The Illusion of Choice: Revelations and Biblical Principles for TodayaEUR(tm)s (End) Times

By Pastor Andreas Fischer

In today's modern society of high tech and 24-7 new cycles, a massive amount of information is broadcast and published every day that deeply influences our perspective on what is happening, on what is "real and true" in the world at any given moment. We have become consumers of screen time and information, and more and more people are glued to their electronic devices. How do we know then that the information we receive and consume every day is true? Based on all that information we consume, are we really free to make independent decisions?

"What perspective do we live? Do we live the perspective that is given to us through the screens?" writes the author. It seems that we face massive changes in all aspects of our daily lives, so people everywhere are looking for real answers and real solutions.

Discover the reasons for the changes in our world today, and find out how you can be successful, no matter what, by applying time-proven but at times forgotten biblical principles presented in this book that will help you navigate these uncertain times and prepare you to reach your full potential.

Author and missionary Pastor Andreas Fischer, born in Germany in 1967, immigrated to the US in 1991 to live the American dream. There, God called him to full-time ministry, and together with his wife, Kathy, he moved to Panama City, Panama. With the support of his home church from Florida, he started a successful ministry twenty-one years ago with a church and a nonprofit foundation to work in Panama City's inner city and high-risk districts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887512600

Book preview

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The Illusion of Choice

Revelations and Biblical Principles for TodayaEUR(tm)s (End) Times

Pastor Andreas Fischer

Copyright © 2023 by Pastor Andreas Fischer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

(A) Two revelations about the times we live in

(B) Biblical principles we must apply

Biblical Principles of God’s Calling 1

Biblical Principles of God’s Calling 2

Biblical Principles of Harvest 1

Biblical Principles of Harvest 2

Biblical Principles of the Seed

Contents

Introduction v

(A) Two revelations about the times we live in 1

The spirit of control 1

The illusion of choice 12

(B) Biblical principles we must apply 26

A return to true obedience 26

Biblical Principles of God’s Calling 1 34

Biblical Principles of God’s Calling 2 48

Biblical Principles of Harvest 1 62

Biblical Principles of Harvest 2 73

Biblical Principles of the Seed 84

Conclusion 95

Introduction

In March 2020, the world, as we knew it, changed. The COVID-19 pandemic was officially announced. As a missionary that is working in Panama City, Panama, since 2001, I was visiting our home church in South Florida to work on some personal matters. All of a sudden, everything was canceled, changed, and stopped by government. With the last possible flight, I was able to get my wife, Kathy, out of Panama to join me in Florida as the airports were shutting down, and Panama announced the cancelation of all international flights, inbound and outbound. For the next nine months, we conducted online services with our church in Panama via social media. It was good to see everybody, even though we were far away in another country. Thank God, in October of that year, the Panama City airport opened again, and I was able to fly back to reopen the church and get back to work hands on.

It was during that time that God started to reveal to me that something of importance was taking place. It was so important that the church had to take note of that. I can best describe this with something that I presented week after week during our services here at the church in Panama:

Today’s reality is constituted by the presentation and continuous repetition of images and messages on our screens. It is a representation and sometimes simulation of the supposed reality in which we live at this present moment.

We now live in a world of high tech, social media, and twenty-four-hour news cycles. Just following up on daily events, answering our text messages, responding to all the comments on our favorite social media, and watching TV can be a full-time job, it seems. Hours and hours of our daily lives are now spent in front of some type of screen—may it be our smartphone, tablet, computer, or television. Our lives have been truly transformed by how we experience everything around us. During the lockdowns caused by the pandemic in 2020, for many of us, the only way to see outside, to see family and friends, to see what was going on was through our screen time. Multitudes were glued to them just to get the latest updates, hoping for better news. Here I learned and saw for the first time very clearly that which I had been teaching in our church.

For the masses today, perception is reality—no, not facts, perception!

Let me explain:

The reality that is presented today, the one that we are supposedly living in is based on what? On facts. On truth? No, it is based on a continuous repetition of images and information on our screens that we consume on a daily basis. These images represent the supposed reality of what we are living through at any given time. Even in church, I have seen that good people have completely changed solely based on what they have repeatedly seen on screen. Because of the constant influences we receive during our screen time, we form a perception about things that are going on. These can be political, social, economic, cultural and, in a great way, affect our spiritual lives.

Most people today are consumers of screen time. With their busy lives and responsibilities, there is simply no time to verify everything they see on screen. So it seems that we, I mean most all of us, have become used to just turning on whatever screen we prefer to use and sit down and listen, watch, receive, and based on what we continuously see, that becomes our perception about the important things in life (COVID, Ukraine war, economy, race, politics, etc.).

This way of life leaves the door wide open to be deceived and closes the door on God’s revelation.

How can the church of today compete with the amount of information everybody is subjected to on a daily basis? As a result, it seems that more and more believers give more and more importance and act according to what they see and hear on screen.

The church family worldwide is exposed to this as technology advances and is now in the hands of more and more people and in every aspect of our lives. In recent studies, we can see that the use of screen time far outweighs the time believers give to God. Remember, there are only 168 hours in a week. If we spent 4 hours or more on our screens every day but only find time to go to church on Sunday for a few hours and not even on a regular basis, I wonder, what has the greater influence on our minds, thoughts, feelings and emotions? So I ask, What perspective do we live? Do we live in the perspective that is given to us through the screens, or do we still have a biblical perspective about what is happening in the world and our lives right now?

This book is a collection of revelations and sermons that God has provided for us here in Panama that deal exactly with this fact of life. I am not a writer, but I know that God is calling His church to action to awaken and to take part in this last great move of His Holy Spirit here on earth. I am blessed to be able to present to you the essential biblical principles that are time proven and that will help you activate your calling and purpose in life no matter what happens in the world.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy and love!

(A) Two revelations about the times we live in

The spirit of control

It was February 2022, and I had a cold—no, not COVID, a cold. With a fever and stuffy nose, I had a hard time sleeping. Church was doing great. The year started with a big bang, and all the congregation was motivated to be about the Lord’s business. Then something happened that I have never experienced as a pastor, not even during the height of the COVID pandemic. Our congregation basically was out sick—I mean almost everybody. Not one day passed without getting the information of some sickness hitting another family.

As their pastor, I was saddened to see that and saw the momentum we had for the Lord’s work vanish within a few weeks. During that specific sleepless night, I decided to not try to sleep any longer and to dedicate time in prayer—prayer for the congregation, the families, and then also to ask our heavenly Father, What is happening? As I prayed, trying to concentrate and not be bothered by the fever, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. Out of nowhere, I heard these words: spirit of control.

I could not get these words out of my mind for the rest of my prayer time, and then I finally got some rest and slept. The next morning, I immediately went downstairs to my office to study what I had heard, but I did not get very far. I got one scripture that I read and meditated on, but it would not move any further. So I wrote down the scripture and later at night went to bed to try to get some sleep.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 KJV)

With the scripture in my heart, I prayed again, fell asleep, and then woke again to pray some more. It was during that night that the Holy Spirit revealed to me this complete revelation:

There is a war going on for the control of all the human beings and the world. I was shown that this truth was not anything new and that it would continue to advance but that a solution already had been provided.

During my time of prayer that night, God brought me from Genesis all the way to Revelation to show me how this spirit of control operates and how it will operate until the end of time on earth.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to