"If I Was Happy, God Was Happy"
The year was 1987. I was sitting at one of the front tables at the Merritt Island High School Class of ’77 reunion. As the senior class president, I was part of the organizing committee and the moment was fast approaching for me to take the microphone and address my fellow classmates 10 years post-graduation.
As I sat there, I focused my attention on the Lord and prayed in the spirit. There was so much that was on my heart to share. So much my eyes had been opened to in the almost 9 years since Jesus had set me free. I had grown up in a typical 1960’s home of an aerospace engineer – my reality was determined by what I could see, hear, taste, smell, touch and grasp with my own understanding. I excelled in school, even completed calculus, chemistry, physics and biology by the end of 11th grade.
For a brief period in 9th grade, due to a traumatic experience, I turned my interest to what I thought was spiritual, even passed my confirmation class with a 109 out 0f 110 on the final exam at the quaint, historic St Luke’s Episcopal Church north of the Barge Canal. My end analysis and thus poor grasp of spiritual realities was that “If I was happy, God was happy!” I was the product of 2 very different family lines/cultures, formed in the crucible of the 1960’s & 70’s – the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Sexual Revolution, the Vietnam War, Middle East Wars, divorce, drugs, and more – with intellectualism celebrated and rewarded.
I Said "Okay"
My world got flipped upside down one Saturday morning in early December 1978, when – as a friend of my sister’s was sharing his testimony – I heard the Lord speak to me. He said, “If you follow me, I will take away your need for marijuana, for cigarettes, for alcohol and for drugs. My response, a simple “Okay”. One little word opened the door to cosmic shifts and my life was radically transformed with all desire for these substances removed. My grasp of “god” suddenly went from being based on my knowledge and understanding to being founded on a real, even tangible, experience of relationship with God, the Trinity, the 3 in One – Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
I went from one reality – one that was presented and supported by the world in which I grew up – to a completely different reality of a whole different dimension and magnitude. As I told one of my best friends at the time, “I found what we have been looking for!” His response was classic and would have been my response had the tables been turned. He said, “I didn’t know we were looking for something.”
My focused shifted from what I could see, hear, taste, smell and touch in this physical world to a whole new dimension of a spiritual reality that exists within the love of an Amazing Father. This new life was so much more than I ever imagined was possible. The old stories, the old explanations, even my previous experiences did not add up. It wasn’t just life without God compared to life with God – I knew there was something wrong with my old reality, that there was something hidden under the surface, if you will. In this transformation, it was as though old, warn, hazy lenses that shaped my reality dissipated and the light, the images – everything I now experienced was fresh and full of life.
So Easily Deceived
There is a significant truth that, even science understands now, regarding how our brains process information and stimuli. Our physical brains actually work together with our souls, taking input from the world around us and processing it according to the framework of our existing mindsets and belief systems. Physiologically, parts of our brain protect us from new information that does not fit our personal paradigm. It is as though our mindsets and beliefs are physically locked in place. This is both good and not so good.
On the good side, we are able to process so much more and hold to a continuity of life that would be impossible otherwise. On the not so good side, defaulting to this process, prevents us from growing and changing in ways that allow us to experience greater relationship with the Lord and each other. It prevents us from seeing through His eyes – from seeing ourselves and what is happening around us as He does. This process allows us to be deceived by what we see, hear, taste, smell, touch and grasp with our own understanding.
Approaching the Microphone
As I rose from my seat at the reunion, heading for the platform and the microphone, many thoughts pressed in to arrange themselves in the queue within my mind:
God’s amazing Love revealed through Jesus, how simple it is, yet, for those who have not met Him, how hard to see.
The current state of things in our country – the effect of the crumbling family culture, sexual immorality, the re-interpretation of our Constitution, Supreme Court rulings about separation of Church and State, and the infamous Roe v Wade “legalizing” abortion.
The decades old schemes of those looking for ways to shut down the freedom of religion so they could live as they desired without conviction that would cause them to feel uncomfortable. Even creating a religion out of humanism…
…to name a few.
I simply submitted myself and my thoughts to Holy Spirit to be led by Him as I shared what weighed on my heart for the 500 or so classmates, spouses, dates, etc. I was quite surprised at the peace that kept me as I took the microphone in my hand and looked at the faces across the room. There was a calm from the anointing and presence of Holy Spirit on this moment. As I began, I shared briefly my encounter with the Lord and then moved on to share about the schemes of man, the silent war that was being waged against us and our nation through educational institutions, social organizations and various media outlets by those seeking to undermine the very foundations of our Constitution. See, our Constitution – the Constitution of the United States of America – is founded on Judeo-Christian principles: principles of faith in a living and engaged God. I went on to share how those who rejected Him have set themselves against America and the Freedom we know so they do not have to face any reminders of accountability to their/our Creator. In 1933, a group got together and created the Humanist Manifesto (it has had a few revisions since – Humanist Manifesto II in 1973 and Humanism and Its Aspirations a.k.a. Humanist Manifest III released in 2003) and they published it with the intent to eradicate Christianity and its influence from our land.
Stepping Off The Podium
While those who created the original Humanist Manifesto were few – it was initially signed by 34 individuals from academia, unitarian religions, science organizations and the like – the plan was to infiltrate and implement these principles wherever possible in American society and culture. Those of such mind may have been essentially shut out of the process of writing our Constitution, but they were (and still are) committed to undermining our faith-based Constitution. Like the Greeks who, after they were conquered by Rome, became the tutors and teachers for Rome’s next generation, these individuals opposed to faith and to relationship with God, infiltrated our education systems, our entertainment industry, the news and other media formats to become our teachers, our children’s teachers and even, the self-appointed conscience of our nation.
After stepping off the podium, I returned to my seat and the reunion activities continued according to plan. As the presence and anointing of Holy Spirit shifted back to a more normal state, many of my classmates came over to respond to what they felt God was doing in them as a result. Fast forward to mid-September 2020, the current state of our amazing USA was weighing heavy on me and as I prayed, my few minutes at that microphone decades ago came back to mind. Sitting on my back deck, enjoying slightly cooler weather and a breeze, I decided to write a few notes, kind of a big picture, about what I have witnessed since I took that microphone in hand. It became very apparent that as we have continued about life, focused on our own pursuits, building lives for ourselves, that the infiltration of this radical humanism has grown significantly – even to the point of a near total legal and cultural takeover. My assessment looks back at our education system as the initial strategic foothold that the humanists secured. Many of our revered institutions – once schools of theology and ministry – have become bastions of this humanist doctrine. Once a generation was raised with their educational influence, it began to spread into other industries.
The Matrix
What you watch on TV is not reality… it is not real life or even true… yes some things are based on actual events but those are skewed into the presentation through the mindsets and belief systems of those creating and producing what is delivered. History is altered, if not in fact, at least in how it is portrayed.
From tv shows – even talk shows & “reality” shows – to movies, “news” programs and documentaries, EVERYTHING IS scripted, edited and produced to show you just what the producers and the money behind each want you to see. Just like in the Truman Show, we are being fed a world created by others to create a reality they want us to see, a reality they want us to live for their own benefit, their personal profit.
This production of a new “reality” is in our education system/institutions and has even made its way into corporate conglomerates and “social media” organizations who now feel like they have the right to censor & shame students, employees and even the general public (the very ones that are the audience creating their cash flow through advertising). It is even in the advertising and in politics, as well.
In reality, the many forms of media that bombard us daily – or should I say, that we allow to penetrate our souls – are like constant infomercials intentionally presenting Americans with an alternate reality programming us in the same way advertisers do. It has been such a long, slow process, such a gradual transition and “brainwashing” that they are able to do this without accountability for truth. These organizations and producers even have so called “fact checkers” that evaluate those they approve/disapprove of based on their version of reality.
Sounds like the Matrix to me… time to unplug, to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes and allow yourself to experience real life – not a counterfeit version of life where freedom is an illusion of doing whatever you want with no personal responsibility.
This is especially true regarding politics. As we approach the 2020 Elections, do not believe the campaign speeches, advertising and rhetoric… instead look at the actions, the historical record.
The Red Pill
There is so much more that can be written on the subjects touched on here. And, maybe I’ll dive into these things in the near future. The bottom line is that it is time to ACT NOW!
It is time to be reconciled to God through Christ Jesus and to say “Search me, Oh God!”
It is time to turn from this world as we know it, to “CHOOSE THE RED PILL”, to unplug from the Matrix, to open our eyes so we can see Heaven’s reality manifested in us and through us here on Earth. This may not be comfortable, and it may not be an easy road. Taking action will not be convenient and will probably mess up your routine. It may mean giving up things that are steeped in Humanism – TV shows, movies, music, news, talk radio, social media, print media, etc. – and engaging deeper with our Father Who Art in Heaven. We are, before all and after all, citizens of Heaven. We are here on earth to be about our Father’s business! We are His ambassadors… YOU are His ambassador!
It is time to quit playing in the culture around us and be the ambassadors of Heaven.
It is time to check in with headquarters.
It is time to take our seats with Christ Jesus and see what Father God is doing!
It is time to rise up in our true, eternal identity.
It is time to lay aside what lulls us into a false sense of security! It is time to return to the life – not cause, not ministry, not career… – of being His masterpieces, His sons & daughters, every day!
It is time to ACT NOW AMERICA!
Blessings of His grace & peace,
Steve
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