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Perspectives in Prophecy
"Examining Opinions in Prophecy and News"
Two More Boats and Another Helicopter
By Jack Kinsella
What does it mean to ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding?’ Actually, the question is answered pretty clearly in the very next verse:
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
It sounds too simple. No wonder I am evidently having so much trouble with it. Since I first floated the idea of developing redundancies using existing social networking platforms, I’ve been informed by email and otherwise that what I should really be doing is trusting in the Lord.
I thought I was. But maybe I don’t get it. To me, there is a difference between trusting in the Lord and tempting Him.
For example, I could trust in the Lord to keep me safe (and I do). But I wouldn't lie down on a busy freeway to test Him to see if He really will.
I trust the Lord will preserve me through the flu season. But I still get a flu shot and I practice good sanitation when I am around somebody that seems sick.
Am I being unfaithful to the Lord by getting a flu shot? Instead of being careful to wash my hands, shouldn’t I just trust the Lord?
I trust that the Lord will keep and preserve the Omega Letter Fellowship. After all, it exists to serve Him, it consists of His people, and it is focused on keeping the saints informed of events coming our way so that we can prepare ourselves to meet them.
I trust the Lord to meet our needs, but I still pay the bills to keep the OL online. The Lord provides the money, but He doesn’t pay the bills forme.
And I don’t necessarily like everybody I do the Lord's business with. I’m not crazy about my ISP, but it is necessary that I pay them if I want to stay online.
But judging from my email, preparing for internet censorship by developing existing social networking sites means that I’m not trusting the Lord to preserve us.
If only I had sufficient trust in the Lord, such carnal preparations would be unnecessary.
I have avoided the various social networking sites because to this point, they have seemed unnecessary. The Omega Letter was a social networking site years before Mark Zuckerberg dreamed up Facebook.
Why would another be necessary?
But that was before the Department of Homeland Security began seizingdomains. At first it was sites promoting terrorism seized by the DHS. I was ok with that.
But then they started seizing peer-to-peer file sharing sites for copyright violations.
I was less ok with that. I don’t condone theft of intellectual property, but there are courts for that. The Department of Homeland Security wasn’t empowered to be a collection agent for the motion picture or record industry.
But once the public got used to the idea that it was ok for the government to seize a website domain first and ask questions later, DHS did what governments do.
It started expanding the reasons why. DHS/ICE shut down at least seventy-six domains in 2010, one for simply linking to a file-sharing site.
Christian websites that teach the coming of antichrist, the Second Coming of Christ, opposes abortion, supports the Second Amendment or support the military are already in DHS's crosshairs as right-wing extremists and potential terrorists.
It is only a matter of time before somebody at DHS develops a working rationale that justifies the seizure of websites critical of the administration as a threat to national security.
Once that happens, it will be too late to do anything about it. This is one of the absolute truths of government. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Assessment:
It is not a lack of faith in God that prompts me to seek alternatives in the event that the Omega Letter becomes unreachable. Neither is it an expression of trust in Facebook or Twitter. Or even an endorsement of them.
There is a story I’ve shared before about the Christian who trusted God to preserve him through a rising flood.
As the waters began to rise, a rescue boat came by to take him to safety. “Go save somebody else,” he said. “God will preserve me.”
Later, as the waters forced him to the second floor, another rescue boat came by. He sent it away as well. Finally, as he stood upon the roof of his house, he waved away a rescue helicopter.
The guy was eventually swept away and drowned. Standing before the Lord, he protested. “I trusted You to preserve me and You let me drown. How could You leave me to my own devices like that?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” the Lord replied. “I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”
These social networking sites exist in every country on earth. There are more Facebook accounts than there are citizens of North America, including Canada and Mexico.
It isn’t exactly the same as two boats and a helicopter, but to my way of thinking, it comes pretty close.
The Bible promises that in the last days, censorship will run rampant. (Preaching Jesus will earn you a one-way trip to a guillotine.)
We're not there yet, but we are to the point where preaching Jesus can earn you a date with a judge.
Let me here address some specific concerns about the plan. And if I fail to address your specific concern, please let me know.
First, it has been mentioned that the Omega Letter is aimed at teaching mature Christians. Yes. That hasn't changed. But the days are growing short and I am under conviction from the Lord that we need to do more for the lost.
By way of analogy, if the Omega Letter is a church home, then Facebook would be akin to street preaching. Not having a Christian Facebook page because 'there be heathens there!' seems somewhat, ummm, confusing?
Hal Lindsey has told me many times over the years, "I'd preach at the gates of Hell provided nobody told me what to say!"
(If Hal is willing to charge the gates of Hell, I ought to be brave enough to go on Facebook.)
Secondly, the Facebook page will never replace the Omega Letter. My principle focus will always remain the Omega Letter.
While the decision may seem sudden from where you sit, believe me, it is something we've been working on for some time. It has been on my front burner ever since the first DHS seizure notice turned up on the web.
Finally, no Omega Letter member has to join Facebook to continue to receive the Omega Letter or to fellowship in the forums. The social networking option is just that – another option -- in addition - not in place of, the existing OL.
It isn’t part of the Omega Letter website in any way. None of your information goes from the Omega Letter to Facebook. Nobody is automatically included or signed up without their knowledge.
It is simply my Facebook page to which you are invited -- IF you want to. Or not.
Meanwhile, everything about the Omega Letter remains the same. Nothing changes.
Preparing redundancies at this point on the Bible timeline isn’t evidence of a lack of faith. If anything, it is quite the opposite. I have faith the Bible is true.
I’m relying on the Lord. AND any boats or helicopters He sends our way.
Yes! Jesus is Coming!
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