Today with Jeff Vines

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let me read look twenty one.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
At that time they will see the Son of Man
coming in the cloud with power and great glory.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
When these things.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Began to take place, stand up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Is drawing new Listen. Part of you.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Should say, Okay, culture is driving me, baddy, I'm so
sad at what's going on. But at the same time
you should be going well. Jesus is coming back.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines, pastor, apologist and
Bible teacher.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Hello, my name is Bill, and welcome to Today with
Jeff Fines. This week, Pastor Jeff continues his series Under
the Influence, a series about culture and society being under
the influence of evil. We're about to hear the remainder
of a message from last time about the correlation between
the removal of Jesus in areas of culture and the

(00:57):
increase of demonic forces around us. Pastor Jeff is reading
various chapters in the Bible, but he's mostly referring to
Ephesians chapter six. If you want to follow along there,
and of course, if you're keen to catch up on
the whole series, find all the episodes wherever you listen
to podcasts just Search for Today with Jeff Fines. For now,

(01:19):
let's finish this message with pastor Jeff.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Now again, if you go to Israel, if you go
to Emphasis, if you go to Turkey today, you're going
to see all of these Bible lands and part of
the temple you had the Agora, which was the marketplace,
and surrounding the agora where the temples and the priests
and priestesses the pagan gods, and in those situations, sex
was always used to procure money.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
It was a good way to make a living.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Paul got in trouble because when he went to Emphasis,
he preached against these statues and these gods. So let
me read it to you in Act nineteen, this is
verse twenty three. About that time a rose a great
disturbance among the way that's the christ followers. A silversmith
named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, that's Istar,
brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.

(02:10):
He called them together along with the workers in related trades,
and said, you know, my friends, that we receive a
good income from this business. Now, the business he had
was making statues of Artemis and selling them, and you
see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and
let us stray large numbers of people here in Ephesus
and then practically.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
The whole province of Asia.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
He says that gods made by human hands are no
gods at all.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Makes sense to me.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
There's also danger that is there is danger not only
that our trade will lose its good name, but also
that the temple of the great Goddess Artemis will be discredited,
and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province
of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her
divine majesty. They surrounded Paul, they wanted to kill him.
Has istar returned. She has flooded culture with sexual immorality.

(02:57):
Sex is used in a myriad of ways to cure
financial gain. Movie screens, music videos, magazines, internet sites all
attempt to draw a sexually crazed culture to the god
that they serve while gaining significant financial resources. Jonathan Conn
in the book I've mentioned a few weeks ago, The
Return of the God, says, as the ancient Mesopotamians read

(03:19):
or listened to pornographic.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Words and stories of this tar, he thought porn was new.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
It's been around since the early civilizations, and among the
oldest writings in world history are the sacred hymns written
to Istar. The Greek word for writing is graphos. The
Greek word for Ista's profession is porne. So graphas and
porne put together mean writings about the prostitute. And it's
from that that we get our word pornography. And these

(03:45):
writings flooded the ancient world. Men would read these writings,
and now pornography in the form of pictures now.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Floods the modern world. It's absolutely everywhere.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
So what the Jesus movement relegated to the fringes and
in the dark and shameful places has now come out
into the open. Now, I know this is difficulty. Okay,
would you stay with me here, Okay, I'm trying to
do so much in a short amount of time. One
of the things that Ishtar concentrated on, and again we
know this, We know this because of history. Okay, she

(04:16):
concentrated on the metamorphosis and destruction of men.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
That was her forte.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
The goddess was never at ease with masculinity if it
wasn't her own. Now, what do you mean well because Ishtar,
according to the ancient writings, had the ability to go
back and forth with her identity. Her mission was to
confuse gender and destroy the distinction between male and female.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
She was in essence a woman.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
But would often portray herself as a man, and her
lovers were dominated by her, and of suffered a tragic fate.
Ishtar loved a masculating men. There's a Hittite hymn that
goes like this, grind away from men their manliness, take
away from men their krctwo card to is potency, masculine power.

(05:01):
There's an ancient prayer that speaks of Istar's power to
emasculate men. It says, take away their swords, that is,
the men their bows, arrows and daggers.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Then put into their hand.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
The distaff is used for sewing, and the mirror so
that they can look at themselves. Women were shown to
have strength by Istar. Men will portray as weak.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Now why because Istar was not only.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
The goddess of sexuality, she was the goddess of destruction.
She willeded a sword because she wanted to destroy, and
once she wanted to break. According to the ancient writings,
is marriages, families, mothers and fathers, and ultimately.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Culture and civilization. Why would she do that? Here's the answer,
because God soul loved the world that he gave his
only begotten son. The demonic forces know that God treasures
you and me. Hey, if you want to.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Hurt me, how do you get to me? How do
you hurt me? You can't really hurt me. If you
all come and punch me in the face, that'll hurt,
but I'll get over it. But if you hurt my wife,
whole different ballgame. When you really want to hurt somebody,
hurt the ones they love. Nic forces know.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
The depth of the love of God for us.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
They seek to destroy everything about humanity and human culture.
They are aware of their coming destruction, and they want
to take as many.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
As us with them as possible.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
But there's something else. According to the ancient writings not
in the Bible now, but the earliest writings from Mesopotamia,
Istar had the power and the desire to turn women.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Into men and men into women. That is ultimately what
Istar was about.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
This is evident in the stories of Istar and the
practice of transgender prostitutes in her temple worship.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Now, why would you want to do something like this.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Again, Well, the demonic world takes something that is sacred
and desacradizes it. A person's race is sacred, it's given
by God. That's why racism is an act against God.
But a person's sex is also sacred, given by God.
To attempt to alter or violate or decimate a person's
sex is to violate the sacred. The demonic forces behind

(06:55):
the goddess they seek to take a gift that God
has given, designed to bring joy in vitality and the
human experience. And the dark forces used that gift that
is God given to violate parameters that turn something good
into something that destroys. And it's one thing to demasculinize
men and defeminize women, but to super impose the two,

(07:20):
it's quite another. And so we read in history that
the priests and the ministers in Istar's temple, her temple singers,
her ritual performers, the Asinu, the Carlu, the Klu, and
the god Llah were all known for taking on appearances
that were unreflective of their true identity. So Istar's male
priests feminized themselves. They appeared as women, They dressed in

(07:44):
women's garments, they made up their faces. They were cross dressers, transvestites,
non binary by gender, and androgynists. The demonic goddess Istar
would often herself appear as a man or a woman,
or attempt to be indistinguishable. Her androgen is attested in
the culting personnel, which included eunuchs transvestites. During her parades,

(08:08):
she would force the women to carry hoops or force
the men rather than carry hoops, which was indicative of women,
and force the women to carry swords indicative of men.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
You're with me?

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Can I ask you do you think Ishtar has returned
to the West? Have you noticed what's happened in our world?
To speak of a man as being particularly masculine or manly,
or is especially possessing male traits is now looked upon
with disdain. To speak of a woman who's especially feminine
or wildly is a no.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
No as well.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
If possessed by a male, malness is a negative attribute.
If possessed by a female, femininity is an attribute of
little value or retrograde. On the other hand, if male
traits are possessed by a woman, they are to be
celebrated and admired, and if female traits are possessed by
a man.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
They are to be honored and applauded as a virtue.
Do you know what that is? Demonic inversion.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
There's another hymn sung about Ishtar that goes like this,
she adorns a man as a woman. She adorns a woman.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
As a man.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
And now here we are in history, in an era
never experienced before in human history. A concept has been
invented to make all this appear good rather than evil.
Gender identity, and now it's possible to divorce oneself from
one's biological gender.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Is genderness for you a real? Of course it is?

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Remember how I started the sermon love compassion. Of course
it is. But why historically has it been such a
minuscule percentage, less than one half of one half a
percentage point, And in the last ten years it's risen twentyfold.
It's because elders and teachers began telling our children that
perhaps they're a boy rather than a girl, or a

(09:47):
girl rather than a boy in the formative years, that
if a boy has a.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
Few feminine traits, then maybe he's a girl. Man. That's true.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I'm I better say that if you knew me when
I was young, that if a girl possessed or desires
masculine traits, then maybe she's a boy.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Do you know how ludicrous that is? It's ludicrous.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Do I feel sympathy for the children experiencing that, Absolutely,
But I would never want to go back to high
school junior high?

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Would you? I would never want to go back to
those days.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
No way, too hard, so confusing. The brain's not even
fully developed. But in the past, in Judeo Christian society,
we had coaches and leaders and teachers who would mentor
in God our young children through these difficult mazes so
that they can move out into their world successfully. I'm
not belittling those feelings. I know they're real, but they

(10:38):
are subjective.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
Man. I felt differently every day when I was in
junior high. What is the objective truth about you? That's
the question.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Your sex is sacred, given to you by God, and
your best life.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Is lived within those confines.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
This dysphoria has significantly increased because demonic forces are no
longer on the frenches. I'm trying to get you to
see that it's wacky because the demonic forces bring in destruction.
So now we have teachers, not all teachers, I know
they're some young teachers and you're good. But we have teachers,
some teachers planning the scenes in the minds of boys
and girls. That there's something different than their biology suggests.

(11:19):
We have Hollywood and Disneyland convincing our youth that girls
can be princes and boys can be princesses.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
That the age old fairy tales need to be rewritten.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
That if a boy or girl desires to see their
favorite fairy tale characters at Disneyland, he or she will
find that boys and girls no longer exists, That the
two words boys and girls are now considered profanity and
hate speech. The keepers of the Magic Kingdom have made

(11:49):
these identifiers disappear like magic.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah, it's magic, Okay, it's the magic.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
Of the goddesses ishtar Asteris and hundreds of others who
are empowered by the principalities mentioned in.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
The Fesians in the Hittite Prayer.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
In ancient writings, Ishtar is described as possessing the power
and I quote to make young women dress as men
on their right side, to make young men dress as
women on their left side. A strange spirit has infiltrated
our society. The demonic forces have marched back in. Are
you with me still can I finish. When the Jesus

(12:25):
movement entered Western civilization, the people walked away from paganism
and the gods and goddesses went into exile. So the
condoning of homosexuality and other related behaviors came to an
end for hundreds and hundreds of years when istar and
demonic forces went into exile that their temples closed a
see new priest and her cross gendered personnel. Let the

(12:45):
temples follow the goddess into exile, They disciplined, disappeared to
the dark places the fringes of society. In the new
Judeo Christian era, lesbianism, homosexuality, cross dressing, transvestitism would be
seen as immoral, sinful, and version to God's holy design.
In Christ and Scripture, God had revealed a disdain for

(13:06):
these things and clearly said that those who practice and teach.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Others to do as well will be held accountable.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
However, if the Goddess returned, the values and practices of
her cult and worship would also return. Society would once
again accept and celebrate these things that Christ had forbidden
for the good of humanity.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Is that not where we are?

Speaker 2 (13:27):
So in the month of June nineteen sixty nine, an
uprising took place in New York City at a place
called stone Wall, in a gay bar in Greenwich Village.
The bar was owned by the Mafia. It was a
gathering place for gay's, lesbian, transvestite prostitutes.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
The Stone Wall literally.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Featured every kind of sexual immorality in the time when
it was illegal, and the bar was also known to
practice to sell liquor without a liquor license, but they
got away with it because the mafia would rob the
police to ensure their existence. However, in late June nineteen
sixty nine, the police raided the bar in the early
hours of the night and had ragned about.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Two hundred people.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Most of the two hundred people were released on the streets,
but they didn't go home. The police pursued the bar
owners and the employees and a number of cross dressers
and homosexual prostitutes, and as they were loading them into
the bus, something seemed to take hold of the crowd.
Now I'm not dramatizing this. When you go home tonight,
google stone Wall riots and you can read the story.
They began hurling objects at the police, bricks, bottles, rocks,

(14:29):
and the rage was so violent and out of control
that the police retreated into the bar and barricaded themselves
out of fear of their lives. But the crowd came
after them, charging the bar, attempting to break open the
front door. The riots went on for days. It was
called again. They were titled the Stonewall Riots, and these
riots would launch a movement that would be commemorated by
multiplied millions and would evolve into where we are today.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Now.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
What's interesting to note is the Stone Wall in New
York City had become a haven for all that is ishtar,
a place of self vibration of what was previously uncelebrated.
Now again, just to quit pause, I find it amazing
that even though historically speaking, all of this activity has
proven to be incredibly destructive. It's almost like culture is
possessed by some evil force. We close our eyes and

(15:15):
celebrate the destruction of people. The suicide rate among those
who go through mutilation surgery and their.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
Teens is unbelievably high.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
Why would a culture promote something that has a high
probability of causing such drastic consequences. One point eight million
gay and lesbian youth considers suicide every year, one attempt
every forty five seconds.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
Now listen carefully.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
As society normalizes gay and lesbianism, the suicide rate.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Does not low down. Why would we celebrate something. Let's
keep going. Come on.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
The Epic of Gilgamish describes Istar's rage. The Epic of
Gilgamish is a poem from ancient Mesopotamia, the earliest of civilizations,
and in the story, Istar attempts to seduce the hero Gilgamist.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
He resists, so she.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
Calls down the bull of Heaven and Gyilgamist and his
associate in Kadu wrestle the bull and win Ishtar responds
by and I quote mounting the great wall of your rook.
So she climbs the city wall. Vince her anger, she
calls down curses on all those who offend her, who
don't agree with her way of life, and she chose

(16:22):
as the place to call down the curse a place
called stone Wall. The ancient wall was known for its
massive number of bricks. The Stone Wall in in nineteen
sixty nine, New York City was also known for its facade,
a wall of bricks, and the events that triggered all
that followed. In the mythological story, was Gilgamoish's scathing rejection

(16:45):
of the goddess. As she stands on the wall, the
first thing she says, and I quote woe and to Gilgamesh,
who slandered me. How had Gilgamest slandered the goddess.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
In these ancient writings.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, he told her, I'm not going to become your lover,
because everybody becomes your lover dies. Pretty smart, dude, You're toxic,
You're unstable, deadly. Never say that to a woman, he
called her. And I quote the stone that buckles the
stone wall. The point I'm making this stone wall has
been around for thousands of years, and it's always in

(17:16):
connection with the Goddess of sexuality. Long before the Stonewall riots,
don't you find that just.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
A little bit uncanny?

Speaker 2 (17:22):
It stood for taverns, prostitution, transvestitism, transsexuality, homosexuality, and the
crossing of genders. Stone Wall were the words used to
describe the goddess destructive power around the world, and now
in nineteen sixty nine, stone Wall once again joined the Goddess.
Her way of life was rejected, her fury was ignited.
In ancient times, the Goddess.

Speaker 1 (17:41):
Would cause the stone Wall to buckle.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
In New York City, the gateway into America. She would
cause another wall, a wall of ancient origins, to buckle,
the moral heads that had served Western civilation for nearly
two thousand years.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
The wall was about to buckle and collapse. There's so
much more I could say.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
In the ancient stories is Tard would always choose an avatar,
so somebody that was of her own. She would choose
an avatar through whom to do her work. And her
work of destruction was described, and I quote again, she
tears away the wife from a man's embrace. They snatched
the sun from a man's knee. They take the wife
away from a man's embrace. So the goddess's most dramatic

(18:19):
impact in culture until the Jesus Movement was to separate
a man from a woman and a woman from a man,
the deconstruction of the family, the disintegration of the family.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
But you know, the primary symbol used to describe Istar.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
She had all these symbols, but you know, and I
mean major, the storm. Istar was associated with the storm.
You charge forward like a charging storm. I'm quoting again
ancient writings. You roar with a roaring storm. You continually thunder.
She brought out a magnificent battle and called upon the
great storm. She was covered in the storm, in the flood,
Great Lady in Yanya Ishtar, you destroy mighty lands with

(18:52):
arrow and strength, and overpower lands, you keep attacking like
an attacking storm, kept on blowing louder than a howling storm,
kept on thundering louder and life. So the goddess was
ultimately given the title story at Stonewall in nineteen sixty nine.
Again look it up. The woman believed to have started
the riots working as a lesbian bouncer in the bars,

(19:13):
the one, according to eyewitnesses, who threw the first punch,
who went berserk, who fought viciously with the police.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Perhaps the avatar of Istar.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Re entering into the arena from which the Jesus Movement
had expelled her was the woman who started the rage
that would carry on until full destruction. She would actually
become quite famous her name Stormy Man.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
I could go on, but I'm not. That's enough, Okay,
what's my point? Number one?

Speaker 2 (19:44):
This is the important part. The church has to wake up.
The church is the hope of the world. Stop sniping
at people you think that are worse than you.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
That's not gonna help.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
Where's your compassion if the demonic forces have taken over.
When Jesus made demonic people, he didn't shout at them,
he didn't strike them.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
He prayed and cast the demon out.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
And in the Old Testament, the Bible tells us, if
my people who are called by my name will humber
themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from
their weacked ways, I will hear them from heaven, and
I will forgive their sin and heal their land. God
is waiting on the Church to purify it self and
to pray for revival. Stop worrying about out there. You
Stop doing things you know you shouldn't be doing. If
you're addicted to pornography, repent, stop it. You're sleeping with

(20:30):
somebody you're not married, to stop it. He's waiting for
the Church to purify it self. Lest us get pure
less us repent and pray for.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
These sins are all equal in the.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Side of God, and God has been ousted in the
gods of return. Do you realize that you are living
in a very dangerous time. If my view of revelation
is right, it could be could be wrong. It's a
hard book. But if I'm right, these are those days.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
You're in them right now, and you better watch your
back because if you're not careful, you'll be sucked into
the vortex of the world and you'll start rationalizing, and
you'll start becoming just like the world. These are serious
things to God. You better repent.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
If you're involved in any of these, you better repent now.
And you better teach your children. Teach them what is right.
Teach them very clearly. And by the way, if you're
a teacher and you're a Christian and you're in our schools,
I'm encouraging you to do everything you can to undermine
the system that is attacking our kids. Teachers, I know

(21:37):
you have it hard. I know you have it hard.
But can I tell you something. You all may be
little asters. You may have been called by God for
such a time as this. It may cost you your job,
it may cost you some money, but you've been.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Called by God.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Don't you dare be part and partial to something that
destroys the whole generation of kids? Now, be wise, be shrewd,
but do everything you can to undermine number two quickly.
The church has to not only wake up it has
to look up, stop sniping, and pray James five sixteen.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man evatith much pray,
that's what you do.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
And finally, third, because of time, the church has to
lift up, lift up their heads.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Let me read Luke twenty one.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
At that time they will see the Son of Man
coming in the cloud with power and great glory. When
these things began to take place, stand up and lift
up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Listen, part of you.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Should say, Okay, culture is driving me batty.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
I'm so sad at what's going on. But at the
same time.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
You should be going, WHOA, Jesus is coming back, right?
I mean in finals week and seminary. I hate in
finals week because man, I knew it was going to
be tough, but I knew on the other edge of
Finals week was Miami Beach.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
So when you see these things happening, keep your head up.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Redemption draw with nigh. We're gonna go home, our real
home when I have to put up with this stuff anymore.
It's gonna be the greatest reunion known demand the people
that we've loved and lost.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
We're gonna be with again.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
So go out, keep living, keep loving, keep telling the
good news of the Gospel, keep caring about people. Compassion
not hate, Compassion not hate, Love not hate. Stand up
for what is right, but do it in a way
that is compelling, and you will send revival across this land. Father,
I pray in Christ's name that you would take anything

(23:33):
that I've said that is not consistent with your word,
and it will be trampled on and forgotten. But anything
that I've said that is consistent with your word, it
would go deep into our hearts. And when we hear
messages like this, may we be motivated by compassion for
those who have been overtaken by something that is very
difficult to explain, but something that is no less real.
Let us stand up for what is right, stand against

(23:55):
the things of culture that try to devalue things like
love and marriage and covenant and commitment. And Father, I
pray that you would use this church among many to
bring the light of Jesus Christ into the darkness, so
that the light of life may be given to all
people in Christ name.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Everybody said.

Speaker 3 (24:21):
You've been listening to today with Jeff Fines. Next time
we'll bring you a new message from pastor Jeff. You
can listen to more messages like this. Just search for
Today with Jeff Fines wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
You met me with Everything

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Today, Today, Today, Today with Jeff Fines