The Specter of Communism

    Although tyrannical dictatorships and oligarchies have been around for thousands of years, Russia became the first official communist state in 1917. A little over a century later, communism has left over 150 million bodies in its wake. Communist regimes assume the role of God in that they claim to be the giver of basic human rights. The sovereignty of the state is absolute and cannot be questioned. Everything the state does is good and right, merely for the fact that the state decrees it. The common people in this system look to the state for everything; income, education, health, safety and permission. Communism is the government structure of Satan himself. This type of government is probably what Paul had in mind when he warned us about "spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). It oppresses the masses for the benefit of a few. Communism and personal freedoms cannot co-exist, and because personal freedoms come from our Creator, there is no room for Him either in a communist state. 

   For decades the USA was a beacon of freedom, and the number one enemy of communism worldwide. In fact, communism seems like a completely foreign concept for the vast majority of the western world. However, due to years of moral and cultural decay, it seems that the specter of communism has raised its ugly head even in the most unlikely places. Could countries such as the U.S. and Canada actually embrace such a depraved system? I'm afraid that we are much closer than we realize. 

    In 1961, a man by the name of Cleon Skouson revised his book, The Naked Communist, to include a list of 45 goals that the communists would try to implement in America over the coming decades. Skouson was highly qualified on the subject given that he worked alongside Ronald Reagan for several years, studying and battling communist ideas at home and abroad. Skouson stated, "The general thrust of the 45 goals was to attack the Judeo-Christian underpinnings that had long prospered and protected freedom, and to replace them with the bricks, mortar and top-down force of a purely socialistic society."1 Here are some of those 45 goals;

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. This was clearly seen in 1962 when the courts banned public prayer and Bible reading in public schools. 

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policy-making positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.” Cancel culture anyone? 

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV. 

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.”

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a world-wide basis.

30. Discredit the American founding fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.” Skouson was a little off the mark with this one, they actually just label them all as racists, and therefore discredit any good thing that they might have done in their life. 

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture—education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. Think about our professional sports teams in America right now, among other major corporations and industries. 

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat. Keep in mind that Skouson wrote these goals in 1961. I am beginning to think that the man was a prophet. When I read goal 38, I can't help but think about the recent cries to defund the police. But just to show how incredibly accurate Skouson was with this one, let's take a look at a quote from a Business Insider article, written in June of 2020 in response to the death of George Floyd, 

"There is only one answer to fix a system so deeply and structurally racist and violent: reduce the role of the police in society and replace them with a system that seeks justice through peace. This means reducing the amount our governments spend on police and instead investing in alternative, community-based resources to take over the jobs we have inexplicably handed to police."2 

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. One can't help but think about the transgender insanity and the laws that cater to it. 

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. This is one of the main reasons that we homeschool our children. 

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force” to solve economic, political or social problems. Have you ever heard of BLM or Antifa? 

    I asked the question, "Could countries such as the U.S. and Canada actually embrace such a depraved system?" At this point I think the better question would be, how long before it happens. If Covid-19 has revealed anything, it is that many of the powers that be feel that they are close enough to taste it. Think about what's happening in Canada right now with Grace Life church. The Canadian government threw Pastor James Coates in a maximum security prison. When that didn't work, they put a pad lock on the doors of the church, three fences around the property, and are patrolling with 24 hour security. When protestors showed up this past Sunday, The RCMP sent out over 200 cops to keep them in line. While all of this was happening on church property, the members of Grace Life Church were meeting to worship in a secret location. Canada now has an underground church. However, I personally know pastors and churches in California who are doing the exact same thing right now. 

An army of police surround the Grace Life Church building

   In one fell swoop, the constitution has been scrapped, countless small businesses have gone under which means less competition for the big corporations, people have become more dependent upon the government, churches have been shut down, the government has been able to pad the pockets of special interest groups in the name of "Covid relief", the national debt has sky rocketed, people have been arrested for exercising their basic freedoms, we have even lost control of our breathe hole, all for a virus with a 99.7% survival rate. Covid-19 has been a communist's dream. Anyone with a rational mind clearly understands along with Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn that, “We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.” Yet they continue to get away with it. 

    So what happens next? I'm obviously not a prophet, but I feel pretty confident about three things going forward. First, there is only one of Skouson's 45 listed goals that the communists have not had any major success in reaching. Care to guess what it is? 

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

   I firmly believe that this current administration's number one goal is significant gun control legislation. This is evidenced by President Biden's recent executive order on gun control. Over the coming months the headlines from the ministry of truth media will be saturated with every act of gun violence on the planet. We will hear about every gun related accident, robbery, suicide, homicide, gas station hold up, bb ricochet, etc. They will play upon the emotions of the easily manipulated in order to ram their anti-gun legislation through. After months of people wearing face napkins that aren't even medically rated, hiding behind plastic shields with no sides or seal, spacing out and following lines on the floor, they know that the people can be manipulated.

    Secondly, I think that even if the Covid paranoia dies down, there will be another "public safety hazard" just around the corner. Narratives are already being built about a new virus strain, or variants that won't be affected by the current vaccine. Most people won't willingly give away their rights unless their is a cause for the greater good. In the case of Covid, it's "public safety". Who could be against that, right? Outspoken activist and communist sympathizer, Saul Alinsky wrote, "The tenth rule of the ethics of means and ends is that you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.".... "The eleventh rule of the ethics of means and ends is that goals must be phrased in general terms like “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” “Of the Common Welfare,” “Pursuit of Happiness,” or “Bread and Peace.” Whitman put it: “The goal once named cannot be countermanded.”3 In other words, radical change comes by way of a "moral cause" or "the greater good". This was in reference to the implementation of communist ideals.

    Lastly, I think that Christians will see increased persecution as time goes on. George Washington once said, "a Bible reading people can never be enslaved." Born again Christians are the kryptonite to the communist worldview. This is why the Bible is outlawed in 52 countries worldwide. Christians know that their rights and freedoms come from God, not government. We understand that God is sovereign, not the state. We believe in strong family values, hard work and dependence upon God's provision. There is no place for that in communist ideology. Alinsky went on to say, 

    "Dogma is the enemy of human freedom. Dogma must be watched for and apprehended at every turn     and twist of the revolutionary movement. The human spirit glows from that small inner light of doubt     whether we are right, while those who believe with complete certainty that they possess the right are     dark inside and darken the world outside with cruelty, pain, and injustice."

    Alinsky is saying that if anyone has any true convictions that go against the cause, they must be destroyed at all costs. No wonder the RCMP is going to such great lengths to fight against pastor James Coates and Grace Life Church, while at the same time releasing dangerous sex offenders back into the public and warning everyone to be careful via Twitter (what happened to public safety?). Imagine if even a few dozen churches got bold and did the same thing as Grace Life? The RCMP can't have that. 

    So what are we to do, given this information? Three words, live your life. Go to work, go to church, worship, pray, share the gospel, spend time with your family, don't let people make you feel guilty for not participating in their mask fantasy (or any other fantasy for that matter), graciously stand for truth, trust God, don't be afraid. The enemy is unknowingly accomplishing God's will, just like Joseph's brothers when they sold him into slavery. What they mean for evil, God means for good. The true church is being sifted right now. If we can rejoice in one thing, it is that the fence is becoming too high to straddle. The light is seen most clearly in the darkness. Let the church of Jesus Christ arise and be salt and light in these dark days. What a wonderful time to be a Christian. The specter may be at the door, but we've no need to fear. As G.K. Chesterton once said, “We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man's terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God.”

1. Skousen, W. Cleon. The Naked Communist: Exposing Communism and Restoring Freedom (The Naked Series Book 1)  

2. https://www.businessinsider.com/we-need-to-defund-police-reduce-budget-spend-social-services-2020-6

3. Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals (p. 36). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

The Idol of Self

    Remember the days when news outlets actually reported the news that was relevant to our lives? Yeah, those were good times. However, the media has now become a propaganda machine for Marxist politics and perverse ideologies (which go hand in hand btw). Yet here I find myself reporting on this very "news". The difference is that the mainstream media for the most part provides nothing but a monologue. They exist in an echo chamber, and even a basic dialogue with reason and truth will expose the lunacy of their position.

    The latest media darling is Pop singer, Demi Lovato. Did she make the news for winning a Nobel Peace prize or discovering a cure for cancer? Of course not. Instead, she recently made headlines for telling the world that she now identifies as pansexual. I know that we will sleep better tonight knowing this information. If you're unfamiliar with what a pansexual is, it's someone who is sexually attracted to people regardless of their gender identity. It used to be called bi-sexual. However, this term no longer works because in our 21st century brilliance we have discovered dozens of other genders. Lovato recently told Joe Rogan on his podcast that she is "so fluid (sexually) now." She also took a shot at her Christian upbringing by claiming that she was "like, super closeted off." The truth is that absolutely nobody cares about whether or not Lovato is a pansexual. If the headlines were honest they would read, “Pop Singer joins resistance, shakes her fist at God”, that’s really what this is about. However, the most disturbing thing that she said, which is really the catalyst for this blog is, "I love accepting myself." As if this is some kind of human virtue. 

    Let's take a moment and examine her statement about self acceptance. Is accepting ourselves a virtue? Would it ever be proper to not accept ourselves. What if a child molester proudly shared with the world that he is a pedophile? He admits that he has struggled with guilt for years, but now he is finally free from the restraint of conscience and has now accepted himself for who he really is (it will happen soon enough). What sane person would applaud such a thing? Some might argue that I am comparing apples and oranges when it comes to pansexuality and pedophilia. However, once someone abandons God's objective standard for what love and marriage are (one man, one woman, one lifetime), then they effectively lose any objective standard by which to define what love and marriage are not. 

    To further investigate this point, let's look at another extreme example. What about Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator that ordered the extermination of over 6 million Jews? What he did was not only legal at that time, but it was also socially acceptable. Hitler was proud of what he did. Even a rudimentary study of his writings, or the accounts of those closest to him would attest to this fact. Was Hitler right for accepting himself? We all know the answer to that question. Some might ask how I could possibly compare Lovato's pansexuality with Hitler's genocide. Most would say that these two things are beyond comparison. While I won't attempt to argue that point, that's not the point that I'm trying to make. The issue here is found in one word, standard. Lovato find's herself acceptable by her own standard, and Hitler found himself acceptable by his own standard. In other words, both Lovato and Hitler are/were law unto themselves, the producers of their own standard of righteousness and truth, and essentially their own god. By abandoning God's objective standard (The Scriptures), Lovato would have absolutely no standard by which to condemn Hitler or anyone else for anything. She can't plead consensus or legality because it was the legal consensus in Nazi Germany that Jews were less than human and deserved death. This is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Living our lives without the foundation of the knowledge of God and his created order reduces a person's worldview to absurdity. 

    While these ideas certainly seem more prevalent in our day, they are as old as Eden. The very first lie that Satan ever told was in Genesis 3 when he told Eve that she could become her own god by disobeying the true God. This modern day form of relativism is know as "existentialism". The most well known proponent of existentialism was French Philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. One of his most popular sayings was that "existence precedes essence". Sartre wrote, 

"What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world—and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist conceives him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself."1

    In other words, Sartre taught that people are in control of their own destiny. The pen is in their hand as they write and create the story of their life. If Lovato claims to be a pansexual, or an alien from the rainbow planet, nobody can argue with her. The danger of this worldview is that is devalues human life, because if someone doesn't have the capacity to produce an essence (i.e. those with a mental handicap, downs syndrome, babies in the womb, etc.) then they are just an existence, or as Hitler referred to them in his T4 project, "life unworthy of life". Human value comes from the fact that we are all created in the image of God. Once a society abandons the reality of God, then human life is devalued.  This has always led to horrific consequences historically. 

    Another danger of this self-accepting existentialism is that it sees absolutely no need for repentance. After all, it was the Pharisees that bragged about their own self-righteous superiority (they were the ones that plotted the killing of Christ). This world view is a breeding ground for narcissism and entitlement. This is the exact opposite of the gospel message, that all people are wicked and sinful in the sight of a holy God, and that God calls all people everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. 

    In conclusion, many times it's easy to applaud those that the world applauds. It's easy to get caught up in the emotions or fads of the day. It seems all too natural at times to get caught up in the causes that are championed by the world. I mean, it just sounds so good that someone would "accept themselves". Who could argue with that? Just remember that Satan made the only thing that would bring death to Adam and Eve more desirable than the perfect life that they had. This sexual rebellion is Satanic and needs to be exposed. None of us need to cast off the restraint of conscience and accept ourselves for the sinners that we are. We need to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we do this we can accept who we are in Him. We become accepted in the beloved, children of God and the bride of Christ. Any other self-acceptance is idolatry, a worship of the creature more than the Creator. The gospel of grace sets men and women free from the penalty and power of their sin, it does not affirm them in their slavery.

1. Jean-Paul Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism,” trans. Philip Mairet, in Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre, Revised and Expanded Edition, ed. Walter Kaufmann (1956; New York: Penguin Group, 1975), 360. . Sartre, “Existentialism is a Humanism,” 369.