Jan 9
It's Pat; Again
This past week, political chaos descended on Israel as Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon suffered a series of strokes. His health situation is so grave,
there is little hope that he will ever return to political life.
Until Sharon dies on or permanently retires from office, it would be premature of me to speculate on how his passing would affect prophecy.
However, there is someone who had no trouble making a snap judgment call over Sharon's fate. While doctors were fighting to save the Israeli Prime Minister's life, the Rev. Pat Roberson went on national TV and diagnosed
divine wrath as the potential root cause of his strokes.
After first praising him as a "delightful person," Robertson said "But here he's at the point of death. He was dividing God's land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the European Union, the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says: 'This land belongs to me. You'd better leave it alone.' "
Robertson has become a bit of a favorite with the liberal media. Several times the past few years, quotes from him have grabbed the headlines. Here are just few of his gems:
In November, the televangelist warned the town of Dover, Pa., that it risked God's wrath because voters had recalled conservative school board members who favored teaching Intelligent Design. "I'd like to say to the good
citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if
they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for his help because he might not be there."
When Disneyworld decided to hold "gay days" at the park, Pat said: "I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you.
This is not a message of hate -- this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and
possibly a meteor."
Last August, Robertson called for the assassination of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. "...If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... We have the ability to take him out, and I think
the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get
it over with."
I truly believe Robertson has done a huge amount of damage to the gospel message. He gives creditability to the belief that TV evangelists are just exploiting God for their own benefit. Robertson has helped a number of
anti-Christian groups get their views into the public limelight. He is widely quoted by the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and The People for the American Way. I was even able to find an "I
hate Pat Robertson" website (http://www.ihatepatrobertson.com).
If there is any doubt that Robertson has a natural gift for putting his foot in his own mouth, consider the following back-to-back attempts at clarifying his call to assassinate Hugo Chavez:
"Wait a minute, I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out,' and 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping."
"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."
As far as Robertson's latest gaffe goes, I do agree with the general idea that God frowns on giving away land to the Arabs. However, it's hard to know for certain if any particular health scare involves some type of judgment.
When you consider that Sharon is 77 years old, weighs over 300 pounds, and has one of the most stressful jobs on the planet, his medical condition should come as no great surprise.
What Robertson and many other prophets of imminent doom fail to take into consideration is God's loving patience. Before the Lord pours out wrath, He gives people every opportunity to repent from their evil ways. Considering all the embarrassment Robertson has caused the Kingdom of God, he, ironically, is a perfect example of the Lord's longsuffering nature.
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).
--Todd
Madonna, Morality, and Motherhood
This is a strange age, indeed, as we are inculcated by the mainstream media in matters of morality. In the case of pop icon Madonna’s being held up as role model for proper parenting, the indoctrination is underway to try and make the ridiculous the sublime. We are expected to now look at the material girl as just an everyday mom, trying to raise her children above the down-and-dirty fray of the seamy side of life.
Such reprogramming is not an easy thing to do. She, perhaps more than any other entertainer of our time, contributed mightily to the cesspool out of which she says she is determined to keep her kids. Even so, I prayerfully hope she can do it. No child –including hers--should be subjected to, or even exposed to, the things Madonna and her colleagues have foisted upon us during recent times, aided and abetted by the same media that now wants to whitewash her nefarious doings.
The cultural dichotomy is perplexing to the point of being mind-numbing. It is, however, the precursor, I’m convinced, to societal diametrical opposites that will be absolutely mind-bending.
I refer to the era of tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week), during which there will be the embracing of a religious system of pseudo-morality designed to bring peace, love and prosperity--and at the same time unprecedented degradation, hedonism and worldwide genocide.
To be perhaps a bit trite, Antichrist will –in effect—produce a global state that will promise earth-dwellers that they can have their cake and eat it too.
Madonna seems, in my view, to represent in microcosm that coming system of false promises and soul-destroying consequences. Her own words of Babylonian-like confusion reflect through out the same media that has lifted her to atop the pedestal of…well…almost virginal motherhood…the supreme paradox, except in one God-given instance in all of human history.
"At the end of the day when I'm standing at the golden gates, I'm sure God doesn't give a s--- how many records I've sold or how many number one hits I've had," Madonna said in an interview with Britain's Observer. "All He gives a s--- about is how I behaved, how I treated people. So understanding
that, and still doing my best making records, is the conclusion I've come to. I think about that more now than I used to."
Madonna often waxes eloquent these days on her new-found religion, Kabbalah, a mystical form of Judaism. She proclaims that Jesus was a Kabbalist, but provides no evidence of her epiphany. She sees no problem claiming a close relationship with God, and at the same time, giving open-mouthed kisses to fellow pop stars, like she did to Britney Spears during an MTV event that presented a mock-lesbian wedding.
Dressed as the masculine member of the pair, in a tuxedo, she danced her way down to Britney, the feminine representative of the couple. They kissed each other passionately. They next danced happily and sang, completing the ridicule of the God-given marriage union between a man and a woman.
The latest was broken by ABC news. Now, Madonna declares herself to be as traditional as any mother in America has ever been. She says, in fact, that she insists that her children pick up their toys and respect her as a mother, and others as their equals. She says further that she intends to keep her kids from knowledge of her “professional” activities.
To be somewhat trite again, this is indeed burning the candle of life at both ends! The same pop star who demonstrated through her performance “art” to star-struck teenage girls the finer points of oral sex and group sex now comes at us from the opposite end, with determination to keep her own daughter from ever knowing about any of the debaucheries she made many millions promoting.
This isn’t to say we should hate Madonna. No, we should love her by pointing out, in no uncertain terms, that neither she –nor anyone else—can have it both ways. Unless repentance is forthcoming, there can be no turning over a new leaf…of becoming born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3: 3). There must be turning away from sin, and turning to Jesus Christ. Else Madonna and all others who continue in sin are fulfilling a key prophecy given this generation through the Apostle Paul:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,..having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” (2 Tim. 3: 1-2, 5).
Immorality and motherhood, in God’s eternal economy, cannot co-exist. This is one reason I’m convinced that all children, before the age of accountability, will go to be with the Lord at the rapture, just as they do at death.
--Terry
