America is engulfed in billowing black smoke. America is on fire. America is burning to the ground. 

I was recently walking home from the park with my awesome two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. She said, “Daddy, I smell smoke.” I pointed down the street where a neighbor was burning some brush. You could see smoke rising into the air. I told my little one, “See the smoke. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” She repeated the phrase in her cute little voice. 

I’ve reflected that it’s amazing such a small child could comprehend “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” but most adults in America – indeed, the world – can’t seem to grasp the idea. Most see the smoke, but they can’t put two and two together and realize the smoke is a result of a burning society engulfed in a raging fire being deliberately stoked by their enemies. They blindly plod forward following the herd of apathetic and unthinking people to their doom – the blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14). 

The first step on the road to recovery from a host of problems, both personal and societal, is to acknowledge there’s a problem. If we continue waltzing forward without admitting there are serious issues that are eroding and imploding everything good around us, we’ll one day wake up in the chains of Marxian high-tech feudalism. 

Look around. What do you see? Contention. Confusion. Ignorance. Apathy. Hedonism. Lust. Debauchery. Mental illness. Hatred. Vengefulness. Evil. Discrimination. Lies. Hypocrisy. Dishonor. Consumerism. Vanity. Disloyalty. Disunity. Radicalism. Pride. Boastfulness. Selfishness. Greed. Envy. Jealousy. Entitlement. Indifference. Inhumanity. Violence. Abuse. Rage. Foppishness. Weakness. Slavishness. Fear. Darkness. 

As the wise Master Yoda once said: “Fear is a path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Each of the above-listed elements is a path to the dark side – the Devil’s side. They are not Christlike attributes. They are not the fruits of Christian discipleship. Instead, they are the fruits of following rejecting God, walking in strange paths, and – wittingly or unwittingly – following Satan. 

For instance, the Lord taught: 

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35). 

How do we feel about our fellow human beings? Do we love them? All evidence is to the contrary. We don’t attack, hate, and try to destroy those we love, yet that’s what we do in our personal relationships, in our communities, in our nations, and on the global scene. Collectively speaking, we are clearly not the Lord’s disciples, though we may call our nations “Christian.” 

We are also an exceedingly fearful society. We’re afraid of so-called “terrorists,” people of other political parties, people of other races, people of different nationalities, etc. We fear things we don’t understand. And where does this fear come from? The Apostle John wrote: 

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 

“We love him, because he first loved us. 

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 

“And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:15-21). 

You don’t truly love if you live in fear – fear of others, fear of government, fear of society, fear of death, etc. Fear and faith can’t exist at the same time in the same heart. Neither are love and fear compatible. Love is the core of Christian discipleship. It is the hallmark of a disciple of the Master. Fearful nations, then, are not Christian nations. 

Also, according to John, you don’t love God if you hate others. Do you despise Republicans or Democrats, blacks or whites, Jews or Gentiles, gays or straights, rich or poor? If so, you are no Christian, though your mouth may profess to follow the Master. 

A word of caution. Don’t take John too literally when he speaks of confessing that Jesus is the Son of God. You can’t merely confess that Jesus is the Christ and pretend you’re “saved” or that you’re approved of God. The Savior rebuked those who would think such a thing in these words: 

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:20-27). 

I dare say that most of those who claim to be Christians are among those who say “Lord, Lord” but don’t truly follow Him. Christendom is writhing in apostasy. With over 40,000 denominations all with their own unique dogmas, doctrines, and creeds, the “body of Christ” is fractured, broken, and deformed. Disunity prevails. Factionalism triumphs. The philosophies of men, and more self-appointed but not God-called preachers than you can shake a stick at, rule the day. 

I single out Christians because we are meant to be a light for others. Because we have failed to hold aloft the Lord’s light and demonstrate shining examples of humble, consistent, united, fervent, and loving discipleship, we have caused non-believers to become more hardened and society to falter. Ultimately, if America and the West fail and fall, we won’t be able to blame non-Christians; we will only have ourselves to blame. 

We circle back to where we began. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Dear reader, our Faith, Families, and Freedom are on fire. 

First, Faith. Who can doubt that our national Faith in the Son of God is waning? Self-proclaimed Christians are often false and Christendom is fractured into tens of thousands of sects and denominations despite the fact that the Apostle Paul taught, and logic dictates, that there can only be “one lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). There is certainly no “unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13). Christians, fearful of being denounced as weirdos, religious fanatics, or intolerant, have bent over backwards to accept LGBT ideology, put women into the ministry, permit the impermissible, excuse sin, slavishly bow to tyranny instead of stand in the gap for Liberty, and shake hands with Babylon.  

What’s more, because of our abysmal examples and our failure to lead society, the number of non-Christians is rapidly rising. It is absolutely factual that Witchcraft, Wicca specifically, is the fastest growing religion in the United States. Occultism, astrology, New Age philosophies, energy healing, Hindu Yoga, Spiritism, and other such anti-Christian trends, are increasing. Our land is now full of sorcery, Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA), and Devil worship, with avowed Satanic organizations like The Satanic Temple and the Church of Satan becoming prominent in political advocacy, education, city council prayer meetings, and other very public displays of rebellion to God. 

Second, Families. Our Families have been decimated. Traditional men have been smeared, attacked, and singled out as “oppressors,” “tyrants,” “abusers,” and even “rapists.” Public schools have been fashioned to squash the energy and spirit of boys and to instill in them the idea that they are dumb, inferior, and blundering. TV and Hollywood reinforce these idiotic and degrading stereotypes by showing bumbling husbands, drunken frat boys, lazy and irresponsible men, and generally pathetic male specimens. 

Women have also been degraded, but in a different way. Instead of being indoctrinated to believe they’re moronic malcontents, women have been told how perfect and smart and capable they are. “Anything you can do, I can do better,” is their delusional slogan. Hollywood reinforces this idea by depicting woman as stronger, smarter, more determined, more virtuous, and better at literally everything than their male counterparts. 

At the same time that society preaches female superiority, it also preaches female victimhood. The entire Women’s Liberation movement and its feminist progeny are based on the idea that women are “oppressed” victims of the fictitious male “patriarchy.” The idea was concocted by the Order of Illuminati and spearheaded by the standard bearers of Illuminism – the Marxists. Their goal, as stated by Marx in his vile Manifesto, was the “abolition of the family.” The best way to do that is through the women, as Illuminism’s founder Adam Weishaupt schemed: 

“There is no way of influencing men so powerfully as by means of the women. These should therefore be our chief study; we should insinuate ourselves into their good opinion, give them hints of emancipation from the tyranny of public opinion, and of standing up for themselves; it will be an immense relief to their enslaved minds to be freed from any one bond of restraint, and it will fire them the more, and cause them to work for us with zeal, without knowing that they do so; for they will only be indulging their own desire of personal admiration” (John Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy, 111). 

If I had to single out one group for the wholesale destruction of families, it would be women themselves. They have only been victimized by themselves and their emotionalism which led them to buy the enemy’s propaganda. Over 80% of divorces in the United States are initiated by women – and don’t believe for a second this is because women had finally had enough of their stupid, problematic men. 

Women have abandoned the hearth for the workplace, to the detriment of civilization. It’s no surprise that crime, infidelity, rudeness, ignorance, instability, servility, and all the other vices, are rising at the same time women have risen in the workforce, government, and public leadership positions. The type of leadership they are fitted for is the shepherding of children in the home. This is also where their talents are most desperately needed. 

Women, thus, are surrogate mothers at best (whenever they decide to ditch the birth control and embrace responsibility), opting to hire babysitters and schoolteachers rather than participate in true parenting. The home is where women were designed to shine, but most women have been taught to believe homemaking is oppressive, boring, unproductive, drudgery, and tantamount to slavery. As they abandon the home, however, they abandon their purpose, undermine their families, put a wedge between themselves and their husbands, and sell their children out to a corrupt society that desires to have them, twist them, and mold them in their Marxian image. For these and so many other reasons, Families have imploded. 

Third, Freedom. Freedom is that thing without which life has no meaning. Yet, our Liberty is being stripped away from us by the minute. From one regime to the next, Americans have been dragged away from their constitutional moorings into the land of serfdom. Freedom of speech is being restricted and punished. The right of self-defense is under attack. Jury trials are being replaced by activist judges. States rights are often usurped by the bloated federal government. The Patriot Act and other deplorable laws have allowed government goon squads to violate our guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures and warrants being issued without witnesses, to name only two. Government agencies steal land and property. On and on it goes. 

We are in the enemy’s end game. They are in their mad dash for global power and domination. They are erecting a one-world Marxian superstate – our rights and protest be damned. No honest person can say we have more Freedom today than our forefathers. No one can say that the Constitution is as faithfully followed as it once was. No person can confess that we have entered a political paradise that is wealthier, more stable, and freer than our past. 

Our Faith, Families, and Freedom and on fire. The evidence – the terrible billowing black smoke – is everywhere. We can’t help but acknowledge the inferno. But what will we do about it? Will we watch as everything burns? Will we try to squelch the blaze? From my perspective, the first step should be to raise the alarm. You don’t sit and watch everything burn around you; you jump up, shout, and warn others. Together, and only together, can you all put out the blaze.  

Let’s put out the blaze. The smoke is starting to choke us. It’s becoming unbearable. The final act is upon us. Will we play our part? Will we raise the alarm? Will we do our best to extinguish the flames? If not, we deserve to be choked by the smoke and burned by the flames. 

Zack Strong, 
April 30, 2023