Rapture Blog

I was doing some research to improve the usability of the Internet Homepage I run, and was checking to see what sites are most visited by Caribbean people. I saw many sites which were expected, such as YouTube and Wikipedia, but then I was shocked to see the number of porn sites our people visit.

I supposed I shouldn’t have been shocked, since I’m also a computer technician, and in that field you encounter porn on the majority of systems you service. However, I wasn’t expecting to see these sites among the top site visited. 

·         There were 4 major porn sites visited by Barbadians, all of which were straight sites.

·         Jamaicans visit 6 major porn sites, one of which is a gay site.

·         Bahamians visit 10 major porn sites, one of which is gay.

·         Trinidadians visit 11 major porn sites, one gay, and two social.

 Most of these sites seemed to offer absolutely free content provided by a vast user-base, with names blatantly copying the YouTube concept. There was also a particular website (though not reflected in the above statistics) in the lists which help you to find a “new friend” to sleep with. This is almost prostitution, where you put yourself on the market for sexual encounters.

Of particular concern were the Trinidadian social sites. For most of the sites, it was obvious what content the site produced simply from seeing the name in the list. However, there were some sites that didn’t necessarily reflect anything bad in the name. These are of major concern. I entered two of these Trinidadian sites, under the impression that they were just social networking sites, like MySpace & Face Book. To my surprise, the content posted by the members (who appear to be all locals) were far from clean, and I believe they featured locals as well. Sites like this have the ability to expose unsuspecting surfers to pornography. 

 My research gained me valuable information which has helped to improve my web portal by giving my users quick access to the sites they use most. However, the discovery of porn sites among the top visited sites leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, and the little content that crossed my eyes, left planted images that are difficult to uproot.

Yes, I’m man enough to tell you that I didn’t leave some of those sites immediately upon realizing what they contained. And the minute or seconds of delay, was enough to cultivate thoughts and plant images. I had to go before the Lord and ask Him to erase whatever images from my minds and to forgive me for my delays in getting out of these places when discovered. Even as I sit here writing this, I thank God that I suffered no effects that evening, did not ponder lustful thoughts , did not masturbate and did not experience any sexual dreams of attacks while I slept. However, from my adolescent years, I can tell you that once exposed to pornography, it controls you, it pulls you further into it and it’s effects reach further than your bedroom, and into your social interactions and other aspects of your life. The questions I am therefore left to ask are….

1. What does it say of our communities, and our peoples , when pornographic sites can be rated among the most visited sites nationally? 
2. How can we be sure that our children aren’t discovering these sites we visit? After all, with curiosity and increased understanding of technology, it’s easy to trace what was done on a computer. 
3. How does this trend effect society? 
4. How many cheating husbands were influenced by these sites?
5. How many pregnant teenagers were victims of these materials?
6. How many rapists spent hours “harmlessly” going through these sites?
7. How many curious children were exposed to homosexual practices this way? 

We often pray against teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, adultery and fornication, but we need to address the Spirit of Pornography which is taking over our societies, and leading our husbands, wives, children and friends to commit these vile acts. 

When I was in school, my friends and I viewed pornography as a means of “education”, but it was never easy to acquire. Now, with so many YouTube-like porn sites, this content has never been more readily accessible to our children. Let is start praying from RIGHT NOW against the Spirit of Pornography before we loose any more children to it. 

Many have commented over the years that Barbadians are very proud. This is because we speak “Pride and Industry” over ourselves in our motto. “But what happened to the industry?” some may ask. Well, just take a look at our anthem, and you will see that pride is the main thing declared over our people.

Our anthem declares that our great forefathers sowed the seed, from which our pride has sprung. This is saying firstly that our forefathers had pride, as they are not only referred to as great, but would have had to possess pride in order to sow it. Secondly, this line is declaring that the seed of pride sown has falling on good ground, and taken root in us.

The anthem goes on to say, “a pride that makes no wanton boast of what it has withstood”. This line is a contradiction of itself. It suggests that there is humility in the pride, but a humble person would never flaunt their humility. We have acknowledged we possess pride but claim not to boast. We are therefore boasting about our supposed humility, which in itself is pride. 

It goes on to say that the pride “binds our hearts from coast to coast, the pride of nationhood”. In this line, we are proclaiming that we are united in pride, as a nation. We are declaring that our pride is the common thread running through each and every one of us.

We then boast that we “hereby make it known, these fields and hills beyond recall are now our very own”. Then in a bold declaration of pride, we say that “we write our names on history’s page, with expectations great”. These expectations are never defined, but writing ones name on history’s page is symbolic of a quest for immortality. The proud expectation that one will live on forever, even if only in memory. 

The last line of the first verse, which is usually the only verse sung, says “first craftsmen of our fate”. This is not only a statement of pride, declaring the firm belief that own ourselves and possess the total power over our own lives, but is bordering blasphemy, denying the sovereignly of God, and declaring that He has no power over our lives or our ultimate fate. Even though verse 2 begins by saying “the Lord has been the people’s guide”, it stil comes back to the contradictory refrain “firm craftsmen of our fate”.

This is our national anthem and there is nothing we can do about that, but we need to understand the serious implications of what we speak and sing over our nation. Pride is the sin that caused Lucifer and his angels to thrown out of Heaven. The Devil tempted Eve with the pride of being equal to God. Sodom was destroyed because many vile sins caused by pride. Pride is quite possibly the most destructive sin of all, because it causes us to exalt ourselves above God, and by extension everything He stands for. Pride therefore facilitates all other sins, and the worst part is that the carrier of pride never realizes it is there.

Throughout the word there are countless warnings about pride. 

 - Pride goeth before a fall, and haughtiness before destruction. 

 - God sees the proud afar off. 

 - A man’s pride shall bring him low.

 - Let him who things he standeth take heed, less he fall.

We can’t change the anthem, but we can acknowledge this problem and renounce the seed of pride that has been sown by our forefathers.

Mario Herbert

When David was in prosperity, he praised God and declared His faithfulness. When David asked God “what profit is there in my death?” and “will the dust praise You or declare Your faithfulness?”, he was actually saying that God is faithful, even in the midst of his mourning. His posture was not one of blaming God, but asking God for help.

In this psalm, David is actually telling God that he will CONTINUE to praise Him and declare His faithfulness. Not that he will start to do this on condition of deliverance. It’s not an ultimatum. He is firm in his position that God is faithful and worthy of praise , regardless of his outcome. This position leads him to believe that God wants to keep him alive, and as such, he doesn’t blame God for his situation but simply asks for deliverance.

God delivered David so that the praise and thanksgiving would continue. God desires to be praised. He desires to be appreciated. God is merciful to us and delivers us from our enemies and our dangers so that we can fulfill our purpose to make His praise glorious.

We know that God does not wish that man be destroyed, but there is more profit to God in the life of a true worshiper, who is prepared to worship Him come what may, and He will deliver them, to prevent their praise from being silenced.

David say that “in His favour is life” and that God had “turned his mourning into dancing”, “to the end that he may sing praise and not be silent”. Our posture should always be one of praise and thanksgiving, but when we see God’s mercy and deliverance in our lives, we must be aware that He delivered us to the end that we may continue to sing praise and not be silent.

Mario Herbert

On the 5th August 1991 my dad migrated to America to work. It meant that we his family had no idea when or if we would ever see him again. That morning was one of the most painful moments of my life, saying goodbye to my dad was much harder than I thought it would be. Sadness was etched on my two sisters faces, my brother was crying and my six year old son watched my father go to the plane until he disappeared from sight, tears streaming down his face.

My father’s leaving was very painful but vital because it was difficult for him to find work at his age. My father had a lot of friends but their were his ‘rum buddies’ who spent a lot of time in the village rum shop, drinking. I could never get him to attend church, no matter what I said or did, he always had an excuse. If he had a funeral to attend he would go to the grave yard and await the hearse. If it was a wedding he would go to the place where the reception was being kept.

God opened doors not only for work but he placed good people in his life. Eventually my dad accepted Jesus and now you can’t keep him out of church. I know that if my dad had remained he would never have given up the village rum shop. God took him out, away from his drinking buddies’ influences.

I’ve had quite a few goodbyes in my life since that morning, friends and relatives, some who would have migrated to different countries, others to Heaven.

Goodbyes are never easy but some goodbyes are necessary along life’s pathway. That morning as I watched my father leave, I wondered if Jesus’ disciples felt the same way when he left them to return to his father. It couldn’t have been easy for them, this was their friend, their mentor, their Lord. They walked with him, shared light moments together and they learnt many valuable lessons from him. They even lost him to death and just when it looked hopeless he arose from the dead and their joy returned. *Now here they were at the ‘Mount Of Olives’ Airport, he was leaving them and they had no idea how long he was leaving for. *As he left they watched him go until he disappeared from their sight. *Jesus’ leaving was probably painful for the disciples but it was very necessary and vital for them that he did so that the Holy Spirit could come. Jesus was leaving but better days were coming as a result Because of that goodbye we have a mediator in Heaven, someone who is both God and man that can relay our needs to His father, and we also have the Holy Spirit to comfort, convict, lead and guide us into all truth.

Perhaps God is asking you to say goodbye to something or someone that you wish to hold on to, consider this…goodbyes can bring transformation, reformation and new purpose.

*Acts 1:9 ; 10

*John 14 : 16 - 17
Written By Linda Herbert

Whenever I create something, like a website or a piece of craft, I like to just sit and observe the work done. I get great satisfaction from seeing that the work was done well. Sometimes people around me have questioned this habit, believing it to be pride, and I had to check myself carefully. For a while I actually believed that it was pride, but then God showed me something interesting.

When God created the Earth, after every day of creation, He stopped, looked over it, and acknowledged that it was good before moving on to the next task. Then, after He had created everything, He took time to look over all of it and acknowledge that it was all good. This shows us that God places great emphasis on work being well done.

But what about us as mere men? Should we adopt this attitude as well? When Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s wasn’t. This angered Cain, but God simply asked, “If you had done well, would it not have been accepted?”. God expects us to function in excellence. If we produce things that are not our best, God will not be pleased with us.

We should strive for excellence in everything we do. If we strive to be more like Jesus, we have to strive toward excellence. God said about Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. This shows us that just like Abel, Jesus gave His best when on earth. We have to survey our work and make sure it is well done. If we do well, God will be pleased and He will bless it, and furthermore, as children of God, it is in our spiritual genes to strive for excellence.

When Christ comes back for us, let’s make sure He can be pleased with the work we’ve done.

Written by Mario Herbert

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Today I’m thinking about a little girl I knew a few years ago. I will call her Reann. She was the daughter of a school friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in many years. I met Reann, along with her younger siblings when my husband and I taught Sunday School in a district within the Bridgetown area.

Over the next few years Reann would’ve experienced a few pregnancies and a few abortions. By age fourteen, she found herself in a doctor’s office having yet another abortion, tragically, the doctor was unable to stop the bleeding and Reann died on the doctor’s table.

I couldn’t help but think that if she had someone to constantly tell her and show her that Jesus loved her, things could have turned out differently. Yes, Reann was having sex, but she was still a child and she was still innocent to a lot of things.

On thinking about Reann, I am also reminded of another little girl. Kelly was seven years old and she was a victim of cancer, but oh, what faith she had ! her story touched my soul. Her parents were christians and Kelly knew the love of Jesus. During her illness, she kept a diary and she talked with Jesus and wrote her feelings down. What really touched me was a little while before she died she dreamt that she was having dinner with Jesus. She said she didn’t remember seeing any food on the table but Jesus was there at that table with her, she died a few weeks later.

Kelly knew Jesus because of her parent’s nurturing, Reann knew about Jesus because she would have heard about him in Sunday School, but what a difference in the two lives….

Its sad and tragic when children have no one to steer them in the right direction or pray with them and for them….or to tell them that Jesus loves and cares about them. Sadly, Reann’s mother was not a believer and her life was somewhat similiar to Reann’s as she got pregnant with Reann when she herself was a teenager.

Written By Linda Herbert