Deception Series: Fear

In this part of the series on deception we will look at one that reaches us all in one way or another; FEAR!  Whether it is fear of falling to fear of spiders to fear of being alone or what ever you add to fear of __________, this one tries to get us all.  I am not one that necessarily believes you can "overcome" fear (I could be wrong) but rather you need to master fear management.  If you can over come them GREAT, but if you can't fear must be managed.  I personally know a family member (who will remain nameless) who has a fear of living?  Their first response to anything is doom and gloom that anything you want to do is met with negative opposition - hence a fear of living.  One day I said I had a headache and they said; I hope it's not a tumor.  After that I would always do a Schwarzenegger impersonation: It's not a tumor!

All joking aside, several years ago I read two studies on fear which listed people's top ten fears.  In both studies the number one (1) fear was?  You guessed it right if you said "public speaking" and the number three (3) was "dying".  If these two studies are correct, that means people would rather be dead than speak in public!

I have a fear of heights, however, a "challenge course" put on by the Sheriff's Office back in the late 1990's really made me realize the need to manage this fear.  First I must say that the two trainers that put on the course, Brian Ronk and David Bures where instrumental in making this a success for me.  I had been training with them for about ten years and trusted them even more than I thought.  It was this trust that gave me the courage I didn't have, to step out and do what they asked.

The REAL issue with most of these fears is that they are "perceived", in other words they don't really exist, but in our minds.  Think about my fear of heights for a minute; I won't go on a Ferris Wheel throughout my life but a small child will and laugh the entire time!?  If you are a child of the King (Jesus the Christ), then satan can only influence you with thoughts.  It is what we do with these thoughts that hinders us.  God does not want us to be afraid;
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT  For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Now the term "spirit of fear" can refer to a demon spirit but in this context is believed to be your own words of fear and timidness.  In other words YOUR own SPEECH can be your worst enemy! (Proverbs 18:21).  Satan does a very good job of making us think and most believe he is greater than what he really is (1 John 4:4).

The bottom line is to fear God.  This is a respectful fear that is born out of love (Matthew 10:28).
Joshua 1:9 KJV-BRG  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Be Blessed and not afraid my friends - Live in Christ the Lord

ernie

Deception Series: The Legality Deception

If you have been keeping up with this Series, you know from the previous blog that Mr Sleaze (as I named him because I couldn't remember it) made two major statements in an interview with Sean Hannity on Patriot Radio.  The first we discussed in the last blog Deception Series: They Would Do It Anyway, now I want to address his other statement which was; It is no longer illegal.  Mr Sleaze was referring to "Adultery".  The context was that Mr Sleaze admitted that  "most people that cheat get caught" and that "the cheated suffers great pain".  Hannity then commented that Mr Sleaze has made hundreds of millions of dollars off this pain, and then questioned Mr Sleaze's moral compass.  He replied that there was no conflict since he was only providing a service and not the one actually doing the adulterous act (yet), and that it was no longer illegal and how antiquated that Moral law was.

By know some of you must have at least an inc-ling of where I am going or coming from?  I hear the "world" (you may need me to define that) saying; It isn't illegal to have an affair and those laws where outdated.  Further, a common   statement made by the "world" is; You can't legislate morality.  I myself have used that statement in the past, ignorantly I may add.  I have two responses to the fore mentioned:

1.  You can't legislate morality, HOWEVER, you can legislate immorality! (Romans 2:15)  We are at an alarming rate - look at how homosexuality is SHOVED down our throats!  Heaven help us if I "Bible Thump" you with God's Word though?

2.  Laws are never designed to legislate morality, they are designed to show our sinful nature or immorality.  The law convicts us of our sins, all of them, mine and yours.  When we are constantly convicted (reminded) of our sin sick rebellious nature and how it offends a Holy, Righteous God - someone has to give and it won't be God (Deuteronomy 27:26).  Jesus Himself tells us that the Law has not been changed, modified, repealed, rescinded or reversed (Mat 5:17).

It's simple, where did those laws on the books, that had to do with morality come from?  If you said God's Laws (Joshua 1:7-8), ding ding ding - YOURRR RIGHT!  So when we don't like something and we are not going to change - we change the law (Proverbs 28:4).  These laws that we have changed because of their ties to morality which stems from God's Laws is direct evidence to God's existence!  He bothers you so bad, instead of doing what God tells us to do, our sinful state of being condemns us and tries to remove all evidences of Him.  YOU CAN NOT REMOVE WHAT IS NOT FIRST THERE!

I call it The Legality Deception because we think that simply making something that was illegal suddenly legal, we are excused from consequences and responsibility (Deuteronomy 4:2).  This is what we have done with Abortion.  You can't kill 53 million babies, thats 53,000,000+ children and expect God to Bless America, no matter how much you say it.  God's word tells us that following His Laws will bring peace and prosperity (Psalm 119:165, Proverbs 13:14).  Conversly, if we reject His Laws, what do you suppose our consequences will be (Proverbs 28:9)?

Blessings???  Sadly, only to some of you...
ernie

Deception Series: They Would Do It Anyway

I know I told you we were going to talk about the "Deceiver" and who that might be, BUT, God has different plans.  I was listening to "The Patriot" this afternoon and Sean Hannity had the owner of the dating site for "cheaters" (AshleyMadison.com) and a doctor specializing in sexual addiction.  Many interesting observations were made by the doctor and Sean, however the gentleman (I am being nice) for the site made TWO major deception statements.  I am sorry I didn't get his name, we will use Mr Sleaze to identify him for the purpose of this blog.  You don't like the name I gave him - too bad, it's my blog.

The first was: They Would Do It Anyway
Using this LIE, why not sell drugs and benefit from those that use it?  We can justify any immoral behavior and keep our hands clean because they would do it anyway.  Mr Sleaze, who is married by the way, admitted that "most people that cheat get caught" and that "the cheated suffers great pain", yet he has know problem making hundreds of millions of dollars (18 million customers in 25 countries at $49 a pop).  He takes NO responsibility for his part, but says the people who use his sight are ONLY responsible.  In a society where there is no personal responsibility, suddenly anyone who has some responsibility (say a supplier) refuses to take any but makes sure to pass it ALL on.  Of course the people who are using his sight are responsible for their actions, but Pimps, Dealers and Suppliers are usually sought after also?

The website is a thing, and an argument can be made that a thing, like a gun is neither moral or immoral.  The difference here is the website CAN ONLY be used for one thing - IMMORAL BEHAVIOR.  This is not FaceBook or Linkedin or MySpace where you could develop illicit relationships but that is far from the norm for these social sites.

When I was in Law Enforcement and especially as a Trainer, we had a lot of freedom at work.  I use to say that I believe I am (was) an excellent employee, yet without accountability I could go down the wrong path.  (I am speaking from experience for those that know me)  One of my Boss' had a great statement to me about that, Bill Testa said; My job is to keep honest men and women honest!  What a phenomenal statement, I have never forgotten it.  I asked him how he would accomplish this and he said through accountability both personally and with our group.  He was brilliant beyond his years.

Accessibility breads opportunity and that creates frequency, both bad and good.  If this statement is true, then it flies in the face of the deception Mr Sleaze bought into; They would have done it anyway.  As my LE Brother Cliff Tippens says; Criminals are not upstanding, hardworking citizens who moonlight as low-lives because they have nothing better to do as a hobby.  They look for targets of easy opportunity.  Our sin nature is no different, Proverbs 20:9, James 4:17. Romans 7:18.

I live in a small town (get it?) which was alcohol free (dry) up until a couple of years ago.  The argument was people would drive out of there way (13-22 miles) just to buy alcohol anyway, so why not make money and increase our economy.  (BTW, this was pushed for several years by outsiders who moved into the area - WHY MOVE HERE IF IT'S THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU???)  Sorry, I got carried away.  It is not about drinking, it is about the availability leading to frequency and the repercussions of it.  Not convinced, the Internet makes pornography more available than buying it at a store - hence more frequency!  You can't argue this, pornography has more "hits" than anything else on the net.

Bottom Line:  We will all be held accountable for our sins, however, God will hold people accountable that lead others to sin.
Matthew 18:7 NLT  "What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.

Next will be the Deception of Legality (Mr Sleaze's second deception)

Blessings 

ernie

Deception Series: Who is Deceived?

During my morning quite time (my shower), God put on my heart the topic of Deception.  He gave me many ideas from "the beginning of deception" to modern "crime'.  I will later explain these in this series.  First, however I wanted to talk about who is deceived and how.  Dr Chuck Missler says; The only real barrier to truth is thinking you already have it.  What a simple but powerful statement.  I am going to flip his statement and say; the only way you can be deceived is thinking you can't or aren't?

Now you know me well enough that I am not talking about facts or what we think is true, but TRUTH.  Truth is and must be universal or it simply is not.  What is true for you and not for me may be (I doubt it), however what is truth for you must be truth for all to be.

If there is no truth, there is no deception, and since some know there is truth and  several know there is deception, then we know most are deceived (if not all to some extent).  God does not deceive His people (1 Corinthians 14:33) and tells us the only way for deception to enter is a lack of truth (1 John 1:8).  Clearly we can deceive ourselves and others definitely try deceive us by words and actions (Eph 5:6, 2 Th 2:3, 1 Jn 3:7).  King David's illness was an invitation for his enemies who were "planning his deceit" (Psalms 38:12).

Going back to Dr Missler's statement;  The only real barrier to truth is thinking you already have it.  This reminds me of those commercials when a shopper tries to pick their brand from another and picks the one promoted instead of their own and then in their mind asks; I wonder what other questionable choices have I made in the past?  There life is flashed back to big collard shirts and bell bottom pants.  As goofy as that is, it raises the question of what do you think, believe or know and how or why do you?

Next time we will talk about the deceiver, whom ever that is...

Blessings

ernie