PARKS BROWN

5G is the way of the world. Out with the old, in with the new. 5G is everywhere you turn whether you know it or not. 5G is the next gen, the 5th generation. 5G represents a move forward, the next step in everything from technology to warfare. 5G is newer, better, faster and improved. 5G warfare represents social engineering, misinformation, cyber attacks, along with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and fully autonomous systems.

Cell providers and military forces around the world are dropping the old and focusing on the new. This evolution and change reaches institutions, church and state. How does the new gen manifest? Did you watch the social engineering at the Grammies? Did you hear the change this week from the Bishop of London and the Protestant Church of England? Have you read what Pope Benedict wrote before his death and contrast that with the ‘new’ Pope, Francis? Out with the old, in with the new.

5G is evident in the next generation of money and finance. Yesterday, the Bank of England discussed their proposed roll out of the new digital currency to replace the pound. Under current guidelines, Britons would only be allowed 10-20,000 pounds in their digital wallets. To posses money above this limit, the BOE would be in charge of approving and allowing you to sweep from other accounts to make additional purchases. When CBDC’s roll out, your cash will be outdated 3G technology left behind.

5G represents the NEW way of the world. While you decide whether to participate in the changes it brings, 5G demands you get on board or get left behind. Verizon has moved on so your 3G phone and services won’t work anymore. ChatGPT has changed the way your kids write their next essay whether you participate or not. This week’s SOTU address was 5G misinformation regardless of the economy participating or not. The world is moving on whether the truth participates or not.

Coming soon to a theater near you, Christians will be labeled as either participating in the new 5G world or their archaic first generation faith. It’s incumbent Christ followers remember the world may offer new and improved but the Bible says…’You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.’ James 4:4. Yes, the choice IS between the two and the contrast is stark. The time is NOW to have wisdom and discernment regarding the ways of the world versus the ways of God.

Jesus knew the choice between Him and the world would be the same in the 1G or the 5G so, He prayed to the Father…’ ” I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world anymore than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.’ ‘ John 17:14-15. In the world, if your faith dictates not baking a cake to commemorate a particular ceremony, the choice and the consequences are real. It begs the question, do we really believe ‘…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’?

The heat is getting turnt up each day and we have battles to either fight or ignore. Before turning away from a battle or engaging with a comment on social media remember, ‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ 2 Cor 10:4-5. Prayer should be the 5G weapon of choice for a Christ follower.

Christians are called to be holy. Holy is not silence, self righteous, pompous, angry or meek. Holy means to be set apart, separate. We are to live in this world but not be of it. We are called to be salt and light, to stick out and be different. The time is here and now to decide where you stand on ALL the issues of the world that are in conflict with your faith and what Jesus commanded. The Christian faith is in direct conflict with many headlines and events. Biblical faith means ‘Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.’

With CBDC’s around the corner, many believers don’t want to think the convenience of utilizing an ATM card might be replaced with a chip somewhere on your body. 5G monetary technology might dictate you adapt or get left behind like an old phone. ‘We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one’ so live prepared to make the hard choice.

Things are moving fast and Christ followers must stay in touch with the Holy Spirit and a body of believers more than the next technology. Go to church. Socialize with other believers. 5G is sweeping the world. A 1G faith is the remnant that will never become obsolete or leave you behind. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Have faith, wisdom and discernment in God, not the world. Live in community with like minded. The letter Paul wrote to Timothy reminds us about those who chose the new ways over their faith, ‘have nothing to do with them.’

Wolves are widely known to be among the most deadly predators in the world. They dominate in all climates right at the top of the food chain because they are predominately ruthless pack animals. Wolves work together to devour every part of their weaker prey preferring psychological warfare to physical confrontation. Wolves thin out the weaker elements and control the population where they live.

Wolves aren’t considered an everyday threat because they live in the wild, but wolves are cold blooded killers. Think Liam Neeson’s movie, ‘The Grey’. Jeremy Renner in ‘The Bourne Legacy’. Most people only encounter wolves in the movies, or do they?

What would happen if wolves disguised their appearance and breached the borders in your city? Think back to Jack Nicholson in ‘Wolf’. What if wolves were a metaphor for intruders and evil like in the slasher film ‘Wolves At The Door’ depicting the Manson family massacre in 1969? Think the words in red, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15. Wolves come in many shapes.

Wolves are easy to recognize until they start masquerading and identify as humans. Today we are told everyone can be androgynous and identify however they feel, is it so far fetched to believe wolves are doing the same? Old testament prophets remind us this has been happening for centuries. Zephaniah identified a rebellious city full of oppressors and it’s ruling class. ‘Her officials within her are roaring lions: her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning’ Zeph. 3:3.

When the prophet Ezekiel told of the coming wrath of God, he identified one reason as the political leaders. ‘Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey: they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.’ Ezekiel 22:27. He didn’t say anything about a man made virus to thin the population and make billions of dollars but if the shoe fits.

In the time period he was writing, Ezekiel said the church failed as well. ‘Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can’t tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there’s no difference between right and wrong.’ Ezekiel 3:26. I’m thinking this is when you can’t tell the difference between making a choice of free will that God gives us and killing a live baby in the womb. The church is failing us today when it condones marriage between the same sex and promotes lust to be the same as love. Truth is, wolves are identifying as politicians, corporate leaders, pastors and priests.

When truth is said to be so wishy washy it can be whatever you identify as ‘your truth’, wolves have breached the border because there are no walls to keep them out. Wolves are crossing the border into our hearts and minds. We need discernment to see and identify the wolves around us because what comes next is wolves entering your house without a valid search warrant…or is that already happening? Each of us need to know God’s truth about what is good and what is evil…and speak it loudly. Or else what? ‘Doom to those who call evil good and good evil.’ Isaiah 5:20. It doesn’t sound rewarding for anyone not speaking up against the abominations and evil parading and demanding to be accepted.

We know wolves prefer psychological warfare in order to confuse and separate, making their prey become more vulnerable and lose hope. Are there signs this is happening today? Suicide rates through the roof. Church attendance not recovering after the virus lock-downs. Friendships dividing because of who you vote for. The rate of sudden deaths, myocarditis and abnormal blood clots in cadavers beyond anything morticians have ever seen. Athletes dropping like flies. Wolves are definitely in the house and we need good shepherds to point them out more than ever.

Jeremiah 50:6 reminds us we need good shepherds like in the days when Iraq was still called Babylon. Why? Because, just like then…’My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray.’ The profession of being a shepherd has been overrun by wolves and the number of sheep without a shepherd is increasing. Like the police force is dwindling, no one is stepping up to join the ranks of shepherd at a time they are most needed.

In Biblical terms, wolves are the same genus as false prophets. If wolves are running rampant, odds favor false prophets are as well. Jesus told us this recognition was very important because it signified the second advent; His return. We remember ‘wars and rumors of wars…famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.’ These have also been such ubiquitous headlines for the past two years that many are desensitized and forget the importance they signify.

Don’t be lulled into complacency just because the wolves parading in the open seem like just another drag show. Christ did say He would return ‘like a thief in the night’, and the Message version of the Bible makes His words speak in the modern vernacular about the end. ‘”And then going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other’s throat, everyone hating each other. In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in-nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes…and then the end will come.” ‘ Matthew 24:10-14.

I know with God a ‘thousand years are like a day and a day is like a thousand years’ and no-one knows when He returns. I have heard the rumors of wars, watched the increase in earthquakes and bizarre weather from Cali to the Philippines. I also know the love between people grows cold… good is called evil in the name of unity and inclusion… and wolves kill.

The wolves we encounter today aren’t racking up the body count but they are killing none the less. ‘”Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”‘ Matthew 10:28. Beware the Wolves.

Christmas is a season of preparing for and celebrating change. The liturgical season of Advent culminates on Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus is celebrated on Christmas Day. Advent is a time where Christ followers prepare their hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Advent is a season of waiting for change, anticipating and then celebrating the change Christ brought into the world. Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, we enter a new season of Advent tomorrow.

We all know, see and hear how things have changed in America and the world in less than 3 years. We all know there are greater changes in store for 2023 but do we know what those changes will be? The founder and Executive Director of the World Economic Forum in Davos produced a video preparing us for what and when the changes he and his followers will try to implement. Are we prepared for this? Are we preparing for greater changes than these?

We knew bitter cold weather was heading our way here at Christmas. We knew the arctic blast would be something different than we had seen so we prepared the best we could. Despite the preparation pipes still froze, people still died and power companies couldn’t meet the demand. Knowing the change coming doesn’t always favor the prepared mind as Louis Pasteur once said, but it does favor the prepared heart.

Louis Pasteur changed the face of science and medicine in the 19th-century. Pasteur was a bacteriologist credited with discovering the principles of vaccination. Pasteur’s contributions to science, technology, and medicine are nearly without precedent as he pioneered the study of molecular asymmetry; discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease; originated the process of pasteurization; saved the beer, wine, and silk industries in France; and developed vaccines against anthrax and rabies. Years of study and research led to his most famous saying, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

Football coaches remind players to keep their heads on a swivel to be prepared and see change before it happens. Sports fans may have seen the video of Deion Sanders preparing his new football team at Colorado for the changes ahead. Deion told his followers, “I’m coming. And when I get here, there’s gonna be change. So get ready.” Prepare for the change that is coming.

Coaches, politicians at Davos and anyone can TRY to bring change but only ONE person has a perfect record at predicting and bringing the exact change they promised. One of His most famous quotes was when He said, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe I am who I am.” Yes, what he was talking about came to fruition.

Change often happens when you least expect it so we need to live ready. Jesus said, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” In other words, stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Chance may favor the prepared mind so be prepared.

The writer of the 39th book of Psalms put it best. “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” In other words, help me be prepared for the last change I’ll see.

The past few years have reminded everyone that life altering change can come suddenly and unexpectedly. As we look into 2023 and prepare for the next changes we KNOW are coming, lets return to the OG. Remember, He is batting 1000 for predicting and instituting change. He is so confident in his ability to predict and institute change, He put it in black and white for all to see…and never forget.

Let these words shape your season of Advent beginning tomorrow.
……..’Then I saw “a new heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Book it. Be prepared for this change. It will happen.

Christmas Day may be over in a few hours, but our season of Advent is not.

A hedge is a fence or boundary. When a hedge is in place it surrounds a thing, protects it and provides security. Hedges are used to shelter and mitigate risk. When hedges fail, the results are volatility, troubles and distress in spades. Everywhere you look these days, hedges are failing and being removed. In the old vernacular, woe to those who hedges fail.

I spent 30 years in the financial world before starting to farm and landscape 24-7. Therefore, I see hedges everywhere. Shrubs and trees that shelter a yard or field. Investments and strategies used to limit risk and protect capital. In 2008 failing hedges (derivatives) tied to mortgage backed securities were the origin for the severe damage caused to financial institutions. The rest is a tale of misery and gnashing of teeth felt around the world. In other words, enough woe to go around for everyone.

Today pundits will point to financial institutions being in a much better position and say the ‘great recession’ is in the rear view mirror. But, look closely and you’ll see the next phase of hedges failing is well underway.

We need to recognize the systemic failure of hedging, how widespread it is and where this failure originates. People want to believe as long as there isn’t a monetary and fiscal catastrophe, money and sound finances will hedge us against the woe we lived through a few years ago. Well, look at the hedges being removed today and buckle up.

The police are historically a hedge to protect against crime…that hedge is being de-funded and torn down. The U.S. Military has been a hedge to protect our freedoms and way of life domestically and abroad…that hedge is being removed as well. The border was a hedge to ensure against any and all threats like terrorists and drugs.

Many investors believe Bitcoin is a hedge against government overspending and printing of fiat currencies. Governments don’t accept competition without a fight so that rout is only in the 4th inning. Bonds are considered a hedge to balance a portfolio. Rising interest rates and the failure of confidence in governments across the globe is tearing apart that hedge. Pension funds in Europe will bear this burden at first but American retirement funds will follow. The fruit many expect from hedging is failing to ripen and materialize.

“In Unity We Trust” will replace the phrase “In God We Trust” on the CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currency) which will start in Europe. Sound finances and monetary policies of a ‘United Nations’ are not the hedge we need. A little history and knowledge of the Bible reveals that everything we SEE is a reflection of what we don’t see happening in the spiritual realm. The God of Creation is the only hedge protecting our world. When you take Him out of the schools, from the court buildings and out of the conversation in the heart and mind of men and women, woe goes parabolic.

Hedges have been falling my entire life. The family is the bedrock for civilization and the means for passing along Truth and Faith. Parents have the primary responsibility to give their children God’s Truth. When we substitute passing along Biblical truth for a better socioeconomic standing and a college education, the hedge of a Godly family has failed the next generation. When we tell each other and teach our kids evolution trumps creation….abortion is choice not murder…genital mutilation is a means of correcting gender confusion…woe to the press, politicians, church and family.

This isn’t MY opinion, this is what God says. Read the 5th chapter of Isaiah and see if any of this sounds like America in 2022.

…’ Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.’ Can you say urban life?

…’ Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.’ Can you say a culture of entertainment and a work force where the service industry creates more jobs than manufacturing?

…’ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.’ I’ll let you come up with a list for this. It spreads across race, sex and political persuasions. None are exempt.

The God of Creation is NOT a safe God. When HIS people, who call themselves by HIS name don’t act or speak out against what has become politically correct or woke ideology, He removes the hedge of protection. The resulting distress, volatility and trouble is what we are currently experiencing.

God created our world as a garden (remember Eden) and a vineyard that is meant to produce fruit for Him. His people are supposed to work that garden and bear the fruit. That fruit is ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.’ When God’s people don’t bear that fruit, you could say Christians are a large part of the problem. Sound extreme? Listen up.

‘What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed: I will break down it’s wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briars and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.’ Isaiah 5:4-6.

The hedges we see failing in American society and our financial markets is a result of spiritual hedges being removed. Christians must take the lead and produce the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit…or else the hedges will continue to fail.

If we don’t speak God’s truth, if we don’t love regardless of political affiliation, if we don’t turn back to God, woe is a gentle word to describe what lies ahead.

What we see is derived from what we believe. If I see a clear sky in the morning but believe it will rain in the afternoon, I see an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the day before the weather changes. If I believe a political candidate or party can calm the chaos and distractions in the world, then I see the solution in a person or activism. If I believe the God who created the heavens and the earth is sovereign over His creation, then I see Him allowing the chaos and distractions to humble the nations. His purpose in humbling the world is to bring His people back to Him.

If I believe in the Judaeo-Christian Creator I need to learn and study His ways by reading the Bible. I know He doesn’t change in persona and He works in similar ways today as He has in the past. Therefore, I see Him at work each day whether I recognize what He is doing or not. If my truth and God change with the weather and culture, I am lost, angry and confused about current events. But, if I strive to learn more about God each day, I see the clash between His Kingdom and the earthly cultural kingdoms. I see God humbling His creation today the way He has since the beginning.

The act of humbling is older than the planet. Before our Earth existed and human beings were created, God made angelic beings. The greatest of these beings was Lucifer, the Shining One. Lucifer was so full of himself that God humbled him by casting him out of heaven and sent him hurtling to a swampy punishment we know as Earth. God is the author of humbling and humility. The devil was the first to be humbled on this planet but definitely not the last.

God’s Kingdom and culture gives people free will to think, speak and live as you want. America was founded on these principles and freedoms. In turn, the current cultural battle is at the root of a worldly culture seeking to tear down and destroy these freedoms by any means possible. The world’s culture demands acceptance and approval. Acceptance of new theories about the Founding Fathers of the nation. Approval of lifestyles and concepts that God calls deceptive and immoral.

In contrast to the freedoms God gives, if you don’t accept and embrace the worldly culture you will be humiliated and cancelled. God allows us to be humbled but not cancelled. On both sides of the political aisle, the current cultural clashes are being incorrectly marketed as a fight for democracy. WHAT and WHO you believe are critical to understanding what you are really seeing and why. The Bible reminds us, HE dictates and controls who and when His creation is humbled.

“The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and exalts.” 1 Samuel 2:6-7.

‘He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.’ Luke 1:52

Humility is not a low self-regard or sense of unworthiness. To the contrary, humility is more of a modest and accurate view of one’s self and importance. When modern culture shines a light on humility it is viewed as a nice quality to have in your portfolio, but not a particularly desirable characteristic or way of life. To the contrary, Christian culture teaches humility is a mainstay of everyday life essential to pleasing God. ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better than yourselves.’ Philippians 2:3. Although I’ve NEVER met a Christ-follower who claims this as a life verse, it does express how God wants us to live.

Events in our lives humble us. A spouse cheats and betrays your covenant of fidelity. A child dies. A financial catastrophe takes your life savings. You lose a job or your health. It comes in many forms but the result of humbling is unmistakable to see in an individual. Humbling CAN be tougher to see on a big stage IF your belief system is distracted and not firmly anchored. The world wants to distract you from God’s Word and how He works…so it can claim power and glory over God.

If anything equals or takes the place of your belief in God, then you’ll never see clearly. Want a few examples where belief and knowledge in God plays into how you see everyday events? Here’s a few.

Weather. He has always used floods and droughts. The rainbow was God’s symbol reminding us He would never again humble the world with a flood. He’s still using weather today and it’s being called climate change. The rainbow has been hijacked and is being used as a reminder for something else.

Food shortages. Remember Joseph being humbled when he was sold into slavery by his brothers? God allowed and used this humbling to save nations and his family from starvation. Look at the grocery shelves the past few months. Look again after the elections in November.

Chaos, disunity and death. God called it free will to take a life, get along with and treat others respectfully. The world calls it choice. When Christians cite abortion as a woman’s choice, you’re seeing someone forsake their beliefs to be culturally accepted. Murder will humble all parties involved.

Humility is often seen as a result of suffering and heartache and not the avenue to greatness and power. The result of God’s humbling is powerful and can be very positive. Judeo-Christian churches could do a better job teaching a ministry of suffering and humbling. If you just teach God is love, but not sovereign in the womb, or wrathful when His commandments are broken, then RVW is a means to love people but not remind them God calls the choice to stop a heartbeat, murder. If the pulpit taught God’s attributes of humbling and suffering equal to His love, more people would hear and see God in the headlines…and in their lives.

Humbling and humility conquer racism and slavery. Jews, Christians and students of history are familiar with the story, but I’m not sure we correlate conquering racism and freeing slaves with being humbled. Never-the-less, after 400 plus years of captivity, more than 2 million slaves were freed by the most humble man to ever live. ‘(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)’ Numbers 12:3.

If the most humble man to have ever lived saved an entire race and society from slavery and taught about racism, CAN it still work? WILL it still work if we humble ourselves to each other as opposed to condemning each other? Only God can humble mans heart to cure racism.

If any of this blog registers with you, if humility and being humbled appear more attractive, let me encourage you to entertain adding humility to your prayer list each day. WHY? Because…

…’ “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ‘ Matthew 23:12.

…’God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ James 4:6

What I do know is this….God wants us to humble ourselves to Him, not the world. God humbles those He loves so He can use them for HIS purpose. Abraham became the father of many nations after God humbled him. Moses freed the slaves after 40 years of humbling and Joseph saved his people from starvation after he was humbled and sold by his brothers. God humbles those He wants to use greatly.

Proof of how God greatly uses those He humbles. If we want to see the OG role model for being humbled, look at Jesus.

‘And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!’ Phil. 2:8. We get forgiveness, mercy, grace and eternity through the humbling of Jesus. This is the role model we either embrace or distance ourselves from. We either embrace being humbled or try to avoid it.

Candidates don’t advertise their humility as a quality to attract votes and support, but we should at least consider their lack of humility when casting a vote. Society and worldly culture view humility as synonymous with weakness and something to be taken advantage of. The Bible emphasizes the resulting weakness of being humbled is a key to unleashing the power of God. ‘…but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.’ 2 Cor. 12:5. The letters in red remind us God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 2 Cor. 12:9.

The question is, WHO and WHAT do you believe we need in America and the world today? I think we need more of the God of Creation and the Bible…I know we are seeing more of Him. Rededicate your faith and belief in Him. Then, watch Him humble the nations and His people.