Believe it or not

Ripley's Believe It or Not deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Authorities at the company insist that they thoroughly investigate everything and ensure their accuracy before they publish their research.

Recent development in this country, today's world, could not be imagined by the best fiction writers in the world. We wonder from one day to the next just how bizarre the news of this day will be. Men made fortunes, in past years, because they could predict what would happen on the stock market. In business, real estate, prices, today you cannot predict anything. The gross national product of the world is fifty-five trillion dollars. The international debt of the world is one quadrillion dollars. The dollar is just a unit of accounting, it is worth nothing. The tragedy, men like Madoff and other thieves and politicians, have chosen to gain profit of the whole world and lose their own soul. (Matthew 16:26) If the crust of the earth were gold, men would lie, cheat and steal for a handful of dirt. Today, men lie, cheat and steal for a handful of worthless paper.

No matter how bad things get, government can make it worse. Particularly the politicians and the bureaucrats that those of you who DO NOT THINK before you vote have put in office locally, state-wide and nationally. Believe it or not, it is inconceivable that worse politicians could be found in places of leadership. Believe it or not, it is impossible to believe that worse judges could be found than the one who is just now being approved for the nation's highest court.

This writer has traveled the world. My soul was moved by the grandeur of God when I traveled through the Hindu Kusch area of the Himalayas, the plains of the Catahare, the ice sculptures of the Paradise Valley of the Antarctic, or even the grand Teutons of the United States. Believe it or not, however, we let petty people, corrosive news casts and media commentators lend dismay to the most precious joy of human existence, our personal relationship with Christ and the thrill of redemption from this world of disappointment.

It is impossible for the human mind to comprehend the love of His mother, as she stood by the cruel cross of crucifixion on which our Savior died. Leave aside all your cares of this present world whether others believe or not we have the “blessed assurance” that bizarre satanic forces which beguiled even our first ancestors cannot dampen the joy of our salvation. Believe it or not, there are people who think they are just lower animals who can live according to the instincts of lower animals and then are just content to become fertilizer.

The lost world loves the natural world, content with natural law, natural behavior, natural defeat. Believe it or not, some pacify the natural man with degradation, avarice and hostility. Believe it or not, some people consider homosexuality as normal. Believe it or not, some people consider the marriage of the same sex as normal. Believe it or not, some people consider a woman with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, body tattooed, as feminine or normal. Believe it or not, some people consider a heterosexual male with earrings and tattoos, feminine hairstyles, as normal. Believe it or not, some people believe that they can eat unhealthy food (sweets, fats) and maintain a healthy body. Believe it or not, some people believe that they can use addictive drugs (alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana) and not be poisoned, leading to slow suicide. Believe it or not, some people believe they can spend every dime they can get their hands on, never provide for the future, and still retire, lose a job or become disabled without consequence. Believe it or not, most people believe they can spit in the face of almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, and still expect God to take no notice. God will forgive such actions but it must be through true repentance and a changed, a new creation. Believe it or not, the ten commandments of God in the Old Covenant, the two commandments of God in the New Covenant, were not given as suggestions as courteous living, but are the guidelines for victorious living.

Satan has intimidated us with political correction until we hesitate to defend our blood-bought faith, our stewardship of belief and our cowardice for self denial and bearing His cross.

The Pseudo economics at most universities, believe it or not, are clueless regarding the instability of the international economy. Believe it or not, the liberals, particularly the black people as they clap and jump with joy at the very mention of the Obama name (a man who has never operated a lemonade stand or has any business experience whatsoever), are deceived in their oblivion of fakery.

In Ghana, near Benin, I witnessed fraud and fakery exuding from a Voodoo witch-doctor akin to the very practice we see postulating from Washington almost daily. A family had brought a very sick, small child to be cured by the Voodoo witch-doctor. Of course, I, almost totally blind, could see very little but my guide explained everything that was happening. He sounded almost like a commentator on one of the alphabet newscasts. (ABC, NBC, CBS) The impoverished, fevered, female child, which he guessed to be about three years old, was placed on the ground outside the Voodoo witch-doctor's hut. Many natives, chanting, dancing and clapping, were all around as the witchdoctor, with some sort of pointed object, drew a line in the dirt around the child. He then proceeded to drop bones, fish eyes, and indescribable small objects over and around the child. Then using some morocco type instrument which made a noise, he chanted and shook these instruments as the child seemed comatose. The more the witch-doctor danced and made noises over and around the child, the more excited the onlookers became. It sounded like a Pentecostal meeting which I have heard on the radio. Believe it or not, the child died in spite of the best intentions of this witchdoctor and the Voodoo magic. Believe it or not, you are witnessing the same abnormal bewitchment.

Let me leave you not too depressed, believe it or not. A story I used in many speaking engagements.......

A wealthy New York matron's daughter went to Africa on a university study project. She notified her mother that she was getting married to a doctor and asked her to come over and meet her new husband. When the other arrived, the young groom came out in a native costume of feathers, shaking tambourines. The mother said, “Oh my stupid daughter! You told me you were marrying a rich doctor, not a witch doctor!”