Placebo of The Soul

In the cauldron if history, man's relationship with other men, and from the beginning, the need for a relationship and worship of a Higher Authority. There has been a ceaseless rebellion... it is nothing new... an attempt at a placebo or catholicon for the soul, a replacement for Almighty God. Of course, this writer well understands that there are those atheists, postmodernists, meta-narratives (story about a story) who in their own wisdom worship the creature not the Creator. There is no category or grouping for this type mentality. Academics, scientists, elitists are found in this demographic but so are the most ignorant among us. It is not necessary to sing like Sinatra to believe “I did it my way.” It is time to face the reality of what is happening to the soul of mankind.

It started with the first of us, Garden of Eden, when man could have lived forever, free of all human foibles... work, disease, etc. He could not keep one commandment, so tempted by the fallen morning star, prince of the air, who could not obey from creation. Lucifer is only mentioned one time in the Bible. (Isaiah 14:12) From our first parents until this moment, Satan and his cohorts have manipulated our lives limited only by God. Weak, erring, human beings, have not been controlled by conscience, laws and commandments of the Bible, prophesies or promises leading both to the cross, the central point of history, and away from the cross.

“God is love” (1 john 4:16) and because God wants goodness for us shows mercy toward us, the atheist cannot comprehend sin, evil, bad things happening to good people. He never questions why good things happen to bad people.

Those who are most angry with God, who consider God immoral because He allows suffering, disasters, do not want to see hypocrisy or even shortcuts. The rules of the game do not allow the Olympic runner to cut across the end zone. The least informed among us understands Hitler’s promise that he would deliver the world from the oppression of Mount Sinai. Even the pirates of the 17^th century and today's Somalian pirates have rules. Blackbeard did not allow his pirates to bring women aboard ship, they had strict routines, bedtime, wake up time. The early church knew absolutes, right and wrong. The Apostle Paul, chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) to whom we owe most of church scripture, knew that the time would come that men would no longer believe in the atonement of Christ, no longer believe in the Gospel of the church, sin's ruin and Christ's redemption, would only want a tasty cocktail for itching ears. (2 Timothy 4:3) It is not just the new age agnostics, Oprah and her crowd, but mainline churches, particularly Episcopalians who tell us that the historical gospels no longer apply (Heterodoxia Jan. 28, 2007) and so, young people raised in the church. Those recent graduates in pulpits from Bible colleges and seminaries, those on pews entangled with the attractiveness of the world, now seek a placebo instead of the spirit of grace, faith, provided by God not only to die with but live by.

Even Christ said, “When I return will there be any faith on earth.?” I feel sure there are clones around us but, more important, in nations where Western Civilization has been blessed by the knowledge of the Sovereignty of God. Many are now involved in computer worship, having humanized the computer, in many places, robots, becoming humanized. There is a frightening attempt to minimize Christianity, to maximize sin (abortion, romanticism of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, etc.) We see the slaying of evangelical Christians in Nigeria and other Muslim countries, the disenfranchisement of the disabled, those who do not fit our ideal of acceptable.

I will never forget my aunt, genetic problem, obese her entire life. She cried as she told me how she had been treated by her fellow human beings, particularly her family. (people who play church) only the disabled, such as this writer, a 100% disabled veteran, knows the tumult of disability. Unless you have been called a “nut”, “fanatic” by your own family, you are not a real Christian.

No sane, inquisitive mind can doubt the historicity, reliability, of God's Word. The parents of King Cyrus of Persia, conqueror of the Middle East thought they had named their son but, years before, the prophet Isaiah had named and prophesied about their son, ruler of Persia. God named John the Baptist, spoke directly with Moses and Abraham. The son of God, Jesus Christ was prophesied 700 years before His birth. On the fringes of time, punctuated most by geography, there are many religions, people seeking to fill a “whole” in the human heart. For the last 50 years, heart disease has been the number 1 killer in the world. The only cure for heart disease, no placebo is needed for the soul, a relationship with the Creator of the universe.