For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." - Genesis 3: 5 (ESV)

The devil rarely has to change tactics when it comes to manipulating mankind. The reason why is we are anything if not predictable. We have the same lusts and desires. We react to many of the same buttons when pressed. Sure their are subtle variations across different people but as Al Pacino once declared while playing Satan, vanity is definitely his favorite sin. It is pride that led to the fall of Lucifer:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' - Isaiah 14: 14 (ESV)

When he failed at making himself like God and was thrown down to the earth, he set about to corrupt mankind in the very same way. The key verse above shows he offered the same thing to Eve in the garden. You will be like God! And Eve took the bait and took the bite and man fell just as Satan had fallen. Thanks be to our merciful God that He provided His only Son to atone for our sin and reconcile us back to Him but the tactics of the enemy remain unchanged. I say this as the backdrop of discussing the events over this weekend that saw 22 year old Elliot Rodger slaughter six people before taking his own life in a well planned killing spree. I say well planned because he wrote a manifesto of his life in excess of 100 pages and mailed it to 22 different people before he began his carnage. He also created a YouTube video discussing his plans in detail. In the chilling seven minute video there was one line from the would be killer that stood out to me:

"I will be a god compared to you."

You can hear Satan speaking through him on the video at this point. It is the same promise he promised Eve in the garden. It is the same plan he himself tried which led to him being banished to earth. But where do we go from here? Society will do its usual song and dance about mourning the loss of life while ignoring the obvious problem, which is the prevailing culture of death we embrace. I listened to the complaints of Elliot Rodger on his video. They were very unremarkable. They were very similar to many a frustrated young man who did not fit with the "in" crowds. Lack of acceptance. Lack of affection from women. Lack of sex. These were not uncommon in my generation growing up and I am sure continuing back to decades before that, most would agree they are unremarkable complaints. Then what is the real issue here? What is so different about the year 2014 from 1984, when I was graduating high school?

We can always talk about the destruction of the nuclear family. How kids are left to be raised on their own more and more these days. That is a fair assessment a part of the problem but even that misses the mark. No beloved, the truth is that we no longer value life in this country. In my days growing up there definitely was equal angst but the notion of casually taking another person's life simply was not acceptable. Don't believe me? Let's turn to the statistics then.

A U.S. Senate report in 1999 found that by the age of 18 someone will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and over 200,000 acts of violence. One expert concluded that we are not only teaching kids to kill but we are teaching them to like it. That was in 1999, before the age of Grand Theft Auto. Think about these numbers. Not only are they being numbed to murder but quite frequently Hollywood makes the "bad guy" the hero in the story. The "antihero" is one of the more celebrated cinematic themes. Revenge is celebrated by the culture at large. Entire movies have been made that are nothing more than a glorified revenge spree. Forgiveness? Mercy? That's for suckers. You are taught to get rich or die trying.

What do we do when we see a kid acting out? Just put them on drugs. Kids that behave like kids are labeled as problematic by teachers who were never taught how to teach. The end result is the number of children taking powerful antipsychotic drugs has nearly tripled over the last 10 to 15 years, according to recent research. This increase does not come because of an epidemic mental illness in children, but because doctors are increasingly prescribing the drugs to treat behavior problems, a use not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This despite the fact that psychotropic medication is akin to playing Russian roulette with the person. The "chemical imbalance" theory is still just a theory and one that was created for the sole purpose of marketing expensive medications. These medications, which ultimately imply that God somehow made a mistake in distributing your brain chemicals, are a lie straight from the pit of hell. At least 32 school shootings/acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. The death toll for those events stands at a staggering 76 with another 164 wounded. In the other cases, the information regarding medication was never released. Given that Elliot Rodger had been in therapy since the age of 8 years old, it would not surprise me to find out he was also on psychotropic medication.

With the advent of social media we are now raising a generation of kids who have no real social skills; not in real life anyway. They can create their own fantasy world on Facebook where they can construct a play life that makes up for all they see as deficient in their actual life. Just a month ago in Connecticut we saw a 16 year old kill a classmate because she wouldn't go to the Junior Prom with him. We can go back further and walk through all of the examples. Sandy Hook Elementary with 20 slaughtered children. A theater in Colorado. The campus of Virginia Tech. U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords shot in the head at a press event. Columbine High School. As the expert concluded - we are teaching them to like it. Video games that glorify violence with shockingly detailed graphics. A music industry promoting violence. A movie industry purposefully confusing what is right and what is wrong. Sixteen thousand simulated murders by the age of 18. Medication screwing up the chemical levels in their brains. A culture saturated in blood and then we all mourn and wonder why? Really? What do they see when they look at society at large?

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. - Psalm 139: 13 (ESV)

You cannot have a serious discussion about life and death in America and not begin with abortion. There have been 57 million abortions since Roe Vs. Wade became the law of the land. Last year alone there were 1.2 million and of all unintended pregnancies, 4 in 10 end in abortion. I do not wish to get into a political thing here but those abortions that were considered medically necessary or the result of incest/rape make up such a minor percentage of abortions performed. The most recent study using Planned Parenthood data revealed that 92% of abortions are done for "social/other" reasons. Do you think this is lost on our kids growing up? President Clinton once said that he wanted abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare." Twenty years later it seems that all we have accomplished is legal.

Which brings us to the silent culprit; the pulpit. Where is the church? Watching the coverage so far of this tragedy we see the usual political operatives promoting their causes. The anti-gun lobby wants to make this story about the easy proliferation of guns. The pro-gun-lobby wants to make this a referendum on mental health. The mental health lobby wants to make this a call for more psychiatric screening; so even more medications can be sold. The woman's rights groups want to make this about misogyny. Anything to avoid the topics that needs to be discussed - evil and the loss of the fear of God. Now, I do not expect the world that is walking in darkness to broach these topics but we do not see them across Christendom either.

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." - Acts 10: 42-43 (ESV)

These verses come from the end of Peter preaching the Gospel to the gentiles. Right after this they believed and the Holy Spirit fell on them. Does Peter shy away from the truth here? Does he candy coat the Gospel for them? Does he try to make it relevant or more palatable for them? No! He clearly states that Jesus is appointed by God to judge the living and the dead! Whatever factors contributed to the creation of Elliot Rodger as a killing machine, what could have prevented it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that society mocks God but the church does itself no favors either. You cannot have reality TV shows about rich preachers or preacher's daughters without the cooperation of the church. You cannot have people viewing the church as money hungry, prosperity focused, and materialistic without the cooperation of the church. And beloved, silence is assent. When we all turn our heads the other way and pretend that charlatans and snake oil salesmen are part of the family of God we assist in their destruction of the Gospel before a world that desperately needs it. When we chase silly wannabe prophets and apostles instead of preaching the life saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, we contribute to the destruction of our society.

He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. - Titus 1: 9 (ESV)

This is part of the instructions given to people who would dare stand behind the pulpit of God. It explicitly states that the man of God must hold firm to the trustworthy Word of God for two very specific and different reasons. First of all to give instruction in sound doctrine. Sound doctrine includes heaven and hell. Good and evil. The need to fear the Lord. The coming judgment. All things that could make someone think twice before taking another life. But these are simply not topics preached anymore. They have been deemed by Purpose Driven theology to not be "seeker friendly." Instead we have pulpit time wasted by topics better suited for Wednesday night classes or counseling sessions. Sunday pulpit series on fixing broken families or discovering your purpose. How to improve your marriage or finding your importance within your community. Meanwhile, the only thing that has the power to save men, the Gospel, is placed on a shelf.

If you have the stomach to watch the seven minute video Elliot Rodger made you will notice over and over again he asserts that what he is about to do is justified. That the victims deserve what is coming for them. On more than one occasion in the video he claims what he is about to do is "only fair." With the lack of a moral compass in his life he decided to make his own. The church is supposed to provide that moral compass. But what does the world see when they shift their gaze our way? Greed and avarice running wild. Preachers in million dollar homes taking "offerings" from the poor. No serious discussion of sin, let alone the repercussions of sin. No - it's all greasy grace and a smiling face. You no longer "come to Christ." Now you come to the altar so you can be better processed into church service.

The second reason for holding firm to trustworthy doctrine is so the man of God can rebuke those that contradict it. We have seen instead an explosion in "Kumbya Christianity"; where if someone spells the name of Christ correctly they are deemed a brother or sister in the Lord. Absolute nonsense! Our unity is in Christ alone. In fact, the Bible teaches that division comes from false doctrines! But we don't seem to care when what is false is portrayed as Christianity week in and week out. What's the big deal when Joel Osteen leads hundreds of thousands of people each week to hell? Do you think Elliot Rodger felt this was his best life now? What's the big deal if Joseph Prince absolutely mangles the Word of God to prop up his false gospel every week? Do you think Elliot Rodger felt like he was destined to reign? You can plug in any other false teachers name here. Anyone who preaches a relevant gospel. Anyone who preaches a purpose driven or seeker friendly gospel. Anyone who makes the gospel about you when it always must be about Him. Anyone who calls themselves a man of God but refuses to preach about sin, repentance, heaven and hell, the cross, the blood or anything else deemed offensive to the unsaved. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to those who defile the Gospel we claim to love.

I do not know if any of this could have changed things in Santa Barbara this weekend. What I do know is that given the overwhelming changes in our society, which will only continue to get worse as we slip further into the end times, the church is our only chance to save some. That is why it gets so frustrating sometimes to watch the church flail away at the carnal world with spiritual lip service and equally carnal solutions. Churches backing political candidates like Washington DC has the words of eternal life. Churches quick to preach against abortion but turn their backs to the world once infancy has begun. Churches that try so desperately to look like the world and succeed so much that one can no longer tell the difference. Churches that have no problem looking at the Elliot Rodger's of the world as a product solely of the world. That refuse to look inward and see what we contribute to the problem. How we can change what we do to help alleviate the problem. The answer is not in gun laws and evil medication. It is not found in focus groups and grief counseling. Beloved the only one who has the answers is God and the Gospel is His Word. It has power over the enemy and this world. It breaks yokes and shatters strongholds. It takes what was weak and makes it strong. It takes what was wrong and makes it right. It exposes the innermost parts and discerns between good and evil. We need to stop trying to save a fallen world and get back to what we were called to do - preach the Gospel. We need to stop trying to be relevant to an evil culture and get back to what we were called to do - preach the Gospel. We see things like Elliot Rodger and correctly surmise that the problem is out there. The solution however is not. It is within the walls of the church. We need to put down the seven steps to a more greedy Christian and the cheap grace of a better sinner and get back to preaching the full Gospel of Jesus Christ, who has been named the judge over the living and the dead. Only in there can one find the fear of God again. Only in there can one overcome the culture of death we live in. Only in Jesus.

Reverend Anthony Wade - May, 26, 2014