Leftbehind.com had an
article on their site called Living
By Bold Faith. (1) The writer of the article cited George
Sebastian as an example of a person Living By Bold Faith:
The Left Behind Series is
full of examples of people Living By Bold Faith. Remember
George Sebastian and his determination as he was held prisoner
by a GC hostage team in Greece. Who can forget the bold move
of the early martyrs, the women who would not accept the mark
and chose certain death.
Yes, I do remember
the George Sebastian
character in particular, because his actions fell far short of
bold Christian faith. Yes, he maintained his objective
which was silence and he managed to stay alive, but his tactics
for survival were not any different from any non-Christian
prisoner with military training.
The authors chose
anti-Christian attitudes and examples to write into the George
Sebastian capture and escape storyline. I will cite most of these
here in this article.
George's First
Thought after Capture: Revenge
The very first thing
this Christian of supposed Bold Faith did was consider executing
immediate vengeance upon Elena (posing as Georgiana) for her part in George's
ambush:
He was tempted to
drive his bulk into her, make her pay for whatever she was
involved in. (Desecration p. 352)
Now George was human and due to
the circumstances was quite angry at this betrayal. Did the
authors write into the storyline anything about George ever
thinking about the Bible teaching that vengeance belongs to the Lord,
and He will repay? No, they had this character who was supposedly
Living By Bold Faith, not give God's Word a thought. George
restrained himself from an immediate act of vengeance because he
had himself, rather than the Lord, in mind:
But he wanted to conserve his
strength for any real chance to escape. (Desecration p.
353)
The authors did not
choose to have George stop and think for a moment that as angry as
he was at that woman's cruel betrayal, he must first and foremost
be loyal to Jesus rather than himself while he was undergoing such
a severe trial of his faith.
Testimony of
Jesus Not Found on George's Lips
Right after George
was captured by the GC hostage team, he determined not to ever
utter one word. This was made out to be a clever tactic in the
storyline, but this man of supposed Bold Faith never once
testified of the Lord Jesus Christ to his captors. He did not
boldly declare his love for his Lord and
this example speaks quite loudly. This was the first capture of
one of the members of the Trib Force, and the testimony of Jesus
was not found on George Sebastian's lips. How is the
beast overcome? Yes, by the blood of the lamb, the word of
their testimony, and by not loving their lives unto the
death. The authors removed the word of George's testimony,
and yes, he was overcome by Satan.
Jesus Said He
Would Give His Disciples Words To Speak
George determined at
the outset that he would not speak a word to his captors. This
example is in violation of the scriptures, because Jesus told his
disciples:
"Settle it
therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall
answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your
adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. (Luke
21:14-15)
Transcendental
Meditation Replaced Leaning on Jesus
The authors chose to
have the Christian character, George Sebastian, use Transcendental
Meditation to deal with the stress of being held captive by the
GC. This is Living by New Age Faith, not living by the Christian
Faith.
It hadn't worked
long then, and that was what he feared now. This was the real
thing. While he regulated his breathing and told himself not to
think about his hunger and thirst, they were things he could not
blot from his mind. The more he tried, the more they invaded.
(Desecration p 374)
George was depicted as being
fearful that his New Age coping device would not work rather than
fearing the living God who said "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me." The practice of Transcendental Meditation is
central to merging with the religion of the New Age, and
practicing it is not an example of bold Christian faith!
Bible Finally
Mentioned: But Only as a Diversion Tactic
One would think the
authors would have a tribulation saint behave Christianly but
alas, you will not find George doing so. The Bible was finally
mentioned, but not for the reason you would think. George did not
recall verses for spiritual comfort and strength, but only as a
means of diverting his mind from the questions posed during his
interrogation:
To keep from the
temptation of responding nonverbally, George began reciting
silently the books of the Bible. Then his favorite verses. Then
his favorite songs. (Desecration p. 379)
I wonder why the authors were
loathe to have George pray to his Heavenly Father or think on
God's Word to strengthen and sustain him? Where is one
example of George Living By Bold (Christian) Faith?
Caution:
Dangerous Print Subliminal
George did not
speak and give the GC any information, no matter how many times
they physically assaulted him. That is good, but no better than
many non-Christian prisoners of conscience in prisons all over the world.
They had not been
able to get to him with talk of his family. He knew better than
to think his family would be any safer if he talked. If they
really knew where his wife and child were, they could easily
already be dead. He had despaired of his own life by now too. As
long as he would wake up in heaven, there was no sense in giving
up a thing. (Desecration p 397)
"As long as he would wake
up in heaven, there was no sense in giving up a thing."
This sentence is a print subliminal. The Left Behind Series
teaches that a Christian is eternally secure regardless of the
sins he commits (without repentance) and that a believer will not
even be able to choose to turn his back on Jesus Christ when his
faith is being tested. According to the doctrine of eternal
security of the non-overcoming kind, which is repeatedly promoted
in the Left Behind Series, George will wake up in heaven whether
he gives up any information or not! The hidden suggestion to the
reader is: Give up the information that will put others in dire
danger if it makes sense to do so.
Here is how the sentence could
have been worded so it did not send the message that Christians
should give up information that will aid Antichrist's forces in
their goal of finding and executing innocent people:
George loved his family, and
would not give up any information that would endanger them or
anyone else no matter what happened.
Example
of a Christian Thinking it "Made Sense" To Give Up
Information that Caused Innocent Christians to Be Killed!
Chloe was portrayed
as thinking it made sense to lead the GC to some other
Christians in order to divert them away from the underground
headquarters:
"Sorry. I'll
make it quick. If they're looking to us to lead them to the
underground, we'll lead them to one. Only it won't be the real
one. It'll be some other unfortunate citizens who'll get raided
soon."
Look at the
rationalization the authors gave Chloe to lead Antichrist's forces
to other Christians in hiding: They will get raided soon anyway,
so why not turn them in to protect the real underground
headquarters? This is an evil example that is not at all
Christian!
Even if you want to
argue that non-Christian groups of people may be hiding
underground five years into the Tribulation, that does not make
this diabolical example any better. Real Christians love
their neighbor. They will not lead Satan's
followers to others in order to save their own lives.
Like the World,
George Turned to God as the Last Resort
Finally, after
George had already despaired of life, he surrendered to God
what was left of his strength. It was only after he felt he was going to die
that George finally consciously turned to
God for strength:
The power to
maintain silence had not come from within but from without. He
had, at long last, surrendered to God even whatever resources he
thought he had.
What a mockery of Christianity! The world turns to God
when they know they think they are on the brink of death. The world
turns to God as a last resort, not the Christian. The
Living-By-Bold-Faith Christian turns to God first!
George's Desire
to Murder His Captors is Bold Faith?
So far I have not found a shred
of evidence that George behaved like a Christian of bold faith (or
any faith) throughout his interrogation by the GC. He did not pray
for his captors in obedience to Jesus' command that His followers
pray for their enemies. George also did not spend any time praying
that God would deliver him from his captivity or that he would be
rescued. He was carnally minded and daydreamed about maiming and
murdering his captors:
And if the sleeping guard was
the only one with him, he could pounce, disarm the man and
silence him in a second. (The Remnant p. 37)
George wanted to say, "For
what? Uncuff me and take this blindfold off, you coward, and
I'll kill you unarmed." (The Remnant p. 38)
His best chance to escape or do
some damage would be when he was unbound and they were moving
him. (The Remnant p. 48)
Plato stood watching, weapon in
hand, but George wondered how valued the girl was. He could have
had her in a headlock before the others noticed, and he could
have killed her before they fired. (The Remnant p. 49)
Part of him wanted to do some
damage, to show these yokels what an American captive was
capable of. Oh, he could do more than clam up. He had already
broken one guard's knee, if he had to guess. And all during her
administering to his wounds, George had sat close enough to
Elena to have blinded her with a two-fingered shot to the eyes,
broken her jaw with a punch to the chin, or crushed her to death
by flipping the table onto her and dropping his whole body atop
it. (The Remnant p. 50)
He fantasized about ignoring
her and charging Plato, disarming him, butting him with the
weapon, shooting Elena, and taking his chances with the two
camped outside. That had better odds, but still not good ones. (The
Remnant p. 50)
He wanted to know when the GC
finally lost patience and realized he was a hopeless, lost
cause. Because when they had finally had enough and his end had
come, he wanted to be sure to take one or two with him into
eternity. (The Remnant p. 51)
If only I weren't cuffed,
George thought. That was when he would have taken his chances.
Coldcock the girl, whip off the blindfold, race back down that
corridor and outside, and hope for the best. (The Remnant
p. 139)
In keeping with the antichrist
agenda of the Left Behind Series, the authors did not have
George even once stop and try to resist the temptation of musing
about harming and killing his enemies. George did not resist
Satan, he gave in to him.
Finally,
George Acted on His Strong Desire to Kill Elena
At the first
sensation of skin on skin, George Sebastian called on all his
years of training, football, and lifting. As he pushed off the
floor with his palms and drove his heels into the back of the
elevator, the massive quads and hamstrings in his thighs drove
him up and into Elena, who had murdered her last believer. (The
Remnant p. 167)
The phrase,
"who had murdered her last believer" indicates
George's murderous intent. He chose to murder her rather than
overpower her, confiscate her weapon, tie her up, and escape.
The authors made sure the reader knew details about George that
show he most definitely could have escaped without killing
Elena. For example, he had extensive military training, and at
240 pounds, he was twice her size. With the element of surprise
he used to escape, he could have escaped without killing her in
cold blood. The authors chose to portray George, a Christian, as
wanting to kill his captor, following through with this
murder, and never repenting of this sin.
George's 240
pounds slammed into her so fast and hard that as he wrapped
his arms around her waist he felt the top of his head push her
stomach against her spine. (The Remnant p. 168)
Remember, the
authors presented this scenario in the way they chose. They
could have had George pray (before he sprang on Elena) and ask
God to help him to spring out of the elevator and overpower
Elena and confiscate the weapon without harming her. Instead,
they chose to present George as intending to kill Elena.
The "Elena Kill"
Incredibly, the authors depicted Christian characters using
terrorist talk to describe George's murder of Elena:
"What do you make of that, Chang?"
(Mac responded) "I don't worry about it. Sebastian
confirmed the Elena kill, and he has her phone. The Remnant p. 175
The authors chose to have Mac use terrorist talk and calling
Elena's death "the Elena kill.." Nobody batted an eyelash and there
was no further discussion.. It was depicted as
though it was all in a day's work.
Mac wanted to "take a few out of them" as well:
"I wish we could have gone back," Mac said. "I'd like to
have taken out a few of them myself." The Remnant p. 196
Terrorists want to "take people out," not Christians. If a Christian
is forced to defend his family by taking up arms, he must be in much prayer and
do
everything possible to avoid encountering and entering into combat those who
would seek to harm his family. Self-defense is different from murder. Murder is
committed with malice. As you can see, Mac, and George had malice in
their hearts and murder, not self-defense, on their minds.
For those of you who defend the
authors' decision to repeatedly emphasize George's desire to kill his
anti-Christ tormentors and never have him have a moment of remorse
after he carried out that desire, please be advised that
you are defending the fact that they are portraying Christians as
dangerous characters in the Left Behind Series who will execute vengeance
on those who cross them.
Already Christians are being depicted as
right-wing
domestic terrorist material. The future results of the
general public thinking that Christians are filled with blood lust
and violence are obvious. Save this linked webpage in case it
disappears.
George Sebastian did not live by
bold Christian faith. His faith was not of the Christian
kind.
Notes.
(1)
http://leftbehind.com/channelliveforgod.asp?pageid=718&channelID=159
Also see: Murder
For "The Cause"
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