Knowing The Signs!

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:3-14 NIV

Rumors that spread faster than a forest fire unchecked tend to cause more damage than the actual event. What’s a rumor? A story or statement circulated without any confirmation of truth or facts. And in this age of technological advances, we see rumors spread faster than the speed of light or rather at the speed of a person’s typing ability.

The problem with a rumor is that “the noise generated by the unsubstantiated story” causes irreparable harm to many in most cases. By the time truth is revealed about the rumor, people have already accepted the rumor as truth and are reluctant to rethink what they’ve heard–even the evidence is right in front of them.

We see this happen over and over again in the daily influx of opinions based on rumors and falsehoods made to appear as though they are truth.

Examples of rumors appearing to be true include all the uproar about a book written by a person with a grudge, Peter Schweizer, the author of Clinton Cash. It would appear that most of what the author alluded to in his book was based upon false information, but the innuendo led to a federal probe of the Clinton Foundation in which they have found nothing to substantiate the claims in the book. Of course, upon discovering the author’s connections to a network that includes backers of Trump, and other disgruntled Republicans, one can understand the motive behind the book.

Other rumors that appear to be designed to impact the current election include, “an indictment against Hillary Clinton based upon information found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop” that has since been debunked. If the FBI has not had an opportunity to review the information they found, how could a determination made about the material? And then, we recently discover that the announcement made about the continuing investigation was known days before by the Trump campaign and Rudy Giuliani admits to having access to what was being done before it was announced.

There are two things we should understand about Giuliani’s hatred of Hillary Clinton–he hates her because she won a seat to the Senate against him and that he is–Comey’s–the FBI Director’s former boss. I guess some ties are never broken even when they could cost a person their current position.

And then there are the so-called videos created and distributed by James O’Keefe (filmmaker) with the Veritas Project–a project that was given $10,000 by the Trump Foundation in May (according to public financial information disclosed). These supposed videos indicate conspiracy by the Clinton campaign to disrupt and create violence at the Trump rallies. Apparently, a payment was made to two people claiming to work for the Clinton campaign (who are no longer part of the campaign) and thus we have a rumor started that Hillary Clinton paid people to disrupt Trump Rallies. If we take the time to look at all the facts, critically analyze what is known and know how to draw rational conclusions,  it is easy to dispel some rumors, but unfortunately, many people would rather believe fiction over facts.

Now the noise we hear–without a foundation of truth to support such a plan is--the Republican leaders plan to “impeach” Clinton should she win the election and The Chairman of the Oversight Committee is guaranteeing that her presidency will accomplish nothing since he plans to keep her tied up with investigations for the first two years. Somehow, I guess I mistakenly thought the role of elected officials was to take care of business for all citizens in the United States, not incite animosity because of grudges. It would appear that the elected officials in Washington are nothing more than vengeful old men.

And yet–these same Republicans are supposed to be the party of “family values” and “beacons of Christianity.” Amazing how their actions do not align with the words they speak–apparently falsely. But then again, we are told in The Word, from the abundance of the heart (whatever is in there), the mouth speaks. So I guess we know, what’s in the hearts of a majority of the Republicans holding elected positions.

Are these the signs of the time–when people’s hearts grow cold and they turn from the faith in Jesus Christ and look to “mere mortals” for salvation? If people are looking to the Republican to do anything other than obstruct and impede forward movement, their words are the sign of what we can expect. Considering the nominee’s stance and continued encouragement of chants, “Lock her up,” we have nothing to look forward to other than more hatred, bigotry, and manipulation by a megalomaniac who does not understand the democratic process.

I’m grateful to Holy Spirit who always alerts me to those things that are rumored and leads me to seek truth. I’m also grateful for having the integrity instilled in me by the love of Holy Spirit, to not perpetuate the spreading of a rumor. When they get to me and I have researched the matter, I do not accept the perpetuation and will not promote hearsay. I ask for evidence of everything from those who are attempting to spread the rumor and I know how to determine if a source is credible or not. God is just good that way.

Lord, whatever Your plan, we accept as Your Will and will keep hope alive, waiting for Your return, knowing we will spend eternity with You.

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Drop The Rocks!

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:3-11 NIV

Sin is sin–no matter what act a person commits and the Bible is very specific about the acts of sin–any deliberate act that opposes God’s Word.

Being stupid or “extremely careless” is not a crime. If being stupid was a crime, there wouldn’t be enough room in Texas, Florida, or California to hold all the stupid people. In fact, there would probably be more people locked up than free and then what would happen to our economy and military?

We tend to cry foul about some things because we want to draw attention to ourselves–especially those running for elected positions. How many times have we seen and heard–public outcry from politicians about the behavior of one and then have the tides turned upon them and all the cameras were facing them–for the same judgment–the same thing they were quick to condemn others for? I could take the time to list them, but it would be pointless–and their misdeeds are a matter of public record so anyone can search for them.

The point to all of this is–the FBI cleared Clinton of any criminal intent–saying she was “extremely careless” (which amounts to being stupid), but had not committed any crimes. Therefore, all those crying foul–should be silent a moment and think about their own lives and see if they, too should be indicted for being stupid.

Not one person reading this blog–unless they had access to all the facts–is in a position to judge the situation–not the director’s decision or Clinton’s actions. Anything and everything we say–including her opponents in this election cycle–is a matter of speculation and opinion and our opinions matter not–when facts are more important.

Of course, the media won’t let this rest because it’s a matter of ratings–who can be more sensational than another station or newspaper. I don’t care what anyone else says, “extremely careless” is not a condemnation, but a reprimand and there is a difference in the definition of the words. But we understand–the stronger the language used–the more abhorrent the act seems–and everybody is picking up their rocks to throw.

Think about it–if you’ve ever done anything stupid, or were “extremely careless” about a decision or act–negligent if you will–drop your rocks. I can guarantee that anyone crying foul and wants to see her indicted, will soon have the cameras on them–facing possible indictments for real crimes–not imagined ones. History–always repeats itself–and when we don’t learn from history–we keep making the same foolish decisions.

Drop your rocks and think about your own life and then determine within yourself–that you will seek wisdom before speaking–or judging another with opinions and not facts.