ANTHROPOCENTRICITY: THE TRAPS WE SET
By Wade Martin Hughes,Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Humans are the only varmints that builds traps and set them to their own destruction.
ANTHROPOCENTRICITY an(T)-thro- pa- sen- tric- ity
Sam Williams wrote:
I just finished reading an article about Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
His 1978 question and answer sums up our problems.
How did the West decline from its triumphal march to its present sickness?
"ANTHROPOCENTRICITY --- THE ELEVATION OF MAN OVER GOD"
I guess that sums up our situation.
ANTHROPOCENTRIC: Considering human beings as the most significant entity of the universe.
Regarding the world in terms of human values and experiences.
THE SEA OF LIFE HAS MANY STORMS, TRIALS AND PROBLEMS THAT ARE TO TEACH
US AND TEST US...
Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may
sift you as wheat:
Luke 22:31 (MSG) "Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me,
like chaff from wheat.
HAVE WE HEARD ALL THE WARNINGS... ??? TRAPPED?
Have you ever read about people that have been ship-wrecked?
We have heard about people trapped in THE OCEANS OF LIFE?
The water is SALT WATER.
The sun will bake and burn you.
What do you do when all the fresh water and food is gone?
We know fresh water is essential to life. What will we do when the fresh water is gone?
We have been taught that SALT WATER IS DANGEROUS.
After many days on the ocean with no water and no food there is only one solution?
Ocean water has 6 to 10 times the salt than the body can handle.
THE SOLUTION WILL BRING SUDDEN DEATH.
I AM THRISTY? I AM DYING? This will not hurt me?
The salt water has great appeal to a thirsty person. I have been warned many times.
THE MORE YOU DRINK THE THIRSTIER YOU GROW, THE MORE YOU DRINK.
The salt causes dehydration, then kidney failure, then death.
IN OUR THIRST THE OCEAN WATER APPEARS TO BE WHAT WE NEED...,
THE TRAP --- THEN IT BECOMES --- WHAT WILL KILL US.
THERE IS A BIBLICAL TERM WE PROBABLY DO NOT USE EVERY DAY: GIN.
GIN is another word for TRAP.
A gin could be a noose or a snare.
Amos 3:5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take
up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Psalm 141:9 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers
of iniquity.
There are several types of GINS.
DRAG-NET, HAULING NET --- this requires the work of several men.
HAND NET, CASTING NET --- one person can handle this.
BAG NET --- a deep net that traps in the bag.
DECOY --- fake, look alike.
LET US RECALL THE ISSUES OF AN EFFECTIVE TRAP?
Every effective trap has to have several elements.
It must HIDE THE INTENTION --- catch unaware.
There must be PREPARATION to ready itself.
There must be some kind of APPEAL OR LURE to attach the victim.
It must have the ABILITY TO SPRING shut suddenly.
It must have the ability to HOLD and make the escape hard or impossible.
TRAP:
In football the defensive player is allow to cross the scrimmage line and then be pushed away
from where the ball is being advanced.
In basketball two defensive players converge and surround the ball carrier to steal the ball
or get the player to make a bad pass.
In baseball the glove has a trap to catch and hold the ball firmly in place.
SPEED TRAP: There were places that the police officer receive a portion of each ticket or
the police department had quota's for tickets.
Years ago in Benham Kentucky the police would wait at the bottom of a hill, a hidden sign
lower the speed limit from 45 to 25 and the officer would be eagerly awaiting and he would
gladly give you a ticket.
REMEMBER GOD WARNED HIS PEOPLE ABOUT TRAPS THAT WERE SET ALL AROUND THEM?
Joshua 23:9 For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you,
no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand:
for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. 11 Take good heed
therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. 12 Else if ye do in any wise go back,
and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make
marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: 13 Know for a certainty that the LORD
your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and
traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this
good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
TRAPS HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT SOURCES:
1. TRAPS SET BY OTHERS
2. SPIRITUAL TRAPS SET BY THE DEVIL.
3. SELF-INFLICTED TRAPS.
All traps have consequences.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Romans 6:23 Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real
life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.
WE NEED AN HONEST EVALUATION OF THE SOURCE OF TRAPS?
James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of
your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and
cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James 4:1 (MSG)Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you
think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight
for it deep inside yourselves. 2 You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it.
You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn't think of just
asking God for it, would you? 3 And why not? Because you know you'd be asking for what you
have no right to. You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
THE ARE TRICKS OF THE TRADE THAT INDIVIDUALS HAVE USED FOR GENERATIONS
THAT ARE VERY EFFECTIVE AND HAVE PROVEN RESULTS. OUR ENEMY HAS NO
NEW TRICKS TO PULL ON US, BUT HIS OLD TRAPS ARE EFFECTIVE AS WE SELDOM
LEARN.
The Eskimo people have learned that a hungry wolf can be a great danger to their
children and other people. So every good hunter knows an effective trap to get the mean,
bad wolf. It is a lesson learned and passed down through generations of hunters. The wolf
will never learn the trap and will be lured in to death?
The Eskimo knows part of his effective trap is preparation. So he works for hours to
sharpen his knife like a razor blade. Then the hunter dips the knife blade in to a bucket of
blood. He then lets it freeze solid. He repeats this process over and over until the blade
is completely cover in frozen blood. Now the blade is fully concealed and the man
goes out away from his house and buries the handle in the ice and snow.
The wolf has a very powerful sense of smell. He slowly and carefully approaches the
fragrance of the blood until he is there. He knows there must be something to eat.
The scent of the blood slowly lures the wolf away from the safety of the pack. The wolf
can see no danger around him.
The wolf gradually starts licking the blood. It tastes so good. He has found some
food to eat. He slowly licks the frozen blood and he really enjoys it. The frozen blood
is melting away from the razor sharp blade. The wolf licks faster and faster, harder and
harder until warm blood is running down the blade. The warm blood really appeals to
the wolf. Now the blood is freely flowing.
The wolf does not realize he is drinking his own blood. The deeper and deeper
the wounds become the more the wolf enjoys himself. The wolf's own appetite cause
him to bleed to death and die. His own desires bring the strong creature down. The
next day the Eskimo finds blood and the beautiful wolf is dead.
THE WOLF'S OWN CONSUMING NATURE BECOMES SELF DESTRUCTION.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DO WE KNOW ARE NEARING A DESTRUCTIVE END?
DRUGS? ALCOHOL? SEX? PEER PRESSURE? DROPPING OUT OF CHURCH?
WATCHING PORN? THEIR OWN TONGUE BECOMES A TRAP!
WHAT TRAPS ARE HIDDEN BEFORE US?
SKIP A LITTLE CHURCH? STOP READING THE BIBLE? GOSSIP?
ADAM AND EVE FELL INTO A TRAP? IT WAS NOT FOOD?
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat.
THE MANNA TRAP --- JUST GET AN OMER, HAVE LEFT OVERS....
JUDAS SEEMED TRAPPED...
SAMSON COULD NOT SEE UNTIL HE WAS BLIND...
ACHAN WAS TRAPPED BY MONEY AND NEW CLOTHES HE NEVER GOT TO WEAR?
SAUL WAS TRAPPED BY NOT WAITING ON SAMUEL.
GEHAZI WAS TRAPPED HE THOUGHT HE DESERVED MORE THAN HE WAS GETTING...
ELISHA WAS BROKEN...
WILL WE HONESTLY IDENTIFY:
ANTHROPOCENTRICITY --- THE ELEVATION OF MAN'S DESIRES ABOVE GOD'S?
WHAT ARE THE TRAPS BEFORE YOU? BEWARE...
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
