Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200470B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:03 Before the break with guest Alden Ho, 00:05 we were on Mount Olympus speaking down 00:10 about our views on how to... 00:12 not really, we were very biblically looking at, 00:17 you know, what can we do to help 00:19 or how can we identify the problem 00:20 with the younger generation not buying in, 00:24 I guess is the way fully 00:25 to the whole spiritual experience 00:27 and therefore not activist as they should be 00:30 for religious liberty 00:31 and other markers of Christian activity. 00:36 You know, in the studies I've done, 00:38 I believe it's been passed down, 00:40 the Bible does say that the sins of the forefathers 00:42 will transgress to pass the first, 00:45 second, third, to the fourth generation. 00:47 And I believe that we have gone 00:50 beyond the biblical understanding 00:54 that we have not taught our children, 00:56 we have not taught them when they get up, 00:59 when we walk around, when we sit down, 01:01 when we eat, we don't even eat with them, 01:03 let alone spend time with them. 01:05 So how does 01:06 what we believe transpire to a young person today? 01:11 'Cause if we don't transpire to them, guess what? 01:14 Satan's standing in the sidelines 01:16 getting ready to fill their minds, 01:18 and give them something else to focus on. 01:21 And I believe that's where we're at today. 01:23 Yeah, well, let me say something 01:25 that links with that. 01:28 And I was going to share it in another program, 01:30 but I wrote an editorial, 01:33 I think it was the one just before the COVID thing. 01:36 No, it was the first one and I called it contagion. 01:40 And I resurrected something 01:42 that I vaguely remembered from school, 01:45 but I don't hear mentioned anymore. 01:47 The Etruscans first 01:50 and then the Romans after them had a theory, 01:53 this generational loss of memory and shift, 01:57 they had a theory of four generations. 02:01 And the Romans called this period, a saeculum. 02:06 And it's really what the apostles 02:08 were speaking to Jesus, 02:09 tell us when will the end of the age be? 02:12 A saeculum was an age and of four generations, 02:17 wasn't so much the generations 02:19 but four generations, for the Romans 02:21 that was 110 years, no, 100 years. 02:27 And in 100 years, there's nobody left alive, 02:31 that remembers the beginning of that sequence. 02:36 And so the world tends to shift on its axis, society shifts. 02:42 And we're at that point now, 02:44 in the middle of the COVID thing, 02:45 you know, it's 100 years exactly 02:47 since the influenza epidemic. 02:50 But it's also 100 years since the war to end all wars, 02:53 the Great War, and the phenomenon 02:55 we know of World War I was that's when that 03:00 God is dead movement came along. 03:02 That's when faith 03:04 as Matthew Arnold says "Is at its ebb." 03:07 That's the Flapper era between the wars, 03:10 and in Germany, it was the decadence 03:13 of the night club era 03:15 that brought the Hitler regime in. 03:16 The world lost 03:18 its moral bearings in World War I. 03:20 And that's a saeculum ago. It's interesting... 03:23 I think we're bearing the bitter fruit 03:25 of what happened about hundred years ago. 03:27 If we are today the modern Adventist movement, 03:30 we go back and we look at the ancient Israel's, 03:33 Israelites movement, 03:34 for 400 years, they were in bondage. 03:37 They forgot all this too. You can go back. 03:39 They totally forgot about how do we keep the Sabbath? 03:42 What was the Sabbath? 03:43 They forgot all that information. 03:46 And so I think that whole thing continues to compile. 03:49 And that's where we are today. 03:51 And the young person today in their understanding 03:56 or lack of understanding, 03:57 I guess you could say of religious liberty, 03:59 they have to stand under something, a banner. 04:03 And that banner could be social injustice, 04:06 it could be sexuality, it could be whatever. 04:08 But they choose to stand under that 04:10 because the religious liberty is so weak in them, 04:15 because they have not been taught. 04:16 Yeah. 04:18 And whether or not we're identifying it 04:19 a little bit, that the answer I don't know, 04:20 the problem is not easy to see, 04:23 but you can sort of dissect it as we're doing. 04:27 We're in a dangerous path, 04:29 I think, and more dangerous than COVID. 04:32 At risk, you know, is 4% of the population. 04:36 It hasn't anywhere panned out that bad, 04:37 but it could, the mortality rate of those 04:40 that get infected is 4%. 04:42 But the world won't end with 4% 04:44 but it sure could end as we know it if again, 04:48 Matthew Arnold "The sea of faith disappears." 04:51 Or as I've mentioned in another program, 04:53 it's the social contract is dissolved. 04:57 We'll enter a new dark ages. 04:59 But you mentioned a very key word 05:00 and that is identify. 05:02 I think as we're talking about young people today, 05:05 they have to figure out who they identify with 05:08 because if they don't identify as Christians, 05:11 then well, judgment is taking place very soon. 05:16 And if we, if we're not teaching them 05:18 even in church, as a pastor, as youth ministry, 05:22 as church leaders, as parents, 05:24 if we're not teaching our children, 05:26 as the Bible says in the way that they should go, 05:29 then they will depart from it because they've chose 05:32 to identify with another banner, 05:35 rather than the banner of Christ. 05:37 And even now, as you say that 05:40 it reminds me of 05:41 why when I first started Liberty Magazine, 05:44 the first issue that I produced was on homeschooling. 05:48 Because educating the next generation 05:50 is the key to all of this. 05:52 And homeschooling is not the only answer. 05:54 But homeschooling is sort of a stand in 05:57 for a lot of what you're talking about. 06:00 Because most people don't realize that 06:01 the modern educational system 06:04 largely controlled by the state is to create 06:08 new citizens for the new state. 06:11 Not in the rigorous doctrinaire sense of, 06:15 you know the communists, you know, 06:17 the young communist group, 06:19 but in the utilitarian sense 06:21 and I wrote an editorial again using utilitarianism, 06:24 the commoditization of humanity. 06:28 And the modern state, the US is, it epitomizes it, 06:32 wants to suit the new citizens for the needs of the state. 06:37 And the needs of the state are not spiritual, 06:40 the needs of the state, you know, 06:42 it pays lip service to religion, 06:44 but it's not got a sense of godliness. 06:47 And more and more that proprietary sense of it, 06:51 the state education is at odds 06:52 with those who cling to the idea 06:55 of inculcating spiritual values 06:57 and many of them try homeschooling. 06:59 And that's where you see the battle lines drawn, 07:02 not the only way to opt out. 07:06 But then you see that there is a real antipathy 07:08 between the way of the world 07:10 and the way of moral way in a religious way. 07:13 And this fight is continuing to escalate more and more 07:15 between the ability to homeschool 07:18 and the ability to be in the public school system. 07:22 Right. 07:23 And they're taking your kids away. 07:24 And in some countries in a way you can see it, 07:27 probably the best test case is in Scandinavia. 07:30 Very liberal systems, very successful, 07:35 bad word in the US, but certainly, you know, 07:37 socialist sensibility, not communists but, you know, 07:39 social responsibility, but not much spirituality 07:43 and there the state is at the throat of anyone 07:47 that wants to teach religious values 07:49 in homeschooling. 07:51 And people, many people actually lately having to leave 07:54 those countries to come to the US, 07:55 or to England, or Australia 07:57 from a point of religious persecution, 07:59 ironic in an largely non-religious free countries. 08:05 But it's creeping up on us even in the US. 08:07 It is. 08:08 And where we're being blindsided 08:10 and I'm mixing a few things. 08:12 What we've seen in the last administration 08:14 is the coming to power 08:16 of those with a certain religious political sensibility 08:18 who want religious entitlement 08:23 for their view of religion. 08:25 So that's sort of cutting 08:26 through this neglect or antagonism, 08:29 generally the faith, 08:30 but they want a certain status religion to win the day. 08:36 That's currently right now a new buzzword is entitlement. 08:39 Yes. 08:40 Well, unfortunately, 08:42 they're usually talking down on Social Security. 08:44 Yeah. 08:46 So it's something that is being given to people 08:50 that claim their dues. 08:53 Well, do you think that this... 08:56 But entitlement is also being pumped 08:58 into social injustice too? 09:00 Yes, yeah. 09:02 I think something big has began 09:04 again during the COVID with the... 09:06 Triggered by these police killings, 09:08 which, you know, 09:10 I think it's reasonable for many people, 09:15 not just the black community to be affronted by this, 09:19 but why it suddenly caught their attention 09:21 is a little beyond me. 09:23 Anybody looking 09:24 from the outside of the US knows that, 09:27 in many ways the excesses of the slave era 09:30 have been perpetrated through the authority, 09:32 through reconstruction, which was released, 09:35 you know, the slave system light, 09:37 right up through World War II, 09:40 you know, history books don't belabor it but, 09:44 you know, the US had segregated military, 09:46 even in World War II. 09:48 I came to the US and saw Washington 09:50 burning in reaction to Martin Luther King kill. 09:53 I saw a few of the signs still in the shops. 09:56 So this is a long term thing. 09:59 The police actions have always been violent, generally. 10:04 And then that violence 10:05 is often targeted toward those that are marginalized. 10:09 The poor and the, you know, the racial minorities. 10:13 But, you know, why now suddenly? 10:15 I think it's going to have huge ramifications. 10:18 It's suddenly because it's not... 10:19 It's God's timing. Yes. 10:21 Would the world is ripe right now. 10:23 And as the world ripens, 10:24 people are having to make a choice. 10:26 And as we make a choice, 10:27 we're having to choose 10:29 which banner we're going to stand under. 10:31 And talking about God 10:33 and the Bible again, it's in Joel isn't it? 10:36 There's a promise 10:37 there that the young men see vision, 10:39 no, the old men see visions, 10:42 but that the young will be 10:44 spiritually motivated at the end of time and, 10:47 and so yes, I think God's preparing the way 10:50 and as always Satan will claim our youth, 10:54 the dark side to use the science fiction. 10:57 The dark side may claim some 10:59 but this is a moment 11:01 of opportunity for God and goodness. 11:03 It's time for God's people who really claim to, 11:08 "Identify as Christians today to really stand up." 11:13 Because if we're not standing up, 11:15 then we're clamoring down. 11:17 Are we going to be judged based on the fact 11:19 that we are kind of not wanting to put our hand up and say, 11:23 "This is what we believe?" 11:24 Because we're trying to be politically correct? 11:27 I think this is a time for us to, 11:29 as we said before. 11:31 Well, it's a time to stand up and be candid. 11:33 Will the real Christian please stand up? 11:35 So today for me, I look at it... 11:37 For me today, 11:39 there's a quote that Ellen White, 11:42 one of the founders of the Adventist Church said, 11:44 "The greatest want of the world is the want of men, 11:47 men who will not be bought or sold, 11:48 men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, 11:50 men who do not fear to call sin 11:52 by its right name, 11:53 men who will stand for the right 11:55 till the heavens fall." 11:57 And the question is, are you that man today? 12:00 'Cause I know I want to be, and hopefully you will be too. 12:05 Forever Young 12:06 is the title given to this program. 12:08 Sounds a little like 12:10 the title of a song of yesteryear, 12:13 but not a bad concept. 12:15 Some of us are not quite teenagers anymore, 12:18 but in our minds, we're forever young. 12:21 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His earthly sojourn was only 12:24 33 when He was crucified, 12:28 and then of course rose from the dead. 12:30 His disciples clearly were much, much younger. 12:33 And that's what I want to remember 12:36 with this program 12:37 and talking about religious liberty 12:39 and the activism that needs to connect with the youth. 12:44 They were young men who changed the world. 12:48 Our world is changing, 12:50 but young people need to change it 12:52 in the right direction. 12:54 We want that energy, that optimism, 12:57 the incurable optimism 13:00 of the youth dedicated 13:02 toward advancing knowledge of God, 13:04 advancing religious freedom, 13:06 and of course along with that, all civil freedoms, 13:09 because man was created to be free 13:12 and sovereign and only sin destroyed that. 13:16 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-07-23