The World Makes No Sense Without Tri-focal Vision

The May 24, 1982 entry on my “Life Calendar” records that I spent a day in Washington, D.C. with a spiritual leader who confirmed that I had a prophetic gift. No, not that kind of prophet (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah etc.). Just an individual with a calling to speak for God and an ability to “see” things that others miss.

Part of being prophetic (not pathetic) includes a spiritual warfare perspective—the ability to glimpse realities in the unseen realm. I submit to you that today’s world and all that is happening around us make no sense without tri-focal vision.

Here is what I mean.

Tri-focal Vision

Our world is changing at a dizzying pace and technology makes it 24/7, global, and extremely dangerous. For example:

• We are emerging from a global pandemic that has changed the world and our attitudes toward government intervention and control. 
• In the USA we elected a president with mental deficiencies who appears to be a pawn of others. Nearly every Biden policy seems to be aimed at destroying American freedom and culture.
• Critical race theory–which I recently exposed as racial Marxism–is now being taught in in many high schools and colleges. It’s blatantly racist.
• The Middle East is again aflame as we prop up the religious dictatorship in Iran. China is on the march as a global power. 

Yet, very few in the media–even some of the best minds of our day–seem to grasp what is really going on.

You can’t make sense of our time–any human era–without recognizing three moral agents who are involved in our lives (beings that think, feel and act). You rarely hear all three groups mentioned in the news though the Bible proves their reality.

We usually get a man-centered side of the story which makes no sense or is incomplete.

The Scriptures are clear that three moral agents affect life on earth: 1) God and His righteous angels, 2) Satan and his evil demonic hordes and 3) Human beings who choose between good and evil. 

In the biblical narratives we see God at work (2 Samuel 5:24, Joshua 10:11, and 2 Corinthians 10:4) We also see Satan trying to thwart His purposes and destroy people’s lives and future (John 10:10, Ephesians 6:12, and Revelation 12:7-9). We humans also make moral choices that affect both our earthly and eternal destinies (Joshua 24:14,15 and John 3:14-21).

Yet, on cable TV, we only hear about people. So, the “story” lacks perspective.

We must view life through the tri-focal vision of God’s gracious providence, Satan’s evil plans, and the free choices of human beings. Without tri-focal lenses, we do not see the whole picture. 

Here are some recent examples of good but incomplete perspective.

My preferred source for news coverage is Bill O’Reilly’s “No Spin News” (billoreilly.com). I am willing to pay $5 a month for his forty-minute daily podcast. (If you buy his ten book “Killing” series for $270, you get a free lifetime membership.) Bill is Catholic with a Judeo-Christian worldview and street smarts. He helped me after the questionable U.S. presidential election to resist conspiracy theories nor believe anything unless facts warranted it. O’Reilly is cautious, strategic, and does his homework.

It’s easy to believe an idea because we see it on the Internet or television. Not O’Reilly. He knows the Web is filled with lies and theories we must constantly filter, reject, or confirm.

I became a follower of Jesus because the facts about His life and message prove to be true. That same standard applies to everything else. They must be established by evidence. Our faith is built on facts.

Yet, Bill O’Reilly has been opining for months that he doesn’t understand why “Woke corporations” are promoting socialism–which will hurt profits. He has asked others to explain why. Nobody gives a decent answer.

But with tri-focal vision, the answer is clear: Satanic deception and the hope of crony capitalism under socialist control. The corporate moguls are blinded by demonic visions and temptations of power and influence.

There’s no other reasonable answer.

Then there is Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institute (Stanford University). He is considered one of the smartest pundits in America. But VDH is not very clear on why anti-Semitism is growing in the world. Here’s his answer in “Why Does the Left Seemingly Hate Israel?”

Hating democratic Israel while it is under attack is not just a reflection of the new woke and ethically bankrupt left. It is also a symptom of a deeper pathology in the West, one of moral equivalence, amoral relativism, and self-loathing. Hating Israel has become the surrogate Western way of hating oneself.

Probably true but incomplete.

The Left hates Israel because they are “God’s people” and need to be destroyed to discredit his reality. There are more demons running around Palestine than street vendors. Middle East war is all about God’s people, His sovereign plans to use them in history, demonic loathing of Jews (who inspired Hitler), and ultimately hatred for Jesus and His salvation.

Dick Morris, another normally astute political veteran, also misses the larger picture in a similar piece “Why Does the Left Hate Israel?” He concludes that anti-Semitism has risen because recent Israeli leaders (Menachem Begin & Benjamin Netanyahu) rejected Israel’s socialist beginning or is being resurrected in the guise of political debate after being shamed over the Holocaust.

Both men make valid points about Israel but still miss the central truth.

Israel–a tiny piece of real estate in the world–occupies world headlines because of their miraculous resurrection as a nation, Satan’s hatred for Jesus and all those associated with Him (Old and New Testament), and God’s end-time plans for consummating His Kingdom.

When your trifocals are in place, that’s clear to see.

I realize that God’s providential activities as well as Satan’s clandestine ops are invisible to the naked eye. However, they are historically and subjectively confirmed by the “evidence” that we see. We must be careful in our assessments but not overlook them. Otherwise, we suffer from nearsightedness while looking at human events.

We must learn to prayerfully interpret all of life through the trifocal vision of God’s work, Satan’s mischief, and human choices. All three make everything come into perspective. Two current examples:

• We are not disturbed by the recent sighting of UFO’s that even baffle the U.S. military. “Star Wars” comes from the atheist view of the universe, not the biblical one. All these phenomena can be explained by the angelic-demonic realm. 
• We understand why transgenderism is the latest secular cause. Being able to decide whether you are a man, woman, both or neither, is the ultimate rebellion against God creating them “male and female.” No wonder the demons push this lie to confuse and destroy children and families.

Take some time this week to watch the following interview between Eric Metaxas and Os Guinness. It lasts seventy-five minutes but is worth every second due to its tri-focal vision. 

In the first part, Guinness shares the “golden triangle” of freedom and why cultural Marxism is on the rise. In the second portion, he shares his family story which includes being born in China and surviving the Communist Revolution. He concludes with some touching thoughts on trusting God in our current trials and loving and understanding liberty.

Os Guinness states correctly that “true leaders define reality.” That includes seeing God, Satan, and human beings in our earthly affairs. In fact, reverence for God “is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) i.e., spiritual sight.

Make Him your first lens of choice–then add the other two.