the people involved in the Senator Flake example or of all the people in the Judge Kavanaugh example did the will of God? Perhaps a better way to ask the question is this.
Which example would you like to be when standing before the judgment seat of God?
In Matthew 22 a lawyer asks Jesus an important question.
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:35-39
Just before the parable of the Good Samaritan in the book of Luke 10, a different lawyer asked Jesus a similar question.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Luke 10:25-28
At the end of the parable, Jesus asked the lawyer a question in response.
36 "Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise." Matthew 22:36-37
Therefore, let me remind you of what you already know. If we follow the Golden Rule...
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12 NIV
...and we reject worry or being anxious...
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33 NIV
...we will be serving God the best way we know how and we will experience inner peace, regardless of our outward circumstances. Even if you are in the unfortunate situation of being publicly questioned and humiliated in front of millions of people for something you didn't do or you are in the middle of End Times.
Sound impossible? Let me know what do you think.
Thanks for reading and God Bless!
