An American Tragedy

By Perry Jones

Our nation stands united in grief. 20 innocent lives have been taken from us – too young, too soon. 20 sets of parents mourn today – and will continue to mourn for long days to come. The pain of loss doesn’t go away, the memory of tragedy doesn’t fade, you just kind of get used to it.

Our nation stands united in a debate, “How?” “What?” “Why?” For these questions there are not now, nor will there ever be any answers.

Today we mourn as a nation, we grieve together, hold each other and many will express their horror, anger and rage as they wonder why this could have happened.

We stand united today – for all the wrong reasons. Instead of celebrating another day of living, we are mourning another American tragedy. Too soon, too many, too frequent.

Today we stand united and it should not be so. We wonder what can be done to prevent such grievous crimes in the future, but we refuse to acknowledge what caused this terrible tragedy today. We wonder how such an American tragedy can be prevented tomorrow, but we do not stop to consider the source, the cause or the reasons for such catastrophes.

20 innocent lives were lost in a small American town, victims of another senseless act of violence in a nation grown weary of such acts, filled with horror when they occur and desperately trying to make sense, when no sense is possible. But this terrible tragedy is only the tip of the iceberg. More are to come.

We are bereft of the foundation of our soul. We have smashed our nation’s foundation of strength replacing it with one of straw. We have eliminated God and Jesus from our classrooms, from our sports, from our TV, from our politics, from Wall Street, from our homes, from our families and from our lives and then we wonder “Why?” when something goes wrong.

The presence of God may not have prevented this terrible tragedy nor may His presence prevent others in the future, but the absence of God is guaranteed to make future American tragedies more likely.

Sandy Hook is a true American tragedy, but we must not let this be the first of many. We cannot compound this tragedy by laying the seeds for many more. We lay these seeds by taking away guns. We stoke the flames of future tragedy by pushing Jesus father away. The murder of 20 innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School is a true American tragedy and we are guaranteed to multiply it if we do not see the face of evil.

Evil came to Sandy Hook. No doubt. Pure, ugly, horrible, frightening, evil. Evil took 20 innocent lives and it will take many more if we do not recognize it for what it is. Many more innocent lives will be lost if we allow evil to use this tragedy to advance its own nefarious aims. Many more will die if we fall under the spell of evil and continue to fall away from the truth of God.

It is only the truth and light of God that can reveal this terrible tragedy for what it is – another move on the chessboard, another piece of a great dark puzzle.

What aims does evil seek? Evil seeks to move us farther away from God, to enslave us, to make us wonder why God would allow this, to make us wonder if there is a God, to make us think that the mind of man and man’s solutions are all that is necessary to solve man’s problems and that science and technology, greed, power, wealth and pleasure can take the place of a hole in your soul.

In short terms, evil seeks to take away our guns so evil can have greater control over our lives, evil seeks to increase the powers of government so that the powers of the individual are less, evil seeks to take away your freedom so that you are enslaved to bureaucracy, evil seeks to make you wonder if God exists so you can replace God with science or pleasure, or greed or wealth; evil seeks to divide this nation on political and religious lines – over the debate on gun control – so that evil will have the power to force decisions upon us all; evil seeks to control, so that you are enslaved.

You must not forget that we are in a great battle between truth and lies, between light and dark, between good and evil. And in this war, the most recent battle has claimed 20 innocent lives. God is asking you to make a stand, here, now, today. Guns are not evil, evil is evil. Man is not evil, it is the evil in him that is evil. Truth is not evil, it is the lies that will swirl around us in the dark days ahead that are evil.

You will be met with obfuscation, misdirection and disinformation. You will hear tears, sobs and cries of sorrow. You will hear voices of anger, rage – and of mourning. You will hear truth and you will hear lies. But, you must choose. To differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, between what is good and what is evil, between truth and lies, you must choose God. And then let Him steer you in the right direction. You must choose God first because the lies of evil are so intricate and craftily interwoven that no human mind can discern where truth ends and lies begin. You must choose God first and build a strong relationship to Him through His Son Jesus in order to steer through the confusion of the coming debate. You must choose God first because if you do not, you choose wrong.

God seeks our freedom; liberty is freedom, words are freedom, a free and open internet is freedom, the right to peaceable assembly is freedom, the right to a fair, speedy, public and open trial is freedom, the right to own property, to farm as you please, to grow what you please, to buy and sell as you please, to be secure in your personal effects is freedom. Freedom is to be free of a government or a police force or airport security that snatches away your rights in the name of peace and safety when the true aim is slavery, obedience, darkness and death. Restrict any of these freedoms, prohibit any of these, limit any of these, take away any of these, make the possession or use of these more difficult, ban any of these and you have traded good with evil, light with darkness, truth with lies and freedom with slavery. Do this and you have taken away the light and glory of God and replaced it with the darkness of evil.

Decide. Take your stand. Choose. Choose good or choose evil, choose right or wrong, choose light or choose darkness, choose. Choose. You will be judged.

How Many More Must Die?

By Perry Jones

What happened in Newtown, Connecticut is not just a local tragedy, it is a national tragedy. It is a national horror perpetrated by a monster exacerbated by a culture and media that glorifies hate, violence, destruction and death.

The thing we should not be discussing, because it is not relevant, but which we will discuss, because people think it is the focus of this tragedy – is guns.

This terror was committed by an individual who used a gun as a tool. The gun was not the weapon, the person was. And behind him stand still others, using him for their own purposes; to steer national debate and the subsequent opinion in the direction they choose. They think to raise the relative threat which remains the greatest obstacle between liberty and tyranny, between what they want, but do not yet have. But as George W. once – erroneously – stated, “Let us not discuss or entertain conspiracy theories.” Indeed not. Instead let us focus on the level we can understand, a level that we all can comprehend, at a distance we can grasp, with voices that can be heard. Let us talk about guns.

There will be those who ask how could God allow this, why did God permit 20 innocent children to die, how could God permit this to happen? But we have separated ourselves from God. We have turned our back on God and filled our society with games and TV shows filled with hate, violence and death. We have taken God out of our schools and out of our politics and then we wonder what has gone wrong with the way we live, what is wrong with our government? And we wonder why our society is a reflection of what we have intentionally created.

We condemn this senseless act of unspeakable horror and we grieve for the families who have lost a part of themselves. Their hearts are torn and broken; the healing – at best – will be long in coming. We condemn this unmitigated act of violence against innocent children, as well we should, but then we go back to our Wii or Playstation or Xbox and play another game of Saw, Black Ops, Modern Warfare or God of War.

Overseas, U.S. drones target individuals while collateral damage – the deaths of women and children – can number in the dozens. George W.’s mercenaries customarily tortured and executed prisoners and drove down Baghdad streets spraying bullets in every direction and then laughed if someone died as a result of their hail of gunpowder and lead.

In Newtown, Connecticut the weapon was not a gun, the weapon was you.

We all share blame – for allowing the evening news to air violent crime, shootings and murders on a daily basis.

We all share blame – when game designers create games in which the winner is the one who has scored the most kills.

We all share blame – when TV shows and reality shows depict assault, violence and crime.

We all share blame.

A gun is not the weapon, we are, you and I, and our culture of Godlessness, indifference and hate; our culture of drugs, disrespect, war and violence and the loss of dignity of ourselves, of our family, our neighbor and our nation.

We all share blame because we collectively have turned our backs on God - and the culture we have become, the culture we see around us everyday – is the result. A nation that was founded on the Judaeo-Christian tradition is now the world purveyor in disseminating violence, hatred and war.

We say that if only we could limit access to guns, restrict gun ownership or ban guns that this tragedy in Newtown would never have occurred or that it will never happen again. But there are no guns in prison, and people die. There are no guns in China but in Tiananmen Square 7,000 innocent college students were killed. There were no guns in Cambodia and 2 million people died. There are no guns in Scandinavia and people die. Why is it that Switzerland, a nation with an assault rifle in nearly every home, has a crime rate so much lower than the U.S.A? Is it because that in Switzerland there is a different culture or that those who would commit crime know that if they were to barge into a school with a gun, rob a bank or grocery store or rush into someone’s home carrying a gun, they just might get shot?

When we remove our schools, our families, our neighborhoods and our politics from God, we can only replace that void with – what? Someone’s good behavior? We see what that gets us. Any criminal with a gun can kill dozens. In Newtown, Connecticut, 20 innocent lives have been taken by a madman; 20 family BBQs will now be less, 20 family picnics, 20 touchdowns, 20 school plays, 20 Christmas trees, 20 home runs, 20 soccer goals, 20 basketball hoops made, 20 birthdays – lost, all lost. Taken by a maniac who sprays bullets from a gun.

When someone comes at you with a gun the best place to be is somewhere else. But if that’s not possible, the next best option is to run. If you can’t do that, then you must fight. If you do not fight and the other guy means to take your life – you lose. If you decide to fight but the other guy has a gun and you do not, you most likely lose. If you fight and you have a gun and the other guy does too, the statistics show that the odds are considerably in your favor. You will most likely survive.

How many of the 20 innocent lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if the principal, when she ran at the shooter with her defenseless body, instead had a gun?

How many of the 20 innocent lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if the school psychologist, when she heard the shooting and came running out of her office, instead of running defenseless, what if she had a gun?

What if any of the teachers who shielded their students with their bodies had a gun? How many of Newtown’s children would be alive today?

A school administrator said she heard the bang, bang, bang of the shots, but she hid under her desk, unable to do anything – because she had no gun. How many of the 20 innocent lives in Newtown, Connecticut would be alive today if you and I had allowed her to have a gun? How many?

The meaning of this tragic event is clear for those of us who are willing to face the truth honestly. If the teachers had guns, those students would be alive today. We must not ban guns, we must not restrict guns, we must not limit guns, we must train how to use them.

When we ask the question of what to do to prevent tragedies of this type in the future, the first step is to do exactly as the School Board of Newtown, Connecticut has done. Train. Implement security measures and train in those measures intensely - and frequently. These measures likely saved many more lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But that doesn’t stop a madman from crashing through a door, that doesn’t stop someone from wearing Kevlar, that doesn’t stop someone intent on murder from carrying an arm full of guns. Nor will any law or prohibition against guns.

When a gunman walks up to a school full of innocent children, what is more likely to make him go away; a sign that reads “All weapons prohibited on school grounds” or a sign that reads “Staff heavily armed and trained. Any attempt to harm children will be met with deadly force”?

Why Would a Loving God Send People to Hell?

Question: Why would a loving God send people to hell?

Answer: God would prefer not to. That’s why He sent His Son, to give us an opportunity to escape hell by believing in Jesus and accepting Him as Lord and Master of our lives.

You can imagine God as the judge at a trial. According to the law of the court, God is allowed just two functions.

One function of God the judge is to read the verdict of the jury. God does not determine right or wrong, He does not decide upon sin or righteousness. That is the function of the jury.

God’s second function is to render the sentence related to the verdict. There are only two verdicts the jury may return with – guilty or not guilty. Again, God’s hands are tied. He cannot change the verdict, he neither reduce nor increase the sentence; He can only render the sentence the law requires.

If the jury decides the defendant is “not-guilty,” God renders the sentence as required by law. If the jury decides the defendant is “guilty,” God renders that sentence.

In this trial, you are the defendant. God is the judge, prepared to hear all evidence and issue the sentence related to the verdict the jury passes to Him.

Jesus is the prosecuting attorney. Jesus will present the evidence. These are all the details of your life. Every thought and deed, every smile and tear, every feeling and every action is recounted to the jury. Every day of your life is recalled and presented to the jury.

In addition to being the defendant, you are also the defense attorney. In a real court, both the prosecution and the defense know all the evidence the other side will present through the process of “discovery.” A preponderance of evidence will tilt the scale one way or the other. In a real court, the strategy of the prosecution or the defense may sway the decision of the jury regardless of the evidence presented. This does not occur in God’s court. All the evidence is presented and neither side may attempt to sway the jury through subtle subterfuges or placing red herring before the jury. All the evidence is known to both sides and all either the prosecution or defense can do is present the evidence as it is.

Because your life is laid bare before yourself, Jesus, God and the jury, everything you have ever done or thought is reviewed and read. All parties know every good and also every sordid detail of your life. Every sin you have ever committed, every good deed you have ever committed are presented as evidence.

You, as the defense attorney, are prepared to present your case before the court. You know the long, or maybe not so long, litany of sins and good deeds you have done. You know all the thoughts you have ever thought and every word you have ever spoken, whether in love or anger. You are prepared to counter every possible argument you can imagine the prosecution will present. You are prepared to counter your sins against your numerous good deeds and relate how your good deeds outweigh your sins by virtue of you being “good.” You are prepared to say that you are a good person, you never intended any harm to anyone; you lived a good life and left others alone to live their lives.

If you are a Christian, you are further prepared to recount how many times you have taught Sunday school, how often you donated your time to preparing for a church supper, the times you spent in prayer with those in your local hospital and how you even presented your testimony of Christ several times. You related how often you have read your Bible and the many times you went to Bible studies. You indicate the life you led was a good life, devoted to peace and advancing the word of God. You are prepared for every contingency the prosecution you may present.

The prosecution – Jesus – has access to all the same evidence as you do. The prosecution always goes first. You know Jesus is going to present this long list of all the sins you have committed, the times you were angry, the hurtful thoughts you felt toward your neighbors, the times you walked by the homeless or poor without offering help. You just know Jesus is going to find every little wrong thing you ever did or evil thought you ever thought and air it before the court. But you are ready. Jesus – as the prosecuting attorney – is also limited to two specific functions as established by the law.

The first function Jesus does is state the charge against you.

Jesus’ next function is to present the evidence that supports the charge.

If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, the trial begins.

As the prosecuting attorney, Jesus cites the several times you have been angry when you should not have been, the hurtful things you said to your spouse or neighbors. You object. The judge asks you to stand and state your objection. You stand and tell the court that you were a good person, the times you taught Sunday school and that one time you sat and prayed all night with a friend in the hospital after a car accident.

Jesus asks, “Have you ever accepted me?”

You have no response, and you return to your seat.

Jesus continues with the time you stole some minor office supplies from work, downloaded a song illegally and took a few dollars from your spouse’s wallet without them knowing it.

You object again.

The judge says “Rise and state your objection.”

“But,” you say, “I have been a good person. I coached Little League, I stayed overtime at work, I always paid my bills even when the economy turned down, I went to Bible studies and attended prayer group.”

Jesus asks, “Have you ever accepted me?”

Again you have no response and you take your seat once more.

Jesus presents many of the good things you did. You have no objection with those. Then Jesus tells of a time when you cheated on your taxes, lied to your spouse and when you told your prayer group you had to work late, but you actually went out with your friends.

“I object!” you say, “these charges have no merit. This evidence is not false, but it is clearly outweighed by all the good deeds I did, I was a nice person, I worked hard, I provided for my family, I went to church every Sunday, I attended prayer groups and Bible studies. I was even a pillar of my community. I coached Little League, served on the School Committee and helped organize the blood drive. I even organized a drive to send care packages to our soldiers overseas and to victims of Katrina. I was a good person and tried to live my life as well as I could.” You continue, “I believe the evidence is clear. Although there are some accurate charges against me, I believe the evidence is overwhelming; my good deeds far outweigh any sins I may have committed.”

The judge turns to Jesus. “What say you?” asks the judge. Jesus turns to look at you and asks, “When did you ever accept me?”

The defense presents its case. You stand and recall every good deed you have ever done, every time you went to that prayer service, the many times you taught Sunday school, all the times you coached Little League and the blood drives you initiated, the care packages you sent, the times you gave money to the man on the corner. Again you tell the judge, “Your Honor, the evidence is clear and overwhelming and only one conclusion can be drawn – I am not guilty of any charges.”

The trial now goes to the jury.

The jury has one sole function. To render a verdict based upon the evidence presented. If the prosecution has dropped the charges, the trial never even gets this far, but if the prosecution charged you with being guilty, the jury must base its decision on the evidence.

The jury has very strict guidelines, in fact, the jury throws out all evidence except one parcel of evidence, “did you ever truly accept Jesus into your life?”

If the trial has advanced to this stage, the jury can come to only one finding. If you have not truly accepted Jesus into your life as your Lord and Master, the jury must find you “guilty as charged.”

The court reconvenes to hear the verdict of the jury.

The judge receives the verdict. By law of the court, the judge has no leeway in the sentence. He cannot reduce a charge for “good behavior,” He cannot increase a charge because someone has been really evil. God can render only the sentence as required by law.

The judge reads the verdict; the jury has found you guilty. God asks you and the prosecution to rise. He passes the sentence as required by law “The defendant shall be immediately bound over to hell.” Both Jesus and the judge have tears in their eyes as the sentence is read. They know you have been given every chance, they know you have had every opportunity to commit your life to Jesus, they know you were presented with choices every day of your life, but you continuously declined the choice of following Jesus. The prosecution, the judge and the jury have no choice in the matter; a finding of guilty means you must spend eternity in hell.

Maybe you thought that - even though you have been a good person and you did not accept Jesus as truly your Lord and Master – you could sway the jury with the presentation of all your good deeds, with the fact that you’ve been a good provider and a pillar of your community. You thought that perhaps all your good deeds would outweigh the sins. You thought that you didn’t have to be serious. But you cannot sway the jury, you cannot influence its decision, it is impossible to misdirect the jury by tossing red herrings in its path. You cannot convince the jury of any conclusion except for the one it has reached because you are the jury.

If you are a child of God, if you have accepted Jesus into your life as your Lord and Master, then when the judge asks the prosecution what charge they are presenting, Jesus is bound by law of the court to state, “I have no charges against this person.” He continues; “the slate has been washed clean by my blood. The prosecution drops all charges against this person; this person stands wrongly accused.” The judge dismisses the case but comes to a finding of the court; “you are hereby authorized to immediately enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” You do so gladly.

Your life is a series of choices. Every day you faced the choice: choose God or choose hell. You knew the options; live in eternity with God or live throughout eternity in hell. You understood the rules, if you choose God, if you choose to follow Jesus, you will spend eternity in heaven. But if you choose not to accept Jesus into your life, you know you will spend eternity in hell.

Every day of your life you make that decision. Maybe you don’t believe in God, but that is a decision. You are making a decision to live throughout eternity in hell. Perhaps you thought religion was just a bunch of mythology, but the choice is yours, take the “myth” and accept or believe in the limited science and technology that your finite mind can grasp. You “know” there is no heaven, you “know” there is no God, no Jesus, you “know” there is nothing beyond this physical universe. You “know” this is all there is. You accept the mediocre everyday routine of your existence “knowing” that this is how it is, that this is all there is, that this is what life is like, and after this, there is death and then – nothing. You “know” this, but you are very, very wrong.

You are limited to the restrictions of the physical world because that is all you understand. Your finite mind creates the parameters of your existence. The boundaries of your life are limited by that which you can think of. That which is beyond the mediocrity of your existence does not exist for you, because you “know” there is nothing beyond this. The goals you set and the goals you achieve are limited to only those you can think of. God says his plans for you are greater than you can imagine, but not for you. The plans and goals you have will always be less than what is possible, because what you achieve is only what you, as a physical person with a finite, limited mind, can understand.

Get Out!

By Perry Jones

Leave the USA! The time has come for all True Believers to get out of Babylon. The United States is Babylon. The judgment has been decreed and is being delayed only until the number of True Believers who choose to leave has been fulfilled. As soon as they are gone, the judgment will fall. The judgment may not fall this week, this month, this year or it may be delayed 200 years, but God is not giving us the option to delay our departure. If you are going, move now! God knows there will be some who choose to remain behind. For those who make such a choice, God will be with you to the end, but you should expect to die.

Take whatever you can, sell everything else, convert it to cash. Use this cash to establish yourself in a new place. Almost any country is good, with some common sense exceptions; southern Europe, the Mideast, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Somalia, etc. If there is any country or place you wanted to visit or move to, now is the time.

Do not count on the US government to continue your Social Security, Medicare, welfare, government pensions or any entitlement program. These all may disappear.

The Rapture is due at the Last Trumpet which comes after the Tribulation. God is calling you now to receive His Protection, otherwise you will share in the judgment that has been decreed for Babylon.

There are some whom God is caling home now. These are mostly children and the elderly. God wishes to spare them the horrors of the judgment, therefore they are being called home now. Do not count on being called home, you are being called to get out.

Remember that wherever you go, Jesus will be there with you and when you arrive He will show you what to do next.