Harris Poll Findings Reveal That Fewer Americans Are Happy

I'm a big fan of the Drudgereport.com because Matt Drudge is the leading newsman in the world and the king of internet news. He included this story on his site this week. It is a story about the latest Harris Poll findings that describe the "happiness index" in a downward trend. Harris found that only one third of Americans described themselves as "very happy".
So what is the problem? We hear everyday how the great American economy is getting better so why not get happy? The truth is that the American economy is not getting better. This story reveals that the average American's wealth has decreased 55% from the great recession of 2008. Maybe people are unhappy because they are broke, I don't know. Perhaps people are unhappy because we sit on the precipice of WW3. If you don't believe that opinion I encourage you to watch the following video
Personally, I think there is too much emphasis on "happiness" and not enough attention paid to "joy". Happiness is a fleeting buzz of adrenaline that we get when things are going good. It is a circumstance driven emotion. When my boss pats me on the head and I shoot a par round of golf then I might be happy, at least for the rest of the day. If however, the next day everything goes wrong I may become unhappy. Happiness is just not consistent or very sustainable. In fact, in the Bible the word "happy" is found only 28 times and the word "happiness" is never mentioned. In contrast, the word "joy" is found 165 times and "joyful" 25 times  Happiness loses out to joy by a whopping score of 190 to 28.
I think God is far more interested in our joyfulness rather than our happiness. Joy is that inner conviction that no matter what my current situation all will be well because of my relationship to the Creator. Those fortunate folks who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have an inner conviction that if the economy collapses to nite or WW3 breaks out tomorrow their eternal destination is safe in the Lord. It was joy that bolstered the faith of hymn writer Horatio Spafford. Spafford lost his fortune in the Great Fire of Chicago and all four of his daughters in a ship wreck on the Atlantic. Spafford, like Job, could look at the tragedies of life and still be joyful. A fabulous re-telling of this story can be found here.  Horatio Spafford penned these faith filled words in a boat that was directly over the watery graves of his children.

"It Is Well With My Soul"

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
What ever my lot you have taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though the devil will ruin, though trials may come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And He shed His own blood for my soul

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul

It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight
And the clouds be rolled back as a scroll
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul 

Dear Reader, is it well with your soul? Are you trusting Jesus as Saviour? Are you ready for the days ahead? Come to Jesus, He is waiting for you.

Atheist Survivor Of Tornado In Oklahoma Needs A Change Of Mind!

Rebecca Vitsmun and her 19 month old son are fortunate to be alive. Vitsmun is a survivor of the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, and she is an atheist. Here is a snippet from an article in which she is interviewed by a famed CNN reporter, Wolf Blitzer...

"We're happy you're here. You guys did a great job," Blitzer said to Rebecca Vitsmun, who escaped from her house with her 19-month-old son right before the twister tore through it. "You've gotta thank the Lord, right? Do you thank the Lord for that split-second decision?"
Vitsmun hesitates for a moment and smiles. "I -- I'm actually an atheist," she said, laughing off the awkward moment.
"You are. All right. But you made the right call," Blitzer said.
"We are here, and I don't blame anyone for thanking the Lord," Vitsmun said.

The article went on to say that there has been a 13% drop in "religiosity" between 2005 and 2012. I want to make a couple of observations about this story.  
Observation number one, Rebecca Vitsmun laughed when she mentioned that she is an atheist. I hope that Rebecca has a change of heart about God particularly the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's amazing to me that anyone could laugh off a narrow brush with death. Rebecca dodged death this time but she will eventually be capture by the cold grasp of what the Bible calls an enemy. The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 9:27 that it is "appointed" unto men once to die. Rebecca will one day die and if she has not changed her mind about Jesus and not placed her faith in what he did to rescue her from hell and death then she will have to pay for her decision for the rest of eternity. I am praying that Ms. Vitsmun comes to Christ.  
Observation number two, America has had a 13% reduction in "religiosity". Religiosity - are you serious? That is precisely what is wrong with America. What is religiosity? We don't need religiosity, we need Jesus! The Scriptures go on to tell us in Acts chapter 4 that there is one name given among men whereby ye must be saved and that name is Jesus. America has become the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah and judgement is already beginning for our country. We should not be laughing after a national calamity like Moore, Oklahoma, but we should be weeping over our sin and hardness of heart toward the one true God.
Dear Reader, have you been to Jesus for His forgiveness and have you freely received the gift of eternal life that He is longing to give you? Come to Christ now!

The Simpson's 24 Year Assault On Beloved Bible Stories Will Come To A Halt Soon!

I spend some time looking at recent news items on Youtube.com. That should not be a surprise to anyone who searches for information online. Youtube is the second largest search engine trailing only Google. As I was looking at news items concerning current events I stumbled upon a clip from an old Simpson's episode entitled "Thank God For Doomsday". This episode is a good example of the Simpson's continual assault on the great stories of the Bible. This particular episode makes fun of the rapture and the judgment of mankind.  Here is a summary of that episode that I borrowed from tv.com. , go ahead and read it and I'll comment more afterwards.

The Rapture from Thank God It's Doomsday

Bart and Lisa want to start getting their hair cut at the mall. They go to the mall with Homer and while getting their haircut they get into a fight, which results in them each getting really bad haircuts. Out in the mall they are spotted by fellow school students who have cameras in hand. They find Homer and go on the run; they sneak into the back entrance of a movie theater and see the film "Left Below," which is a movie about the apocalypse. The images in the movie are disturbing to Homer, who fears the worst. Marge assures him that there needs to be some ominous signs before the rapture will come. When Homer is out driving, he sees what he believes to be the signs. Homer gathers some books on the subject and he calculates that the "rapture is nigh" at 3:15 PM on May 18th, seven days from now. He starts to spread the word and tells everyone on television a passage from Revelations 6:13 that says before the rapture "the stars will fall to Earth." At the Springfield Stadium, there is a celebrity filled blimp accident that causes the stars on board to fall to the Earth and Homer gains instant credibility. He gets a bus full of people to join him at Springfield Mesa. When the appointed time comes and goes, Homer loses credibility and everyone return back to their normal lives. Homer later realizes that he made a mistake in his calculation and the new time is only 30 minutes away. When no one in his family will join him Homer goes to the Mesa on his own. The rapture comes and Homer goes to heaven, but despite all that heaven has to offer, Homer needs his family. He gets an audience with God, but when God won't grant his request to have his family join him; Homer begins raising hell in heaven. To put a stop to it, God agrees to turn back time and put off the rapture.less

The bizarre thing about this episode which was produced in 2005 is that it was produced by the Simpson's new writer, Don Payne. I bring that to your attention because Don Payne died of bone cancer in March of this year. I think that there are some sobering things about this story which we should consider.  First, I don't think it is ever a good idea to mock or ridicule God and His Word under any circumstances. The Bible tells us that making fun of God's promises will be epidemic in the last days.

Mr. Don Payne

 Jude 1:18

How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

Second, we should be mindful of every word and action that proceeds from our lives because we don't know what the immediate future holds.

 James 4:13-14

¹³ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

¹⁴ Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Third,  the time to admit our need for a Savior and trust Christ to save us is right now! I don't know where Don Payne is spending his eternity. Only God knows the eternal destination of all men. But I do know that Mr. Payne's opportunities to trust Christ occurred only during the time he spent here on earth. Dear Reader, the events unfolding in our present time indicate that Christ may come at any moment. Are you ready? Are you ready for a disastrous diagnosis like Don Payne received last year? Come to Christ, run to Jesus now.