Seventh day-Adventist Church of Adairsville

The Earth is Filled with Violence 2.0

Today I want to talk to you about violence. Its increasing around the world. 

Elon Musk recently stated that the U.S. Government Is “the Biggest Corporation, With a Monopoly on Violence.”

Canadian novelist and journalist Stephen Marche latest book “The Next Civil War: Dispatches From the American Future,” takes the realities of a politically tribalistic United States — burdened by racial and economic injustice, packed with social resentments, awash with guns — and imagines its move toward all-out conflict. “The background hum of hyper-partisanship, the rage and loathing of everyday American politics, generates a widespread tolerance for violence,” Marche writes. “Eventually somebody acts on it.”

The book can be summarized by this one line “America is one spectacular act of political violence away from a national crisis,” 

Fast company Magazine reports the greatest fear of the wealthy and those in positions of power is the literal unraveling of the social order of society – a conflagration of culture- that the growing divide of rich and poor just needs a spark to start a wildfire -  https://www.fastcompany.com/90712209/why-global-leaders-are-terrified-about-social-cohesion-erosion

The Bible in the book of Matthew chapter 24, ---Jesus, seated on the Mount of Olives, gave instruction to his disciples concerning the signs which should precede his coming: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew 24:37-39.]

The same sins that brought judgments upon the world in the days of Noah, exist in our day. Men and women now carry their eating and drinking so far that it ends in gluttony and drunkenness. This prevailing sin, the indulgence of perverted appetite, inflamed the passions of men in the days of Noah, and led to wide-spread corruption. Violence and sin reached to heaven. This moral pollution was finally swept from the earth by means of the flood. The same sins of gluttony and drunkenness benumbed the moral sensibilities of the inhabitants of Sodom, so that crime seemed to be the delight of the men and women of that wicked city. Christ thus warns the world: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” [Luke 17:28-30.] CTBH 11.1

Christ has here left us a most important lesson. He would lay before us the danger of making our eating and drinking paramount. He presents the result of unrestrained indulgence of appetite. The moral powers are enfeebled, so that sin does not appear sinful. Crime is lightly regarded, and passion controls the mind, until good principles and impulses are rooted out, and God is blasphemed. All this is the result of eating and drinking to excess. This is the very condition of things which Christ declares will exist at his second coming. CTBH 12.1

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The National Television Violence Study reported that 91% of the movies on television contained violence,

Psychology Today reports on a recent study by The University of Washington – 500 families w children between 3-5. ½ watch regular cartoons of the old school variety – scooby doo, Road Runner. And others Curious George, Dora the Explorer. 

At 6 months - All families receive a home visit - parents answer questions to clarify if their children are manifesting certain behaviors like shoving, yelling, bullying and destroying things, arguably the building blocks for downright aggressive behaviors later in life. The outcomes are striking, though perhaps not surprising. Very young children immersed in pro-social and non-violent cartoons after six months are more sociable children. The kids left to watch violent cartoons manifest more often early signs of aggression.

The Greatest rationale for parents and their kids watching videos on any device was that it was a pacifying tool – a baby sitting tool. 

First - Researchers showed that kids subconsciously are learning how to act. The imitate what they hear and see. They identify with cartoon characters. 

Second, this process beginning early in life calls to mind a well-known adage: neurons that fire together wire together. What this means is that when a group of neurons is activated concurrently in a child’s central nervous system they begin to form a kind of firing unit. So when a child sees violence used as a means to solve a problem, this lesson becomes hard-wired in the central nervous system. - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-the-media-is-the-parent/201307/violent-cartoons-and-aggressive-preschoolers

Last summer, Allen Roach saw something that really disturbed him: His then-11-year-old son, Peyton, used a sword to slice off the arms and legs of characters in a virtual reality medieval fantasy game,Blade & Sorcery, then threw the dismembered digital bodies off a bridge.

Sure, it all happened in VR. But for Roach — who spotted this gory scene while monitoring his son's VR gaming on a computer screen that mirrored what Peyton was doing with an Oculus Quest 2 headset — it felt uncomfortably real.

Roach knew when Peyton looked down in VR he was seeing a weapon held in virtual hands, not just a plastic game controller. It didn't matter that it was a single-player game, which meant that the characters weren't represented by other human players.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/10/tech/virtual-reality-parents/index.html

Is it videogames to blame? This has been a debate for decades. Many researchers say no. That the real issue is guns and gun rights. Last time I checked guns aren’t the only weapons in America and the world. That video game I mentioned above wasn’t a gun in the kids hand. https://www.vox.com/2019/8/26/20754659/video-games-and-violence-debate-moral-panic-history

A large study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found a direct correlation between video games and real world behaviour. 

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp784772.pdf

What was it before the flood that led to the increase in violence? 

They delighted in destroying the life of animals; and the use of flesh for food rendered them still more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to regard human life with astonishing indifference. PP 91.3

As we approach the close of this earth's history, selfishness, violence, and crime prevail, as in the days of Noah. And the cause is the same—the excessive indulgence of the appetites and passions. A reform in the habits of life is especially needed at this time, in order to fit a people for the coming of Christ. 

The Saviour Himself warns the church: -- "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with gluttony, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.

3SM 292.1

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Notes:

—God did not withhold meat from the Hebrews in the wilderness simply to show His authority, but for their good, that they might preserve physical and moral strength. He knew that the use of animal food strengthens the animal passions and enfeebles the intellect. He knew that the gratification of the appetite of the Hebrews for flesh meats, would weaken their moral powers, and induce such an irritable disposition that the vast army would become insubordinate, that they would lose the high sense of their moral obligations, and refuse to be controlled by the wise laws of Jehovah. Violence and rebellion would exist among them, making it impossible for them to be a pure and happy people in the land of Canaan. God knew what was best for the children of Israel, therefore He deprived them in a great measure of flesh meats. Te 160.2a

The Work of the Spirit

November 27, 2021

Adairsville

40 days of prayer  - preparing for the second coming– why are we doing this? 

My belief on the delay of the second advent – 

Revelation 14:15 – harvest is ripe – its all over

Revelation 14:6/7 – A call to Giving God glory which Jesus describes in John 15:8 as bearing fruit – the character traits of the fruit of the spirit

There can be no growth or fruitfulness in the life that is centered in self. If you have accepted Christ as a personal Saviour, you are to forget yourself, and try to help others. Talk of the love of Christ, tell of His goodness. Do every duty that presents itself. Carry the burden of souls upon your heart, and by every means in your power seek to save the lost. As you receive the Spirit of Christ—the Spirit of unselfish love and labor for others—you will grow and bring forth fruit. The graces of the Spirit will ripen in your character. Your faith will increase, your convictions deepen, your love be made perfect. More and more you will reflect the likeness of Christ in all that is pure, noble, and lovely. COL 67.3

“When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. COL 69.1

It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain. COL 69.2

A LITMUS TEST – What if we asked those around us? - - - - - - 

The same danger still exists. Many take it for granted that they are Christians, simply because they subscribe to certain theological tenets. But they have not brought the truth into practical life. They have not believed and loved it, therefore they have not received the power and grace that come through sanctification of the truth. Men may profess faith in the truth; but if it does not make them sincere, kind, patient, forbearing, heavenly-minded, it is a curse to its possessors, and through their influence it is a curse to the world. DA 309.3

James 5:7 – 

Zechariah 10:1

In the East the former rain falls at the sowing time. It is necessary in order that the seed may germinate. Under the influence of the fertilizing showers, the tender shoot springs up. The latter rain, falling near the close of the season, ripens the grain, and prepares it for the sickle. The Lord employs these operations of nature to represent the work of the Holy Spirit.... FLB 334.2

There must be no neglect of the grace represented by the former rain. Only those who are living up to the light they have, will receive greater light. Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it. FLB 333.6

Feb 18, 1895 – Manuscript Releases Number 14 – MS 1084 p. 23 – 

Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall (although unseen by you), [This phrase was added by Ellen White.] teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” [John 14:26]. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will come not unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you” [John 16:7]. 14MR 23.3

The disciples had issues to work out – competition, envy, jealousy etc. They began praying and once they were at peace, converted and transformed – the Spirit was given.