Got your attention? That’s something you never thought you’d hear me say. I’ll take it further. They are to be commended. The Muslims have more decency, moral fortitude, and social rectitude than Christians. Not all Muslims, mind you, but at least the ones in Jakarta Indonesia. This Southeast Asian archipelago is the largest Muslim nation in the world, and they are fighting back against – Lady Gaga, calling her “too pornographic” for their sensibilities. Her “Born this Way Ball” concert has already sold out its 50,000 tickets in Jakarta, but the country’s national police spokesman says “no way.” Her concerts, which feature dancers engaging in feigned sex acts, both straight and gay, are filled with Gaga shouting vile and obscene comments from the stage. Opposite and same sex partners kiss, erotically rub their bodies against each other, and writhe on the floor in all manner of sexual simulation. In concert, she blatantly calls her own fans M************s. In fact, she can barely speak a single sentence without a profusion of profanities. She sings of her passion for Judas: I’m in love with Judas, I am beyond repentance, Fame hooker, prostitute wench, Judas kiss me—don’t wear your condom next time. This is what America, including millions of deceived, born-again Christian teens, has embraced. She’s the biggest, and richest, pop star in our “one nation under God.” But the Muslims in Indonesia? They want none of it. To our shame, Christians in South Korea protested Gaga’s Seoul concert, and succeed in at least limiting attendees to age 18 and older. (Three hundred churches protested in downtown Seoul. I can’t think of a city in America where 30 churches have protested a Gaga concert.) So, here I am commending Muslims for taking the stand for decency that many Christians have failed to take. If Gaga is the export of “Christian” America, can you blame moral Muslims around the world for rejecting our nation and our God? Can we fault them for resisting our “westernized” ways if Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Gaga’s real name) is seen as part of the package of modernity? It’s a sad day when the followers of Allah have more concern over social turpitude than those who follow Jesus!
Look closely. Forget the lady walking in front of it. Concentrate on the colors. It’s a little splotchy. Pardon the lines crossing it. If this were your wall being painted, you’d want your money back. But to hang it on the wall, well, you’d better have a big wall and really big bank account. You’re looking at $86.9 million worth of painting, according to the bid last week in a Christie’s auction. (Why not just round it off to $90 million and be done with it?) The artist may be one of the richest dead people you’ve never heard of – Mark Rothko. A previous Rothko sold for $72.8 million. Maybe it’s the title: “Orange, Red, Yellow.” I first encountered Rothko when my wife and I recently watched some DVDs about famous artists from antiquity onward. Michelangelo and the usual suspects were fascinating vignettes. Then, the BBC-produced series talked about Rothko. Never heard of the guy, but he certainly had a colorful life. Born to Russian-Jewish parents, his family came to America where Rothko ended up at Yale. He eventually went into artistic painting as an “abstract expressionist.” He developed a philosophy of art based on the godless philosophy of Nietzsche and believed what he did was profoundly spiritual. He wanted his paintings, including “Orange,” to release unconscious energies based on mythological rituals. Over time his paintings grew more surreal. He encouraged viewers to stand 18 inches from his paintings to get the full spiritual experience. To fully participate in art, he insisted the artist must be preoccupied with death and lust. As his fame grew and his art became more acceptable, the Guggenheim displayed his works. New York’s famous Four Seasons restaurant coveted his paintings. The Rockefellers put his paintings in the Museum of Modern Art. But personally, his life without God took a toll. He smoked heavily and drank profusely. His second marriage failed. Finally, February 25, 1970, at age 68, he slit his wrists with a razor and lay dead in front a sink in his kitchen. And now, just one of his works is worth $86.9 million. Rom 1:25 says of those like Rothko, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised.” Some may look at “Orange” and see brilliant hues and subtle shapes. I see the canvas of an empty life. Today, while the poor beg for bread and the abused cry out for mercy, how profane that anyone would honor the name of a man whose demons did him in, by awarding his estate $86.9 million.
I don’t normally churn out my blog until the first of the week, but the social and religious chaos of this week can’t wait the weekend. I’ve seldom seen such a confused barometer of moral uncertainty.
ITEM #1
“Time” magazine, a venerable institution of hard (albeit liberal) news, displayed the cover of a mom breast feeding her three-year-old son. And not discreetly. The boy’s mouth is firmly planted on the apex of his mother’s left breast. The story about so-called “attachment parenting” is the excuse for shock journalism exploiting what some understandably see as child molestation. (NOTE: The discreet black box on the photo is ours. It does not appear on the TIME cover.)
ITEM #2
President Obama has become the first President to endorse gay marriage. We’re not talking about civil unions or fair treatment of alternative life styles in the marketplace. Obama has upended millennia of Judeo-Christian teaching. To make matters worse, he laid the blame on his two daughters, arguing that they had friends whose “parents” (that term has also been redefined; remember, two men or two women can’t physically conceive a child) were gay and that Malia and Natasha saw nothing wrong with it. There you have it: a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old dictating public policy that morally impacts millions of Americans. In addition, Obama also said his decision was guided by his Christian faith.
ITEM #3
Joel Osteen, America’s favorite mega-pastor, weighed in with a CNN interview, assuring us that, in his opinion, Obama is a genuine Christian. Keep in mind this is the same theologically astute pastor who, in the same interview, also assured us that Mormons are actual Christians, and that the evangelical tent of faith is big enough to accept them as such (even though Mormons don’t believe in the Holy Trinity and insist that Christ was a created being who even now is in heaven having sex with his wives to populate new worlds). Has Osteen never heard the Mormon aphorism, “As man is now, God once was. As God is now, man may become?”
Incestuous suckling, Presidential pandering, and theological revisionism. If there’s a reward for the weirdest week, this one gets the ribbon. We all need to get back to God’s Word and get a biblical perspective on modesty, marriage, and Mormonism.
By now we’ve all heard about the sordid, Secret Service agents’ moral debacle in Columbia. Given the life-and-death responsibility to protect the President, some agents were inexcusably drunk on the job and carelessly cavorting with prostitutes. One such lady of the night insists there were serious security breaches. By her account, while her procurer was passed out naked and drunk, she could have made off with sensitive documents or even been the conduit for a terrorism attempt. So far, everyone has overlooked the most interesting sidebar to this fiasco. According to a published report, the agent whose haggling over the price for a night of sin brought the whole matter to light, was one Arthur Huntington. The 41-year-old married, father of two, was no ordinary agent. He was a Christian whose wife home-schooled their two boys. In fact, the aggrieved wife headed-up the home school ministry at their local Baptist church. Jezebel strikes again! Another fallen Christian has proven that Christians can have demons. I can anticipate the argument of those who have a contrary view: Perhaps this born-again Christian husband was just under the influence of the flesh. AND HOW! But can Christians really be so blind to the work of demonic forces when they see it? Yes, Mr. Huntington’s drunken, sexual exploits could have been the result of a weakened will and a life of moral compromise. But I think this case is another example of grossly inconsistent behavior that reeks of demonic activity. It’s just an educated guess, but I surmise that while Huntington attended the Baptist Sunday sermons of his church, he never heard a single reference to spiritual warfare and the danger that demons pose to compromising Christians. For reasons we may never know, this man entrusted with the life of our President never took Satan seriously. Until the Body of Christ admits the work of real demons in these last days, many more Christians will suffer shame and humiliation that could have been avoided.
Mitt Romney has quietly formed a political action committee called “White Americans for Mitt.” Its purpose is to invigorate Caucasian voters into a bloc that will vote along color lines to ensure that a white American is elected as President. Shocked? You should be, and you should immediately contact the Mitt Romney for President headquarters to protest this outrageous act of blatant racism. But before you do anything, STOP! What I just told you DID NOT HAPPEN. But here’s what has happened. In one of the most callous acts ever to demean the Oval Office, our President has in fact formed an organization called “African Americans for Obama!” Think I’m kidding? Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdjoHA5ocwU. Worse yet, he blatantly plays off African American History month, a noble effort to recognize the historic contributions of African Americans, for private, political purposes. “This is a moment when we need to decide what kind of country we want to be,” the President solemnly intones, appealing for blacks-only votes. I couldn’t agree more. And the kind of country we want to be should be color-blind. Barack Obama was elected four years ago, because a large portion of white Americans did not discriminate against his color. By now dividing to conquer, he threatens his own coalition. I call on African American Christian leaders to immediately denounce this kind of politics. TD Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, et. al., we’ll be watching to see if you remain silent on this issue or take a bold stand that our President represents ALL Americans. Carving up the electorate based on the color of one’s skin is decidedly Un-American.
On the moral highway leading to personal happiness and spiritual fulfillment, there is a major traffic jam in America. It’s a gridlock created by the dramatic rise in out-of-wedlock births. And it’s leading to an even greater demonization of our population. Deuteronomy 23:2 pronounces this curse on those conceived by rape, incest, adultery, or fornication. (The NIV doesn’t do this verse justice. It’s more than a “forbidden marriage.” The KJV calls it what it is—the curse of the bastard, illegitimacy. Almost all other Bible versions agree.) My DVD series “Curse Breaking” has an hour-long analysis of this curse. (CLICK HERE to order) The point of this blog is not to explain all the horrible ramifications of this curse. My DVD series does that thoroughly. I want to issue a warning about America’s disregard for moral responsibility. According to a report published by the National Center for Health Statistics, there has been an 83% increase in illegitimate births in less than a decade. Approximately one-half of all children born in America are illegitimate. This includes President Obama. Why be alarmed? Aside from the social and economic consequences, this curse results in demonization. My background of thousands of exorcisms in which illegitimacy was the foremost or crucial factor in demonic possession causes me to draw an inescapable conclusion: instances of demonization among the young and innocent is exploding, and it will be 15-20 years before we reap the full whirlwind of such moral disregard. Am I saying that if you were conceived illegitimately you need an exorcism? Most likely. Does our President need one? Politics aside, yes. This is not a conclusion intended to induce shame or condemnation. It’s a biblical fact and must be faced. Illegitimacy is often a legal right of demonic entry and only deliverance through curse-breaking, in the name of Jesus, can break the bondage.
Two recent incidents in the news underscore the reality of how demons manipulate even Christians. First, Jet Blue pilot Clayton Osbon had to be violently subdued after he went berserk and ran up and down the aisle of his airplane scream profanities about terrorists, Jesus Christ, and how the plane was going to crash. It was later revealed by those who knew him that he was a devout Christian. Even more tragically, a deranged shooter named One Goh killed seven innocent people during a rampage at a Korean Christian school in Oakland, California. It’s likely that some form of mental illness affected both Osbon and Goh; but the fact is that both were Christian and committed decidedly demonic acts resulting in murder and potential mass murder. These events beg the question of how a follower of Christ could act like this, with or without mental derangement. The answer to anyone involved in deliverance is clear. The dimension of evil in both cases, and the fact that both men called Christ their Savior, leads to an unmistakable conclusion: some sort of Satanic compulsion was behind these tragedies. How many more have to die, or nearly die, before the Church reaches out to the emotionally ill and demonized people in our midst? If some insist that no blood-bought-believer can have a demon, then demonized Christians affected by this error have no hope for help. They are ticking time bombs awaiting a perfect storm of evil to erupt. And the pastors and Christian leaders who say that every saved person is demon-free have a serious accountability issue.
God has spoken a truth to my heart that I’ve never heard anyone preach. Speaking of the last days, Paul wrote in First Corinthians 5:24-25: Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. What “rule” and “authority” and “power” is the Apostle talking about? Every earthy and demonic force that opposes Christ. And how will they be defeated so that Christ can return? Will Jesus just snap his fingers and make it happen instantly? Will God suddenly shake the heavens and all the demons will immediately bow and then the Rapture takes place? NO! The enemies of Christ must be put under His feet by YOU AND ME! He has given US the authority and the power to enforce His kingdom. Every soul that is saved and every demon that is cast out ushers in the kingdom of God. The demon-tormented souls we set free in Jesus’ name bring us one step closer to the return of Christ. With all the crime, violence and abuse around us we must do more than ever to make the Powers of Darkness bow before our Lord and Savior! We must end the abuse of children, the epidemic of drugs that destroys our youth, and the indifference to indecency that threatens our nation. We can’t wait for someone else to do it. Those who do deliverance are the EXORCISM STRIKE FORCE, ushering in the Return of our Lord.
For or against gay marriage? President Obama has a ready answer: his position is “evolving.” Like some protozoan ameba crawling out of a primordial soup, the moral compass of our president is not fixed, but subject to a fluctuating process. For a moment, set aside the ultimate question of whether gay marriage is right or wrong, and consider the “progressive” mindset of our Commander in Chief. Like the public he is supposed to lead, he is adjusting his morality to social discourse and opinion polls. Our dully elected members of Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (under a Democratic President—Clinton), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Obama has directed the Justice Department to no longer defend this law of the land. His “evolving” mindset extends to a fiat that tells the nation’s top cop to ignore the law. The President isn’t even encouraging a repeal of the law or a Supreme Court test of the law. Just ignore it, because his mindset about the legislative process is “evolving.” Obama argues that he has gay friends and gay staff members and he’s thus conflicted. Mr. President, if you don’t like a law, we have a way to effect change in our republic. It’s called the ballot box and the legislative branch of government. If you truly believe in gay marriage just say so, and state the obvious. But please stop this tap dance of seeing which way the wind blows when you decide public policy based on moral considerations. You seem to genuinely love your wife and children. I can only hope that your affection for those you care about isn’t “evolving.”
Hold everything. Advertisers listen up. Let’s not rush to judge Rush. Of course calling that Georgetown coed the “S” word was a “fluke.” Facts first. This is a law student at a Catholic university who chose that school knowing full well its religious convictions. And now she expects hundreds of millions of Catholics to bend to her will? She wants to have sex (we used to call is less politely what the Bible calls it—fornication) on our (the taxpayer’s) dollar and not blink an eye. But I’m getting ahead of myself for those of you not following the uproar. Last week Sandra Fluke, a student at Georgetown University Law Center, went to Congress to testify on behalf of a federal handout. She wants free birth control pills, and she wants the federal government to make her Catholic school give them to her. President Obama agrees. Fluke even admits that she chose Georgetown knowing specifically that the school did not cover drugs that run contrary to Catholic teaching in its student health plans. This isn’t an issue of a necessary health commodity. It’s contraception, preventing pregnancy during pre-marital sex, not health care for a serious illness. Rush’s use of a sexual epithet was uncalled for. Perhaps his disgust got the best of him in a heated moment. He has since apologized. But let’s get the attention off Rush Limbaugh and on to the real issue—the out-of-control entitlement mentality in America that insists hard-earned tax dollars should financially support someone’s sex life. Ms. Fluke is free to sleep with whomever, whenever she wishes. But asking Catholics and all Christians to subsidize sex is a pill to far.
Got your attention? That’s something you never thought you’d hear me say. I’ll take it further. They are to be commended. The Muslims have more decency, moral fortitude, and social rectitude than Christians. Not all Muslims, mind you, but at least the ones in Jakarta Indonesia. This Southeast Asian archipelago is the largest Muslim nation in the world, and they are fighting back against – Lady Gaga, calling her “too pornographic” for their sensibilities. Her “Born this Way Ball” concert has already sold out its 50,000 tickets in Jakarta, but the country’s national police spokesman says “no way.” Her concerts, which feature dancers engaging in feigned sex acts, both straight and gay, are filled with Gaga shouting vile and obscene comments from the stage. Opposite and same sex partners kiss, erotically rub their bodies against each other, and writhe on the floor in all manner of sexual simulation. In concert, she blatantly calls her own fans M************s. In fact, she can barely speak a single sentence without a profusion of profanities. She sings of her passion for Judas: I’m in love with Judas, I am beyond repentance, Fame hooker, prostitute wench, Judas kiss me—don’t wear your condom next time. This is what America, including millions of deceived, born-again Christian teens, has embraced. She’s the biggest, and richest, pop star in our “one nation under God.” But the Muslims in Indonesia? They want none of it. To our shame, Christians in South Korea protested Gaga’s Seoul concert, and succeed in at least limiting attendees to age 18 and older. (Three hundred churches protested in downtown Seoul. I can’t think of a city in America where 30 churches have protested a Gaga concert.) So, here I am commending Muslims for taking the stand for decency that many Christians have failed to take. If Gaga is the export of “Christian” America, can you blame moral Muslims around the world for rejecting our nation and our God? Can we fault them for resisting our “westernized” ways if Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Gaga’s real name) is seen as part of the package of modernity? It’s a sad day when the followers of Allah have more concern over social turpitude than those who follow Jesus!
