DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

As is my wont on the weekends, I tend to matters more spiritual, and of a tone less strident than the politically-oriented cauldron of opinion I get mired in on a daily basis Monday through Friday. Hence my two websites – one for the heartburn, the other (this one) for the heart life (or is it art?) – preventing a backsliding & slipsliding to Hades is what it’s all about.

Thomas Hitzlsperger…

One of those “matters” happens to be football – “soccer” to the uninitiated denizens of the world outside of football-loving nations. Sports of whatever familiarity, depending upon one’s allegiance to one or the other, is a great “unwinder” where one’s energy can/may be redirected into the arena of physical competition within the span of an hour or two, depending on the sport. A spiritual and emotional release of pent-up energy to clear the mind, refresh the intellect, and re-charge the brainiac batteries for the challenges of the upcoming workweek. Anything to avoid the backsliding & slipsliding to Hades.

Consider my surprise, then, when directing my attention to the BBC Sports page to catch up on World Cup comings and goings regarding the aspirations of the English team, I was confronted with a headline that declared: “Arsene Wenger says Premier League Player May Never Come Out.”

Arsene Wenger (pronounced “Venger”) is the manager of Arsenal (no connection by the way, between the names “Arsene” and “Arsenal” which is purely coincidental) based in London and one of the top football clubs in the world. That the topic of homosexuality has finally been subjugated into the culture of arguably the most prestigious, competitive, and most-watched sporting league on the planet, says more about the influence of Satan on the minds and hearts of the participants, spectators, reporters and promoters of the Premier League, than it does of God; other than, that is, the overt promotion of homosexuality from the managers and directors of the BBC.

Wenger, talking to Arsenal Magazine about the issue of homophobia in football (as if it has ever been a problem – certainly not in my 23-something years of playing the game) said the day when a player’s sexuality was not an issue in football was still a long way off. “Hitzlsperger (one of two players who “outed” themselves after retiring) should not have had to wait until the end,” he added. “But overall he should not have to come out at all because it should just be considered like anything else. It would be good if four, five, six people come out and after that nobody speaks about it anymore because they just think it is people who live their life like they want to live it. I think football is there to provoke moments of happiness, excitement and positive experiences in people, no matter where they come from, what colour skin they have, what religion they are or what their preferred sexuality is. It’s very sad that some people think that this sport should only be reserved for those who have certain characteristics. It’s open to everybody who loves football and when that doesn’t happen, it’s not acceptable.” Mmmmm, except in the showers when one is most vulnerable, eh Arsene?

Sen Orrin Hatch…

On a related topic, I picked up a link a couple of days ago from Real Clear Politics, wherein Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in an interview with one of his home state radio stations, KSL-AM of Salt Lake City, stated: “Well, these are very tough questions, but they need to be answered, and they need to be answered with good law, which this bill is. Lets face it – anybody that does not believe that gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn’t been observing what’s going on. And, you know, they get mad at Shelby, the federal district judge, because he made that ruling … But I think it is a portend of the future, that sooner or later gay marriage is probably going to be approved by the Supreme Court of the United States, and certainly as the people in this country move toward it, especially young people. I don’t think that’s the right way to go, on the other hand, I do accept whatever the courts have to say… The trend right now in the courts is to permit gay marriage and anybody who doesn’t admit that just isn’t living in the real world.” (The Doug Wright Show on KSL-AM, May 28, 2014)

Which is a very disturbing trend, and which leads me to this. The signs of the end times are everywhere.

Billy Graham…

As we witness such things as the spread of globalism, the building of a one-world church, the increase of wickedness, the breakdown of the traditional family, the destruction of that priceless bastion of liberty called America, the normalization of homosexuality, the callous murder of babies, the filthy pop culture, the breathtaking increase in governmental surveillance, we become fearful, uncertain, frustrated, angry, and discouraged, but this is because our minds and hearts are too focused on things of this world rather than things above. Too often we have the same short view that “conservative” unbelievers have, rather than the long view that comes from the light of Bible prophecy.

Satan is the god of this world, and his handiwork is evident everywhere, but he is not God and he is not in control of the times and the seasons.

Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding” (Dan. 2:20-21)

In his book that accompanied the short movie The Reason For My Hope, Billy Graham wrote the following in “Chapter Eight: He Is Coming Back”:
“The Bible teaches from cover to cover that judgment is coming. But even in God’s judgment His love is dominant and His patience protracted. And He never gives warning without providing hope for those who will listen. In 2012, even in the midst of one of the most heated election seasons in American history, we saw the display of multiple thousands of citizens demanding that God be removed from the political scene. They did not want to be aligned with “In God We Trust.” They apparently would rather trust in flawed people who have no control over tomorrow. Only through a deep abiding faith in what cannot be seen is it possible to trust in God. The scorn of others can be a powerful explosive on a person’s faith in God if it is not empowered by His absolute truth.”

Created Universe..

America at this moment, is indeed standing on the cusp of God’s grace, and I use that phrase not because it is the title of the book I wrote back in 2010, but because We The People of the United States are indeed teeter-tottering betwixt heaven and hell as we continue to embrace the ways of the world into our society, rather than take the ways of God into a fallen and ever-darkening world. Again from Billy Graham :

A terrifying spiritual and moral tide of evil has already loosed us from our spiritual moorings. Monstrous new ideas that could easily destroy our freedoms are rushing into the vacuum.”

“Spiritually, we have wandered far from the faith of our fathers .. No nation which relegates the Bible to the background, which disregards the love of God and flouts the claims of the Man of Galilee, can long survive.”

“I believe America has gone a long way down the wrong road. If we ever needed God’s help, it is now.”

“We have so many battles going on in America today that we should be a people of prayer. Our government needs prayer. Our leaders need prayer. Our schools need prayer. Our youth need our prayers. Our families need our prayers.

A goal, right into the bottom corner…

We The People need to be standing in the confidence that the present evil is exceedingly temporary and will soon be cut down. God forbid that kisses of this nature will soon be the norm at the scoring of “goals” in the Premier League of the future – as unnatural as it is …

Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Maranatha. In Him!

Quotations from the Rev. Billy Graham in Billy Graham in Quotes