Progress???
                                                                                      By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                      November 3, 2017
                                                                    Revised  September 1, 2018
                                                           2nd Revision September 22, 2018
     "Help Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
     They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
     The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
     Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own:  who is lord over us?
     For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the neeedy, now will I arise saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him."  
                                                                                              Psalm 12:1-5
 
     "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.    But they said, We will not walk therein."             
                                                                                              Jeremiah 6:16
Introduction
     As I write wickedness and evil here in America is abounding on every side, just as prophesied in Matthew 24:12 and  2 Timothy 3:1-5.  I am sure that the same immoral conditions exist in other countries all over the earth.  So what is the cause of such wickedness?
     The answer may surprise some of our readers, but I will stand by it until the Lord God Himself gives me good reason to believe otherwise.  With all of mankind's advances in technology, the entire unbelieving, lost world has forgotten God!  
The Change
     It did not come suddenly!  It has been creeping up on mankind for the past 200 years.  Shortly after America became a nation, the so-called Industrial Revolution began.  And with it, men took their eyes and minds off of God and His Word, and set up "new gods."  It is a fact that mankind, in their fallen nature, must have a "god" to worship.  Even those who claim to be atheists, worship their ideology of unbelief.  Every man, woman, boy, and girl, on the earth has some thing or some one they idolize, and look to as their "god."  
     Here in America, first it has been "technology" which has been the "god" of many in this country, and many today still devote themselves to this "false god."  However, the advances in technology required more money to buy all the new "gimmicks" which were being discovered and invented.  So the pursuit of money and wealth has replaced even the pursuit of technology, as the favored "god" of the American people.  The general attitude is to get more and more money, so one can accumulate more and more TV's, cell phones, computers, computer games, fine houses, nice cars, and on and on the list goes.  The lust for more and more MONEY has become the "god" of the American people.  
The Poor and Needy
     And where does this leave the poor and needy, who for whatever reason; health, old age, physical handicaps, responsibilities, etc., are just not able to be productive, and to  engage in the pursuit of more and more money?  The poor and needy today are considered to be a drain upon the world economy, and therefore the general attitude of the ultra-rich, wealthy, leaders of the world today, is that people who are not producing,  simply need to be eliminated.   
     There is a "behind the scenes" movement in the world today, to lower the population of the earth from the present 8 or 9 billion people, down to a "manageable" level, of no more than 5 billion people, and by passing laws dealing with "birth control" to hold it at that level.  
      Now guess who plans to do the managing?   These wicked ultra-rich leaders of the world don't really care how the earth is "de-populated."  Some of their plans have been "de-population" by deliberately creating wars among the nations, by deliberately creating economic depressions in different countries, by the deliberate spreading of diseases and pestilences, by "legalizing" abortion, by "legalizing" birth control, and any other methods their depraved minds can dream up.  
      No!  I haven't lost my mind in making such accusations, and I am not joking!  What I have written is absolute truth, and is proven by the inspired statements of God's Word.......
     "The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation [conduct; manner of life]," Psalm 37:14.  
     "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
      There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
     There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men," Proverbs 30:12-14.
The So-Called "Progress" of the Wicked
     How are the poor and needy to be destroyed from off the earth? By means of the same "god" that America and the world have come to worship; MONEY!   By simply moving their money around here and there, the ultra-rich can create prosperity, or they can create depression, hunger, despair, and death.  Imagine, if our readers can, what chaos it would cause in America today, if suddenly the whole nation was plunged into a terrible economic depression.  
     Well, such has not happened suddenly since 1929, but the cost of living has gradually crept up, so that the poor and needy never realized or really thought about what was happening to them, and to the whole world.  
     Below I am writing about changes in the "cost of living" which I have personal knowledge of taking place during my lifetime....
FOOD
     Shortly after the end of the Second World War, in late 1945,  the stores in our little farming community in the panhandle of Texas finally got some chocolate candy bars back in the stores.  I was delighted, and I bought a BIG chocolate candy bar for .15 cents.  Today such bars sell for $1.50 up to $3.00 each.  
     I also bought hamburgers at the restaurant for ten cents.  Today a good hamburger at a fast food place, costs anywhere from $3 to as much as $10.  
     In our little town there was an old fashioned town Bakery.  Many times I went into that bakery and bought a loaf of bread, or a dozen fresh donuts for .25 cents.  Today a loaf of bread costs anywhere from $1.50 up to $3.00 or more a loaf.    
     In 1947 my Dad was milking cows and selling milk and cream in our neighborhood for .25 cents a quart.  Today a quart of milk costs anywhere from $1.89 up to as much as $5.00, depending on what kind of milk one is buying.      
     I left home and went into public work when I was 17 years old.  The year was 1951.  I went to work for the Santa Fe Railway Company as an apprentice telegrapher.  I was sent to a small town in the Texas panhandle, where I had to rent a place to stay, and also had to cook for myself or eat out.  I still videdly remember going to the grocery store and spending a little over $5.00 for my first purchase of groceries.  Folks, I had so many sacks of groceries that I had to make two trips (walking) to carry them all back to the place where I was staying.
     Today, I have personally spent nearly $100 for groceries for myself and my family, and carried all I had bought home in two grocery sacks.  
     Yes, I guess most of our readers enjoy "going out" to eat.  As late as 1953 I could buy a delicious plate lunch at a restuarant for .85 cents.  Today a plate lunch costs anywhere from $5 up to $20 or even $25.  
     And this is "progress??"    
HOUSING
     I was married in 1953, while still working for the Santa Fe railroad.  I was sent to a certain place for a lengthy period of time, making it necessary for us to rent a house.  I rented an entire two bedroom house for $25 a month. Yes, I did get a "bargain," for most houses at that time were renting for $50 a month.  
     Today house rent is running anywhere from $500 to as much as $2500 a month.  If one can manage the down payment, buying a house and making monthly payments cost less than it does to pay rent.
     I recently received a letter from a reader in California, begging me to pray for her.   Her sad situation.......She is paying $1368 a month for a one bedroom apartment, and on her salary, she is hardly able to survive.
     Oh, buying a house?  In 1972 I personally bought a fine four bedroom house in the country for my family,  for just $12,000.  That was the total  price!  Today that same house is listed for sale for $140,000.  
     There are many people in America today living in houses costing from $150,000 up to a Million dollars.  Sadly, many poor people are putting their old houses up for sale, because of the large amount of money their house will bring on the housing market today.  Yet many of the poor and needy are selling their homes, without even thinking about what they are going to have to pay to find another place to live.   
     In every large city in America today, there are dozens [or hundreds] of "homeless" people.  They are sleeping and living in public parks, in abandoned houses and buildings, in trash dumpsters, under bridges and overpasses, and in the woods.  Is it just "coincidence" that their numbers increase every time the housing market goes up?   
     And this is "progress??"  Excuse me while I barf!  
TRANSPORTATION
    In 1947 my daddy was able to buy a brand new 1947 Chevrolet pickup truck to use in his "handyman" business in our small community.  The cost of that brand new truck was $1400.  
     Today a similar model truck costs $35,000, or more, depending on what one has added to the truck.
     Oh yes!  The price of gasoline back then was around .18 cents a gallon.  Of course, back then America had it's own oil refineries scattered in various places all over the nation.  But again, the ultra-rich decided to boost foreign oil [in the Muslim nations], and they shut down America's refineries.  As I write the price of gasoline here in Missouri is $2.67 per gallon.  The news media reports it as being much higher in other parts of the country.   And when the ultra-rich OPEC leaders decide to shut off America's oil supply, because the American people uphold and defend the little nation of Israel, then what will the price of gasoline go to?  Not to mention the American auto market!  Can the readers even imagine thousands of abandoned automobiles clogging the roads and highways of America?  
     And this is "progress??"  
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION    
     I was still working for the Santa Fe railroad, when they ran the last regular passenger train in 1956.  The passenger trains were probably the least expensive and best public transportation system this country ever had.  A person could  travel to about any place in America, or at least get close to their destination, by  passenger train.  But then in a  few months time, traveling by railroad in this country became history.
      Oh yes, in order to appease the public outcry, Amtrak was established.  What a feeble substitute it has been for the fine transportation system that once served the American people.  
     Of course, the American people were never told the truth about why the railroads discontinued passenger train service.  Having worked for the railroad for a number of years, I knew that the railroads were being undermined by the Interstate Commerce Commission, a branch of the U.S. government.  The politicians in that gang placed more and more restrictions on the railroads, until the railroads could no longer make a profit hauling passengers, so they stopped.  
      There was also a time when large buses served the traveling needs of nearly every community in America, at a reasonable cost.  How many commercial bus lines are still meeting those needs today?   Today the poor and needy have the choice of buying a high priced plane ticket, or driving their own gas guzzling car, if they need to travel any long distance.  Otherwise they can just  stay home.  
     And this is "progress??"
MORALS     
           Morals.....When I was a boy growing up, I was taught by my parents to show due respect to young girls and women.  I was not even allowed to think about "dating" until I reached fourteen years of age.  My first "date" was with a school class mate.  We attended a local movie.  Before leaving to go on my "date," I was instructed by my parents, that I was not to even  put my arm around the young lady's shoulder as we set in the theatre, without asking her permission.  And kissing her was out of the question.
      Many couples back then [yes, as late as the 1950's] did not hug and kiss until they were married.   Yes, once in a great while a young girl did get pregnant out of wedlock.  But both her and the boy who got her pregnant were expelled from school.  Our school superintendent did not feel that an unmarried pregnant young girl was setting a proper example for the other girls attending school.  Well...???
     Fast forward to today.  In a monthly magazine printed especially to appeal to young people, I actually read the advice of some so-called young people's "counselor," in which he advised young school age boys and girls against "doing it" on the first date.  This young people's "counselor" suggested that it would be more enjoyable if the young dating couple would wait until the third or fourth date.  Sic!  Barf!  And this is the morals being practiced by our young people today?  The last time I checked 1 Corinthians 6:18 is still in the Bible.  
     If the young people growing up today have come to such low moral character, is it any wonder that even older people today dress and often conduct themselves like "dogs in heat?"  
     Some readers may get very angry at me for questioning such morals, or lack of them. But even as I write several prominent well known men in our country [actors, politicians, and talk show hosts] are being publicly accused of "sexual harrasment" of many different women over the past few years.   These reports are being carried on mainline TV news, so that every young person watching will see that such immoral conduct is what "adults" do.   A training school for the young!   Right?  
     On the other hand, many today feel that such immoral conduct is only     
 being "broadminded" and "mature."
     And this is "progress??"    
ENTERTAINMENT
     It was after the Second World War, in 1950, that the televison began spreading all over this nation.  The public could now see and hear people acting and performing on TV.  The old fashioned radio swiftly became nearly obselete, as thousands of people rushed to buy TV's.  
     But what the televison actually did was to display immorality and wickedness right before the eyes of people, passing it off as "entertainment."  Gradually, but steadily, television programs have  lowered the moral values of people in America and all over the world.
     But the worst of it is what it has done to our little children.  Little children have highly impressionable minds.  They love to watch "cartoons" on TV, thinking they are "entertaining."  However, what kind of "entertainment" is it that their little minds are absorbing?   Most adults don't watch the cartoons their children watch, so they don't have a clue about what their children are watching.  Many of these so-called cartoons are filled with cartoon characters who lie, cheat, steal, fight, use foul and even obscene language, engage in witchcraft and demonism, and on and on.
      Sadly, many mothers today park their babies cribs right in front of the TV, using it as a babysitter,  so they can do other things.  By this means, people today are actually "brainwashing" the future generation, which will be left behind when the rapture occurs, and will enter into the terrible Tribulation period.  
     And this is "progress?"  
AMERICA'S SPIRITUAL LIFE
     Today America is filled with church buildings; fine edifices costing thousands of dollars to erect.  They are beautiful in appearance, and most of them have been built to seat a minimum of 300 people in the main sanctuary.  
     But during the many years I have been in the Lord's ministry, I have attended services in many of these fine church buildings.  Sadly, today it is rare to see more than a quarter of the sanctuary being filled with people at any service.  What has happened?
     When I was a small child back in the 1930's and during the war years of the 1940's I remember the churches being packed with people in nearly every service.  I have actually seen every pew filled by worshippers, and people standing around the walls on the inside of the building.  In fact, I have seen a few services where the church windows were raised to allow people standing at the window on the outside of the building to hear the pastor's message.
     What has happened to change the churches to what we see today?  The Lord Himself said, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold," Matthew 24:12.  Folks, it has happened!  
     During the Second World War the churches were filled with people, praying for the safety of their sons and husbands who were overseas on the battlefields.  But after the war ended, the American people showed their appreciation for God bringing their sons and husbands home safely, by deserting the churches.  Now read John 15:3.  Without the intake of God's cleansing Word, America has become an immoral nation and people, and it shows!  
     "And this is "progress?"  
Closing Comments
     Some readers may think I have been a bit sarcastic in writing this study.  Gee!  Imagine that!  Am I against Progress?  Absolutely not!  But I sure do question what some today choose to call Progress.   
     All over this nation today, and for that matter, around the whole world, mankind has generally turned away from the moral values set forth in God's Word.  Why?  The reasons for it, if we have eyes to see, and ears to hear, are quite obvious.  Thousands of little children in various countries of the world are going to bed hungry every night.  Thousands of innocent unborn children are being aborted [callously murdered] every day.   Many peoples of the world, in spite of modern technology, are living in poverty and oppression.  Injustice and inequity are everywhere, even in the so-called  "Progressive" nations of the world.  Hunger and famine are present in nations all over the world.  And the problems of suffering humanity become worse with every passing day.
      Whether mankind wants to face up to it or not, these terrible conditions exist among mankind today, because mankind has been so obsessed with technological advancement [Progress??] that they have forgotten to love and care for and share with their fellow human beings, especially when it comes to the Gospel of Christ.  The true Gospel of Christ is the only thing that will lift  mankind out of their suffering and misery. America today, as a nation and people, have mostly turned away from the Lord God who created this nation.   The results of our apostasy are glaringly obvious to those with "seeing eyes and hearing ears."          
     Conclusion
     The Lord God, who knows "the end from the beginning," certainly knows the true state [condition] of mankind on the earth.  He is not impressed by our boasted Progress.  Rather, He states quite plainly in His inspired Word,
     "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him," Psalm 12:5.  
     Dear readers, we are living today in a repetition of "the days of Noah," and "the days of Lot," [Luke 17:26-30] regardless of whether some want to believe it or not.  The coming of the Lord Jesus to rescue His believing church and people, and  "deliver us from this present evil world" is right at the doors, Galatians 1:4.   Our readers can look up, and trust the Lord Jesus for salvation and deliverance, or they can look to man's boasted technology to save them.  But if man's technology could have saved anyone, why hasn't it done so long before now?  Acts 4:12 is still in the Bible!  Read and believe it!   And may God grant every honest seeker GRACE  is my prayer.  
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     Permission is granted to any true believer, or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote from it in context as written.  
     Personal contact information:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL..........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE........573-202-6493  
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