Volume 40 Issue Four April 2021
Last Trumpet Ministries · PO Box 806 · Beaver Dam, WI 53916
Phone: 920-887-2626 Internet: http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org
“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” I Cor. 14:8
Systemic Deception
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:”
Genesis 3:4
“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.”
Isaiah 59:14-15
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 14:6
When sin entered into the world during the lifetimes of Adam and Eve, it all began with a lie. The serpent who beguiled Eve enticed her to eat of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden assuring her in Genesis 3:4 with the false promise, “Ye shall not surely die.” By the time of Isaiah the Prophet, who lived about seven hundred years before Jesus Christ came to earth, we see that lies and deception had only worsened since mankind’s earliest days. In Isaiah 59:14 the prophet lamented, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” This vivid imagery portrays a heartbreaking situation in ancient Israel wherein there was so little regard for the truth it was as if it was being trampled underfoot in the streets. When Jesus came to earth, He, too, lamented the systemic deception in the world and identified the source of all lies when he told his doubters in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” The struggle to comprehend truth did not even elude the authorities. When Jesus was put on trial and stood before Pontius Pilate, the inquisitive governor of Judea plainly asked our Saviour in John 18:38, “What is truth?”
Today, we live in a period of time when as it was in the days of ancient Israel, the truth is not highly regarded. In recent years, it was not uncommon for former President Donald Trump to rail against “fake news.” The mainstream media, politicians, and public figures also frequently bemoan fake news. Yet, people of differing ideological perspectives cannot even agree on what fake news is. Who can we trust?
In November 2020, a startling story surfaced. It was reported that China Daily, which is a mouthpiece for China’s communist regime, has paid millions of dollars to various American publications to print propaganda pieces. The pieces, which are sometimes referred to as advertorials, were designed to look like legitimate news stories. Between the months of May and October 2020, China Daily, at the behest of the Chinese government, paid The Wall Street Journal in excess of 85,000 dollars while concurrently paying The Los Angeles Times more than 340,000 dollars. Additionally, advertorials were published by Foreign Policy Magazine, the United Kingdom’s Financial Times, and Canada’s Globe & Mail. Furthermore, China Daily paid the Washington Post more than 4.6 million dollars to publish propaganda from late 2016 until late 2019. (1) Thus, we see that some of the most famous and influential news sources in the world were accepting money to publish stories that were sympathetic to a government guilty of atrocious human rights violations. If these news outlets are willing to debase themselves in such a manner, what else are they willing to do?
A story that surfaced in March 2021 reveals that the journalistic standards of national news outlets are not quite as high as they would like you to believe. The Washington Post was forced to release a lengthy correction for a story it had published two months prior. The story, which had described a phone conversation with election officials in the state of Georgia, misquoted former President Donald Trump. Apparently, the staff at The Washington Post have no qualms about using anonymous and unverified sources in their news stories. The problem with that, obviously, is that you could be talking to anyone and really have no idea if they are telling the truth. The same story with the false quotes was also published by CNN, Vox, ABC News, and NBC News. (2)
Despite the fact that national media outlets are willing to publish propaganda from the communist Chinese government and have been caught using anonymous and unverified information, the New York Times recently attacked a website known as The Babylon Bee for “trafficking in misinformation.” However, The Babylon Bee has never claimed to be real news. On the contrary, the website features satirical content which often pokes fun at left-leaning liberals. The Times takes offense at this, claiming it is a scheme to avoid censorship on social media websites such as Facebook. “The Babylon Bee, a right-leaning site, sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire,” complained New York Times reporter Mike Isaac. In response, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon was quoted as saying, “The claim that we’re pretending to be satire so we can spread disinformation with impunity on social media is false and defamatory. And it’s the falsity of the claim that highlights a great irony here: it is, in fact, the New York Times that is trafficking in misinformation, and they’re doing it under the guise of journalism.” (3) Thus, we are now seeing fake news about fake news!
Without a doubt, the news we are presented in newspapers, on television, in magazines, and on news websites is manipulated and in some cases even false. Most of the time, the mainstream news will give you some truth, but with it comes a lot of bias. If you want complete truth, there is only one way to get it and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” In this very same chapter, we also find the promise that God will give His people the Spirit of truth. John 14:16-18 records these precious words of Jesus, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” If you have not yet repented of your sins and dedicated your life to God, I urge you to do so now. To know God is to know the truth. As Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The Rise Of Cancel Culture
In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about “cancel culture.” This alliterative phrase refers to a prevailing tendency for individuals and groups to call for the cancelation of products or content they deem to be racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic. For example, last year it was announced that Quaker Oats would no longer produce Aunt Jemima products due to the perceived racist connotation of the packaging and name. Instead, beginning in June 2021, the pancake mix and syrup line will be known as the “Pearl Milling Company.” (4) In a similar fashion, Uncle Ben’s rice products have been renamed “Ben’s Original” by the Mars Company. (5) More recently, it was decided that six Dr. Seuss children’s books would no longer be published because they contain racist content. (6) To be fair, I have not personally read the books in question, so I cannot say one way or another if they do indeed contain racist material. However, I can say without a doubt that there are certain organizations and writings that definitely do have racist origins, and to date, there have been no efforts made by liberals to cancel them.
One organization with undeniable racist origins is Planned Parenthood. The group is the largest abortion provider in the United States and beloved by liberals who laud them for furnishing so-called “reproductive freedom.” Yet, last year Planned Parenthood of Greater New York admitted that the group’s founder, Margaret Sanger, has a racist legacy. As such, the decision was made to drop Sanger’s name from their facility in Manhattan, New York. “The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color,” said chairwoman Karen Seltzer. She further went on to say, “Margaret Sanger’s concerns and advocacy for reproductive health have been clearly documented, but so too has her racist legacy.” (7) In 1921, the vile Ms. Sanger wrote in a letter, “The most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective.” A report published by Forbes Magazine in July 2020 admits that Sanger was known to have given speeches to the Ku Klux Klan. (8) In addition to her racist tendencies, Sanger also despised large families and wrote in her 1920 book “Woman and the New Race” that large families are immoral. She also wrote, “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” (9)
Although abortion was not legal in the United States during the days of Margaret Sanger, she certainly would have been pleased with it. Today, the organization she founded is thriving. Between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019, Planned Parenthood murdered 354,871 babies. The barbaric practice of abortion is evidently big business. As of June 30, 2020, the abortion provider had more than two billion dollars in assets and received 618 million dollars in government funding between 2019 and 2020. (10) Clearly, Planned Parenthood has inflicted far more damage on the world than Dr. Seuss's books. As such, if liberals are so offended by racist legacies, they should move to immediately abolish Planned Parenthood. Incidentally, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are both recipients of the Margaret Sanger Award. (11) To date, I have not heard if these women have returned the awards which bear the name of a racist woman.
Another entity with an embarrassing past is the Democratic Party in the United States. In fact, Texas Representative Louie Gohmert, who is a Republican, introduced a resolution last year to ban the Democratic Party from Congress due to its racist legacy. In an opinion piece wherein Gohmert explained his rationale for the resolution, he wrote: “Despite some arguments to the contrary, there is an undeniable link between racism, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Democratic Party. The 1868 Democratic National Convention slogan stated: ‘This is a White Man’s Country, Let White Men Rule.’” The piece also points out that the 1868 Democratic National Convention was attended by Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan. (12)
Historians will often say that while the Democratic Party used to be racist, it is not anymore. Yet, the current President of the United States, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., has made some rather eyebrow-raising comments in the past. In 2007, when speaking of Barack Obama, who was running for president at the time, Biden said, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean that’s storybook, man.” (13) His comment suggests that all of the black men who came before Obama were not articulate, bright, clean, and nice looking. Biden again caused a stir in May 2020 when he told black voters, “You ain’t black” if they were unwilling to vote for him. Biden later apologized, stating, “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy.” (14)
Another famous figure who had racist tendencies was none other than Charles Darwin. Darwin is sometimes known as “the father of evolution” because he brought the theory to the mainstream. Although he abhorred slavery, he nevertheless believed that some races were inferior to others. In his book, “The Descent of Man,” Darwin wrote, “The civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world.” An article published in 2009 by The Independent acknowledges Darwin’s racist tendencies, stating, “No doubt about it: he regards Africans and Australians as closer than Europeans to the apes. This, he implies, is a natural condition that will frustrate any cultural efforts to mitigate it.” (15) In light of today’s trends toward canceling anything and everything offensive, will public schools and universities remove the works of Charles Darwin from their curriculums? It seems unlikely.
Cancel culture is harsh and unforgiving. Even those who embrace it now could one day find themselves facing the wrath of a movement hell-bent on purging the world of all that might be considered offensive. Consider the story of Alexi McCammond. This 27-year-old black woman was supposed to become the new editor-in-chief at the magazine known as Teen Vogue. However, when some old comments she made about Asians resurfaced, she lost her job. This happened despite the fact that McCammond apologized for the previous remarks which she made when she was a teenager. (16) If you have ever said something foolish, even if it was in your youth and there is a record of it, they could be coming for you next. Furthermore, it would not surprise me in the least if an effort was made in the future to cancel the Bible.
A Return To Normalcy Or Impending Doom?
It has been over a year since much of the United States went into lockdown mode and introduced a slew of restrictions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. People have certainly grown weary of living the “pandemic life” and as such are eager to get back to normalcy. In recent weeks, Covid cases have been trending downward, and in response, some states have lifted their pandemic restrictions. Texas was the first state to do so when Governor Greg Abbott announced in early March 2021 that his state was opening up again for business. “It is now time to open Texas 100 percent,” Governor Abbott declared. “Everybody who wants to work should have the opportunity. Every business that wants to be open should be open.” Not only are businesses in Texas allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity, but the state requirement for citizens to wear face coverings has also been lifted. (17) Other states soon followed suit with restrictions being lifted in Maryland, Mississippi, Connecticut, Arizona, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Some states are also partially easing restrictions. This includes the state of California, which will allow its theme parks such as Disneyland and its stadiums to reopen on April 1, 2021, at a reduced capacity. (18)
It almost seems as if things are starting to get back to normal in the United States, but the relief could be short-lived according to health officials. Much of the concern is based on Covid-19 variants which are now spreading in the United States, including variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. While many people are putting their hope for a return to normalcy in the Covid vaccines being distributed all around the world, the variants of the disease could render them less effective. Chris Murray, who is a disease expert at the University of Washington, is especially concerned about the impact of the Covid variants on vaccine efficacy. After scrutinizing the data, Murray confessed that he “couldn’t sleep.” (19) President Biden’s health advisor, Anthony Fauci, admitted that the vaccines are far less effective against the Covid variants. “More problematic is the South African [variant] 3.5.1., which has moderately to severely reduced vaccine efficacy about 5-fold or so…” (20) For those who thought they could receive their Covid shots and then never worry about the disease again, they could be very disappointed to learn that experts are saying they will need booster shots. Sharon Peacock, who is the head of Covid-19 Genomics UK, was quoted as saying, “We have to appreciate that we were always going to have to have booster doses; immunity to coronavirus doesn’t last forever.” (21)
Despite the fact that the current Covid vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson may soon be outdated, officials are still urging Americans to get the shots. This includes Rochelle Walensky who is the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. “I so badly want to be done. I know you want to be done. We are almost there, but not yet. I am asking you to just hold on longer to get vaccinated when you can…” she said. These remarks came shortly after she confessed she had a feeling “about impending doom” because she believes states are reopening too quickly. (22)
As would be expected, American President Joe Biden is still urging the American people to take the vaccine, and he has promised that there will be enough doses for every adult American by May 2021. (23) However, not every American is going to want the vaccine. “When we start to have more vaccine available, we’re really going to be in bad shape because what we’re going to see is a lot of people who don’t want to get vaccinated,” lamented Bernadette Boden-Albala, who is the dean of public health at the University of California, Irvine. (24) According to a report by USA Today, there could be as many as 75 million people who might refuse the Covid shots. (25) Thus, experts have admitted that they plan to increase the pressure on American citizens once there is a surplus of vaccines available. “You might say, ‘Get vaccinated, spend Easter with your family.’ Or a church might encourage people to be fully vaccinated so they can sing together,” said Dr. Kelly Moore of the Immunization Action Coalition. (26) President Biden, for his part, has urged doctors and clergy members to convince people to get the shots. “I urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why, why it’s important to get that vaccine and even after that, until everyone is, in fact, vaccinated, to wear this mask,” Biden insisted. (27) Meanwhile, the CDC has released new guidelines stating that fully vaccinated people can socialize without facemasks. (28) The health agency also recently gave grandparents permission to hug their grandchildren again if they have been inoculated. (29)
If President Biden’s urging and the CDC’s guidelines do not entice you to get the shots, Krispy Kreme is hoping a sugary snack might convince you. The iconic doughnut company has announced that anyone who gets vaccinated can walk into any Krispy Kreme store, show their vaccine card, and receive a free doughnut. “If you come by, show us a vaccine card, get a doughnut anytime, any day, every day if you choose that,” said Krispy Kreme CEO Michael Tattersfield. (30)
As vaccines become more common, it has become quite clear that the American people are going to be divided into two groups. Those who are vaccinated against Covid will have special privileges, while those who refuse will be barred from certain activities. This is already starting to happen. Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, has decided that the incoming students of the 2021 autumn semester will need to be fully vaccinated if they want to attend in-person classes. (31) It is likely that other educational institutions will follow suit. Meanwhile, the cruise line company known as Royal Caribbean is planning to resume its cruises soon, but if you have not taken the shots, you cannot board their ships. (32) The Australian airline known as Qantas is also planning to require the shots for international travel passengers. “We have a duty of care to our passengers and to our crew, to say that everybody in that aircraft needs to be safe,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. He also expressed a belief that governments around the world will require visitors from other countries to be vaccinated. (33) Additionally, the United States military is currently deliberating on whether or not to require American troops to take the shots. (34) Thus we see, that although the vaccines might technically not be mandatory, the noose is slowly tightening, and those who refuse will be excluded from many facets of everyday life.
For those looking to enforce vaccine requirements, a verification system will need to be put in place. Such systems are already being tested. In New York City, New York, sports fans are welcome to attend sporting events at Madison Square Garden or the Barclays Center, but to get through the door they must show their Excelsior Pass, which was designed by IBM. The passport features a quick response barcode that is scanned by staff members at the door. The code can be printed out on paper or displayed on a smartphone. (35) In similar fashion, some airlines are testing a new program called Travel Pass for international passengers. The system runs on a smartphone application that requires passengers to provide either proof of vaccination or the negative results of a recent Covid test. (36) Could a national vaccine passport be coming soon? Here let it be noted that the Biden Administration is working with companies to develop a vaccine verification system. This plan was outlined in a slideshow presented on March 2, 2021, by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. One of the slides states that proof of vaccination “may be a critical driver for restoring baseline population health and promoting safe return to social, commercial, and leisure activities.” (37)
In China, the country where the coronavirus pandemic began, vaccine passports are already being distributed. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, the technology will “promote world economic recovery and facilitate cross-border travel.” He further went on to say, “The pandemic is still with us, but the world economy needs to be restarted and people-to-people exchanges resumed with no more delays.” (38) Finally, in a twist that should surprise no one, China has offered to assist the World Health Organization with the development of an international vaccine passport. (39) Thus, we come full circle. Vaccine passport technology could mean the end of freedom and privacy for the world’s population. China is happy to help make it happen.
Interestingly enough, it has long been said by most infectious disease experts that the coronavirus which causes Covid-19 could not have possibly originated in a laboratory. Those who expressed this belief were dismissed as conspiracy theorists on the fringe of reality. Yet, a former investigator with the State Department in the United States by the name of David Asher recently said he believes the virus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. “The Wuhan Institute of Virology is not the National Institute of Health. It was operating a secret, classified program. In my view, and I’m just one person, my view is it was a biological weapons program.” He further went on to say, “And if you believe, as I do, that this might have been a weapons vector gone awry, not deliberately released, but in development and then somehow leaked, this has turned out to be the greatest weapon in history. You’ve taken out 15 to 20 percent of global GDP. (Gross domestic product) You’ve killed millions of people. The Chinese population has been barely affected. Their economies roared back to being number one in the entire G20.” (Group 20) (40) Thus, we see that while the coronavirus weakened most of the world, it made China stronger. Does Asher’s theory bear any merit? As it turns out, a surprising public figure agrees with him. Former CDC Director Robert Redfield, a name you may have seen on the news last year throughout the pandemic, was quoted as saying, “I’m of the point of view that I still think the most likely etiology of this pathology in Wuhan was from a laboratory. Escaped. Other people don’t believe that. That’s fine. Science will eventually figure it out.” (41) One thing is certain, even when this pandemic finally ends, the world will be forever changed.
Thank you all for your kind support of this ministry. As always, I encourage every reader to put your hope and trust in our Almighty God. While many troubling things are happening in the world, we know that with each passing day we are closer to the return of our Lord and Saviour. Romans 13:11-12 declares, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
If you have any prayer requests, whether great or small, you are welcome to send them our way. We always give each prayer request individual attention. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Samuel David Meyer
This newsletter is made possible by the kind donations of our supporters. If you would like to help us, you may send your contribution to our postal address or donate online at http://lasttrumpetnewsletter.org/donate.
Acknowledgments
01. The Daily Caller, November 22, 2020, By Chuck Ross, http://dailycaller.com.
02. Fox News, March 16, 2021, By David Rutz, http://foxnews.com.
03. Fox News, March 22, 2021, By Brian Flood, http://foxnews.com.
04. The Washington Post, February 10, 2021, By Emily Heil, http://washingtonpost.com.
05. Ibid.
06. The Times of Israel, March 2, 2021, By Mark Pratt, http://timesofisrael.com.
07. Forbes Magazine, July 22, 2020, By Carlie Porterfield, http://forbes.com.
08. Ibid.
09. Woman and the New Race, By Margaret Sanger, http://archive.org.
10. The Georgia Star News, March 1, 2021, By Melanie Israel, http://georgiastarnews.com.
11. March for Life, February 3, 2014, By Tom McClusky, http://marchforlife.org.
12. Townhall, September 24, 2020, By Louie Gohmert, http://townhall.com.
13. Time Magazine, http://time.com.
14. CNBC, May 22, 2020, By Christina Wilkie, http://cnbc.com.
15. The Independent, January 30, 2009, By The Independent, http://independent.co.uk.
16. The Seattle Times, March 23, 2021, By David Horsey, http://seattletimes.com.
17. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 2, 2021, By Eleanor Dearman, http://startelegram.com.
18. CNBC, March 11, 2021, By Noah Higgins-Dunn, http://cnbc.com.
19. Reuters News Service, March 3, 2021, By Reuters, http://reuters.com.
20. Ibid.
21. Reuters News Service, March 16, 2021, By Guy Faulconbridge, http://reuters.com.
22. Mediate, March 29, 2021, By Colby Hall, http://mediaite.com.
23. CBS News, March 2, 2021, By Kathryn Watson and Audrey McNamara, http://cbsnews.com.
24. USA Today, March 9, 2021, By Elizabeth Weise, http://usatoday.com.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Fox News, March 15, 2021, By Thomas Barrabi, http://foxnews.com.
28. The Times of Israel, March 8, 2021, By Mike Stobbe, http://timesofisrael.com.
29. Newsweek, March 11, 2021, By Soo Kim, http://newsweek.com.
30. The Blaze, March 22, 2021, By Carlos Garcia, http://theblaze.com.
31. MSN News, March 25, 2021, By Marta Zielinska, http://msn.com.
32. Newsweek Magazine, March 22, 2021, By Soo Kim, http://newsweek.com.
33. The Hill, March 21, 2021, By Mychael Schnell, http://thehill.com.
34. Military.com, March 1, 2021, By Stephen Losey, http://military.com.
35. Fox 5 NY News, March 2, 2021, By Fox 5 NY Staff, http://fox5ny.com.
36. The Washington Examiner, March 18, 2021, By Cassidy Morrison, http://washingtonexaminer.com.
37. The Washington Post, March 28, 2021, By Dan Diamond, Lena H. Sun, and Isaac Stanley-Becker, http://washingtonpost.com.
38. Fox New, March 9, 2021, By Frank Miles, http://foxnews.com.
39. Global Times, March 9, 2021, By Leng Shumei, Chen Qingqing, and Liu Caiyu, http://globaltimes.cn.
40. Fox News, March 12, 2021, By Jennifer Griffin, http://foxnews.com.
41. Mediaite, March 26, 2021, By Aidan McLaughlin, http://mediaite.com.
To learn more about the history of our ministry and our founder, Pastor David J. Meyer, please visit http://pastormeyer.org.
If you would like to submit a prayer request, you may send email to prayer@ltmmail.org or mail it to our postal address.