It appears....from what I read....that Steve Bannon has been convinced of the thesis put forth by William Strauss and Neil Howe in the 1997 futurist book The Fourth Turning, An American Prophesy, What the Cycles of history Tell us About America's Next Rendezvous with History. I picked up the book in an attempt to glean a little bit of information about Mr. Bannon.
The book is new to me as apparently I just missed this one when it came out.....but my reading habits have changed quite a bit since when in college in the early 70s I would buy the latest rage book at the National Record Mart and head to the Wooden Keg to discuss it with my friends over a few pitchers of beer. (remember The Teachings Of Don Juan or The Greening Of America or Future Shock or Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance?) I probably would have bought into Al Gore back then!
The Fourth Turning is over 350 pages and most of them are filled with historical dates and events.....quite a few charts....along with analysis and predictions as to America's future. Here's a very short synopsis of it. Time moves in cycles and those cycles have shown to contain four distinct...'turnings.' The cycle begins on a "high' and them moves or turns to an "awakening' then to an "unravelling" and finally to a "crisis." Now there's a whole lot more than that in this thesis but essentially it points to continuous cycles....each one with four evolutions....labelled 'turnings.'
Well, according to the authors....writing in 1997....we should be entering the 'crisis' turning right about now. The book reminds me of a lot of the Christian prophesy books that have been popular over the past 50 years. They look at history and then find Scripture verses to explain that history. Far more often than not they are nothing more than imagination with Bible truths strategically placed in an attempt to prove a thesis.
I don't mean to disparage the effort. Back in December of 2008 I put my own thoughts in a post that I titled 48 Year Cycles. I was looking more at the cultural aspect. Our cultural paradigm seemed to change in 1960 with Camelot and pop music and color television and plans to go to the moon. Previous to that (1912) the loss of the Titanic pointed to a half century of war and economic destruction. Previous to that the Civil War was ending and America's frontiers were wide open. Education would change as well as the church.
My point then and now is different than a futurist's take on cyclical events. To put it in very simple terms...we trust in God and He blesses us....then we forget where the blessings came from and we fall away. This hasn't anything to with time cycles. It has to do with fallen man.....and God's long suffering but limited patience. So the chronological essence may at times somewhat coincide with the thesis put out by these two authors....but this is not time cycles dealing with man....but rather God dealing with man.....and the pattern is similar to the constant repenting of the Israelites only to fall right back into idolatry before repenting again!
Are we then at a Turning? No...we are at judgment. The Fourth Turning goes to extreme lengths in its analysis. I'm not saying that the book is not interesting, just as I admitted that Jonathan Cahn's current best-selling book The Paradigm is interesting. (October 15th post)
The book is new to me as apparently I just missed this one when it came out.....but my reading habits have changed quite a bit since when in college in the early 70s I would buy the latest rage book at the National Record Mart and head to the Wooden Keg to discuss it with my friends over a few pitchers of beer. (remember The Teachings Of Don Juan or The Greening Of America or Future Shock or Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance?) I probably would have bought into Al Gore back then!
The Fourth Turning is over 350 pages and most of them are filled with historical dates and events.....quite a few charts....along with analysis and predictions as to America's future. Here's a very short synopsis of it. Time moves in cycles and those cycles have shown to contain four distinct...'turnings.' The cycle begins on a "high' and them moves or turns to an "awakening' then to an "unravelling" and finally to a "crisis." Now there's a whole lot more than that in this thesis but essentially it points to continuous cycles....each one with four evolutions....labelled 'turnings.'
Well, according to the authors....writing in 1997....we should be entering the 'crisis' turning right about now. The book reminds me of a lot of the Christian prophesy books that have been popular over the past 50 years. They look at history and then find Scripture verses to explain that history. Far more often than not they are nothing more than imagination with Bible truths strategically placed in an attempt to prove a thesis.
I don't mean to disparage the effort. Back in December of 2008 I put my own thoughts in a post that I titled 48 Year Cycles. I was looking more at the cultural aspect. Our cultural paradigm seemed to change in 1960 with Camelot and pop music and color television and plans to go to the moon. Previous to that (1912) the loss of the Titanic pointed to a half century of war and economic destruction. Previous to that the Civil War was ending and America's frontiers were wide open. Education would change as well as the church.
My point then and now is different than a futurist's take on cyclical events. To put it in very simple terms...we trust in God and He blesses us....then we forget where the blessings came from and we fall away. This hasn't anything to with time cycles. It has to do with fallen man.....and God's long suffering but limited patience. So the chronological essence may at times somewhat coincide with the thesis put out by these two authors....but this is not time cycles dealing with man....but rather God dealing with man.....and the pattern is similar to the constant repenting of the Israelites only to fall right back into idolatry before repenting again!
Are we then at a Turning? No...we are at judgment. The Fourth Turning goes to extreme lengths in its analysis. I'm not saying that the book is not interesting, just as I admitted that Jonathan Cahn's current best-selling book The Paradigm is interesting. (October 15th post)
There is a major difference though in these two books. Rabbi Cahn's book acknowledges God while The Fourth Turning renders awakenings and the Reformation....Calvin...Luther....the Puritans etc. as merely subservient events and people enslaved to a master of time cycles.....a mathematical god. Unfortunately The Fourth Turning is indeed a religious book....only the religion bows before the creation and not the Creator.
THE FIRST AND SECOND BATTLES OF MANASSEH
THE FIRST AND SECOND BATTLES OF MANASSEH
Manasseh, King of Judah, essentially fought two battles. In the first he fought against God and His servants....and was defeated and sent off in chains to Babylon. In the second he fought his own demons.....repented and was restored by God to his throne. It took defeat and severe humiliation for Manasseh to see that the God that he revolted against was the God that ruled all of His creation. We in America are in the midst of our own First Battle of Manasseh for we have revolted against God....who chose not to include Manasseh's repentance in the Old Testament Books of Kings...only in Chronicles. Will our repentance be recorded.....or will it be that we will never repent?
There was one particular battle in the Civil War....the First Battle of Manassas....are we still allowed to reference that part of our history....where one side's uncoordinated impetuous attacks were repulsed and a panic of sorts ensued. The other side seized the opportunity of the enemy's disorganization and advanced. When the dust and smoke of canister and musket fire clouding the field cleared there appeared a 'wall' ahead of them for one brigade had not panicked. The chaos met discipline and discipline won the day.
Conservatism is not in panic mode today....not yet....but is far from regimented and disciplined. There is no one who has authority over us....no one to calm us amidst the din of battle. Donald Trump led the first charge only to find that his lack of discipline scattered his army and entangled him in the same thicket of deception. Steve Bannon is leading a second charge but the Deep State continues to advance. Behind this disorder....and partially obscured by smoke....is a brigade called truth. Its captain is Jesus Christ and no force on earth can move it nor stand against it.
The call to order for all conservatives is to rally behind this the Captain Of Our Salvation. The nations will war against each other. No flag will prevail....no ship will escape being broken up on the rocks in this coming storm.....which will subside....but only as Jesus Christ is enthroned.
Many years ago John MacArthur offered a book....free....if one would but request it. I didn't but had second thoughts and later bought the book on my own. It has been in our dining room for over two decades now and serves as a daily pre-dinner prayer. The following is typical of the prayers from The Valley Of Vision edited by Arthur Bennett and published by Banner Of Truth:
O Thou Giving God,
My heart is drawn out in thankfulness to thee,
for thy amazing grace and condescension to me
in influences and assistances of thy Spirit,
for special help in prayer,
for the sweetness of Christian service,
for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,
for always sending me needful supplies,
for raising me to new life when
I am like one dead.
I want not the favour of man to lean upon
for thy favour is infinitely better.
Thou art eternal wisdom in dispensations
towards me;
and it matters not when, nor where, nor how
I serve thee,
nor what trials I am exercised with,
if I might but be prepared for thy work and will.
No poor creature stands in need of divine grace
more than I do,
And yet none abuses it more than I have done,
and still do.
How heartless and dull I am!
Humble me in the dust for not loving thee more.
Every time I exercise any grace renewedly
I am renewedly indebted to thee,
the God of all grace, for special assistance.
I cannot boast when I think how dependent
I am upon thee for the being and every act of grace;
I never do anything else but depart from thee,
and if I ever get to heaven it will be because
thou willest it, and for no reason beside.
I love, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature,
to cast myself on thy infinite grace and goodness,
hoping for no happiness but from thee;
Give me special grace to fit me for special services,
and keep me calm and resigned at all times,
humble, solemn, mortified,
and conformed to thy will.
WE HAD BETTER BE A LITTLE MORE HONEST WITH OUTSELVES
WE HAD BETTER BE A LITTLE MORE HONEST WITH OUTSELVES
Why criticize Donald Trump as the Clinton/Bush/Obama cabal seeks to surrender America over to the world? That's a reasonable question. I'll explain but first give a quick summary....the situation is far worse, not only that you think it is, but that you can even imagine!
If Donald Trump was honest in his dealings with us his base....I would agree....whatever his weaknesses.....support him....but he plays this game of political football every bit as good as the Hall Of Shamers before him. When he turned fixing the world over to the liberal/progressive/globalist Jared Kushner we should have screamed bloody murder. Some of us did but the rest of us were not about to even allow the thought that there may be a problem here with this man that we had just anointed as our champion. When Ivanka came in we should have let President Trump know in no uncertain terms that one more dumb move like this and we were on the trail again for a new candidate.
Once we let Donald Trump know that he was the boss and our job was just to sit here and shut up.....once we let him know this we sealed our fate. He tried to pull a fast one on us with the March Obamacare scam bill. We stopped him but now seem to have forgotten what happened. He hemmed and hawed on the Paris Climate Accord. It was like pulling teeth to get him to make a simple decision. He schmoozed us with bombing Syria while telling us that it was Ivanka's compassion that convinced him, and we sucked it up like thirsty cattle at a trough. By then we were done. Donald Trump could now do whatever he wanted and we were back to our old roles as mindless voters who should listen to their betters. So on and on he went!
Had it not been for Rush Limbaugh we might have nipped this in the bud. Mark Levin didn't just roll over...nor did even Breitbart's Alex Marlowe....but Limbaugh...with his vast audience....would cover every miscue with some ridiculous explanation on how President Trump was a genius! Through the magic of political prestidigitation we cast a critical look upon the Republican Party and are thus totally blind to the sleight of hand being performed by Donald Trump himself.
Here's the 'worse than you can imagine' part. Folks, when you are down to about a dozen pieces on the entire chessboard.....and you've got wide open paths for bishops, rooks and the queen....then checkmate is near....one way or the other. The globalists had the New World Order in the bag. Obama had weakened America's defenses as much as he could and the corrupt Clintons were set to complete the job but out of nowhere comes this Dudley Do-Right with his evangelical crusaders!
Now if Donald Trump was anything near what he told us that he was then I would be with you.....support him....even in his weaknesses.....but he cons us....then gives us something.....then cons us again.....then gives us something else. We're so confused that now he cons us and we sit there and smile as if to say.....'that feels good.'
Yesterday President Trump signed an executive order where he can call back 1000 retired Air Force pilots if he has to.....previously to the order he would have been limited to calling back far less pilots. He's going to need them in North Korea and probably the Middle East. I agree with the executive order. The problem is that with his globalist advisers we are in the dark as to what even the objective is....and that's not good.
Folks....friends if I have any left.....here are the monthly combat death statistics for only the year 1968 in the Vietnam War..... 1202..... 2124..... 1543..... 1410..... 2169..... 1146..... 813..... 1080..... 1053..... 600..... 703..... 749! That's a lot of phone calls. I want our president's mind out of politics....and off of Wall Street and 'economic nationalism'....at least as he deals with imminent threats from enemies. 2020 vision is no good if 2017 blindness has one walking off a cliff. I don't want any one-worlders sending our military all over the world to accomplish their secretive agenda. I....we.....wanted pure unadulterated truth from our 2016 candidate.....just an honest shake. If you can't do what you promised then fine....just don't try to con us.
We had better be a little more honest with ourselves. As for me...I'm not offering up military lives for Wall Street records. I could care less about the French or Italian or the New Zealander opinion about America. I know what God's opinion is....and it's not good. And I'm not lying to myself and to God in hopes of forever sitting back....watching a football game....having a beer....and enjoying life.....while evil takes advantage of my comfort. Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come!
