Where Life is Beautiful All The Time. . .
Vol: 27 Issue: 21 Friday, October 21, 2016
A report released in 2011 by the CDC found that the use of antidepressants by Americans is up by more than four hundred percent since 1988.
The CDC reports that one person in ten is on some form of antidepressant medication. The CDC conducted the study between 2005 and 2008 and polled more than 12,000 subjects 12 years and older.
The report found that women are two and a half times more likely to be taking antidepressant drugs than men and that women between the ages of 40 and 59 are the most likely to be in search of better living through chemistry.
One child in every twenty-five between the ages of 12 and 17, according to the CDC, regularly takes prescription antidepressant drugs, but the bulk of those depressed enough to require medication are between the ages of 18 and 40.
More white people are depressed than other racial groups; 14% of all whites are on antidepressant drugs, whereas only four percent of blacks and three percent of Hispanics are too depressed to function without drugs.
Of those taking antidepressant drugs, the CDC found that 6.4% weren’t clinically depressed and that seventy-five percent of all prescriptions written for antidepressant drugs were written by health care practitioners other that mental health professionals.
And then there is the most amazing finding of all, at least, from my perspective. Among those who really need antidepressant drugs, sixty-six percent — fully two-thirds – don’t take them.
It is the ones that can see clearly enough to know they aren’t crazy that are gobbling them up like candy.
Assessment:
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26)
This verse isn’t just about extra-terrestrial signs in the sun, moon and stars. It’s about fear. The “distress of nations, with perplexity.” Jesus said that men’s hearts would fail them “for fear” — because that is the real sign of the last days.
Why would men’s hearts fail them for fear? Are YOU so afraid of the signs of the Lord’s coming that you need to take drugs to mask that fear?
Or are you watching the signs of the times with eager anticipation of the Lord’s soon return?
I admit that sometimes I get a little afraid, but that fear is quickly dissipated when I step back and take a look at what I am afraid of. I am “afraid” of the signs pointing to the day Christians have waited for since Paul wrote the Thessalonians to tell them that they hadn’t missed it.
I am “afraid” the Lord will keep His Word. But I’d be a lot more afraid if I didn’t know He was coming.
I am willing to bet that the Apostles were also a little afraid when they were facing martyrdom. It is one thing to BE dead. How you get that way is of considerable concern, even if you knowwhat happens next.
But that is not the same thing as the kind of all-consuming fear that results in one person in ten on Prozac.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Imagine that you are an atheist. You don’t believe that there is a God. You scoff at the concept of a Divine Plan.
According to your worldview, humanity is the supreme being and you rely on the wisdom of the masses to bring order out of chaos. As an atheist, you believe that man is basically good, and it is that basic goodness that is responsible for law and order and social morality.
Now, looking out from that perspective, what do you see? High unemployment continuing on for years, maybe decades. The great unwashed demanding the government tax employers out of business. Runaway crime as the economic situation worsens.
The eventual collapse of the ecology; global warming, (or global cooling), the potential for solar flares wiping out the electrical grid, the possibility of world war, even the use of nuclear weapons.
And most of all, the sense that not only is the world moving in the wrong direction, it is careening out of control. If only Obama had been what everybody expected him to be. But instead of hope, he offers nothing but hopelessness; more unemployment, more civil unrest, more class warfare.
No wonder one American in ten is on anti-depressants! (Including many Christians.)
The fear is palpable — and it is spreading.
They have good reason to be afraid. The only place they can look to for hope is the government. If not this government, some other government. And if not this leader, then some new leader, as long as he isn’t a ‘capitalist’ (meaning “Christian” or “Jew”).
Fear breeds loathing. Loathing breeds persecution. Persecution breeds terror. Terror looks for a savior.
According to the Bible, the savior the world is awaiting is the antichrist. The conditioning process preparing the world for his appearance has only accelerated since the turn of the 21st century.
What seemed possible ten years ago appears unavoidable today.
He is out there right now, waiting for his cue. But the world isn’t quite fearful enough to buy what he is selling. Not yet. The Church is still here. And the world still has an ample supply of Prozac.
But other than that, the world is ready. More than ready.
Eager, even.
This Letter was written by Jack Kinsela on October 20, 2011
Featured Commentary: A Rattling Church ~Alf Cengia
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