American Pie - An American Prophecy

My college car did not have Air Conditioning, which is fine for the temperate North Carolina mountains but makes for an uncomfortable afternoon commute in Charlotte.  One August day in 1990, I was baking in the asphalt oven, traffic was gridlocked, and my nerves were frayed.  On a whim, I pulled into a restaurant.  Never one to eat by myself, I did not have a book or a cell phone to keep me occupied but the booth was cool and dinning room empty so I settled in patiently anticipating my burrito el grande.

1980 Honda Accord - Air Conditioning Optional

In the quiet, the opening strum of American Pie came over the speakers.  I smiled, as does anyone who grew up in a time when radio stations would actually play an 8:40 song.  My American Pie story is of being a 4 year old with a ruptured appendix being rushed to the hospital while singing the chorus.  I still remember laying down in the back seat and my Mother admonishing me to please pick another song.  I didn't understand why it upset her and it hurt less when I sang.

Anyway, back to the Mexican restaurant:  As I sat there I heard the song for the first time.  Notions of the Rapture and the End Times were a concept that I had the briefest acquaintance and then only because my Dad had begun his journey into eschatology.  I was finishing my burrito as Don was finishing his song and it struck me that this song was about America after the Rapture.  I was stunned.  I remember mentioning it to my Dad later and his warm brown eyes caught that look, the one he got when I would get on his level spiritually and feed him a nugget.  Oh Lord, I miss that look.

So in honor of Dad, who loved prophecy (and pie, by the way), and in honor of Mom who didn't wreck the car on the way to the ER all those years ago, and July 4th, 2015 let's break down American Pie from a Prophetic view point.

French Kissing the Devil

(Update:  the below blog was written Saturday 11/14 as the news from Paris rolled in.   I was very troubled in my spirit and sat down to compose a blog.  As I was writing, the Lord gave me a vision of a person walking up to the Devil, embracing and tongue kissing him.   When they pulled away, blood dripped from their lips and was smeared across their face.  The person stood with their arm around the shoulders of Satan and threw me a look of hatred.  It was disturbing and I was hesitant to write this or the blog.  It seemed insensitive and cruel but I was obedient.  It is now revealed that the concert the French victims were watching in the theater was a satanic metal band.  The song they were singing as the terrorist entered the concert hall was "Kiss the Devil".)

My Dad always asserted that at the end of the age the dividing line between good and evil would be so stark that there would be no gray.  I believe the day is upon us, the great delusion has begun.  People believe in their own righteousness, they reject God and his truth.

The humanist point of reference declares that man is the arbiter of right and wrong, that each person goes along the path they feel best suits them.  When you remove the immovable laws of God and right and wrong the morality of the world breaks down.  This is what we are witnessing.

If you are not firmly entrenched in the Word of God, you will be deceived.  We are seeing it everywhere as great madness descends upon the world.  Well meaning atheists are recoiling at the slaughter and terror in Paris but what they fail to realize is that they have by default aligned themselves with the same team.  By rejecting the free gift of Salvation, they choose their side.

In human standards, they may believe themselves to be good and righteous but by the standard of holiness required for salvation, we all have sinned and fall short of the perfection demanded by a holy God.  Thus, they are blinded.

Kissing the Devil Unaware

They walk up to the devil disguised as an angel of light and reason, put their arm around his shoulder, and tongue kiss him.  They pull away from the bloody kiss and see the world through their blind eyes.  The original promise of having the knowledge of good and evil was a lie for they can not see the difference and will call what is good evil and what is evil good.  For the devil is a liar, he was a liar from the beginning, and when he speaks he speaks his native language of lies.  The world has embraced the liar and he will destroy them.

The 2015 Super Bowl Through a Christian's Eyes

Abigail and Dolley readers I married a football fanatic; a dyed in the wool, NY Giants #19 jersey wearing, face painting, LT stat quoting, New Jersey boy.  The first fall we were together, I was astounded at how much football a person could watch. Sunday mornings were about "Big Breakfast" and Sport's Center, rarely church.  Then the Panther's came to town and it was about tailgating and games.  In 1997, something happened.... my football fanatic got saved.  For a while he went to games but stopped his covert topless bar forays.  He kept watching but he started looking at coaching decisions, draft picks, and game plans in a more critical light.

In 2004, he led the decision to turn off our cable TV and with it any and all broadcast football.  We have effectively lived for 11 years without it. I write this back story, to properly frame the rest of this blog.  We are not football haters but the time we've spent removed from the game has given us a perspective that many do not have.  It is along that vein that I write about this year's Super Bowl from a spiritual perspective.

The League:

If sports in America is a god, then NFL football is chief among them, the American Zeus.  He commands sacrifice; time, money, and Sunday church.  We give allegiance to the under gods of teams; we wear their colors, we praise them loudly in the stands, we sing songs of worship to them in the form of "fight songs".  We adore the players, devote ourselves to study and commentary, and trust the appointed coaches to "Take us all the way".  It is in this spirit, this environment, that we enter the final frenzy of the year; The Superbowl.  Through discerning eyes this is a train wreck of American Society.  Let's look at each aspect:

The Commercials:

Through the guise of humor and just darn good fun, we see commercials mocking God and creation, poking fun at the coming judgement, elevating false religions of Scientology and Humanism, glamorizing a drug dealer, perpetuation of the coming deception of Alien life forms and super powered humans - throw in a bit of female exploitation and gender confusion and you've got quite a cocktail going!

Now, there were some great ones in the mix:  the Nissan commercial to Cat's in the Cradle, the Dove Real Men Care Commercial, the touching domestic violence pizza delivery call, the dark Nationwide commercial about childhood accidents, the McDonald's pay with love - those were all great.  What I am trying to do is point out the ones that are not, the ones that will fly under the radar, the ones that you might not ever consciously process.

The Half Time Show:

My son was quite keen to watch the half time show.  I was busy in the kitchen but said to him, "Watch for the Satanic signs and tell me what you see."  He rolled his eyes at me, and started watching.  "Hey, look Mom, she's wearing a dress like she's on fire and there is fire all around her.  Oh, and now she's riding some kind of beast with glowing red eyes and she's roaring!  Geez, Mom maybe you are right."

There is some good analysis by the Vigilant Christian and White Rabbit on the occult symbolism in this performance.  The overt reference to the Revelation 17: 3 of the woman riding the Beast, dressed in the fires of hell (Isaiah 66:24) and the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) well, those are right out of Scripture.  Later, they put dancing beach balls and surf boards all around her because "Hey, this is just good clean fun.  Nothing to see here."  As she sings about kissing girls, skin tight jeans, teenage dreams, and going all the way tonight... nope, nothing to see.

The Game:

I didn't watch it but I observed the hubby and son.  They were bored in the first half, my son went off and read his book.  The second half, something was wrong - it was wrong from the start.  Hubby kept exclaiming, "What are you doing?"  "I can't believe they are throwing the ball!"  "What is going on here?"  "You've got to be kidding me!  That is the worst play calling I have ever seen!" and finally, "WHAT?"  He closed the laptop, "That was just awful.  The NFL... it's just not a good product any more."

The Winner:

By all accounts, the winner of the game was not the better team.  The Patriots did not win the game per se, the Sea Hawks seemed to have lost the game.  There is about the winners an air of cheating, the aura that they are shady, and not all together honest.

In all, there is a microcosm of America today, where the best don't win, where the cheaters come out ahead to everyone's surprise.  Where the evil behind the scenes invades your living room with smiling cartoon trees and catchy pop tunes but then you sprinkle in some of the good, some of what is left of us that is still worth celebrating.

It's sad to watch and for those of us who can see, it's hard to look at.

Conservatives and Liberals - Common Ground

Abigail and Dolley readers it may surprise you to know but I find that there are certain things I can agree with the liberals.  In this swirling stew of social and economic upheaval that is 2012 America, common ground may be hard to come by but I will endeavor to make a few proposals.  For if we can find issues of agreement perhaps we can find ways of working together to accomplish these goals.

The fundamental challenge facing liberals and conservatives is not what we can agree on but our worldviews and the appropriate mechanism for solving these problems.  I have expounded on worldview exhaustively in this blog over the years and find that this is not a post to rehash all that I have written before.  I have also written extensively about the flaws in the reasoning and worldview on the topics that I find I have more common ground with the Liberals than I previously considered.

Care for the Environment:  We can agree that no one wants to live on a polluted Earth.  As a Christian, I take very seriously the admonition to be a good steward of the Earth and the possessions that the Lord has given me.  I was at Earth Fare the other day and handed the cashier my well used brown paper bags.  I commented that a client was teasing me about having them in my trunk and the cashier answered, "Well it shows you care about the environment."  I thought about it for a moment and said, "That's not really my motivation, to not reuse them is wasteful.  I believe in being a good steward."  I could tell the cashier was a bit taken aback but in the end had to agree with my sentiment.  Same result, different motivations, and different worldview but something we can agree upon.

Crony Capitalism is bad:  Once again, the solutions and the worldview are very different but we can  agree trillions of dollars to Solyndra, Archer Daniels Midlan, ConAgra, GE ect is crooked and serves the greed of politicians and business people alike.

Organic Food and Farming:  It tastes better, it is more nutritious, and it is healthier for the people and the land.  Big Ag and Genetically Modified food, animals, and seeds carry risks that I am not willing to take with my health or my family.

Newt Gingrich was very articulate on building bridges and understanding this concept.  His infamous Nancy Pelosi commercial was intended to demonstrate that we can indeed find common ground.  Perhaps as well, I have learned to look around the worldview difference to determine that as Americans there are many things we have in common.

Denial of Evil and the Appeal of Ron Paul

Abigail and Dolley readers I am deeply disturbed by the rise and popularity of Ron Paul.  The unlikely assent of an elderly, squeaky voiced, isolationist, Libertarian begs the question - why?  Why have hoards of people latched on to this man and why are they all but worshiping him?  Furthermore, why are they so ANGRY with everyone else?  If you have run into any of them online, you will know of what I speak.  They are collectively vicious tongued zealots who gleefully libel all of the other candidates and spread lies and smear, like jelly on toast.

I believe I have figured out the appeal, these folks are deeply afraid.  They are afraid of what is happening to our economy.  They are afraid of what is happening on the world's stage and they are afraid of where Big Government is taking us.  Okay, most of us are also afraid of that, so what is the difference?  The difference is, that Ron Paul preaches a gospel that there is no evil in the world other than us, if we would just behave, evil would leave us alone.

You have to admit, it is sort of enticing.  I mean, if we could just behave in a certain manner and evil would disappear, that seems like a pretty good deal.  The Paulian worldview, at its core, asserts that you can control evil.  His followers are buying into this with a fervor and a zealotry that always attaches itself to a cultish figure that claims to have the answers and is the only one who can save them.

Unfortunately, Ron Paul and his supporters are wrong.  You don't control evil by being good.  It is naive and while understandable, ultimately very dangerous.  Evil exists in the hearts of men and in the powers and principality, in the spiritual dark places of wickedness and the only way to defeat it is to fight it.  To shine the light of righteousness on it and to go after it with everything that you have.

We as a nation are tired of fighting off the evil.  We look around and see spent lives, endless war, collapsing world economies, ineffective governments and we say enough!  I just want to go home and live my life!  Leave me alone and I will leave you alone, okay?  Have we been perfect, of course not!  Have we made mistakes, yes but is it time to retreat?  To stop being a global force that stands up to the evil in the world and says, "Not so fast, Buster."  The results, if we were to follow the Paulian plan, would be disaster on a scale of which the world has never seen.  Evil does not change, evil does not get nicer, evil only grows and seeks to destroy all that is in its path and it wants to consume all that is good and righteous in this world.

Don't fall for the lie folks, it's an old one and if you pay careful attention, it smells of fire and brimstone.

Bring Back DDT - How the Green Religion is Killing People

Abigail and Dolley readers I am not a scientist or an entomologist.  Heck, I think I know the word entomology from watching CSI and Bones!  I first became aware of the DDT ban and devastating effects to the 3rd World and the bed bug explosion several years ago.  A group of my friends went to a brand new hotel at the beach and ran into them.  It was horrible!  They were all completely freaked out and even I (who was not on the trip) became obsessed with these nasty blood sucking creatures.  Being "Dolley", I of course started doing a bunch of research.

I actually came across this video from Stossel while doing Global Warming research, but it is an excellent example of how junk science adopted for political purposes can cost you a fortune, but more important contribute to the deaths of innocent people.  The portion about DDT starts about 1:40.



I have written extensively on the Religion of Environmentalist and if you care to check out back posts that link will take you to my musings on the subject.  Let it be sufficient to say that at their core, Environmentalist love the Earth and hate you.  You consume resources and your very breath is pollution and destruction.  That is their worldview.  Thus, it should not surprise anyone to learn that, one Environmentalist admitted that the primary problem with DDT is that it reduced the incidence of malaria in the developing world and thus increased the population.

That's right folks, it wasn't the safety of the chemical it was "Big Environment" deciding that kids in Sri Lanka did not deserve to live.  60 million people have died of malaria since 1972 because of the ban on DDT, that is 10 times more than died in the Holocaust.  Many of these deaths were children... as a Mother I can not imagine the horror of 1 let alone 60 million.

Now we have Bed Bugs and God forgive me, but I hope they invade every environmentalist home in the country.  I hope these nasty critters suck the blood from these Greenies as they have most certainly played a role in the deaths of these innocent people.  They will sing a different tune if it is THEIR children waking up with bites and thousands of dollars of extermination bills and loss of bedding, clothing, and carpets.  This is small in comparison to the mother in Africa whose child won't wake up ever again.

Perhaps it takes a bit of discomfort in our own lives for us to wake up and realize that we need to undo an egregious error.  We need to bring back one of the safest, cost effective, and efficient pesticides known to man.  Kill the bed bugs and kill the mosquitoes!  BRING BACK DDT!

Facts and research for this blog came from the below sources.  I encourage you to do your own investigation:
Howard Stern Says Bring Back DDT
New-Yorks-bedbugs-vs-Africas-malaria-crisis
Bring Back DDT and Science With It!
Bring Back DDT
1 in 10 New Yorkers Have Bed Bugs

Restoring Honor Rally - Reflections and Suggested Reading

Abigail and Dolley readers I was moved to tears several times while watching the Restoring Honor Rally.  I am not much of a crier, but will often weep before the Lord and for the love of my Country.  I had many opportunities on Saturday, August 28, 2010, to do so.  I was shocked at the overt aspect of Faith that was on such a public display.  Usually, the only time I hear any of that sort of thing is at my church and my church is not a typical one in that it is not politically correct and my pastor is not afraid to speak the truth.

I read a couple of books, many years ago, that changed my life.  Frank Peretti "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" show how the natural and the supernatural intersect in ways that you have probably never thought about.  They are parallel stories of the battle of good and evil here on earth and within the realm of Angels and Demons.  These novels opened my eyes to the realities of spiritual warfare and the mighty power of the Word and prayer.  If you have not already, I highly recommend that you read these incredible stories.

We are in our own Peretti novel right now and epic battle between good and evil.  The choices we make must be made with prayer and circumspection.  We must adopt a worldview that is not blind to good and evil.  We must hold our country up before the Lord and truly beseech Him for restoration.  No political movement, candidate, or government program can change the course of this nation - only the true Founding Father can do that.

World View and the Importance of Understanding What That Means

World View - how one sees the world, a system of beliefs that one holds regarding this world and beyond.  The filter through which human beings process events, circumstances, and actions.

Understanding your own world view and that of other people is crucial to predicting behavior and explaining motivations and actions.  If you understand how a person views the world then you have a clear understanding of what is driving them.  Without grasping this concept about ourselves and others we are likely to be tossed about on the sea of uncertainty when it comes to critical analysis of why people behave the way they do.  It is particularly important for us to understand the world view of the leaders we elect to office.  If you understand what is driving them, you will not be mislead by clever words and empty promises.

Let us examine some of the common political world views in our society today:

The Victim - this defeated person see the world through a victim's eyes.  They have been wronged and somebody needs to make it right.  This group is fed upon by self serving politicians and exploiters who seek to give the victim validation and a token hand out in exchange for their loyalty and support.

The Environmentalist - this person holds that the Earth is the center of the universe and must be served by man.  This all consuming world view leads to vehement defense of any action or policy that is seen to "harm" their belief system.  They by and large view humans as locust destroying the planet and the concerns of man take a back seat to what is good for Mother Earth.

The "Liberal" Progressive - this person holds that man is perfectible through social engineering and government policy.  As such, individual freedom and responsibility are not considerations in decision making.  The collective is the mechanism for which meaningful change can and must occur.  Social justice, wealth redistribution, and centralized control are all goals and views of the liberal progressive.

The Libertarian - the libertarian views all government with skepticism and rejects social engineering and policy from governmental sources.  They typically disagree with any laws that deal with personal behavior and choices ie assisted suicide laws, gay marriage, abortion, legalized drugs.  These are all areas that Libertarians believe are outside of the purview of the government and should not be legislated.

The "Conservative" Progressive - Also called the Neo-Cons, these are big government, globalist who believe that spreading American influence through preemptive war and the UN.  They ultimately believe in the superiority of the state and the implementation of large governmental controls of individual's life. 

The Constitutionalists -  this Conservative worldview is making a huge resurgence in American culture.  Largely lost by the American public since the turn of the 20th century, this group views the world and the government from a Founder's perspective.  Government is viewed as a necessary mechanism for a civil society but must be constrained and contained within the parameters and borders set fourth by the Founding Fathers.

To some extent or the other, you must look at each of these worldviews and follow them to their natural and historical conclusions.  By doing so, you can determine which world view ending you want to see.

The Victim - slavery, poverty, hopelessness, dependence
The Environmentalist - demodernization, reduced standards of living (no cars, planes, electricity, chemicals)
The Liberal Progressive - complete state control and removal of all who stand in the way of perfecting society.
The Libertarian - a breakdown in the moral fabric of the country that ultimately leads to unrestrained personal behavior.
The Conservative Progressive - unending war, massive debt, massive expansion of government.
The Constitutionalists - limited and restrained government, fiscal responsibly, economic and personal freedoms.  Defined separation and balance of powers.

Hmm.... which one are you?  Which one should you be?  Which one are our leaders and what does that tell you about them?