The Green Zone, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the Dark Winter

 From the CDC website:

 (The Green Zone) Interim Operational Considerations for Implementing the Shielding Approach to Prevent COVID-19 Infections in Humanitarian Settings

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/shielding-approach-humanitarian.html

From the World Economic Forum

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

From Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security:

Dark Winter (Operation Dark Winter 2001)

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/events-archive/2001_dark-winter/

 

These are only three of the many distractions currently bombarding our daily lives. They rob our peace and test our faith. If you haven’t been made aware of these three, I’m sorry to add to the things that might drive you to despair. I don’t want to increase the burdens being shouldered by apprehensive Christians. I have not blogged in several weeks because so much has been and is being said that I concluded I have nothing to add. It has become my heart to stand by the words of Paul in I Corinthians 2:2 – I decided to know nothing among you except Christ, and Him crucified. That is, at this point in history, nothing else can compare in importance to the truth of the gospel. So, why am I addressing three topics seemingly unsupportive of that end?

In case you haven’t realized it, we are living in unprecedented nearness to the fulfillment of prophecy. If it takes a few more current events to convince you, here they are. These are not at the forefront. What happens in Israel tops the list. Then there’s the Great Reset. But for those of us wondering about our future as Americans, as well as world citizens, these topics keep popping up. Plenty of conspiracy theories are out there to read, but these articles are from government/academic sources. That’s not to say they are any more or less true than some other sites, but it may mean the enforcement of policy is more likely.

The Green Zone:

Simply put, this refers to confinement. For our own good, of course, COVID-19 may lead to isolating people within their own homes (step one, mandated masks inside your house), within their neighborhoods (confiscation of private property for the good of all), and within their communities (internment camps). Enforcement, even within private homes, may lead to uncomfortable, unconstitutional monitoring.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution:

I wrote about this, though I never used the term. The Wake the Dead trilogy incorporates bio-technological advancements that fundamentally change the human being. A lot has been written of late about potential techno-additives to the vaccine we’re all awaiting. My protagonist, Chase Sterling, had nanobots in his transhuman blood. Are we about to end up with the little revolutionary helpers in our own blood? Whether or not that happens, the human condition is about to change. We are headed for a rapid redefining what it means to be human.

The Dark Winter:

Yesterday, the stylist who cut my hair said he couldn’t wait for this year to be over. I commented that next year might be worse. The assumed president-elect has said it more than once, and it may be true. We are headed for a dark winter. Is it code? Did Joe Biden know he was speaking in code? Dark Winter was the simulation of a bio-terrorist attack in 2001. Since then, other practice exercises have been held. War games and worsening Corona aside, a darkness has fallen. The winter promises no repose, only a bleaker shadow across our land, our world.

We who claim Christ must hold strong and carry on in His light. Our battle is not against politicians or unseen viruses. It isn’t against social movements, or the reset, or economic leveling, or the persecutors who may alter our way of life in the near future. Our battle is against the darkness.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

If you want to know more about the darkness, click on the links at the top of this post. If you want to know more about the light, read the Word and read it fervently, while reading remains permissible.

The Crutch of Religion, and What We Really Want

Anyone landing on this blog can surmise that I’m a Christian. Well, I hope they can. I don't try to hide it. But if you’re not of that persuasion, truth is, my faith is no more real than yours. Even if religion is not for you, we are no different. I believe in something. You believe in something. God. Prophets. Positivity. Energy. Nature. Money. Power. Politics. Science. Culture. Entertainment. Relationships. Self. My faith drives me, moves me onward. It sustains me. So does yours.

I’ve embraced something worth living for, worth dying for. And maybe you've made the same commitment. Maybe not. When it all proves too much of a task, you might want to let it go. At times, I feel the same tug. We really aren’t any different. We’re human beings foundering in chaos, clinging to something we hope will save us, or else, denying we need saving. Either way, you and I are the same.

The Christian holds to the promise of eternal life through the forgiveness of sins and the grace offered by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Muslim accepts one God, creator and sustainer, and wholly surrenders to God’s will. The Jew believes in the one true God of the Universe, giver of the law. Other world religions build their faith on the natural inclination of mankind to offer worship, to find purpose. Even the non-believer desires something that lasts, views life with longing eyes, seeks the meaning of it all, even if it ends in discovering there is no meaning at all.

So, my faith isn't any different than your faith, or lack thereof. We all search for  something. In my case, I took up Christianity and stuck with it. It’s a faith group, a belief system. One anybody can join. Just find yourself a good church and plug in. But if you prefer, find a good mosque, or synagogue. Or get yourself a little Buddha statue. Or something. Or worship the moon. Or join in a social movement and see if that does it for you. Plenty of those to choose from right now.

Sarcasm? Little bit. I don't mean to poke fun at religion. Here’s the thing: Clutching the crutch of religion, in the end, makes little difference. It might offer peace of mind, a better life. And moral boundaries are good for the individual and for society. But any belief system can get you there. As it is, my ideas of good and bad and right and wrong might pit against yours at start a disagreement. Or a war. It’s been known to happen.

However, while my religiosity is no better or worse than yours, the One who called me to faith is different. The power of the gospel saves a soul from hell, redeems a generation, rescues a planet, and provides a way for all people everywhere to realize true freedom, to live unburdened in the presence of their Creator. No cost. No sacrifice. The cost has been paid, the sacrifice made. The calling? I’m no different than you, except that I answered when He called me. Think He isn’t calling you?  If you’re reading this, maybe He is.

What we all want, whether we admit it or not, is love. We want to feel it and express it. But it’s always an unfulfilled dream away. It doesn’t live up to our expectations. It’s fleeting. It does not satisfy.

Only one love doesn’t disappoint, no matter who you are. Regardless of your religion, your dislike of religion, the object of your affection, or the surety of your well managed plans, this is it. As the saying goes, we’re all in this together. And this is all that matters:

 

 In this way the love of God was revealed to us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 I John 4: 9,10

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

John 3:16,17