Understanding the Times and Connecting the Dots by Brian Ganges

Understanding the Times and Connecting the Dots

We are living in an age and in a time where events are happening so rapidly and in such an unprecedented way that it becomes difficult, at times, to decipher the world in which we live. 1 Chronicles 12:32 teaches us that there was an Old Testament remnant of God’s people (the tribe of Issachar) who were skilled with discernment in understanding the times; and today is no different. God has not left the world without witness regarding the end times and understanding of the media melee of information and disinformation that exists. If you are a Christian, then you should have a Christian worldview (Romans 12:1-3). The world has a secular view and unfortunately, many in the Church do too. This doesn’t mean that they are bad people; it simply means that they have been trained to think that way. I am here, in part, to provide what Anton Ego (the food critic from the cartoon movie, Ratatouille) desired: perspective.

Perspective is your point-of-view, your angle or your way of regarding a situation. I believe that I am one of many in God’s army that is anointed to help inform people to see the world for what it is and not for what they think that it should be or what it is perceived to be. For far too long, we have been fooled by Madison Avenue public relations firms, spin doctors and political correctness; while the Spirit of God is living on the inside of us. Paul said that “we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11) and we shouldn’t be fooled any longer.

We have been given dominion over this planet (Genesis 1:28), and more specifically this nation. If we (as the salt of the earth and the light of the world) are going to be successful in understanding the times and enforcing our God-given dominion, we must realize a few things. First, we must be cognizant of the fact that we live in a physical world that is influenced by spiritual laws and beings. Although unseen to our naked eye, these beings (God, the Author of good; and the enemy, the author of evil) exist and we see their effects upon our lives and the lives of others on a daily basis. Recognizing and operating in this mindset, quite simply, is called discernment: the ability to comprehend that which might not be completely understood by our five senses. Second, we have to accept the truth as reality. Things in the world may not operate the way they use to or the way we thought they were supposed to; but we have to see things for what they are and move forward. We can no longer rationalize the truth away with incoherent arguments, hope and denial. Third, we must be willing to understand, to admit, and to accept that our way of thinking is or might have been wrong. None of us is perfect, and we should all strive to learn and grow, but if we are not humble enough and teachable, then we raise the risk of walking in continued ignorance. Fourth, we have to understand that just because we are good people and we want to help people, doesn’t mean that everyone else’s motives in the world are good. There are bad people in the world who are selfish, mean and conniving; and there are good people in the world who have a skewed view of the way things should be. See people and their motives for what they are. Remember, people were burned at the stake and labeled as heretics because they believed that the earth was round. Some people have some strange beliefs, but if we have our roots in Christ we will always flourish. Fifth, we must realize that when we are philosophically going to a destination, we must know our current location. If we don’t know where we are, then we won’t know how to get to our desired destination; not to mention that it’s easier to be led astray by others if we are not familiar with our surroundings.

Many people are not interested in the masses understanding what is going on, and many people will tell us outright lies. Why? Because in darkness is where evil is bred; and confusion hides understanding and truth. Jesus told us to let our light shine and shout the Good News from the rooftop. So know if people are hiding the truth or constantly using public relations ads and politically correct rhetoric, just know that a big snow job is coming. You can also discern the situation by the Word and know who is the source of the deception; Jesus said that the devil is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Look at some of the following quotes by some very famous people (past and present) about how they deceive people.

"Television was our chief tool in selling our policy."—Richard Haas, President of the Council on Foreign Relations

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."—George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States of America

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.—Vladimir Lenin, Russian Communist politician & revolutionary (1870 - 1924)

“Our job is to give people not what they want, but what we decide they ought to have.”-Richard Salant, former president, CBS News

"News is what someone wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising".--Alfred Lord Northcliffe (1865-1922) was a British newspaper pioneer who revolutionized magazine and newspaper publishing in Britain

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.--Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States of America

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dare to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell the country for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."-- John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times in 1880

"The average person in the U.S. watches about four hours of television each day. Over the course of a year, we see roughly twenty five thousand commercials, many of them produced by the world's highest-paid cognitive psychologists. And these heavily produced advertisements are not merely for products, but for a lifestyle based on a consumer mind-set. What they're doing, day in and day out, twenty-five thousand times a year, is hypnotizing us into seeing ourselves as consumers who want to be entertained rather than as citizens who want to be informed and engaged. We need to take back the airwaves as a sphere of mature conversation and dialogue about our common future."--Duane Elgin, "On Simplicity and Humanity's Future, IONS, Noetic Sciences Review, December 2002

As you can see, there are some very powerful people who understand the times; and they know that in order to carry forth an agenda that may not be to our liking, they must attempt to blind us from the truth. From Scripture, we know who the enemy of the truth is.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.—2 Corinthians 4:3-4

I am just one of many workers in the Lord’s vineyard (1 Corinthians 3:7-9), crying aloud and sparing not (Isaiah 58:1) in the midst of political correctness and the constant barrage of bickering amongst the political pundits. Regardless of anyone’s political affiliation, if you are a lover of Jesus, then your first allegiance is to the Word of God, and NOT to your friends, family or race. Think about it…….Christ declared that we are salt (a preserving agent of righteousness) and light (that which dispels darkness); and if we are not being what God declared us to be, then what are we doing? Who will be that salt and light? Shall the rocks cry out? Things have gone south in this country because the salt has lost its savor and in many instances the world is trampling us under their feet; yet the Bible teaches us that the enemy and his way are under our feet (Luke 10:19). Do you see how things can get out of control when we don’t take our proper role in society? Everyone won’t be as active and as vocal as I am, but we all have an obligation to be informed so that we can inform others, choose righteous leadership and ensure that righteousness reigns at the local, state and federal levels (Proverbs 29:2).

I have been around politics and politicians most of my life. I have met mayors, a governor, and interviewed U.S. Presidential candidates on my radio show; and I can say with 100% certainty that a lot of politicians are no smarter than you and me. That is why we have to check them and make sure that they are working for us, regardless of gender, race or party affiliation. Although many may feel that politics is boring and a waste of time to follow, we must remember that politics governs many aspects of our lives. Government regulates our banking system, education, insurance, commerce, determines taxes, and so much more. So it would be to our advantage to make sure that we understand what is going on and know for certain if the news media and politicians are telling the truth or putting their public relations spin on things. We must make sure that we are represented by people who have a vested interest in equality and righteousness in the civic arena. What good is it to know that something has happened, but we have no idea if or how the situation will affect us, our family, and our friends?

For example, in today’s big news stories, we have been told that the economic downturn was caused by irresponsible people taking on bad mortgages from unscrupulous lending institutions. This is only a thimble full of the reason why this situation happened. But the media and the politicians will tell us otherwise. I am only using this as an example because the faster we can get a true grasp on the reality of the affairs of the world, the faster we can stop finger pointing, hating our enemies (the opposite political party), and be leaders and right the wrongs in this nation’s policies. But we MUST start seeing passed east and west, black and white, rich and poor, democrat and republican, so that we can see the big and clear picture.

Well, I am here to do my part, and I hope that you will join me in doing your part in spreading the Good News in the Halls of Justice however God leads you. Live well.

BRIAN GANGES is a contributor to the forthcoming,

The Soul of a Man. Learn more about The Soul of a Man at http://www.peaceinthestormpublishing.com/.