Titling this message "The Answer" pre-supposes that there is a "Question". And there is! As a matter of fact, there are two questions: First, 'What is going on?', and second, 'Why?' Aren't we all asking ourselves, 'what in the world is going on around us?' The world is in chaos. Every institution that was respected and respectable thirty years ago is neither respected nor respectable any longer. The news is filled with one horror story after another -- from child kidnaps/rapes/murders to the Ebola virus. We've got folks that kill themselves to catch a comet to live forever; and we have children killing children by the thousands. The laws are so complicated, and have been attacked and undermined so many times in so many ways, that it is nearly impossible to know whether you are 'legal' or not. 'Weapons of mass destruction', whether chemical, biological or nuclear, is common vernacular in our society. It is as if the world has gone completely INSANE!! And that is just the stuff we know about right now!

What about the things that we hear are about to come: like Y2K, and 'The Big One'? And tell me, is it me or is the world's weather getting weirder and fiercer with every new headline? Floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes. Lowest temperature 'ever recorded', highest temperature 'ever recorded' . . . does any of this sound familiar? The insurance industry tells us that there have been more money losses from 'natural disasters' in the 1990's than in ALL of the PREVIOUS 1990 YEARS!!!

What's Going On?

So . . . what is going on? What's the problem? Well, people, the problem is US. We -- humankind -- are selfish, self-centered, and full of pride. We have, since Creation, wanted what we wanted, when we wanted it, and we have always wanted it RIGHT NOW! We 'wanted', we couldn't 'have', and so we rebelled. We rebelled against the very essence of ourselves first placed within us by God. We have not been true to ourselves, we have been true to our desires. We have rebelled against what God created for us and wanted us to have. We have rebelled against God Himself! We have literally tried to destroy EVERYTHING created for us by God . . . the marriage, the family, law and order, right and wrong, truth, morality and the very Earth itself [and everything on it].

The consequence? You see it every day in the newspapers and on TV. A world sick and insane with hatred, guilt, and false pride -- ready and waiting to turn on itself with a horror of biblical proportions. In the words of Marvin Rosenthal: We are on a collision course with our Creator!!

Why?

And why? This is the real question . . . with a very REAL answer. And the answer has been with us for a long, long time. We haven't seen the answer because the insanity had not, until now, progressed to the point where we realized we had passed the point of no return. But now the question requires an answer . . . we are at that point! And the answer, my friend, is in the Bible. Yes, IN THE BIBLE. You don't believe me? I'll prove it! Read the following passage. Check it out for yourself. If you are not convinced that the following passage PRECISELY and EXACTLY describes OUR CURRENT WORLD CONDITION then go on your merry way. But if this passage begins to answer your 'why' question, then you will have made the first step away from denial and toward TRUTH. Please . . . read on.

This passage comes from the book of Romans, Chapter 1, verses 18-32 (NASB):

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Sound Familiar?

Sound at all familiar? Could our present 'world condition' be explained by there being enough people 'given over to a depraved mind', as stated above? If so, then the question becomes -- what can we do about it?

Ultimately, the answer to all these questions -- 'What's going on?' 'Why?' and 'What can we do about it?' -- lies with Him. So we have to let it go and let God take care of it. He created us, surely He can take care of us.

As for you and me, we can start by contemplating these words of His. We know they have the power of truth. We can 'feel' it! The truth of it speaks to us, if we listen. We must not stifle nor ignore what we hear; instead, we must embrace it. Welcome it. It is an old friend; our BEST friend; it is God . . . revealing Himself to us.

And why would He reveal Himself to us? Because He loves us and would not have any of us perish. You see -- if we can't find Him, we can't believe in Him; and if we don't believe in Him, then we will surely die. Because it is by believing in Him that we receive everlasting life. Amen.