The living room cable TV at the elderly house where I’m now living and working was cut off promptly at 8:30 a.m. yesterday (Feb. 2) due to non-payment. Thankfully, my roommate gave me his share of the bill in cash last night and I was able to call in my Visa card number to get our internet, etc., back up and running.

At lunch today (I made matzo ball soup from scratch for 10 people—secrets include turmeric, dill weed, and lots of chopped carrots, celery, onions and minced garlic sautéed in olive oil), our 82-year-old resident, Albert, made the comment that it was a good thing all of us had our digital converter boxes installed for our bedroom televisions. He reasoned, and I’m paraphrasing, “There’s so much going on in the news today that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. This is an unparalleled time in history.”

*****

Just this past Sunday I helped out after the morning church service with a rare letter-mailing that went out to thousands of people across the globe connected to my assembly (Shorewood Bible Church, Rolling Meadows, Ill.).

Richard Jordan (head preacher for the church) wrote for his lead, “Dear Brethren, We are standing in the vortex of a cultural sea change that will transform our nation and world in ways only seen a handful of times in human history. The ‘Winter’ season for America (and thus the world it influences) has begun in earnest. The lessons I taught in 1997 at the Soldiers Training for Service meeting are unfolding before our eyes!

He went on in paragraph two, “Many are fearful of the future; others are fretful about the loss of the treasures of what once was America. But it is what it is. In every situation, we have to face the question: ‘Are we going to complain or are we going to get busy?’ I vote for the latter!!”

At the top of the single-page letter’s flipside was, “Our culture is fast becoming ‘first-century like.’ The under-30 population of our nation has been largely divorced from our previously ‘Christianized’ traditions to such an extent that we are no longer able to depend on those traditions to do our work for us. The church at large continues in its impotence and navel-gazing. All the while, the world has come to our shores! What an opportunity to reach the world by reaching our hometown!”

*****

I was really intrigued the other Sunday (Jan. 25) by a message our associate preacher, Alex Kurz, gave in Sunday School (to listen, go to www.graceimpact.org) on what to expect from the future. He said:

“I’m going to say this, and I’m going to offend a lot of…well, you know, the father of all organized religion is Cain and Luke 11:51 says, ‘From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation’ . . . . from this untoward generation that follows in the footsteps of Cain with the attitude of religion that destroys those who are really righteous.

“Balak (Numbers 22:5) represents this institution of religion that has its genesis with Cain and is opposed to those who are righteous.

“As a hired gun, the religious system is now seeking to institutionalize the persecution against the righteous—against the people of God.

“So it isn’t just enough to be self-righteous—religion is a sophisticated, systematic, organized institution devised by Satan himself to seek to destroy God’s people, and there are hired guns, and I say that because we certainly know . . .

*****

Kurz continued, “I like reading history and there’s a great book out called ‘Founding Faith’ about this argument about whether our Founding Fathers were religious or not religious. It’s a very good read. Very balanced. You have the two extremes.

“You have the one side that says our Founding Fathers were a-religious—they were anti-God—which is absolutely ridiculous, and then you have the other extreme that says the Founding Fathers saw Christianity in every decision, and that just isn’t accurate as well.

“My point is, many of our forefathers, they believed that religion is good for society. But be very careful! Is religion good? You know what religion means, right? To bind.

“Is religion good for society, and if you really examine the question, and examine the answer, the reason religion exists isn’t just to promote . . . on the surface it appears that religion promotes moral values and ethics, and so on and so forth, right?

“But deep down, the very core of religion is to oppose God and His people. So we want to be very careful in just assuming that religion quote ‘is a good thing.’ and I know, we’re living in a day and age where . . . are there some religions you think are a threat?

“I mean, there are some religions I don’t want operating in my neighborhood because they’ll cut your head off and they’ll put it on You Tube and they’ll show you how they’ll cut your head off.

“Oh, yeah, those are just the ‘radical fundamental extremists.’ Okay, yeah, yeah. Anyway, what we have in Balaam, now . . . It isn’t just enough to establish religion and to persecute the righteous. ‘We got to justify this!’ And didn’t Israel justify the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and did they not use political arguments to kill God’s Son?

“Be careful. See this whole amalgamation between religion and politics—the instituted religious system, they had arguments—political arguments—to kill the guy who never harmed a fly! What did Jesus do? And it was the political machinery paid off by the institution of religion that put Him to death.

“Remember when Paul appealed to Rome? At first it sounded like a pretty good deal, right? What did Rome ultimately do to Paul? He writes in II Timothy, ‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.’

“The same government that gave to Paul some rights to defend himself is the same government that put him to death. You appeal to Caesar, then you’re going to follow the law, and they killed him!

“So, my point is, Balaam is hired by a KING! I believe in separation of church and state. I don’t want to get into politics. What business does a prophet of God have to do with a political leader?!

“Listen, didn’t God say to Israel, ‘You’re going to be a kingdom of priests’?! Balaam represents this attempt to institutionalize religion and to be under the authority of politics and this is what I’m getting at . . .

“Guess who this Antichrist is? He’s a political figure, isn’t he? There will be laws enacted to justify the slaughter of the righteous. Remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said—‘They’re going to bring you before magistrates.’

“Do you think there are laws… by the way, there are countries in this world where the very laws of the land can justify your death because of your religious beliefs. Guess what’s going to happen in the 70^th Week? Balaam represents all of that, okay?”

(Editor’s Note: To be continued . . . )