HOPE
IN
DISTRESSING TIMES
My dear Reader,
We all know that we are living in
very anxious times. It is just as the Master said:
“Men’s hearts will
faint from terror, being apprehensive of what is coming upon the world;
for the very powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:26)
And the apostle James prophesied
about a financial collapse in the endtimes.
“Come now, you rich,
weep and wail because of the miseries that are coming upon you. Your
wealth has become rotten, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold
and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will testify against you
and will consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in
the Last Days!”
(James 5:1-3)
So we can expect to see at least
the beginnings of this awful disaster before the Rapture, for James
gives this word to believers:
“Be patient,
therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Master. See how the farmer
waits expectantly for the precious ‘fruit of the earth,’ waiting
patiently until the land receives the early and late rains.
You too be patient. Establish your
hearts, for the coming of the Master is near.”
(James 5:7-8)
“The Farmer” in this prophecy, of
course, is the Heavenly Master Himself who is waiting for the final
ingathering of souls into the Church – the universal Body of Christ. And
that ingathering is going on tremendously today – mostly in non-western
nations.
More threatening than Iran’s and
North Korea’s nuclear programs is the threat of deep economic
instability in the US and around the world.
In this issue I have included
reports on the current alarming situation in the US. But the economic
situation is also severe in Europe, Japan, and in most of the world.
Australia also, will soon be looking into the abyss.
Dr. David R. Reagan, a well
informed prophecy teacher in the US, has written a solemn article,
entitled, “Is
this the End of the American Experiment?”
(See below). And much
of his commentary can apply to the whole Western world.
Now you may be saying, “Oh
brother, how about a bit of good news for a change!”
Well if I believed some prosperity
teachers, I would say, “You have a glorious decade ahead!” But I
don’t! There’s a financial collapse, a world war, and a 7-year
Tribulation with disasters upon disasters coming.
There
is
good news in many “non-Christian countries” – multitudes coming to
Christ! But there is also the inevitable severe persecution that follows
awakening.
The really Good News I have for
you, is the
glorious Gospel …
“THE GOOD NEWS ...
that the Messiah died for our sins, and
that He was buried, and that He was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Cor 15:1-4).
“God has made this Y’shua whom you crucified,
both Master and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)
“If you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord -
your Master and Saviour, and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved ... for
whoever will call upon the Name of the
Heavenly Master will be saved.” (Rom.10:9-13)
My reader, if you have not yet
received Jesus (Y’shua) as your own personal Saviour, I urge you to
believe and call
on Him today. Tomorrow may be too late!
And here’s
comforting news
and
Divine assurance
for all who trust in
the Saviour. Please meditate on these promises, and be encouraged in
your Heavenly Master:
“Do
not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you;
definitely I will help you; I
will uphold you with My righteous
right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
“YHWH is my Shepherd,
I shall not be in want … When I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil; for You
are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm
23:1, 4)
“So do not throw away
your confidence which has a great reward; for you have need of
endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive
the promise. For in just a very little while, the One who is
coming WILL COME, AND HE WILL NOT DELAY.” (Hebrews 10:35-37)
“The Messiah, the
Anointed One, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not
bearing sin again, but bringing salvation to those who are
eagerly expecting Him.” (Hebrews 9:28)
Believer, we do have a glorious
expectation – “the Hope of Glory.” And we are told to hold fast till the
Master comes. Y’shua says to His dear ones:
“I
am coming quickly - soon! Hold on to what you have, so
that no-one will take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11)
“Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us
exhort and encourage one another - and all the more, as you see
the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
“For our citizenship
is in heaven, from where we also eagerly wait
for a Saviour, the Master, Y’shua the Anointed.” (Philippians
3:20)
“And when the Chief
Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of
glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:4)
“And now, little
children, live and remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may
have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1 John
2:28)
“You are not lacking
in any gift as you eagerly wait for the revealing of our Master, Y’shua
the Messiah, who will also establish and keep
you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day
(of the coming) of our Master, Y’shua the Anointed.” (1 Corinthians
1:7-8)
“Be patient,
therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Master. …
The coming of the Master is near.”
(James 5:7-8)
And now, may Yahweh, the Eternal
One, our Heavenly Father, bless and keep you, and give you His shalom –
His peace – until the Master calls us to the Heavenly City.
- Your brother,
Don Stanton
IS THIS
THE END OF
THE
AMERICAN EXPERIMENT?
By Dr. David
R. Reagan
–
www.lamblion.com.
Used by
permission.
As I view the future of our nation
today, I must admit that I have ambivalent feelings. I am extremely sad,
and yet I am full of joyful expectation.
I feel a deep sense of sadness as
I see the Great American Experiment in representative government come to
an end. We have been abundantly blessed by God ever since our
forefathers arrived on this continent, and we have served as a channel
of His blessings to other nations, both as a proclaimer of the Gospel
and as a champion of human rights.
Keys to Our Success
One of the secrets to our great
success was our commitment to the Judeo-Christian principles revealed in
God’s Word. Those principles served as the basis of our systems of
government, education, and economics.
An even greater reason for our
phenomenal success was our commitment to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our forefathers came to this continent in search of freedom to
proclaim the Gospel. Our nation was established as a Christian nation.
Our relationships were governed by Christian principles. Our laws were
based upon God’s commandments. The Church, whether Catholic or
Protestant, provided us with our reason for being.
Our Track Record
We were far from perfect. We
struggled with difficult issues like race relations, women’s rights, and
the balance between labor and management. But our hearts were in the
right place because of the Christian principles which propelled us in
the right direction. We steadily made progress in all these difficult
areas, and many others.
Throughout the centuries as we
sought to evangelize the American continent, we also sent missionaries
to the uttermost parts of the earth.
In the first half of the 20th
Century, we soared to great heights as we came to the world’s rescue in
two world wars. In both cases, we entered these international conflicts
for selfless purposes — not to gain territory but to “make the world
safe for democracy.”
Our Stumbling Point
But at the height of our glory and
power, following our victory in World War II, we began to turn our back
on God. We took our eyes off the One who had blessed us so abundantly
and began to focus on ourselves. We gave our hearts to materialism.
In the process, we began to
divorce God from our lives — kicking Him out of our schools and
separating Him from our government processes. The secularization of our
society became our passion, and the result was increasing paganism in
every aspect of life.
Our Persistent Rebellion
We have mocked God. We have given
our hearts to idols. We have forgotten the source of our blessings. We
have turned a deaf ear to the prophetic voices God has raised up to call
us to repentance. We have ignored the remedial judgments He has placed
upon us, writing them off to coincidence.
We must now face the consequences
of our rebellion. God has stepped back and lowered our hedge of
protection. He is allowing evil to multiply.
Greed is destroying our economy.
Incivility is ripping apart our social structure.
Money has become our god.
Belief in Man has become our religion.
The pursuit of pleasure has become our lifestyle.
And the payoff is nihilism.
We are wallowing in despair.
We are destined for destruction.
But even as I witness the disintegration of all that I hold dear, my
heart is full of joyful expectation because the signs of the times are
literally shouting that all of history is about to arrive at its
consummation with the return of Jesus.
A Biblical Reminder
My mixed feelings remind me of
Jeremiah after his beloved city and temple had been destroyed by the
Babylonians and his nation had been taken into captivity. He wrote a
funeral lament called Lamentations in which he vented the agony of his
heart. But right in the middle of it, in a great act of faith, he
suddenly paused and made one of the most hopeful declarations to be
found in all of God’s Word (Lamentations 3:21-24):
“This I recall to
mind, therefore, I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never
ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.
Great is Thy
faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will
hope in Him.” (RSV)
Just like Jeremiah, even as I
witness all I love being destroyed around me, I can look to the future
with great hope and joyful expectation because of the marvelous promises
concerning the future that are contained in God’s Prophetic Word.
Some Certainties
Based on those promises, I know
with absolute certainty:
* That Jesus is returning soon.
* That He will defeat all the
enemies of God.
* That He will establish a
worldwide reign that will bring peace, righteousness,
and justice to all the nations.
* And that all of us who are
believers will be given the incredible blessing of ruling
with Him.
I can hardly wait. All that is
within me yearns for the glorious day very soon when Jesus will break
from the heavens.
The New World on the Horizon
The corrupt world system that
currently dominates this globe is destined to be destroyed. A new world
is coming where there will be no homeless, no poor, and no hungry.
Justice will prevail. Fairness and equity will abound.
The nations of that world will be
committed to the Lord, and the blessings of the Lord will cover the
earth as the waters cover the seas.
It is no wonder that the Apostle
Paul wrote:
“I consider the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
In the dark days that lie ahead,
let us keep in mind that God is on His throne, He still hears prayers,
He still answers prayers, and He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate
all the evil of Satan and Man to the triumph of Jesus. Keep in mind also
that:
“No eye has seen, No
ear has heard, nor has the mind of Man conceived what God has prepared
for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
But God has revealed those things
to us in His Word. Cling to those revelations in the days ahead. Cling
to His glorious promises, and you will be sustained.
“Oh
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your Name in all the earth!”
(Psalm 8:1)
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE
UNITED STATES TODAY
TOTAL
U.S. DEBT
$14,300,000,000,000
July 21/10. <israelreport@hotkey.net.au>
gives an analysis of the US economy. A few main points:
The US GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) is currently around $14.3 trillion.
The US government debt has passed
$13 trillion, and it is poised to overtake the GDP in the next year.
(To compare: the World GDP is
around $60 trillion; the EU GDP is $16.5 trillion; the UK $2.2 trillion;
Australia $1 trillion; and India is $1.4 trillion.)
THE TOTAL OF ALL U.S. DEBT (government,
business and consumer) is
now above 360 percent of its GDP. Never before has the United
States faced a debt bubble of this magnitude.
During the Great Depression of
1933, the total US
debt was just under 300% of
GBP. See chart. Today the situation is far worse in many ways.
1 - Back in the 1930s, tens of
millions of Americans lived on farms or knew how to grow their own
food.
2 - A vast horde of American Baby
Boomers is
expecting to retire,
and the
“Social Security trust fund”
has nothing but 2.5
trillion dollars of government IOUs in
it.
3 - American workers
never had to compete for
jobs with workers on the other side of the world back in the 1930s.
Today, millions of jobs have been “out-sourced” to China, India, and to
third world nations where desperate workers are happy to slave away for
big global corporations for less than a dollar an hour.
4 - Back in the 1930s, there was
nothing like the
gigantic derivatives bubble
that hangs over us today.
The total value of all derivatives worldwide is estimated to be
somewhere between
600 trillion and 1.5
quadrillion dollars.
The danger that we face from derivatives is so great that Warren Buffet
has called them “financial weapons of mass destruction.” When
this bubble pops there won’t be enough money in the entire world to fix
it.
5 - During the
Great Depression,
the US economy was
relatively
self-contained.
Today we truly do live in a global economy. Unfortunately that means
that a severe economic crisis in one part of the world
is going to affect us as
well.
Right now, the US is far from alone in dealing with a massive debt
crisis. Greece, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Portugal and a number of other
European nations are in real danger of actually defaulting on their
debts. Japan
(the third biggest
economy in the world)
is on the verge
of complete and
total economic collapse. So what happens to the U.S. economy
when the
dominoes start to fall?
BERNANKE SLAMS
U.S.
ECONOMY!
July 21/10. For the first time in
many years, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve went before Congress, to
make some hard-hitting statements about the US economy. Bernanke said:
On jobs: “This
is the worst labour market since the Great Depression.”
On housing:
“The market remains
weak, with the overhang of vacant or foreclosed houses weighing on home
prices and construction.”
On fears about the future: “Most
... viewed uncertainty about the outlook for growth and unemployment as
greater than normal, and the majority saw the risks to growth as
weighted to the downside.”
On tight credit for small
businesses:
“Bank loans outstanding
have continued to contract. Small businesses, which depend importantly
on bank credit, have been particularly hard hit.”
All this is coming from a man
whose job makes him extremely reluctant to admit to negative trends in
any sector at any time — if Bernanke is saying things are bad, you can
bet they are far
worse.
U.S.
MARKS THIRD-LARGEST, SINGLE-DAY DEBT INCREASE
The nation’s debt leapt
$166 billion in a single day, on June
30. It was the third-largest increase in US history, and it comes at a
time when Congress is balking over higher spending, and debt has become
a key policy battleground.
The one-day increase totaled
$165,931,038,264 - bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year
2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care
bill will produce over its first 10 years.
-
www.washingtontimes.com
AMERICAN COMMENT:
There’s no doubt we’re living in some of the most difficult times of our
generation. If experts are correct it’s been 2½ years since this
recession officially began, and many workers have already exhausted
their jobless benefits. But others are just now being laid off and
according to projections, another
million families
will lose their homes in
the coming months.
WITH
THE US TRAPPED IN DEPRESSION, THIS REALLY IS STARTING TO FEEL LIKE 1932
July 7/10. The US work force
shrank by
652,000
in June, one of the sharpest
contractions ever.
The share of the US working-age
population with jobs in June fell to 58.5pc. The ratio was 63pc three
years ago.
“The economy is still in the
gravitational pull of the Great Recession,” said Robert Reich, former US
labor secretary. “All the booster rockets for getting us beyond it are
failing. Home sales are down. Retail sales are down. Factory orders in
May suffered their biggest tumble since March of last year. So what are
we doing about it? Less than nothing,” he said.
California is tightening faster
than Greece. State workers have seen a 14pc fall in earnings this year
due to forced furloughs.
-
www.telegraph.co.uk
$14
TRILLION DEBT IS DESTROYING U.S. LIKE ‘CANCER FROM WITHIN’
The heads of President Barack
Obama’s national debt commission, Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat
Erskine Bowles, speaking to a meeting of the National Governors
Association, painted a gloomy picture Sunday as the United States
struggles to get its spending under control.
The nation’s total federal debt
next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion — about $47,000 for every
U.S. resident.
“This debt is like a cancer,”
Bowles said in a sober presentation. “It is truly going to destroy the
country from within. The rest of the federal government, including
fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name
it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget, is being
financed by China and other countries,” said Simpson. China alone
currently holds $920 billion in U.S. IOUs.
Bowles said if the U.S. makes no
changes it will be spending
$2 trillion by 2020 just
for interest on the national debt.
– www.newsmax.com
PASTOR FIRED FOR USING “JESUS” IN PRAYER
A North Carolina pastor was
relieved of his duties as an honorary chaplain of the state house of
representatives after he closed a prayer by using the name of Jesus.
“I got fired,” said Ron Baity,
pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. He had been invited to
lead prayer for an entire week but his tenure was cut short when he
refused to remove the Name of Jesus from his invocation.
THE
US & ISRAEL 
NEW
CHAPTER IN ISRAEL-US RELATIONS?
July 8/10. Israel has hailed a new
chapter of warm ties with the White House after an upbeat summit between
Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu this week, which was big on
backslapping but short on detail.
“A president is now working with
the premier, not against him,” declared the right-wing Jerusalem Post.
“This time, publicly at least, there were none of the harsh demands,
none of the hectoring, none of the patronizing.”
Commentators in Israel warned,
however, that the new friendly atmosphere would not last forever. “After
the false sweetness dissolves, Netanyahu will be asked about a peace
plan and be asked to present maps,” Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul
general in New York, wrote in Maariv. “And then we will again
talk of a crisis in relations and the Obama plan,” he wrote.
- www.news.yahoo.com
BEHIND
THE PRAISE
Barry Rubin has expressed the
following comments about the recent meeting between Obama and Netanyahu.
At the recent meeting between US
President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the
president could not have been more effusive. They had an “excellent”
discussion, Netanyahu’s statement was “wonderful,” and the US Israel
relationship is “extraordinary.”
Hard to believe this is the same
Obama!
The US president wants to improve
relations with Israel for several reasons.
Obviously, he doesn’t want to be
bashing Israel in the period leading up to the November Congress
elections. Polls show that for Americans, his administration’s relative
hostility toward Israel is its least popular policy. But there is more
to this trend.
What Obama wants is to be able to
claim a diplomatic success in advancing the Israel-Palestinian “peace
process,” perhaps the only international issue he can so spin. He wants
Netanyahu’s cooperation for moving to direct talks.
In the Gaza Strip also, Obama
wants to claim he has defused a crisis he has called “unsustainable.” He
wants to keep the Israel-Arab front calm while he deals with
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, seeking above all to avoid crises and
confrontations.
So here’s the deal as he sees it:
Give Israel some US support in exchange for modest steps that the
administration hopes accomplishes its goals. Israel will concede on some
things that don’t appreciably hurt its interests in order to maintain
good relations with the US.
The Palestinian Authority is so
uneager
for a peace agreement
that anything Israel says on the subject is most unlikely ever to be
implemented. And it seems that the Obama administration has some sense
to understand that
it isn’t going to get an Israel-Palestinian peace agreement;
so it doesn’t want to look
foolish in making this a high priority and then failing.
Thus, Israel’s strategy is as
follows: try very hard to get along with the administration, seek to
keep it happy, and avoid confrontation without making any major
irreversible concessions or taking serious risks. Have no illusions, but
keep the US government focused on Iran as much as possible. -
www.jpost.com
OBAMA
PLEDGED TO SELL ISRAEL OUT IN EXCHANGE FOR “VICTORY” IN AFGHANISTAN
Last year President Obama is said
to have pledged to Saudi Arabia that the US would force Israel to
withdraw from eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank by 2012.
Diplomatic sources said Obama
relayed a pledge to King Abdullah that he would take any measure
necessary to ensure an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and
Jerusalem over the next 18 months.
The sources said Obama relayed the
pledge to Abdullah during the president’s trip to Riyadh in June 2009,
four months after he assumed office, in exchange for Abdullah’s help to
arrange for the end of the Taliban war in Afghanistan. – Washington /
July 4/10
HOW
OBAMA IS USING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY IN KENYA!
July 20/10 An investigation by
three Republican congressmen has revealed the Obama administration has
secretly spent $23 million of US taxpayer dollars in Kenya to fund a
“Yes” vote on a constitutional referendum scheduled for Aug. 4 that
would increase access to abortions in Kenya, and establish legal status
for Islamic law tribunals.
- Worldnetdaily
EUROPE
&
THE UNITED NATIONS
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE “EXTREMELY NECESSARY”
The President of the European
Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, told Forbes that global governance is
extremely necessary if we want to prevent another financial crisis.
In his prepared printed and spoken
remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations, Trichet emphasized that
politicians, economists, and financiers must work across the Atlantic
and collaborate on methods to create an international set of standards.
- www.blogs.forbes.com
UN
CALLS FOR WORLD CURRENCY
After strong criticism of the US
dollar in recent weeks from world leaders, the UN added another scathing
report calling for a new international reserve currency issued by the
International Monetary Fund.
“A new global reserve system could
be created, one that no longer relies on the US dollar as the single
major reserve currency,” said the UN World Economic and Social Survey
for 2010.
“The dollar has proved not
to be a stable store of value,
which is a requisite for a stable reserve currency.”
In late June, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev openly discussed
replacing the old global financial system with a new international
monetary order and a
world currency.
The Federal Reserve has already
injected untold trillions into the economy throughout the economic
crisis. And big banks and prominent analysts are warning of
“monster” money printing
ahead. All of that
money-supply growth (inflation) represents devaluation of dollars
already in circulation and
theft
against everyone
holding Federal Reserve Notes including Americans, foreign governments,
and central banks.
The dollar is in big
trouble. The massive money
printing is bad enough on its own, but if and when the world loses
confidence in America’s paper money, the result will be a catastrophe of
immense proportions — unless the problems are rectified, and soon.
The important question — at least
long-term — now seems to be: What will replace Federal Reserve Notes?
Hopefully, rather than the same fraudulent debt-money system at the
global level, educated citizens who understand economics and monetary
theory can turn this potential disaster into an opportunity for
restoring sound
money. The alternative
— a global fiat currency scheme — will be immeasurably worse than the
current system.
- www.thenewamerican.com July 8 /10
TODAY’S MUSIC
&
THE CHURCH
- ROCK
MUSIC - A trend that cannot
be reversed?
By
PASTOR Aaron Yeoman, nsw,
AUSTRALIA
As a new believer I attended a
conservative fellowship that, at times, introduced rock music. Coming
from an unsaved background that included singing in rock bands and
living the ‘rock’ lifestyle, I found this type of music strangely
inappropriate in church but did not know why.
Later, while I was training for
the ministry, I attended a more biblical pre-millennial fellowship that
only used hymns and choruses. I grew to have a deep love for these
inherited masterpieces of the faith, as they sincerely impart a real and
accurate sense of the righteousness, majesty and timelessness of God.
I have been truly changed by the
Holy Spirit in this most important area of my walk with Christ and am
thoroughly convinced that the much more common progression, in the
opposite musical direction, is plainly spiritual error.
One of the most frequent
justifications heard from Christians who support rock music in Churches
actually tries to exploit the great work of the hymn writers. It is
argued that because the hymn writers used some of the melodies of their
day, it must be correct to use the music styles of our day, meaning
‘rock’. On first hearing there seems to be a certain logic to this
argument, yet in reality it is severely lacking in wisdom.
Over the intervening centuries,
music has degenerated at an alarming rate in tandem with other aspects
of our society. Most of the music of the hymn writers’ day did not bring
forth the fruit of rebellion, especially because the society then would
never have accepted otherwise. It was a unique time when the most
beautiful music ever written was available to be used to glorify God,
and the hymn writers did not miss this great opportunity.
A similar form of this argument is
based on the lives of some of the classical composers themselves. It has
become popular for historians to attempt to discover some transgression
in the private lives of history’s famous personalities. A number of the
great classical composers have not escaped such treatment.
These allegations are used to
attempt to justify the use of rock music by bringing classical music
‘down by association’ with it’s less than perfect composers. Even if any
of these allegations were true, again, this attempt fails because no
matter what the lifestyles of the composers, the classical music in
itself does not bring forth the fruit of rebellion.
The ‘rock’ era, like the Jazz era
that preceded it, was marked by rebellion and sexual immorality. Rock
music surely must be the greatest conduit of filth and depravity ever to
assail mankind. It has the power to incite certain behaviour no matter
why it was composed or what its lyrical content is because the hearer
conforms to its fruit.
This influence on society is
clearly visible today and these obvious trends are more subtly emulated
in the congregations that have introduced it. One only has to observe
the effects on young females, the extreme emotional reactions and the
unbridled illogical devotion to rock performers, to discern a hidden
power in the music. A brief overview of the historical beginnings of
rock music will amply provide evidence as to its fruit.
Described as a “seminal” and
“pioneering” rock performer, Bill Haley’s career was marred by acts of
violence by his teenage audience. His song “Rock Around The Clock”, when
included in the soundtrack of the film “The Blackboard Jungle”, incited
the vandalism of cinemas. This was Britain’s first taste of postwar
hooliganism in November 1955.
On the 30th of June 1956, 25 fans
were hospitalised from an incident at a concert at Asbury Park, New
Jersey. The film “Don’t Knock The Rock”, which already had been
previously banned in some countries’, was withdrawn from Sunday
screenings in Britain in September 1956 due to a proliferation of ‘rock’
inspired gangs. On 26.10.58, at a concert in the then divided and
isolated West Berlin, a major riot developed amongst 7000 of Haley’s
fans that resulted in a rise of East/West Cold War tensions.
Even in the twilight of his career
in 1976 his music still incited violence at a London concert. However,
Bill Haley’s music does not have the monopoly on this kind of influence,
as his successors in the Beatles and the Rolling Stones have also
exhibited the fruit of rock music. The Beatles encouraged the use of
L.S.D., the practice of Eastern religions and witchcraft, and John
Lennon was a notorious blasphemer.
Their more disheveled cohorts, the
Rolling Stones, were well aware of their power to manipulate fans into
violence and sexual immorality and had close personal links with
organised Witchcraft. This is well attested by the authors Tony Sanchez
and Tony Scaduto.
From my own personal experience of
the rock music industry, there were many young people who were seriously
harmed. One young man was $250,000 in debt by the age of 21 due to
reckless ambition.
One young woman became suicidal
after being influenced by her peers into casual sexual relationships.
Evidence of Satanism and the Occult was also prevalent in the beginning
of the “dance party” era. Certain individuals organized dance parties in
the mid eighties that were dedicated to the ancient Greek deity Bacchus,
the god of debauchery and immorality. Dance or ‘Rave’ parties with the
attendant use of illegal drugs are still extremely popular twenty years
later.
Even on becoming a believer, I was
given a pertinent reminder of rock music’s sheer incompatibility with
the Christian life. On playing an old recording that I had come across I
felt so oppressed by evil, that I had to cease playing the recording
immediately. I then recalled that one of the Band’s other albums had
displayed satanic symbols, so I did some research.
I found some relevant information
in the “Guinness Who’s Who of Independent and New Wave Music”, which
said that the lead singer had been “fascinated by the Occult”. The lead
singer also had fled from the U.K. to Iceland a number of times, fearing
that the end of the world had come, and had influenced a number of the
band members to follow!
It could be argued that this was a
more extreme form of ‘rock’, but I have seen so called
‘Christian’ Punk Rock
advertised as being performed in
conservative churches.
However, one only has to walk out the front door to observe how rock
culture has permeated society. The middle aged who refuse to grow up,
with inappropriate fashions, much body piercing and tattoo’s, obscene
language (spoken and displayed), hearing damage, and so on. This is
sheer paganism!
To suggest that these ‘outside
influences’ have not affected Christian congregations is not only naive,
it is inaccurate as the influence of rock music is now often accepted
and even cultivated within the church. Accusations of legalism and the
need for relevance will abound if one suggests that the ‘rock’ path is
an error to those who have committed themselves to its proliferation.
However, the lack of separation from the world in the
modern church
is irrefutable evidence of the fruit of ‘rock’ music.
The Occult power of repetitive
drums, rhythm, and chanting, has long been acknowledged as tools of mind
manipulation and control. The ancient mystery cults, paganism, voodoo,
shamanism, and certain so called ‘Christian’ cults, have in the past all
used these well proven techniques to propagate their influence.
Every genuine believer who is
serious about their service to Christ should be dismayed at these Occult
strategies becoming widespread in churches, especially when said
techniques are expected to aid in the Lord’s work. Yet there seems to be
champions for rock music in almost every Christian denomination. Why?
Unfortunately it seems that rock
music has been with us so long now and is so widespread that it is just
accepted, without any spiritual discernment. Christians forget the
appeal of the Apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 6.
“What fruit had ye
then in those things whereof ye are ashamed? For the end of those things
is death.” (Romans 6:21)
The fact is that many are
unwilling to turn from the things of the World, being fearful of losing
the acceptance of what must often be a ‘Christian’ rock majority in
fellowships and even family. The path of Christ, however, is often
unpopular and yet it is the necessary way to please our Lord and to have
a good testimony. God requires the Christian to, “make melody in your
heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:19)
Rock music is anything but. Those
under the influence of ‘rock’, in the Lord’s strength, need to listen
only to melodious
music for a time and
they will begin to notice the rebelliousness and lifelessness of the
former. In spite of Christian ‘fashions’ the believer must discern.
Appropriate church music need not
be the older compositions alone; any songs that are clear on doctrine
and have a truly musical, as opposed to ‘rock’ style, are suitable. The
melody must be beautiful and predominate, with the rhythm only in a
limited supporting role as it is in classical music. There is also a
need to encourage congregations to continue to give their gift of
singing praise to the Lord.
Large bands and the use of
projectors (though not bad in themselves) over hymnals in congregations
sometimes create an atmosphere of a concert performance rather than that
of a church service. Music should always complement and not overpower
the voices of the saints.
It would seem the church as a
whole could now easily be compared with one of Christ’s observations of
the Pharisees. Jesus rebuked them in chapter 16 of Matthews Gospel:
“When it is evening,
ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning,
it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering. O ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern
the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:2-3)
The church age is ending and
falsehood is increasing, but many overlook the Lord’s prophesied
warnings in His Word about the churches’ increasing apostasy. Rather,
believers rush head long to embrace the latest so-called ‘Christian’
fad.
Could it be that this new kind of
‘fervor’ for the Lord is actually a cloak for the contemporary
believer’s reticence to use the tried and true methods that God has
already supplied? This would seem to be the case as in this country, as
well as in many others, the church continues to decline and continues to
ensnare itself more deeply with secular society.
Israel is again a nation and
Europe maneuvers into unity. The stage is set for Antichrist to rise up
and attempt to destroy God’s newly regathered people. Daily the end of
the Dispensation of Grace draws closer, yet many in the church ignore
God’s prophetic Scriptures. The ending of the Church Age, however, will
mean much in the way of spiritual failure.
The late John F. Walvoord sums up
the scriptural facts well when he says:
“Major passages of Scripture deal
with this subject and the expositor is embarrassed by the wealth of
material which plainly teaches that the end of the age will be
characterized by apostasy.”
It is painfully obvious that rock
music is not of God and does not produce the fruit of righteousness.
This can be proved conclusively to any who are willing to impartially
and objectively study this subject with the discernment of the Holy
Spirit and in the light of Scripture. Therefore, the predominance of
‘rock” music in Christian congregations is in itself clear evidence of
rising apostasy, a prophesied sign of the end of the age.
THE
TRUTH ABOUT ROCK MUSIC
by Jeff
Godwin
(Published by Chick
Publications, California, USA)
Twenty years ago we published a
review of the book “The Devil’s Disciples,” by Jeff Godwin. As a
supplement to what Pastor Aaron has written, we include here some
extracts from that book review.
As a young man, Jeff had been into
the Rock scene. After being delivered from Rock, he revealed the results
of his extensive research into the progressive forms of Rock culture.
The book is horrific. It describes
the sordid lives, the blatant perversions, and moral bankruptcy of Rock
stars, as well as the demonic origins and satanic motivation behind the
style and lyrics of their “music.” Quotes from various Rock artists
demonstrates their total sellout to Lucifer and his conspiracy of
evil.
Jeff Godwin lakes the reader
through the whole gauntlet of Rock, “from a sneering, hip-wiggling
hillbilly named Elvis Presley to a blood drinking, bat-biting maniac
named Ozzy Osbourne.” He quotes David Bowie, one of the most
influential Rock stars ever as saying, “Rock has always been the
devil’s music. You can’t convince me that it isn’t.”
Godwin maintained today’s rock
stars have the full blessing of Satan in the work they do. And
Rock’s young addicts are actually being hypnotized and
brainwashed by the music they adore so much. The message is one of
evil, gloating despair dripping with sexual double meanings, or, in some
cases, an outright glorification of death, satanic greed, and hate.
This book is full of facts,
quotes, and descriptions that support the charge that Rock music is
Satan’s invention, and that it had origins in “the Blues” — a style
developed by the post Civil War American Negro sitting amidst destroyed
plantations and burnt-out cities.
The Blues itself, with its
churning 12-bar changes stopping and starting in the same hypnotic
sequence time after time, evolved from African voodoo beats and
tribal music. Black slaves carried it with them on ships heading for
America.
Both ROLLING STONES and LED
ZEPPELIN started out as Blues bands.
Godwin says: “Rock was created by
Satan to be used by him over 30 years ago, and we’re just now seeing the
deadly reality our parents and preachers were warning us about in 1954.
How do we know? Because Rock was founded on the principle of
rebellion. No one can deny that fact. Rebellion is the crime that
caused Satan’s fall, yet we say that the rebelliousness of Rock has
nothing to do with Satan. That just doesn’t make sense! Read 1 Samuel
15:23: ‘For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft’.”
By the mid-1980s, a union of
Punk and Heavy Metal had produced a cauldron of undisguised
debauchery, blasphemy, violence, sadism/masochism, anarchy and demonic
carnage. It had hit rock bottom!
The Rock Concert
Jeff described in detail the first
Rock concert he attended as a youth.
The Rock concert, Jeff explains,
was in actuality a subliminal, pagan religious ceremony. The
congregation consists of thousands of Rock worshippers; the
sacrament is marijuana or some other drug; the high priests
are the Rock group that instruct their followers in the means of
obtaining grace through the power of the god of Rock — Satan.
“What these poor, drunk, drugged, and duped young people are actually
worshipping, is PURE EVIL.”
The show began with a tremendous
dynamite explosion which rocked the arena at precisely the same second
the band’s banks of coloured floodlights split the dark.
At the end of the concert, the
band broke their expensive equipment – guitars, drums, mics and
amplifiers - into pieces, to the glee and screams of the audience. “All
hell let loose.” The show ended with a not-so-old Buick car being
dynamited on stage.
SATANIC BACKMASKING
Jeff Godwin gives many examples of
back-masking — that is, hidden satanic messages planted in recordings
which can not be consciously heard unless the tape is played backwards.
You need equipment that can play backwards at normal speed, to hear the
messages. But nevertheless, the hidden messages register on the
subconscious mind whenever the record or tape is played normally.
The more it is played, the stronger will be the impression.
“ROCKING FOR JESUS”
Under this chapter heading, Jeff
Godwin reports on CHRISTIAN ROCK. He says “Christ-Rock” is a
contradiction in terms. “How can Christ be unequally yoked with the
perverse paganism of Rock?”
He cites the group STRYPER as
being the forerunners of a new trend in Christian music — Heavy Metal
Christian Rock. The music on STRYPER’s albums was no different to
W.A.S.P. or AC-DC. Only the words were positive praise to the King, WHEN
you could hear them, that is.
Godwin maintains that Satan is the
King of Rock, and that he does not stop at the door of the Gospel Record
store. Rather, Satan is now mounting a strategic offensive against
Christians, utilizing willing, zealous believers to propagate the beat,
the style and the hidden messages amongst young Christians.
Some Christian Rockers argue that
Rock music doesn’t have to be satanic. If the lyrics are about the Lord
and salvation, it can be a legitimate form by which young people in a
world of predominate Rock, can be won for Christ. Jeff Godwin says NO!
Friend, we are not talking here
about lively gospel music. We’re talking about ROCK! We are not talking
about beat or even drums. We’re talking about ROCK beat and style.
While some Christian Rockers may
be seeking to win souls IN the Rock world,
some Christian Rockers are
actually introducing young people to Rock.
Or if some young people are won to
Christ through Rock, are they then to be nurtured through Rock? Jeff
Godwin comments: “There’s one very simple test for Christians to use to
determine what is and what is not Godly music: Could you play that music
as part of the Sunday morning worship service without
offending God?
I don’t care if it’s
Rock, Christian Rock, Country, or Contemporary; if the music can’t fit
comfortably into Sunday morning worship, then it is not worth playing at
all. If such music cannot be used to praise the King, then why are you
listening to it?
Christian Rock Albums Loaded with Demonics!
A few Christian lyrics does not
worry the devil — he joins the Christian artists in the recording studio
to sing with them
in duet.
This is not imagination! It is
most alarming to discover that many “Christian Rock” albums are also
back-masked with satanic messages.
Invoking The Devil
How the satanic messages get onto
the albums is a mystery, but the testimony of Elaine, a former Satanic
High Priestess gives a good clue — at least as far as the usual Rock
albums are concerned. But what about “Christian Rock” albums?
It is very possible that the Rock
rhythm and style is itself an invocation to demonic powers to
participate. Rocker David Bowie says,
“Rock has always been the
devil’s music.”
If demons are invoked through
Rock, then it is understandable that they will sing in duo with the
artists. And as fans around the world listen and join in the songs, they
form a planetary
choir of satanic praise.
Is Christian Rock more dangerous
than secular Rock & Roll? Jeff Godwin says yes! “It’s more deadly
because it’s disguised, and pulling blindfolds over Christian eyes is
something in which Satan delights.”
Jeff Godwin includes a
testimony of Elaine,
who, for 17 years was a
servant of Satan. She became a high priestess, and also attained a high
position of national leadership in the US. Elaine eventually rejected
Satan and was saved through faith in the Lord Jesus. Part of her
testimony, as relating to Rock, follows:
DEMONS ON RECORDS
“Because of the high position I
held for so many years, I was involved in the planning of many of the
destructive influences Satan has brought into the U.S. and other
countries. Satan is REAL! Demons are REAL! I can tell you from my own
personal experience, but you don’t have to take my words for this.
Simply read God’s Word.
“Like so many other things,
the whole movement of Rock
music was carefully planned and carried out by Satan and his servants
from its very beginning.
Rock music didn’t ‘just
happen’, it was a carefully masterminded plan by none other than Satan
himself.
“I have personally met a great
number of the Rock Stars. They have
ALL agreed to serve Satan
in return for money and
fame. They have received all they wanted, but also so much more that
they didn’t expect. Their very lives and souls, in many cases, have been
destroyed. These
Rock stars know exactly what they are doing.
They are, step by step,
teaching untold millions of young people to worship and serve Satan.
“I attended special ceremonies at
various recording studios throughout the U.S. for the specific purpose
of placing satanic
blessings on the Rock music recorded.
We did incantations
which placed demons on
EVERY record and tape of
rock music that was sold.
At times we also called
up special demons who spoke on the recordings — the various back-masked
messages.
ALSO, in many recordings, we were
ourselves recorded in the background (masked by the over-all noise of
the music) doing chants and incantations to summon up more demons every
time one of the records or tapes is played. As the music is played,
these demons are
summoned into the room to afflict the person playing the music,
and anyone else who is
listening. The purpose of all this? MIND CONTROL!
Mind control not only to give the
listeners understanding of the messages about Satan conveyed to them by
the music, but also to prevent them from recognising their need of
Jesus. (See 2 Corinthians 4:4.)
“Many of the song lyrics are
themselves actual
incantations
calling up demons when the song is
sung.”
The purpose of this is
two-fold; to exert control over the listener, and to provide the
listener with actual incantations he or she can use to send demons upon
another person to gain revenge by afflicting them with illness,
accidents, etc., and also to help influence another person into the
bondage of Rock music itself.
“Be of
sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary,
the
devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
(1 Peter
5:8)
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