Do you read the Mexican news? Why not? Things that happen in Mexico definitely affect you. Or how about a good Canadian newspaper? Or perhaps a Japanese and German periodical? All these nations, as well as the 180-some-odd other nations, affect you. So why don’t you make it a point to read them?

Easy; because they aren’t your country! And while a passing headline here and there from Pakistan or Bolivia might catch your notice, you really don’t care about anything that doesn’t affect YOUR country. So you read USA Today, US News and World Report, and magazines like that, to fulfill your duty to “watch” as given by Christ in the Olivet prophecy.

Of course no one can absorb all the news happening at this very moment all over the world. Even to take in the headlines from one major newspaper from every country would be impossible. But then for that matter, it’s not possible to get all the news from even your own country, and barely even your home town!

So you filter out what happens in say, sports, and read or watch the segment about money; or you filter both out and watch the political news – whatever news you feel is most important to you and will affect you the most.

And now let me prove to you that every bit of that is wrong. Well, I guess I shouldn’t say wrong exactly; but symptomatic of what is wrong with YOU, spiritually…

See, if you were paying close attention a moment ago I said that you read American newspapers and watched American news because that was YOUR country. And THAT is the problem, right there. This is your country – and it shouldn’t be.

Philippians 3:17-19 (BBE) Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given. For there are those, of whom I have given you word before, and do so now with sorrow, who are haters of the cross of Christ; Whose end is destruction, whose god is the stomach, and whose glory is in their shame, whose minds are fixed on the things of the earth.

Can you possibly find a better definition for someone who diligently reads the news, than that their “minds are fixed on the things of the earth”?? The very definition of NEWS is what is happening ON the Earth! Think I’m quoting that out of context? Well, here IS the context!

Verse 20 FOR OUR COUNTRY IS IN HEAVEN; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:

Where is our country? Are we Americans?? British? Or even Earthlings? NO! As Phillips translates that same verse “we are citizens of Heaven”! At baptism we become a part of a DIFFERENT nation! And we don’t carry dual citizenship! God requires that everyone who is apart of HIS nation become an alien to their old one!

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY, … For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

America IS the promised land, in several different senses! This entire EARTH is promised to Jesus, who in turn promised to give that inheritance to us!

Daniel 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

But we HAVE NOT YET INHERITED! And we have not QUALIFIED ourselves to inherit! And until that time, we are STRANGERS in a STRANGE LAND! Strangers who, though we sojourn in temporary dwellings (our fleshy bodies) in this Earth, are not citizens of it, nor of any of its squabbling nations!

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

They confessed this! They REALIZED that they were citizens of another country, and ACTED AS SUCH! But YOU don’t, not if you are mindful of this country, and its news and elections and money!

Verse 14-15 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

And if Moses, Abraham, Isaac, or any of the other men of faith had been INTERESTED in this world, and had CARED what happened in it, they would have been sucked back into Egypt just as YOU have been sucked back into the world through the New York Times! The news DOES NOT MATTER to you!

Oh, but the news DOES affect your money, and the economy, and you should be informed, right? Well, I’ll go along with that – IF you can square it with THIS scripture:

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Isn’t it time you actually DID what Christ said? He said DON’T save up treasures here! Things happen to money HERE – save up treasures somewhere ELSE!

Think about it; say you, an American Citizen, were traveling in war-torn Iraq; and you came across a large amount of money. Would you put it in an Iraqi bank, where it could be seized or stolen by some bank official or corrupt politician, or an unscrupulous American soldier? Of course not! Your FIRST THOUGHT would be “How can I get this money back to my own country, WHERE IT’S SAFE!” Tell me you wouldn’t think that! So all God says is, you’re a citizen of HIS country, so YOU should do the same!

Verse 20-21 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO.

If you get up and check the stock market every morning, it’s because THAT’S WHERE YOUR HEART IS! When your ONLY thought should be “how can I take this treasure I have on Earth and smuggle it into heaven?? How can I change my Dollars into Spirit? How can I convert my fortune into teaching people the truth, and turning many to righteousness? Because you see, THAT is Heaven’s Western Union.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Who is poorer than He who has not God? Your goal should be to teach the world WHY they are suffering – not to spend half your time reading about HOW they’re suffering! If you can CHANGE any of it for the better, THEN you are saving up treasures in heaven!

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Which do you want? Gold, or glory? A half-million-dollar house, or a SPIRITUAL house?

Hebrews 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Moses had good enough sense to realize that it was better to be a vagabond in the desert, with God on your side, than to be a prince in Egypt. But if he had VALUED his citizenship in Egypt’s royalty, and if He had CARED about the news and the Egyptian version of Wall Street, then he COULD have returned! But He didn’t!

Now let me return to my original statements; you don’t read the Mexican equivalent of the Washington Post because it’s not your country. Anything that is REALLY relevant to you will be mentioned in your OWN newspaper, and so you don’t need to read it. Because whatever is happening in Mexico is not your problem; you can’t vote about it to fix it, because you have no say in that country. Because you are a citizen of the USA.

So just push that reasoning one step further; you are not a member of this nation. This nation needs punished by God, for so many reasons, and it is being punished and the worst is yet to come. You can’t stop it and you can’t change it – and you shouldn’t want to. This nation has earned so much punishment that God says it will be worse than it ever has been before or ever will be again.

Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob‘s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

And He doesn’t mean “Great” in a good way. But you know what? That’s this country. You don’t have a right to vote in it, nor a right to participate in it, or change it, any more than an American can influence the policies of Germany. It’s not your country. As for the news, it has very little bearing on you, because God classifies you as part of a different country – and no matter what nation you happen to be physically among when He punishes the Earth, it won’t matter to you. At all.

Psalms 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

But you know what else? Yet another reason why you shouldn’t care about the news? Just like the USA has Time Magazine, Canada has the Toronto Star and Europe has the German Der Spiegel, we have our own national newspaper. (It’s the Bible, duh). And this newspaper can’t be coerced or bullied by political powers and another thing – it’s always right, and it ALWAYS gets the scoop! It predicted all the stuff that is happening today THOUSANDS of years ago. AND how it ends! Wanna read a newspaper to keep up with world events? Read that one!

But I think I hear someone objecting “but what about the place of safety! How are you going to be prepared for it when the world collapses!”

Let’s see. There are so many things wrong about that statement. Firstly, if God doesn’t want you in the place of safety… do you REALLY think it’s going to help if you know the exact location and have a private jet on standby, fueled up and ready to go? Of course not!

On the other hand, if God wants you there… do you REALLY think you need to have a private jet on standby, fueled up and ready to go? Ok, ’nuff said. But now I hear another voice objecting saying “But Jesus told us to watch, and keep up with world events!”

No He didn’t! NOT EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE! Get your facts straight!!

Luke 21:35-36 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, THAT ye may be accounted WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Does that SAY to read US News and World Report?? Does it SAY to stay glued to Bloomberg TV until He returns? NO! Does it say to watch world events AT ALL? NO! It says WATCH and make sure that YOU WILL BE WORTHY TO ESCAPE!!!

USE the 30 minutes to 8 hours a day that you spend watching the NEWS to WATCH YOURSELF! Rather than staring at some blind news commentator, fearful lest something happen to you and “your” country, STARE AT YOUR HEART AND MAKE IT WORTHY! If it’s WORTHY to escape, because you’ve been WATCHING it and CLEANING it and MAKING IT OBEY… THE NEWS WON’T MATTER BECAUSE YOU WILL ESCAPE!

But if you waste your time watching the news, YOU WON’T ESCAPE! No matter HOW many headlines you read! Just back up ONE verse from what I read earlier, and you’ll see the news-glutton condemned by Jesus!

Verse 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and CARES OF THIS LIFE, AND SO THAT DAY COME UPON YOU UNAWARES.

If you care for this life and the things of this life – money, housing, and whatever else it is that makes you watch the news – THAT DAY WILL TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE! How did Elijah stay in touch with world events from the court of Ahab when He lived in Zidon for three and a half years? (1 Kings 17:9-16). Or where do you suppose Paul found out the crucial happenings in Judea when Paul was taught by Christ in Arabia for three years? (Galatians 1:17-18). Or the other prophets who were sheepherders and vagabonds, destitute, afflicted, of whom the world was not worthy? Which of them stayed in touch with the inside news of the Kings’ inner circle?

Bottom line; if you’re doing what God wants, and watching YOURSELF – not world events – there is nothing that can happen in world events, be it dropping an H-bomb on Washington D.C. or the Dow stocks crashing to 500 that can affect you more than superficially. The news does not matter to citizens of heaven. We have diplomatic immunity. And a government behind us who is able to enforce that immunity.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD WILL DO NOTHING, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

He doesn’t say we have to watch the 10 o’clock news every night for that to happen. Does He?

1 Thessalonians 5:2,4 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. … But ye, brethren, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

That day will NOT overtake YOU like a thief in the night. If it does, then either GOD lied, or you failed to fulfill His command to WATCH and make sure that YOU ARE WORTHY TO ESCAPE!