Have You CHECKED OUT?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

–Matthew 5:13 (NIV)

This is not an easy world to live in.

The challenges are great–in some ways, perhaps greater than they have ever been–at least psychologically and spiritually.

All around us, people are “checking out” in one way or another. Many get lost in one form of escape or another. It can be obvious escapes like drugs and alcohol. Then there’s entertainment, which offers whole new levels of escape.

Less obvious might be the escape into food and sex.

But we understand these escapes, and they have been well-discussed.

What concerns me today is a less obvious form of escape, and therefore one that is tracking below the radar–the “spiritual” escape of “checking out” from our duties here on earth in order to concentrate on the next world. This is a great temptation for the devout Christian in particular.

You can call it the “rapture,” or end times prophecy, or whatever you want.

It’s a cop out, and I believe an extreme danger to those who need us, and to even our souls.

It may “sound” right–seeing this world we are living in quickly deteriorating, and determining that it’s time to consider “checking out” instead of doing all we can to be “salt and light” and preserve the safety of those around us who need our help.

I’m certainly not saying that we should neglect our spiritual selves–far from it. In fact, seeing the times we are in, which very well may be “the end of days”–it should motivate us to guard our souls more than ever, knowing “the hour” may be coming soon.

And I’m not denying that the Bible does speak of a time when things get so bad on Earth, that the “elect” will be taken up with Jesus. But this hasn’t happened yet, and there’s no promise it will happen before we have to go through serious times.

Most important for the purpose of this post, it gives us no right or reason to simply abandon our families, our communities, and our nation when they need us the most! Nowhere in the Bible will you find justification for this kind of thinking.

The “Dirty” Business of Politics

I have always been interested in politics–both as a practical necessity, and frankly, as an interesting hobby, though I’ve never wanted to admit that I actually like politics. It’s fascinating to me, and somebody needs to be interested in it–it’s that important.

On a regular basis, I hear people tell me how they don’t like politics, in a way in which they seem to be brushing dirt off their clothing. Understand that politics is just a necessary form of warfare, that’s a lot safer than actually fighting a war. In some cases, it is the last line of defense before actual war. Our Founding Fathers knew this, and first did all they could do politically before considering war. They were moral and decent men who understood the great horror of war, and tried to avoid it at all costs. President Lincoln and others knew the same prior to the Civil War–and having to fight it came at a ghastly cost to our nation.

Most awake people can see that we are in this place now in America and worldwide–doing all we can to fight a culture and political war to avoid the horror of a physical war.

And yet, many refuse to get involved politically, even knowing that their refusal will hasten the need for ACTUAL war. Some are okay with that, because it will hasten the end of the world as we know it, and bring about the “end of days.” In other words, supposed men of God–many of them “Christians”–are acting in a way to bring on Armageddon! This is utterly INSANE and has nothing to do with true Christianity!

Debate and Trump Arrest

This philosophy of “letting the world burn” is playing itself out in recent events, including this week’s first Republican debate and the arrest of President Trump.

If a person cared about preserving life, and preserving our great Republic, they would have an interest in the upcoming Presidential election. Now, I have no crystal ball, but as bad as things are right now, I’d venture a guess that we very well will have an election next November. We certainly should at least PLAN as if we will.

Some in the “last days” camp aren’t concerned about the election, even though the current regime is clearly PURPOSELY attempting to destroy our nation, and succeeding on a daily basis to eat us out from within–the human cost is beyond measure. Anyone who still cannot see that… I don’t know what to tell you. Just keep watching CNN and MSNBC–this blog isn’t for you!

So these “Christians” are quite content to “let it burn” so they can “save some souls.” Again–THIS IS NOT CHRISTIAN!

They are not concerned about choosing a candidate to run against the regime. They cite the corrupt election process–which is true, but what are they actually DOING to fix it? If they don’t act to fix it, they can continue to call it a “hopeless” situation, with apparently no qualm of conscience.

And now President Trump has been booked (and mugshotted to humiliate him!) at an Atlanta jail–-charged essentially with merely challenging the results of the 2020 election, which any American with a brain could see was stolen under our eyes! He simply challenged the election results, which many Democrats including Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams have done in the past. How is this even REMOTELY considered a crime?

Here’s Trump’s statement shortly after the booking.

Of course challenging an election isn’t a crime, and everybody knows it–especially those going after President Trump!

Yet, some of the “Christians” who are concerned with being raptured don’t care. They will not lift a finger to defend Trump. Some don’t like him, and claim he’s “getting what he deserves” because of the wrongs he has committed. Trump is no Jesus, but did Jesus “get what he deserved” when he was scourged and crucified?

For the record, I voted twice for Trump, and saw he was an exceptional President overall, but I am in no way supportive of his continued support of the jab–it’s simply not defendable. Far too many have died and been injured. That being said, those of us who actually do care about the security and safety of the American People and the world realize that an election is coming up, and that we need to soberly weigh the good and bad of ALL candidates. And I assure you, EVERY ONE OF THEM has flaws–arguably SERIOUS flaws. But we have a certain amount of realistic choices in front of us, and WE NEED TO PICK ONE OF THESE CHOICES!

There are people who will choose NONE of these candidates, and this is their right. But they must do so with the full knowledge that sitting at home and not voting–or perhaps voting but making no effort to persuade others or to strengthen our corrupt election process–is another step to allowing an anti-American Democrat candidate to win again.

If this happens, it could very well mean the END of America. I think most of us get that. But just let this sink in–there are “Christians” out there who are totally OKAY with that!

Leave the CULT!

If you, a friend, or a loved one has been influenced by some form of “end times,” “rapture,” or associated philosophy of concentrating on the world to come to the detriment of the safety and security of family, friends, and country here and now, then RUN LIKE HELL from that influence! They are not playing with a full deck!

And please get involved with some form of helping to make a better world–right here, right now, where we live every day. The world to come will come on its own. If we do the right things today, then tomorrow will take care of itself, as Jesus said. Maybe it’s time to start listening to him!

Patrick Rooney is the Founder of OldSchoolUs.com. He promotes natural health, success, freedom–and most of all, clarity–during chaotic times. To reach Patrick, email him at [email protected].