Thursday, April 30, 2015

For this week's Bible study, we'll be finishing up First Corinthians

Finishing First Corinthians
[1st Corinthians chapter 15, verses 50-58; 1st Corinth. 16]



This week we will finish our chronological study of First Corinthians, chapters 15 and 16. Last week you will recall the apostle Paul comparing the first Adam with the last, who was and who is Jesus Christ. He moves on to another topic, almost as an afterthought, but it turns out to be one of the more prophetic writings of either the Old Testament or the New Testament. I will begin at verse 50 where we left off last week.


I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'. 'Where, oh death, is your victory? Where, oh death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” ( 1 Corinth. 15, verses 50 – 58, NIV)


Paul reminds the Corinthian church one more time that humankind, in its physical existence, can never enter heaven where God dwells. But then he does something interesting; he gives this early Christian church something to look forward to as far as the end of one's physical life is concerned. He begins to prophesy about life after death, describing how the process will seem to most of us as we experience it. There are a number of ways this is being interpreted in the modern church, particularly if we go outside of the mainstream denominations. Many say and teach that these verses are a prophecy for the Rapture of the church, which is the taking up of the modern church during the reign of the Antichrist in the books of Matthew, Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel, and others. There is much disagreement about the timing of the Rapture that I will not write about today, since I regard that as a separate topic. On the other hand, when Paul wrote, “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed.....”, there can be no doubt that he was prophesying about the dead being raised at Christ's return (which, in case there is anyone that hasn't been paying attention, could happen just about any time now, just keep following the news regarding the Middle East like I do).


My main concern about the way the Rapture of the Church is currently being taught is how many churches are convinced that the Rapture will come just as soon as the Antichrist comes to power. Moreover, what about those preaching a pre-tribulation rapture? You know, those are the ones who say the church will be taken up at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and that the Bride of Christ will escape it. What if the Antichrist comes to power and we're all still here? What if the Rapture doesn't happen until weeks, months, or maybe up to a year or two after the Antichrist comes to power? The Bible prophesies about that in the Book of Tribulation, not once but twice. The first is in chapter 6, verses 9-11, which reads: “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, 'How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed”.


Then again in chapter 13 and verse 7, it reads, “He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them”. What will all those who have believed in a pre-tribulation rapture do then? I hope that some, if not all, of them will realize they may have to undergo one final time of testing by the Lord before being called home to glory. I am deeply concerned that the many who think God will just come along and scoop them up will become discouraged and fall away after the Antichrist comes to power, which could be only months away. Or, they might change their minds and take the mark of the beast to preserve their lives and the lives of their children, mistakenly believing they are “doing the right thing”. That would be an extreme tragedy if it were to occur, and I hope these words that I write will be sufficient warning to my brothers and sisters to be vigilant, to be prayerful with much thanks, and to remain filled with the Spirit during these tumultuous last days.


With another eloquent description of the Rapture of the Church, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality”, Paul is exhorting us all to draw ourselves continually closer to God by preparing ourselves as pure vessels in which an immortal being can dwell. And it is we, the transformed Christians, who will become immortal beings and live with the Lord in New Jerusalem forever and ever. By working hard at becoming imperishable vessels and immortal beings, we engage in a dress rehearsal of how we will spend eternity. Paul praised God for this when he wrote, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul ends this paragraph by encouraging the entire congregation to continue to press onward toward the goal of being one with Christ, and to let nothing stand in the way of their relationship with God through the saving power of Jesus Christ. “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” These words apply to us more than ever as we navigate our way through the stormy waters of living in the last days. Never get tired of doing the right thing and living for Christ, because our work is never in vain. Paul then closes out the remainder of this letter with a few words about the collection of the offering at these churches that bear close scrutiny.


Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.” (1 Corinthians 16: verses 1-4, NIV)


When Paul writes them to “do as I told the Galatian churches”, he is referring to a passage in the book of Galatians, but I will save that for when we get there, since we'll be studying the 2nd book of Corinthians first (Galatians comes right afterwards, OK?). There are two things that are noteworthy here, the first being Paul's mentioning setting aside church collections “on the first day of every week”. Keep in mind here that the calendar that we use today has only been around since the third century CE. Since Paul, a Jew and a former member of the Sanhedrin, went by the Jewish calendar, which has been in existence for 5,000 years, he used the Jewish Sabbath as his guide, which is from dusk Friday to dusk Saturday. My point is that the day on which we celebrate the Sabbath today, Sunday, is actually the wrong day of the week from a purely historical perspective when compared to the way in which the original Apostles and Jews were celebrating the Sabbath 2,000 years ago. Keep this in mind each week as you attend services on Sunday morning.


The second noteworthy thing Paul mentions in these closing verses of 1st Corinthians is the amount that is to be given at each offering. Paul wrote, “ On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.......” Notice that Paul did not specify an amount to be given, nor any certain percentage of one's income, but he only said that their gifts should be “in keeping with his income”. In other words, if you can't afford to tithe a full 10% of your income like what is specified in the Old Testament, or Law of Moses, and in quite a few modern churches, then that's okay – just give whatever you can and ask the Lord to bless your offering and receive it, knowing that it will still be enough. You need not worry – there are no cash registers or pocket calculators in heaven. God isn't counting your change to see how much you can give. He doesn't want our money, He doesn't need it anyway, but He does want each and every one of us. He wants our love and devotion, our worship and our praise, and our dedication and our service to His cause. And the cause of the Lord is the cause of eternal justice, a worthy cause any day of the week.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Law enforcement misconduct has become a foul stench in God's nostrils

Once Again, the Government Sins Against the People
by Rev. Paul J. Bern



There was a headline just a few days ago on the Internet mainstream media that was all over the national news on my old rabbit-eared TV and CNN's website. The FBI, our nation's top law enforcement agency (at least up to now), has been giving false testimony about forensic samples obtained from alleged crime scenes. Fully 95% or more of all federal criminal prosecutions in the last ten years – those we know about so far – were engineered by way of apparently bogus testimony! Allow me to quote a short excerpt from this article:

FBI admits it fudged forensic hair matches in nearly all criminal trials for decades
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Beforeitsnews.com

WASHINGTON — “The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 per cent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence. The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions. The FBI errors alone do not mean there was not other evidence of a convicts guilt. Defendants and federal and state prosecutors in 46 states and the District of Columbia are being notified to determine whether there are grounds for appeals. Four defendants were previously exonerated. The admissions mark a watershed in one of the country’s largest forensic scandals, highlighting the failure of the U.S. courts for decades to keep bogus scientific information from juries, legal analysts said. The question now, they said, is how state authorities and the courts will respond to findings that confirm long-suspected problems with subjective, pattern-based forensic techniques — like hair and bite-mark comparisons — that have contributed to wrongful convictions in more than one-quarter of 329 DNA-exoneration cases since 1989. In a statement, the FBI and Justice Department vowed to continue to devote resources to address all cases and said they “are committed to ensuring that affected defendants are notified of past errors and that justice is done in every instance. The Department and the FBI are also committed to ensuring the accuracy of future hair analysis, as well as the application of all disciplines of forensic science....”


In other words, there are thousands of criminal convictions that were falsely obtained, meaning there are literally hundreds of thousands of people in the federal prison system who aren't supposed to be there in the first place. To call this outrageous would be a gross understatement, to call it a miscarriage of justice would in my view still be insufficient. The best description I can think of – and I can think of a few I can't print here – is “completely over the top”!


Wikipedia has this to say about incarceration in America: “The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the second-highest per-capita incarceration rate, behind Seychelles (which has a total prison population of 786 out of a population of 90,024). In 2012, there were 707 adults incarcerated per 100,000 population. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), 2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2011 – about 0.94% of adults in the U.S. resident population. Additionally, 4,814,200 adults at year-end 2011 were on probation or on parole. In total, 6,977,700 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2011 – about 2.9% of adults in the U.S. resident population." Of that 2.26 million incarcerated individuals in state and federal prisons, that number is pretty much divided down the middle between the two. So, if there are 1.13 million people in federal prison, and 95% of them are there due to what amounts to perjured testimony, the FBI just lost every ounce of its credibility. Plus, a crime of the highest order has been committed in America due to false imprisonment and perjury – both felony offenses – and, people's civil rights have been violated because 3 out of 4 prisoners are black. The uproar over this should have been deafening, but the story came and went in 24 hours or less. Without a doubt the majority of people do not yet know about this report, which is why I am going to great lengths to bring this topic back up again.


What does the Bible say about this? Quite a lot, actually, so let me quote just a handful of verses, which should be sufficient for me to make my point. In Exodus chapter 20, verse 16 says, “You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor.” No doubt you will recognize this as being one of the ten commandments. Exodus chapter 23 says in verse one, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.” Proverbs chapter nineteen, verse five says, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free.” Psalm 119, verse 163 says, “I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love the law.” It says in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 25, “Therefore each one of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body”. And finally, Jesus himself said in Luke chapter 3, verse 14, “Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely – be content with your pay”. What's the 21st century version of that truism? Don't be greedy! Sorry, Gordon Gecko and Wall St., greed is most definitely not good, not even a little. Greed is counterproductive, it is self-centered and therefore childish, and often times it can be criminal in nature.


As our planet becomes more and more populated, working for the greater good instead of one's personal needs and desires will become the preferable way of life. Fewer resources for more people seems to be the order of the day. As such, hoarding money, food, investments such as houses, or other commodities like gold and silver, is becoming the old way of doing things. People are finally starting to figure out that we can either coexist together peacefully, or we can annihilate each other in war. Which do we choose? As for me, since I worship the Prince of Peace, I choose to live in His peace, and harmoniously with those around me to the best of my ability. But when people are falsely imprisoned, that's where I draw the line. When people are railroaded into prison after being nearly defenseless in court based on false testimony, that is where I draw the line. When people's civil rights are being viciously violated up one side and down the other, that is where I draw the line! This grotesque miscarriage of justice has just over a million people falsely imprisoned, and that's the federal system alone. The other 50 states are undoubtedly just as bad, if not worse.


What can we do about this? There can be no question that law enforcement and the criminal court system are utterly corrupt, all one has to do is watch the news on TV or the Web. The latest death of yet another unarmed black man in Baltimore, Maryland is the most current example as I write this. It seems this poor guy suffered a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody. Naturally, nobody in the department knows anything about it, not one little bit. Evidently the police in Baltimore expect us to believe this gentleman broke his back accidentally. How ridiculous!! This was a case of cold-hearted murder, pure and simple. If a civilian did this to another, at the minimum they would be charged with second degree murder, or at least manslaughter, depending on the jury. But if it's the police, they will almost always get off scott free. Why? Because the cops lie on the witness stand to convict people just like the FBI agents I wrote about at the beginning of this posting. And, as you have read, God hates false testimony and He hates liars.


Is it any wonder that more and more people are becoming afraid of the police? When I'm out in public and see a cop, I refuse to even so much as make eye contact with them. You see, a long time ago, back in the early '90's, I found myself convicted of a weapons charge over an altercation in traffic. Another driver was repeatedly cutting into my lane and slamming on his brakes right in front of me. After the altercation, I left the scene, nor do I make an apology for that because I regarded it as justifiable self-defense, and I still do. A year and a half later, when the case came up in court (I had posted bond and gotten out of jail), I found out that the man who started the whole thing was an off-duty cop. He was driving in his civilian car wearing civilian clothes, and I had no idea this guy was a police officer. The bottom line was that I was convicted of 2 felonies because the off-duty cop who started the whole thing got up on the witness stand and told one lie on top of another (naturally, this time he was in uniform). My only consolation was that I got probation and a fine instead of jail time. So I know what it's like to be falsely convicted of a crime. And that's exactly why I side with the protesters, and I always will. And I am convinced that this police and courtroom misconduct will eventually deteriorate into massive civil unrest, which is something I've been predicting in my books for years. The summer of 2015 could get very interesting. Only time will tell.



Thursday, April 23, 2015

This week's Bible study will be 1st Corinthians chapter 15, part 3 of 4

The Apostle Paul's Teaching About the Resurrection (part 2)
[1st Corinth. 15, 35-49]



When we finished last week's study, we were focused on the apostle Paul's teaching to the early church about the true nature of the resurrection of Jesus Christ after being buried in a borrowed tomb for three days. After admonishing them for allowing some man-made teaching about the resurrection to infiltrate their congregation, Paul then continues with his explanation of the resurrection from a Scriptural viewpoint by answering what is apparently yet another question the congregation had raised regarding the nature of the resurrection. Paul continues his train of thought beginning at verse 35.


But someone may ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?' How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.” (1Cor. 15: verses 35-41, NIV)


I think the main thing Paul was trying to communicate here is that what kind of bodies we will have after we die is neither here nor there as far as the Word and our faith is concerned. It is a side-issue in the form of an unhealthy diversion from truth. Our “bodies” will be spiritual, and there is simply no comparison between spiritual beings and physical ones since they are of a completely different nature. It would be like trying to compare insects to fish (imagine that!). There are many different types of bodies of various kinds, and each has its own beauty in its own way, with each having a special uniqueness that sets it apart from the others, emulating the uniqueness of each person within the whole of humanity. All of us are unique individuals, and by extension sovereign forms of life here on earth and of the heavenly and magnificent kaleidoscope of the universe. And since each was created by God, it becomes a reflection of His glory for all to see and marvel. He then goes on to compare all this to the last resurrection in the book of Revelation, where all those who ever lived and died will rise for one final judgment, and each will have to give an account of themselves – how did they live, who did they help, who did they protect, and above all, who did they serve.


So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; if it is sown in dishonor, it will be raised in glory; if it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: 'The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit'. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have born the likeness of an earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” (1Cor. 15: verses 42-49, NIV)


Paul's commentary here is pretty clear, and so requires no explanation per se. But I think that it would be helpful to those readers less familiar with the Bible if I substituted some 21st century vernacular for the Biblical terms of old. We are born mere mortals, but unwavering belief in Christ makes us immortal, effectively giving us a chance for a second life, one without end. Paul's second comment applies directly to me and others like me, who started out in life as orphans or as unwanted “throwaway kids”: Although I was “born in dishonor” (with no real family or social standing and no inheritance of any kind), accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior back in 1992 will cause me to be “raised in glory” at His second coming because I did everything in my power to try and mold myself into someone useful for Him, leaving my old life and all the negative stuff that went with it (bad childhoods, crappy marriages, etc.) behind in the past, where it belongs. That is my personal testimony regarding this portion of Scripture, and I exhort and encourage all who read this who started out in life as being disadvantaged in any way to follow my example in this matter as I have tried to follow the example of Christ. Oh yes, you can all do this, and the Bible tells you how.


For example, if you are “sown in weakness”, lacking confidence and/or self esteem, belief in Christ will cause you to be “raised in power”, giving you a quiet confidence and internal peace that can only occur when we give our hearts completely over to Jesus Christ, because doing so blocks out all fear. And fear is something we should all be doing without, substituting unconditional faith in Jesus in its place. Paul then goes on by comparing Adam with Christ, with Adam being the first man and Jesus being the last in the form of a “life giving Spirit”, foreshadowing the future spiritual coexistence with God for all eternity in heaven after our physical lives are over. “And just as we have born the likeness of an earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” So, in closing, if there is anyone reading this who has not given their heart over to Christ and wishes to do so, now is as good a time as any. You don't have to do anything dramatic or fancy, just quietly ask Jesus to come into your heart, for the purpose of Him abiding there forever, in whatever way feels comfortable to you. You can rest assured that once He enters, and He will, He will be there to stay for the duration of your life. In the process, you get a new friend in Jesus, a new dad in the form of God the Father, and millions of new brothers and sisters – as few or as many as you want. So let the peace of Christ, which is beyond human comprehension or intellectual understanding, be within you, replacing all the old negative emotions and traumas that you can now let go of. Because now you have something infinitely better to take their place, the man in the glory, Jesus Christ!

Monday, April 20, 2015

The Pen of the Watchman: The Case of "CLASSISM"

The Pen of the Watchman: The Case of "CLASSISM": " Classism " is an overlooked but consistently growing issue, and one I believe will eventually overtake even racism.  Racism is evolving. Our strategies against it must also evolve. What is...

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Now that tax season is over, it's time to end it. Replace the federal income tax.

Now That Tax Season Is Over, It's Time to End
the Immoral and Illegal Income Tax
by Rev. Paul J. Bern



With another federal income tax deadline having passed this past week, it is time for me to bring up the dubious nature of income taxation in America, and why I think it's long past due for some serious change in the way we are taxed. Part of the reason for this is to correct the extreme imbalance of wealth and to speak out against the hoarding of cash and assets by the top 1% of the US population. Under no circumstances do I think this matter should be resolved by force, and I am aware that there are people – both Christian and secular – who think otherwise. There is certainly no way we are going to be able to correct this imbalance of wealth by going door-to-door in wealthy neighborhoods asking for money, although I can see where that could be a form of protest in and of itself. The rich and powerful are most certainly not going to surrender their filthy lucre voluntarily. What we will have to do is to legislate it while still remaining within the boundaries of the Constitution. The best way to accomplish this is by establishing an all-new tax system that is fair and equitable and which does not impose an excessive burden of payment on the backs of the lower 50% of wage earners in America, the ones who can afford it the least.


The origin of the income tax on individuals is generally cited as the passage of the 16th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 2, 1909, and ratified February 3, 1913; however, its history actually goes back even further. During the Civil War Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861 which included a tax on personal incomes to help pay war expenses. The tax was repealed ten years later. However, in 1894 Congress enacted a flat rate Federal income tax, which was ruled unconstitutional the following year by the U.S. Supreme Court because it was a direct tax not apportioned according to the population of each state. This was in reference to Article 1 and section 8 of the US Constitution, which gives Congress the right to levy taxes, but which also says, “... but all Duties, Imposes and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”. The taxes our founding fathers had in mind had to do with imported goods and interstate commerce. It says nothing about an income tax. The 16th amendment, ratified in 1913, made an attempt at removing this objection by allowing the Federal government to tax the income of individuals without regard to the population of each State. The most efficient way America can accomplish this is by a national commerce tax, which is much more in the letter and spirit of the law as it was originally written than the current federal tax code. I realize this is not a new idea. It's the way it's applied that's new.


The first step in this process will be to replace the income tax with a consumption tax and the second step will be to legislate an excess wealth tax, in order to be able to finance the needs of the military and the space program. The federal income tax for individuals, families and businesses will go the way of the Chevy Vega under this proposed new tax system. In its place will be a 9% Consumption Tax on all retail and Internet commerce. Why 9%, you ask? Because the average income tax paid by working Americans comes to about 18% of their gross income, so let's cut it in half! Governments, nonprofits, groceries, utility bills and fuel should be the 5 main exceptions, that is, these should in my view remain untaxed. Repeal of the income tax will by extension include the abolition of the federal withholding tax that is currently deducted from our paychecks. From now on all this extra money will flow back into the pockets of the American workers and business people where it belongs. Add that to the fifteen dollar per hour minimum wage ('low pay is not OK'), we find out that the net take-home pay for the overwhelming majority of American workers will be raised by at least one-fourth overnight! This is just one more reason for everybody reading this to stop and put it down and go participate in a public demonstration or protest of your choice, and start protesting for these fundamental human rights today! You can finish reading this when you get back home. That's how urgent this has become! If you can't find an ongoing protest anywhere, start one.


The federal income taxes for business and corporations will also be going away under this proposal. It's common knowledge by now that many of these companies have moved their manufacturing overseas due to lower wages and taxes in the third world. But what if the business income tax were suddenly repealed in this country? What if Obamacare succeeds to the point of taking the burden of employee health insurance off the backs of businesses, something Obamacare has already begun to do whether one is in favor of it or not? When you combine these two factors then you have a great recipe for job creation. That is how we can bring back many of the jobs that were lost to outsourcing. And so I propose that a luxury tax that I will call the Excess Wealth Tax be put up for a popular vote. (How do we get it on the ballot? By making as much noise about it as we can until we get what we want!) The Excess Wealth Tax for individuals and families is that all earned income up to $1 million is tax free. Period, end of story. For individuals and households with a net income in excess of $1 million, they will be taxed at a 50% rate. So, let's say a single taxpayer, or a family of four, has $101 million in income in any given year. Since the first $1 million is tax free, all that would be owed would be 50% of the remaining $100 million. So your hypothetical tax bill for that year would be $50 million. Uncle Sam keeps half, and we keep half. Besides, anybody who can't live on an annual income of $51 million is spending way too much money on all the wrong stuff.


For businesses and corporations all earned income and net assets up to $300 million is tax free. There is a 33 and 1/3% tax levied on anything over that amount. So if we have a company or multinational corporation with gross sales of $1.5 billion in any given year, then that company would only pay tax on everything in excess of $300 million. So 33.3% of the remaining $1.2 billion would be $400 billion, and that would be their Excess Wealth Tax for that year. Uncle Sam gets a third, the enterprise keeps the rest. It's so simple you won't need an accountant any more (sorry, all you CPA's). It will also mean that the capital gains, estate, the alternative minimum and self-employment taxes would all be going away for good. But so would itemized deductions. That should make business owners, entrepreneurs, and investors very enthusiastic about supporting this proposal.


Money from these tax payments would be used for public education, to fund higher learning for adults changing careers as well as for high school graduates going on to college (which would end student loans except for private colleges and universities), for military funding, and for funding for an ambitious and pioneering space program. What about the federal income tax? It needs to go the way of the dinosaurs! Taxation of our incomes is tantamount to limitation of our incomes! I could write that we should all organize a tax protest next winter, but unfortunately refusing to pay taxes as a form of protest has been criminalized, so I can't condone that. Organizing on social media would be one way to reach out to a lot of people. But I thought I would get the conversation started by posting this. I first proposed this four years ago in my book, “The Middle and Working Class Manifesto”, and no one paid any attention. But with the waves of protest about police violence and unrealistically low wages ($7.25 an hour? What??), I ask you this question: How do we peacefully replace our entire tax code? By peaceful mass protests and demonstrations? Trying to coax Congress into passing this into law would be an exercise in futility, we need a better way than that. But if the system is dysfunctional – as the US tax code currently is – it must be replaced from the outside in, not the other way around as is our tradition. Tradition doesn't work anymore. Time for us to get outside the box.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

This week's Bible study will be 1st Corinthians chapter 15, part 2 of 4

The Apostle Paul's Teaching About the Resurrection (part 1)
[1st Corinthians chapter 15, verses 20-33]



During last week's study of First Corinthians chapter 15, we left off where Paul was reminding the early church of the truthfulness and authenticity regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days and nights after He was crucified. You will recall that Paul asked pointedly how anyone could not believe in Christ's resurrection, followed by his emphatic statement that those Christians who don't believe in Jesus' resurrection believe in vain, and they will thus die in their sins, with their souls unable to be saved. I'd say that's pretty blunt and direct, wouldn't you? Frankly, I couldn't agree more on this point. And now I will take up Paul's train of thought where he left off as he wrote, beginning in verse 20.


But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn; Christ, the first-fruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he has 'put everything under His feet'. Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to Him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 20 thru 28, NIV)


When Paul calls Christ “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”, he was referring to an ancient tradition of Judaism that is based on the Law of Moses, the first five books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Numbers. The 'festival of first fruits' involved the farmers and livestock herders bringing one tenth of their initial harvest or their mature livestock to the temple as a living sacrifice to be given unto God as an atonement for their sins. And so Jesus was, in effect, the first-fruits offering for all of humankind. The crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ was a pure atonement offering made unto God consisting of Himself as a living sacrifice for sin. In the course of making this offering, Jesus became the new covenant between God and humankind and the new sacrificial sin offering, taking the place of the old, which was the law of Moses. Unfortunately, there pervades a teaching of sorts within the modern church that says quite presumptuously that both laws are in effect, and that although Christ died and was resurrected on the third day and so saved us from our sins, we are still obligated to give a tenth of what we earn, or own, or a combination of the two, at every service. This is NOT what the Bible says at all, and if those within the church who are demanding 10% of everyone's wages would bother to read it, they would see that they are in error. Unfortunately for the greater Church, the ones who are disseminating this wrong teaching are the same “ministers” who have turned their houses of worship into profitable enterprises. Such pastors and evangelists, if they do not repent of this, are not saved by the blood of Christ like they think they are. At the end of their lives, their expectation of eternal reward because their churches were “successful” will turn to terror when they learn their fate. And then it will be too late. How tragic for them. If only they would have read their Bibles once in a while instead of preaching about 'tithing', their error would have become apparent to them. And yes, that's a prophecy.


The tithe, as the Word calls it, was offered as the sacrifices that were made on the feast days that God directed the ancient Israelites to celebrate, such as Passover, first fruits, and the Feast of Tabernacles, among others. They were also offered on the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week according to the book of Genesis. Interestingly enough, that would mean we are supposed to be going to church on Saturdays instead of Sunday as we do now, if our calendar were to be strictly followed by the modern church. Sacrifices on the feast days instituted in the Law of Moses were mandatory. However, it is doubtful that sacrifices had to be made by every single person at every Sabbath since there were approximately one million Israelites encamped in the Sinai desert at its high point before they were given the land of Canaan. In that case, there would still be sacrifices waiting to be offered from the previous Sabbath by the time of the following one, making the offering of so many sacrifices impractical. But the festivals and holy days celebrated from the time of Moses up until now were many days in length, enabling ample time to be made for so many sacrifices.


But the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ changed all that when He made himself the new atonement, the everlasting sacrifice and the propitiation for the numerous sins of all humankind. Jesus is the new covenant, the New Testament and the new offering for us all. So there is no more need to bring a sacrifice to the altar – Jesus has already offered up Himself. To teach and preach that the 10% sacrificial offering must continue to be made brings into question the very reason for Christ's death and resurrection. How many times must He shed his blood for us all? Without a doubt, once was enough. So the claim of some modern churches that all who participate must tithe 10% of what they make every single week is not only untrue and unnecessary, it comes off as a naked grab for funds from the congregation by the pastor and senior leadership for the enrichment of the church and of those “in charge”, as if God were an afterthought. Since only a fraction of the Sunday offerings at churches throughout North America are actually allocated for charitable purposes – with most of the remainder spent on “administrative” expenses like salaries – what we have are an entire host of houses of worship posing as non-profits or as charities that are actually being run like businesses. Of course, the flip side of this coin is that this does not excuse us from giving to the church of our choice. Giving at least a little something each week is required for the church to stay in operation. There is rent or a mortgage to pay, the power bill, salaries so the pastor and his/her family may be provided for, and garbage pickup, etc, and it all costs money. But as it was in the days when Jesus walked the earth, so it is today with organized religion, as Jesus said when He threw the money-changers out of the temple, “You have taken my Father's house and turned it into a den of robbers.” So take my advice, which is based on my own previous experiences with these so-called “churches”. If when visiting a church, or after having joined a church, you hear preaching and teaching about how everyone must give 10% of their earnings each and every week, get out of there at the first opportunity and go find a better church, preferably one whose teachings are grounded in the Word as it is written rather than those which are taught by men for men. I will now continue at verse 29.


Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day – I mean that, brothers – just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die'. Do not be mislead: Bad company corrupts good character. Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God – I say this to your shame.” (1 Corinthians 15, verses 29-34, NIV)


To clarify this passage of scripture, there was within the early church a practice of being baptized in the place of dead relatives and other loved ones who had died having not had an opportunity to be baptized and to accept Christ. The idea behind this was to make sure that all those with whom we had gone through life's journey would not be condemned to hell, and that we would someday see our loved ones again when we all get to heaven together. To the best of my knowledge, only the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches still practice this ancient tradition, and then only in the forms of having a service, or a “mass”, for the dead such as on the celebration of All Saint's Day every fall by these denominations.


Paul continues by making the point that true believers should be adhering to the Word of God as they have read and learned it, and he is telling them in blunt terms that they needed to stop listening to false doctrines being taught by phony “teachers” of the Bible. The crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ, as I pointed out earlier, are completely sufficient for the salvation and redemption of humankind. To not believe in the resurrection of Christ, therefore, is heretical and blasphemous. Ditto for getting baptized in place of someone else, which Christ also made unnecessary. None of these man-made ideas are anywhere in the gospels. But instead, if we stick to God's word, who lived among us in the form of Jesus Christ, we can't go wrong. So study the Bible, read what's in it and put it into practice. It's the one sure way to know that you are on the right track in life. And when we return next week we'll go over the second part of Paul's writings on the resurrection as we move on to part 3 of chapter 15.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

I don't tolerate legalized criminal behavior, and neither should you

How Much Longer Are We Going to Tolerate This?
By Rev. Paul J. Bern


I have always strongly believed that it's not possible to be an effective Christian without taking a stand against social and economic injustice, and against government corruption in all its forms (such as lobbyists at the federal and state levels, who give out bribe money like Halloween candy). In fact, I have been a proponent for radical change for a number of years now, and I have written and published 2 books on this very topic. Where shall I begin? In God-blessed America, the land of the free where everyone is an economic slave, our founding fathers' sacred idea of a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" has become but a cruel joke. Former president George W. Bush has notoriously (for both Christian and secular people) called our Constitution – our supreme law of the land – "that (uses God's name in vain) piece of paper". The federal government is currently spending at least $60 billion per month on military excursions in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and northern and western Africa – including operating between 800 and 1,000 foreign military bases all over the world. Our country's over-used flying drone aircraft kills hundreds daily overseas, many of whom are only innocent bystanders.


Meanwhile here on the home front, our police officers have collectively decided to go on safari, and the big game they are hunting is unarmed black men, preferably those who have their backs turned. I don't blame anybody for fighting back or running away! If a cop shows up out of nowhere and draws his/her weapon on me, I might turn and run like crazy my own self! Moreover, one in seven American people are on food stamps, and at any given time one in four American children are going hungry today. Right now. Our country spends more money incarcerating people than it does on education. America spent between 300 and 400 million dollars prosecuting drug offenders last year, and only $3.7 million for treatment and rehab. What's up with all that? Our political and court systems are openly rigged against the best interests of the American people, particularly those of color. A massive market mechanism is securely entrenched in our political system where political influence is openly bought and sold. Tens of thousands of highly-paid middlemen called "lobbyists" facilitate the legal transfer of billions between moneyed special interests and our so-called "representatives" in Congress. This very lucrative business of buying and selling political influence has become the driving engine of our government. Our so-called "representatives" in Congress vie for millions in legalized bribes in return for delivering billions of our tax dollars to moneyed special interests. It's pure folly to think our current political system could possibly look out for the best interests of the American people.


Just ponder what our government has done, not for us but to us, in the last ten years alone. It's utterly mind boggling. The best interests of the American people have been sacrificed to moneyed special interests time and time again. The Wall Street bankers paid millions in bribes for a legal license to steal billions more from the American people. When greed got them in trouble, our so-called "representatives" gave them billions more of our money, American tax dollars. In the last ten years, our so-called "representatives" shared nearly a billion dollars in bribes from the "defense" industry alone. In return, they doubled our defense budget to $700 billion (equal to all other countries combined!) and lied us into unnecessary, endless, expanding wars that will ultimately cost us trillions. This is aside from the extreme human costs of war with multiple consecutive deployments. For example, 1 in 5 returning veterans from US occupations overseas have permanent psychiatric disabilities so severe that they will never work again. Speaking as a minister and lifelong peace activist, I find this to be utterly reprehensible on the part of the US military! Be all you can be? Yeah, right.


Our so-called "representatives" are slashing social spending (excluding Obamacare) for senior citizens and the poor just when far too many American people need it most. Yet they continue to spend hundreds of billions on weapons of mass destruction to "protect us" from our enemies. But most of our "enemies" are purposely created by our government's blatantly unjust foreign policies (that openly support oppressive military regimes) and by our violent military occupations of their homelands. Without a perpetual supply of "enemies", "defense" industry profits would plummet. If that weren't enough, our so-called "representatives" have worked hard to keep America the number one weapons merchant on earth. Our so-called "representatives" continue to support the sale of billions in weapons to oppressive dictatorships around the world, which creates still more "enemies", which creates more special interests profits, etc. So we can fight wars, but we can't have a robust space program? We can fight wars, but we can't update and upgrade America's dilapidated power grid? We can fight wars, but America can't replace its crumbling infrastructure? We can fight wars, but we can't afford to make public colleges and universities free? America can't forgive $1 trillion in student loan debt so those of the millennial generation can get on their feet and start families and buy cars and houses?


Our current political system guarantees our so-called "representatives" will continue to pass and sustain legislation that transfers billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to moneyed special interests. That's because members of Congress who oppose moneyed special interests are promptly punished, ostracized, or replaced (if their offense is great enough). President Kennedy paid the ultimate price for opposing the elitists. Moreover, our current political system guarantees moneyed special interests and our so-called "representatives" must participate in this influence-peddling scam against the American people, mainly because it's so lucrative they'd be stupid not to. Big corporations could be at a competitive disadvantage (and would likely resort to cheating their shareholders to replace lost profits) if they refused to buy political influence. Likewise, our so-called "representatives" would be at a competitive disadvantage getting elected or staying in office if they refused to sell political influence. Another “problem” as these elites as I see it is that, if corporate influence were to decline, it would open up windows of opportunity for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, and there's no way Wall Street will tolerate that. Anything that puts money into the hands of ordinary folks – such as owning a business no matter how small – is seen as a potential threat and gets treated as such. Just ask any of the American merchants who lost their businesses because they couldn't compete with Wal-Mart.


The upcoming national elections in 2016 are merely melodrama for the masses. Our "choices" have all been pre-chosen for us by moneyed special interests pumping millions into the process. Besides, whoever wins will be forced to play by established political rules that guarantee moneyed special interests will always come ahead of the American people's best interests. For months before the elections, the lackey mainstream media, using colorful pundits who talk smart and know little, entertain us with political melodrama. They arouse us by pitting one segment of the American people against another. They make millions bombarding us with empty, emotional, 30-second TV ads that are little more than name-calling or patriotic platitudes. Congressional elections are sheep fighting among themselves for their favorite pre-chosen wolves. Congressional elections merely determine which segment of the America people gets screwed by which moneyed special interests group.


Trying to reform our current political system using that very same corrupt system is just an exercise in futility. It's like trying to fix your broken arms using your broken arms. It's like trying to start a car that is out of gas. Our current political system is designed to be reform proof. It has well-established mechanisms to protect and maintain the status quo. That's why "campaign finance reform" and all other such efforts to "reform" our current political system from within are doomed to either fail outright or be so watered-down as to be nearly useless. All these outrageous government actions are exactly what we should expect from a government openly for sale to the highest bidder. “We the people” are just government-controlled fodder for moneyed special interests. Moneyed special interests paid for these outrageous government actions, and they got what they paid for. How much longer are we going to tolerate this? We, the people, got screwed. I have the solution to this problem, and it can be found in any English dictionary.

rev-o-lu-tion (Dictionary.com) 1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.


Our country's elections amount to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We can't vote our government back to us. It was deliberately taken away from us, so we will deliberately take it back. A peaceful, people's revolution is the preferable way we can take back our government. But, like the saying goes, “Use your first amendment rights and protest! If that doesn't work, use your second amendment rights and get a gun”. The multi-billion dollar business of buying and selling political influence (currently the driving engine of our government) must be overthrown, repudiated and thoroughly replaced if democracy is to survive in America. This massive influence-peddling scam must become our number one political issue because it underlies and thus greatly affects all other issues. If we don't get all the dirty money out of our politics, our democracy and our standard of living will continue to decline and surely we'll take the rest of the world down with us.


We can't afford to sit by like sheep meekly waiting for slaughter. The police are already shooting us like rabid animals! We must find ways to hinder and harass the corporate state at every turn, and to control the violent tendencies of the police who protect them. Nothing will change unless we, the people, begin to organize radical acts of civil disobedience to disrupt our current political system, upping the ante until this massive influence-peddling scam is thoroughly exposed and eliminated. For example, in Iceland in 2012 when the entire country went completely bust (you know, like the US is about to) the people had arrested and jailed over 100 bankers after throwing the old government out of office peacefully but effectively. The citizens stood in the streets and banged on pots and pans, and they didn't stop until they got what they wanted. Then they (the people, not the government!) wrote a new constitution and passed it into law. It's been reported all over the European press but largely censored here in the US. Is it any wonder? If there were enough people inspired by what happened in Iceland, it could happen here next. Well, what do the elite capitalists want? They can either allow what happened over there to happen here, or America will turn into another Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy or Portugal. Or maybe even another Egypt, Yemen or Syria. The only way to prevent this from occurring here is that “we the people” must take back our government by peaceful revolution because it will never be given back voluntarily. Remember what President John F. Kennedy said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."




Thursday, April 9, 2015

This week's Bible study will be 1st Corinthians chapter 15, part 1 of 4

Why Be a Christian in the First Place?
[1st Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1-19]



Since the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians is noticeably longer than the one we just completed, I will be dividing chapter fifteen into 4 lessons to allow me to get into some real depth regarding the apostle Paul's letter to the church at Corinth, which was located in modern-day Greece. As we begin to read at verse one, we find Paul reminding the Corinthian church of the reasons for its faith, which is unconditional belief and unshakable confidence in the saving power of Christ. I would liken this portion of Scripture to a coach going over some of the basic fundamentals of the game during a team meeting, reminding the players that if they stick to the basics consistently, they will ultimately win. Being a follower of Jesus is a lot like that, and so in one way you may think of Christ as your Spiritual coach.


Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you have received and on which you have taken your stand. By this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the Word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not deserve to even be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” (1Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1-11 NIV)


The basis of Christianity and of belief in Christ as the Son of God is summed up in Paul's words “ …..Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time.......” So we have basic fundamental teaching and instruction here from Paul to the brethren in the early church, which is the ultimate sacrificial offering of Jesus as atonement for the sins of all mankind who freely accept His salvation. Without this faith, all the good deeds and personal sacrifice in the world will do us no good at all, and we will “have believed in vain”. Based on this portion of scripture I would say that one of our primary tasks as practicing Christians is to make sure our belief is genuine – that is, that we exercise our faith in such a way that our passion for Christ strives to approach and imitate His passion for all mankind when He died upon the cross. As He gave His all for us, so we must be willing to give our very best for Him. In fact, a time is coming soon to America when Christians will begin to be slain for their faith. That's not just my opinion, that's a prophecy! The apostles saw the risen Lord, but we believe having not seen Him (yet).


At this point I would ask that all those reading this who are knowledgeable about the Bible, or who have been Christians for a long time like I have, to bear with me for a few moments while I explain something to the newer believers regarding what Paul wrote about himself towards the end of the above passage. Paul wrote, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not deserve to even be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”. Paul is referring to his initial meeting with the Spirit of Christ on the road to Damascus, which is documented in chapter 9 of the book of Acts in the New Testament. He was blinded for three days and instructed to go to a certain house where he met the apostle Peter, who laid his hands on Paul and healed his blindness. Before all this happened, Paul was one of the leaders of Judaism at that time who actively persecuted Christians prior to his conversion. The book of Acts also documents Paul's being present at the execution by stoning of Stephen in chapter six. And yet ever since meeting the Lord on the road to Damascus, Paul had been converted and was actively preaching and teaching throughout the world of that time. This is why Paul calls himself “the least of the apostles”, but Paul does one thing here that we all should learn to emulate. He gives all the credit for his conversion to the faith to God through His grace, taking none for himself. He even mentions working harder in his new ministry than anyone else in an attempt to make up for his previous life as a persecutor of the followers of Christ. God gets all the credit for our conversion because He loved us first, not the other way around. Remember what Jesus said, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted”. Therefore, if we humble ourselves in our faith by giving all the credit for our salvation to Jesus and to God's grace (which means unmerited favor), we will be rewarded with higher places in heaven when our physical lives are over and our eternal Spiritual lives begin. I will teach more on this topic at some point in the future. I will now continue today's study at verse 12.


But if it has been preached that Christ was raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1Corinthians 15, verses 12-19 NIV)


Based on what the apostle Paul wrote here, perhaps there was some disagreement among the members of the Corinthian church regarding whether the resurrection of Christ was real or a myth. What we are seeing here is one of the first indicators of denominational teaching. Paul clearly wanted this practice stopped immediately, but history teaches us that not only did this not occur, but the fragmentation of the original church into divisions that were set against one another is an unfortunate reality that continues into modern times. But Paul responds back then by pointing out an obvious truth, which is that being a Christian while not believing in the resurrection of Christ, along with all who have believed on and trusted in His name, defeats the very purpose of one's belief. The crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the morning of the third day is the very basis for all Christian faith. Even the two greatest commandments as they were taught by Jesus in the four gospels – love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself – are impossible to follow without a belief in the deity of God through Christ. And a belief in God through Jesus Christ is unworkable without belief that Jesus rose from the dead, and that in so doing He gave all of mankind a chance to have the same opportunity to have eternal life without end that He already has. None of us can ever achieve immortality on our own, but we can all have it through Christ, the Son of God. And that's a goal worth shooting for every day of the year.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

As we celebrate Resurrection Day, the world edges closer to nuclear war

The Nuclear Genie Is Out of the Bottle, and It's America's Fault
by Rev. Paul J. Bern


On July 16th, 1945, the 'Trinity' nuclear test plunged humanity into the Atomic Age. The first-ever nuclear bomb was detonated in New Mexico, at the Alamogordo Test Range. Within just days, the first nuclear bomb ever used in wartime was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, and a second one was dropped on Nagasaki less than two weeks after that. In the first blast at Hiroshima, well over 100,000 people were instantly vaporized in the initial explosion, and the death toll at Nagasaki was tens of thousands higher. Over the next month or so, over a million more individuals died from the aftereffects of radiation poisoning. But, what is generally not known – especially here in America with its propaganda machine otherwise known as our “free press” – is that the US use of nuclear weapons against Japan at the end of World War 2 was unnecessary. Let's not forget that the winners of wars are the ones who write the history books, and the US is no exception. The fact of the matter is that by the summer of 1945, Japan had already been bombed back to the stone age. In point of fact, Japan was already attempting to start negotiating for peace. But the Japanese wanted to do it secretly, so as to not alarm the Japanese people (sound familiar?), and US military leaders wanted the announcement to be public. And so the die was cast, and the rest is history.


In the late 1940's Josef Stalin, Russia's leader and dictator at the time, acquired an atomic weapon through quite a lot of espionage, much to the discredit of America's “intelligence” community. As a response, the US supplied England and France with the technology and experience needed to build a few bombs of their own. By this time it was the 1950's, and within just a few years Communist China developed their first atomic weapons. By the 1960's, other countries such as Israel, India and Pakistan had nukes as well. The genie was out of the bottle, and there was no putting it back. It was too late. And it all started with one nuclear test in the New Mexico desert in 1945. I have been studying up on this as of late, knowing that we are living in the End Times, and that the world as we have known it is drawing rapidly to a close. The one verse I have found that corresponds to these times and the accompanying nuclear proliferation can be found in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, chapter 7 and verse 7, which reads as follows:


After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast – terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.”


To put this into context, Daniel had a vision in chapter seven where he saw four “beasts” come up out of the sea. The sea in Bible prophecy usually always symbolizes all the nations of the world. The first was like a lion, but it had eagle's wings. What country uses a lion as its symbol? Great Britain. The eagle's wings, then, represent America, whose symbol is an eagle, and who is an offshoot of the former British Empire. OK, so what's the second one, you ask? The second beast Daniel saw in his vision looked like a bear. What country uses a bear as its national symbol? Russia. And Daniel's third beast looked like a leopard, which symbolizes Germany. The fourth beast which is unlike all the rest could only be the United States, since it has the most powerful military force in human history. But what do the ten horns represent? Could they be nuclear powers? According to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nine nations — the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possess approximately 16,300 nuclear weapons in total. This is an obscenity because it's enough atomic power to blow up every city on the planet several dozen times over. But it's even more than an obscenity, it is utter madness and insanity!


But still, that's only nine countries that have nukes, so who's the tenth one, the one that completes the symbolism of Daniel's ten horns that he saw on the fourth beast? It has got to be Iran, there is no other explanation that I can think of, at least for now. No other country is as close to developing a bomb as Iran, everybody knows that. But this is a prophecy that has yet to come to pass. But you can all be sure that this will be happening in the near future, no doubt about it. And once it does, Daniel's prophecy about the beast with the ten horns will be fulfilled. Since the British Empire and two world wars that were initiated in part by Germany have come and gone, this is the only part of this prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled. Once that happens, once Iran gets its hands on its first nuclear weapon – which is only a matter of time – the prophecy will be fulfilled and the stage will be set for world war three, which will be a brief but exceptionally deadly nuclear exchange (more on that in a separate message later). If it involves Iran and Israel as I suspect, then surely America and Russian will become involved sooner or later. And that's when world war three will start. It's all getting very close now. Prepare yourselves accordingly if you have not yet done so. We are just about out of time.