God Survey

There have been some huge changes in the religious beliefs of Canadians during my lifetime.   The pace of change is accelerating faster and faster.  Why is this occurring, and what does it mean?

Figure 1

According to the 2017 CROP Panorama survey of 6,288 Canadians surveyed, only 65% of us still believe there is a God.

In 2005, there used to be 81% of Canadians who believed.  That is a 2.02%/yr drop on average over this 11 year period.  This exponential decay rate cuts the number of believers in half every 35 years.

But what kind of God do people believe in?

Figure 2 shows that in 2016, just 22% believe the dogma taught by their chosen religion.  In 1998, it used to be 36% who believed the dogma of their organized religion.

Figure 2

The biggest group believes in a god they fashioned for themselves.  This is sometimes referred to as a "Smorgasbord god", where you pick and choose the various aspects and characteristics of the God you wish to believe in; a customized god exactly to your liking.  In this way, your god can always be pleased about you, for your Designer god likes and supports everything you choose to do, or refrain from doing.  Of course, your customized god is not the God of the Bible, but you're OK with that.  It is curious that this freedom god choice has declined since 1998.

Figure 3

N.B.   When you create your own customized god, this is worshiping an idol you created in your own mind.  You are not worshiping the one true God of the Bible.  This is sin contrary to God's Commandment #2 (You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.).  Now, back to our surveys.

The third type of god is "A force of which we are all part"; a pantheism where Mother Earth, every rock, tree, and life on the planet communes with all us humans, and us with them.  Exactly what this means, I am not sure, but it appears to be some modern (or ancient) form of Spiritualism.  This has significantly increased since 1998, growing at 3.7%/yr, doubling and re-doubling every 19.1 years.

The fourth type of god is the Atheistic Materialism defined by "Life is a purely biological phenomena".  In 1998, this was just 7% of the people, but has grown to be 20% of the population in 2016, a growth rate of 6%/yr on average; doubling and re-doubling every 11.7 years.

How strong are these beliefs in god?

In Figure 3 for 2017, only 21% said their religious beliefs were very important to them.  Of those who felt it was very important or somewhat important was a total of 49% of people surveyed.

Figure 4

Figure 4 shows the trend in strength of religious beliefs has been dropping like a stone since Year 2000, dropping at 7.36%/yr on average; halfing and halfing again every 9.5 years.

As religious beliefs get watered down by customized god, Spirituality, or Darwinistic Materialism, we get the double whammy effect as all religious beliefs become less and less important in the life of the average Canadian.

As a business consultant and marketing expert, their usual advice to a business would be to "understand the customer's needs, then serve those needs".  In their report and Blog, CROP says:

"If they [the Church] want to stay socially relevant, these institutions have some serious catching up to do to get back in sync with people's values."

Figure 5

 In the USA, 63% are absolutely certain about their belief in God.

In Europe, it's even worse.

Figure 5 shows that Romania ("Rou" on map, dark blue colour code) is the most religious country, where 55% of adults say they are highly religious, 50% say religion is important in their lives, 50% attend a worship service at least monthly, 44% pray daily, and 64% believe in God with absolute certainty.

Estonia ("EST' on map, light blue colour code) is the least religious country, where 7% of adults say they are highly religious, 6% say religion is important in their lives, 10% attend a worship service at least monthly, 9% pray daily, and only 13% believe in God with absolute certainty.

We have a lot of work in front of us if we are going to save the majority so as to get them to Heaven.

Does God Exist? How about Satan?

There are many atheists, agnostics, and sleepy people who think they know that God doesn't, exist, or not sure, or don't care one way or another.  For these people, I present the following picture as rock solid, undeniable proof that God exists.

To be able to be on a criminal jury on Earth, you must be sane, aware, adult, able to think and reason, and unbiased against the accused, the judicial system, and the crime to which the accused is charged.  I suggest those same qualities are required here for my evidence..  If you are unwilling or unable to be a reasonable, aware, thinking, logical, and unbiased adult, you will be wasting your time to continue reading this Blog; move along on your personal business.

If you are willing and able to be a reasonable, aware, thinking, logical, and unbiased adult, please keep reading.

Here is my evidence for your consideration:

Figure 1:  Evidence for the Existence of God

The toddling girl is cute running on the green grass, and reminds Christians of God's creation, and all its wonders.  However, I ask you to look deeper.  Why is the grass significantly darker in an unique shape, like a stretched out version of the little girl?  This dark area instantly moves on a 1:1 mapping of the little girl as she runs, always staying in perfect harmony. We usually call this dark area the girl's shadow.

The shadow is evidence of a strong light source off-image, behind the camera.  In this case, the strong light source is likely the Sun.  Everything in our life experience tells us that strong light source is there, assuming the photo has not been doctored so as to deceive.  While we cannot see the strong light source in the picture, we have strong secondary evidence that this light source exists.

If that strong light source did not exist, we would not be able to have a shadow.  The shadow proves the existence of the strong light source.

God is light.

Satan is darkness, like a shadow or worse; ultimately a Black Hole that sucks in and destroys everything that comes near it.

Black is an absence of light. By analogy, evil is an absence of good.  The existence of Evil proves a localized absence or diminishing of God. Hell is an absence of God, or a separating from God.  Evil may imply or suggest Satan exists, but is not conclusive proof.

The existence of a shadow proves that sunshine exists.  By analogy, evil proves the existence of good. Therefore the existence of evil proves the existence of God.

If you have sunshine, you don't always have a shadow.  On Earth, that is called Laihaina Noon, a specific point on the globe and time when the sun is directly overhead, at right angles to the Earth's surface (ie. subsolar point).  Laihaina Noon photos look weird to us, like they have been altered by Photoshop.  Therefore, sunshine can exist without shadows.  By analogy, God can exist without Satan. 

We live in a fallen world which has been delegated to be under Satan's rule and control.  Very soon, Satan's lease will expire, and Jesus Christ will regain full and final control of His creation.

Humans are like tenants or squatters, living in God's creation.  When the landlord Satan is fired and the owner takes over the landlord's former duties, the tenants had better be sure they are following the rules, and behave themselves.  Tenants are at risk of being tossed out of their apartment, and into Hell Fires due to:   a) former bad behaviour that the Owner reads about in the landlord's written records; or b) By the tenant's chronic and continuing bad behaviour today.  Either way, everybody is at risk if they do not repent and seek forgiveness from the Owner for their sins of the squatter or tenant.

Jesus Christ has already started his End Times process.  There is precious little time left for you to wake up and get right with God.  Please help yourself, as well as all your family and friends, and neighbours by carefully considering this message, and passing the link along to others so they have a last minute chance to save themselves.

If you're not sure, send everybody a link to this Blog, saying:

  "I found this on the Internet.  I'm not sure about this, what do you think?"

That way, you minimize your risk, maximize your input of data and opinions.  Even if everybody disagrees, you will have to make your own decision.  That will require awareness, courage, and some careful thinking.  Jesus said the majority will take the comfortable path to Hell, so beware.

High Alert: God's Judgement Soon (June 17 2019)

June 17, 2019 2:02 PM EDT

I issue a maximum alert for all Christians, and all others.  There is a high probability of God's Judgement occurring on or soon after 2019 Summer Solstice, which is June 18, 2019.  The time is likely synchronized to Jerusalem sunrise, which occurs at 5:05 AM Jerusalem Time (GMT+3), 7 hrs ahead of EDT.  Therefore our deadline is likely 10:05 PM tonight (June 17, 2019).

This alert is based upon the warning of Yahushua (Jesus Christ) as prophesied by Julie Whedbee on Behold I Come ( see https://iamcallingyounow.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-radical-and-irreversible-change-is.html ).

Secondly, the ancient cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Zeboim were destroyed by God via fire and brimstone from Heaven on or soon after the 1st day of the 4th month (in 2019, the anniversary would be June 18th), as described in the Book of Jubilee 16:1-7  (Note:  "new moon" should be interpreted as the first day of the calendar month, NOT the phase of the Moon).

Therefore I highly recommend getting right with God before 10:05 PM EDT today (June 17, 2019).

If Judgement doesn't start as early as June 17th, it could be as late as July 18th (end of 4th month).

How To Get Right With God 

So far, I understand that if we want to be Raptured to Heaven as Jesus' Crown Jewels, we must:

1. Believe in Jesus Christ, His crucifixion, death, 3 day burial, and resurrection to Heaven as the Lord & Saviour of all sinners.
   
    
2. Be Born Again (Confess your sins, repent, ask Jesus to save you, turn away from sin, turn towards God, ask Jesus to send His Holy Spirit to fill up your soul)
   
    
3. Do His 20 Commandments for Christians (see this Blog Page or download copy )
   
    
4. Disconnect ourselves from Satan's world (eg. no more Internet, sports, news, bars, drinking, drugs, partying, shopping, malls, music, Hollywood, love of money, excessive worldly possessions, etc.)
   
    
5. Use God's calendar (not Satan's).  See Zadok-Enoch-Jubilees Head of Summer calendar https://youtu.be/KMLHPresPBw
   
6. Testify to everybody as to our Christian faith in a bold, loud & proud of Jesus Christ way (eg. like modern John the Baptist) so as to bring the unsaved to Jesus. (Baptism of Fire)

If you are not interested in the above 6 steps to get right with God, or you procrastinate too long, you will then have only 2 other options, as follows:

The Hard Way

Be left behind on Earth until you learn to do all the above 6 steps while passing through God's Judgements and Satan's persecution for the next 3.5 years, until you are captured, killed, or martyred for Jesus (imprisoned, beaten, tortured, and eventually beheaded by Satan's evil forces).

or

Satan's Way

Give up on Jesus, go with the flow, and join Satan.  Satan and his world government will likely require you to take the Mark of the Beast and worship Satan (and/or Satan's Beast).  Satan will likely ignore you (or possibly help you) as long as you remain useful to Satan, but at some point in time during the next 3.5 years, Satan will turn on you, destroy you, or dump you cold.  Once you accept the Mark of the Beast and worship Satan, it cannot be reversed nor undone, you will be Satan's deciple forever after.  Once Jesus defeats Satan, your Mark of the Beast will guarantee you are judged guilty, then thrown into the Lake of Fire (Hell) to burn and be tormented forever & ever.

Biblical Rape: Reason to Reject God?

Some Atheists accuse God of immorality because atheists think God's Law supports rape.  Atheists say they have a much better moral standard than God because they know rape is wrong, and therefore want nothing to do with a God or God's Bible that promotes or condones rape.

Some Christians try to dodge that bullet by suggesting it wasn't really rape, it was just different dating and courting customs at that time; same or better than most other cultures at that time.   The rationalizations go on and on.

I was challenged today to explain and justify the Bible's commentary on rape.  The complainant specifically pointed out Deuteronomy 22:28-29 which says in the New International Version (NIV):

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Just so we get the historical perspective, 50 shekels of silver is approx. 575 grams of silver, worth about US $0.48/gram as of June 2019, or US $276.00 in today's money.  In Biblical times, Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers for 20 shekels. The Torah says that the owner of a bull that killed a slave has to pay 30 shekels. To lease a field of 75000 square amot (about 200,000 square feet, 4.6 acres, or 1.86 hectares) for 49 years was redeemed at 50 shekels.

Therefore, payment of 50 shekels of silver as a dowry for a rape victim was a substantial sum during Biblical times.

God didn't want divorce, but Moses asked God to allow a certificate of divorse.  During Biblical times, the divorce certificate was heavily used and abused, just as God knew it would.  Men had a bad habit of issuing a divorce certificate, then trading in their old wife for a newer model.  The former wife was tossed out on her ear, to fend for herself, often with no further support from her former husband.  As bad as that sounds, the Hebrew wife was generally regarded as better off and better treated than wives in most other cultures throughout the Mediterranean world at that time.

Note that in this case of rape, a man lost his right to divorce his "new wife by rape" for any and all reasons on a life-long basis.  Again, a significant consequence connected to the rape.

Does this verse from the Bible prove that God condones rape?

I don't think so.  Here's why.

God clearly states that rape is wrong and forbids it by his Commandments:

• In Deut 22:13, if a maid is discovered to not have been a virgin at marriage, she is to be stoned to death in front of her Father's house.  Fornication (sex outside marriage) is sin.  Rape would be an extreme form of fornication, an even worse sin.
   
•  In Exodus 20:15, God's 8th Commandment is "Thou shalt not steal."  A daughter would be seen as the property of the Father, and to take the daughter so as to steal her virginity would be sin.  Therefore rape is sin.

• In Exodus 20:17, God's 10th Commandment says "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."  Obviously, for a man to rape a maiden, he coveted her, so again, rape is a sin.

Therefore we conclude that rape is clearly a sin.  Once the sin of rape has occurred, what should be done?

After a rape, we must think about the female who was raped, her family, the person who did the rape, his family, and society in general.

• The raped woman likely carries a lot of emotional baggage, PTSD, fear, trust issues, and so on from the terrible rape.  She may have been physically hurt, and/or infected with a STD (sexually transmitted disease), or emotionally injured.  She will likely be seen as "damaged goods" by her family, community, or prospective husbands, even if she was 100% faultless.  Who would marry her after this terrible crime had been inflicted upon her? If a solution is not had, a life is stunted, or wasted in a significant way.

• There may be a child conceived from the rape.  If the man is put to death for committing the rape, the child grows up without a father.  Today, children raised without a father is the #1 marker for poor social standing, poverty, delinquency, crime, and many other negative consequences (see here, here, here, and here).  In Biblical times, a child with no father was likely an early death sentence for both Mother and child.  Why should an innocent child be punished for the crimes of the father?

• The families of both the perpetrator and the victim will be significantly affected in reputation, recrimination, loss of reputation, social stigma, costs, loss of productivity, and similar negative outcomes.  The parents of both the man and woman might be indirectly blamed and held responsible for not raising their children properly, failing to adequately teach them to follow God's Law, failing to take adequate prevention measures, failing to adequately discipline their children before it was too late, and so on.

• The community is tarnished by the actions of one.  People may feel unsafe, or stigmatized by what occurred in their community, then seek to flee to a better community.  The entire town could be significantly affected if a key person vacates.

I suggest that God seeks to minimize sin, and minimize the negative consequences from sin.  Rape is a huge upset to safety, trust, and freedom; both in Biblical times, and today. 

 Because emotions would be running high after a rape has occurred, rash actions might cause additional sin to occur via mob action or blood vendetta, with even more negative consequences.  Therefore a prescriptive solution from God would help to calm the situation and help prevent further escalation.

I therefore suggest that Deut 22:28-29 is God's solution to the sin of rape so as to minimize sin, minimize negative consequences, and promote healing.

Through God's solution to the sin of rape, the man is economically punished (ie. 50 shekel dowry), so as to discourage others to sin in a similar manner.  The man is forced to support and help his wife and child for the rest of his life.  The man is barred from ever divorcing his new "wife by rape".  The woman and possible child are protected from economic hardship, as the man must care for them and support them for the rest of his life.

Contrary to Biblical times and God's optimum solution, the rapist in today's world will likely be sent to prison for many years at a high cost to society.  The rapist will have destroyed his life's potential forever (or at least decades) as he will be a convict, and likely a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.  This will shrink or destroy his possible job prospects for a long time, or forever.  The woman, if she becomes pregnant, will likely be counseled to have an abortion, thereby killing an innocent pre-born person, and adding further trauma to the woman.  Both sets of parents are tarnished by the rape.  This is a lose-lose-lose outcome for everybody.

Perhaps, in the little time we have left before End Times arrives, we might want to reconsider God's solution to rape by God's restorative justice as defined by Deut 22:28-29.

I therefore conclude that God prohibits rape, proposes an optimum solution of restorative justice when the sin of rape occurs, and this allegation of atheists and others against God and Christianity is false.

Therefore I call upon atheists to stop blaming God and their blasphemy against God.  Atheists should admit this allegation of rape culture against God was merely another excuse they used to avoid the responsibility imposed upon them by God's 10 Commandments.

Atheists should admit they are sinners, repent and forsake their sins, apologize to God for their sins, turn away from their sins and turn towards God, believe in Jesus Christ and that He died on the cross so as to pay for the sins of all humans who believe in Him, and ask for Jesus Christ to come into your life as your Saviour so that you make have eternal life and avoid Hell.

In this day of rampant sin, chronic atheism, #metoo and radical feminism, I'm sure there are many who take offense to what I have written here.  Feel free to comment to your heart's content.