Days ARE Evil

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Eph 5:16-17Last week I was teaching in the last part of Genesis 17. A question came up about the 12 princes of Ishmael. I had not prepared for this topic, for I was focused on God's promise. What I learned was this. The Scriptures teach about God and His righteousness. The Scriptures also teach about the wickedness of this world. I was guilty of only teaching half the Scriptures last week. I believe we Christians pass over much of the Bible which speaks of the different ways men are wicked. We preach the Cross, but yet we don't want to identify what needs to go on the Cross. I believe there is much to learn about how Satan holds sway over this world. Our lives are filled with the philosophies and hopes of this world. And unless we are like the mighty men of David who knew that their times were wicked how can we battle against the ruler of this world. In ChristJeff

Jeff, I think you are so right about this. We need to see ourselves as we in fact are and come to understand what the world and the devil are really about. Even more so, as the days are getting more and more evil.I think that if we knew God the way He wants us to know Him, we would not only love Him so very much more, but we would hate sin so much more than we do. The fact that we show such tolerance for sin, world and flesh - doesn't that say a great deal about how little we really know Him? Do we not far too often shut our eyes and try to convince ourselves that all is well, or at least OK, even though it is not? When are we going to stop pretending? People, how honest are we? With ourselves? With God? God, open our eyes to see! Reveal to us the truth about our condition so that we do not only know but KNOW how lost we are without you! Amen.

"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10The love of the truth is the only protection that one has to see through the unrighteous deception of Satan. Is there anyone who can testify to this subject?As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be able to testify and warn one another as to how the ways of the world darken our understanding. What is Jesus showing you about the world? How is Satan deceiving many?In ChristJeff

"The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10Did you perhaps watch the video with Art Katz (The Love of the Truth)? This passage fits in so well with what he says! That sure is a powerful and serious message that many need to hear. Without a real LOVE for the truth, how will we be able to stand in these last days?My experience is that probably the strongest way in which Satan deceives us is making us believe that things are not as serious, or as bad, as they are. He tells us that loving the world isn't REALLY that bad, that you cannot not REALLY be sure there will be a judgement day, that you cannot REALLY believe everything in the Bible, etc, etc.Basically, I think Satan does everything he can to prevent us from discovering exactly how opposite the opposites are. We need to know how good God is and how evil the devil is, we need to know how radically different God's ways are from the ways of the world. I my case, I still don't - and it shows! The essence of my life is not, yet, Christ and Christ alone.If Satan can keep us satisfied with part of the truth (the part that suits us of course), we will never become a threat to him. Only having part of the truth while believing we have it all is nothing but devestating. Isn't that what deception is all about??God have mercy and give us a love for the truth - HE is the truth.

What is Jesus showing you about the world? How is Satan deceiving many?I would have to agree with riki, "... the strongest way in which Satan deceives us is making us believe that things are not as serious, or as bad, as they are."I would say that most of the time, when I look around at people, I have the What a Wonderful World mentality, you know, from Louis Armstrong? "The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do. They're really saying I love you..." But if I look long enough, I think maybe the Spirit stirs in me to see what's beneath the surface.Things may look fine and civilized on the outside, but what's going on inside with each person's soul and spirit? Maybe I started thinking about this more when I heard a part of the "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" teaching. What was it, the whole idea behind humanism? You live in this life pretty much to be as happy as you can be? I think that's what it was. Well, that's what I see. People may be laughing and smiling, but after they die, is this the only place they're going to be able to laugh and smile at?I heard it taught before, for the non-Christian, this life is as good as it's going to get. For the Christian, this life is the worst as it's going to get.So... whenever I get the chance to be out in society, which is very little considering that I work in a church, I hope and pray for opportunities to get to talk to people and dig a little beneath the surface of it all. It's crazy to me how something as simple as morals can be so different between Christians and the rest. Stuff that makes sense to me, doesn't necessarily make sense to others, and vice versa.Well, I could go on and on and I don't know that I was really making a point. But those are my thoughts for now.

About 3 years into my walk as a believer, I was struggling with the notion of man's total depravity. One day as I have described in other posts, I was convicted by these words from my pastor, "If it is in the Bible I believe it." That day marked a milestone in my walk. The Holy Scriptures began to open up to me in a way that had not been clear before. Now I must step back in time 20 years or so. When I was 17, my family began to experience financial difficulty. I saw the hopes of my father shattered when the steel mill shutdown in 1974. He had believed in the American dream. He was raised a coal miner. He enlisted into the Army at the age of 16. He fought in the Pacific near the end of WW2. Then my father was captured in the Korean Conflict. After the Korean conflict, he came back to begin working for Bethlehem Steel. He worked hard for 22 years. Then the end of his hope came. This time produced in me a bitterness, even at the age of 17 to 18 years old. For the next 25 years I held that bitterness. At about the time I looked to Jesus to be my Lord and Savior, I began to study political economics. It was not something any of my friends had a desire to discuss. Yet I had a passion for the subject. I was searching for the answers for why the American dream for many people was disappearing. I was studying the subject of the Cold War and the policies that were formulated by the NSA and CIA. Certain policy was put into place to combat the spread of Communism during the earlies 1950's. This could be a long post if I were to go into detail. So I will now go forward to the 1980's. During the 1980's President Regan ramped up the war against Communism. The government took on huge debt to finance a military build up. Programs like Star Wars were initiated. When asked who was responsible for the idea of Star Wars, the public was told that President Regan came up with the idea. In conjuction with this build up also came a wave of laws that were passed to protect American industry from foreign competition. President Regan signed more bills during his time than all the presidents that preceded him from the time of Eisinhower to Carter combined. American industry was suffering mightily during the 80's. The the Regan adminstration sought to protect them from the competition from abroad. Please have patience. The Cold War strategy that was instituted in the 1950's was having a negative impact on American industry by the 1970's. The Regan administration had to finish the Communist threat. As we all know they were successful. One day as I was studing these two policies of the Regan administration, it seemed to me as a hopeless pursuit. God at that time had given me a passion for His word. And yet I was spending alot of time reading about the world. That day I prayed to God to give me an answer, in regards to, should I continue reading political economics. Was I waisting my time? A few moments later the word "linked" filled my mind. All of a sudden I understood that the military buildup and the trade protection policies were part of the same strategy to undermine communism. It was of extreme importance that Communism be destroyed. The voice I heard that day brought understanding and peace to me. All at once I understood that man in his total depravity, brings suffering into the world. I had struggled for years to find the justice that was owed my family because the American dream had been lost. Now the idea of man's depravity gave me peace. All at once I understood there is no hope for the world and it's values. There is no hope in the rule of men. God gave me peace by showing me where men eroneously place their hope in. Once this understanding came to me, the bitterness of 25 years disappeared. Now I understood that it is a futile thing to put your hope in man. As a side note, in December of 1989, three Communist countries declared that they would hold democratic elections. That same month the Japanese stock market peaked about 36000. Now 15 years later, it is a third of that former value. The day the world saw the end of Communism near, it no longer had to support the Cold war strategies that artificially supported the economic system of Japan. That next year, Star Wars and all the military spending dried up. In ChristJeff

Brother Jeff,Great post.After the first one I instantly thought of this regarding our Lord:Heb 1:9 "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. That is why God, your God, anointed you rather than your companions with the oil of gladness." I believe it was Yodi who said:I have the What a Wonderful World mentality, you know, from Louis Armstrong? Interesting, even prior to being brought from the darkness into The Light, that song had always sat strangely within me, every time I hear it, it makes me sad. It is not a wonderful world, it's a wonderful creation, but the depravity of man has spoiled it all. Fortunately that is not the end of the story though, both we and the creation itself "groan" (Romans 8:18 and following)Jeff said:The love of the truth is the only protection that one has to see through the unrighteous deception of Satan. Is there anyone who can testify to this subject?Yes. I can definetly. I would liken it to a slow erosion. Was just musing on this again this morning. Satan has a lot of patience in a way. It's interesting that he is characterised as a snake, slick, hidden, going about almost undetected. Look how the envelope is slowly being pushed out, how things become more 'acceptable', all the 'major' sins if I may use the term loosely. Gluttony, homosexualality, drug use/drunkeness, materialism, adultery,...It's like there is a 'gloss' over everything, so it doesn't 'look' so bad. It's like being lulled to sleep, hypnotized practically. I am constantly amazed that people can't see the futility of spending their entire lives chasing after the wind, after who knows what and not coming to the realization that they are going to DIE. What's the point? Even if they have this wrong but vauge idea that their 'good deeds' are going to somehow merit them heaven, wouldn't you think that it would cause some kind of investigation, wouldn't you want to be SURE? I know, I am well aware of the humanism aspect here, but just trying to put myself back into that frame of mind...There is not a day that goes by that I don't look out at all the traffic, at all the people running to and fro, mostly frantically and wonder, "does anybody ever stop to think, what's the point?"Isn't it obvious that this is a temporal exsistance? Forget about a purpose driven life, how about about a purpose driven death?Yes, the love of THE truth. What else is there?Now I understood that it is a futile thing to put your hope in man. No doubt.2Co 4:4 "In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God."

I would like to quote from an article in the Bakersfield Californian, May 14, 2004.Title: United States had strong postwar ties with Nazis, released documents show.The American government worked closely with Nazi war criminals and collaborators, allowing many to live in the United States after WW2, and paying others who worked for West Germany's secret service, according to declassified documents from the FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies released Thursday. The disclosures came as part of a project to place more than 8 million goverment documents in the public domain, under legislation passed by Congress in 1998 to create the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial government Records Interagency Working Group. The article continues:Goda and other historians who studied the documents said that at least 5 associates of the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, each of whom had significant role in Hitler's effort to exterminate Jews, had worked for the CIA. The records also indicate that the CIA tried to recruit another two dozen war criminals or Nazi collaborators. Some of them received employment and in two cases, US citizenship, according to documents. The documents did not deal with those who concealed their Nazis pasts in order to gain entry to the United States.The article continues, Timothy J. Naftali, an intelligence historian at the University of Virginia who examined the documents and who also wrote chapters in the book on intelligence and Nazis, said, "We had no policies for helping Gestapo members, no disqualifiers unless the public knew about the crimes. It was kind of a "Don't ask, don't tell culture." In future posts I hope to shed some additional light on the relationships between this time in history and the fruit of what we see happening today.The days are evilIn ChristJeff

I would like to quote Mark Phillips a former CIA Operative:Well what the United States was concerned with was that these Nazis, these scientists that had all this information and data we couldn’t seem to prosecute them. We couldn’t even find them. Because they had already, a lot of them, scattered out to various countries like Russia, Italy and South America. So what the CIA convinced Congress to do to pass this Project Paperclip, as a legal means of importing these people into the United States and introducing them into our military industrial complex, including our colleges and universities. Their statement was simply this: If we don’t bring these people into our country and contain them, then our enemies, the Soviet Union, will get them. So it was the same old bugaboo game when, in fact, I’ve often made the statement and I still make it flippantly: The Nazis didn’t lose the war, they just had to move.     At the end of WW2 the United States imported over 700 german jet propulsion scientist and put them to work designing a new generation of flight machines. In addition to these 700, over 600 Mind scientists were also imported. One of the main weapons in Hitler's Nazi organization was the use of manipulating the perceptions of the population. This was the first large scale use of propaganda. The Nazi called it; Weltanshauungkrieg. This word can be translated; world view warefare. The Americans in the early 50's began to call this activity; Psychological warfare. This activity might be defined as; "the use of propaganda or other psychological means to influence or confuse the thinking, undermine the moral, of an enemy or opponent.During the times of war, America always looked to the banking and industrial leaders as men who would step up and serve their country in times of crisis. After the war, these same men would leave office and return to their civilian roles. However, at the end of WW2 this did not occur. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a famous farewell speach, warned the American people, "Beware of the military-industrial complex." This warning has proved to be true. This stuff I am writing is coming from a memory that fades like the grass when the sun burn down on it. Forgive me for lack of detail and time to research it again. Out of time,In ChristJeff

In this day and age, a reading/re-reading of: "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis, would be worthwhile. Remember Brothers & Sisters, we live in "Enemy Occupied Territory"; Ezekiel states: "Make a chain, the land is full of bloody crime!"

I must step back prior to WW2. There were two major movements of ecomomic philosophy that were in direct opposition to one another. The seeds of Capitalism first emerged in Europe during the time of Calvin in the late 1500's. The industrial age with the notion of mass manufacturing developed first in England during the late 1800's. This economic phenomenon crossed the Atlantic and rooted itself in the US. The United States at the turn of the last century had experienced the growth of wealth which was mainly held by those who defined that period in history. It was the time of the Robber Barrons. All economic systems, (remember the doctrine of total depravity), fall short of the glory of God. The abuses of Capitalism at the turn of the century, proved no different. A few men, held vast amounts of wealth. The majority of the population in the leading countries did not share in this prosperity. The rule by a few, whether it was a Czar in Russia or a Morgan or Rockefeller in the US, created a perception of inequality among the masses. The fruit of this disention manifested itself with the formation of a competing economic system. The seed of Communism took root first in Russia and then began to spread westward into Europe. These two economic systems are perfectly opposed to each other. The root of the difference between these two systems, I believe can be expressed in the question of ownership. Capitalism seeks to protect the rights of ownership of the individual. Communism seeks to give the rights of ownership to the masses. With this thought in mind, can you see the threat posed by Communism? The Capitalist, (those who have capital) perceived this question to their right of ownership as something that must not be allowed to flourish. What I am attempting to do is to bring to light the principles for which men strive to maintain. I am not trying in any way to justify any political position. I am seeking to identify the thoughts that men yoke themselve to. These thoughts create the desires for which men strive. The evidence of man's faith is a result of these desires. Out of time,In Christ Jeff

Hello Jeff This is indeed a great discussion you have going here. I agree with everyone. To add to that I believe to be wise we must have wisdom. It also important to accept that, wisdom and knowledge are Spiritual gifts from God as the scripture says, “ For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Colossians 1:9-11I used to become so caught up in becoming wise that that I lost the plot and simplicity that is in Godly wisdom, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Jas3:17Another that brought me back to simplicity is, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Rom 12:3. And so when I embraced my foolishness it opened the door for the wisdom of God. (“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Php3:12)Your son in Christ James

We as Christians spend quite a bit of effort to define words like justification, sanctification, and eternal security. In like manner, the world, especially in this last century has restled with words like Communism, Capitalism, Democracy, Nazism, and Fascism. These words represent the struggles of men. Blood has been spilled to promote each of these concepts men adhere themselves too. During the period between the WW1 and WW2, all of these precepts of men came into direct opposition to one another. Nazism, Fascism, and Capitalism formed one side and Democracy and Communism the other. Now you may at first rebel with what I say, please have patience. Again focus on the thought of right of ownership. Nazism, Fascism, and Capitalism promote the power of a few over the majority. There are differences between each of these concepts. Yet the unifying precept among these forms of government are based on ownership. Nazism and Fascism sought to conquer the world. Capitalism is no different. The means of conquering may manifest themselves as being different yet the results are the same. True Communism and Direct Democracy are one and the same precept. The Greeks practiced Democracy back before the incarnation of Christ. Edmund Burke wrote of Aristotle's thoughts: "I cannot help concurring [e.g., with Aristotle, inter alios] that an absolute democracy, no more than an absolute monarchy, is not to be reckoned among the legitimate forms of government. They think it rather the corruption and degeneracy than the sound constitution of a republic." Burke's agreement with Aristotle is in reference to the fact that Aristotle called democracy one of three "evil" forms of government (the other two: ochlocracy and tyranny)."On the other hand we have Democracy and Communism. Believe it or not Karl Marx based the precepts of Communism on Democracy. "The word democracy originates from the Greek "demos" meaning "the people" and "kratein" meaning "to rule" or "the people to rule" which meant literally: "Rule by the People." The term is also sometimes used as a measurement of how much influence a people has over their government, as in how much democracy exists. Anarchism and Communism (as in the final stage of social development according to Marxist theory) are social systems that employ a form of direct democracy, but have no state.'In a true democracy, one vote for every person, the interests of the majority would come to bear on all who live within this form of government. The right of ownership will follow the dictates of the majority for its own benefit. Again remember, man is totally depraved and is under the sway of the evil one. So we have two opposing systems. Now again returning to the events prior to WW2, the right of rule and thus ownership were in direct conflict. Men like Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, A.P. Sloan of General Motors, Watson of IBM, helped Adolf Hitler and Nazism to gain power in Germany. Sloan and Ford actually went to Germany to recieve a medal of accomendation for their efforts in supporting Hitler's rise to power. Why did these American's support Hitler? They were commonly yoked together against the growing threat of rule by the people. Communism, labor unions, and the thought that the common man could come together to usurp the rights of the few was a real threat to the ruling class. The owners in America, the industrialist actually formed a group to discuss how the United States and Germany would divide up the world after Germany's conquest of Europe was complete. This group met officially until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. To be continued.James warns the believer of some of the things that represent the end times. "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. James 5:1-6Meditate on this warning. What do you see going on around you. How are the hearts of men swayed by terms like democracy, capitalism, and communism. Do the influences of Nazism and Fascism still exist? What are we yoking our hearts too?In ChristJeff

At the end of WW2, the same systems were still entrenched. The Soviet Union now occupied Eastern Europe. All of Europe laid in ruin. The conflict between Communism and Capitalism intensified. Initially, eastern Europe had begun to see some signs of economic recovery under the rule of Stalin. Western Europe was lagging behind. The powers that be in Washington decided that something had to be done to help Western Europe. It was of the utmost importance that the world not see Communism as a viable system. So the Marshall Plan was created. The United States gave Western Europe vast amounts of resources in order to stimulate economic recovery. In addition to this effort and new organization was created in the USA. The CIA was created to protect and promote the economic interests of the United States. The first job assignment for the CIA was to influence the general elections of the nation of Italy. Italy had become a very important assignment because of what had happened in the end of WW2. Montgomery and Patton had defeated the Germans in Italy. Mussolini and his fascist organization were destroyed. The war continued in other parts of Europe. During this time northern Italy began to rebuild itself. The common people entered the vacant factories and began collectively to produce goods. The factories without it original owners began to thrive. Labor Unions and Socialist leanings began to grow into the fabric of the nation. This movement was seen as a threat. The Capitalist feared that Italy would elect a Socialist government into office. Part of the CIA's strategy to combat the Socialist efforts was to contact US citizen's who had family still living in Italy. US citizens of Italian descent were encouraged to write to their families to promote Capitalism over Communism. This was the first battle waged by the CIA to protect the economic interests of the USA. The CIA was succesful. So what can be seen by these activities? Behind the scenes men are striving to promote the philosophies of men.Out of time,In Christ,Jeff

Now we are back to the beginning of this thread. The United States unbenownst to the Jews and other who sought to prosecute the Nazi leadership as war criminals, actually recruited and pass laws to import these scientist into the U.S. The wisdom at the time was this, if we don't give these Nazi's a home, the Soviet Union our enemy will. So as I stated before, over 600 Mind Scientists entered the employment of the CIA. Please keep in mind, while the CIA is working to combat Communism, the KGB is seeking to undermine the Capitalistic system. As I have also stated before, President Eisenhower warned our country of the control that the Military-Industrial complex was establishing in this country. Those who were part of this complex had access to the work being done in the area of Mind Science. The CIA developed many ways to interogate men who were considered to be in opposition to the economic interest of Capitalism. Terms like truth serems (sp) and brainwashing were coined during the 1950's. This reseach on controling the minds of men would soon leave the laboratory and enter into the public sector. Out of time,IN ChristJeff

During the early 1950's, sectors of the US government sought to establish within the minds of the public, the threat that Communism posed to our existence. Words like terrorism were used quite freely. It reminds me of the similiar time we live in today. Listen to Walter Cronkite talk about those days.http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1753982In Christ Jeff

Here is a little story about the things that James warned us about. Yes it exists in the USA.By Michael Kahn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When garment worker Lupe Hernandez had a needle shoot through her finger, she chose to bandage it and continue sewing with her other hand out of fear that she might lose wages or even her job if she stepped away. Hernandez, 29, has often worked in Los Angeles-area factories with no running water or bathrooms during her 12 years in the industry. A typical day lasted 11 or 12 hours without paid overtime or paid breaks, she said. Yet even as many low-paying jobs in the U.S. garment industry move abroad, sweatshops still flourish in the Los Angeles area because of the large number of youth-oriented fashion retailers in Southern California, workers' rights groups say. These companies rely on manufacturers and contractors that often operate as sweatshops -- many within sight of the gleaming glass skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles -- to deliver finished products quickly to keep up with a fickle youth market, the labor groups say. "There is a need to change fashions quickly," said Julie Su, an attorney with the Asian Pacific Legal Center. "There is something very appealing about local, domestic production." Labor groups call Los Angeles the U.S. sweatshop capital and estimated that tens of thousands of workers are stuck in such factories because they lack the skills and often the legal status to find other jobs. Many are recent immigrants, and Hernandez's situation is typical. "You can take a break, but you don't earn enough," Hernandez said in Spanish during a recent interview at a factory in the Los Angeles garment district located just south of the city's financial center. "They don't ask for papers, and you don't need much experience." Attention in recent years has focused on sweatshops outside the United States. In May, for example, Gap Inc. issued a report that acknowledged numerous violations -- from forced labor to physical punishment -- at its overseas factories. Yet holding U.S.-based sweatshops accountable is difficult. Su said factories where workers are denied wages, physically abused or subjected to unsafe conditions simply shut down when facing fines and reopen in another location under a different name. CRACKING DOWN These sweatshops are very mobile, fly-by-night operations," said Joann Lo, lead organizer of the Garment Workers Center. "They just close up shop to avoid fines." But the Los Angeles-based organization and other groups are trying to crack down on abuses with lawsuits targeting retailers that -- knowingly or unknowingly -- use contract manufacturers that produce goods under sweatshop conditions. This has helped the Garment Workers Center win more than $1.4 million in judgments from retailers, manufacturers and contractors on behalf of workers since opening three years ago, Lo said. Specifically, the groups have used a California law that allows them to hold retailers liable if a contractor or subcontractor where the abuses took place closes up shop. In recent months, retailers like Bebe Stores Inc. and Wet Seal Inc. have settled lawsuits charging wage and overtime abuses. Details of Bebe's settlement were not made public, while Wet Seal's new chief executive, Peter Whitford, has vowed to use only manufacturers and contractors that treat workers fairly and pay a decent wage. Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association trade group, acknowledged a "significant" underground sewing operation exists in the Los Angeles area, the hub of California's $30 billion garment industry. But she said workers' rights groups have chased easier-to-regulate big manufacturers out of state and unfairly targeted retailers with deep pockets. "The bigger the shop, the less the problem," Metchek said. "They go after the names that are really trying to do the best job they can possibly do." Workers agree that small factories pose the biggest problems. During a walk through a warehouse in the Los Angeles garment district, Hernandez pointed out dozens of operations that she called sweatshops on different floors. Spanish-language postings offering work lined the walls, and groups of men loaded large rolls of uncut fabric into battered vans. Bundles of finished T-shirts, tops and other products lay on tables as workers hovered over sewing machines in cramped rooms where many windows remained closed even on a hot day. Hernandez and other sweatshop workers like Catalina Martinez later said they have turned to the Garment Workers Center to try to improve working conditions at their jobs. Martinez, who said she has seen employers hit workers for complaining, is learning English and computer skills in hopes of finding another job. "I would like people to be more interested about the people who are making their clothes," she said, "and to educate themselves about how their clothes are being made." These days are evil, and evilness pays no attention to the boudaries of a nation.In ChristJeff

I'll get back to my main point soon, but there are so many current stories that help to illustrate the evil that surrounds us. This story is about Enron, and I believe represents a wider group of individuals and corporations that are stealing. The results of this stealing affects my children's education directly. "(CBS) The Department of Justice reportedly has thousands of hours of Enron employees recorded during the West Coast power crisis. Now, some in Congress want all the tapes released. "I want to make sure that no federal agency suppresses this information, makes the case harder for us to get relief," says U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. After CBS broadcast the voices of Enron energy traders gloating over the crisis they helped create, more tapes were released. In one tape, an employee says, "You gotta think the economy is going to f------g get crushed, man. This is like a recession waiting to f-----g happen." The tapes show Enron tried to bring California to its knees. Elsewhere on the tapes, another employee says, "This is where California breaks." "Yeah, it sure does man," says another. And they proposed to do that by exporting energy out of the state so the company could drive up prices even more. "What we need to do is to help in the cause of, ah, downfall of California," an employee is heard saying on the tapes. "You guys need to pull your megawatts out of California on a daily basis." "They're on the ropes today," says another employee. "I exported like a f------g 400 megs." "Wow,'' says another employee, "f--k 'em, right!" Traders can be heard manipulating the market, using now-infamous schemes with names like death star, ricochet and fat boy. One employee is heard asking, "You want to do some fat boys or, or whatever, man, you know, take advantage of it." In fat boy, Enron traders used fake power sales to hide megawatts, shrinking the supply of energy and driving up prices. They also used the oldest trick in the book: lies. "It's called lies. It's all how well you can weave these lies together, Shari, alright, so," an employee is heard saying. The other employee says, "I feel like I'm being corrupted now." The first employee adds, "No, this is marketing," "OK.'' The tapes could affect dozens of cases already filed against the company by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "If these are ever heard by a jury, they're going get strung up," says Lockyer. After hearing the tapes, the state's two U.S. senators demanded an immediate $8.9 billion refund. At a recent hearing Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. said, "All I can tell you is you have to listen to what's happening out there to ordinary people who you are responsible to help through this." With Enron and other major energy companies in bankruptcy, big refunds are unlikely. But the tapes could provide the evidence states and cities need to break contracts they were forced to sign at the height of the energy crisis."Please notice who is trying to stop the public from knowing the whole story, our government.In ChristJeff

Do these things irritate you? Do you say to yourself, why bother with this thread? I've heard this on another site I participate in. I believe God works the same always and the example that are given in the OT apply to us sometimes as a lesson other times a warning. "Furthermore He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations." So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. Then He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall," and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. And He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there," So I went in and saw, and there-every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, protrayed all around on the walls. And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and thick cloud of incense went up....And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing." So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz...Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these." So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house: and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshipping the sun toward the east." Ezekiel 8Please notice that God asked Ezekiel to dig. Please notice that God revealed the darkness of that generation to a son of man. This son of man was dismayed by everything around him. Are we believers dismayed, do we dig to understand the evil around us? Or do we dig to bury our heads in the sand? The writer of Hebrews states, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrew 5:13-14Do we desire to discern between good and evil as God reveals it or do we try not to meditate on what God's word teaches us in books like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Revelation? In ChristJeff

Another illustration:Commentary Impeaching unstable presidents By Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence Online Journal Guest Writers Download a .pdf file for printing. Adobe Acrobat Reader required. Click here to download a free copy. June 10, 2004—"In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President [sic] goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as enemies of the state." If you thought the above quotation was a reference to the darkest days of Richard Nixon when he was facing impeachment over the crimes of Watergate, you would be wrong. This quotation is the second paragraph of a brilliant but frightening story by Doug Thompson, publisher of Capitol Hill Blue, headlined Bush?s Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides. The story paints a picture of a paranoid and intolerant leader that cannot cope with any disagreements or opposing viewpoints. It paints a picture of a powerful man who does not trust the public he is supposed to serve. It gives an insiders view of how George Tenet was really fired for disagreeing with Bush. The Stalinist term "enemies of the state" for simple domestic political opponents is revealing. The article speaks of an ever-growing enemies list. Bush's vulgar language makes a mockery of his supposed Christian politics that would shame the true Christians among his supporters. Bush seems dangerously unstable based on this article. Indeed, Bush sounds like Nixon in the darkest days of Watergate when Congress was moving to impeach him. We are not talking the partisan frame-up of the Clinton impeachment era. We are talking about serious crimes and possible violations of the US Constitution that threaten the way the administration conducts our national business. These writers have been hearing behind the scenes rumbling about ticking time bombs that could bring down Bush before or (like Nixon) just after the presidential elections. The spending of $700 million federal tax dollars on Bush's Iraq invasion before Congress authorized it and supposedly before the decision was made is impeachable. There are credible reports that Bush knew about the plans to out the CIA agent wife of Ambassador Wilson and that Bush did nothing to stop it. This is certainly impeachable if true and likely criminal. Jail time for Bush would certainly not be unreasonable. We are at "war! " Enron's involvement in the California Energy crisis has just been confirmed. Enron's ties to Bush are beyond doubt. The actions of the Bush administration during this crisis should be investigated by a special prosecutor. Billions of dollars were stolen from taxpayers, consumers and businesses in California. These writers believe that the Cheney Energy Taskforce may have engaged in criminal collusion with big oil and energy companies in the very first year of the Bush administration. We believe this is why the Bush administration is hiding the details from the American public. Could the plans for the invasion of Iraq have begun in this taskforce? Were American oil companies marking up maps of Iraq and dividing the spoils of the then future war long before the 9-11 attacks? What dark secrets are being hidden from the American public? Republicans label any questioning of their actions or motives as "conspiracy theories," just like Nixon did in the 1970s. It worked then, briefly, and Nixon won re-election. After the election, we found that the charges were all true . . . and much worse was happening. There were hidden facts about Nixon that motivated his paranoia. Is it the same with Bush? These writers believe that Bush and his people will be revealed in time to be far more sinister than Nixon. We believe this is the most corrupt administration in the history of the nation. And Nixon did not have the police-state tools of the falsely named USA PATRIOT Act to use against his political enemies. We have joined along with other talk show hosts (Andy Johnson, Jerry Pippin, Guy James, Meria Heller, Peter Werbe and Radio Left) and others (Dems Online.net, ChewintheFat.com, Buzzflash.com and folksinger Yikes McGee) in endorsing the Democrats.com impeachment petition. Linda Ronstadt has called for Bush's impeachment. Among others calling for impeachment are John Dean and Ramsey Clark, both of whom directly experienced the Nixon era. Republicans would be wise to distance themselves from Bush and his policies as quickly as possible. Bush has begun a political meltdown that will make the Nixon collapse look mild in comparison. Both destroyed themselves for much the same reasons. by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/061004Crockett-Lawrence/061004crockett-lawrence.html_________________When thou goest, it shall lead thee; When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; And when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. (Proverbs 6:22)"What is the truth? Is this propaganda or is it real. Dig as Ezekiel dug. Maybe the Lord will show you something.You may say, but I don't have the time. That may be true. If you are frustrated with all these worldly things. Try the path that Abraham traveled. Read Hebrews 11. There is peace for those who travel this path.In ChristJeff