USED AND ABUSED

vain,gospel

 

It’s 3:59 in the morning and I wake up only to lie in bed and think of the Peruvian boy I met the day before.

David couldn’t be more than seventeen, a tall gangly kid with thin body and arms. When I arrived at the Home Depot he was standing outside next to a cart loaded down with very heavy bags of concrete waiting for the man who purchased the material to bring his pickup around to load it up. David was wearing the orange Home Depot apron so I recognized him as an employee right away. As he stood with his back next to the pillar in front of the loading area looking forlorn and talking to himself silently, his lips barely moving, I couldn’t help but think he was praying. He looked to be on the verge of tears or a mental breakdown. I would have stopped then and there but his co-worker stepped into the picture and broke the spell he had on me.

I was there for concrete myself and knew that the eighty pound bags were heavy. I was hand pouring a concrete patio at home, a big one. This was my sixth trip to the store for six bags at a time that I mixed and poured in sections.

I went to the restroom and found David there washing his dainty hands and long fingers. I sidled up to the sink next to his and began talking to him. “You look tired kid.”

“I am, I really am,” he replied in a shaky voice.

Just then a blustery middle-aged man barged in and saw me talking to the young man. He exclaimed, “Don’t listen to the old man, he’s full of crap!” to which I replied, “I’ve seen enough crap in my life to be able to help the young man find his way.”

The antagonist never even looked at me and I had never seen him before. Such aplomb, such gall for him to talk to a stranger like that! But I recognized it as a satanic attack. The man quickly left without washing his hands. I returned to our conversation.

In trying to comfort the young man I asked his name as we walked out of the bathroom together. By now he was practically in tears. I grasped his arm lightly and inquired where he was from. He was from Peru and this was his second job. He had already worked at the Dunkin Donuts today and was beat. David lived with his aunt and uncle and rode a bicycle a good distance to work at both places. He was sending money back to his parents and brothers and sisters in Peru and had to maintain two jobs just to stay alive to do so. His aunt and uncle were charging him rent, and from the look of his gangly body he wasn’t getting much to eat.

I ask him if he was a Christian, to which he replied, “I don’t know.” By now he was beginning to tear up. I told him I would be praying for him, but just then I stopped in my tracks and began praying for him right there and then, since I know how hollow such a statement can be. The feeling was that we so often tell people that and promptly forget it before we get home.

When I finished the short prayer David let out a sigh of relief and thanked me as he appeared to be infused with hope. I suspect he felt better just knowing somebody cared.

I once led a young man to Christ right on that same loading dock where I first saw David. Hopefully, I can do the same for David. He needs a friend like Jesus, “a very present help in times of trouble.” I’m going back to see David today and find out more about his situation. I’ve dealt with these sad situations before. If my hunch is right, I may have stumbled onto something sordid and wrong, something I can help to alleviate.

Years ago when hurricane Ivan struck the Pensacola coast I happened to be there. The house had sustained damage to the roof so I went down to the local greyhound bus station hoping to find some help. There were two young men, one from Guatamala and the other from Honduras who had just disembarked from the bus, looking for work. The very first thing they asked me was if I knew of a Baptist church nearby. I told them I was a practicing Christian and attended a Baptist church. They were Baptist Christians as well, and I took that as a “sign”.

I asked if they had eaten and they said they didn’t have a nickel between them. I took then to the Mc Donald’s directly across the street. I bought them the big breakfast and gave them an advance for willing to work for me. From there I took them to the Salvation Army where they could bed down for a few days and eat.

They worked for me for three weeks, which was long enough for them to find a place to stay. As a matter of fact I took them to the beach where we met up with another couple of fellows and the five of them were able to rent a house by pooling their money. In the meantime, I took them to the church I was attending and they fit right in. All this time I discipled them in the best way I knew how, by befriending them and sharing the Word of God with them since they were somewhat new to the faith.

Later on, other people that hired them often took advantage of them in one way or another, and I had to step in as an advocate for these uneducated men more than once. Finally, the work due to the hurricane petered out and everyone went their own way.

This was one of the most memorable periods of my adult life, and I’m sure they think of me once in a while just like I think of each one of them. For me, this is what the Christian life is all about.

By the way,

The rush of “Christian” movies has dwindled to nothing for the moment. In trying to figure out the reason why, I can only assume that either Christianity is on the wane since not as many people as expected have embraced them and conversions are slim or next to none.

Mel Gibson is busy co-writing a sequel to The Passion of the Christ with the man who helped him write it. This movie, the way I understand it, will be about the ascension of Christ and the Acts of the Apostles. Given that it is still in its inception it may take as many as two years to get it done and out in the public domain. As good as it sounds and as high as expectations are for it, it may be too little too late for some of us since we may soon be gone.

One final note: How can it be that an alcoholic Catholic is able to achieve such mastery of a delicate subject matter?

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers”         jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and www.theprophecies2016movie.com

I’m right, your wrong…

This is a great poem that illustrates so much of what is going on around us.  Everyone has the right answer, and they love to tell you why.  This is common with ‘one verse” theology, where someone will quote one verse of the Bible and build an argument around it.  Never mind what the rest of the Bible says or even the rest of the same chapter!  Take heed friends and don’t be like the bind men below, use the whole council of God!

 

The Blind Men and The Elephant

 

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the elephant,
And, happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl,
“God bless me! but the elephant
Is nothing but a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried: “Ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal,
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he
” ‘Tis clear enough the elephant
Is very like a tree.”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an elephant
Not one of them has seen!

 
John Godfrey Saxe

APOSTASY BIG TIME

christians,vain

By Jim Torres “Towers”

Today, there is apostasy in the church big time. Not only is there apostasy, but outright hypocrisy as well. I hope you’re not involved in any way with that kind of church. We are all going to have to face judgment one day in the not too distant future and surely you want to hear Christ Jesus say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” not – “What were you thinking??”

The emergent church comes to mind when one thinks apostasy. They preach the prosperity message and meet with one world advocates to subjugate the masses. They even believe that Allah and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are one and the same! It’s a good bet that they don’t know what the bible says on that matter and that, at their own peril.

I’ll leave it to God to deal with those charlatans. My concern is with those who don’t know any better. Those who have yet to hear of Gods loving grace in Christ Jesus and not having been exposed to Biblical truths. These poor people grope around blindly for a reason for being, and are unwittingly being led away by cults, new age philosophies, gurus, and self-seeking messiahs.

I’m just about to name the names of some of these charlatans, liars and wolves in sheep’s clothing so that some unsuspecting person won’t fall prey to their schemes and lies. I’ve dealt with my share. It’s heartbreaking to know that a so-called brother or sister is capable of deceit, but hey, maybe they’re only a cultural Christian, or maybe they are just a misguided “religious” person. Most of these people possess no humility, virtue or morality. You can know them by their fruits, which are avarice, deceit, and pomposity; not joy, peace and longsuffering and telling the truth.

Everyone is different and we should thank God for that. We can often come up with different conclusions about what a certain Bible verse means, but there are certain principles and laws that can’t be misinterpreted. (We also know how deceitful that inner voice can be.) Times a wasting and we can’t be pussy footing around anymore, trying to please everyone. Some are going to be offended no matter what you do or say. Just know what you believe. And what you believe should correlate with Holy Scripture not hearsay or false assumptions. If you are going to be an effective Soldier of the Cross you must know the Word of God. “Study to show yourself approved, rightly dividing the Word of God.”

I can remember once interfering with a Jehovah’s Witness who was witnessing his brand of faith to an impressionable young man at a bus stop. I approached the two people, addressing the JW I began using these Bible verses to quench the evil being perpetrated on this ignorant and vulnerable young man. Jesus said. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father but by me.” And, “There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby you must be saved.” The Jehovah’s Witness walked away in a huff not knowing how to respond and continued to talk to the young man, who listened intently. I just can’t for the life of me be politically correct or apathetic. Peoples’ lives are literally at stake!

Speaking of evil doers; television and movies are coming out with a no–holds barred mentality with their all too often trashy entertainment. It’s hard to find a good movie.

Recently, as an actor I was taken out of a movie for not fondling and groping the leading lady in a raunchy multi-million dollar musical. The director was like a possessed or rabid animal, trying to appear to be important for the cast and crew. He demanded that I grope the popular leading lady forcefully. Having talked to the poor vulnerable young woman beforehand I just couldn’t do it.

Because of this movie’s base content and raunchiness it didn’t do well at the box office, and the company lost millions of dollars. After all, who wants to see men prancing around, singing and kissing one another?

By the way;

I recently viewed a movie written and directed by Angelo Pizzo titled My All American, and I can honestly say (I’m not a football fan) that it was an excellent movie, a true family-friendly one with not one curse word and plenty of action. It is the true story of college football great Freddy Steinmark. This film had it all – except the gratuitous sex scene. This writer/ director is a true artist. The lighting, the dialogue, the music and the editing were all exceptional.

I will be trying to get the actor Finn Wittrock who was in the lead, for my movie.

Pizzo also wrote and directed the Hoosiers with Gene Hackman, one of my all time favorite actors.

If you are looking for a good movie, with true family values, I highly recommend My All American by Angelo Pizzo.

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers” jtfilmaker@yahoo.com and www.theprophecies2016movie.

Israel 1967 Lines

Until 1967, Israel did not hold an inch of the Sinai Peninsula and the West Bank, the Gaza Strip or the Golan Heights. Israel held not an acre of what is now considered disputed territory. And yet we enjoyed no peace. Year after year Israel called for – pleaded for – a negotiated peace with the Arab governments. Their answer was a blank refusal and more war… The reason was not a conflict over territorial claims. The reason was, and remains, the fact that a free Jewish state sits on territory at all. – Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, before a joint session of the US Congress, January 28, 1976

Those who have been paying attention know  that France will convene a summit on 30 May of some 30+ countries and international organizations to discuss how they will move forward the two state solution, with a much broader effort toward the second part of the year.  It is well know that these parameters will be based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 as the basis for a two-state solution, at its core.  That initiative is based on the 1967 lines with a shared capital in Jerusalem.

Most on both sides of the issue in the general public have no knowledge of the events at that time. It is important to understand how the 1967 war started, the causes and the mindset of those involved at the time.  From a purely military perspective, to go back to the 1967 lines for Israel would be suicide, even with guarantees of peace by Arab nations.  Yet this is exactly the position the US and the world is moving to, along with promises that they will let nothing happen to Israel.  Ironically this is a similar position the US took with Israel leading up to the 1967 War.

The Americans on numerous occasions rebuffed Israeli diplomatic appeals, instead of using strongly worded #Hashtags like the current administration.  President Johnson publicly condemned the blocking of Tiran (port of Eliat blockade by Egypt) as “illegal”.  In reality it was an act of war and it only emboldened the Arabs in the lead up to the war.

 

With that lead up below is an excerpt from the fantastic site Six Day War.org.  It will give the reader a much broader understanding of the conflict and why the 1967 lines we hear of so often in the news are absurd.

What was the Six-Day War? Who were the combatants and why did they fight? How did the war affect the region and how did the world react?

Using research and analysis gathered from respected experts in Middle East history, politics and other related fields, this Web site answers those questions; because to understand the literal and metaphorical map of the modern Middle East — the geographic positions held by the region’s armies and the negotiating positions held by its leaders — one must first understand the Six-Day War, and more importantly, its causes and consequences.

This is true not because the current strife began on June 5, 1967 with the outbreak of war — it did not — but rather for the opposite reason: Many of the attitudes and forces that led to the Six-Day War were the same as those that had fueled conflict in the region since even before Israel’s independence in 1948, and are the same as those that still stoke tensions there today.
That both the Six-Day War and the current conflict stem from the same root issues is evinced by two similar statements uttered almost 40 years apart: In 1967, an Arab participant in the war that had just ended described the fighting as “not a new war but part of the old war” from 1948 — the war against Israel’s founding (Associated Press, Lighting Out of Israel, 156). Israeli leaders and pundits would later use a nearly identical description — “a continuation of the (1948) War of Independence” — to characterize the Palestinian violence and Israeli response that began in 2000, the so-called second intifada.

The major factor instigating conflict between Israel and its neighbors — whether in 1967, 2000 or any other time — has been the the Arab leadership’s rejection of the legitimate right of Jews to reconstitute their national home in the Middle East, and Israel’s attempt to cope with the security challenges caused by this rejectionism.

As far back as 1929, when Arab rioters attacked Jewish communities in Palestine and massacred their inhabitants, the civil and human rights of Jews had been under violent attack. In 1948 it became an existential issue, with six Arab armies attacking the newly independent Israel in an attempt to wipe the state off the map.

Again in 1967, in the run up to the Six-Day War, Israel’s existence seemed to hang in the balance. As the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan openly prepared for battle against Israel, and Arab leaders and the Arab “street” called for its destruction, Israel faced frightful choices. “We had already started thinking in terms of annihilation, both national and personal,” explained Lt. Yossi Peled, a Holocaust survivor who was at the time a lieutenant in the Israel army. Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, realizing the immense military challenge that would be caused by an Arab attack, told his cabinet: “God help us through if they hit us first.” Chief of Staff Yitzkhak Rabin had a nervous breakdown, which for a short time kept him from his duties.

Israel’s hospitals prepared for mass casualties, not only from the advanced conventional weapons supplied by the Soviets to Egypt and Syria and by the West to Jordan, but also from chemical weapons, which Egypt was known to have used during its war in Yemen.

The tensions continued to mount while Israel’s Prime Minister Levy Eshkol insisted, even as more and more Arab troops massed on the borders, that diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis be exhausted before Israel would consider military action.

This was the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict before the Six-Day War, or in other words, before Israel ever occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Often, in current discussions about the Middle East, Israel’s occupation is mischaracterized as the primary, if not the sole, cause of the conflict rather than an effect of it. Many journalists, unfamiliar with the relevant facts and context, and mistakenly believing that the starting point of Mideast tensions is the “occupation,” may present flawed accounts that suggest the resolution of the tension can be achieved more or less simply by ending Israel’s presence in the territories. This ahistorical description is found all too often in the U.S. media, but even more pervasively in the European setting.

Outnumbered, Outranged, and Outgunned: How Russia Defeats NATO

The title of the Article is how Russia defeats NATO, I believe it very well could have said the US.  The armies of any one of the countries of the EU are a shadow of their former selves, even collectively as part of the EU they would be no match for a determined Russia.  Article also speaks to the woeful neglect of our own Armed Forces as well abrogating our responsibilities as defenders of freedom abroad (South China Sea).  We have been bogged down by the side shows in Iraq/Afghanistan for so long, we have failed to really see the changing landscape around us, partly due to politics and partly because leadership in the military has failed to make the case.

When asked two weeks ago in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee whether the Army was “outranged” by any adversary, U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley said: “Yes … the ones in Europe, really Russia. We don’t like it, we don’t want it, but yes, technically [we are] outranged, outgunned on the ground.”

Given Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, this is sobering testimony. But is it accurate? Unfortunately, yes: Nearly two years of extensive wargaming and analysis shows that if Russia were to conduct a short-warning attack against the Baltic States, Moscow’s forces could roll to the outskirts of the Estonian capital of Tallinn and the Latvian capital of Riga in 36 to 60 hours. In such a scenario, the United States and its allies would not only be outranged and outgunned, but also outnumbered.

Outnumbered? While the Russian army is a fraction of the size of its Soviet predecessor and is maintained at a level of imperfect readiness, we found that it could — in 10 days or so — generate a force of as many as 27 fully ready battalions (30–50,000 soliders in their maneuver formations, depending on precisely how they were organized) for an attack on the Baltics while maintaining its ongoing coercive campaign against Ukraine.

All these Russian units would be equipped with armored vehicles — tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and so forth. NATO, meanwhile, would be able to respond largely with only light, unarmored, or lightly armored forces. These would consist of the forces of the Baltic republics themselves and those that the United States and its partners could rush to the scene in the few days of warning that would likely be available.

Read the rest of the story here. Warontherocks

The Healey Phenomenon

Or so that is what sportscaster and journalist Cathal Dennehy called her (Phil Healy).  He wrote a superb article which touches on a post we published way back.  That post was on never giving up, giving your all to the very end.  Those of us who have gone thru extreme military training would know what this means, as would athletes around the world.  As a Christian I am reminded by a saying my wife picked up, we should be peaking at our last breath.  Use the video to inspire you to go out there and tackle everything standing in your way.  Usually the biggest obstacle facing us is ourselves.  I hope this motivates you to conquer that and to have a never give up attitude.

 

My favorite quote from the article is “It was also a lesson of hope in the face of overwhelming odds, and a necessary reminder that at is best, nothing evokes as much adrenaline and absolute awe in us as the beauty of sport.”  You can read it here http://jumping-the-gun.com/?p=12297

SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD…

By Jim Torres “Towers”

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you (food, clothing, and peace of mind). That is a heavy statement found only in the Bible. But what does it mean? Is this kingdom like the Disney World kingdom with pink castles and neatly manicured grounds surrounded by blossoming flowers? Do we set out on a white stallion or unicorn in seeking this fairytale land? A place where kings, queens, princes and princesses strut about doing nothing but dressing to the nines? NOT!

A kingdom consists of people and without people a kingdom has no reason to exist. The kingdom of God the Bible speaks of is the multitudes of humanity that are made in the image of God. People are of great concern to the Father of Lights. They are his ultimate achievement. Consider the verse that says, “Let US make man in our image and in our likeness.” Truly God was going out on a limb to make something so precious and often pernicious as mortal man. Even though humanity disappoints Him time and again he reaches out to us through Christ Jesus, and He invites us to participate in seeking His kingdom. Perhaps that is why He so earnestly wants us to scour the countryside, the highways and byways searching for those whom he created, calling them to repentance and a relationship with Him, even though He can and often does this Himself. He has given us the privilege of working for His kingdom and that with rewards!

It’s easy to say that sinners get what they deserve, but do we deserve any better after being saved by grace and grace alone? In spite of this callous attitude, we still want the goodies and we do everything we can to fool God into believing we deserve them. We spin and toil, we teach, we judge, we speak in tongues, we strut and wax pious and, and …ad infinitum. Yet the goodies don’t come, and when they do, it’s not quite what we expected. God only wants what’s good for us. “If we ask for bread would He give us a snake?” He knows our motives as well.

Who knows but what God is lining things up for those of us seeking to do His will. Maybe the Christian person or persons he’s assigned to help you don’t want to comply with his wishes and He has to find someone else or another way to help you. This often takes time. We all know there are lazy Christians, baby Christians and nominal Christians, so He has to scour the Christian landscape to find someone to hold you up. God isn’t into the arm twisting business and He won’t force anyone to comply with His wishes. He gives His people the opportunity and wherewithal to enhance His kingdom, and they are supposed to make the most of it.

Thank God He also gave us a brain to take us as far as we can go, and then some, if we desire to please Him. When we stretch our faith in Him we can achieve remarkable things just on the talent and imagination he’s given us. And remember, when you team up with God, you and God are a majority. That is to say, “If God be for you, who can be against you?”

Maybe it’s a trial or some tribulation that has overtaken you. Remember what Jesus said, “You shall go through many trials and tribulations, but don’t worry for I have overcome the world.” Essentially, this means to do the best you can and rely on Him to see you through in seeking His kingdom. Your eternal rest will come soon enough. So quit sighing and start living. Get involved in the things of God. God didn’t promise us a rose garden, no matter what Prosperity Preachers on television tell you. Jesus said “Take up your cross daily and follow me.” He doesn’t bribe us with the promise of money.

Case in point:

Just when I was feeling defeated, a Catholic friend asked me to have devotions with him one morning as I was visiting. I complied.

Bill read a passage about Elijah and how Elijah was distraught about being hunted down by Jezebel. God spoke to him in a still small voice and said that He still had a number of faithful followers, and that he should take heart. Then God sent his very angels to feed and strengthen him, since no one else would (1 Kings 19:1-14). I too felt abandoned, so I know the feeling. That devotional happened at just the right time for me as I was becoming discouraged myself in what I’m attempting to do for the kingdom of God, with no encouragement or help from the brethren.

On another note:

The movie “Miracles from Heaven” was for me a good, worthwhile movie that enhances the viewer’s faith in God and in the hope of life in the hereafter.

I’m always looking at the overall picture quality and the theology behind the story, especially if it’s a “Christian” film. However, I couldn’t find any faults with this movie except in minor details such as lighting or the band members who were so worldly it made me wince.

Another disturbing thing was that all of the 100 or so members of the audience at the theater were elderly or on their way to becoming so. I counted 12 youngsters who came with their parents or grandparents and 1 young lady in her mid-twenties. Apparently the subject matter wasn’t geared to younger people and it certainly wasn’t a date film. (It’s a known fact in the movie business that young men are the ones who decide what date movie to attend and these are usually action/adventure or fright films.) Middle aged audiences also enjoy these along with political, war, and high drama movies and musicals. My movie is true to life, which makes it thought provoking, dramatic, and intriguing since it incorporates Biblical prophecy as well. This isn’t your feel good football “Christian movie” but is geared to general audiences, primarily the Biblical illiterate and the lost.

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers” jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and www.theprophecies2016movie.com

The Number One Sign Your Kids Are Just Borrowing Your Faith

I came across this article on Prophecy News Watch. It was reprinted from the blog of Natasha Crain, Christianmomthoughts.com.  I reccommend adding both to your bookmarks.

The other day something reminded me of the popular 1993 book, “The Celestine Prophecy” (anyone remember that?). “The Celestine Prophecy” is a fiction book that discusses ideas rooted in New Age spirituality.

The book sold 20 million copies and practically spawned its own cult-like religion, with groups popping up all over the country to study the insights and apply them to life.
I discovered this book when I was fresh out of high school and was enamored by it. The insights were exciting (“there’s a reason for every apparent coincidence!”) and it proposed interesting ideas about spirituality that seemed totally plausible to my young mind.
I couldn’t stop talking about it. I told all my friends about it. I started paying attention to how the nine insights in the book applied to my life. I suddenly felt life was more meaningful.
The problem? I was a “Christian” but it never even occurred to me that these New Age ideas should have been immediately rendered false by the beliefs I claimed to have. My faith was so shallow that the first exciting philosophy I encountered after high school swept me off my feet – without so much as an inkling that it was in conflict with everything I had been taught.

Read more at ProphecyNewsWatch

 

DID WE Christians CAPITULATE?

 

By Jim Torres “Towers”

Just when we reached the zenith of our possibilities to convert the world by reaching out to others with the use of modern day technology, it looks like we surrendered to the enemy. Having had things “our way” for so long we’ve become satiated with pleasure and bloated with apathy.

Now it seems we grovel behind political correctness. Is reaching out to our fellow man a priority or just an afterthought? For all our busyness we barely know our neighbors. There are games to be played and games to watch and drivel from television and the internet to know. It seems we care more about what the Kardashians are doing than what our neighbors are doing, or how the man or woman on the street is doing.

While trying to film some second unit scenes in Miami with my Sony handy cam, I couldn’t help but notice how much Miami has changed over the past few years. Everywhere you look there is a deep dividing contrast between the lower class and the well to do. Beautiful richly decorated shops have opened everywhere downtown in what is now referred to as “The Designer District.” Where once a shuttered storefront stood with childish graffiti covering it, now the graffiti has turned into modern art, rich in color and style, an area where the noveu riche and artsy drug addled people congregate to see and be seen. These same people once refused to venture into this blighted area; they now come in droves stepping over the bodies of the drunks sleeping on the sidewalks. On a Saturday night it’s a scene straight out of Dante’s Inferno. Can you imagine what goes on during spring break on South Beach these days? Chaos!

As I drive by slowly, a young attractive prostitute says “hi” with a come-hither look. Before I reach the end of the block two black drug dealers offer their wares silently, using gestures. An attractive young man is crossing the street and thanks me with a hand gesture and a sugary smile for making a full stop to let him cross safely. Once on the other side of the street he looks back with a come hither look that tells me he is on the make for a price.

All across our country terror reigns on the streets of our big cities with people afraid to go out onto the streets at night. Even some of our smaller cities are beginning to see criminal activity grow by leaps and bounds. Who knows what’s going on behind closed doors.

Years ago a movie entitled “Clockwork Orange” unwittingly foretold what would one day be the norm in our culture. Evil knows no bounds when God is shunned in a society. There are no restraints and people do as they please. Since we are born with a sinful nature we all have a propensity to eventually do evil things. Things like sucker punching an unsuspecting person in a knockout game or shooting others just for the fun of it – shades of Sodom and Gomorrah and the days of Noah! If the Bible is true, then this verse of scripture is surely being fulfilled, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

I wish I could write that all is well with the world and we can go about our business as usual. I’m sorry I can’t “molly coddle” you, since my mandate is to strengthen you and provoke you to action in reaching the lost. Why I’ve been given this mandate is beyond me, after all, I’m a mere common man. But I approach people on an almost daily basis with the Word of God, and enjoy doing it. I have no doubt that there are more intelligent, knowledgeable, strong and capable men out there who could make me look like a pauper. The only difference is obedience.

On another note:

In trying to decide whether to see the movie “The Young Messiah” I read a review that made me decide not to go see it. The movie is based on the novel by Anne Rice, a secular writer who knows little of the Holy Scriptures about which she writes. This movie is total fiction and is derived solely from the writer’s imagination. But you and I should know that, since we know about the life of Christ from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As for you new believers, you will also know the Truth as you study the Bible to show yourselves approved unto God.

It seems that many so-called Christians are jumping on the money making wagon of making “Christian films.” Take for example the “Son of God” movie that starred a strikingly handsome man who goes about smiling at every one as though he hasn’t a care in the world. You almost expect him to pick a flower and carry it in his pinkies as he walks along. The producers, Roma Downey and her husband Mr. Burkett, also haven’t read scripture and make a number of glaring mistakes in the film. They seem to thrive on the ethereal Jesus who walks on water and glides six inches off the ground wherever he goes; a man who seems to be in awe of his very own creation, and that with extreme piety. Maybe that’s the way he is portrayed in the Douay Rheims version of the Bible, I wouldn’t know since I’ve only read the King James, the NIV, The Living Bible and the New King James. In any case, I couldn’t sit through all of it.

In closing I want you to know that if you are going to attempt to do something for the kingdom of God, don’t be surprised by the satanic attacks incurred in doing so. My proposed film The Prophecies 2016 is an example, encountering a number of false starts and lack of interest from the “Christian” community. Sometimes these attacks will come even from fellow believers, so-called friends and even family. Knowing the Scriptures the way we do, we should expect these things to happen. But, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Final note:

Because of a lack of interest on the part of Christians, I have decided to alter my evangelical website to target the unsaved (who are desperately searching for Truth and salvation) and make my appeal for funding on a secular crowd funding website.

Until next time,

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers” jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and www.theprophecies2016movie.com

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