Under Siege

Yesterday, authorities continued trying to piece together why Turkish born Arcan Cetin would kill 5 people Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, WA.

He is scheduled to appear in court this morning. More details will be forth coming throughout the day.

Last week the Burlington School District was advised by a Seattle Law firm that they will be forced to approve an after school Satanic Club on campus. If they decline the club, they will be sued. The school district's legal council, Duncan Fobes, says they will lose.

And tonight more than 100,000,000 people will watch Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton debate how they can fix things.

America is under siege---and looking for answers.


Yesterday, investigators were still trying to piece together information on the 20 year old suspect, Arcan Cetin, who is accused of killing 5 people Friday evening in the Cascade Mall located in Burlington, WA.

The community is in shock as they mourn the loss of family and friends.

Among the victims was a Snohomish County probation officer.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the Skagit County court records show 3 domestic-violence assault charges against Cetin. The victim was identified as his step father. The Times reports that he was also arrested for drunken driving.

A few days before the Friday night killing in the mall, the Burlington School District was advised by their law firm that they should approve a Satanic Club application in the local school.

The killing on Friday evening and the start-up of a Satanic Club came to Burlington with different actors.

Seattle's Satanic Temple has been targeting schools around the country that have Christian "Good News Clubs." So far they have focused on 9 schools, but promise there will be more.

Essentially the Satanists say if a school can have a "Good News" Bible club they must also allow a Satanic Club.

Some question the real motive of the Satanist Temple, but regardless whether they actually want to establish a club, or force the "Good News" clubs out of the schools, the battle is the same.

Good verses evil.

Personally I believe they actually do want to establish clubs in all the public schools in our country. They have spent considerable time preparing teaching materials that appear to be rather benign to the casual inquiry, and training leaders to teach "positive" things to the kids who attend.

That is a facade to the reality of their mission.

They claim they don't worship a literal Satan, rather they use him as a metaphor.

Deception.

Whether they "worship" him or not---they are serving him.

They are attempting to establish a path for indoctrinating the minds and hearts of our children. And they are fervent in their work.

Attorney Duncan Fobes said if the district were to deny their application, they would "face costly litigation which would not end in their favor."

School authorities said they would take the legal council under consideration this past weekend.

The mall killing and the Satanic Club came to Burlington with a cast of different actors---totally unrelated some would say.

However, the script reads much the same.

This is a snapshot of where we find ourselves today---not only in Burlington, but in America.

Different places---and different faces, but the root cause is consistent. It's a condition of the heart.

America is under moral siege.

The pundits will spend the day today telling the 100,000,000 plus people who will watch the presidential debate tonight it's about body language, eye contact, temperament, preparation and a whole host of efforts to win the favor of America's voters.

And tomorrow they will weigh in on who "won."

Lester Holt will do his best to make a name for himself as well, by appearing unbiased, while putting Hillary in the best possible light.

All this is important to our Republican Democracy and its process.

But at the heart of the matter is the war for the soul of our Country.

David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley and other nationally known ministers have recently been running spots on their radio and television programs that point to the spiritual, rather than political consequences of this election.

Their point---there is no perfect candidate for the Christian community in this election, but it's better to support someone who is promising to support Christian, moral values, than assist in electing one who promises to oppose those values.

I wrote about this at the time. And have mentioned it since. It bears repeating.

Last year, while speaking at the Women in the World Summit, Hillary Clinton explained to her high end Manhattan audience that "deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed", in both the United States and far-away countries.

The notion that people have a right to hold religious beliefs and publicly live out those beliefs is a myth where Hillary is concerned. Hollow words.

If she and her colleagues are actually opposed to "code" words, they should dispense with the "reproductive health care" euphemism and just say "abortion" or "contraception."

She, as her predecessor President Obama, believe that our biblical religious beliefs are an impediment to so-called "progress" and the "progressive agenda" which includes undermining biblical Truth regarding marriage, family and the sanctity of life.

President Obama told America his plan was to "fundamentally transform" or "remake" (he used both) this country.

In nearly 8 years, that "remake" effort has attacked every traditional institution in our culture, in its attempt to conform our culture to a world system of relative, evolving "truth."

Barack Obama, when running for election, told a similar audience in San Francisco that too many Americans still "cling to their religion, Bibles and guns" out of bitterness and ignorance.

He has done his best to strip from the hands and hearts of Americans their Christian religion, their Bibles...and yes, their guns.

Nowhere is his efforts more apparent than on the Supreme Court of the United States.

The next President of the United States will appoint at least 2 Justices---maybe as many as 4.

This will set the course for the American culture for several generations.

David Jeremiah says "in 2012 25 million evangelicals were registered to vote, but didn't take the time to do it"---reminding people that "The difference in the 2012 popular vote was less than 5 million votes."

Evangelical Christians are the single largest voting block in America.

The 2016 election is more about Christians claiming their role in the course of human events, than about which candidate says what and how great the moderator was---or was not.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Faithful. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.