6 Ways to Be a Responsible News Junkie
This is part two of a two-part series. For part one, click here.
Do not hear what I’m not saying. I teach and live a reasonable work/life balance, keeping healthy priorities while staying engaged with the issues facing us today. What I am appealing for is a purposeful refusal to withdraw from the cultural battle in light of the cascading string of defeats we’ve been experiencing with this present presidential administration. Stay in faith that “where sin increased, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20). God has plans for those who remain steadfast in this urgent hour of history and purpose to look not at that which is seen but rather that which is unseen (see 2 Cor.4:18).
My longtime friend Mike Bickle recently texted me that I’m a “son of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chr. 12:32). I want to be able to help people. I invite you to join me.
Here are six realities that should keep us sober and engaged while the Lord outworks His purposes. The situation is too serious to clam up, shut down and simply hope Jesus comes back quickly. Look what’s happening! People need the gospel and biblical truth to counter these occurrences. There’s just too much at stake for us to unplug. We have got to stay informed and vigilant.
1. About $500 million of our tax dollars support Planned Parenthood as both an abortion mill and retail outlet of human baby body parts. This is gruesome, barbaric and reprehensible. Their president openly lies on national television while Hillary Rodham Clinton defends the factual video expose as an “attack on a woman’s right to choose.”
2. President Obama celebrates a deal with Iran allowing them to eventually have the nuclear weapons he promised he would never allow. Comparing himself to Ronald Reagan who dealt decisively with the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” that would end up “on the ash heap of history,” President Obama accommodates the world’s primary state supporter of terrorism that regards us as “satanic” and deserving of being eradicated along with Israel to usher in the Islamic “messiah” and global domination. This “deal” places us on a path to the destructive holocaust prophesied in Revelation 6, where a third of mankind is killed—over 2/3 of a billion people.
3. Our illegal immigration debacle escalates to staggering proportions with sanctuary cities brazenly violating federal law, while states like Virginia (from which I just returned) is being transformed from 1 in 100 Virginians born outside the US in 1970 to now 1 in 9. Stats on illegal aliens’ crimes in Texas from 2008–2014: 611,234 crimes, 2,993 homicides, 7,695 sexual assaults! Over 175,588 criminal aliens were booked into Texas jails in this period. Obama administration executive actions shield more than 80 percent of the 11.3 million aliens from deportation. Astonishing and alarming! (See PJ media.com).
4. African leaders strongly beseech President Obama not to push gay and lesbian issues in his visit to their nation but respect their biblical values on marriage and family. He defies the Christian Kenyan President Kenyatta with veiled threats, lecturing on the LGBTQ theme and forces the Kenyan president to correct our frowning President in a tense press conference. Globally, Christians lament our President’s conduct among the precious African Christians trying to stop the spread of AIDS coming primarily from homosexual activity.
5. A lesbian senator and a gay congressman have introduced what is being called “the next gay rights fight” for America, the “Equality Act.” It specifically prohibits claims of religious belief under the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” as a defense for “discrimination” against gays. The Heritage Foundation stated that this measure would “endanger” constitutionally protected religious freedoms and free-speech rights. The real agenda all along was not bringing equality in marriage to homosexuals, but a satanic one of marginalizing Christians by legally exposing them to persecution if they follow their faith. Remember what the pattern was with the Jews in Nazi Germany?
6. After 105 years upholding godly standards and boys reciting an oath to remain “morally straight,” the Boy Scouts of America leadership caved to welcome adult homosexual scout leaders. For the present time, church-sponsored units can have an exemption (until the inevitable lawsuit comes to obliterate even this provision). Parents and grandparents, pay close attention as a “news junkie” on this one (see article by this author on this topic at larrytomczak.com).
Conclusion
Over 30 years ago, Francis Schaeffer said, “We can expect the future to be a further disaster if the evangelical world does not take a stand for biblical truth and morality in the full spectrum of life… we represent the last barrier against the breakdown of our culture. And with the final removal of this barrier will come social chaos and the rise of authoritarianism in some form to restore order.”
In this urgent hour, we need all hands on deck. We must remain prayerful and informed biblically to winsomely speak the truth to those in our sphere of influence. Consider what was shared recently by a former pastor and one of the Republican presidential candidates, former governor Mike Huckabee.
“There are 80 million evangelicals in America. Those registered to vote—half. Those who voted in the last presidential election—half of that number. Those who voted in the off-year election—half of that number. If just 4 percent had voted differently in the last presidential election, we would have a different administration in office today.”
Here’s the deal: Don’t retreat. Stay in the game! Remain a responsible and reasonable news junkie so you can pray intelligently and engage people effectively as a “salt” and “light” Christian prior to the Return of Jesus Christ.
“An uninformed populace is in danger of slavery.” —George Washington
Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author of eight books with 43 years of trusted ministry experience. He is a cultural commentator whose weekly articles appear on sites reaching 26 million monthly. He is a public policy advisor with Liberty Counsel. Connect and view short video commentaries at larrytomczak.com.
