The four winds are held back

But not for much longer...

Four mighty angels hold back the powers of this earth till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. The nations of the world are eager for conflict, but they are held in check by the angels. When this restraining power is removed there will come a time of trouble and anguish. Deadly instruments of warfare will be invented. Vessels with their living cargo will be entombed in the great deep. All who have not the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of Satanic agencies, but they are to be kept under control till the time shall come for the great battle of Armageddon.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:967 (1900).

Brick Wall

Anita. I thought, if there was any perfect girl, she was the one. The One. Before her it was The Ex I upheld as the embodiment of virtuous femininity.

The Ex had a finely honed sixth sense, that much touted Womanly Intuition, that made her “just know” that I liked Anita, even though I already had her. So she got jealous and nasty about it. Lastly we broke up (that was the first time). From then on all our fights became irresolvable the minute Anita was mentioned. I refused to cut ties with a friend whose friendship preceded my teenage years. The same jealousy and suspicion was leveled at my then long-distance best friend. Ultimately I maintained my friends and eventually I lost The Ex.

Anita and I remained just friends, despite the lengthy “we’re both single now so *nudge-nudge* whadja make of it” phase.

You know the type of just friend: someone you really admire, fiercely desire and consequently spend much time around, hoping that something will develop. But the passage of time yields only talk and laughter and naughty mutual friends. Lo and behold! you get a sister, whereas you secretly sought a very different type of love.

The fact she’s spiritual only reinforces your intent to “do it right,” to avoid the kinds of seduction scenarios depicted in romance novels targeted at the female adolescent demographic. No, rather, setting your eye on the long term prize, you put your best foot forward, and lose the battle, to win the war.

One of those naughty mutual friends, Oti, opines with arrogant confidence that your approach will cost a funeral – yours. This is the twenty-first century. “She’s a woman.” Winks.

You rebuke him: “She’s not like that! She’s different.”

“Different what? Different woman! Still a woman.”

“Oti shut up Oti and go away Oti.”

He sniggers, shrugs, and immediately goes to meddle with the heads of some comparatively less attractive albeit more easily impressed girls. Let him have the low-hanging fruit. Let him let us climb the tree for the biggest ripest fruit on the highest frailest branch.

Clinging steadfastly to your own tactics, you refuse to listen to detractors who would lump your One with the common herd. Slow but sure will do it for you. The race is not to the swift etc. More talk, more hanging out, more sharing, more! More! Something’s about to start happening!

No, nothing’s going on, and you know it. She’s, like, your sister now, remember?

But something happens, say some random thing you did, that unintentionally shatters the whole idea that such a person as The One exists. For an instant a breeze separates the curtains and you catch a glimpse of backstage...

Patience

Our heavenly Father owns everything and everyone. But He loves us so much, He gives us everything. From breath of life to daily bread, from family to friends, talents, achievements, health, strength, wealth, wisdom, everything. He did not even hold back His only begotten Son.

And even then, GOD does not compel us to love Him, He leaves us free to see, to choose for ourselves.

But man sought after many devices. Not content with the provision of the Omnipotent, man lies to himself in many ways that he can supply his own needs better then the LORD can. Man, individually and collectively, aspires to the glorify himself. The pride and conceit that accompanies such unsanctified ambition is only the more tragic for the shortsightedness of it. Man behaves as if the grave has not already put paid to the vain ambitions of countless generations preceding, as if judgment does not await ahead. Much foolishness derives from a limited, dim conception of the truth, a failure to think things through to their latter end, a "live-in-the-moment" philosophy that refuses to look further down the road. 

Satan (father of lies) wants man to view sin versus righteousness as a numbers game, a kind of democratic poll whose outcome GOD must be subject to. But the truth is that wickedness will be completely eradicated from the universe.

Our GOD owns everything and everyone, even though evil appears to reign on earth. But the kingdom rightly belongs to GOD, who will give it to the saints, as it was meant to be right from the beginning, right from creation.

Patience! It is only a matter of time before Justice restores what rebellion misused.

Patience! We shall understand it all someday.

The Perfect Sacrifice

LORD, we are vile, and full of sin,
We’re born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall
Corrupts his race, and taints us all.

Behold, we fall before Thy face;
Our only refuge is Thy grace:
No outward forms can make us clean;
The leprosy lies deep within.

Nor bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor earthly priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.

Jesus, Thy blood, Thy blood alone,
Hath power sufficient to atone;
Thy blood can make us white as snow;
No other tide can cleanse us so.

- Isaac Watts

Desensitization

Danger inches ever closer
until the endangered species
risking fate
learns to live with it.

The risk of harm
remains as high
as when first
it appeared.

Thrill replaces fear
while life on the edge
dices with death
until safety bores.

Quite naturally
sleeping with the enemy
ultimately culminates in
dying in his arms.

Strange but Overheard

My brother bought a he-goat at an auction during last year's camp meeting, most likely for the fun of it, to win a bidding war. His winning bid eventually turned out to be good value for money, far beneath goat market price. The goat lived in Grandma's compound for a year, grazing and being a frisky randy generally undiscriminating he-goat, like the rest of its kind. But its life was brutally cut short one night when unknown people slaughtered it and stole its meat. So clean was the job that only its bones were found, but "a zasbec was abbri-ended."*

The case is still current, despite the owner of the goat (my not-so-little lil bro (he's actually taller than me by now)) seeming more amused than annoyed by the whole scandal, even though that theft effectively ended his short humble stint in the league of livestock owners.

Anyway, fast forward to our chance meeting with two local stalwarts of the drinking den, who were either eyewitness to the drama following the slaughter, or had gleaned enough from the grapevine and embellished it with an active enough imagination to paint a vivid picture.

Upon setting sight on my brother and I, these two offered their unique idea of commiseration in a lengthy rambling dialogue.

"It's not the first time such a thing has happened. The thief should not have been caught."

"Catching the thief was the most foolish thing those people did."
"That one, they beat him a little, but it would have been good if he died."
"If it was another village that thief's carcass would be collected on the highway by police."
"He was lucky! I'm telling you, if you had been the one who got caught slaughtering other people's livestock, not even far, in just the next village…"
"You are talking about slaughtering livestock! You don't want to know what they did to me in Kano when I was on my way to the market and I saw a ram entangled in the bushes and I just had pity on it."
"Bad idea."
"I was beaten so badly that I forgot about going to the market and went back home. The lucky thing is I had my own cow with me so they reasoned I couldn't steal their sheep while I had a whole cow. That's what saved me. Anyway they still beat me properly."
"Nobody will believe you were helping their ram even if it was near death."
"Nowadays when I see domestic animals entangled in the pastures I never try to release them! Instead I remember the beating with which I was beaten."
"Elsewhere they kill thieves."
"The other day one man woke up in the morning and killed his wife. Now what manner of killing is that? That kind of killing is not good."
"That one woke up craving to kill, just bad luck that he found his wife nearby..."

As they went on and on, meandering between deathly subjects, I wondered how they distinguished good killings from bad ones.
___

* - "zasbec was abbri-ended" is police talk for "suspect was apprehended."

Rap Battle

Sundry rappers stepped forth
purporting to run this city.

Each maintained an entourage
Their shiny trinkets swung like pendulums.
Their egos swelled like hot air balloons.
One feared their dancers were boneless.
 
All in quick succession spat venom. 
First came a quick talker with a mic
who claimed the love of all the fans
except of course the haters.

His successor took to the stage
opening with a salvo of insults,
blended curses and abominations
wrathfully declared.

A third loquacious character joined in
citing gangs, drugs, guns and bullets.
His drummers paused briefly for gunshots
before he mentioned his army of women .

A fourth jumped up barking orders
for hands to be thrown up and screams to resound;
Her sick flow massacred the audience,
and she was proud of the death toll.

Diss track pursued diss track,
And though they strove for supremacy
they certainly didn't run this city,
no, not at all.

You-nique

Somewhere out there
There is no other you
except, of course, you
Just like everybody else
:)

Pearl goes to the park

We had too much time on our hands, after lunch and light shopping. Every languid step we took declared "No hurry in Africa at all, none whatsoever!" We talked as we walked, too close for far too many passers-by who stared at us. "This town,"  I joked, "is so conservative that our chemistry is setting off alarm bells." She was surprised we had chemistry.

By this time we were inching our way back to her place. At least that was the general idea. But as we passed by a public park, its open entrance seemed to invite us. Shady trees swayed in the afternoon breeze as if they were beckoning "Come!". We took a detour, walking off the pavement and onto the grass. Indecision briefly reigned as we were faced with a range of trees under which to sit. Finally we settled under one where we could talk privately, just the two of us.

Not that I expected much heavy talk at first. My mind was loitering back and forth between a football tournament I would be missing, and a project I was to begin working on. But, once seated, the quaintness of the scene awed me. There we were, passing time in a park, enjoying the breeze, the grass, the sunset, one another's company, the sounds of our voices, while all around us the world was hastening on to urgent work. Might as well enjoy it, after all, it couldn't last.

We talked about ourselves, our people, our fragments of shared past. Hours went by in this easy way. But all too soon it was time to leave, work called her away.

(It seems like parks agreed with Pearl and I. The only other time we disclosed ourselves to each other so liberally was at a park. I don't know too many people who could sit at a park and actually enjoy it.)

Romance etc

Looking into my introvert mirror I am forced to wonder where my cynicism towards love came from (I have been avoiding the topic). Out here on the internet I collected a clue: men act like realists whereas at heart they are hopeless romantics. Ladies, meanwhile, pretend to be romantics, but their inner instinct is realist to the core. (In other words, men love romantically, with all the ideals in place and all. Women love realistically and pragmatically.) Once I read this it became clear: there is the source of my cynicism, in so many words. I had already subconsciously suffered the truth of it, long time ago, though it never matured into active thoughts until, wandering on the internet, a kindred spirit brought it to life on his blog.

Emotions and hormones complicate women's realism for them, so realism is not always a straight, coldly calculated strategy on their part. They acquire the romantic's outward mannerisms and deportment. It's called bait, because like attracts like, therefore a man is drawn to a pseudo-romantic woman. No, really.

Romantic overtures are commonly regarded as such when they conform to the common rosy-colored feminist Hollywood format, whereas "it's the thought that counts" gestures far outweigh that other stage-managed circus.

Now see how this mind game plays out. A Kenyan girl, or a girl from anywhere, will stand up and declare "Kenyan/wherever men are not romantic at all! So unromantic." The emotions accompanying this announcement will nearly condense into tears. Remember it's a mind game, therefore the nearest Kenyan man who has always been far more romantic (think "affection" not "flowers") than the girl ever will be, he invests some kind of effort to conform to her plastic definition of romance, notwithstanding the fact that his ardent strength of feeling merely lacks any instrument strong or big enough to accurately measure it. But at the same time (remember, it's a mind game!) no man will openly confess to being a romantic, so, in order to preemptively save face so the boys don't rib him about it, they collectively imprudently surrender the label Romantic to the female party, who take it and run with it, and then at opportune times they jump up and lament in male hearing how unromantic Kenyans (or Africans, or humans, as the case may fit) are.

A man could be staring into a potential partner's gaze while hers is trained on his bottom line, real or potential. Her eyes are looking at you, but her mind's eye is guessing how many zeroes, give or take. But I half-joke. It's not commercial like that. Just concretely appreciating the depth of that article I read.

Feast of Tabernacles

Camp meeting week is always the most tiring week in the year for me. Very little sleep and so much work, and I mean physical exertion type of work behind the scenes to make everything tick. Still I love it. The whole day from dawn to midnight is a revelation. Maybe its the fellowship with believers. Maybe its the way everyone involved decides their daily bread can be put on hold for a whole week of worshiping GOD. It's amazing the unity that shared faith brings about, the sacrifices people are ready to make in faith are stunning. Then there's Bible study. Never a week passed by that I did not learn something new, or came off with my library enriched somewhat by the literature evangelist at hand. Singing in the choir is always uplifting. The company of my fellow church youths lend an air of comradeship to the occasion, and the selflessness that's evident everywhere is disarming - people looking out for ne another and helping out, sharing freely, without expectation of reward. I can accurately predict that come Saturday sunset I will be sad to return to the real world, because the end of camp meeting week saddens me. People do not live like that any more. But what am I saying, it's only Sunday! It begins! so much to look forward to. By GOD's grace I pray this one will be more than merely enjoyable, certainly the times are perilous, and the flesh is weak.

Looking back

Pretending to chase an enemy that fled,
I fled the fighting, fooled everybody,
and vanished into jungle foliage,
cutlass aloft, to hack away at
shrubs and snakes and
the imaginary enemy.

Soon I felt, the more I ran
the more I would have to run,
and for what? From what?

Looking back, the enemy is me;
The war is mine.

How to Warm the Bench

Life is full of ups and downs. A bit like football. Sometimes you’ll be on form and sometimes you’ll be in a slump. Injuries will come and heal. The coach will gain or lose confidence in you for reasons good and bad. As such, one’s skill set is not complete if all one knows is merely how to play the game perfectly. One must also be well acquainted with the skills of warming the bench, be it the substitutes bench or reserves bench or even Perennial Benchwarmers’ Bench.

I know what you must be thinking: “What could be so hard about just sitting there on the sidelines and watching the match? Fans do it all the time!” But for a player, it is not as simple as that.

 

A player on the bench is somewhat more invested in the outcome of a game than a fan. Even if their leg is broken and their foot is in a cast, they are itching to get on the pitch and make an impact. That is why, sometimes, in replays of scoring chances gone bad, you see the entire technical bench, including the coach, all subs and reserves plus the first aider, shooting to their feet to grasp their heads, their hands framing anguished facial expressions. But this is no way to warm the bench.

One must sit still. Unfortunately, equanimity is a forgotten art in this fast-paced, melodramatic twenty-first century. In order to warm the bench, it is best to position one’s center of gravity precisely perpendicularly above one’s sitting base, and limit movement to the turning of one’s head as the ball traverses from the opponent’s half to one’s own half and back.

It will help to have teammates alongside you on the bench who are of such a peaceful disposition, and to keep commentary at an austere minimum.

Resist the urge to abandon the bench and run to the corner flag to celebrate goals with on-field teammates. This will defeat the purpose of warming the bench entirely.

With any luck, if by the end of the match you have not been subbed in for tactical reasons, you will have successfully warmed the bench by quite a few degrees. Just sit still.
___

PS: Of course metallic benches are colder at the outset but more agreeable to conducting heat from the body into themselves, as such they get warmer, faster, but are just as quick to lose that heat. Wooden and plastic benches, on the other hand, will present greatest resistance to all attempts at bench-warming. But once they get warm they’ll take a great deal longer to cool down again. A bit like women.

The Complete Revolution

Talk of revolution has become a hot topic worldwide. You can hear it in the disaffected speeches of prophets of doom, conspiracy theorists and assorted opposition figures.

In fact, every political party's manifesto is revolutionary in tone and intent. "Vote for us and we will reinvent the wheel, everything will be perfect!" It seems to get us every time, even after the evidence repeatedly confirms that the joy of victory does not far outlive the celebrations, and whatever improvements follow are quickly taken for granted.

Generally the revolutionary's rhetoric promises heaven on earth. "If we uproot this order of things we will establish utopia." Catchphrases like "liberty, equality, fraternity," (or "human rights" of late), inflame the hearts of many. Rabble-rousers at the head of revolutions get people to believe that fighting for peace and tearing down for progress are logically sound ideas. Only one thing these people choose to overlook: their highfalutin ideals have been tried before. There is nothing new under the sun.

Our minds lack the capacity to appreciate what a complete revolution would look like. That must be why we are willing to lend a listening ear every pretender who promises paradise. We are so accustomed to difficulty and hardship that anyone who promises marginal improvements in health, happiness or life expectancy seems like a Godsend. Therefore marketers get away with peddling perishables as the solution to eternal bliss.

But the only complete revolution is one in which everything is perfect: there are no bad people, no bad outcomes, no "unforeseen circumstances"... we can not even picture it! A world in which everyone has everything they need, loves everybody else, nobody is hustling to make profits or take advantage of another, all can spend their time doing whatever it is they really want to do. Inconceivable! In which there are no dangers to defend against and nothing to be afraid of, thus, no padlocks, no fences (literal or social),  no CCTV,  no weapons, no prisons, no police, no armies, because there is no need for all these things. No deaths, no funerals, no tears, no pain. We have never seen such a thing, and can not begin to understand it, because nearly everything we have known our whole lives would be missing.

Yet GOD has promised just such a total revolution of this sin-wrecked existence we live in.

Revelation 21

{21:1} And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 
{21:2} And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
{21:3} And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 
{21:4} And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 
{21:5} And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 
{21:6} And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 
{21:7} He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

{21:8} But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Football Parables

Before I got swallowed into the belly of the World Cup mania, I was concerned about reports of strikes in Brazil. Certain citizens were unhappy about the cost of hosting a World Cup while the state of healthcare and education were neglected. Promises of infrastructure and other community benefit couldn't mollify these discontents, and they seemed to be justified come D-Day. Eventually, after many protester-police face-offs, when the teargas cleared, the World Cup kicked off.

World Cup protest grafitti by Paul Ito. Image from rt.com

Come the semi-final and Brazil's national team was thrashed 7-1 by Germany. There were people crying in the stadium as it happened. I felt bad for Brazil as well, especially in the light of the protests that preceded the tournament. Probably the protestors had been shamed into quieting down their consciences and supporting their home country. They would certainly lose out on social infrastructure, but they could gain some national pride - if they won. The World Cup trophy could be some sort of consolation for all their troubles. But all the consolation they got was a consolation goal in the semi-final.

To my point: what gives sport the right to have such momentous consequences? "Sport" is supposed to be fun, entertainment. In my head it has connotations like "jest," and associations with "play." But it goes and becomes so costly, so tragic for the losers that you wonder. With millions of dollars spent for a gold trophy at stake, it looks like the sibling of gambling. Then it begins to make sense that the risk-reward prospects find willing takers.

I'm speaking from experience as well. My own Sunday League adventures in the district league featured a 4-0 loss just last week. We put in so much, all teams in the league, but the winner takes all. Cruel.

I would be remiss to neglect the massive profits to be reaped in the commercial side of the World Cup. Official sponsors market their products through such events. "Buy our product and pay for the World Cup!" (Not exactly in those terms of course.) But from the perspective of the average Brazilian citizen, the carnival roared into town and moved out with their school, road and hospital.

What could have been

Elsewhere I wrote at length about how much I enjoyed John Milton's books, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, with riders forewarning how the English used in it is simply ancient. So you can imagine my disappointment when I heard that plans were shelved to make a Paradise Lost movie. They said the visual effects required to film that one were going to push up its cost and make it unprofitable. (Funny, that never stopped 'Avatar'.)

Profit was the motive, which assurance failing, rendered the whole enterprise useless in the producers' eyes. But what a wonderful chance for evangelism was thus lost! How about if they had lost a few million dollars ad gained the kingdom of heaven a few million souls? Then they'd have had treasure in heaven.

Nevertheless, it was going to be made in Hollywood, and big-name movie stars had been cited in leading roles. At this, two alternative scenarios cross my mind.

FIRST. If I have learned anything from watching Hollywood adaptations of Christian narratives, I wouldn't trust Hollywood with such sensitive foundational doctrines as the origin of sin, the war in heaven, the creation of the world, the temptation and fall of man. Judging by one enthused critic who declared that it was going to be a cross between Lord of the Rings and 300, sublime spiritual subtleties would be sacrificed in favor of a haze of dramatic special effects, battle scenes, cinematic acrobatics. Out with Milton's incisive wit, cue arrogant quips, for the trailer. Any number of unbiblical teachings would have made their way into the movie. (Look at the recent Noah movie for comparison.) For example, early on, "Paradise Lost the movie" assumed a "sympathy for the devil" shade in critic's opinions. Therefore the very real possibility is that Hollywood's Paradise Lost, if it ever came to fruition, would have been, like so many movies out of Hollywood, a disguised ode to Satan.

OTHERWISE, it could be that Hollywood took a real good look at Paradise Lost and realized that no amount of ingenuity could transform it to anything other than the powerful evangelism tool it had the potential to become. Even if it had been heavily adulterated into a gore-fest, it would have forced them to address the great spiritual WHY of the fighting, even superficially. It would have excited curiosity-relevant-unto-salvation in its viewers. For all its faults, Paradise Lost (the book) paints a vivid picture of the love, righteousness and truth of GOD contrasted with the pride, wickedness and lies of Satan. However we (should) all know that Hollywood is not about the kingdom of heaven. So, because a kingdom divided against itself can not stand, Hollywood scrapped Paradise Lost movie altogether.

These thoughts above are what I think. Otherwise the nearest I've come to a scripturally sound audio-visual reconstruction of events culminating in the fall of man was Cosmic Conflict by Amazing Facts. The visual effects, script, and acting fall far short of Hollywood capacity, but they did their best and shared what light they have. And it's real bright light, I tell you!

Escoffier on Modernity and the Embarrassment of Christians

My online wanderings led me to a article on Dalrock's blog, to which reader Escoffier submitted the comment that follows below. (I am not the first to post this comment as a standalone blogpost, just sharing with whosoever happens upon it here.) In short, it is an exposition of the paradox of embracing both labels "modern" and "Christian", and the compromises it leads many unwary into making. Enjoy! Learn!

***

I want to add a supplementary / alternative reason to explain this embarrassment over the text of the Bible. It’s been touched on but not really fleshed out.

That is, that these nominal Christians under discussion are all moderns first and Christians second (if second). Worse, they don’t even know they are moderns, or what it means to be a modern, or what modernity is.

Modernity, to say the least, conflicts with the Bible. It was designed to, on purpose. Yet it has been so successful in taking over nearly all conscious and sub-conscious thought that hardly anyone any more recognizes it for what it is. That includes most contemporary Christians, to whom “modernity” is simply synonymous with “reality” or even “morality.”

There’s a particular strand of modernity that’s particularly relevant here, namely historicism, and specifically rational historicism (as opposed to radical or irrational historicism). This is the idea of “progress.” “Progress” is cooked into the original conception of modernity, but it came to take on a different meaning much later. Originally, it more or less just meant “We can improve the material condition of man on earth; human beings have a lot more power than either the Bible or classical philosophy will admit.”

Rational historicism takes this idea much further and posits a unidirectional progress, which is worked out through impersonal forces (the so-called historical dialectic) over which man may be an unwitting instrument, but which he didn’t design, doesn’t direct, and can’t control. “History” is nonetheless rational, moving “forward” (with occasional, necessary steps back) to ever-“better” states and eventually to an end state in which all dialectical conflicts are resolved, all moral and political problems solved, and final wisdom achieved (if not necessarily accessible to all). In pop-culture terms, the Star Trek universe is basically the cartoon version of this end state.

Nearly everyone today believes in this “arc” at least in a simplified way. The present is believed to be inherently more enlightened that the past. We Don’t Do That Anymore Because We Know Better. And the future will be inevitably more enlightened than the present.

The source of this impression is ultimately perverted or corrupted or mistaken philosophy, but one does not need to have studied philosophy at all to have been affected, even “convinced.” The astounding success of modern natural science and its offspring, technology, serves to “prove” to such people that “progress” is real and that the present is superior to the past. Technological progress is assumed to be coeval with moral and political progress.

But it is never explained why this should be so. Actually, certain modern philosophers did try to make such a case, but they hardly proved it and their case is open to serious theoretical difficulties which have been pointed out by other philosophers. However, that whole dialogue may as well never have happened as far as the average modern person is concerned. He is simply unaware of it and takes on faith that the present is morally superior to the past.

This, then, is a significant source of the embarrassment. The modern Christian (modern first, Christian second) is embarrassed by the evident conflicts between his nominal faith and his actual, if unconscious, modernity. Modernity trumps. So the offending Scriptures have to be dealt with one way or another. There are many possible ways: insist that it doesn’t say what it seems to say, come up with Rube Goldberg interpretations to square it with modernity, call it “metaphoric,” say that it was right for that time but not our time, and so on. The latter is a kind of “Living Constitution” framework for the Bible. It assumes that God has left to us the task of “updating” Scripture as the “times change.” The changing of the times is held to be the true constant, and really the true God, but only implicitly.

Of Touchlines and Final Whistles

I've got many other failings, but I LOVE football.

I mostly watch football so that I can play better football. (Subsequently this ongoing World Cup should leave me ten times better.) Thinking about football is the thing that once made me stare so dreamily at the horizon that my nearby friend thought I was fantasizing about some girl, and asked who that girl was. I laughed the question off as my thoughts soared back to football heaven. 

The opportunity to play football is what justifies my patience with a coach who always strives to humiliate me. My love for football is bigger than my hatred of his behavior, so I play football no matter. I respect the guy, I love my team mates, I prefer the left wing, we are unbeaten five games into the district league... What's to cry for?

But - there's always a but. There's got to be a limit to my love for football. There's a time for everything. Priorities change. One day I'll have to hang up my boots for good (instead of buying ever more pairs!) and that day, as I can already foresee, will be an extremely sad day for me, whether it's tomorrow or many decades hence. But even before that, in the immediate short term, I am heavily invested in football playing in terms of time and resources; and I can't help but wonder... is this thing destroying or helping me? But my favorite practice shorts have the word "Believe" stitched into the embroidery, so I do just that.

The one thing I am anxious for my soccer playing not to destroy is my walk with God. For it would be better to enter into life without a soccer career, than having a soccer career to be cast into hell. These thoughts have occasioned many struggles of conscience so far. Pending their resolution, I prefer the left wing despite being right-footed. And I don't appreciate the final whistle, since I can never seem to have enough of running around the opposing right back and making his outpost an ever-turbulent succession of breathless doldrums.

Dear Readers

I struggle to see to it that this "Life and Times" blog is neither a slough of despond nor a jeremiad of unending lamentations. But what material does the world give me? Ridiculous miscarriages of justice multiply left and right. Bright notes of optimism turn out to be hype and hot air. The world is ending. Will this blog be that place that anaesthetizes readers with distractions? It would be like watching cartoons while the house burns down around me.

Kenya could Learn from Libya

Elsewhere I posted about my severe disillusionment with the international system and its diplomatic framework. Recent events in Kenyan politics have brought these things to the fore of my mind once again.

It is said the Cold War ended when the USSR disintegrated and the Berlin Wall collapsed. Of course by now we have moved past the subsequent rhetoric of multilateral international order in the 90s. And everybody knows how the War on Terror has shaped subsequent power dynamics - you are either with them or against them. 

Despite this illusion of progress, the eternally primary "national interest" motive for diplomats representing international powers has never changed at all. Whereas the war between ideologies is presumably over, dominance is an ideology all on its own. And we can see nations striving for dominance in traditional military and economic spheres and in areas that were never before considered, like electronic spying.

Here we are in Kenya, proud of our geostrategic importance and keen to fully exploit it for Kenya's best advantage. If only it were that simple. The prestigious Western suitor and the practical Eastern suitor are interested as well, they have wooed and wooed and could very well come to blows by proxy. "All's fair in love and war" they say. From the look of things we have officially taken sides and the jilted lover is bristling with jealousy/revenge. Combining this diplomatic minefield with the various tribalistic tripwires that pollute our politics, we have a potential bloodbath in the works.

Am I being alarmist? No. I have simply seen what happened to Libya, following what was declared to be a popular revolution of citizens against a tyrant. The only winner of that war has turned out to be the foreign power. Granted, there were probably a few valid democracy-minded activists involved in the Libyan resistance. The existence of that singular squabble provided enough leverage for globalist sharks to put a foot in, fund and arm mercenaries to bring down the government, destroy Libya's society. Then they donned the executive suits and corporate colors of investors and arrived to reconstruct the oil industry. 

Kenya! We have collectively refused to repair our tribalist rifts, we have disguised them as party politics to avoid addressing the quagmire. How much easier would it be for a like minded rapacious looter to prise open Kenya's cracked national edifice and reach for the resources beneath? On the basis of our tribal politics alone there will always be discontents lugubriously milling around, ready to mingle these intractable squabbles with actual governance grievances. Let such remember: should foreign powers decide to get involved and champion their cause, the outsider's primary interest will be their own - to the exclusion and detriment of all but the most brazen sellouts.

Drawing Lines

Let us temporarily move our minds beyond the alleged tradeoff between being single and lonely, or being in a relationship and bored. (Admittedly it is debatable.)

Putting that aside, I have a theory. Single people tend to be rigid in their opinions. Once they've made up their own mind, that's it. On the other hand, being in a relationship compels one to be flexible and open minded to a certain extent, in order to accommodate the other's opinions, tastes and preferences. 

This reality opens one up to all sorts of compromises that one would have never otherwise contemplated. Commonly referred to as "love conquers all," we have all seen the phenomenon of lovers ditching ideological stances, personal principles and even entire religions in the name of love.

It has happened to me enough times. For example, my taste in music and choice of viewing have been significantly influenced by exes, friends, the company I keep. On my own I am cautious of being seduced by pop culture. Even certain so-called "gospel music" don't cut it no more, mostly I'd rather let my thoughts soar through silence and naturally occurring ambient noises. If something "hot" comes up, you will catch me scowling at the screen moments before I change the channel or switch it off altogether. But put me on even the most casual setting with an acquaintance and the pop music will eventually bob my unwilling head as the visuals charm my hypnotized eyes. At long last all resistance is laid in the dust and the old joints will bust spontaneous moves.

I for one have resolutely taken the extreme view: unless I meet someone who is as strict (or stricter) about what they allow themselves to listen to or watch, guarding my own mind will be a losing battle. Since two shall become one, be not unequally yoked. Compromise must come with relationships indeed: however certain lines must be drawn as mutually inviolable or else two can not walk together.

Children's Laughter is Love

Love pops up when none seeks it
interfering with mundane routines
throwing predictable patterns into disarray
so that jaded old veterans giggle like kids
like tickled toddlers screaming out mirth,
futility!
Attempting to exhaust interminable laughter
through toothless mouths extended wide;
tiring from the effort but laughing still,
laboriously suspending this stanza of chortles
just in time to inhale barely enough air for the next,
convulsing like a live wire act all the while
infecting all with at least a smile...

Love is uncomfortable delight.

Hiding in vain

I have wished that nobody knew me,
then there would be no expectations;
or dreamt that all forgot my name
and called me whatshisface;
but even in that obscure limbo,
the LORD would still know.

The Origin of Sun Worship, Trinity, Babylon and Sunday Worship

(Copied wholesale From a facebook post by Riverton Meadows SDA AY)
 
Satan's church had its beginning at Babylon with the construction of the Tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar by the River Euphrates many generations after the deluge. At the time of the construction of Babylon at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-4), mankind had multiplied and spoken one language. Cush who was the son of Ham and grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:1, 6), helped to plan with his son Nimrod, a blueprint by which to rule the world of humanity through a wicked counterfeit religion. Nimrod was the originator of sun worship and founder of Babylon. A Bible translation called the Targum says, “Nimrod became a mighty man of sin, a murderer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord.”

The beginning of Nimrod's evil plan had its origin at Babel which was later known as Babylon. This city of Babylon with a tower “whose top may reach unto heaven” was built by Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:4). Tower of Babel. They called the tower “Babel, the gate to heaven,” but God called it what it was which was, “Babel, confusion,” for there God confused the language of the people which forced them to scatter. This heaven defying group of people wanted one government to rule the world and one religion to sway the hearts of mankind. This was Satan's attempt to defy God and His authority and the ring leader of his scheme was Nimrod. But God came down and stopped this world wide rebellion at Babel, in defiance of His command for mankind to replenish the earth (Genesis 9:1) by confusing their language into many languages so they could not understand one another's speech. Mankind discontinued the building of Babel and were scattered to different parts of the world (Genesis 11:8-9).

Nimrod had a plan to weld together and strengthen this evil religious system and so he married his own mother who was Semiramis. She was the first deified queen of Babylon and Nimrod was the first deified king. Semiramis was as wicked as her son Nimrod, and as much sold out to Satan and devil worship as did he. Incest was used here as a basis to unite this newly false religious system. Nimrod and his mother/wife would be greatly used by Satan in the following centuries to send countless millions and even billions of souls to hell.

Satan's plan was to develop a counterfeit, opposition system of religion to attract worship away from the true God of Heaven. This false system had its sacrificial plan just as God had a plan of sacrifice. But Satan's pagan worship required the offering up of human beings, which was often the sons and daughters of the worshipers. A counterfeit holy day was instituted in honor of the sun god, (Sun-day) and this was designed by Satan to rob God of his peculiar authority as the Creator of the universe as designated by His Holy day the Sabbath.

Have you noticed how occult symbols are typically reversed? Example: The occult symbol for a cross is an inverted cross. Most have never noticed that God uses the 6:1 principle. That is, you have 6 of something normal and then on the 7th something special happens. Example: God created the world in 6 days and the 7th is a special day of rest and worship. Crops were grown for 6 years and the 7th year the land was rested. Slaves were kept for 6 years and were to be set free on the 7th year. There are 6 weeks from Passover to the 7th week being Pentecost. There are 6 months from Passover to the 7th month being the Day of Atonement. Bible chronologists say we are currently approaching the end of 6000 years since creation and if Christ returns at the end of 6000 years, we will then have the 7000th year being the 1000 year millennial reign. (See Revelation 20:1-15) So 6000 years + 1000 years (millennium) = 7000 years. None of this is by chance and is God's plan. Observe the days of the week below.

Sunday Day 1 
Monday Day 2 
Tuesday Day 3 
Wednesday Day 4 
Thursday Day 5 
Friday Day 6 
Saturday 7th Day Sabbath
 
The first six days are normal but the 7th day is the “Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Remember that the occult uses the reverse symbol or is the opposite (in opposition) to God. So if Sunday was Satan's plan for a day of worship, and we have seen historically that it is, then his week would be the reverse of God's week. Instead of being the 6:1 principle it would be 1:6. As seen from the table below, this is the case and so it is not just two days side by side. It is the occult equivalent and this is not by chance but Satan's choice.

 Sunday Counterfeit Sabbath 
Monday Day 2 
Tuesday Day 3 
Wednesday Day 4 
Thursday Day 5 
Friday Day 6 
Saturday Day 7
 
We are fast approaching 6000 years (last generation now) and if Jesus comes at the end of 6000 years we would then have a 1000 year Sabbath. A thousands years a day just as God said. 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Six days work and the Seventh day rest. This Earth's history may end up being a mirror image of the creation week but with a thousand years to a day. That would put a whole new perspective on the meaning of the Sabbath now that is for sure. 6000 years of working and a 1000 years of rest. God does love doing things in numbers!

Nimrod's and Semiramis' followers plunged so deeply into sin and the occult that they even sacrificed babies to Satan in their worship of him. This became a common practice until Shem who was one of Noah's three sons and the great uncle of Nimrod, in his anger and wrath killed Nimrod and cut him up into small pieces as an example to others not to commit such abominable sins and not to follow such evil religious practices. (Shem was a godly man and it was through his seed the Messiah would come.)

Alexander Hislop in his book The Two Babylons said, , “the Tower of Babel was actually the worship of Satan in the form of fire, the sun and the serpent. However, Satan worship could not be done openly because of the many who still believed in the true God of Noah. So a mystery religion began at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret.” – Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, 2nd American ed.(Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1959)

Because of Nimrod's death, the followers of Nimrod and Semiramis were stunned and experienced much grief. Their religious hero was dead. They were afraid to continue in their worship of Satan for fear that what happened to Nimrod would also happen to them, so a mystery religion developed at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret. This is exactly what is happening in these last days. Satan is using mysteries and deceptions to deceive people into thinking that they are worshipping God when they are actually worshipping Satan.

For a short time the practices of this counterfeit religion ceased but Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, had a brilliant idea of how she could successfully revive her and Nimrod's pagan religion and give it a new form. It was not long after the death of her husband that Semiramis became pregnant. She said that when Nimrod died that he went up to the sun, and the sun then became a symbol of Nimrod. She told the people that a ray of the sun had come to her and impregnated her with a child and that it was actually Nimrod coming back in a reincarnation of the sun god. The child was called Tammuz and these three were worshipped as the personification of the sun god, and this is where we find the three in one trinity doctrine originated and is where the first three came into existence. This mystery religion was nothing more than Satan worship. Read the pagan origins of the trinity doctrine for more.

“The trinity got its start in Ancient Babylon with Nimrod - Tammuz - and Semiramis. Semiramis demanded worship for both her husband and her son as well as herself. She claimed that her son, was both the father and the son. Yes, he was “god the father” and “god the son” - The first divine incomprehensible trinity.” – The Two Babylons; Alexander Hislop, p.51

So Semiramis proclaimed that her husband Nimrod was a god, and she as the wife of Nimrod was a goddess. She then announced herself to be “The Queen of Heaven” and that she should be worshiped as such. She claimed that her spirit was the moon and when she died she would dwell in the moon, even as Nimrod was already in the sun. What a devilish brainstorm inspired by Satan!

Satan was laying the foundation for every system of falsehood and error the world has ever known. They took the truth of God and turned it into a lie and “worshipped and served the creature (on a wider application also includes Satan) more than the Creator.” Romans 1:25. This system of paganism, while professing to be the true religion, is actually devil worship. It professes and claims to be the truth of God but in reality it is Satan's masterpiece, the “mystery of iniquity.”

As Satan's church gained momentum, Semiramis pushed this satanic religious order underground. The followers of this counterfeit religion had to take secret oaths. The secret societies (some unscriptural lodges of today) thus had their beginning. The confessionals and priesthood were set up. The followers of this pagan religion confessed their sins to their priests. (what church continued this unbiblical pagan tradition?) See also 1 Timothy 2:5, Luke 5:20-21. By so doing, Semiramis could control her followers and exercise lordship over them. She boldly and brazenly proclaimed that she and her priests were the only ones who understood the mysteries of God and that they were the only possible way to God. Because of dedication to and fear of this false religious system, the followers of this religion fearfully complied.

Semiramis and her priests of Satan were deep into the occult, magic and illusion. They were masters of lies and deception. Everywhere there were statues or idols of this mother/child cult. Semiramis was soon hailed as “The Queen of Heaven” (Ashtarte). Her symbol became the moon and her husband Nimrod, was called “Baal” (the “sun god”) and his symbol became the sun. The city of Babylon was the seat of Satan worship until its fall to the Medes and the Persians in 539 BC. At this time the Babylonian pagan priests left Babylon and went to Alexandria and Pergamos. See who is the beast that has the number 666 or the origin of 666 for more.

It should be noted that the majority of the Babylonian pagan priests went to Pergamos more so than Alexandria, so for many centuries after the fall of Babylon, Pergamos became the new seat of Satan (Revelation 2:12-13), but around 129 BC, opportunity arose for them to leave Pergamos and go to Rome and thus Rome became the final seat of Satan where he set up his church, and hence sun worship, which was practised on Sunday, was most prevalent in Alexandria and Rome by the time of Christ.

Church historian Socrates Scholasticus (5th century) wrote: “For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries [of the Lord's Supper] on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” – Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, ch. 22.

So Baal worship was in full swing. It caught on fast and spread to many parts of the world. In Egypt, Semiramis became known as “Isis”, “The Queen of Heaven.” Nimrod became known as “Osiris”, the husband/son, and frequently called “Horus” (the sun god). In Phoenicia, Semiramis and Nimrod were worshipped as or known as Ashterath and Tammuz; in Greece, Aphrodite and Eros; in Rome, Venus and Cupid, and in China, Mother Shing Moo and her child.

When the cold season began every year, they believed their sun god was leaving them. It was on December 25th that they noticed the gradual return of the sun god. So they called this day the birth of the sun. Tammuz was hailed as the son of the sun. He was idolized and even worshipped and the first letter of his name became the symbol of sun worship. Human sacrifices to the sun god were offered on this initial letter made of wood, known as the cross “T” and this “T” for Tammuz is also the true origin of Catholics crossing themselves. His birthday of December 25 was honored more and more. Satan worked many years before the conception and birth of the true Messiah to counterfeit through sun worship His miraculous conception and birth. Satan succeeded many times in leading God's people into sin and pagan sun worship.

The true date of the birth of Christ is most likely between July and September but since the exact date of Christ's birthday was unknown, it was suggested, “Why not call it the same date as the birth of Tammuz, which was December 25?” This was the time when the sun had reached its lowest point on the horizon and started back up into the heavens and so the sun god had come to life, so to speak. So gradually December 25 came to be known as the birthday of Christ. The Papal Church finally instituted a special mass on that day, “Christ's Mass,” and so December 25 became “Christmas.” The yule log burning in the fire followed by the green tree lit with candles all came from the pagan worship representing Nimrod being dead, while his spirit still lived on in the sun and was alive again in Tammuz his son.

Jesus was crucified and resurrected in the spring of the year near the time of the moon festival. The devil was at work once again to bring the idea of having a celebration at the same time as the heathen but calling it “in honor of the resurrection.” And in regards to the worship of the moon goddess Semiramis, the so called queen of heaven. The cakes to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN were round and on them was cut a cross in honor of the sun god, and they were offered to the queen of heaven and today we call them “hot cross buns.” (Read Jeremiah 7:16-18). The forty days of “weeping for Tammuz” became Lent and at the close of Lent came Easter Sunday. The prophet Ezekiel was shown even greater abominations. (Read Ezekiel 8:12-18). This goddess Ishtar (Easter) came to be known as the goddess of springtime as in “new life,” or as history records it, the “goddess of reproduction.” The pagans would go to some mountain side early Sunday morning and worship this goddess as the sun was rising in the east. They gave themselves to immorality and indecency of every description. The eggs and rabbits were used as symbols of fertility and germination and hence “new life.” It all came into the Church gradually and was all blessed by the Catholic Church and given to the world. And some people wonder why God calls the Catholic Church Babylon!

“The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church.” — An Essay on The Development of the Christian Doctrine John Henry “Cardinal Newman” p.373.

“It has often been charged… that Catholicism is overlaid with many pagan incrustations. Catholicism is ready to accept that accusation and even to make it her boast… the great god Pan is not really dead, he is baptized” — The Story of Catholicism p 37.
As time elapsed, stories spread worldwide about Semiramis and Nimrod as Baal worship was everywhere. (The above information on the beginning of Satan's church and its unscriptural practices is found in The Two Babylons, by Rev. Alexander Hislop) In his book he has composed a list of names adopted in other parts of the world that can be traced back to Semiramis and Nimrod in one way or another. The list of names are as follows:

SEMIRAMIS or Ashtarte NIMROD or Baal the sun god
Cybele (Goddess Mother) Asia Deoius (Asia)
Fortuna (Pagan Rome) The Boy Jupiter (Pagan Rome)
Isis (The Queen of Heaven) Egypt Osiris or Horus (Egypt)
Isi (Goddess Mother) India Iswara (India)
Venus (Rome) Cupid (Rome)
Ashterath (Phoenicia) Tammuz (Phoenicia)
Aphrodite (Greece) Eros (Greece)
Irene (Goddess of Peace) Greece The Boy Plutus (Greece)
Ishtar (Babylon) The Winged One (Babylon)
Rhea (Mother of Gods) Orion (Constellation)
Diana (Ephesian) Bacchus (God of Party going) of Ancient Greece
Shing Moo (Holy Mother of China) The Centaur (Greece)
 
Satan pulled it off well as he had the whole world trapped into some form of Baal worship. The entire world had lapsed into polytheism (worship of many gods or idols). Mankind no longer desired to serve the true and living God and to accept His scriptural plan of salvation. (Romans 1:18-32).

Around 2000 BC in Abraham's day, Baal worship and its pagan rites had so permeated the human race that God called Abraham out from it to be the progenitor of a nation of people (the Israelites or Jews) who would be instructed by God through Moses and the prophets to be a shining light and an example of godliness to the heathen nations and reveal to them God's scriptural plan of salvation (Genesis 11:26-12: 1-5; Exodus 19:5-6; Hebrews 11:8).

The Jews were greatly blessed by God as His chosen people, who were to serve as His representatives of godliness to those heathen nations who had become entrapped by paganism, to evangelize those godless nations and to show them God's love. The Jews were repeatedly told that if they were to sin by serving other gods, to depart from the Lord and fail God in their mission as His representatives to those nations trapped in Baal worship, the Jews would suffer terribly at the hand of God and be dispersed into all the nations of the earth. (See Deuteronomy 4:1-40; 6:14-18; 7:6-26; 8:6-20; 10:12-20; 11:1-28; 12:28-32; 29:16-29; 30:11-20).

Before his death, Moses foretold that after his death the Jews would disobey and turn to other “gods” to worship and serve them (Deuteronomy 31:27, 29; 32:16-29). After Moses' death, Joshua took command and led the children of Israel across the River Jordan into Palestine. The Jews were ordered to exterminate the Canaanites of the land because they were so wicked and so deeply involved in the evil practices of Baal worship, and to take the land as their dwelling to be used for the glory of God in leading the ungodly nations to God and His plan of redemption. The Jews took the land and exterminated some of the inhabitants of the land but not all. The Jews here had already begun to disobey God. They soon became weary in their conquests of Palestine and stopped fighting. Soon afterwards the Israelites departed from their worship of the Lord and started to worship and serve other gods as Moses had predicted. The Jews soon became so involved in Baal worship and its pagan practices that some of them even sacrificed their children to Satan.

Because of their disobedience to God's command to be faithful in their worship of and service to the true and living God, the Jews would have to suffer. On many occasions God allowed the children of Israel to be captured by their enemies and to be persecuted. When the Jews cried out to God in sorrow for their sins, the Lord delivered them. The Lord raised up Judges to secure their deliverances. After each time the Lord brought about the deliverance of the captured, suffering children of Israel, the Jews would plunge back into sin and Baal worship. As time passed the Jews became even more involved in pagan worship in spite of God's warnings and chastisements. God raised up prophets to warn the Israelites to repent or suffer more. Prophet after prophet was raised up for that purpose and many of them were executed by the Jews. In 722 BC the ten Northern tribes were captured by the Assyrians and scattered never to return, and in 586 BC the Babylonians captured Judah and Jerusalem. This was the third time Babylon came up against them but this time brought about their total destruction as everything was torn down. After the Babylonian captivity in 539 BC at which time Babylon had fallen to the Persians, the Persians granted the Jews in Babylon permission to return to Jerusalem.

Many Jews did return to Palestine during the years 539 BC, 457 BC and 445 BC. Others doubtless returned between those years and after 445 BC. Read also Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy. In 70 AD the Romans under General Titus captured Jerusalem and persecuted the Jews. The Jews final dispersion took place at this time. After 70 AD, the Jews had been dispersed into all the nations of the world to suffer. Nearly all nations who had received Jews eventually turned on them and persecuted them. The Jews have been the most hated and persecuted people in history and have suffered more than any other people. They disobeyed God and they had to suffer as God said they would.

When the Roman Empire was in power during the earthly life of Jesus and during the early Church period, the Roman Caesars were to be worshipped as gods. The early Christians were persecuted by the Romans because they would not bow down to the pagan Caesars. Satan directed this persecution of the early believers in an effort to stamp out Christianity. But instead of wiping out Christianity, persecution resulted in its growth! As more Christians were put to death, more and more Christians rose up to replace them. Satan saw that his directed persecution of the early believers would not obliterate Christianity so he moved to attack the Church from within instead of from without.

Satan devised a plan by which he would lay the foundation for and establish his own counterfeit church. Under Satan's direction paganism would get a new face. Satan would introduce to the world his own version of a “Christian Church.” As was indicated earlier, the Caesars were worshipped as gods. As the Roman Empire was near disintegration, the pagan Caesars did not want to lose their power in controlling the world, so they decided on a plan by which to keep their power and influence in the world. The Roman Caesars simply exchanged their Roman togas for religious costumes. Thus they could control the world's governments and their economies through religion.

After Constantine defeated Maxentius in 312 AD in a battle for the throne of Rome, Satan continued in his clever plan to build his own version of a “Christian Church.” After his ascension to the Roman Throne, Constantine issued his Edict of Toleration in 313 AD to stop the persecution of the true believers in Christ. Under Constantine the Christian Church for a time found relief from persecution. Satan had now temporarily stopped his persecution of the Christian Church from without, but he would now proceed to attack the Church from within.

Under Satan's direction, Constantine set up the “Council of Nicaea” and presided as “Summus Pontifex”, the official title of a Pope. Constantine's job was to mix paganism with a perverted form of Christianity to make his new religious organization look respectable. This mixture of paganism with some of the teaching of Christ was Satan's version of a “Christian Church.” This powerful religious institution would be later used by Satan to send millions of souls to hell and to cause the deaths of many Bible believing Christians.Roman Catholic pagan statue said to be Mary and Jesus but was Semiramis and son Nimrod.

Many changes took place in this Babylonian pagan church. Under Constantine, the pagans were permitted to bring their statues and idols of Semiramis, “The Queen of Heaven”, and Nimrod, “Baal”, “The Sun God', into the Church. The names were changed to the Virgin Mary, “Queen of Heaven” and little Jesus, “The Sun God.” For example: Is this Catholic image Mary and baby Jesus or is it Semiramis, “The Queen of Heaven” and son Nimrod/Tammuz? Note the pagan trident symbol from the head of what is supposedly baby Jesus and that the hand is displayed with two fingers and a thumb prominent, being another way of symbolizing the trident and is a Satanic hand sign symbolic of occult powers. This is also used by high Church officials and priests in blessings invoking the sign of the cross by motioning their right hand with two fingers and thumb casually extended. It is also found in freemasonry of which origins can be found in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church erroneously say that Peter was the first so called Pope of this Papal system but in fact it was really Constantine. So under Constantine as its first Pope, the Roman Catholic Institution as we know it today had its beginning. See also paganism in the Catholic Church and Catholic Church error and was Peter the first Pope.

The Roman Catholic Church grew in power as the people in Rome were again under the priests and each succeeding Pope. Constantine had fifty Bibles made of perverted manuscripts composed by pagan worshippers of Baal from Alexandria. Alexandria was not only the seat of Baal worship but was also the headquarters of the most liberal philosophers. Those wicked philosophers produced their own perverted version of a Bible, and fifty such copies were made for Constantine to be given to the new “Church” over which he presided. The Latin Vulgate, authored by Jerome and based on the above fifty Bibles, later became the Roman Catholic Bible, which was kept from the people so that unscriptural traditions would have greater emphasis in the minds of the followers of the Pope.

The above information can be found in the books, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop and the Angel of Light by Jack Chick. Alexander Hislop in his book also traces Roman Catholic sacraments, ceremonies, doctrines, confessionals, priesthood, etc. back to ancient Babylonian Baal worship. Roman Catholicism is based on ancient Babylonian Baal worship and on the man made traditions of the Church fathers. Catholicism is not based on the teachings of God's Word or on the Scriptural plan of salvation. So we find Satan had a long term plan for his church and sun worship, which was practiced on Sunday, and was initially most prevalent in Alexandria and Rome. From this pagan sun worship came both the trinity doctrine and Sunday worship. Too many people are too quick to write off the fourth Commandment as unimportant when it obviously is. Please read who is the Antichrist for the evidence and watch The god's of Babylon for the pagan origins of the trinity doctrine.