Negativeland: "Time Zones"

This sound collage deals with the Soviet Union which spanned eleven time zones. It occupied a sixth of the earth's land surface. A broadcast from Radio Moscow was used by the group leader to begin this piece. I had to laugh when I heard the announcer refer to "the Commy people." Hear it for yourself here.

History shows that empires rise and fall. And no scripture passage shows this better than Daniel 2:37-42. The Bible in Basic English renders it this way.

"You, O King, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory, Wherever the children of men are living; into whose hands he has given the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven, and has made you ruler over them all, you are the head of gold. And after you another kingdom, lower than you, will come to power; and a third kingdom, of brass, ruling over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom will be strong as iron: because, as all things are broken and overcome by iron, so it will have the power of crushing and smashing down all the earth. And as you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's work and part of iron, there will be a division in the kingdom; but there will be some of the strength of iron in it, because you saw the iron mixed with the potter's earth. And as the toes of the feet were in part of iron and in part of earth, so part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will readily be broken."

Babylon fell, just as Daniel prophesied, to the Medes and Persians. That empire was conquered by Greece. It in turn was conquered by Rome. Rome split in half and both parts later fell.

Theologians differ about the feet of iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Some say it represents a world government made of ten, or many, countries. Others say the feet represent the Catholic church. I believe the feet are the governments around the world which all hold the same blasphemous and idolatrous doctrines from the four previous empires.

I'm glad that an empire is coming which will blow all the rest away and never collapse. Daniel 2:43 and 44 (BBE) tells us this encouraging prophecy. "And as you saw the iron mixed with earth, they will give their daughters to one another as wives: but they will not be united one with another, even as iron is not mixed with earth. And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will put up a kingdom which will never come to destruction, and its power will never be given into the hands of another people, and all these kingdoms will be broken and overcome by it, but it will keep its place for ever."

If King Jesus hasn't come to usher in this everlasting dominion by Monday, I hope I can publish about one of Neil Diamond's introspective songs.

Georg Katzer: "Aide Memoir"

This is a sound collage which the German government sponsored as a remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the rise of the Third Reich. Instead of making it a chronological telling of the events, Georg Katzer designed it like seven nightmares in which the sleeper is restless.

You don't need to understand German to feel how purely evil the Nazi era was. Listen to this piece, if you dare, here.

No matter how wicked rulers can be, God can make good come out of it. Christianity began spreading under severe persecution but the Lord used it for good purposes. Thanks to the persecution Paul experienced, the gospel infiltrated into the highest levels of the Roman government.

As we read in Philippians 1:12-14 (Bible in Basic English), "Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences; So that it became clear through all the Praetorium, and to all the rest, that I was a prisoner on account of Christ; And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear.

This is the reason Paul and other first century saints faced the brunt of Roman and Jewish persecution. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18 (BBE), "For our present trouble, which is only for a short time, is working out for us a much greater weight of glory; While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

If we are punished by governments for worshipping Christ, let's remember Colossians 3:2 and 3 (BBE). "Keep your mind on the higher things, not on the things of earth. For your life on earth is done, and you have a secret life with Christ in God."

If our beloved Master hasn't returned by Monday, I hope to publish about the impossibility of ending war in this age.