Michael Bresciani
America and the doctrine of the last chance
By Michael Bresciani
The History Channel cooks up a nice pot of Nostradamus and eschatological soup with their multi episodic "The Nostradamus Effect." As usual their best is salted with doubt, dissing and secularist expertise that would be better used in a college course entitled "Unbelief 101."
When the best minds have done their worst at sliming the "rapture" (The instant removal of believers at the approach of the antichrist.) you get the feeling that the world went to get a palm reading from the local butcher. After slicing away at unwanted life lines and other superfluous indicators and lobbing off a few bothersome fingers that kept getting in the way, the seekers of the TV prognosticators are left to go out somewhere and bleed to death.
At the end of each episode the idea that any natural man would see the "rapture" teachings as doubtful, dubious and dumb can go either way. Is it the belief in the very clear biblical doctrine of the rapture or the History Channel production that is doubtful, dubious and dumb? The same bible that says the rapture is a forgone seems to answer the question with no doubt whatsoever. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Cor 2:14)
TVs critique of scriptural prophecies should always be tempered by first recalling the prophetic utterances of a former chairman of the FCC, Mr. Newton Minow, who in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961 said, "TV is a vast wasteland."
Should Minow be heralded as the media's Isaiah or television's prophet Jeremiah? Mr. Minow was nearly burned at the stake for his assertions, who would guess that only 49 years later that millions of Americans would rather burn their TVs at the stake.
In reruns of a ten year old episode of South Park, the character known as Cartman (a child) becomes the poster child of NAMBLA, (North American Man Boy Love Association.) When Cartman announces that he wants to join NAMBLA the groups leader replies with "thank you Jesus," proving that TV has long ago traversed across the fine line between snickers and blasphemy. What can we expect in TVs colorful future? Perhaps we should kick up TV ratings to warn when barf bags should be kept handy. Is pedophilia something to laugh about?
In fact what America is laughing about is no laughing matter. All the latest polls are unanimous, the top concern Americans are kicking around in their minds is the economy. It is clear that the stock market index is taking precedence over the moral decline index. When will the History Channel tackle that burgeoning trend?
We have a President who promised to give a lot more love to the gays' even as he advised his NASA chief to smooth things over with the Muslims around the world. If it weren't for the absurdity of it, that would make for good humor. For most Americans it is just too hard to believe, much less laugh about.
The prevailing attitude seems to be that, it doesn't much matter what the TV or the President are allowing, espousing or offering as long as the mighty buck keeps coming in, but alas, this President has become the great "buck basher" in spite of glowing but obviously contrived promises to the contrary. Maybe we should overlook his smoking habit and just convince someone to steal his rose colored glasses.
For the first time since the moral decline began, the dollar may be the one thing that is declining faster than morality in America. If we could just get the printers to stay a little ahead of the bookkeepers, we could keep on laughing at all those other things that are no laughing matter. Having the best of irony, sarcasm, wit and satire and, lots of cash too: isn't that the American dream?
Personally I ascribe to the belief that by telling people of second coming events (return of the Lord Jesus Christ) we are giving them a possible second chance to believe after Christians are raptured (removed) even if they don't believe it now. It may take more of the events we have described to convince them but when enough of them are fulfilled they may revert to the warnings they were given and respond appropriately. The doctrine of the second chance is not a biblical thing but it is nonetheless a sound concept that could save many in the near future.
Perhaps, at the moment it may be "the doctrine of the last chance" that is what now most pressing in America. If a hard look at our moral decline isn't made now, along with a rush to put conservatives back into the Senate and the Congress to bring our two party system back into check it may well be our last chance to save our nation from a long hard winter of fiscal, social and moral collapse.
If we take the first step in 2010 it will be easier to take a second in 2012 and remove from office what will certainly go down as the most un-American administration in US history. If partisanship is restored we can then go on to attack the two pronged system of licentiousness that Hollywood and media are working from, namely, sleaze and violence.
We will not ever thank the porn industry or the criminal element for giving us content for TV and the media, except in the case of where it has made a lot of money for a few of us, and that's what it does. But that is not where mainstream America lives and very few people are thankful for the product of violence and immorality. Whoever coined the phrase, "crime doesn't pay" must not have owned a television.
Not even the gold which so many are now looking to for future security will suffice. When goods, services, utilities and most everything else dries up, gold is not very useful. A line from an old Christian song entitled "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" says it best, "A piece of bread would buy a bag of gold."
Think it's the economy? The prophet Ezekiel told the ancient Israelites who trusted in their riches, idle time and prurient interests not to count on any of those things to continue endlessly when he said, "When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread." (Eze 5:16) That rejected prophetic warning matured into what is now prophetic fulfillment echoing from the past.
Let's take this last chance thing seriously in every aspect of our national life, isn't America worth it?
© Michael Bresciani
July 23, 2010
The History Channel cooks up a nice pot of Nostradamus and eschatological soup with their multi episodic "The Nostradamus Effect." As usual their best is salted with doubt, dissing and secularist expertise that would be better used in a college course entitled "Unbelief 101."
When the best minds have done their worst at sliming the "rapture" (The instant removal of believers at the approach of the antichrist.) you get the feeling that the world went to get a palm reading from the local butcher. After slicing away at unwanted life lines and other superfluous indicators and lobbing off a few bothersome fingers that kept getting in the way, the seekers of the TV prognosticators are left to go out somewhere and bleed to death.
At the end of each episode the idea that any natural man would see the "rapture" teachings as doubtful, dubious and dumb can go either way. Is it the belief in the very clear biblical doctrine of the rapture or the History Channel production that is doubtful, dubious and dumb? The same bible that says the rapture is a forgone seems to answer the question with no doubt whatsoever. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Cor 2:14)
TVs critique of scriptural prophecies should always be tempered by first recalling the prophetic utterances of a former chairman of the FCC, Mr. Newton Minow, who in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961 said, "TV is a vast wasteland."
Should Minow be heralded as the media's Isaiah or television's prophet Jeremiah? Mr. Minow was nearly burned at the stake for his assertions, who would guess that only 49 years later that millions of Americans would rather burn their TVs at the stake.
In reruns of a ten year old episode of South Park, the character known as Cartman (a child) becomes the poster child of NAMBLA, (North American Man Boy Love Association.) When Cartman announces that he wants to join NAMBLA the groups leader replies with "thank you Jesus," proving that TV has long ago traversed across the fine line between snickers and blasphemy. What can we expect in TVs colorful future? Perhaps we should kick up TV ratings to warn when barf bags should be kept handy. Is pedophilia something to laugh about?
In fact what America is laughing about is no laughing matter. All the latest polls are unanimous, the top concern Americans are kicking around in their minds is the economy. It is clear that the stock market index is taking precedence over the moral decline index. When will the History Channel tackle that burgeoning trend?
We have a President who promised to give a lot more love to the gays' even as he advised his NASA chief to smooth things over with the Muslims around the world. If it weren't for the absurdity of it, that would make for good humor. For most Americans it is just too hard to believe, much less laugh about.
The prevailing attitude seems to be that, it doesn't much matter what the TV or the President are allowing, espousing or offering as long as the mighty buck keeps coming in, but alas, this President has become the great "buck basher" in spite of glowing but obviously contrived promises to the contrary. Maybe we should overlook his smoking habit and just convince someone to steal his rose colored glasses.
For the first time since the moral decline began, the dollar may be the one thing that is declining faster than morality in America. If we could just get the printers to stay a little ahead of the bookkeepers, we could keep on laughing at all those other things that are no laughing matter. Having the best of irony, sarcasm, wit and satire and, lots of cash too: isn't that the American dream?
Personally I ascribe to the belief that by telling people of second coming events (return of the Lord Jesus Christ) we are giving them a possible second chance to believe after Christians are raptured (removed) even if they don't believe it now. It may take more of the events we have described to convince them but when enough of them are fulfilled they may revert to the warnings they were given and respond appropriately. The doctrine of the second chance is not a biblical thing but it is nonetheless a sound concept that could save many in the near future.
Perhaps, at the moment it may be "the doctrine of the last chance" that is what now most pressing in America. If a hard look at our moral decline isn't made now, along with a rush to put conservatives back into the Senate and the Congress to bring our two party system back into check it may well be our last chance to save our nation from a long hard winter of fiscal, social and moral collapse.
If we take the first step in 2010 it will be easier to take a second in 2012 and remove from office what will certainly go down as the most un-American administration in US history. If partisanship is restored we can then go on to attack the two pronged system of licentiousness that Hollywood and media are working from, namely, sleaze and violence.
We will not ever thank the porn industry or the criminal element for giving us content for TV and the media, except in the case of where it has made a lot of money for a few of us, and that's what it does. But that is not where mainstream America lives and very few people are thankful for the product of violence and immorality. Whoever coined the phrase, "crime doesn't pay" must not have owned a television.
Not even the gold which so many are now looking to for future security will suffice. When goods, services, utilities and most everything else dries up, gold is not very useful. A line from an old Christian song entitled "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" says it best, "A piece of bread would buy a bag of gold."
Think it's the economy? The prophet Ezekiel told the ancient Israelites who trusted in their riches, idle time and prurient interests not to count on any of those things to continue endlessly when he said, "When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread." (Eze 5:16) That rejected prophetic warning matured into what is now prophetic fulfillment echoing from the past.
Let's take this last chance thing seriously in every aspect of our national life, isn't America worth it?
© Michael Bresciani
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