Hackett's Blogs

The Intervention

2008-07-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading the heart-wrenching book "A Thousand Hills" by Stephen Kinzer...

And all I can say is "Wow."

Before I begin, I highly recommend the few of you that actually read these little blog things to go and purchase a copy of this book. Fair warning, though, it is not an easy book to get through.

And do not worry, my words here are not just a synopsis of the book as I will be attempting a semi-amazing analogy at some point, as I usually do...

In "A Thousand Hills," Kinzer follows the amazing story of Paul Kagame, whose rebel army single-handedly invaded Rwanda to end the 100-day genocide that claimed nearly one million lives in 1994.

The book begins with Paul Kagame fleeing Rwanda as Hutu extremists attempt to slaughter his Tutsi family in the early years of his life. Growing up as a refugee in Uganda, he quickly rose to fame among his exiled brothers as he created the most audacious covert operation of modern clandestine warfare. Building a rebel army within the Ugandan army, the exiled Tutsis became poised to take back Rwanda, since the government would not allow them to return to their homeland...

As the clock ticked down to the impending, unforseen atrocities that would be more barbaric than Hitler's Holocaust, Kagame was sent to the United States for extensive military training. Still being a high ranking member of the Ugandan Army, he departed for America so no one would suspect his true intentions. The rebel force was left in the hands of his close friend Fred Rwigyema...

Halfway through his training, and after nightly phone calls to Uganda, a date was set for the rebel's invasion of their homeland that had kicked them out. October 1, 1990 would be a date to go down in history.

On October 1, 1990 in the wee hours of the morning, thousands of well-trained Rwandan exiles-turned-soldiers marched across the border into their homeland that some had not seen decades. The Rwandan Army, unsuspecting and unprepared, fled from their posts.

Over the next few days, Paul Kagame stopped receiving information about the invasion. Concerned, he finally discovered that Fred, his life-long friend and commander of the RPF rebels, had been killed in battle.

Kagame, knowing that without a strong leader the rebels would lose, prepared to return to take the reins of what would become one of the most desperate, vile, and devastating war/genocides the world would ever witness.

...........................

This is where things get really interesting.

..........................

Leaving the United States top military academy drew international attention to Paul Kagame. It soon became known that he was going back to Rwanda to a devastating war that no human being could possibly imagine...

As he departed the U.S., Kagame realizied he was being followed. Over the next several days, he would be playing a cat-and-mouse game with CIA agents, Belgian secret service officers, and central African assassins. The world was determined to not let Kagame return to Rwanda to continue the war for his people's freedom...

After eluding police, customs officials, and government agents at airports in London, Brussels, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi, Paul Kagame ended up in an airport terminal in central Africa, tired, exhausted, and pursued by a near invisible enemy. Sitting in a chair in the terminal, trying to figure out how to get to Uganda, the soon to be rebel leader broke down.

Knowing that every second he wasn't in Rwanda meant his men were dying, Paul Kagame bowed his head...
To this day, Kagame admits he has no idea what came over him at this moment. All he recalls is that a firm resolve entered his willpower to get to Rwanda, regardless the cost.

It was from that moment onward, that the hand of God came upon one of the few heros that survived the Rwandan genocide. And as pure evil, hatred, and inhumanity began to rear it's hideous head in Rwanda, Paul Kagame marched within a foot of a Rwandan government assassin and onto a plane. The next day, he was reaching the front lines of one of the most desperate wars Africa had ever witnessed.

..........
I'll tell you how his story ends later...

It's time for that semi-amazing analogy...

I've always wondered why God allows awful things like genocide to happen. Perhaps it is to remind us of how much we really need Him or perhaps it is Him giving humanity a chance to stare evil in the face and defeat it...
If the latter is so, at least partially, then God has his own intervention plan...

Intervention is really an amazing concept. My Mac dictionary defines "intervention" as: "the action or process of intervening."
I guess intervention can only be defined by what it is: that is, an outside force entering into a scenario or item that is in some form of conflict, many times with no gain for the outside force.

Looking back 14 years after the last machete stroke ended a Tutsi life, God's intervention plan in Rwanda was clear: and Paul Kagame was the central character in a story of blood, toil, genocide, war, and now onward to redemption.
But the story of Paul Kagame is only a small part of the history of supernatural intervention on our behalf. It culminated approxametly two thousand years ago on a hillside outside of Jerusalem...the most Glorious Intervention we have ever witnessed. It is an Intervention that happens everyday all around the world.

That's the analogy...
Now back to our Rwandan hero...

Over the coming years, Paul Kagame would lead the RPF rebels into battle against a government that intended to execute every Tutsi in Rwanda. By 1994, what Kagame most feared came true as government troops and the Interhammwe militia set up road blocks across the country. Every Tutsi that was stopped at these roadblocks was dragged to the side of the road, sometimes molested, and then hacked to death with machetes...

Seeing that the United Nations peacekeeping force would not intervene to stop the slaughter, Paul Kagame realized what had to be done. God was about to use the man He had saved from the merciless international agents that had hunted him four years before to a point of hopelessness, and end what mankind did not have the guts to face...

In mid-April, only days after the Rwandan government started massacring civilians, Paul Kagame and his rebel force exploded from northern Rwandan in a last-ditch, desperate invasion to end the killing. A few weeks later, RPF rebels captured the capital city, Kigali, and were appalled at what they found. Tens of thousands of human carcasses filled the city, and that was only the beginning....
The dead bodies were so numerous that RPF soldiers saw enormous rats that were the as large as medium sized dogs, weighing up to fifty pounds.
They had been feasting on the dead bodies....

The official death count eventually reached one million lives. Nearly ten percent of the Rwandan population was hacked to death with machetes in only 100 days...

God gave humanity a chance to save Rwanda, and we failed. Luckily for us, God rose a man up to do what no one else was willing too.

While the story of Rwanda is a sad part of our history, it is also full of miracles. The fact that Paul Kagame was even involved is a mercy of God. The world abandoned Rwanda...so God used a Rwandan to end what is perhaps the worst atrocity ever committed in the modern world.

But Paul Kagame's story is only one of millions worldwide. God didn't just intervene in the bloodshed at Golgotha or in the vileness of the Rwandan genocide, He intervenes on a daily basis, whether it is using men to end evil or just simply comforting the hurt.

Certainly, Paul Kagame's story is incredible, and it doesn't end there! Today, he is now president of Rwanda...and reconciliation between murders, rapists, and the victimized is already underway. Forgiveness in Rwanda is a very real thing....just as it is in our daily lives...something I've had to learn a great deal about lately.

Paul Kagame is certainly one of my heros. His intervention was nothing less than incredible. But it points to something far greater, well, two things far greater:

1. Our desperate need for salvation from ourselves.
2. God is in the middle of The Ultimate Glorious Intervention in each and every follower of Christ.

The story of Paul Kagame, as grim and as beautiful as it is, is a firm reminder that we cannot save ourselves. Something that is essentially above us is the only hope we have, and it does not take a Christian to realize that something is seriously wrong with this world. The secular world, whether they know it or not, is screaming for salvation...just turn the news or a radio on sometime.

So, to application and beyond...
What I took away from "A Thousand Hills" is that even in the midst of genocide, God was working miracles. If God can orchestrate events and people to end such atrocities, then hell, our problems are a walk in the park for God...

So why then do we worry about them so much?

God, I feel like a complete jackass when I put my problems in that light...I am blessed beyond belief and all I see is the problems I face. But in reality, those problems are very superficial...

After all, I don't carry the weight of responsibility of leading a rebel army to end genocide. Even more so, I do not carry the responsibility of God...

Looking back over 20 years I can see, just like Paul Kagame, that God has intervened to save me more than once...I'm guessing He has great plans for me...

Maybe we should all take a look back and see His faithfulness even when we failed...cause, let's be honest, we failed pretty big in Rwanda, and we are failing again in Darfur.

Yet, the miracles keep falling from God by the millions, and we have blinded ourselves so much with our own petty crap that we do not even see them...

Truly, we are wretched creatures....

In Christ,
Hackett

The Life of a Pawn

2008-07-04T19:00:00.001-07:00

Having the ability to multi-task is a great thing, or at least I always thought it was. My job position and many other things in life call for a multi-tasker, one of the few things I am consistently good with, as it is a gift. But sometimes too much of a gift can be not so good or even harmful to situations, people, or oneself.

On a honest note, putting aside the fact that I am in the top 10% of the wealthiest people in the world just because I live in America and don’t have to worry about the government I submit to trying to harm me for power’s sake, life has not exactly been as peachy as I’d like it to be…
Stress, over-reaching, and too much running on an empty tank finally caught up with me recently. An overloaded mind and body that is already stressed can only go on for so long, and unfortunately it took me almost being hospitalized to realize that….

Being forced to take a break for me was definitely a mind-boggling experience. It gave me time to think about stuff that was really going on in my life and what priorities needed to actually be priorities. I guess it is a universal trait of multi-taskers to not stop thinking; hopefully this particular one can use it for good…

Anyways, part of my thought processes were finding analogies or different scenarios that could help me better understand my own current state of affairs. In a nutshell, at this point there was no need for split-second decision-making, thank God, because it would take me quite some time to find anything to relate too.

And, oddly enough, the thing I could most relate my present situations too was a simple chessboard. Well, not just the board, the pieces are perhaps more important, at least they are as important…
Whatever measure of importance is not really what I want to speak of, although I am sure it would make for a rich topic once you see how it is to be applied:

My proposal is that all of us, regardless of social, economic, religious, racial, or even physical locale status, live on a chessboard of sorts.

If you are not familiar with the game of chess, let me briefly explain the objectives and overarching goals of the game:
The main goal is to force the opponent’s king into a position where it can no longer move…aka “checkmate.”
Minor goals include clearing the board of any opposing piece that blocks you from the checkmate, advancing across the board in a strategic way that limits the other player’s options, and being skilled enough to have a flexible plan that will allow you to win.

It sounds simple enough, but in all honesty it is not. Chess is a very complex, complicated game…

But regardless of complications, the analogy I pulled from the game and compared into my life, or perhaps even God-inspired, was that we are like pawns on a chessboard…and when reality hits the ground running, life becomes uncontrollable. Unfortunatly for the pawn, this can be an every play scenario; or, in our lives, a possible every day scenario.

Perhaps the main problem is that I, like so many others, consider myself the king on the chessboard. Sure, all the other players are important, but they all should be looking out for “number 1.” (me) Right?
Apparently not…

Romans 9 speaks of God’s enduring and uncompromising power. Flipping idly through the Scriptures in my down time led me to verse 18:

“Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”

Wow…talk about hitting home. If the High King of Heaven can control our hearts, then am I really the King on chessboard? Not at all! Living the life of a pawn seems to be much more appropriate for a fallen being such as I and the rest of humanity.
I’ve always known the Gospel to be offensive to many, and in all honesty it can be. No one, especially in our society that puts so much emphasis on independence, likes to hear that they are not the king on there own chessboards…. even some of us professing believers…like me….

I’ve seen, read, and studied the historical, archeological, and other secular accounts of the Scriptures to believe that it is THE inspired Word of God, a love letter to a fallen world. So, when I come to stuff like this…sometimes it can be a little bit of a slap in the face. I guess, in a way, the Bible is like a best friend: Soothing when it needs to be, challenging when confrontation arrives, and still there to pick you up when rock bottom is more than just a reality…way to go Evan, you are kinda like the Bible!

But back to the chess analogy…

Most of us know how to live in the illusion that we are in charge (yes, it is an illusion). But I dare say we know very little about being the pawn. In all honesty, it sounds kind of lame: pawns have the appearance of being the weakest player and are very limited in movement. Our illusionary “kingship” sounds much more exciting. But is it really?

Is submission, please don’t wince at the word, really such a bad thing? Is being a pawn really that bad? Do we even understand what the pawn’s (our) position is?

The pawn is really an amazing part of the game of chess. When combined with other pawns, whole sections of the board can be secured, opposing pieces can be defeated, and, when joined by more powerful pieces, the game can be won.
We look around our world and we see that it is small groups of people that are making the biggest difference. A pawn, or person, going solo quickly burns out and is defeated. A group of pawns holds their ground and may even gain some….
But a pawn/person who is with a group of pawns with the support of the King and other stronger players…comes close to being unstoppable.

I guess the greatest fear of stepping down to the position of the pawn is thinking that the King taking our place will be like any other human, and we could be sacrificed to get what he wants…
But what we forget, what we forget, is that Christ, the King, sacrificed Himself for the pawns.

So, in this light, is being a pawn really degrading? On the chessboard of the world, the King sacrificed Himself for the pawns…. apparently we are worth something…and we haven’t even considered that the chessboard was also created by God…
And not only do I know that I am worth something from my King’s sacrifice, but I also know that I am worth something by the fact that if I do not take my proper place on the board, no one will replace it…in essence keeping my individuality while submitting to something higher than me.

This is what makes Christianity more than a religion: it is a lifestyle choice that involves submission everyday. It is personal. It is taking your place on the chessboard and sticking with it.
Of course, being a pawn does not mean things will always be easy. There are some major opponents in this world as well. There are things such as violence, genocide, and even oppressive governments that sit on the other side of the board, things that are much larger than us. Thankfully, we are not the only pawn the board. And even more so, we have a King who not only never loses, but also created the playing field.

Perhaps being a pawn isn’t such a bad thing…
It means submitting yourself to Christ as independent being. Submission doesn’t make you any less of a person…but perhaps the thing we forget about independence is that to be independent in Christ we must be dependent on Him…a paradox, I know. Freedom in Christ is being dependent on Him, and from that one dependence being independent in all else. Submission may not be such a bitch after all…a lesson we could all learn from…

Maybe multi-tasking isn’t such a bad thing after all either…

Anyways, I’m going to go be a pawn now…you are welcome to join me if you like. I’ve been assigned a pretty scary place on the chessboard, and my submissive independence is needed there.

I sincerely hope you find your place on the chessboard as well, and the sooner the better.

In Christ,
Hackett

...For More Than A Name

2008-04-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is my "testimony" I suppose...hope you learn something from it...

Lately, I have been contemplating the story of Jacob wrestling the Lord in Genesis 32:22-32. If you are unfamiliar with the story, it goes as follows:

Genesis 32:22-32

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.

............................................

April 6, 2008 will be a day I won't forget for the rest of my life. There was no major life-altering event that took place, it was just a normal Sunday, until I came upon an old CD in my car.

To avoid being laughed at, I will not tell you what CD it was...most of you will probably guess it when I tell you the name of the song, which happens to be the last one on the album...

The name of the song is "24," and no it is not after the TV show...and please spare me the jokes because I still listen to the album.

Over the past couple months, I have been doing a lot of evaluating...from relationships to work to achievments. You could say I've been looking back over the past 20 years to see what good I've done, any differences I have made....you know, the usual self-evaluation everyone does every few years...

I have to say, at first I was not impressed with what I saw: a half-ass attempt at life, a bad relationship with both parents, and armfuls of disappointments, regrets, and failed opportunities. While the past year or so has been much more fruitful, I was shocked at how much time I had wasted for the majority of my life.

That, however, was about to change...

God has spoken to me once in my life when I was an angry 16 year old sitting in a jail cell for something I didn't do. After my parent's selfish divorce, I never healed. Both my parents forced me to talk about it before I was ready to.
Divorce is one of those things that can never fully be healed, only time can help. My mother and father apparently didn't realize that.

By the time I was 16, I had become so used to the pain I was numb to it. I didn't let people in, because I was scared I would get hurt again. I had locked the safe to my heart and soul, and I made sure the key was inside before I shut the door.
Then what was supposed to be a normal day at school ended with me in a jail cell downtown...

As I sat in that concrete room, something happened to me. I prayed that God would talk to me.
Now, this is usually the point that people say they asked Jesus into their hearts and everything was okay after that.
But not me...

I could feel the presence of God in the room, and I had been waiting for this opportunity. God used a false accusation made against me to blast open the vault into the deepest part of me, and I was so mad I was going to let him see inside.

I let God have it. I told Him I hated Him for giving me two parents that only thought about themselves. I told Him I hated Him because everyone in the world seemed to be hurting, and no one was getting better. I told Him I hated Him for putting me in a jail cell because I was in class doing what I was supposed do. I told Him I hated Him for allowing the principal of my school to wait to have me arrested until the end of school so I could be put in handcuffs in front of the entire school population. And at that moment, I truly did hate God.

We throw the word "hate" around way to loosely nowadays. Not many people truly understand what hate is, but I do. I was consumed with it at that point in my life. Hate is murderous, vengeful, and very rarely okay.
And in a jail cell downtown, I had a wrestling match with God, just like Jacob did.

The details of that fight I will keep to myself, but I walked away with a limp like Jacob did. After that, the hatred slowly left.

I guess I didn't realize until April 6, 2008 what had really occurred in that cell downtown at God knows what time of the morning. Then I heard the lyrics to that song:

"I want to see miracles...
To see the world change...
I wrestled the angel...
For more than a name...

For more than a feeling...
For more than a cause...
I'm singing: Spirit take me up in arms with you...
Cause You're raising the dead in me."

.............................

I guess it really hit me then what had happened that night 4+ years ago. I saw miracles and I saw the world changed. I had wrestled God, like Jacob did, but for much more than a name. In a sense, I walked away with a limp, and so did God. We wounded each other, I with my hatred and Him with His Love. His weapon proved to be the stronger that day, thankfully...

After that, the hatred slowly left me. I went back to school and never received an apology for getting screwed over. I was physically threatened more than once by other students, and I lost most of my so-called "friends." To this day I do not have a good relationship with either one of my parents because of the way they both handled their divorce. I carry a chip on my shoulder to this day about that, but it is no longer against God, it is against those people, because they screwed up, not God.
And yes, I know I should forgive them. But forgiving someone is an everyday process, not a one time deal. But I'm working on it because
I finally realized God wasn't the problem, people were.

Over the next four years after that I had more wrestling matches with other people, spiritual beings, and situations, and I carried my wound into every one of those battles with me. Who would've thought a wound could save you!

Jacob received a new name after his fight, I got so much more: a wound, a new knowledge of God, true friends, and respect; all things I didn't have before. I wrestled God and almost won until He wounded me...how many people can say they've "wrestled the angel for more than a name"? Probably not many of us....

So, if you are reading this and are angry with God over something, maybe it is time for your wrestling match with Him. Mad about the way the world is? Mad about something that happened to you? Just mad and decided to blame God for it?
There's only two solutions if you call yourself a Christian. One is to realize people are the problem, not God. The second one is a wrestling match with the Creator. Before you go blaming Him for everything like I did, remember that He didn't mess this world up, we did and we do everyday!

At least give Him the right to defend Himself before you blame everything on Him. You may be surprised at the outcome...after all, you are only human. You aren't as high and mighty as you think you are. You may think you are the only one who is trying to fix the world, but you aren't. Your career may even be focused around helping to fix people or things, but God is in the same business.

After all, He allowed His own Son to be killed so that the healing process for the world could begin. Can you honestly say you've done that much compared to His actions? Have you killed one of the most important things to you so that something lesser and undeserving could benefit from it?
I bet you haven't.

Think about it.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Little Thing Known as Life

2008-02-07T18:22:00.001-08:00

No politics, attacks against the religious right, or words about a dying America in this one...sorry if you are disappointed.

I really just wanted to use the medium of the internet to answer a question an old friend of mine posed to me recently, that question being:

How am I supposed to live life?

While that is quite possibly the vaguest question I have ever heard, I will attempt to answer it here.

This question has potential to be answered dozens of different ways. One can look at it from a religious, moral, positive, legalistic, spiritual, personal, thoughtful, public, silent, negative, how-to-save-the-world, political, glass half full, physical, hole in the donut, or environmentally-safe standpoint...

Sarcastically speaking, basing my life choices around the concept of recycling and global warming seems slightly ridiculous to me. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Al Gore...
But back to the question my good friend asked me...

How am I supposed to live my life?

I guess I am not going to waste your time by answering the question everyone asks at some point in their lives in such a way that would represent one of the options I listed above.

The best way to answer that question is not a one-sentence answer, it is not a certain set of rules to live by, it is not found in taking a stand for something, it is not found in selfishness...it is not found in millions of things, although some of these things are consequences of living life a certain way.

You see, many people think living life a certain way means taking a stand for something, living for yourself, or for whatever...

I think are culture has the wrong concept of the question "How am I supposed to live my life?"

Culture thinks that living for something is the way you are supposed to live your life...I think that is a grey area leaning closer to the black side of the spectrum.
We do not do the things we do because we are living for something, we do what we do because of the idea or belief behind what we live for.

For example, my amazing girlfriend Taryn works with mentally retarded teens at Youth Villages. Many of these kids have bad family backgrounds and other major issues that I can not even imagine. The majority of society has kicked them aside and doesn't give a crap about them, all except for a small group, which includes Taryn.

Now, Taryn does not work with those kids just for a paycheck, although that is a plus with the job. She doesn't help them just because she looks down on them and feels sorry for them. She doesn't help them just because she went to school and trained to help them. No, there is something deeper behind that, it is the reason why she helps them....

She helps them because she is called to it and because she knows it is the right thing to do.

It's not so different from the consequences from my beliefs, which include an anti-genocide website, a small group of people that have become interested in Darfur, and thousands of dollars in aid making a difference in Sudan.
But back to Taryn...

My point is that Taryn doesn't do what she does because she is living for helping disabled kids. The fact that she works with them is a consequence of a belief she has. She lives for the belief, and that has consequences. In her case, its a dozen or so kids who have never been loved finding out that somebody cares about them. God's providence placed her in their lives, not Taryn's view on how to live life.

Now, I have not answered the question yet because I hoped to show that to answer that question, we need to understand what the question means.

How am I supposed to live my life?

That question isn't asking FOR WHAT I should live my life, the question is asking HOW...
Taryn's life is a perfect example of that. She doesn't live for the kids she works with, she lives for the BELIEF that has led her to helping those kids.

You see, beliefs have consequences...

So, hopefully you understand the question better now, unnamed friend...
But now it is time to answer your conundrum...

And for that, and please do not laugh, I would like to go to the movie Troy...
While Brad Pitt is not my favorite person in the world, he plays a brilliant role in a brilliant film. If there is anything that can answer the question of how we are to live, it is films like Troy that can tell us...

The film opens up with the narrator, Odysseus, setting the stage for the movie. In essence, he asks the very question every human beings asks themselves, whether it is knowingly or unknowingly, at some point in their existence:

"Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?"

Odysseus, in so many words, is generally asking our question at hand.

"How am I supposed to live my life?"
Odysseus asks this question. Men that believe in something seem to be the ones that are remembered, at least it appears that way to Odysseus.

But what Odysseus does not understand is that he answered his own question when he asked it. Let me explain...

Please look closely at his last line from this quote:

"Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?"

Odysseus answers his own question before he is even done asking. And the answer is surprisingly simple:

Allow whatever it is that driving you to light your heart, mind, and soul on fire.

Odysseus wants to know if strangers centuries from him will remember the men of his time, and indeed we do! We remember them because of how they lived:
Everything they did we remember because of how they lived...they loved fiercely and they fought bravely because of their driving ideas and beliefs.

So, application time...

"How am I supposed to live life?"

Live as the men of Odysseus' time did:
Love fiercely, fight bravely, stand your ground, achieve the unachievable, and go past your own abilities...

The perfect example of a man who did that is Christ Jesus...and the world is far better off because of His willingness to do what no one else could or would...

So, to wrap things up, I would like to end with another quote from Troy, this one from the hero Achilles:

" We men are wretched things. "

We are to live as Odysseus suggested, but we also live with the understanding that we will sometimes fail. Achilles was right, "we men are wretched things."

We must live honestly with ourselves; that is, with the understanding that this world is screwed up. We are bound to lose battles because our fallenness has bound us to failure.
But, that is the beauty of true Christianity. We know we will sometimes fail, but we do what we do anyways because of what is driving us: Christ's redemptive work.

That is how we are supposed to live: we are to live like Achilles, who stormed the beaches of Troy with only 50 men, we are to fight fiercely like Odysseus, who captured Troy with his whit, we are to love fiercely like Hector loved his wife and country, and we are to sacrifice unconditionally like Christ did, even if it means giving up the very breath in our lungs.

If anyone can think of a better way to live, let me know...
But I am 100% certain that living life as an emissary, soldier, and son/daughter of Christ is the most honorable and highest calling any mere mortal could ask for.

In Christ,
Hackett

Life Without God

2008-01-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend and I recently watched a very interesting movie called V for Vendetta.
While there are some things I strongly disagree with in the film, overall, there are many good points in the movie that could and should be applied to society today.

Let me briefly set the backdrop for the film:
V for Vendetta is a futuristic movie. While the film never tells exactly what has happened in the world, something has gone horribly wrong. America is no more, and later on in the movie we find out that there was some kind of world war/civil war that America lost. Britain is under totalitarian rule by a leader who much resembles Hitler, and the outlook for society is very bleak.

The film starts off in the room of Evey, an average citizen in England. The TV is on in her room as she is preparing to go somewhere late at night, past the government enforced curfew.

What the man, the so-called "Voice of London" said on the television shocked me.
He said the following:

"America...here was a country who had everything, absolutely everything. And now, 20 years later, is what? The world's biggest leper colony! Why? Godlessness. Let me say that again... Godlessness!"

Before I continue, I highly suggest this movie. There is a lot of Truth in it, and unfortunately, some lies. But you can decipher through that yourself...
For now though, I would just like to focus on that one line:

"America...here was a country who had everything, absolutely everything. And now, 20 years later, is what? The world's biggest leper colony! Why? Godlessness. Let me say that again... Godlessness!"

We come later to find out that those who are saying this do not believe in God either...
But that quote in and of itself was not made by some crazy "fire-n-brimstone" preacher...it was made by secular America.

It scares me that secular America is willing to say what we Christians are not willing too...America is on its way to hell, and fast.

R.C. Sproul once said:
"The days of sentimental faith are over. A foreboding atmosphere hovers over culture. In this atmosphere, humanity looks to the future, not with breathless anticipation and enthusiasm, but with a sense of helplessness."

As pluralism and post-modernism advances more in society by the day, we are starting to see the effects of "Life Without God."
Rising crime rates, terrorist threats, failing morality, more government divisions, more substance abuse...and a pop culture coming to the realization that life isn't as perfect as we think it is, in fact, that something is horribly wrong.

And V for Vendetta points to wear that is heading...

No, I am not saying that in a few years America will be a "colony" or that we will be sucked into a war that will be end for America. With how the world hates America right now, maybe in a hundred years or so that will happen, and that's a BIG maybe...

But what I am saying is that an America with no God is an America that will not be safe, and much less, not as enjoyable to live in. When people push God out of the equation, only bad things can happen.
If you don't believe me, just open a history book sometime...

The underlying theme in V for Vendetta is that there is something awfully wrong in the world...and if we don't do something to fix it soon, "Godlessness" will destroy it.

R.C. Sproul was right; something awful "hovers over culture." We live in a society where it has become easier to hate then to love. Indeed, nowadays it takes courage to love, and any one of the millions of mindless, desensitized TV watchers every night can easily find a reason to hate.
I know because, like you, I am one of them...

But "Life Without God" will do that to you...

As post-modernism, pluralism, and nihilism continue to scream from their cores that God doesn't care or that there is no God, and as we buy more and more into that crap, we are only setting our culture up to die.

And, as usual, the Church, which holds the One Lasting Solution, is silent.
And our silence is just as bad, no, it is worse than the lies that America is buying into.
I just hope we haven't passed the point-of-no-return.

Perhaps the scariest thing is that, like Hitler, post-modernists and pluralists believe that they are right...
And we saw what happened when Hitler thought he was right...

But V for Vendetta isn't all about dark philosophical ideals and such. V is the charismatic freedom fighter that is devoted to bringing down the evil that has captured the people. I won't ruin the end of the movie for you, but let's just say that V makes his stand, and the world of his day needed it badly.

While the hero, V, doesn't bring God back into the picture, he does bring the CHOICE FOR GOD back, something our culture may not have in the coming decades.
And when the day comes that the freedom to choose God, another religion, or no God are out the window, we can only bet that the other freedoms we enjoy will soon be gone as well...
Because religion and God are the only thing standing between the alternate world of V for Vendetta and our current culture.

And the Church is refusing to resist it, and in so doing is embracing the hell that is coming down the pipe.

If you think this all sounds unrealistic and impossible, just look at what happened in Nazi Germany, or at the fall of Rome, the fall of Jerusalem, the fall of Babylon...history repeats itself, and America is next.

Then again, I'm just a 20-year-old college kid. What could I possibly know about any of this...

In Christ,
Hackett

The Dare To A Disillusioned Generation

2007-12-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

Before I begin, I must say that if you can get past the first couple of lines you'll be good to go. But when you see the words "Dare You to Move," please do not quit reading this just because it is a title of an over-played song...

If you are a Switchfoot fan, or a music fan for that matter, you are most likely familiar with Switchfoot's hit song "Dare You to Move." Heck, if you've turned your car radio on in the past 4 years there is a 99.9% chance you have heard it. Back to the song later though...

I have had several conversations lately with different people over the past month, all on the same topic.

Thank God, the topic was not "Dare You To Move..."

The topic, I am sad to say, was on a not-so-used word anymore...that word being "disillusionment."

I have to say, I find it very odd, maybe providential, that this has been brought up by at least 6 different people in only one month's time, without any prodding from myself.

The people that spoke to me about this are all under the age of 25, are in college or recently graduated college, and are all professing believers in Christ...

What they are disillusioned over did not surprise me...they are disillusioned over hypocrisy...

American Church hypocrisy.

............................................

There's the answer to the question the American Church has been asking over the past few decades...why are our college students abandoning faith in Christ?

The answer isn't because we are young, dumb, sinful "adults" who just want to drink, do drugs, and have sex.

The answer is because of American Church hypocrisy.
Trust me, I'm one of those "punk college kids"....

I know...
Because I feel and think the same thing...

I work most Sundays, so I haven't been to Church much over the past few months. Scary as it is, I have accomplished more as far as helping to save the world stuff goes. I have actually grown closer to God being absent from the Church....and there is something seriously wrong with that.

Our churches here in America scream different gospels from different pulpits...
There's the "fire-n-brimstone" gospel...
There's the "tolerant" gospel...
Etc., etc., etc.....
And lastly there is the "prosperity" gospel...

Gulp.

Maybe it would be easier if Wal-Mart added a "purchase your own church aisle"...

Whatever the case may be...all of these churches in the Greater American Church say the same thing:

"Something is wrong with the world, and we must do something to fix it...."
But nothing or very little is ever done to fix it...

We college kids aren't as stupid as we act...we attended church with our parents growing up, we've sat through all the Sunday school classes, we've sang the "Jesus Loves Me This I Know" songs, we went to youth group, heck, a few of us even went on those summer mission trips...the few and far between ones at least.

We may not have seen it then, but we sure as hell see it now...
And its disillusioning, and very wrong...

Sure, there are other reasons why America's youth are leaving the Church in droves...but the main one is the hypocrisy we see.

And not every single Church in America falls under this category. I am sure that there are some who are doing a very good job, but those are few and far between.

A few of the people I have talked to have even gone so far as to say that secular America does more to fix the world than the Church does...a statement that seems to have some proof to back it up.
After all, college kids are known for speaking out on major social issues. But there is only so much we can do...

Almost all of the people I had this conversation with also asked a question:

"How can I help fix the world?"

Once again, we college kids are not completely naive. We know that there is something seriously wrong with the world. We also know that the American Church seems ignorant to it...the prosperity gospel apparently has brought us to that point...
But we are also not completely innocent in this either...we did walk away from the Church...

My answer to my fellow students, go back to church and speak your passion there. MAKE THE CHURCH LISTEN. As long as your passion has biblical support, the Church HAS to at least listen...

While America no longer takes us Christians seriously anymore, the Church still has a tremendous amount of wealth and influence. It took me a couple of months of prodding and pushing some buttons, but my church eventually gave a large sum of money to a Christian organization working to stop the genocide in Sudan. That money is making a difference there...

The Church WILL listen, even if they don't at first. We can be good at being annoying, so if that is what you must do, the do it...

My advice to the Church...before you go off on us college kids for being "crazy" and "out of control," remember how we got there...listening to a bunch of meaningless talk for years pushed us away.
If you want your college students back, kill the hypocrisy, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the name of the Lord...
Stop telling us every Sunday morning from the pulpit that the world is a bad place. We know that, let's work on fixing it now.

It is the right thing to do...
And it is the only option...

Maybe we should listen to that overplayed Switchfoot song one more time...Switchfoot "Dared us to move"...

Maybe its time we took the dare...

In Christ,
Hackett

Life in the Orchard

2007-11-29T14:16:00.001-08:00

Matthew 7:18-20
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Another wise teaching from Christ, then again everything He said was wise. But listening to Christ is one thing, applying the things He says is another.

Fruit.
In the verses preceding this passage in Matthew, Christ is telling His followers to beware of false prophets and false teachings. He also reminds them that these false prophets can come bearing what seems to be Truth and Light, but they could really be harboring Death and Destruction. The way to test them, Christ says, is if they bear good fruit or not...

You might be thinking, "Yea Hackett, that's great stuff...so what?"
So, maybe we should apply it...
And I don't mean apply it to the Church as a whole; at least, not for my topic, because this should be applied to the Church. But let's apply it to ourselves for a moment...

...

Hmm...
I don't like what I'm seeing.

How much fruit do we bear?
Me, personally, my fruit comes in the form of a 10% tithing check, a couple dozen blogs and Facebook Notes, and telling somebody every now and then about the genocide in Darfur...

I should be doing so much more.
Now, take a look at yourself...how much fruit are you bearing? Hopefully more than me.

But honestly, I would say, as a whole, we Christians are like an orchard. It rains twice a week, we are rooted in good soil, the sun shines a lot, we are well taken care of by the Farmer...yet the trees look like it is the middle of winter. No leaves, no fruit, just dead limbs...now, guess who the trees are? Unfortunately, us...

I guess my point is that we really don't take Christianity seriously. We don't have the fruit to show for it, we don't have the results we want, and the world is still dying at an alarming, quickening pace.

Meanwhile, the dead trees remain in the orchard... sitting calmly even as the wildfires of hell consume the world around its walls.
I guess what sucks the most is that dead, dry wood burns the fastest...at least we have the walls of salvation protecting us. But hey, maybe it'd be better if we didn't. Then we might start bearing fruit.

You think that Christ saving us from an eventual hell would be enough to get us to bear fruit...apparently we think we need a little more though. After contemplating these thoughts over the past few days, I honestly don't understand why God still loves us; we sure as hell don't deserve it.

Maybe we aren't as "Christian" as we think we are...

Its time we take a peak over the orchard walls that protect us, it is time to look at what is really happening in the world.
Genocide, rape, theft, murder, war, disease...it is all running rampant; so much so that the 2006 Human Security Brief, done by the Human Security Report Project, listed the state of humanity as "far from positive."

It is almost scary to think that some of those outside the sphere of salvation see the dire state of the world, and we as Christians who have been eternally saved from it do not.

I think we need to take a good long look at ourselves, and look around our little orchard. The Great Farmer stands at the gate, sowing seeds around the entrance, the least we could do is help. Christ, after all, gave His life for us, and our lives should belong to Him now.

We are long overdue to step outside of the orchard...maybe it is fear of life without the wall that scares us into staying. What we need to learn is that the wall goes with us. Christ has bought us eternally; there is nothing to fear. After all, the task before us is not nearly as great as the God behind us.

Christ's command at the end of Matthew wasn't to stay in the orchard, it was "GO and MAKE disciples of all nations..."

Let's get out of the safe zone...
Let's get out of the orchard...

Because, until we do, I will dare to say that we have no right to call ourselves Christians. Christians follow Christ, and we stopped doing that a long time ago.

In Christ,
Hackett

Unity: Oneness or Sameness

2007-11-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
Romans 15:5-7

If you've read your way through Romans before, you know that it is not a book of the Bible to be taken lightly. Each word is packed and backed with loads of theology, and even today, centuries after it was written, we still can not fully grasp the meanings of it...

But there is nothing unclear about this small portion of Romans.
Paul makes it very CLEAR how the church is supposed to be:

United...

Now, a quick snapshot of the church today.
There are thousands of Christian denominations worldwide today that are centered around many different topics, ideas, and theologies. There is so much thrashing and bashing going on between these differing denominations, which I myself am guilty of, that it seems like we are all enemies.

It's almost as if Christ, who is leading us, has stopped and is looking back, shaking His head, and asking us if we will ever learn.

And that brings us to the title of our topic:

Unity: Oneness or Sameness?

Does Church Unity mean we all have to be as one, or do we all have to agree on all the same things?

Hmmm...

I can already tell you what you are probably thinking the answer is.
Most of you probably think that to be truly united we must all believe the same things.

To bad the Bible doesn't teach that...

The Bible doesn't call for sameness, in which we agree on everything. The Bible calls for oneness, in which we are to have sameness in the essentials, but grace in the nonessentials.

For example, I believe music is fine in worship. Other believers don't. Does that mean I am wrong, or they are wrong? Yes! We are both wrong, because God nowhere in Scripture says that we are to worship only one way. Scripture is clear that ALL is to be done to the glory of God.

Paul makes the concept of unity clear throughout the Book of Romans.

Romans 14:13
"Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brothers way."

Centuries of putting stumbling blocks, striving for personal gain, and unacceptance of one another have left us with what Paul feared most: disunity. We all think our theology is right, when in reality, we are probably all wrong, because our theology is exactly what it is: our theology, not God's.

So, why should we be united?
For starters, a united Church can better accomplish the Great Commission, which is the Church's ultimate goal. Unity also contributes to the building up of other believers, more effective teachings, and a lot less stress. Unity single-handedly could fix the majority of the Church's problems on its own.

So, how do we become united?
I'm not going answer that question here, and I'm not going to answer it until next year. That is something my upcoming website, www.operationbrokensilence.org will address. On a brief side note, the website will host several projects, one of the first being Project Unity, which will deal with this topic.

So, to answer the original posed question of Unity: Oneness or Sameness?

The answer is both within their correct bounds. Sameness in essentials, such as belief that Christ is God, and grace in nonessentials, such as whether or not music is okay in worship.

Only then can we accomplish the goals that we are supposed to be accomplishing.

That's all I got, keep an eye out for the new website:

www.operationbrokensilence.org

which will launch this December.
And keep an eye out for Project Unity, which will be our second project. The first one will be Project Make A Difference, which hopefully you will visit the site and find out.

In Christ,
Hackett

The American Lie

2007-10-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

I was in my Sociology class the other day...strangely I enjoy that class...

Anyways, lots of times in our class we get off topic with all the talking about world issues, elections, and even things here in Memphis. After all, Sociology does cover a broad spectrum of things.

But on this particular day, a fellow student made a statement that, unfortunately, so many people in America have bought into today.
That statement was this:

"I mean, the world is primarily full of good people, making it a good place. Yea, there are some problems in it, but most people around the world make a good living and are happy."

...
I kept my mouth shut, mostly because I wanted to laugh at the person for their naivety, and their stupidity.
It is sad to think that most Americans, including Christians, believe that the world is a good place where occasionally bad things happen.

Just to support my point, and my point is that the world isn't as good as many people think it is, here are a few reasons:

The 20th century has been one of the most devastating centuries for humanity, an estimated 4,000,000,000 individual human beings died from war, genocide, malnutrition, famine, disease...and other reasons besides old age. For you people that suck at math, that number is FOUR BILLION.

The number of wars, and the devastation that follows them, increased nearly threefold in the 20 century. In fact, between the years of 1950 to 1990, there were over 150 bloody conflicts around the world.

The number of genocides worldwide increased to 45 before the end of the century...meaning that the number of those killed in genocide reaches into the tens of millions.

According to the United Nations, disease, famine, and starvation affect 1 out of every 6 people on Earth, that's over 1,000,000,000 people...

Even in the wealthiest nations, it is getting harder and harder to find cures for new diseases and viruses, such as the bird flu, which seem to appear every few years now.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, and during the chaos that followed in Eastern Europe, over $30,000,000,000 in small arms was illegally sold, illegally exported, or downright stolen out of Eastern Europe alone. This is perhaps the greatest heist in human history. Many of these small arms have resurfaced in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South America, where violence, wars, and genocide are most prevalent today...

The world's five largest arms dealers to third-world countries, where violence is the worst, are the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. They are also the five permanent members on the United Nations Security Council...how scary is that...

And my personal favorite...Darfur....

In short, I think I can make a case for the world being a not-so-good place. And there are plenty more facts than that...

Maybe I should have said something, heck, maybe I should've laughed at the person. I don't know what held me back. Maybe I didn't want to ruin their ignorance; after all, ignorance is bliss.

The fact that this person said that the world is a predominantly good place when babies are being picked up by their legs and swung headfirst like baseball bats against trees in Darfur.... well, I fail to see the overall goodness of humanity.
And yes, there are reports out of Darfur that babies are being beaten against trees until they die. How someone could do that...man, I can't even comprehend that kind of hate.

The American Lie is easily proven as what it really is: a LIE.

So what is the reality?
In a nutshell, worldwide, people are being shot, starved, murdered, robbed, falling to illnesses, victims of genocide...and we have all fallen to a spiritual genocide, thanks to sin...

In fact, the world is so bad that the very Son of God had to die just so that we would have a way out...maybe that helps to put our plight into perspective better than anything else.

My opinion, stop believing the lies. It just isn't true! Yes, I wish that humanity was perfect, and I wish so many things, that we as Americans and Christians choose to ignore, didn't happen; but they do happen. And we aren't on this Earth just so we can ignore the consequences of others and ours sins.
We can help to fix it.
We just choose not too...

If you don't want to help, I feel sorry for you...and I hope God can forgive you for doing nothing to help stop defenseless babies from being beaten to a bloody pulp against the sides of trees.
For those of you that choose to stick with your ignorance, enjoy the ignorance while you can, because God most likely won't be happy when you stand before Him whenever the appointed time is.

You don't have to go to Darfur, the Middle East, or South America to confront the fallout of sin...because it’s everywhere. If you aren't called to help with Darfur like I am, find your calling. It could be working at an urban ministry, it could be going oversees, and it could just be telling the people around you of everyone's universal need for Christ.

The world can't afford much more ignorance; it is costing us too much...

In Christ,
Hackett

Black and White Blended Makes Grey? Why...

2007-10-18T09:30:00.001-07:00

Confusion...
Mixed thoughts and emotions...
No wrong or right answer...
Life...

Welcome to the so-called "Grey Area"...

Before you get too involved in this one, I must admit that this blog has no particular direction, no particular answers, and no "deeper" meaning. To my few, avid readers out there, sorry if you are disappointed.
This one is just to show the circle I've been running in the past few weeks.
If your name is Johnny Coggin (and I know you are reading this, because you supposedly read all my blogs), then you might appreciate this one because we talked a little about it the other day over yummy pizza subs...by the way, we should go again soon.

The Grey Area, a blend of black and white...
I hate it...

Sometimes there are no right or wrong decisions in life, only ones that have different outcomes that could have either good or bad ramifications.
Ahh, if only times were simpler, like back in the World War II days when the whole nation was unified as one against a common enemy, and only the big picture mattered.
It's been decades now since America has been united as it was back then, since morals actually mattered in this country, and it's been a few years for me since my feelings, thoughts, and decisions have been united.

All because of the "Grey Area"...

I am currently in a situation in which there is no wrong or right decision, and there is no way of telling which decision would have better outcomes. There is no "black and white" decision, so to speak. There's no right or wrong answer, just a decision that has to be made and soon...
And I made up my mind about, oh, maybe last weekend...

To bad it may be to late for the route I chose, I have a gut feeling it is to late...

If your name happens to Gummy Cole, it is referring to "people"...hope you catch that one Gumbo...

Anyways, I have tried to focus on the bigger picture. If you know me, you know I am big into stopping the genocide in Darfur, which God has given me a great passion for. I do believe that is the calling in my life at the moment, and a very demanding and worthy calling at that.

I guess I know deep down that, when compared with the calling in my life to Darfur, my personal life is very insignificant. But the issue in my personal life right now is affecting my decisions and judgment when it comes to making an impact with the genocide in Darfur...so my personal life kinda does matter.

And that is my circle I've been running in. I guess I feel like a hamster running at his wheel, and I honestly don't see how the hamster does it for as long as he does...because I'm burnt out.

Ha, I guess the irony of it is that the "wheel" I'm running in is painted grey...

Don't take this the wrong way; I'm not complaining...my only assumption is that this is a test from God. Maybe that's why I haven't received an answer from Him when I am praying at two in the morning because I can't sleep...
Or maybe His answer is not evident to me yet; I have no idea at this point.
Or, what scares me even more, is that He has trusted me to make this decision...I pray that isn't it, because I am sure I could very easily let Him down...and like the band Reliant K says, " I hate these consequences, cause I know that I let You down, and I don't want to deal with that..."

I don't need advice, I've made my decision...prayer would be nice, I guess. Please don't tell me to pray about, I already do that every hour of the day for the past weeks. Please don't try and give me the answer, because I am willing to bet my life that you don't have it, sorry if that sounds harsh...

I've made my decision, and that's following my heart...if only I could trust my heart...because as most of you know, the heart is just as capable of choosing a disguised, bad decision as it is capable of choosing a good decision.

Ha, at least there never seems to be a dull moment in my life...although I hope one day I can experience that for a few brief seconds to see what it is like.

The Grey Area...
How I hate it...

Please pray for me...my prayers seem to be falling on deaf ears, even though I know they aren't...and please pray for the genocide in Darfur, God knows that those people are suffering much more than I am right now.

In Christ,
Hackett

Hell on Earth

2007-10-09T11:59:00.001-07:00

"On September 29, the AU base in Haskanita was attacked and destroyed, killing 10 peacekeepers. Rebels were suspected of being behind the attack on the AU base.
In the following days, while the government controlled Haskanita, the former rebel-held town was burned to the ground and thousands of residents were sent fleeing.

Suleiman Jamous, respected humanitarian coordinator for the Sudan Liberation Army, said 105 people died when government forces and allied militia razed the town.
Analysts said the fact that rebel factions were suspected of attacking the AU Haskanita base gave Khartoum cover for an offensive to garner as much land as possible before the talks.
"The upshot of this strategy, of course, is that it becomes more difficult by the hour for any rebel faction or leader to show up in Sirte, Libya in 19 days," said U.S. academic Eric Reeves."

- BBC News.

Darfur, Sudan.
Welcome to Hell on Earth.

The small town of Haskanita, which had only 5,000 residents a few years ago, was home to at least 40,000 refugees from neighboring areas of Darfur.
Today, it is deserted.
To sum up what happened there, rebel forces attacked an African Union peacekeeping base there, hoping to bring more international attention to the genocide in Darfur. Sudanese government troops arrived and forced the rebels out of the area. The remaining peacekeepers were then evacuated.

With the peacekeepers gone, the Sudanese military burned Haskanita to the ground... several women were raped and locked into the burning homes, and over 100 men, women, and children were killed execution style...shot at point blank range.

And the United Nations still refuses to call the atrocities in Darfur genocide.

By the grace of God, the thousands that called Haskanita home had already fled before the Sudanese army arrived. The small African Union peacekeeping force has promised to deal with those responsible for the genocide in a much more forceful manner from now on...to bad for the 400,000 that are already dead, I guess.

With the number of attacks like these occurring more and more frequently now, the peace talks that are scheduled to begin in a few weeks are in danger of not happening. And with the potential delay of the 26,000 strong international peacekeeping force already occurring, the death toll could be on par with the genocide that occurred in Rwanda if a solution is not found soon...history is repeating itself.

At this point, I'm in favor of what appears to be the inevitable: turn the future peacekeeping force into an invasion force. Politics aren't working, peace talks aren't working, and cease-fires aren't working.

While I do believe that the peace Christ offers is the only solution to the bloodshed in Darfur, I also am a realist. Neither side is going to sit down and accept the freedom Christ gives until the fighting is stopped. The Sudanese government, in fact, has already made it clear that it isn't going to accept Christ; it did so when it murdered hundreds of thousands of Christians in southern Sudan over the past twenty years. Another untold genocide in Sudan...

And rebel forces aren't going to sit down and accept the peace of Christ until the Sudanese government can be kept from murdering more defenseless people.

Christ can heal the bleeding wounds of Darfur, but wounds can't be healed until the disease that caused the wound is dealt with. In this case, the disease is the government-sponsored genocide. Until the peacekeepers arrive, the wounds will keep bleeding.

How much genocide does it take to make humanity realize it must be stopped? How many defenseless lives must be lost before we stop it? How long is the Christian Church going to sit back and allow sin to massacre humanity, unchecked and unchallenged?

After the Holocaust, the world said, "Never again..."
After Khmer Rouge, the world said, "Never again..."
After Rwanda, the world said, "Never again..."

Empty words from an empty world.

So, here's the deal. Get off your high horse and off your lazy ass and go to www.savedarfur.org. There are several petitions that need to be signed, there are lists of ways you can get involved, and you can always tell a friend about the genocide.

If you want to make an immediate impact on helping to save lives in Darfur, Samaritan's Purse is in great need of monetary support as they expand their relief operations in Darfur.

For detailed reports on the genocide, visit www.eyesondarfur.org. There you can find satellite imagery, pictures, and eyewitness accounts of the genocide in Darfur.

Being an activist doesn't mean you have to march in protests or give every penny you have to the United Nations. Praying and telling friends about it is more than the rest of the world is doing, and its a good start. Spreading the word will help get the job done.

Getting your church involved is another good way to help. I was very surprised when my church responded with an immediate, emergency monetary donation to Samaritan's Purse, and prayer support.

So, stop worrying about your girlfriend or boyfriend problems. They pale in comparison to what is happening in Darfur. PEOPLE ARE DYING! Would you want the world to ignore your desperate case if our government was killing us? OF COURSE NOT! Millions of lives are at risk, and if the violence isn't stopped soon, it could be years before it is over. And God knows the last thing this world needs is another Holocaust or another Rwanda...

Let's kill genocide...

In Christ,
Hackett

The American Suicide

2007-09-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Three things before we start:
1. This blog may sound very familiar to others I have written, but it is not. In this blog, I will also speak of the consequences of a society with no truth, which I have avoided in my previous writings.
2. Also, there are some issues and things discussed in this blog that are very controversial and may offend some, so I apologize in advance.
3. This is perhaps my longest blog...and I ask that you read it all at one time or not at all...with that said, here we go.

The young man paces on the deck, thinking and planning. It is early morning, and few others seem to be up and about. Those that are awake are the seasick ones. Weeks of the endless up and down of the ship on the waves, with no sight of land, had taken its toll onboard. The fog that hides the waves all around the ship is not helping either...

It is around the year 1900. Many had fled a recovering Ireland due to the potato famine that took place decades before and have come to the United States of America, in hopes of a better life. The young man we are following is an example of this. He is pacing on the deck, dreaming of the business he wants to start. The thought of never going hungry or thirsty again has been the one thing that has kept him going for years now.
And now, his dream is about to become reality...

A shout is suddenly heard from the far side of the deck. The man runs over, wondering what it is...and then, he sees it.
There, barely visible in the distance is the Statue of Liberty...standing tall over the clearing, morning fog.

For decades now, the Statue of Liberty has met millions of immigrants as they have come to America. She stands for all that America is proud of: freedom, democracy, and truth. She is a welcoming sight to many of the world's weary and heavy-laden. Some immigrants even heralded America as Heaven on Earth; a land filled with food and plenty of jobs...the pursuit of happiness was a reality in America, the land where the people rule...

Now, here we are in the year 2007, and in a much different America.

Before I really dive in though, let me clarify that I am not speaking of America's stagnant political situations. There is a fine line between government and religion, a line that is crossed by both sides too often. I will be crossing this line several times, due to the many grey areas that exist between the two.
So, keeping in mind my protective disclaimer, let's get on with it...

Over the past few decades, many have changed their view on what "Truth" is. Some believe truth exists, others aren't sure, many believe it doesn't exist...and of course there are those that just don't care.

According to recent polls, America's view on truth has changed dramatically over the past three decades.
A poll done by Barna Research came up with these results:
"Compared to two years ago, just half as many Americans believe that absolute moral truth exists, dropping from 38% in January 2000 to only 22% in November 2001."

This means that approximately 78% of Americans are unsure or believe there is no such thing as absolute truth.

America was not founded as a Christian nation, but it was founded on many Judeo-Christian principles. The basis of the American Constitution is that mankind has certain rights and freedoms, which should not be taken away. There is an absolute truth running through the very veins of the Constitution, that is, that there is a greater law mankind is bound too. Many future laws would also be based off Judeo-Christian concepts and beliefs.

That is what the Constitution was built on...and it is also the very thing that is now being taken away.
This country was founded with the belief that truth had to be at the very core of it, or it would fail. Now that the majority of Americans don't believe in absolute truth, that core has been taken away.

Compare America to a watermelon. If you take out all of the pink, edible flesh of the fruit on the inside, you just have a shell remaining. That is what America has become, a mere shell of its former beauty.

If you don't believe me when I say that truth is slipping away in America, look around you. Government officials falling into moral black pits, ethics being a required class at many schools across the nation due to zero ethics in society, and even religious leaders, the ones who have protected America's truth for years, can't do what they say is right.
The new philosophy that there is no truth goes against everything the Constitution stands for. The very people who say they are trying to save America by ridding it of religion are the very ones who are killing America. America was founded on truth, and a country cannot stand if its basis is stolen from it.

So, what are the consequences going to be?

I read an article the other day by a man who believes that if morality and truth keep slipping away at the rate they are, the freedom of religion will be gone in America within this century. The freedom of speech, right to assembly, all the basics of the Constitution could be gone within our lifetimes. The American Church has never had to endure true persecution before, but it soon may have too. Can you imagine our own government persecuting us? It sounds like such an unreasonable thought, yet it is a very real threat; in fact, it may be just around the corner.

With every little ground gained by secular America, every Ten Commandments taken out of courthouses and schools, every corporal punishment banned, with every form of discipline that disappears in America...America comes one small stop closer to going from democracy to chaos, from being a Republic to being a totalitarian state, from light to dark. Separation of Church and State exists for a reason; the Church upholds the country's standards, while the State protects them and its inhabitants. It has always been a partnership, until now. My only question to the insane lunatics who sincerely believe that the government can function well without the Church there to uphold its values, is this:

Why change something that has always worked? We've seen what happens when the church holds the state to a moral code, and the state in turn protects the freedoms of everyone. IT WORKS! It works very well! Homeless shelters are built, the country prospers, crime rates go down, as do divorce rates...life gets better.

So, my only conclusion is this. Those who believe that the universal absolute truths, that America was founded on, should not be applied anymore to society are seriously deranged and insane.

Some think these people should be considered domestic enemies of the Constitution and enemies of America, because they threaten the freedoms the Constitution ensures to all citizens. Their logic: the Federal government is bound by the Constitution to protect and defend the freedoms of America, from enemies both foreign and domestic, and these people threaten those freedoms.

I am torn on that viewpoint, it seems very extreme, but there is so much truth in it. And I have to say, very sadly, I find myself agreeing with it more so then disagreeing.
I will probably hear a lot of crap for agreeing with that...
But standing for the Truth comes with blessings as well as prices to be paid; besides, my right to freedom of speech still exists, for now...

I'm almost done. I know this is long, but hang in there...

America has already passed its Golden Age, but the midnight is still approaching, slowly gaining momentum. Every time the Church gives in and exits the arena without a fight for morality, those that seek to save America by destroying it come one step closer to achieving their goals.

Today, America is at a precarious point. Let's go back to the opening story, and to a new theoretical one...
Picture another boat this time, in the year 2007. It is early morning, foggy, and as the fog clears, another young Irishman sees the Statue of Liberty for the first time. Cheers rise up from the boat, it is a new day for a ship of Irish immigrants coming to America…

But the cheers stop as the boat enters the harbor. Something is horrendously wrong…
Instead of holding a torch aloft, the Statue of Liberty holds a gun instead, pointed at her own head…ready to commit the ultimate American suicide.
And that is precisely where America is today. It will be interesting to see when the trigger is pulled, why it will be pulled, and the devastation it will cause. But one thing I do know…
In that hour, when America hits midnight, the real, few Christians in the American Church will make their stand for Truth. Whether they will be ruthlessly destroyed or not, they will make their stand. And I pray to God that America will come to its senses before then…

In Christ,
Hackett

Price Tags

2007-09-10T19:25:00.001-07:00

June 4, 1940. Our story begins approximately 5 miles outside the small seaside city of Dunkirk, which rests on the Franco-Belgian border in Europe, with a small German army squad.
The past few weeks had proved to be very beneficial for the German military. Belgium had fallen in only four days. The French Army was in the middle of a full retreat. And now the British Expeditionary Force, the core of the Allied Army, was pinned against the English Channel. To our German squad, it looked as if this was the end for nearly 400,000 of Europe’s finest soldiers…
There was a rumor floating around between the German squads that the British had begun evacuating their troops, along with some French and Belgians, a few days before.

At last, the orders came in. The German squad we are following were ordered to lead a final assault on the city. It looked as if the British were about to lose their entire army.

The hours went by quickly as the Germans stormed the city. With every small field and street won, the Germans were expecting to discover a huge mass of tens of thousands of soldiers crammed against the ocean, ready to be annihilated…
Our German squad finally reached the other side of the city, and stepped out on to the beach, in shock.
Looking around, they saw not a single Allied soldier on the sands. Instead, they saw weapons and equipment strewn about the beach.

The Germans then looked out over the ocean. In the distance, a few British battleships were sailing away, the rearguard of the largest evacuation fleet ever assembled in the history of mankind. The fleet was a hastily thrown together group of military, fishing, and civilian watercraft. On those thousands of ships sat nearly 340,000 Allied soldiers.

The prized jewel of the Allied Army had escaped destruction by only one hour.

That night, Prime Minister Winston Churchill stood up before a scared British nation and a shocked world and gave the most important, rallying speech of his life. In it, he sent a very threatening message to Nazi Germany. If Hitler wanted Britain under his “Third Reich,” he would have to kill every British soul on the island to claim it. Britain, he said, “will never surrender.”

Good story right?
So, some of you that actually read my blogs, are probably asking, “Come on Hackett, what’s your point?”
My point…

Price tags.

Price tags?
Yes, I said price tags. You know, those little things hanging off the sides of clothing at Target…
So what do price tags have to do with a WWII story?
EVERYTHING.

In today’s capitalistic world, we understand that everything comes with a price. From the shirt you are wearing now to the food you ate for lunch last week, it cost something.
So, back to our story…
The British evacuation at Dunkirk came with a heavy price. While the majority of the British narrowly escaped, 30,000 soldiers didn’t. They died, defending their brothers so that they could still have the one thing that we in America take for granted today…

That thing is freedom.

Freedom is perhaps the one thing that comes with a price tag so hefty…the price of blood.
Winston Churchill understood that better than anyone else of his time. Churchill swore to the world that he would rather have England die than be without freedom. Churchill knew what freedom was, he had tasted it. And once you have gotten a taste of freedom after not having it, it is all you can think about.
Yes, 340,000 lives had made it to freedom from Dunkirk…but the cost was paid for. The price tag was 30,000 people. Expensive, right?

History is full of accounts of freedom being paid for with blood. From the 30,000 who died at Dunkirk to the 300 who died at Thermopylae, freedom is dipped in blood. The two are inseparable…
God knows that; after all, he is the inventor of freedom. Humanity was enslaved to sin, and freedom was needed so that God and mankind could be reunited. The price was high, as it always is with freedom. The price was Christ. The perfect, only Son of God had to pay humanity’s debt to sin with His own blood… a price that was paid at Calvary.

It amazes me that freedom-loving people do not love Christ. Christ purchased freedom for humanity, and many people just don’t care. It is sad, but the freedom that Christ purchased was the freedom to choose, because if there is no choice there is no freedom. Had Christ died for humanity in a way that would have forced us to love Him, it wouldn’t have been freedom. He died so we could choose and have the chance to be forgiven by a loving God…

Hang in there, I’m almost done…

I would like to end with another WWII story, this one being a much less known one:
April 25, 1945 Leckwitz Germany. The European Theater of WWII was coming to a close. American and British forces were sweeping into Germany from the west, Soviet forces from the east. The Americans and the Soviets knew their forces would meet at some point. So, both sides had agreed upon a signal to the other, so that Soviet and American forces wouldn’t attack one another by accident. American soldiers were to shoot a green flare when they came upon Soviet troops, and Soviet soldiers were to fire a red flare when they saw American troops.
Maybe it was just by chance, or maybe it was God’s plan, but the flares were not fired that day as an American patrol leader met a Soviet patrol leader halfway across a bridge spanning the Elba River in Leckwitz.

Weeping, they embraced one another. They could not understand each other’s native tongue, nor did they know each other’s name. One thing they did know, however…
The once great cities of Europe lay in smoldering ruins, millions had perished, they had both watched their brothers and friends die for months on end…
But freedom had been won for Europe. The price was high; perhaps it was too high, only God knows…

But that meeting on that bridge decades ago points to something much larger…
Christ is standing on a bridge as well. He is ready to embrace you and weep for joy. All you have to do is walk out onto that bridge and embrace Him back. Laugh joyfully, sing with happiness, or cry like the Soviet and American soldiers who met on that bridge in Leckwitz, Germany…because freedom is yours. All you have to do is accept it, and choose to serve the one King who is and never will be a tyrant over your soul.

Look around you, the world we live in today is a “smoldering ruins” as Europe was by the end of WWII, millions have perished eternally, and you have watched your friends and brothers in humanity die all around you…
But freedom has been won for humanity. The price was high, perhaps too high, only God knows…

If there is no blood paid, there is no freedom. History points to that. Many people say Christianity confuses them. My answer to them is this:
Humanity was enslaved to sin, and a price had to be paid to set us free. The price was blood, Christ’s blood. The price was paid…all you have to do is accept it and follow the One who saved you.
Because Christ is the one thing that comes with no price tag…because He already paid the amount on the price tag.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Food Crisis

2007-09-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

As you know, the situation in Darfur Sudan is getting worse everyday. But now, there is a new danger threatening the region.

The World Food Programme announced recently that its operations in Sudan have now become it's largest, and it is costing $685 million a year to continue feeding those that have been plagued with genocide, drought, and disease.
But, there is one problem...
If the money supply runs out, the United Nations estimates that the death toll in Sudan will raise to 100,000 a month. That's 100,000 individual lives that could perish, EVERY MONTH.
The problem is that the money is running out...

Because of this, I started this email.
Please visit the following link:

https://www.kintera.org/site/c.diJRK4PFJpH/b.1147339/k.66D5/Generic_Donation_Form/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=diJRK4PFJpH&b=1147339&en=duIVL6NHJcKWK7NIJgJSL0NKLoJ7IeMQIhJQI9PUImLZLgO6G

Please go to that link and make a five dollar donantion. Just five dollars. That's it.

And please forward this email to everyone you know. Together, we can potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Need for an American Church Revival

2007-09-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Is it time to awaken the sleeping church today?

The American Church as a whole is a great example of this. With few exceptions, most churches in America aren't focused on what they should be focused on. We here from our pulpits that we need to tithe only 10%, that we need to come every Sunday and "get our church on," and an occasional mission trip is good for us. In short, we hear that the church is about the individual.
After all, giving 10% of your paycheck is a huge "sacrifice"...I hope you can detect the sarcasm in that.

I read something very interesting the other day. Statistical analyst's, after much research have come up with some very intriguing numbers about the Great Commission. These analysts say that if every church in America did at least two international mission trips a month to areas where the Gospel has not yet reached, the Great Commission could be accomplished within ten short years. That's TEN YEARS.

If you don't know what the Great Commission is, I'll briefly explain it. After Christ rose from the dead, He visited His disciples and told them what they were to do.

Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Those are th exact words of Christ. Other portions of the New Testament also hint that Christ will return soon after the Great Commission is accomplished.

To think that I could see Christ return in my lifetime...that is almost unbelievable. It's shocking. Only ten years...that is, if the church got its act together.

So, "is it time to awaken the sleeping church today?"
The answer is yes. The Church should always be awake...

BUT...
I do not for-see a major American Church Revival. In my opinion, the Holy Spirit has left America. We have seen throughout history that the Holy Spirit moves around the globe, to the front battle lines where Christianity has to fight for its' life. In America, we don't have to fight. The Holy Spirit is present wherever there is great opposition to the Faith...and without the Holy Spirit, revival cannot occur.

Martin Luther described this perfectly:

"If the devil were wise enough and would stand by and let the Gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the Gospel it rusts and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the Gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning."

In America, Christians aren't murdered because of their beliefs daily...in China, Africa, and the Middle East however...they are. Realize that the greatest gains for Christianity today are being made where the Gospel is being most persecuted.

The Church needs to be woken up, but I do not foresee, at least anytime soon, the "Great Revival" the American Church is in desperate need of. If it does occur, it will be decades from now. Until then, we must carry on in our own "little platoons" as Chuck Colson so lovingly calls them. We must do what we can, and hope that our actions inspire those sleeping Christians around us.

This world is at war. And perhaps one of the greatest potential weapons for the Kingdom of God is the American Church. We must try to awaken it, but we must not go in with high hopes. Even if we fail, one voice crying for revival in the dark is better than no voice at all.

In Christ,
Hackett

Who is God?

2007-08-19T19:41:00.001-07:00

Who is God?

I recently read somebody’s attempt at answering that question.
In response to the question "Who is God?” somebody wrote the following...

"God is whoever you want him to be."

From nearly every religious, philosophical and moral standpoint, that is the wrong answer.

I am a Christian, but I will put aside my beliefs on who God is for a minute so as to give unbiased answer to the person who wrote that sentence.

The concept of God or gods is found in nearly every society today. Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, even Satanism (yikes, scary!)
All of these religions agree on one thing, God or gods aren't whoever you want them to be...

The very concept of God is that it is a being or force more powerful than us humans.
So to say that God is whoever you want him to be is a complete and total lie. Here are four reasons why:

1. If there is a God, and if He is all-powerful, then He is what he is regardless of what you believe. He cannot be "whoever you want him to be" as someone so naively wrote.

2. If there is a God, and if He is not all-powerful, then He is still more powerful than us humans, otherwise He wouldn't be considered God. This would mean the same thing as Reason #1...that is; God is who He is regardless of what you believe.

3. If you believe "God is whoever you want him to be," then He is not really God, because you can control what He is. The universal concept of what God or gods are is that they are above us, more powerful then us, and cannot be controlled by us.
Saying that "God is whoever you want him to be" makes God a figment of your imagination that holds no true power, because that makes you controller of God, making Him not God. Put shortly, this statement defeats itself.

4. If there is NO God, then where did we come from?
Many scientists would say evolution. With all due respect to the scientist, evolution has so many holes and gaps in it that it is amazing it hasn’t fallen apart yet. It is still called the “Theory of Evolution” for a reason after all…because it is just a theory, a theory that will never be proven as absolute truth because it is based on a lie.
Some people would say the Big Bang Theory, but that doesn’t explain where we came from, just where the universe came from. However, the evidence for the Big Bang Theory points to the Christian Creation Theory. The Big bang theory says the universe came to be in a huge cosmic explosion in a flash of light. There are still the radio waves moving through space from the point of explosion scientists have discovered, and I believe in those radio waves because it has been proven! The account in Genesis says the universe came into being in just six days. That would require a huge amount of power and energy unimaginable! Is it so hard to believe that those moving radio waves are from the first moments of Creation, when God, in a burst of unimaginable glory, beauty, and power sent the galaxies and planets hurtling into the empty universe?

God is who He is regardless of what you say He is. An elephant is still an elephant, even if somebody said it was a fish. 2+2=4, even if someone says it equals 347.
These things are absolute truths, and you can say whatever you want too, but the elephant will still be an elephant, 2+2 will always equal 4, and God will always be God, even if you don't believe in Him.

So, now that we've covered why God can't be whatever you want Him to be, who is He really?

God is a being who loves His Creation so much, even after sin viciously marred it, that He allowed His own, perfect Son to be murdered so that He can be reunited with us again.
That sounds a lot better to me than "God is whoever you want Him to be."
It makes more sense too; God did something for you even if you choose not to accept it. His own Son died so you can be united with God again. God did something you may not believe or agree to because He is God and not "whatever you believe." You had no control over it, because God isn't "whoever you want Him to be."

The whole "God is whoever you want Him to be" spill is a lie straight from the pits of hell that resides comfortably with 21st century post-modernism. Frankly, it's a load of lies that is easily proven as "untruth" when placed under the light. It doesn't hold up, and unfortunately, lots of people are going to pay the consequences for it when we all stand before God on the Day of Judgment and they say, "But you are not God because I don't believe in you!"
It saddens my heart to think that so many will be saying that...

In Christ,
Hackett

Sin on Horseback

2007-08-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

Last week, the United Nations passed the UN Security Council Resolution 1769, aauthorizing the deployment of thousands of peacekeepers to the war-torn region of Darfur, Sudan.

But will it really be over soon?
In May of 2006, the Darfur peace agreement was signed by the majority of those involved in the Darfur genocide which was supposed to bring peace to Sudan.
Now over a year later, the genocide continues.

Over the next six months, according to the United Nations, nearly 26,000 troops are to be deployed to Sudan.

This has brought little comfort to those that are being raped and murdered in Darfur, however. This isn't the first they have been promised peace and safety.

Just to give you an idea of how bad the situation in Darfur is, here's an event that took place in December 2006 in the Darfuri capital of El Fasher. This account is from African Union forces that were in the area when the incident occured:

"We were helping a woman put together a small shelter for her and her two sons. Suddenly, we heard vehicle's approaching and saw many of the Janjaweed militiamen riding towards us.
We quickly called for help. More of our soldiers showed up. They brought word that paramilitary forces that appeared to be Sudanese government soldiers and Janjaweed militiamen had surronded the large camp just outside of the city we were guarding, filled mostly with women and children.

We were outnumbered and to underequiped to confront them, but we stayed anyways, thinking that we being peacekeepers would save us from being killed.

A small group from the paramilitary force drove up in a Sudanese army vehicle and told us to go to our barracks, or we would be killed along with everyone in the village. One of our soldiers told the man we weren't leaving. He was promptly shot in the chest.

Needless to say, we went to our barracks, taking our wounded man with us.
By God's grace, the Janjaweed and Sudanese military left instead of raiding the village that was home to thousands of women and children. We guess they just want us to know that they are in charge. Now the Darfuri civilians don't trust us to protect them."

It's doesn't even take common sense to see that the UN peacekeepers need to be deployed now to replace the African Union peacekeepers.
400,000 are already dead, more have been raped and beaten and the world goes on as if nothing is happening.

It makes me sick.

I've been told more than once that I have bashed the American Christian church over its' inaction to the Darfur genocide without any right to...
Yet the American church is right there with the rest of the world, ignoring genocide and sin.

It's not hard to understand why. It's two completely different worlds, Darfur and America that is...

Here in America, we Christians try not to "sin" by avoiding cursing, stealing, and lust.
Yes, those things are sin...

But in Darfur, Sin sits on horseback wielding rifles and machine guns.

The problem with the Chruch in America, is that its' been "Americanizied."
There are so many Christian self-help books, and we are told by our own churches that we need to work on becoming better people.
To sum it up, the Church in America is telling its followers to focus on themselves, not on God or what we should be doing for Him.

The American church is dying, and so are innocent people in Darfur.

And sin is the reason for both, just different kinds of sin. I guess it just shows how much power sin really has in this world, that in one place it has an entire nation focused on itself, only so another sin can ride about freely on horseback killing whenever it wants to, unchallenged.

It is sad to think that the Church is doing nothing to help. I even emailed the pastor at my church, asking him if he would pray for Darfur in the congregational prayer we have after worship every Sunday...I never got a reply and it was not mentioned in service.

If you want to know more about what is happening to end the the violence in Darfur, you can go to the following websites:

www.savedarfur.org/
www.eyesondarfur.org/

This last one has actual video footage from Darfur that is in an upcoming film.

www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com

Find a way to help, if you can't find ways, I know of several.

In Christ,
Hackett

"Time is Up!"

2007-07-30T15:18:00.001-07:00

"Time is up!"

Those words are beginning to ring out worldwide since the Sudanese government officially rejected the United Nation's latest efforts to bring peace to Darfur.

Why has the Sudanese government rejected this newest proposal?
The answer is because of one line found in Chapter Seven in the resolution for the Darfur peacekeeping force, writeen by the UN.

The line says this: "use all necessary means."
This line is referring to the African Union/United Nation's hybrid force and how they are to protect the persecuted in Sudan.

President Al-Bashir of Sudan is not "comfortable" with a well-equiped 25,000 strong peace-keeping force working within his country's borders, especially if they have free reign to "use all neccesary means'" to keep the peace.
Why is President Al-Bashir "uncomfortable" with a PEACEKEEPING force?
Because Al-Bashir and his government are supporters of the genocide in Darfur. Proof of this has been found when Janjaweed soldiers have murdered the innocent using Sudanese army weapons.

Since Sudan rejected the latest proposal, worldwide outcry is beginning to increase at a rate yet to be seen in the face of this bleak event on humanity's history record.

"Time is Up!"
Those words are beginning to spread worldwide as groups like the Save Darfur Coalition are joining together to put more pressure onto the United Nations, America, and China in a desperate effort to stop the genocide.

The Save Darfur Coalition is still hoping that this problem can be solved politically, but the coalition is beginning to gear up for what appears to be the inevitable. The inevitable being a military takeover of Sudan.

As more and more activists worldwide continue to raise awareness and support for Darfur, more and more people are calling on the Western world to put politics aside and do what needs to be done.
One Darfur activist had this to say,

"Al-Bashir is 'uncomfortable' with the United Nations sending a peacekeeping force? Fine then. Let's see how 'uncomfortable' he gets when UN forces shoot their way into his presidential palace..."

As liberal as that may sound, I couldn't agree more. The Sudanese government doesn't want to yield, I'm fine with that. Let's force them to yield.

I'm a conservative person for the most part, and I would like to see the situation in Darfur be solved peacefully, but not at the cost of more lives.

I came across a verse in Proverbs a few months ago that has made me want to be solution to this situation that is growing bleaker by the day for those that are being raped and slaughtered in Darfur.

Proverbs 24:11-12
Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what He has done?

God makes it clear in His Word that we are to rescue those that are part of genocide. He doesn't say how we are to do that, He just says to do it. In my interpretation of it, that leaves more than enough room for a military takeover of Darfur, if not the whole of Sudan.

Activists worldwide in the next few months will be putting more pressure than ever on those who can stop these tragic events. Now is the time to act, now it is possible for us to make a difference. When the genocide began, only a few voices spoke out against it, now millions do. With every person that joins in the efforts to end the genocide, more of an effect is being made. The UN is now commited to stopping the genocide in Darfur, no matter what the cost. But we can make the end come sooner, and all our voices are needed to make that happen.

"Time is Up!"

Join those that are screaming those words. Go to www.savedarfur.org.

There is a petiton you can sign there, ways you can get involved and ways your church can get involved.

"Time is Up!"

It's now or more killing for years to come...and you can help decide which it is.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Church's Potential to Fail Again...

2007-07-13T21:38:00.001-07:00

Throughout history, the Church has been involved in many things. Some good, some bad...

The Church protected Jews in Europe during World War II.
The Church has always given help to those who need it...

But the Church has also not helped at some points in history...especially when it was needed most.

An example of this occuring right now...but we'll get to that in a second...

In today's world, the Church is quite powerful, in more ways then one.
Financially, the Church has access to hundreds of billions of dollars as a whole.
Many leaders of coutries seek out advice from the Vatican.
The Church is one of the greatest humanitarian outreaches on the planet.
No matter what your beliefs, it cannot be denied that Christianity is a major part of this world.

Now, to the point...
Christianity weilds quite a bit of power, both monetarily and politically. It has a track record of helping when needed.

But the Church is needed greatly now, and the Church is doing nothing.
And now to the topic I've written about before...

Within the past few years in Darfur, nearly 400,000 people have been murdered and 2.5 million people displaced by war, famine, and strife.

The situation in Darfur is messy situation.
The government backed Janjaweed are raping and murdering innocent people in Sudan (and recently in Chad).
Rebel forces that used to be fighting each other in Sudan have now joined together to rebel against the Sudanese government, which is preventing international intervention.
And the deployment of the United Nation/African Union hybrid force, which will soon be 25,000 strong, has been delayed from bringing peace to this region of the world which has been declared "genocide" by the United Nations...

And in all of this, what is the Church doing as a whole to end this genocide?

The answer: next to nothing.
Some churches are giving money, and some are helping to tell the world about Darfur, but these churches are few and far between.

My opinion, the Church is in the process of failing at what it should be doing.

What should the church be doing?
The Church has the power politically to put pressure on Sudan, the United Nations, and China (which has very close ties to Sudan) to put an end to this 21st century Holocaust.
It has the money to at least help support the new UN/AU hybrid force.
And it has the missionaries to bring the Gospel to those who need it the most.

The church IS failing here...

But God isn't. In all of this mess, God's miracles and mercies are beginning to appear.
The militias that used to be fighting each other have now joined together to go against the Janjaweed and Sudanese government, because they believe the events in Darfur are wrong.

Janjaweed soldiers are beginning to leave the evil they are doing and joining the rebels that are slowly pushing their full military and political pressure onto Sudan.

China is beginning to use its political leverage to deal with the Sudanese government, after activists started calling the future Olympic games in Beijing the "Genocide Games."

And the few missionaries that are in Darfur send reports out that some are accepting Christ.

The Church is failing...but God isn't.
If the Church had done its job from the start, hundreds of thousands if lives could have been saved. Or at least more of those that were killed could be in Heaven right now...

The Pope, a key leading figure of the Chruch as a whole, made a comment the other day that Protestant churches are not "true" churches. While just across the Mediterrainen, the killing in Darfur continues.
I guess that shows how much the Church is ignoring the bigger picture when the Pope cares more about Catholic supremecy than the people who are being raped and murdered everyday just a few flight hours away...

The Church is failing, but there is still time to change that fact. Darfur needs to end, now. The more political pressure there is on the countries involved, the sooner this genocide ends.You can get your church involved by going to www.savedarfur.org and have your members sign the petiton there, which is updated to the United Nations, White House, U.S. Congress, and other organizations that have the political power to end the genocide daily.

All you have to do is sign a petition, it takes less than two minutes, and you will be doing something to help save lives. If you believe that your one name won't count, think again. The United Nations didn't even start considering to do something about Darfur until people started signing petitions to put an end to this genocide.

www.savedarfur.org is also a place where you can make donations and it lists other ways you can get more involved.

Today, the Holocaust is remebered as something horrible that happened because humanity did nothing to stop it until it was to late...
How will Darfur be remembered 60 years from now? Will it be taught in history classes as a Second Holocaust, or will it be remebered as a bad situation in which many were killed, but humanity did something to put an end to it before it could get worse?

The answer to that question is up to all of us. We are all responsible for this, because none of us did anyting to stop it.
And when I stand before God after I die, I don't want to hear the words "You had a chance to help save lives, why didn't you take it?" come from His mouth.

Sign the petition, at least do that much...you never know how much impact we all together can really have...

In Christ,
Hackett

A World War II Pilot's Dream

2007-06-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

This is a long one, but it is well worth the time it will take to read.

I came across an interesting story the other day. It's about a British pilot who was shot down near the end of WWII over Germany.
The pilot was found in a Nazi concentration camp a few months later, and he soon died after the camp was liberated by the Allies, after suffering from severe ailments that millions fell to in those horrific camps.
But this story wasn't about the pilot living under Nazi tyranny, or his experiences flying.

This story is about a dream this pilot had, which he recorded in a small book that was found in his possession upon being rescued by the Allies.
Before I continue though, I must mention that this man's view of salvation was very different from what most of us see salvation as. But do to this man's profession and the times he was living in, I think it is a very important aspect of salvation.

The following is an excerpt from his journal:

"I have finally discovered what this world really is. I've discovered the sin that infests it, the salvation that has come to fix it, and the war that is being waged between the two.
I understand this because of a dream I had last night. It goes as follows:

All of us are like pilots in little fighter planes, buzzing around in the skies above the clouds. We occasionally fight with one another in spectacular little dogfights, hoping to gain some small achievement for ourselves; because up here, it is all about us. The clouds are white and fluffy, the view is spectacular.
Yet, something is missing. I guess deep down we all know that there has to be more than these fluffy clouds and little fights with each other. There has to be something more important, something to live for, besides ourselves.
It is at this point that a small plane flies by ours, and from it we hear of life under the clouds. We hear that there is something to live for down there. We are told the only way we can get there though, is to ask Christ into our hearts.
But the clouds are all we know? Would we dare leave all we know behind to join those under the clouds? What is it like down there?

Because of this, many ignore the call from this plane. They would rather live a meaningless life above the clouds, because they feel safe here.
But one brave pilot dares to accept the call. As soon as he does, a rocket flies up through the clouds, striking his plane and crippling it. And so, he begins his plunge through the meaningless clouds to what lies below them.
The pure whiteness of the clouds slowly gives way to darkness; rain begins to fall, and lightning strikes. This once daring pilot who accepted the call is now terrified, not knowing his fate.
The fall continues, the clouds give way to smoke; the rain is still falling and hammering into the poor little plane. It seems as if this will be the end for the pilot.
Suddenly, however, the plane breaks through the last cloud, and escapes the last pillar of smoke. And suddenly the pilot sees what he has always longed to know, that is, what lies under those clouds. And it is not what he expected.

The view consists of a large city that his plane is pummeling towards from the sky. Fires are everywhere in the city, gunfire and heavy artillery can be heard, and a huge battle is being waged inside of it. Explosions are everywhere. The fighting is so fierce that the city seems to be destroying itself at a rapid rate.

After a few moments of shock, the man remembers his parachute. He quickly escapes the plane, and is soon hovering down to the city.
He barely misses a building as he floats down to the middle of the street, hitting the pavement hard. Bullets pound into the ground all around him. He quickly cuts himself free of the parachute, and dives for cover behind a street corner, drawing his measly little pistol to defend himself.
He peaks back around the corner, and sees dozens of evil looking, well-armed creatures and humans approaching his location quickly.
The man fires several rounds at the approaching enemy, but his weapon has no affect on them.
The small group reaches him, and their leader steps out from among them, and comes close to him. This leader does not appear to be human, if anything, he is a demon. He draws his weapon, and prepares to kill the pilot, who is wishing he had never left the fluffy clouds behind.

But suddenly, shouts and yells are heard. A bright flash of white light. Gunshots. Several of the evil creatures and men fall, the rest flee. The pilot is grabbed by strong arms, the noise of gunshots grows louder, and then fades, and a voice yells, 'Fear not! You are safe now brother!' as the man passes out...

The pilot slowly awakens; the noise of battle can be heard in the near distance. The man opens his eyes, sitting up slowly. He is under a blanket on the ground, underneath a tent. Men are walking to and fro, well armed. They are battle-hardened, yet they have a peaceful appearance about them. One of these men approaches the pilot.
‘How are you brother?’ the man asks.

The pilot replies, ‘I honestly don't know.’

The man says, ‘Well, you are safe here in the stronghold of our Lord.’

‘Those…those things aren’t going to kill me?’ the pilot asks.

The man smiles.
‘No brother, they can never kill you now. Indeed brother, you made a wise choice when you decided to leave the clouds behind, because those that fly around up there are no better than those evil beings that tried to kill you. Your soul is no longer protected by you, but it is in the protection of our Lord, who is here to reclaim this place from the enemy.’

The man gets up to leave. The pilot asks him one more question as he walks off.

‘Kind sir,’ the pilot says, ‘what is this place you speak of?’

The man stops, then turns around.
‘This place was stolen from Him once, long ago, but He has returned in full force, after the glorious work of His Son. He has come to save us mere mortals from what we cannot defend ourselves against. Even now brother, you are welcomed into His army and at His table. Many battles await us yet, but the day is coming when the Son Himself will return in His power, and we will fight the last fight with Him by our sides. Until then, brother, you must fight along side of us so that more can be ushered into the Kingdom before it is to late. This place is Earth, and the Lord will stop at nothing until it is His again.’

That was my dream…
And now I think I truly understand what I should be fighting for. Yes, I am doing the right thing by resisting Hitler, but the true battle is on a spiritual level, and the war this world is being dragged into now is only a small battle in this great spiritual war.

By just fighting Hitler I am fighting the consequence. But when one is ill, the remedy is to fix thing that is causing the consequence. Yes, Hitler will be beaten one day, but the main problem won’t be fixed that way. The solution to all these consequences lays in killing the very thing that is causing the consequences, and that is sin. And as far as I know, Christ is the only solution to that.”

By the time I got to the end of this pilot’s story, I was speechless.
This story reminded me of 2 Thessalonians 3: 1-3.

2 Thessalonians 3: 1-3
Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

I don’t think I need to explain anything on this one. I hope you walk away from this pilot’s story and dream with as much as I did.

In Christ,
Hackett

Loyalty and Values

2007-06-05T08:22:00.001-07:00

"The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values."
Norman Thomas (1884 - 1968)

While I disagree with Mr. Thomas' political, socialist beliefs, I think he makes a good point here if it is taken in a certain context. That context is, of course, relating to loyalty with God.

The right loyalty in the right scale of value...apply that to belief in God, sounds like a winner.

But what should the extent of those two things be too?

Jude 1:3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

So, we must "contend for the faith"...
If we must contend for our faith, our loyalty to God and knowing His value in our lives must be beyond our understanding.
So how can we find out what our value and loyalty to Christ should be?
The answer is found in friendship. Good friends are loyal to each other no matter what, they value their friendship...how much more so with Christ!
Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for us, His loyalty to us has been unending, even after the world has turned its back to Him due to the Fall.

Our loyalty to Him and His value to us should be the same in return, and as Mr. Thomas mentions, it is the secret to a good life.
After all, life is not life if you aren't willing to die for something. Without that, there is nothing to live for.

In Christ,
Hackett

Life: The Security Issue

2007-05-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

If you've ever talked to Johnathan Todd, you've probably had this conversation with him before.

I saw Zach Braff's movie "The Last Kiss" for the first time last night, by the way, Zach Braff is amazing. And I strongly suggest everyone see "The Last Kiss."

If you haven't seen this film I'll give a brief outline of the plot.
Zach Braff's character is about to turn thirty, about to have a baby, and is supposed to be getting married in the near future.
Yet, something isn't right. He feels like his life is planned out.
He has security.
And that bothers him.

Most of us would do anything to know that are job is secure, our family is secure, and life is secure. But this movie points something out...

What happens when we have all those things? What happens when we have security?

The answer..................Boredom.

No more surprises...
No more uncontrolled events...
Zach Braff's character is scared of that. And in my opinion, we all should be scared of it. Here's why:
Zach Braff's character solves the problem by sleeping with a college girl, who is not the person he is supposed to marry eventually.
Well, following that, he got many surprises.

Zach Braff's character handled the situation wrong, but its' a situation we all have and will deal with.
Life...it gets mundane when there is security. Sure, enjoyment can be found in that somewhere.
But, Braff's character calls it "a death sentence."
And he is 100% correct, that is, if you can't find the enjoyment in security. Because security can lead back to insecurity.

How do we deal with this?

Job 33:28
He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.

We find our enjoyment in God, who redeemed us.
It's easier to enjoy God and find Him when your life is a disaster.
It's harder to enjoy God and find Him when your life is secure.

Job's solution?
Remeber that God can or has saved you. There is an endless amount of enjoyment in that, even in the security.

Zach Braff's character had the wrong solution. And even though "The Last Kiss" points out that security and the American dream are shallow things, it also points out that sin is not the way to solve the security issue.

There is only one solution to it, Christ.

In Christ,
Hackett

"The Way I See It"-Round 2

2007-04-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Once again, Evan and I at Starbuck's...
Once again, my wallet wept as I paid a riduculous amount for mediocre coffee...in an eco-friendly cup of course (gotta save those trees!)

And what do you know, I got lucky and had another decent "The Way I See It" quote on the side of my partially recycled cup, among many horrible quotes.

The Way I See It #196
"The greatest leader is a servant. Don’t be a boss. Be a real leader, a servant leader. A servant leader is a winner. Even when he loses everything, even when he loses his life, a servant leader wins it all."
-- Pat Williams
Senior vice president of the Orlando Magic.

Mr. Williams is one smart dude...
This quote reminds me of a Bible verse.

Isaiah 52
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

13 See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness—

15 so will he sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Back to what Mr. Williams of Orlando Magic says,
"Even when he loses everything, EVEN WHEN HE LOSES HIS LIFE, a servant leader wins it all."

Christ, the ultimate servant, even to death, won everything.
And Mr. Williams, whatever his beliefs are, hits the secret of a true leader dead center.

And Christ is the ultimate example of that...

In Christ,
Hackett

Christ- The Messiah?

2007-04-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

The world has questioned Christ's authority many times. Is He God, is he not?
The Jews, for the most part, have denied his authority.
Islam calls Him a great prophet, but not the Savior.
Did this world reject its' Savior?

First, I will question the Jewish belief that the Messiah has yet to come...

The Old Testament has hundreds of prophecies concerning the Messiah. Many of them are found in the books of Isiah, Psalms, and Jeremiah. There are others scattered throughout the other books of the Old Testament though, such as in Micah.

Here are a few of those prophecies:
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Micah 5:2
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

There are hundreds more.

George Heron, a French mathematician, calculated that the odds of one man fulfilling only 40 of those hundreds of prophecies are 1 in 10 to the power of 157. That is a 1 followed by 157 zeros. Compare it to this; your odds on winning the state lottery are 14 followed by 6 zeros.

The Messiah, therefore, is one of a kind.

Jesus Christ, however, fulfills more than just 40 prophecies, he fulfills all of the hundreds of them.

Christ was born a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14)
Christ would be killed. (Isaiah 53:8)
Christ was born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)
Christ was counted among criminals. (Isaiah 53:12)
Christ was resurrected. (Psalm 16:8-10)
The list goes on and on...

From the Jewish standpoint, Christ fulfilled every single Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah. Of course, many people argue Christ was not born of a Virgin and there is no physical proof of His resurection.
There is one prophecy, however, that cannot be denied.

Daniel 9
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

Here, we see that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem.
Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem occured 173,880 days (483 times the Hebrew 360 day year) after Artaxerxes' decree was given in 445 B.C. (as recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-20) to rebuild Jerusalem. This was the first time that Jesus allowed anyone to proclaim him as "King." Note, the Hebrew word for "week" is "shavua" and literally means "seven." Therefore, in Hebrew, the idea of 70 weeks is "seventy sevens." The meaning of the word "weeks" was used in reference to both days and YEARS. Many scholars, both Christian and non-Christian, agree that the "weeks" here refers to years, which adds up to 483.

It's almost eerie that Christ comes to Jerusalem 483 years later, to the exact day, in accoradnce with the prophecy made by Daniel and the records found in Nehemiah concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Considering the prophecies, I think the Jews missed their Messiah.

Now, for those of you who are neither Jewish nor Christian, here's more reasons on why Christ is the Messiah and God.

1. The prophecies made in the OT, which were written hundreds of years before Christ, point to Christ as the Messiah. From a historical standpoint, considering the accuracy of the Bible with world events that occured at different times, the fact that Christ fulfills all of the prophecies from the Old Testament is nearly impossible. But He does! It's eerie, borderline weird that human beings from the Old Testament prophesied things about the Messiah that Christ fulfilled.

2. Historically speaking, the Bible has recorded events about wars, etc that are backed up by other secular sources. If this is true, is it so hard to believe that maybe the Bible is right on Christ being the Messiah as well.

3. "Luke 23:44
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining."
This occured in the last three hours of Christ's life, at least according to the Bible, but did it really happen?
According to Phlegon, a Greek author from Caria, it did. Writing a chronology soon after 137 A.D., Phlegon reported that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e. 33 A.D.) there was "the greatest eclipse of the sun" and that "it became night in the sixth hour of the day [i.e., noon] so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea."
That is non-biblical attestation by a Greek author to the darkness that occured in the final hours of Jesus life. Even though Phlegon writes the dakness off as an eclipse...we know it was not an eclipse.
Because in AD 221, however, Julius Africanus proved that it couldn't have been an eclipse that covered the sun, due to the time.

Of course, there are hundreds upon hundreds of reasons why we know Christ is the Messiah, and these are just a few.

After studying information like this, I don't see how anyone could deny the authority of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

In Christ,
Hackett

Evolution: The Impossible Theory

2007-04-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

The first thing I ever remember reading out of a high school science textbook are the following words: Science is based on observation. Unfortunately, that statement, which is the basis of science, is disregarded by many scientists who claim that the Theory of Evolution is science. The study of history is not considered to be a science because the person studying cannot observe the events as they take place; this of course being because the events have already happened. The skeptic evolutionist would reply to this by saying something along the lines of “I was not around when you were born, so you must have never been born.” No, but there is conclusive evidence proving that I was born, and evolution, in simple terms, does not have such evidence. My purpose of this speech is to show you the problem with this Theory of Evolution that so many people believe is the truth today.

My first example of evidence that proves the Theory of Evolution wrong is the “Geologic Column.” Simply put, the geologic column is layers of rock and sediment, which date back in time over history. The deeper you go through these layers, the older the fossils are supposed to be that you find in those layers. Supposedly, according to evolutionists, all fossils fit into a specific order. This order goes from simple organisms to complex ones over time. However, there are many flaws in this area of the Theory of Evolution. In the past decade, archeologists and scientists have begun to discover fish scales in the Cambrian layer of the geologic column. But, according to the column, fish did not appear in the world until much later, perhaps millions of years later. This is just one of the many places Evolution contradicts itself.

My next point that challenges Evolution is the layer-transversing fossils. If you don’t know what a layer-transversing fossil is, it is a fossil that runs through thousands of years of layers in the geologic column. These fossils have been found all over the world. Perhaps the most frequently found layer-transversing fossils are trees. A possible explanation for this is that these “layers” weren’t laid down over billions of years, which evolutionist say they were laid down over billions of years. If the evolutionist were correct, and the layers were layed down over billions of years, then the evolutionist is implying that these ancient trees had the ability to grow through solid rock, not to mention with no sunlight. If the evolutionist were even to consider this insane notion, or even one like it, another argument can be made against it. Some of these trees have been found upside down, indicating a sudden catastrophe, such as a great flood, which a possible explanation for is found in the Bible.

More evidence against Evolution is that there is a lack of transitional fossils, which evolutionists claim show the changes in organisms over time. Only a handful of these so called “transitional fossils” have been found over time. If evolutionists are right, then there should be millions of transitional fossils everywhere in our museums and science labs, because of the millions of years of transition that should have made us who we are today would have left billions of fossils behind. Yet, there are only a few, and many of them have been proven to be fake. A good example of this is the so-called “Nebraska man” that was found. This was a huge deal in the scientific world, at last, a real piece of hard evidence had been found that supported evolution. Unfortunately, when the evidence was tested and analyzed, the bones were discovered to be that of a pig. Not only was this evidence found lacking in integrity, but also more of the skeleton was found later, and indeed, it was a pig.

The evidence against evolution continues on in that the theory evolution contradicts many laws of science. One example of this is the Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that as time progress, things wear down and become less effective. A good example of this is the human body, as it grows older; it reaches a peak, and then slowly begins to become weaker. Evolution, however, implies that things became more complex and more improved over time. But considering the Law of Thermodynamics is a proven Law, and Evolution is just a theory, I am more inclined to believe what has already been proven to be true, not a theory that contradicts the Truth. This is just one more thing that disproves the theory of Evolution.

I have one last example that proves evolution to be false and to be a lie. Some evolutionists argue that given time, anything can happen, including the extreme changing of organisms. Sounds like a good argument, right? I mean, we don’t know what humans may look like millions of years from now. Of course, there is a problem with this concept of Evolution as well, and that is, evolution doesn’t have enough time to prove itself. Billions of trillions of years is not even close to what would be needed. Rick Ramashing and Sir Fred Hoyle, two respected mathematicians, calculated what the probability of one cell would be to evolve by chance. Now, these two men are coming from an unbiased standpoint. They have many times told others they are atheists, and they looked the Theory of Evolution only from an educational standpoint. After calculating the correct number, they found to their disbelief that is a 1 in 10 to the 40,000 power years just for one cell to evolve. After their findings, Sir Hoyle had this to say about evolution:
"The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that 'a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein.' "

Although I already believed that a sovereign God created this world before I researched for this speech, this is called the creationist theory, the information I found only convinced me further that what I believe is the truth. Evolutionists say that it is unreasonable to believe in a sovereign God that created the universe. But, when looking at the evidence, everything points to creationism, not the Theory of Evolution. I mean, the Creation theory has answers to everything evolution doesn’t. I mentioned earlier about trees being found in several layers of rock that is supposed to represent thousands and millions of years of change. Some of these trees were found upside down, indicating some great, forceful catastrophe. Evolution has no answer for this, but the creationist does:

"Genesis 7: 17-24
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. 21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."

A flood would account for overturned trees, shifting of the land, and layers of mud that would eventually turn into rock over time. Yet, evolution says this is unreasonable, even though evolution has no reason for these happenings itself.

I also mentioned the Law of Thermodynamics earlier. As you recall the Law states that things wear down over time. Evolution states things get more complex and better over time. They do not agree with each other. Yet, the fact that there are Laws in the universe states that there is order and control. Could this order and control come from the theory of evolution, which insists that the survival of the fittest is what really happens? No. If this were true, then the universe would be in chaos, because the fittest would be destroying the weak. The fact that there are things such as the Law of Thermodynamics in the universe points to order and control, that something is sustaining the universe. By default, Evolution attempts to disprove Laws of science, which have been proven as true. Can a mere theory disprove what is known to be absolutely true? Of course not.

In conclusion, I hope I have been able to show you the weaknesses and sometimes lies of evolution. I cannot make you believe one thing or another, but I can show you the evidence that goes against the Theory of Evolution. The choice is yours to make. Do you believe in a theory known as Evolution, which has so many weaknesses and contradicts many things we know to be true, or do you believe in something else?

Evolution is simply not the truth, there is too much overwhelming evidence against it, and what I spoke of before is only a small portion of it. Does this mean you should stop searching for the truth? No. The truth is out there, but the truth is not evolution. Look somewhere else for it, because, after all, it is important to know where we come from. Because, in finding where we come from, we find out if we have hope or not of something else after our deaths. I myself believe I have found the truth, in the deep pages of the Bible, but I cannot force you to go there. That is a journey you must take on your own in your own search for what is truth. If you don’t get anything else from what I am saying today, please understand this, that the Theory of Evolution is based on misread evidence and lies. Go and keep searching for the truth, but remember, the Truth does not lie in the realm of Evolution.

Suffering

2007-04-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

"Suffering has a mysterious role in the Christian life and should mold our response to human agony in the world. Indeed, the suffering of those called into God’s service can become clothed with ever deepening significance— not glorified in itself, but endowed with power to advance God’s kingdom."
-Robert B. Krushwitz

Why does God allow suffering?

I think Mr. Krushwitz explains why. Suffering advances the kingdom of God.

Before I continue, I would like to say why I am writing this. I have several friends that are going through stuff right now, one on my mind in paticular, and I hope this can help in some way...

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Is suffering a bad thing? I mean, sure it hurts, but I think it's more of a blessing in disguise. Let me explain.

The amazing thing about suffering is the outcome. No matter how bad the suffering is, most of the time, when we come through it, things are for the better. If they are not for the better, then hey, at least the suffering is gone. The point I'm trying to make here is that sometimes the lowest point you can ever hit will be when you are suffering. And when you hit rock bottom, and the only thing left to do is look up, things can only get better.

Romans 5:3
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Rejoice in suffering? Easier said then done. But if you see all the good that can come from it and how God orchestrates it, it is much easier to rejoice.

Now, how do we deal with suffering?

"What does it mean to have courage in the face of suffering, pain, or even death? While our culture may idolize strength in adversity and tough self-reliance, courage has another side that many of us have not thought about much. It is revealed when our vulnerability is greatest and our own strength is exhausted."
-Rebecca Konydykk DeYoung

Ms. DeYoung here makes a valid point. The ultimate example of courage in suffering would be Christ during the final week of his life. Is it so hard to be courageous in our own sufferings when we compare what we are going through to what He went through? Of course not. Most of us aren't facing crucifixion, flogging, and mockery everyday.
Do you think it was easy for Christ to suffer like that? Here is what the Scripture says about it:

Matthew 26
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

At this point, Christ gets a glimpse into the wrath of God, and He is terrified. Can you imagine a member of the Trinity being terrified? How great was God's wrath? It must have been unimaginable.
So, when we go through stuff, such as a job loss, a girlfriend breaking up with you, or even see someone die, is it so hard to be courageous? After all, Christ looked at the most terrifying thing in the universe, was momentarily scared, then after praying to His Father, went into the hurricane of God's wrath at full speed. That's courage. How much harder is it for us to be courageous and rejoicing in the midst of suffering? Compared to Christ, it should be quite easy for us.

That's why suffering is a blessing in disguise. It builds character, brings us closer to God, and strengthens us.
If anything, we should look forward to suffering.

Philippians 3
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

In Christ,
Hackett

"The Way I See It"

2007-04-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

Most of you are familiar with Starbucks, I'm sure. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks, but that's not what this note is about.

I went to Starbucks last night with my good friend Evan (aka the midget.) Usually, about once a month we go somewhere with a goup of other guys and just hang out. Last night, it was just Evan and me. We were talking about the usual: girls, work, school, etc. Then we started talking about Christianity and religion.
It was at this point I looked down at my cup of nowhere near decent coffee that I just payed almost 5 dollars for, and saw one of those "The Way I See It" qoutes. I'm not usually a fan of those qoutes, but this one I read last night was very interesting, and it went right along with the conversation. It read:

"If I have given my all and still do not win, I haven’t lost. Others might remember winning or losing; I remember the journey."
-- Apolo Anton Ohno
Five-time Olympic medalist.

If you are a fan of the Winter Olympics, then you most likely know who this Apolo guy is. He is one of the best short track speed skaters in the world, and one of America's most favorite athletes.

But, even though I knew who he was, it was the quote that caught my eye.

"If I have given my all and still do not win, I haven’t lost. Others might remember winning or losing; I remember the journey."

The Journey. Wow, I don't know where Apolo stands religously, and this quote is definetly about his career, but what if it had been about the life of a Christian?

In our world today, its' about winning. If you lose, to bad; either win next time or give up. But in the middle of all that, we hear one of the world's most skilled athletes going against the tide.

"If I have given my all and still do not win, I haven’t lost. Others might remember winning or losing; I remember the journey."

The Journey...that word is so powerful to the Christian mind. You see, one of the major things that sets true Christians apart from the rest of the world is the fact that its' not all about winning. Very few people seem to understand that winning isn't everything. Yet, with the whole world screaming "Win, win, win!" there is an athlete, who gets paid to win, saying that it is not all about winning. It's about the Journey. Apolo remebers how he got to where he is today, and that is where he finds his joy. He doesn't find it in winning all the time, but sometimes he finds it in losing; because, you see, Apolo gets it: It's not about being right all the time or always winning. The Christian sees that too. A Christian can look back on his/her life and say "Wow, I have changed so much because of Christ. I have won and I have lost, I have conquered and I have failed, but my oh my, what a journey."

Personally, I applaud Apolo for understanding one of the real meanings of life, especially in the industry he is in where winning is everything. Shoot, I'll even applaud Starbucks for putting such a great quote among their many crappy ones on the side of an eco-friendly cup.

"The Way I See It."
I think the real meaning of Starbuck's little qoutes are about the meaning of life. Unfortunately, many of their quotes give a bad or wrong meaning to life.
"The Way I See It."
Maybe Starbucks should change it to: "The Way Apolo Sees It."
Because, out of all of those qoutes, one man has finally hit one of the main things about what life really is, especially life to a Christian.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Doomsday Clock

2007-04-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

"LONDON, England (AP) -- The world has nudged closer to a nuclear apocalypse and environmental disaster, a trans-Atlantic group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday, pushing the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight.
It was the fourth time since the end of the Cold War that the clock has ticked forward, this time from 11:53 to 11:55, amid fears over what the scientists are describing as "a second nuclear age" prompted largely by atomic standoffs with Iran and North Korea.
'As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on Earth,' said Stephen Hawking, the renowned cosmologist and mathematician.
'As citizens of the world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we live with every day, and to the perils we foresee if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change.'"

I'm not going to lie, the first time I heard about this "Doomsday Clock," I laughed. I couldn't believe that a group of some of the brightest scientific minds in the world would come together and create something this.....silly.

If you don't know how the clock works, its' quite simple: when the clock strikes midnight, one of two things wil happen. The first, the world ends, everyone dies, game over for Earth. The second, the Earth will become so crippled by the action, or inaction, of its inhabitants, that the majority of things will pass away. A few may survive, but the world will not be the same. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Of course, this is the opinion of a group of scientists, it does not actually mean this will happen.

Today, the hands on the clock rest on 11:55p.m., just a mere 5 minutes away from midnight. If this group of scientists is correct, hell on earth is right around the corner. Although the idea of a clock showing how close the world is to its' "midnight" may be slightly immature, I think these scientists make valid points in their arguements.

But doesn't it seem like there is something missing in their use of this "Doomsday Clock?" Something maybe left out of their arguements? Sure, the thought of nuclear bombs hitting cities worldwide is frightning. To think that in a single hour, all of civilization can perish because of mankind's inability to remember that we share this world with one another. But I noticed something missing in these arguements:

Where is God in all of this mess?

Would God really allow the world to commit suicide? After all, when put into perspective, that's what war is: humanity killing itself.
But back to the question.

I believe that these brilliant scientists have left out the biggest factor in this "Doomsday Clock": and that factor is God. Humanity gets away with a lot of crap, such as Darfar, the Holocaust, etc. But will God let humanity go to this extreme?

I for one can't speak the mind of God. I don't know of anyone who can. Therefore, I don't have an ansewer to this question, but I do have an opinion. My opinion: sure, its' possible, but unlikely. But my opinion is just one of millions, and that's not my point in writing this.

My point is to challenge whoever is reading this. Sure, the "Doomsday Clock" points to many scary things in this world, things that are a reality. But, this clock also points to something else: humanity is in a mess, and we can't get out of it alone. Something has gone terribly wrong in the world. This clock points out humanity's ultimate depravity, and our need for a Savior. Should mankind trust in itself to fix these problems, or should we trust God? My challenge: let God lead in your life. That's the beginning to the solution. Let's give God a chance to fix this, and it must start in the personnal lives of individual human beings. Let God lead in your life, and watch the small part of the world around you that occupy change for the better. Give it a try.

I await responses.

In His Love,
Hackett

The Great Philosophical Question

2007-04-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

I hear stories all the time from friends who have taken at least one philosophy class in college. After months of studying different philosophies and different religions, the exam comes around. Of course, everyone stays up ridiculously late studying, and then the day comes and they go into class to take the test. In their heads they are going over the material again and again, knowing that this will be a written exam. The teacher enters the room, goes straight to the board, and writes...

Why?

The teacher then sits down, opens a book, and starts to read.

Panic sets in, the students look around helplessly at one another. They wonder if this is some kind of joke. But its' not. The teacher continues to read, and the students begin to write everything they know about everything they've studied, all except for one. This student looks thoughtfully at the board for a few moments, writes a few words down on paper, then turns his test in, leaving. The professor continues to read.
The students all look at the door as closes with an ominous thud. "Well, guess he really didn't care," they think. They go back to writing.

Grades come in a month later. The majority of the students get D's of C's on their exam, all except for one, he received an A. Not to hard to guess which student that one was.

That student's answer was...

Why not?

Was this a sarcastic ansewer that the professor found amusing? No
This is the actual answer to a philosophy teacher's question. Why not? Seems simple enough, right?
In the mind of a philosophy professor, this answer is packed with so much infrormation that hundreds of books have been written about them and the things they relate too, modern music relates to them, all of humanity seems to be caught up in the "why not" without even knowing it. And I say it is perhaps the greatest danger to society today.

"Philosophy, being nothing but the study of wisdom and TRUTH..."
—George Berkeley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Introduction, §1, emphasis added

Truth. What is truth? Philosopher's have been asking this question for centuries, and they've finally come up with their answer in the past few decades.
Their answer: there is no truth.
Well, that sucks for humanity I guess, at least if they are right. Before I continue though, I would like to make a quick point. Saying that there is no truth, that is a truth in itself. And considering there is no truth, at least in the philosopher's mind, that's seems sketchy. And if what they say is true, which it can't be because "truth" doesn't exist to them, then humanity has a huge problem, one that we can not fix.

This new philosophical theory is known as Post-modernism, and related to post-modernism is Existentialism, Pluralism, Nihilism, Reletivism and any other of the -ism's for the most part. While all of them have their differences, they all have one thing in common, no single supreme being, no God. And all of this packed into two little words.
I won't bore you with the details of each of these -ism's, but I would like to mention a few things about them.
1. Post-modernism- of, relating to, or being a theory that involves a radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language. In other words, a complete overhaul of society needs to be done, religion must be executed, and Christianity might be the only thing that stands in its' path. Problem: post-modernism claims that there is very little wrong in the world. Take a look around and tell me if that is true, because it isn't. Post-modernism also says there is no truth, which means there is no God, which means man is God. And if man is God, then we in deep trouble. Does that mean all decisions that man makes is bad? Of course not. But many are, and those are more easily noticed than the good ones.
2. Existentialism- a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad. In other words, we must take the consequences of our actions, and if their is an eternity, we are judged by those actions. Problem: if we are to be judged by our actions, then we should all burn in hell.
3. Pluralism- the theory that all paths lead to where they say they end. In other words, the Christian gets to Heaven, the Muslim gets to paradise, etc, the only rule is, however, that you cannot say your beleif is better than mine. The problem with this theory is that why would the "gods" of so many religions all agree to let everyone reach the endpoint of where that religion aims? And if the "gods" of these religions are all powerful, as many of them claim to be, then why would they allow a powerless being who would be beneath them be a "god"? Doesn't make sense.

Of course, many of these philosophies do carry truth in them, whether they say they do or not. One examlpe being pluralism. This philosophy mentions that Christianity is a truth. I beleive that it is "The Truth", but hey, at least a pluralist has a grain of truth in what they beleive.

So, what are some of the ending possibilities of these philosphies? What are the consequences? All actions and beleifs have consequences, even an existentialist would agree with that. We are even seeing some of the consequences now: the decay of morals in society, the loss of some religous freedoms worldwide, an increasing number of wars, the church taking less of a stand in the world, etc. If man is God, as the post-modernist says, we are doing a pretty crappy job, and here's why: We let our actions be affected by the actions of others around us. In other words, we let outside forces control what we do, and that's not the definition of the word god, in any culture. Thankfully for us, there is a God who doesn't let our actions affect his decisions.

All of this from two simple words that have become so dangerous to the world: Why not? And all of this I have written only scratches the surface.

In my opinion these two questions, the one the professor asked and the one the student ansewered with, should be reversed. Why? That seems like a better question to ask humanity. Why are we here? Why is the world the way it is? Why? Why? Why?

Why did a man have to die on cross? Why? Because we are not God. We couldn't get ourselves out of the pit we were born into, and God did something to start fixing it. Why? Because He is all-powerful and because He WANTED to, not because He had too, our descions don't affect HIs.

Why not?....................

Why?..............

Which of those questions are you willing to serve? Its' a choice we must all make. Underneath those two questions are the depths of depravity and the great heights of God's love. Which will you serve?

I await replies.

In Christ,
Hackett

The Missionary

2007-04-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sister Dorothy Stang, and American sister of Notre Dame and naturalized Brazilian citizen, was killed at Anapu, Brazil, on February 12, 2006. An outspoken defender of indigenous tribes, she had received several death threats before her assassination.

This is the fourth name on the list of missionaries that were martyred the Vatican sends out every year. The list goes up to 26. Of course, Sister Stang is just one of the many Catholic and Protestant missionaries and beleivers that are martyred every year. In the year 2002, there were an estimated 160,000 Christian martyrs that sacrificed their lives for the cause of Christ, and the numbers continue to go up every year.

Obviously, the life of a missionary is a dangerous one. Thousands have have been flogged, cruciifed, shot, tortured, hung, poisened, decapitated, and drowned. And these are just a few of the ways the world has perfected the way of making martrys for Christ.

So, who is meant to be a missionary?

For starters, it seems that missionaries are a rare breed. They are called by God to do his work in this world. And the majority of us are not called to go to the most dangerous corners of the world and risk our lives for the church. However, we all are called to support missionaries, and become a missionary if we are called to it. The Bible tells us to always pray for those who go outside of their safety zone to help others. Monetary support is always a must as well, as is food and medicines.

Why are some of us not meant to be mssionaries?

Few people on earth would dare try to sneak into North Korea to bring the gospel to a nation that kills Christians relentlessly. My point, the life of a missionary is only for the most brave of Christ's followers. A good example of this is a story I once heard about a missionary and his followers in China nearly a decade ago. The Chinesse army caught them in a "religious service." They were all laid down on a road, and were asked to denounce Christ. They all refused, and a Chinesse army official was ordered to have a steamroller crush all of them. As the steamroller crushed their bodies, the missionary lead his follwers in singing "This Is My Fathers World." No one survived.

What can we do to help?

Missionaries always need prayer, supplies, and protection. Protection? Yes. We can protect our missionaries through letters. Several missionaries have been captured over the years, and after an overwhelming number of letters from supporters around the globe, political pressure on the countries that have captured these missionaries becomes so great that the missionaries are set free.
There are several organizations that organize these "letter writings" such as VOM(The Voice of the Martrys).
Also, one doesn't have to be a missionary to spread the gospel. Local areas around you are also good places to spread the Word, you can do this at work, school, anywhere. I hope you consider these thoughts.

The day of Christ's return gets closer every day, and the stakes are being raised. It's time to step up and make a difference.

In Christ,

Hackett

The AIDS Issue

2007-04-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

At the World Bank, an internal study found what South African economist Alan Whiteside ridiculed as a “silver lining” in the plague.
“If the only effect of the AIDS epidemic were to reduce the population growth rate, it would increase the growth rate of per capita income in any plausible economic model,” said the June 1992 report by the bank’s population and human resources department. Exactly that had happened in the 14th century, the report said, with the bubonic plague. The report did not conclude that AIDS would be a benefit to Africa, even in strictly economic terms, but it hardly marked a clarion call to action.

“Only the World Bank would put that on paper,” Whiteside said.

— Barton Gellman, The Belated Global Response to AIDS in Africa, Washington Post, Wednesday, July 5, 2000; Page A01

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this. The World Bank talking about how AIDS can be a stimulant to the African economy. Unbelievable.

Aids claims 3.1 million lives a year in sub-Saharan Africa alone, this does not include the entire world. It seems to be the one disease that continues to refuse submission to vaccines. There is still no cure. According to the World Bank, 3.1 million people dying a year is a cheap price to pay if it means making the African economy better.

So, where did this disease come from? It seems to be far beyond human control.
Were there any warnings before this disease came? Well, there are a few. Here they are:

'The Bible' contains a number of writings from different authors over several hundreds of years. The message is clear: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" [Leviticus 18:22, King James Version, and henceforth. The penalty for such a behavior, which is committed on a regular basis by approximately 10% of the sexually active population is not insignificant: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them"[Leviticus 20:13].

Considering that HIV/AIDS is mostly a problem in the homosexual community, I'd say the Bible hits it right on. Unfortunately for humanity, this disease has invaded the general public as well, in other words the heterosexual population. I think it's pretty clear why the Bible says dozens of times to avoid sexual immoralty.

I think most of us would agree that we are residing in the end times right now. I also think most of us would agree that Satan still holds dominion over this world, C.S. Lewis even once wrote: "Enemy occupied territory...that is what this world is." This is obvious to the fact that there is still war, diseases, and poverty that plague the world that we live in.
"Revelation 6:7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth."

Kinda weird isn't it? To think that we are living in these verses right now. HIV/AIDS seems to fit into the portion "plague" in these verses. Of course this could also be other diseases: such as flu or mad cow disease. After all, diseases and illnesses are the number one killer of the human population in today's world. Either way, the world takes no notice of biblical prophicies, and we continue on our way.

Well, what are we as Christians called to do about AIDS, and other illnesses for that matter? The Apostle Paul instructs Christians to wage war against the sin in themselves (Romans 6), and to wage war against the evil one (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Unless you are a sadist, you would agree with me that diseases are not good things, they are of an evil nature. If we are to wage war against the evil one, that includes all of his devices in hurting us as well. Many Christians donate monies to charity or to their churches, thinking that donating to the fight against cancer of AIDS is not as useful. Well guess what? It is useful. These diseases are responsible for killing off humanity, and it is our job to fight it.
If you have no idea where you could donate money, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital or a check written to the World Health Organization are good places to start. Many of these organizations are not Christian-based, but that doesn't mean that Christ's will can not be achieved through them.

It's time to make a difference.

In Christ,

Hackett

Peace in the Middle East: The Solution

2007-04-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

Peace in the Middle East? A solution? You're probably thinking: yeah...right. Well, I think I got it. No one will ever try to attempt this solution, but, whatever, people need to know. Here is a list of some of the problems in the Middle East, and their solutions. There's a single solution to all of these problems, but I'll state that one at the end.

1. Israel vs. Palestinians
This is obviously a problem. The Palestinians want their own country, and Israel's not giving them the land to have one. I think its' safe to say that most of the world thinks Israel is in the wrong here, after all, Israel is just being "intolerant." Well, sorry to bust your bubble if you think Israel is wrong here, but Israel is in the right. Why? Take a look at Genesis 15:18-21 "On that day, God made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the Euphrates. The land of the Kenites, Kenizites, Kadmonites; the Hittites, Perizzites, Refaim; the Emorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.'" In other words, the land that Israel is on RIGHT NOW is GOD-ORDAINED for them. So, the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and all the other "hot zones" belong to Israel. Even some parts of modern day Lebanon belong to Isreal. Solution: Give up Palestinians, you're not fighting Israel, you're fighting God.

2. Arms Control
As of right now, there are only a handful of nations in the "World's Elite Nuclear Club." However, many unstable nations are beginning to experiment with nuclear devices, mostly weapons. One of these countries is Iran. The money for this nuclear funding comes from the selling of oil to the West. There are several problems and potential problems here, a few being: terrorists or extremists getting their hands on nuclear weapons, a mishandling of radioactive material that could cause death to a multitude of people, and other nations feeling threatened by there neighbor who now has the capability to blow them off of the map. Let's go with the last problem in that list for a minute. What's the natural reaction of a non-nuclear nation whose unstable neighbor just became a nuclear nation? To bolster their defenses and eventually create their own nuclear technology. And what is the rest of the "Eltie Nuclear Club" doing to prevent this: nothing. So what's the solution here? Economic sanctions obviously aren't doing anything. For one, switch to some other kind of energy supply, besides oil. This would cut off the funding for creating nuclear weapons. Another would be something a bit stronger than sanctions, maybe have the UN do something for once in its existence.

3. Middle East Situation Spills Over Into Africa
After World War II, dozens of nations in the Middle east and around the world, especially in Africa, broke away from their colonial rulers. As the Cold War became an ever increasing threat, both the West and the Soviet Union poured money and resources into Third World countries. As these superpowers weapons improved, however, old and outdated weapons were dumped into the Middle East and into Africa. In fact, 1.5 billion dollars in weapons alone has come from the U.S. to Africa. This, plus the inability to compete in the world market, has caused some of the wost violence that the world has ever seen. Today, in Africa alone, there have been over 9.5 million refugees and millions slaughtered by their own corrupt governments. Had this occurred in Europe, it would be known as World War III. Humanitarian aid to Africa occurred on and off during the Cold War, but the Cold War is over. Aid to Africa increased throughout the 1990s, but in our post 9/11 world today, the West only seems concerned for matters that is directly involved in, mainly "the War on Terror." This "war" should be called "the War on Terror that affects America." Are Darfur and the 28 other sub-Saharan nations that have been to war since 1980 not acts of terrorism as well? What about Rwanda? The U.S. lead West isn't in "a War on Terror," it's in a "War on Terror to protect themselves." To the West and Western Media, terrorism only exists where the West can be hurt by terrorism. The purely evil events in Angola, Rwanda, Darfur, and the rest of troubled Africa is not terrorism, as far as the West is concerned. Sure, the West sends humanitarian aid, and yes Africa needs that, but what the lost people of Africa need even more is an end to the violence. So, what's the solution here? Isaiah 1:16-17“Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” The "Christian West" should have done this a long time ago, Africa is full "evil deeds" and no one is "defending the cause of the fatherless" or "pleading the case of the widow." I honestly don't care how liberal all of these thoughts sound, this verse from Isiah is a direct command from God to do something about places like Darfur and Rwanda. And what are we doing? Nothing. I think most of you would agree that the events of Darfur and other "hot spots" in Africa are pure evil and sin at it's lowest most base form. And what are we as Christians commanded to do about these things?
Ephesians 6:11-18"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm them, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
This verse is awesome. It talks about fighting anything from the devil. Notice that there is only one weapon of defense: the shield of faith. Every other weapon is offensive. We must face the devil and overcome him without letting him attack humanity first. And we're letting the evil one massacre humanity in Africa.

If you got to this point, congrats, I know this is lengthy, and I'm almost done.

4. The Ultimate Solution
Would you believe that there is an ultimate solution to a these problems? One that overrides all evil? There is, and its' Christ. When He returns all of these problems will be over. Until then though, we are called to fight the evil one wherever he is to be found, and right now, it looks like that's in Middle East, Africa, and the Far East. So what can we do to help? There are dozens of organizations that carry on the fight alone, and they need all the help that they can get. Missions focus on bringing the gospel, missions need to focus on bringing the gospel, aid, and protection for those who can't defend themselves. I think many Christians realize today that spiritual warfare does exist, but most Christians don't realize that spiritual warfare spills over into the physical world, and the fight must be fought there too. We gave the UN a chance, and they did absolutely nothing. It's time for us to step up.

In His Love,

Hackett

Post-modernism in Dying America

2007-04-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a long one, so get serious about reading it before you start:

So, I was reading my bible and thinking the other day about the world that we live in, and how things seem to be getting worse every day. I was trying to figure out why and how things have gotten the way that they have, and these are a few of the reasons that I came up with.

1. The Fall 2. Man's continous rebelllion against God. 3. Post-modernism

I'll briefly state my thoughts on the first two, due to their simplicity.
1. The Fall- This is what started all the problems we expeirence in today's post-modern world. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, plunging the world into sin and darkness.
2. Man's Unending Rebellion- After the Fall, mankind continually choses everything over God, and the world steadily began to grow worse and more unstable. Even after the death of Christ, the world still continued and continues to spiral out of control. The only difference, forgiveness is now offered.

These first two are what have brought us to today's world, and now, even as you are reading this, man's rebellion against God has been fully renewed in a different and terrifying way.
3. Post-modernism- Ever since Earth was created, mankind has replaced its' Creator with another god. Some examples of these are idols, imaginery "gods", and satanic pagan practices. But now, mankind is no longer doing this. Instead of man trading God for "gods," mankind is exchanging God for no God. No more idols, paganism, etc. Instead, mankind is leaving any form of religion or God behind. However, post-modernism, though it says there is no God, still places a "god" on the throne: Man himself. And so we are ushered into a new era, where mankind is nearing "perfection." I only have one question to ask to the post-modernist: If mankind is God, then why can't we find a solution to the violence that rules the world today? I mean, seriously, we've been trying for thousands of years. If you say that there is no problem in the world today, then why do people commit suicide, why do kids bring guns to school, why are planes hijacked and flown into buildings, why are goverments killing their own citizens, why are there so many opposing idealogies in the world, why do people get hurt from relationships, etc.? Post-modernism says the world is going one way when, in reality, the world is going in the complete opposite direction. We aren't nearing perfection, we're swiftly closing in to a Spiritual Dark Ages. And the fallout can be seen everywhere: shrinking religous freedom for Christians, more and more corruption in government, and an escalating number of wars in the world. And what happens when, in the future, we will be ushered into the Spirtual Dark Age? Answer: Hell on Earth, literally.

Let me know what you think.

In Christ(the solution to the world's problems),

Hackett