Day One

The Next Chapter Begins Today

Keys:  “Now the LORD said unto Abram, ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee…So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him…”  —Genesis 12.1,4

“In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.”  —Psalm 120.1

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:  he that keepeth thee will not slumber nor sleep.”  —Psalm 121.1~3

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  —Matthew 11.28~30

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  —John 16.32~33

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  —Ephesians 6.11~12

“We won’t be renewing your contract.”  These six words and this short sentence spoken yesterday at 8:46AM ended the chapter of my life at Virginia Tech’s Language and Culture Institute (VTLCI or, simply, LCI).  My contract ended on May 17th, 2013, which was last Friday.  For some time leading up to the end of the Term and Semester, my future at VTLCI had been ambiguous.  Yesterday at 8:46AM, I found out for certain.

Fired?  Released?  Canned?  Let Go?  Many may think — my wife certainly does — that I was fired.  This isn’t really the truth.  One must already have a confirmed and contracted job in order to be declared “fired”.  To the reader of this treatise, I will simply let you be the judge.  However, it is the opinion of this writer that I was not fired.  As will be detailed later in this treatise, there are elements of this discussion with the administration that point towards me simply being let go of/released and not fired.  However, once again, judgment will be left in the hands of the reader.

“We Don’t Want You Talking About Jesus Christ Anymore”  In October of 2011, I was approached about being the coordinator of a group of Indonesian English Scholars who were scheduled to come to LCI for eight weeks of study.  I agreed to this position.  They came.  We had a great time together.  The Associate Director of LCI for Special Programs gave me, essentially, a carte blanche as far as activities were concerned and, so long as there was no proselytization involved, activities with my church were declared okay.  My Pastor came and spoke to them in a Q-and-A session on religion, answered their questions, and took time to speak to them informally, as well.  During Thanksgiving Break of 2011, we also went to a bonfire cookout, a bowling and billiards event, and, finally, a cultural exchange at my church.  In none of these events was there any proselytization involved.  The students, to a person, even said so later.  We also went to a high school basketball game and went skating.  It was during these vents and this time that someone, even now as yet unknown, complained to the Administration about my activities with the Indonesians.  A week after they left, I was called into the office of the Director of LCI, with the Associate Director of LCI, in attendance.  During this meeting — which turned out to be a dictation rather than any sort of discussion — I was told the sentence that serves as the header for this point.  I was not to talk about Jesus Christ, even if asked by students.  I’d had an earlier meeting with the Associate Director concerning a sign-up sheet for students who asked me twice about having a Bible Study, and was told by both that I was never to do this again.  It was at this point…and possibly earlier (at the beginning of the Fall Semester of 2011, I had challenged them concerning the practice of changing contracts after they’d been signed.  The Associate Director was not amused [and neither, to my hind-sighted knowledge, was the Director])…I believe that they had made the decision to find or try to find a way of getting rid of me from LCI.

The Small Shoe —– One of the things that I had experienced in Japan on three separate occasions is the practice of getting “The Small Shoe” — a practice where employers make the lives of selected employees indirectly excruciatingly difficult so that said employees will resign rather than employers having to undergo the ignominy of  informing said employee(s) of their not being rehired or being fired.  Twice I underwent this while teaching for Japan Christian Junior College and once more when teaching for American English Communication Services and Asahikawa Church of the Nazarene (yes, Christians also do The Small Shoe, unfortunately) during my time in Japan.  Little did I know that Americans do The Small Shoe as well, as I found out starting in the Spring of 2012.  It started with my salary being irregularly dispersed.  Then my salary in the Summer was rescheduled in that I was shoved into a higher tax bracket AND there was no payment on September 1st because — in opposition to the Summer of 2011, when my salary was spread out over nine pay periods — my salary was spread out over eight pay periods.  It was in the Summer of 2012, as well, that we were told that there would be a significant drop in the number of incoming LCI students.  Because of this, three of our teachers were told that they were not going to be called back…including a very close and good brother.  While no evidence exists, it is my belief that this drop in students was a manufacture precisely for the reason of getting rid of teachers that they did not like (I believe the same about these student complaints concerning my Grammar Teaching the administration told me about [very likely they concocted]……but we’ll get to that in a minute).  Comments made by some of the administrators concerning all of these fine teachers that were overheard gives credence to this idea.  In the Fall of 2012, I was informed that the administration was “concerned” because students had complained about my classes.  They also expressed their “concern” because they said that my personal survey numbers — students are asked at the end of every turn to take a survey to determine their opinions and reactions to teachers and their classes — had dropped “significantly”.  In the first term of the Spring Semester, I was given and assigned classes in the Annex.  For the year prior, I had been in the Main Building of LCI, right in sight of the door of the Assistant Director for Curriculum Coordination and Level Leadership.  Spring Term I of this year, I considered it a break and a time to be able to relax a bit when I was re-assigned to the Annex.  I felt like the term went well that term, but there were rumblings of trouble I had no idea were afoot and were coming.

Student Complaints (Over Nothing) and “Supervision” —— I was asked to come into the Office of the Assistant Director for Academics at LCI on the last day of the term, Spring I 2013 after our end-of-term staff and faculty meeting.  I thought, at the time, that my students in Grammar Class (the Assistant Director had informed me that this was going to be about my grammar class) were upset that we didn’t use the listening and speaking textbook very much that term (and not at all in three weeks).  When the Assistant Director told me about my students complaining that my grammar instruction hadn’t been enough, my jaw hit the floor.  We had spent three weeks in intensive Grammar Instruction.  I was armed with evidence that my students in that class — nine out of the twelve, to be precise — had been regularly absent to the first hour of class.  The Assistant Director pretty much blew that off by saying, “Every teacher has had that problem.”  We then discussed my methods of teaching Grammar at one point, the Assistant Director stating, “Try not to make your classes be so much fun; try not to have so much fun in your classes.”  At the end of the meeting, I walked out, went to my desk and found out, later that day, that I was being removed once again to the Main Building for Spring II.  I went that day and moved all of my stuff to my former desk in the Main Building, and prepared for the new term.  The Thursday before, I was called into the Associate Director’s office.  I was there that Thursday to finish up grades and to tie up loose academic ends before the new term (Spring II) was to start.  I went into the Associate Director’s Office where she asked me if I had told or had my students do their end of term evaluations.  She said that the Assistant Director for Academics had sent out an e-mail in which she had included a reminder to do the evaluations after I said I didn’t know we were supposed to do them.   Tersely, she said that it was part of my contract and work agreement that I needed to do these evaluations, especially in light of recent student complaints she had received (they’d apparently complained to the Assoc. Dir. as well as the Assistant Dir. for Academics).  I asked if it would be alright if I had my students do them from home and made the request via e-mail, and she said that would be fine.  Two days later, I received a formal reprimand via e-mail, and a week later had received the reprimand in my mailbox at LCI.  The first week started and went rather well, to my knowledge, and I put all of this behind me.  After the first staff meeting following the first week of classes, as I was walking by the Assistant Director for Academics’ office, she said, “Jason, students are complaining again!”  Admittedly, this pretty much touched off a fuse.  I had found out that week that my Mother’s eldest sister, Patricia (Aunt Pat), had passed away and that we — once again, for the who-knows-how-many time — wouldn’t be able to attend her memorial service.  I was still — and still am — grieving over the loss of one of my best friends last September.  I was still floored that students had complained about my Grammar Instruction.  Stupidly, on the evening of March 29th, I vented……on Facebook.  I wrote how things were going to be different.  I wrote how a certain segment of society would find April Fool’s Day to never be the same.  Some on Facebook took this the wrong way.  The police were called.  We were visited by two patrolmen from Blacksburg P.D.  I called and talked to a VTPD Sergeant, and on April 1st had an interview in the afternoon with him.  He and I both agreed that Facebook was (and is) a pretty stupid place to vent, and he offered to let me vent anytime I want with him.  He then asked if I trusted the Associate Director (I had informed him of my upcoming meeting with her that he suggested I arrange) enough to have her pass on my true sentiments to the Director of LCI (who had been informed of the situation [and who had been at LCI on the morning of April 1st]).  Stupidly, I said “Yes.”  But whom else could I have talked with?  I had that meeting later in the day with the Associate Director and the Business Manager (who is 2nd in authority to the Director).  I mentioned to the Associate Director that what I’d posted on Facebook (and later removed per the suggestion of the officers of BPD) was merely my way of venting and that no harm was meant.  The Associate Director then mentioned “Supervision” for the first time:  I was to be under the “supervision” of the Assistant Director of Curriculum Coordination and Level Leadership (we’ll use the acronym ADCCLL), that I needed to have a plan ready to detail how I would be a “better” teacher in the coming Term. I then just happened to ask, when I was told I could speak freely, about the Final Grammar Exams:  had anybody seen them, took time to look them over?  The response was one of misdirection and subterfuge.  ”Well, Jason, the Final Grammar Exams are just ONE way we evaluate students……”  I don’t remember what else the Assoc. Dir,. said because I pretty much tuned the rest of what was said out.  I realized then that this was no real “Supervision”, that this was no real “chance to get ‘better’”, that I was pretty much on my last days.  After all, EVERY one of my students in the Grammar Class from Spring I passed their Final Grammar Exam (which is 20%~30% of their grade), and — despite the 9 of 12 being regularly absent — everyone had passed the course for the term (and to my knowledge at present, they all passed this term as well).

“Is THIS The Last ‘Hurrah!’?”  This past term, I was observed by the ADCCLL on seven occasions and had five meetings with her in her office.  None of what was said to me concerning my class management, teaching and instruction style, Q-and-A with students was positive.  Yes, some good things were said, some good advice was given….but the meetings were generally negative.  When the ADCCLL informed me towards the end of this term that she would be unable to observe any of my classes from then on, I inwardly cheered.  Along with having the ADCCLL observe classes, I had to keep a professional journal, detailing what I’d done in class.  I was required to read several books and chapters on how to be a better Grammar Teacher.  And the Assoc. Dir. informed me that the Director wanted a meeting.  At first, it was supposed to be the third week of the term, but that first meeting was canceled as the Director was going to be out of town.  I did my best as a teacher this term, tried to “improve” and “be better” as they had required, but I found out that I was miserable and felt like teaching was no longer fun.  Then, out of the blue, the LORD gave me a lesson to deliver in my Reading and Writing class.  it was a classic lesson style that I’d done time and again, and as I was doing this lesson in class, I found out again how much I loved teaching.  The rest of the term, I pretty much taught this way, doing my best to see to it that my students learned what they needed to learn. Whether or not I did a good job is up for judgment by others, but my students, again, in Grammar class passed their Final Grammar Exams (though, this term, one student scored below 70%; one of the students in class who had the highest number of absence hours scored the 2nd highest on the exam [88%]) and, again, everybody passed the class.  Over the course of the remaining three weeks or so, after the Associate Director had sent out an e-mail asking for everybody’s availability for the Summer, there was speculation on my part as to whether or not I’d be teaching in the Summer.  Several teachers, well-meaning in their suggestions, said I should approach the Associate Director about the Summer.  Mrs. J. even mentioned dropping such a question as a hint or an off-hand question.  I decided not to.  They had placed me under Supervision this past term, so they could let me know themselves if I was to be asked to come back or not.

A Triple Team by The Top Three —– It was after the end of the Spring II Term and my contracted time that the Associate Director informed me via e-mail that the Director had requested a meeting for yesterday at 9AM.  This came after an amazing weekend in which I had driven a courtesy van for Holiday Inn from Thursday night (5/16) to Saturday night (5/18).  The people I had driven to and from the Inn and Downtown Blacksburg were most kind.  The tips were nice, but more-so were the kindnesses they leveled upon me.  One man told me how he was going to tell the management of Holiday Inn that I was “an asset” to the place; another family commented time and again how “Jason is awesome and our favorite guy!”  So many great words; so many wonderful things they said.  They had and probably have absolutely no idea what kind of salve for the wounds of this past academic year.  Mrs. J. was quite happy with my time at Holiday Inn, as was I.  Monday morning rolled around.  I was pretty much exhausted from the activities of the weekend.  I woke up with enough time to have a good breakfast and to have devotional time as usual.  After breakfast, Jihye prayed for me, and then I prayed, too.  I arrived at the Special Programs Building about 8:35 yesterday, sat and read the Word again, GOD giving me strength and assuring me of his presence there.  A bit later, I walked in and sat on a bench, and, after opening my journal (I’ve started writing one again in order to help vent and get rid of some of the thoughts that plague me that aren’t so pleasant; for the most part, it has been a great, great help to my soul), saw the Associate Director come in and knock on the Director’s door.  The Director opened the door for her and, seeing me sitting on the bench, asked me to come in.  I’d left my car at 8:46AM.  The Director ushered me in and, along with the Associate Director (whom I’d expected to be there) and the Business Manager (whom I DIDN’T expect to see there but wasn’t surprised to see at this meeting), sat down.  The Director told me that I was to receive no new contract and that he was “disappointed” at how things had worked out and…well, he said that was all he had to say.  I thanked them all for the opportunity they had given me to teach at LCI, praised the people I’d worked with and for, and thanked them for the good experience with such good students.  The Director then ended the meeting by saying that I was welcome to refer to LCI in my future endeavors.  I thanked him for that, stood up, shook the Associate Director’s hand, then the Business Manager’s, and finally the Director’s…and simply walked out of the Director’s Office and out of LCI.  Before the Business Manager and the Associate Director could get back to the Main Building the LORD had spoken to me and had me go and clear out my personal effects from my desk, leaving LCI’s property there.  After depositing all of this in my car, I went into the main office (where the Business Manager has his office) and spoke with the administrative assistants there.  The first that I talked to, whose husband was the manager of Holiday Inn, asked me how it went.  Clarifying, I asked, “You mean the weekend?”  (I didn’t know if either of them knew about my meeting) with the Top Three)  She said yes, and I told her that I’d done well and had a very good time.  The second Administrative Assistant came by and asked why I was so dressed up on a vacation Monday.  She kept praising how well I looked (anytime I go to meet with someone in high or higher authority where I have ever worked, I have always tried to dress up out of respect for the office of the person calling the meeting; Dad had taught me this simple principle long ago, and I’ve striven to follow it ever since) before I could say anything, really, I raised my work keys and told the first that I needed to turn them in.  She looked at me and asked, “Why?”  I told her, simply, “My contract wasn’t renewed.”  The second administrative assistant said “Now, you’re going to make me cry!”  The first, still looking surprised, said “Did they tell you why?”  I said that I didn’t ask.  She came around her desk to give me a hug and called the second over for a group hug.  They both told me to keep in touch and to not be a stranger when I left.  The first later called — still crying — saying that her husband was going to try and arrange a position for me at Holiday Inn.  I asked if I should go in then, but she said it wasn’t a good time but asked if I had her and her husband’s numbers.  I said that I did and thanked her.  Something I’ve noticed since coming to LCI……since leaving the gridiron nearly twenty years ago, really:  sometimes you never really stop playing your position.  I played Defensive Line for  four of the five years I played at MidAmerica Nazarene; I played Offensive Line for most of my high school and junior high career.  I played O. and D. line in the three alumni games at MNU I had the privilege of being a part of.  For anyone not familiar with American Football, Offensive and Defensive Line aren’t the positions that make all the headlines in the sports pages, unless a Tackle scoops up a fumble and rumbles for a touchdown, or a Defensive End happens on the off chance to intercept a pass.  The main duty of the D. and O. Line is to take on the opposing linemen across from them, and keep them off of the Quarterback and Running backs (for O-Line) and the Linebackers and Defensive Backs (for D-Line).  The D-line is supposed to plug gaps, blast holes in the O-Line, and basically be troublemakers up on the Defensive Front; O-Line is supposed to run in front of the running backs and quarterbacks and keep defenders off of them so that they can score a touchdown.  Ever since I’ve left MNU, the LORD has shown me that I’m still playing D-Line.  Yesterday, I took on a triple team from LCI’s top three.  My D-Line coaches in both High School and College both told my teammates and me that being double teamed by the offense is a badge of honor:  it means that we’re causing too much trouble for just one O-Lineman or Fullback to handle and that when such happens, there’s an opening for another defender somewhere.  If they have to put two defenders in a gap, it means that the O-Lineman in that gap is doing a great job, and that with a defensive double team, again, someone is open to score a touchdown…or at least get a first down.  It took three of them to tell me that I didn’t have a job in the Summer.  In fact, it wasn’t just any three, but the top three administrators directly in authority and “control” of LCI:  The Director, the Business Manager, and the Associate Director.  Though being informed that no contract is available was hard to take — and still is hard to take — the fact that it took the top three to be there to let me go is an honor.  While they’re focusing on little, old, insignificant me, someone is about to score on them, and score big time.

“Son, Never Get Yourself Into a Position Where You Can’t Look Someone In The Eye.”  My Dad taught me this, also.  He taught my brother and me…and anyone else who would happen to listen…to live life in such a way that we would never have to divert our eyes from the person or people we were talking to.  Always live in such a way that we can look the person we’re talking to in the eye.  That was one of the ways Dad always knew when I was lying to him (two of the worst spankings I ever received were for lying to my Dad……something that I remember to this day).  He always gave me a second chance to tell him the truth, and I usually did when given that second chance.  Ever since my younger days, I’ve striven to live in such a way that I can look anyone in the eye.  Have I been perfect at this?  No, but since my childhood, I’ve always worked and striven and tried to live in such a way.  Yesterday, when I was in the meeting with The Top Three, I happened to glance around at the Business Manager and the Associate Director.  Their eyes were downcast, unpleasant looks on their faces.  The Director looked me in the eye only once while he was talking, and then fleetingly.  As I shook their hands and thanked them, nobody looked me in the eye.  That, in and of and by itself, spoke volumes.  I remember a quote my Dad and Granddad both told me on separate occasions…

“Son, when a man won’t look you in the eye when you’re talkin’ to him, it means he’s hidin’ somethin’.  When he won’t look you in the eye when you’re shakin’ his hand, it means his handshake ain’t worth a dime…”

It’s something I’ve tried to follow and remember ever since……and it was something that was glaringly blatant and obviously clear yesterday morning.  Dad and Granddad were right again…

“Why Didn’t You Ask ‘Why?’”  I’ve talked to different members of my family and my circle since this happened.  My Mom asked me the question that is in this header.  When the Director was speaking, I knew anything I would ask concerning the reason for my not being offered a contract wouldn’t receive a truthful answer.  I am fully convinced that every one of the members of the Administration of LCI…and who knows, really, how high it goes?…is false.  They couldn’t say I didn’t do my job, because I did:  my students passed the exams, passed the classes I taught, and several have gone on to Tech or other universities.  They couldn’t say that there weren’t enough students, because several other teachers informed me that there is such a shortage of teachers for the Summer that the Associate Director, the Assistant Director for Academics, and the ADCCLL will all have to teach classes.  Further, they have begged other teachers who ARE teaching in the Summer, but just one side, to teach both and an elective.  Even further, one of the Chinese-American teachers they released last Fall they begged to come and teach again (she declined).  They can’t say that I ever came too late or left too early:  I usually was the first one in the Main Building and also generally stayed until 3pm or later.  They can’t really bring up the “failure” to have my students do their evaluations “on time” because several other teachers told me directly that they had done the same thing as I did (had the students do them at home and send them in via e-mail).  They can’t say I was abusive to my students, physically dangerous, or out of control because I never was.  They can’t even use the Facebook Vent that I posted that had caused so much fear because the investigating officer stated himself that he believed every word I’d told him and saw no further need for surveillance or investigation.  The only thing that they can really say is that students complained and that I’d received a reprimand……but even then, I have counter evidence to shut down such complaints (my students passed [as stated before], and, legally, students aren’t supposed to do teacher evaluation with the teacher in question present with them).  What could they say, the Top Three, yesterday?  What I mean is:  what could they say that was the REAL and TRUE reason for me not being given a new contract for the Summer?  As such, why bother asking?  Perhaps the Director figured I’d fight the decision, which may be why the Business Manager and Associate director were there?  Perhaps he was going to have either of them say this or that if I’d challenged the decision?  Whatever the case, the LORD simply let me know in that short meeting that I just needed to say “Thank you!” and walk……and that’s what I did.  No need to ask why because whatever they’d've said would’ve been suspect.  Just walk.  Shake their hands and look them in the eye, thank them, open the door, and walk away.  Just.  Walk.  Away…

“Fellahs, Leave It All On the Field!”  Another football analogy comes to mind, the one that is the header for this point, and a quote I first heard from my late Head Football Coach at Jessamine County High School, Coach Frank Conyers:  leave it all on the field.  Coach Conyers would tell us this before every game.  ”Leave it on the field, fellahs.”  Coach John Griggs, my defensive Coach and Coach Paul Roher, my offense and later D-line Coach in high school echoed Coach Conyers’ words:  ”Men, leave it on the field!”  Coach Gordon DeGraffenreid and later Coach Mike Redwine and the rest of my positional coaches stated the same in college:  ”Leave it all on the field!”  What did and does this mean?  It means to give everything you’ve got, to go as hard as you can, and to do your absolute best.  Win or lose, leave everything on the field.  My coach in high school, who was the one coach that was there all five years I played, Coach Glenn Hill, would often ask in practice, “What are you saving it for?”  Leave it all on the field…even the practice field, because what you do in practice is what you’ll do in the game.  I can honestly say that I’ve left it all “on the field” at LCI.  For those of my coworkers and my students who happen to read this, if there was a time or times in my tenure at LCI that I didn’t leave it all there…where I DIDN’T do my best…please fill me in.  Seriously, feel free.  I tried my best to teach my students, did my best to be there and be in class on time, tried my best to help my students learn, and strove every day to be the best ESL/EFL Instructor I can be.  As I look back, I can say, in echo to my coaches, “I left it all there.”  I have no regrets about my time at LCI, have nothing but good and great and wonderful thoughts and words for my coworkers and students, and have naught but cordiality and friendliness to LCI’s Administration.  It’s all there.   Everything I had to give, every day I was asked to give it, is all there.  As I walk away from LCI, there is nothing to be ashamed of.  I did my best.  Even though the Administration thinks it wasn’t good enough, I am not ashamed to say that I did my best.  And I am grateful for the opportunity to teach with some of the best educators in the world, to teach some of the best students anywhere, and to work under some good administrators.  Thank you, LCI, for the chance, for the time.  I did my best.  It’s all there.

D-Day Plus One —– In the day that has passed since I was let go from LCI, people have been most gracious and wonderful.  Mom and Dad both called and let us know that we have their support.  I talked with our pastor last night and plan to meet with him later this week……maybe Friday or Thursday……to talk about everything.  I called my brother but didn’t get a hold of him (they’re moving to North Dakota).  I plan to call him again this evening after Gideon’s Camp Meeting.  The rest of the day yesterday was one of great conversation with my Lady Reina Jihye.  She asked if we planned to move.  Mom asked if we were coming to Kansas to teach (she told me on the phone that she wanted us home, but that she also wants GOD’s will [that's what we want, as well]).  Right now, I don’t feel any leading of the LORD God to move.  We have some teaching opportunities in the area, and if these fall through, well then GOD has something else.  I took the Virginia Communication and Literacy Assessment last Saturday and I think I did okay.  It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it’d be, but we’ll see how it was when I get my scores.  I’m scheduled to take the Praxis II for English next month (June 8th) and for Social Studies in July (7/27).  Sometime around then, I plan to submit my application for State License for Teaching.  I’m going to try to go the experiential alternative route, and have contacted Korakuen and Sakamot0-sensei about letters concerning my time with them and they’ve graciously sent them.   This week, I plan to rest and relax.  Probably after Memorial Day, I’ll be hitting the pavement to look for something in the Summer.  God is Good…

The Bottom Line —– It’s Been a Good Ride!  Anytime I enter a situation or an employment opportunity, and the administrators DON’T kill off this love of teaching that I have, I consider it a success.  Anytime I go into a course and class and the students don’t drive this love of teaching outta’ me, I consider that a win.  Whenever I go into a job and look back with pleasant memories, especially if it all ends well……and my time at LCI ended well, let’s not mince words about that.  It cold have gotten ugly, it could have become nasty, and it could have dropped to a level that was combative and angry……I fully believe that is why the Business manager and the Associate Director were there.  The fact that GOD was in control of this thing, and he encouraged me to just walk away and thank them in the process, is testament that He helped this thing end well for my part……and it did end well.  As I stated above, I left it all on the field.  I came to school every day and determined to do my best.  I gave it my all (and that’s really easy to do when you love what you’re doing [and let there be no doubt:  I LOVE TEACHING!!!!!!!]) and I can walk away with my head held high…which is just what I will do!  I had a great, wonderful, awesome time at LCI, and I will always be thankful to have been given a fine opportunity like this to teach at a school like Virginia Tech.  No Regrets;  I have absolutely No Regrets!  Praise the LORD, I Have No Regrets!

Conclusion —– What’s next?  As far as this goes, I have no idea.  As I stated above, I’ll take it easy this week.  Monday’s Memorial Day, so likely nobody’ll make any decisions about new hires until likely after that date.  I’ll be pounding the pavement looking on the 28th and will keep doing so until I get a Summer Job.  As I’ve prayed about something else to do, the LORD has simply told me to wait upon him and see his glory.  A verse of Scripture comes to mind……

“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”  —Luke 24.49

“It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  —Acts 1.7~8

So this is what I’ll do:  I’ll wait upon the LORD……

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”  —Isaiah 40.28~31

He has promised to take care of us, and I know he will……

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.  He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.  Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.”  —Psalm 37.23~27

I don’t consider myself righteous or good, but GOD is good, and I gave my heart and life to him so many years ago.  He has never failed and never left me alone.  Praise his name because he will take care of us.  We must simply wait upon him………and we will!

Prayer —– Thank you, Father, for my time at LCI.  Bless all of those in authority, all of the teachers, and all of the students.  May they all come to know you as Savior and LORD of their lives!  Bless Dyanis and Katia, Caitlin and Kama, Mackenzie and Ben, Cristina and Lois.  Bless Maggy and her family and Ada and her family.  Bless Vanessa and her children.  Bless Pinar and Donita and Linda and Jeff and Melissa and Vonna.  Bless my coworkers, Father, would you please?  Thank you for the Peace that you give and have given!  Thank you, LORD.  I pray this is n the Strong Name of Jesus, Amen.

Verse to Remember:
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”
—Psalm 37.3~6

—Jason Lovelace, End Times Commentary

Barack Hussein Obama: Man of “Peace”?

Peace Has NOT Been Mr. Obama’s Middle Name

Key Scripture:
“And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”
—Revelation 6.2

“He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.”
—Daniel 11.24

“Then if any man shall say unto you, ‘Lo, here is Christ,’ or ‘there’; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, ‘Behold, he is in the desert;’ go not forth; ‘Behold, he is in the secret chambers;” believe it not.”
—Matthew 24.23-26

“For when they shall say, ‘Peace and safety;’ then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
—1st Thessalonians 5.3

It was all over the news: last Friday, October 9th, 2009, President Barack Obama was announced as the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He becomes the third sitting US President, and fourth overall, to win this once-prestigious prize. On the announcement of President Obama’s win, numerous questions arise. The most important is this one: What are the End Times ramifications of this prize? Let’s find out….

Past Nobel Peace Prize Winners
It has to be mentioned that President Obama, on the occasion of this award, stands in colossal company, people who have towering achievements Past winners include Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (in 1906 for brokering the peace between Russia and Japan ending the Russo-Japanese War), Woodrow Wilson (in 1919 for the creation of the League of Nations following the end of World War One), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (in 1964 for his efforts in the Civil Rights movement in the USA), Former President Lech Walesa of Poland (in 1983 for his “Solidarity” movement against the Communists and Soviets in Poland), Bishop Desmond Tutu (in 1984 for his efforts in ending Apartheid in South Africa), Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (in 1973 for helping to bring an end to the Vietnam War), Mother Theresa (in 1979 for her work in India with the Missionaries of Charity), Elie Wiesel (in 1986 for his work in reconciliation and remembrance of the Holocaust), Former South African dissident and President Nelson Mandela (in 1993 for his work in ending Apartheid in South Africa), Late President of the Republic of Korea Kim Dae-Jung (in 2000 for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular), the organization Médecins Sans Frontières ([Doctors Without Borders] in 1999 in recognition of the organization’s pioneering humanitarian work on several continents), and Late Secretary of State Cordell Hull (in 1945 for his aid in the formation of the United Nations), just to name a few. These people who were awarded the Peace Prize were recognized for their efforts at genuine peace and peaceful initiatives. Their achievements are well known and easily recognized. It is in this company that President Obama has now been included.

Other Peace Prize “Winners”
Along with the colossal figures mentioned above, there were also others who were awarded the Peace Prize, yet their achievements seem to pale in comparison. In 1994, Yassar Arafat, the late leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and of Fatah, a terrorist group in the Middle East, was named, along with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, as the winner of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. It is worth noting that Arafat, to his dying day, never truly made peace with Israel, and was the main instigator of the 2000 intifada against Israel, which ultimately broke the peace deal he “helped” to arrange (the same peace deal that gave him the Nobel Peace Prize to begin with). In 2002, Former President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Yet, President Carter has not only been a rabid critic of GOP Presidencies (he had the unmitigated gall to criticize President Reagan to his Sunday School class upon hearing the news of his Presidential Successor’s death), he has all but caricaturized Israel in the same light as South Africa in his book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. In 2007, Former Vice-President Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ostentatiously “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”, yet no mention of any kind of Peace being attained.

Enter President Obama
While even those who were awarded the Peace Prize for strange or adverse reasons, it is worth noting that on each occasion, the peace prize was awarded for some sort of achievement. When President Obama was announced as the winner on October 9th, it is curious to note that the Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Thorbjørn Jagland, stated “We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do.” The question is, “What, exactly, has President Obama done in the last year that is worthy of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?” Despite Mr. Jagland’s lofty rhetoric, what are the President’s achievements? Aside from making speeches, making promises to the American people and the world, and being the first black man to be nominated then elected President of the USA, he has had no real achievements, even as Senator, Illinois Legislator, or even Community Organizer. Even Vice-President Gore, Former President Carter, and late PLO Leader Arafat made some sort of contribution to something, giving them even a nominal level of achievement. No such thing has taken place for President Obama, and though it is groundbreaking that he has become the United States’ first black president, such is more the achievement of the population of the USA, and not President Obama.

“And a Crown was Given unto Him”
Does this new award, this new fawning, and new glorification of a President who’s done next-to-nothing while in office alarm anyone? Does the fact that the population of the USA, yea, even of the world for a man who rose from being an unknown community organizer to the highest office in the land (yea, the world) in less than fifteen years cause anyone to wonder what this is all about? It is interesting to note that the rider of the white horse in Revelation 6 is also described in peaceful ways. He is given a bow with no arrows; he is seen riding a white horse (white being the symbol of peace); he is described as conquering and going out to conquer, yet there is no evidence of any kind of bloodshed (that comes with the next, the red, horse). Such could be said of President Obama. He has promised to meet with the USA’s enemies unilaterally and without any preconditions. He has gone to Muslim-controlled nations and apologized for America’s past policies (right though they were) towards Islamic terrorists, terrorism, and terror. The people of Europe have flocked to his appearances, his speeches, his rallies held in Europe, and he is adored by all people everywhere in the world. Despite the overwhelming opposition to many of his policies in the USA, President Obama is loved, and his approval ratings in the USA remain at a high level. This new award – the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 – is just further “icing on the cake”, and a further award for accomplishing next-to-nothing in his thirteen years in politics.

He Shall Enter Peaceably…
It is curious to note that in his now-nine months in office, President Obama – despite his promises to the contrary – has continued the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is also curious to note that despite promising to close the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; his criticisms of the wire-tapping by the US Government under President Bush; his dissent towards the tracking of the financial records by the Bush Administration; is denunciation of so-called “torture” tactics by the CIA, DOD, and other terror-fighting entities of the United States Government; his promises to draw-down in Iraq; that everything undertaken by the Bush Administration, President Obama has not ceased, yet, he is awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Daniel wrote of a ruler who is strikingly similar to President Obama. In fact, Daniel was really writing about two different men with the same characteristics. Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Antiochus was the king of the Seleucid Empire and was responsible for instigating the Maccabean Revolt of Israel. Antiochus assumed the throne peacefully, and made many, many promises. He was given many accolades and awards upon his ascension to the throne, and for a time ruled in the favor of the people. It wasn’t until later, after he had desecrated the Jewish Temple, that the true nature of King Antiochus was revealed: that he was a madman (later given the sobriquet “Epimanes” or “Mad One”). Similarly, President Obama entered the campaign for President promising peace, to end the war on terror in Iraq, and to close the Gitmo POW prisons. So far, he has achieved nothing of these promises. In fact, President Obama has escalated the war on terror in Afghanistan, and has earned the ire of the people for his efforts in socializing health care. Again, he was still awarded the 2009 Peace Prize. Could it be that the Nobel Committee is merely following God-ordained prophecy in giving such a high award to a man who has done nothing to deserve such a merit?

He Shall Do That which His Fathers have not Done, nor His Fathers’ Fathers…
It is interesting to note that only two other sitting US Presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt won the Peace Prize for his efforts in bringing about peace between Russia and Japan. The Russo-Japanese War raged for almost two years, and was a bloody precursor to the First World War. President Roosevelt, in mid-1905, entreated both the Japanese and Russians to sit down at the peace table in the USA. On September 5th, 1905, through the efforts of President Roosevelt, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, ending the war. President Roosevelt was awarded the Peace Prize in 1906 as a result and in recognition of his efforts. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Peace Prize for his efforts in creating the United Nations’ precursor, the League of Nations. Despite the United States never officially becoming a member of the League, President Wilson’s efforts garnered him much praise, and for his efforts, the Nobel Prize. It is curious to note that President Obama was awarded the Peace Prize for 2009, yet has done little if anything to earn such a high honor. He certainly hasn’t brought about any kind of peace or peaceful initiatives as those of his Presidential and Nobel Laureate predecessors. Could it be that this award is yet another fulfillment of prophecy as seen in the Bible? Could it be that when Daniel was writing his Prophecy, especially the eleventh chapter, that he was seeing President Obama, as well as Antiochus Epiphanes?

Peace and Safety
Since President Obama has taken office, the world has seen a euphoria that few world leaders have caused in the past. In every nation – including those that are enemies of the United states – he is seen as one who will bring peace, who has promised not only the people of the USA, but of the world, hope, who has offered an idea of change that has resonated in the ears, hearts and minds of millions, and who is seen as a savior of mankind in many ways. He has promised to bring about peace and safety for not only the populace of the USA but of the world. The danger is that Mr. Obama’s promises stand in stark contrast to the words of God. Jesus himself spoke of the dangers of following anyone who would compare himself to or be called “Christ”. Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians of the dangers of declaring peace and safety. Could it be that with this award from the Nobel Committee, that President Obama will have more and greater reason to trumpet peace, hope, change, and safety? As such, could it be that some horrible destruction is in the offing? Will President Obama strengthen his message of peace, hope, change, and safety now that he has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Will he continue to press for “talks” with enemies of the USA and of the world who have no intention of agreeing to anything but the surrender of all personal rights under pain of the sword to Allah? Could there be something so horrible awaiting the people of the USA that God has not revealed it for fear of nobody believing it could happen?

The Bottom Line —– There Is Only One True Peacemaker
Jesus Christ is the only one who can and who will make lasting peace. Though President Obama has been given many accolades, many honors, and now the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, we need to understand that only Jesus Christ offers lasting peace. Further, anyone who willingly accepts accolades placing himself or herself on the same level as Jesus Christ is in danger, and leaders of nations who do so endanger the people that they lead. This is true especially for the leaders of nations. President Obama, in being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has placed himself and the people of the USA in a dangerous position. He has constantly thumbed his nose at God (as have the people of the USA in large measure), and God will not stand for such much longer.

Conclusion —– Know Jesus Know Peace; No Jesus, No Peace
We in the USA have rejected Jesus Christ for years. As a result, over the last fifty years, the United States has found herself embroiled in one war after another. Yea, in the last century, the USA has found herself in more world-wide conflicts than in the hundred and thirty three years prior, and these conflicts and wars have been ever more intense in their conflagrations. President Obama will not bring lasting Peace. No other Nobel Prize winner can do such either. Only trusting in Jesus Christ will bring us to true peace. Promises from a supposed “messiah”, whether he occupies the White House or not, are a far cry and a pale comparison to the true Peace Maker and Promise Keeper, Jesus Christ. Trust in him today.

Prayer —– LORD Jesus, help us to find you, and to find real peace. Help us, LORD, to know your will, your ways, and to remember to accept no substitute for you. We bless thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Verse to Remember:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
—John 16.33

The Desensitization Towards Blood and Death

In the Colosseums and Arenas, the Blood and Gore Get Worse and Worse

Key Scriptures:
Proverbs 30.11~14 — “There is a generation that curesth their father, and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”

2nd Timothy 3.1-5 — “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, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Revelation 9.20-21 — “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

Revelation 13.7, 15 — “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them… And he had power to…cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

Revelation 16.6 — “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets…”

In the media today we are seeing more and more blood being spilled on-screen. In days and years past, only in the most vicious and cruel of Horror Movies was blood spilled in such ways as has been done in the last couple of decades. Nowadays, even movies that are quite tame by modern standards are more and more showing the spilling of blood, violence, and killing as never before. Violent movies that would have been shunned by the public in decades past as too grotesque are now being viewed by record numbers of people. What does God’s word have to say about the portrayal of violence, blood, gore, and killing? What is the end result of such portrayals of violence?

Really, How Bad Can It Be?
The National Institute on Media and Family has these amazing Statistics:

—By the time a child is eighteen years old, he or she will witness on television (with average viewing time) 200,000 acts of violence including 40,000 murders.

—Children, ages 8 to 18, spend more time (44.5 hours per week – 6-1/2 hours daily) in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleeping.

What is all of this doing to our youth and to the children of our society today at large? When a child sees, on average, 10,000 acts of violence, and more than 2,000 murders a year on Television before the age of 18, we can only assume that said child will grow up to be a violent adult. So far, in many countries – especially the West and Technologically Advanced nations – this trend is glaringly obvious. In the last ten years, violent crime among youths has jumped exponentially in the countries with the highest technology. In the US alone, since 1999, there have been dozens of school shootings, situations where students have brought handguns (or worse) into school, and killed classmates. The second-worst school slaying in US History took place at Virginia Technological and State University in April, 2007, when a student used handguns to mow down 32 classmates and teachers. Before that, there was the Columbine Massacre where two Seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, used semi-automatic weapons and homemade pipe bombs to take the lives of more than a dozen of their schoolmates before turning the guns on themselves. In Japan, violent crime among minors – especially young teenagers – has spiked in the last decade. Though Japan has forbids the private ownership of guns, gun violence has been on the rise over the past decade-and-a-half. The murder weapon of choice in Japan – knives – has also been used to massacre people, with a killer stabbing to death eight children in an Osaka elementary school a year after the Columbine Slayings in the US;, and just last year, another massacre, in Akihabara, Tokyo, where a man used a rented moving truck and hunting knives to kill nearly ten people before being apprehended by police. In Western Europe, rioting youths have caused trouble for France, specifically Paris, for a number of years. In Germany in the last couple of years, there has also been a rise in school shootings. Many sociologists and psychological experts are scratching their heads at the reasons for the rise in killings and murders among youth. However, there are answers where few are looking: in the Bible.

Know Jesus, Know Peace; No Jesus, No Peace.
Children today are getting the godless message. It is coming through loud and clear, and it usually starts at a very young age with regards to the media. Television and movies have become increasingly God-neutral (at the very best), with those who hold some form of faith being sidelined as irrelevant to today’s society in the very mildest of cases. The norm is becoming more and more God-hostile and faith unfriendly, especially on talk shows and in movies. Even children’s programming is more and more leaving God at the front step of the stage and production house. In public schools, God is welcome there only unless he is whittled down to being regarded as a character in “literature “. Science courses and history classes have all but excised God in any form from their respective fields, and even many of today’s Christian Schools are now monopolized in the science class by the Idea of Evolution. Further, many major print publications have also drifted further and further away from the Bible, God, and faith in any form. Magazines such as Time and Newsweek not only have openly questioned God’s existence, but have openly ridiculed Him. Newspapers such as The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times regularly use atheistic principles and ideology in their Religion Page Editorials. God has basically been excused from the media, from the public classroom, and, is being excised from the public forum in general. The Bible states clearly that to ignore God, to cut him out of life is not only folly (Proverbs 1.7) but is inherently dangerous. In fact, the very reason the Israelites of Ancient History were removed from the Promised Land for so many centuries is because time and time and time again, she moved away from God. Though God time and time again sent his messengers to warn the Israelites (as he has sent out his messengers to warn the world we live in today), the Israelites time and time again ignored the messenger, or killed them in order to silence them. It has been a pattern down through the years. A nation rises. For a time, that nation listens to God. Then, after awhile, the message of the Gospel, the message of the need for salvation becomes loathsome, in so much that the messengers and followers begin to lose their freedoms gradually leading up to those messengers and followers being killed off. This happens especially quickly when nations whose youths become totally desensitized to blood, gore, violence, and all other forms of debauchery.

That will NEVER Happen in <Insert Nation Here>!
In nations around the world that have freedoms listed in their constitutions, this desensitization, this callousness towards not only God but his followers and his message, is growing in heavy proportions. It is of an interesting note that the US is the #1 exporter of Movies and TV Programs in the world today. Nobody watches more movies than American movies. In the past movies that had any kind of violence were usually sanitized, with very little blood being shown. In movies where a person was shot, he or she usually just fell down, no bullet hole or blood being visible. Things started to change in 1960 with the production and release of the Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho – a movie which has become very famous for its “shower scene”. In this movie, a deranged hotel owner-operator is drawn sexually to a woman and then, in a bloody scene, murders her while she is taking a shower. Along the way, the main antagonist, Norman Bates, murders several others before being arrested by the police. Since this time in, movies began to become ever more and more violent and graphic in its portrayal. Movies such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Friday the Thirteenth Series, the Halloween Series, the Robocop Series, the Alien Series, all the way up to the Saw Series, moves of every genre, especially Science Fiction, Action, and Horror-Thriller, have become increasingly more and more violent. What’s worse, many of the horror movies made in the 1970s and `80s — such as Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth, My Bloody Valentine, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — are being remade with even more grotesque, grisly, and graphic violence thrown in. Such levels of graphic violence are also beginning to show up on television. Television shows such as the animation South Park regularly show death and violence on a regular basis, with little regard given to life. Even sports presentations such Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) regularly show competitors and fighters beating each other to a bloody pulp. Video games, as well, are teeming with violent and violence-oriented games, where players use any number of weapons to destroy the competition, be it virtual or real-life across the internet by way of a PC. Even popular music is not immune, with rock, rap, and other music genres more and more intensely and graphically speaking of violence towards police officers, elected officials, even women and children. There is even a newer music genre aptly called “Death Metal”! Need anymore be said? It can, does, will…and is…happening in any and every nation today that rejects God.

Not a New Phenomenon
This is not a new thing just for the 21st century. Two thousand years ago, the Ancient Roman Empire also had a similar problem with violence. Where modern society has any number of avenues showing violence and death, the Romans got theirs in real life by way of the games: gladiatorial contests pitting two fighters against one another, the victor living to fight another day, the loser dying in a painful, bloody, violent fashion. During these gladiatorial contests, criminals were regularly put to death by any number of ways, including being fed to wild beasts, crucified (and sometimes burned at the same time), or run down by a pack of wild dogs. Eventually, these “criminals” came to include people who merely chose to follow one of the newer religions within the Roman Empire called “Christianity”. Even before the times of the Romans and after them, empires, kingdoms, and nations regularly used public violence in one form or another not just for the punishment of the lawless, but also for the entertainment of society. The Aztecs and Mayans of Central and Southern Mexico carried out gruesome human sacrifices to appease their gods. Arabians for centuries before the arrival of Mohammad and Islam regularly undertook public punishment and execution for those who chose to break the law. Even in the Old West in the USA in the 19oos, public hangings and other forms of execution were regularly attended by all citizens of whatever town in which the executions were being carried out, and the “high noon” style gunfight, while clearing the streets, were also regularly watched by people who could find a safe enough spot in which to view them.

Intense, Grisly Scenes
The problem with today’s violence is the intensity and the gruesomeness with which it is being portrayed in the media. Never before have movies been so bent on portraying violence and death. The Saw series (with the sixth movie in the series being released on or around Halloween) is the epitome of the depth of human depravity being portrayed on the big screen. This ground-breaking series has led to the remaking of 1970s and `80s movies which, in their time, were already quite gruesome. It isn’t enough nowadays for a victim to merely be frightened and die, but that victim has to undergo some horrid torture by some insane maniac who appears to be impervious to the emotions and suffering of the victims. Even in war movies, the “reality” of combat – for some reason beyond the grasp of this writer – must be portrayed. Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, and directed by Steven Spielberg, was just as groundbreaking in its portrayal of combat violence as the Saw series has been in its portrayal of horror violence. The same can be said for Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe, for historical drama, especially movies dealing with the Roman Empire. Further, the movie Robocop – the first of the series – was so graphic in its violence that the ratings board for the movie industry nearly gave it an NC-17 rating, not for any sexual content, but for its violence. The startling thing is that Robocop – released nearly twenty years ago – would, by today’s standards, possibly receive merely a “PG-13” rating at the worst (and Robocop is also set for a remake, to be released within the next year or so). We see in the Bible a clear warning:

“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword…”
— Revelation 13.10

“…for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
— Matthew 26.52

But Isn’t the Bible Full of Violence?
If even a brief, superficial survey of the Bible is undertaken, it is soon easy to see that violence is depicted and described, even in rather grisly fashion. Stories of men being hacked to pieces with a sword, men being beheaded, cities ravaged with women and children killed are easily seen in the Bible, most often in the Old Testament. With all the stories of such, it would be rather easy to conclude that God is some horrible ogre, ready in an instant to have some unbeliever stricken dead at the first crossing of His Law. However, digging a little deeper into the Bible, we see a picture of God that is quite different than what modern critics would charge. We must realize, first and foremost, that God is not a proponent of death:

“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.”
— 2nd Peter 3.9

“‘Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’’ saith the Lord God: ‘and not that he should return from his ways, and live?’”
— Ezekiel 18.23

“‘For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,’ saith the Lord God: ‘wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.’”
— Ezekiel 18.32

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
— John 3.16-17

“There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, “Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all in Jerusalem? I tell you, “Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”’”
— Luke 13.1-5

We need to understand that God is not a God of violence, and he does not approve of death and destruction. As the verses above explain, violence is portrayed in the Bible for our example. As the verses from Luke 13 state, violence in the Bible is set for us as a warning. We need to understand something, and we need it drilled into our collective psyche and burned into our communal conscience (it’s been said once on this site, but it bears repeating):

GOD HATES SIN

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There are no two ways about this fact. GOD HATES SIN!!!!! He hates sin so much that he came down, in the form of Jesus Christ, and died rather than have people go through the pain and suffering of sin and eternal death. The violence that we see in the Bible comes about and came about as a direct result of sin and people continuing to live therein. God hates in, and he will judge sin. That is the reason violence is portrayed in the Bible: it is set as a warning to us of the magnitude of the consequences of sin, and is, in a way, a mere, tiny example of the violence that will be the Lake of Fire, or, the Second Death. The Bible even speaks to the Israelites and to the New Testament Believers to teach children and young ones the dangers of sin, the gravity of the commission of sin, and the consequences of living a sinful life.

The Bottom Line – It Will Only Get Worse Before It Gets Better
There is only one reason, and one reason alone that violence continues in media and continues to get worse and worse year-by-year: there will come a day in the “civilized”, Western world when people will be publicly put to death merely for naming the Name of Jesus Christ, and allying with him as Lord and Saviour. Revelation, Daniel, and other books in the Bible speak of a coming time when Believers and Followers of Jesus Christ will be slaughtered publicly just because they choose to live for Jesus Christ. Jesus himself states in the Gospels that people will think that they are doing God a service for destroying his followers, and such an example is given to us in the Book of Acts by way of Paul before he turned and came to Christ as Lord and Savior. Before the Damascus Road revelation, Paul – thinking he was doing God a favour – persecuted, imprisoned, destroyed, and had executed believers. Such a time is coming for the rest of the world. It may not come exactly as happened in Ancient Rome, with Christians being used for lamps by Caesar Nero, or used as food for the lions and tigers of the arena, but it is coming, of that you, reader, can be sure. This desensitization towards violence, the portrayal of grisly and grotesque death, and the production of movies, TV shows, and video games which shed buckets of blood is for this process. These are tools of the Devil, and he is making as much use of them as he can before his time comes. Violence, its portrayal in Television, Movies, Video Games, and other media outlets will get far, far worse before it gets better.

Conclusion – How’s Your Spiritual Diet?
Are you day and night watching movies, TV shows, or DVDs and videos that portray violence? Do you listen to music that calls for killing of police officers, or describes rape or murder? Friends, you may think that this doesn’t affect you, but that is the trick of the Devil with regards to this. Though you may think it is harmless fun or innocent entertainment, the truth of the matter is that it is gradually eroding your sense of what is good and right. In essence, your conscience is being seared away with every portrayal, every scene, and every description of violence. The Devil wants you to think that all of it is harmless fun and innocent entertainment, but the truth is, it is like being bitten by a snake: that poison will eventually reach your heart, killing your spirit and conscience just as surely as a snake’s poison will eventually kill the physical body. The remedy? Throw away those movies, those videos, those games, and that music that speaks of barbarous violence, bloodshed, and death, and fill it with the presence of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

Prayer -–- Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Holy Name! We come today to Thee, O Lord, and we ask for your help in defeating the violence and destruction that is so pervasive in today’s world. Give us, O Lord, the ability, the strength, and, most importantly, the desire, to turn away from the things that would so easily destroy us from the inside out. Help us, Lord, with your Spirit of Discernment, to make good choices when seeking entertainment from today’s media. Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes and our hearts on things above, as your Word declares. We ask all of this in the Precious, Awesome, Name above All Names, Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Verse for the Day:
“The Lord is…not willing that any should perish.”
-–- 2nd Peter 3.9

Multiple Marriages and the Bible

Making Sense of the Seemingly Senseless Part III 

Key Scriptures:
2nd Samuel 5.13 - “And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, when he was come from Hebron…”

1st Kings 11.1, 3 - “But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites…And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines…”

Does the Bible condone and encourage men to marry multiple wives? Is the Bible an advocate of polygamy? Many who lend discredit to the Bible, who snipe at Christians for their traditional beliefs, often cite verses such as the ones above, among others, as proof and evidence that Christian Traditional family Values aren’t really so “Christian”. But is this the truth? Does the Bible lend credence to multiple marriages, and men having multiple wives? Does the Bible say something else, opposite of what Bible and Christian opponents write, say, blog, and speak?

What the Bible Seems to Say
Even a casual read through the Old Testament would seem to lend concrete to the idea that God promotes and encourages multiple marriages. Even from the beginning in the Book of Genesis, many characters of the Bible are seen with more than one wife. Abraham had Sarah and Hagar, later, following Hagar’s departure and Sarah’s death, marrying for a third time to a woman named Keturah. Jacob is listed to have had four wives (Rachael, Leah, and their respective handmaidens). Jacob’s brother Esau had at least four wives: two from Canaan, and two that were descendants of Ishmael. So did more than a few of Jacob’s sons. Several of the judges listed in the Book of Judges had more than one wife. The prophet Samuel’s father had two wives, as did each and every one of Israel’s, and later both divided kingdoms’, kings. It would seem to dictate that the Bible is a staunch advocate of multiple marriages. In Exodus, there are even guidelines on how to treat the children and the wives, even if one is loved and the other unloved. It would seem on the surface that Christians are given the okay to marry more than one wife.

Digging a Little Deeper
However, the Bible is meant to be read with more than just a superficial survey and a surface reading of what seem to be the facts. If one digs a little deeper, we can find many, many things. First and foremost, Jesus had this to say concerning marriage:

“And he answered and said unto them, ‘Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.’”
—Matthew 19.4-6

Jesus is clearly explaining that marriage is between one man and one woman. Moses, writing in Genesis, states this:

“And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
—Genesis 1.26-27

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.’”
—Genesis 2.21-24

Further compounding any claim that the Bible might be advocating polygamy are these verses:

“Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”
—Ephesians 5.33

“A bishop must be…the husband of one wife…”
—1st Timothy 3.2

“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”
—1st Timothy 3.12

“If any be blameless, the husband of one wife…”
—Titus 1.6

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
—Ephesians 5.31

Notice here that all of these verses call for a husband to have one wife. While some are explaining the duties of church leaders, they are also written for everyone’s edification.

More Than One Wife = Nothing But Trouble
As mentioned before, many of the Old Testament Heroes were married to more than one wife. However, what is not shown by opponents of the bible is the excruciating trouble that multiple marriages caused for these men. Abraham was forced to send Hagar and his son Ishmael away, Ishmael’s and Isaac’s descendants later being enemies and the cause of so much Middle Eastern turmoil and bloodshed. Jacob actually saw his wives compete with each other to see who could bear him more children, this ending in one of them dying young. Esau was not only drawn away from the Lord by his wives, but his parents were sorely displeased, and he was forced to part company with them and with Jacob. Samuel’s mother Hannah was tormented day after day by his husband’s other wife, causing her much grief and pain. The Judge Gideon had more than one wife, and the result was that all but one of his sons died a violent death. Jephthah was the son of a father who had more than one wife, and for years he was rejected by his own tribe as illegitimate. King David saw his family torn apart by civil war because of his many wives. By the year after end of his life, David’s four eldest sons had died, three of them dying violently, two of them having revolted under him in an attempt to wrest the crown and throne of Israel away from him and from Solomon. Solomon was led away from the Lord by his many wives, and his and David’s great empire was torn apart just before his death, his son losing 90% of Israel following his demise. In every case where a man was married to more than one wife, nothing but trouble ensued for not only the man and his wife, but later for his children as well. Because of these examples and the verses of Scripture listed above, we can safely say that the Bible does not encourage polygamy in any way, shape, or form. Those who marry multiple times are doing nothing but inviting trouble on their own households, their children, and their own lives…

The Bottom Line – The Bible Does Not Encourage Polygamy
With the verses and the stories mentioned above, it is easy and safe to say that the Bible does not support, encourage, promote, nor condone multiple marriage. Those who practice polygamy will not only bring trouble on themselves physically and legally in this day and age, but they will also bring nothing but trouble upon their households. This, too, pertains to those who marry, divorce, and marry again: social statistics show that divorce and remarriage hammers hard on the children of involved, and often they have much trouble adjusting into blended families and/or to step-parents. If a person wishes to have a blessed house, a blessed life, and a well-grounded family, marry once. Multiple marriage only brings a world of trouble.

Conclusion – God’s Best is One Man for One Woman for Life
The title of this conclusion says it all. One wife for one husband is truly the best way and truly God’s way. The Bible does not condone multiple marriages, polygamy, or the ill-treatment of spouses. It is, instead, an advocate for monogamous marriage.

Prayer - Heavenly Father, thank you for being so crystal clear in your word regarding marriage. May we seek to know your will and your way for our lives. We pray this all in Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.

Verse to Remember:
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
–Ephesians 5.31

Celebrating In Dependence Day

July 4th Isn’t Just About Independence…It is Also About In Dependence!

End Time Commentary’s Note:  This was a sermon originally delivered by Jason Lovelace on the July 4th, 2010 service at Atchison Church of the Nazarene, Atchison, Kansas, USA…

Keys for Today:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and I shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
– John 15.1~11

“And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, ‘Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.’ And Moses said, ‘Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? But it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.’ But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.”
– Numbers 14.40~45

Today – Sunday, July 4th, 2010 – is the 234th birthday of the United States of America. It was on this date back in 1776 that the founding fathers of the USA declared their Independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain. But did you know that this was also the same day in which our founding father’s declared In Dependence? Could it be that while the founding fathers of the USA were declaring separation from Britain that they were also declaring the joining of the USA to another, greater kingdom? Is it possible that we, the citizens of the USA – yea, even the inhabitants of the world – can also join this kingdom? What does it mean to be In Dependent and to have In Dependence?

The USA’s Independence and In Dependence
It was during the American Revolution, after the war had been going on for a year, that the Continental Congress made the decision to declare the then-thirteen colonies’ independence from Great Britain. By this declaration, the founding fathers were notifying the world and the British Crown that a new day had come: the British Colonies of Central North America would be placing their future and their dependence in a different area. Now, most people believe that the founding fathers of the United States of America decided to place their dependence and reliance upon themselves. But take a good look at the words of the leaders of the American Revolution. Every one of them stated the true course of the United States, and the resting place of her reliance. The Founding Father’s declared the USA’s In Dependence on none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Despite attacks on this truth from those who refuse to believe, the fact of the matter is that men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Marshall, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and their American Contemporaries all declared that without God, without the Bible, and without Jesus Christ, the United States of America cannot stand, and would not last for long in this world., and what was true back in the beginnings for America are still true today! Without Christ, the USA is doomed to fall. With him, we will rise on wings like Eagles (Isaiah 40.31).

Worth Fighting For? Worth Dying For?
Why do we remember days like July 4th? What is the importance of recognizing Memorial Day? Really, what’s the use of celebrating a day like Veteran’s Day in November? We celebrate these holidays in order to remember the fallen heroes form the past wars of the USA, and to remember the ultimate sacrifice that they gave in order so that we may meet in places, like a church, with freedom and without fear of being carried off to a gulag or a concentration camp. When we look at history, we can see a lot of reasons for the sacrifice that many men and women gave. Fifty years ago, it was alright to speak the Name of Jesus Christ in public school. Seventy-five years ago, it was common to hear preachers freely speaking on a street corner anywhere in the USA. One hundred years ago, it was part of the core curriculums of every public school and state university to study the Bible and to learn of Christian Ethics. One hundred and fifty years ago, pastors and preachers were held in such high esteem that their testimony in a court of law would be upheld without question. Two hundred years ago, Ivy League schools each and every one had seminaries that produced some of the greatest theologians in the world, competing with Oxford and Cambridge in Britain. This is what the men and women of the United States’ Armed forces were willing to give up their lives for. They were willing to give such sacrifice because they were fighting for a place in which their sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and loved ones would be able to not only live in freedom, but also in a place where there was safety. Nowadays, things have changed dramatically. Instead of having Ivy League Schools that produce the greatest theological minds in the world, we, instead, have places like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton producing some of the most rabid atheists in the world. In place of pastors receiving praise, as they did a century and a half ago, we now have a skeptical media ready to tar and feather any act of Christian kindness performed by someone in the clergy. Instead of teachers giving core instruction in the Bible in public school and state universities, we have the Bible and all things Christian cast aside, and Islam, transcendental Meditation, New Age Thought and Practices, and the fallacy of Safe Sex promoted as not only tolerable, but embraced as wholesome and well-oriented (all the while if a teacher is found reading the Bible during his or her free time, s/he can – and often is – fired). Instead of preachers being given the freedom to speak the truth of Jesus Christ on street corners in any city in the USA, we now have laws on the books in many places that make it a criminal offense to preach openly the dangers of sin and the eternally lost estate of man. Whereas fifty years ago, prayer was acceptable and embraced in public school, we have now embraced homosexuality, free condoms, teachers and counselors encouraging abortion without parental notification, and moves like The Waitress, Juno, and the American Pie series which all encourage teens and youth to engage in sex. When we take all of this in account, is it really a surprise that many American military personnel oppose the current conflicts in the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan? Whereas our grandfather’s were eager to serve our country and defend such institutions as prayer in public school and Bible courses at local universities, should it be a shock to realize that Americans just don’t want to get into uniform to defend the moral vacuum as found in the music of P. Diddy or the sexually provocative lyrics of Beyonce’? Is it any wonder that each of the military branches of the United States’ Military has had noticeable drops in recruitment in the last two or three decades, seeing what these men and women are fighting for?

Independence or In Dependence?
The inevitable question for us today is, “How is the state of your life?” Are you living in Independence from God, or are you living In Dependence of and on God? Far too many people today are living in direct rebellion against God. Yes, the facts of the USA are known: 76% of Americans claim to be Christians; more than 80% believe in God; Most Americans go to church at least once per week; 54% of Americans identify themselves as being active in church. Yet these startling facts tell a different story: more and more Americans see no problem with special rights given to homosexuals; marriages in the USA fail at a rate of more than fifty percent; since the “legalization” of abortion on demand, more than 50 million babies have been slaughtered merely for convenience; violent crime is skyrocketing, especially in cities; hostility towards Christian and traditional family values is growing; legislation form the bench in the form of the Supreme Court of the United States and Appellate Courts have made even carrying a Bible into a public school not only a fireable offense, but in some cases a major misdemeanor. As a country, do we really think that the USA is still a country In Dependence of God, or are we living independent of him? Even more importantly, how are we doing as individual people? Are we living in a state of independence from God? Are we living in a manner that is pleasing in his sight? Do we really and truly live in a way that people on the outside of the church see something different? Are friends, coworkers, and family members watching us then scratching their heads, wondering why there is a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts in spite of the bad times? Or, instead, do we walk about living no differently than the world? Do we come to church just for show, but every other day between Sundays live like the world in order to impress that friend or this coworker?

The Bottom Line: Independence from God means Death; In Dependence on God means Eternal Life
The truth of the matter is that if we as human beings try to live our lives apart from God, we will suffer eternal death. The Bible – yea, history itself – is replete with examples for us that show what happens to a person when they try to live a life without Jesus Christ. The Bible states time and again that to live apart from God is to live in slavery and servitude to sin and to the devil (John 8.34). We may think that we are living for ourselves, footloose and fancy free, but the truth is that one day the seeds to the flesh that we sow will one day come to fruition (Galatians 6.7~8; Numbers 32.23; Job 4.8; Romans 6.23). However, if we place our dependence upon God, wholly and entirely, we are free (John 8.32, 36). Just as the Founding Fathers of the United States of America state time and again both in the written documents of the USA and in their own writings and speeches, true freedom only comes through Jesus Christ.

Conclusion – Are You Free?
The question for your today is this: Are you free? Have you given Jesus Christ his rightful place in your heart? Is your life one of enduring freedom and liberty? Are you free of sin, the devil, and keeping your mind on things above, or are you entangled in sin’s snares (Hebrews 12.1)? You can live free and live in liberty and freedom. True freedom first comes form within, and is manifest outwardly. One cannot live a life of freedom if one is still a slave to his own desires, self, and sin. You can be free! Trust in Christ – the True Liberator – today!

Prayer
Father in Heaven, we thank you that we live in a country – the United States of America – where we are free to love, live for, and worship you! Help us, O Lord, to learn and know true freedom, the freedom that only the blood of Jesus Christ can give! We bless you, today, O lord, and we thank you, in Jesus precious Name, Amen!

Verse to Remember:
“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
– John 8.36