“Nice” ~ Right, Wrong & In-Between

I received some feedback from last week’s Tune-up that provided the seed for today’s message. While I had a number of readers who were able to relate to my story of persecution, I had a couple who felt I was a little harsh with (S). One of them actually referred to my characterization of her as the “insulting” production of my “ego”, and “un-Christian-like” behavior. I had to go back and re-read my work, fearing I might have somehow overshot the mark. In so doing, I felt completely comfortable with every word of my description of the (S) who demonstrated a complete lack of humanity by her actions that evening…actions fervently marshaled by her own ideological zeal. (S) was the perfect subject in a thoroughly honest observation and analysis of Friends, Humanity & Ideology.

Who does not find it well beyond fascinating that in a story that chronicled persecutors, betrayers, vow-breakers, pitch-forkers, blind-siders, sucker-punchers, seducers, murderers, social media/oxy addicts, Pokémon zombies, and adulterers; it was the simple act of speaking truth to the various transgressions that was red-flagged as the “un-Christian” offense. This is so key to what is happening to us, it has to be heaven-sent! Such a perception is only possible with people who have either lost THE Faith, or taken up another.

For the sake of communication, I will refer to the Catholic Church to represent THE Faith, and the church of “Nice” to represent “another”. After all, it was upon the rock of Peter and not Martin Luther our Lord promised to build His Church.

We don’t have to look much further than my favorite on-line Catholic newsletter and the Washington Examiner to find out where our Faith has gone. According to Pew this past Wednesday, half the people who have left the church (1/4 of the nation) no longer believe in God. This coincides with what is happening in Pittsburgh as reported below in The Catholic Thing’s Crisis of Faith, not Worship:

The State of THE Faith ~

“The number of active Catholics within the Pittsburgh Diocese has declined rapidly in recent decades, from 914,000 in 1980 to 632,000 in 2015, diocesan figures show.

Since 2000, weekly Mass attendance has dropped by 40 percent – for almost 100,000 fewer regular churchgoers; K-8 Catholic school enrollment fell by 50 percent; and the number of active priests plummeted from 338 to 225. By 2025, if trends hold, the diocese projects that just 112 active priests will remain…

…The loss of faith reflects a loss of the sense of sin and sin’s gravity*. Both are surely related to the rejection of the Church’s moral teachings, for faith is indeed a seamless garment. So the Sunday obligation means nothing and is not going to keep people coming to church who do not believe in the gravity of the sin of missing Mass. Indeed, even if you believe there is such a thing as grave sin, how could that sin be seen as grave if you believe that the Mass is essentially music and readings and a bit of memorial. Not something real, a real sacrifice, a real presence of Christ.”

* If a certain former Secretary of State doesn’t come to mind here, I suggest you check your Faith.

The State of “Nice” ~

First I should say that it is the opinion of this writer that Vatican ll was more Trojan Horse than reformation, carrying the lethal injection of Nice directly into the bosom of the Church. So naturally, in response to the staggering decline in “active Catholics” cited above, the Nice Bishop Zubik prescribes more of the same;

But the solutions that the good bishop is proposing in order to reverse this decline are not particularly encouraging, and remind me of the futile five-year plans of the Soviet Union, which kept repeating the same failed remedies: “The No. 1 priority has to be, ‘We need to make our worship better,’” [Bishop David] Zubik told the Tribune-Review. “Second of all, we need to do the best job that we can to get not only more ordained leaders, but we really have to open up lots of doors for the lay leaders of the Church.”

According to the paper, “better (Nicer) worship” means “better (Nicer) homilies, better (Nicer) music,” and “getting churches to be more hospitable (Nicer) to outsiders.” The bishop adds other possible remedies, such as “growing the pools of highly trained lay leaders and deacons. . .appealing to youths through new types of ministry while simultaneously strengthening pastoral care for the elderly.”

Stop for a moment to ponder the following. How is it that the same man or woman who is so ready to believe that a plant can feel the energy of its owner in the very instant while separated by thousands of miles, or that water can read, cannot bring themselves to believe in the widely foretold and broadly prophesied man from the line of Abraham, a descendent of Isaac, and heir to the throne of David, who gave himself up to be scourged and crucified by his own people, to free every last one of us from the crushing gravity of our own sin? How is it possible for such ready believers to resist the total absolute and unconditional love of the Him who died to save them? The two-part answer is the simplest answer to the most important question ever raised. First; there is a cost to believe, and it is called repentance…our acknowledgement of wrong-doing (sin) which often times (and here’s the rub) goes by the name fun. Second; along comes the multi-cultural, multi-denominational, multi-purpose (even removes grease), multi-delusional, and multi-subjective church of Nice to spread the gospel of “We can have our cake and eat it too!” You’ve no doubt heard of the Nicene Creed (325AD) which formally recognizes the authority of the Father, Son & Holy Ghost. But then came the Nicer Creed (1517AD) introduced by Luther, refined by Vatican ll, and perfected by Oprah: “It’s all good…and none of it is our fault!”  

Through the unfolding horrors of the massive Clinton Crime Syndicate spiked by the AP revelation that Hillary used her office as Secretary of State to sell America out from under us, just as Oprah is announcing her endorsement of this ruthless villain, I’m listening to U2’s “Even Better Than The Real Thing” realizing how many of us have given up the real thing for the last precious dance.

You’re honey child to a swarm of bees                                                                   Gonna blow right through you like a breeze                                                            Give me one last dance                                                                                                     We’ll slide down the surface of things

You’re the real thing Yeah the real thing                                                                 You’re the real thing Even better than the real thing

Bono’s a great lyricist to dance to. But I’ve found Matthew far better to live by; “Thus you will know them by their fruits.” ~ Matthew 7:20

Ponder, if you dare, the deadly fruit harvest brought to us by the church of “Nice”:

• The birth of “Political Correctness”.
• The death of Free Speech is the death of our Republic.
• The death of “backbone” Phil Simms afraid to say “Redskins”.
• The birth of “Safe Spaces”.
• The death of accountability.
• The death of Rule of Law is the death of our Republic.
• The legitimization and “forced” acceptance of perversion.
• The importation of jihadi terror.
• The rise of demonic energy.

I should like to add the death of our common sense to the list as well. I believe the realization of these simple truths are what has fueled the populist uprisings we are witnessing around the world. The Sanders hallucination on the Left, and the Trump revolution on the Right. But this is not about politics. This is a story as old as time itself. It’s the Old Testament and the Book of Kings…man finds God, worships God, is blessed and consecrated, becomes full of himself, forgets God, loses God, is cursed, invaded and destroyed. The church of Nice tells us the things we wish to hear and blinds us to the rest. The Church is “the shepherd we shall not want.” Find a real Church today. I recommend the Calvary Baptist Church in Warwick to my friends in the Warwick Valley for their spiritual revival. And I recommend Oath Keepers to everyone as a means of physical preparation for the coming flood that the church of “Nice” has made inevitable.