Merital Family – File

Montego Bay-based dancehall group Merital Family has announced that they are officially parting ways with the Vybz Kartel-led Portmore Empire.

“For the last year and a half, we ah get stifle, we ah get overpriced, dem a tell people say we de pon tour and we de ya nah go nowhere. We ah suffer, we nah get no promotion, we have kids to feed and me have my mother to take care of,” a representative of the Merital Family said in a release.

The group shot to fame in 2010 with the My Money (Ha Ha) song on the Stripclub rhythm and featured a hilarious Vybz Kartel cameo where he delivers a Santa-like laugh.

The song, on the Adidjaheim/ NotNice/Concussion labels, hit No.1 on several major charts in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The group also continued to score hits with other popular songs such as Pray, When We Party andBad Like We on the Clappers rhythm.

However, in the last 12 months, they have seen a marked decline in their level of promotion, and in the output of singles in the local dancehall market.

“From wah day ya, mi see riddim a mek and no Merital, no Jahvinci not on it and when we call Notnice, him say ‘ah the Teacha set it’. So wah kinda suffocation this? We have been loyal to the organisation, and it is not being loyal to us … no video, no promotion, no recording. Mi fed up and tired. We caan reason or have a number for the man who run the organisation that we are supposed to be signed to,” another group member said in the release.

The release said that the level of segregation and separation insisted on by Portmore Empire head, Vybz Kartel, had stifled opportunities to meet and collaborate with other artistes.

“Mi come to do music and sake ah the Empire, we never get to contact certain producers and artistes, or meet with icons in the business like Bounty Killer, just because of the Empire, we just caan link wid nobody else or it would be seen as a straight violation,” a representative of the Merital Family said.

own bookings

The group, however, has continued to record songs, voicing Tell Me Why for the Young Money label for Good Good Productions, and Dancing on the Type R label. They also recently recorded On and On on the Gangsta City Part Two label.

“We are doing our own bookings now and our own management. We are willing to work with all the great producers out there to make our careers happen. Big-up to Vybz Kartel for signing us in the first place, but we have to move on now so that we can earn and support our families. The way things are going on caan work. We fed up and tired,” a representative was quoted as saying in the release.

The group can be contacted through the email address, [email protected].

In the meantime, Popcaan has come out to clear the air, as it was also rumoured that he had also left the Portmore Empire.

Speaking with The STAR, Popcaan rubbished the rumours saying, “Jamaica people unnu done know how the ting go, real thugs neva sell out or buy out fi fly out don’t? So unnu know seh Popcaan seh gaza fi life, a gaza mi name.”

He said that there is no truth to the talks that have been circulating and that he has no reason to leave the musicalfaction mentioning that a collaboration with himself, Vybz Kartel, Shawn Storm and Gaza Slim is on its way.

Dubbed the ‘gaza prefect’, Popcaan made his Portmore Empire debut in 2008 with the single My War but gained international success in 2010 with the hit song Clarks which also featured his mentor Vybz Kartel and label mate Gaza Slim. He is also known for songs such as Dream and Gangster City.

He says fans can also look out for the ‘Empire Forever’ collaboration which features himself, Vybz Kartel, Shawn Storm and Gaza Slim as well as a new song on Firelinks soon to be released rhythm.

I do now if smaddy really can pay fi a bakkle a bleach and a pair a eye brow fi come fram Jamaica come tan up like  a fake moet bakkle ina dem pawty……………..WELL GG DID.. FI HAR 25TH BIRTHDAY PARTY SHE PAY ……………………yes PAY GARY SHERLOCK FI COME TAN UP INADIPARTY… DI PEOPLE DEM SEH BIG CELEBRITTY STANDA GARY NEVA SHOW UP TILL 3 AM AND PAWTY DUN 4…HIM FI GUH A DI PAWTY DRESSED INA AMERICAN ATTIRE HIM GUH DRESSED LIKE BRITISH…………..DEN GG GUH ASK HIM FI TEK A PICHO WID HAR DI BWAAY BAWL OUT ”’ DEN WHO A GO CARRY MI MAT”?

MR BUCKINGHAM PALACE NEVA SI COME SI STILL NAH SI GARY SHERLOCK A WHA  DUH YUH? ALL DI TRAVEL YUH A TRAVEL YUH CYAA MOVE DI WATNOT OUTA DI FRONT A DI LIVING ROOM WID DI BAG A HAT DEM AND PAINT OVA DI PLACE DECENTLY…YUH A CHAT BOUT MAT LIKE YUH A SMADDY..

VZCZCXRO4444
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHTM
DE RUEHKG #0425/01 1351714
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141714Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6336
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0516
INFO RUEHZI/WHA IM POSTS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINGSTON 000425

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP
DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC
POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC JM
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY JAN-MAR 2008 KINGSTON

REF: A) 08 KINGSTON 00091 B) 07 KINGSTON 01742

¶1. (U) SUMMARY. In the second quarter of FY 2008, the Fraud
Prevention Unit focused on public outreach and interagency
cooperation, particularly with our law enforcement colleagues. FPU
organized an interagency roundtable, conducted three offsite field
trips for officers, and gave presentations to airline
representatives, immigration officers, and our friends at the
British and Canadian High Commissions. Kingston’s FPU received 233
Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV) cases, 3 new Immigrant Visa (IV) cases, 9
American Citizen Services (ACS) cases, and 150 external requests
(data checks from DHS, airlines, local immigration, etc.). FPU
processed an additional 160 walk-in cases and entered 318 CLASS
records based on I-275 turn around reports and other tip reports.
Of all the NIV cases referred, 167 were closed, with 49 confirmed
fraud (confirmed fraud rate: 29%). 7 IV cases were closed this
quarter, with three confirmed fraud (confirmed fraud rate: 43%).
END SUMMARY

———————–
NONIMMIGRANT VISA FRAUD
———————–

¶2. (SBU) PERFORMERS: In January, FPU intercepted a group of sixteen
performers who had close ties to the Caribbean Alliance Group, a
petitioner known to FPU to have associations with drug trafficking.
While this group of performers had applied under a new petition,
many of the group had previously traveled for Caribbean Alliance
Group and the bona fides of their previous travel could not be
established. Most of the group could not give convincing answers
about their upcoming tour, so the group was refused and their ties
to the suspect petitioner were documented.

¶3. (U) J1 SUMMER WORK AND TRAVEL PROGRAM: In February, our
interviewers noticed a group of J1 summer work and travel students
whose program dates ran from February to May 2008. FPU investigated
the group and determined that none of the students met the
qualifications for the summer work and travel program. Most were
only part-time students and several claimed to attend the Computer
Professionals Training Institute, a bogus educational entity. The
group’s travel agent, Annie Wilson, had organized their applications
and claimed to represent the group on behalf of the Nu Krew
Employment Agency. However, this was not the first time that Ms.
Wilson had come to the attention of the Fraud Prevention Unit. She
had previously attempted to obtain visa appointments through
fraudulent means. Adhering to Kingston’s new “zero-tolerance”
policy for agents who abuse the expedited appointment process, FPU
has barred Ms. Wilson and the Nu Krew Employment Agency from using
the expedited system. FPU also reported the suspicious U.S.
employment agency, Philadelphia International Institute, to the
Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

¶4. (U) PENN RELAYS: The Penn Relays track and field meet in April of
each year is a major athletic event that is a significant cultural
milestone for many young Jamaican athletes. Hundreds of high school
and university students apply for visas each spring to attend the
meet. However, many mala fide applicants apply for visas to attend
the meet as well, disguising themselves as student athletes. In
order to combat the high fraud associated with this event but still
allow the bona fide student athletes to travel, FPU implemented a
new system to prescreen all Penn Relays applicants. The FPM and FPU
investigator delivered a presentation to over 100 principals and
coaches of the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA), a
local organization that coordinates all sports at the secondary
school level. All schools submitted their students’ applications
and passports in advance of their visa interviews. After the cases
were adjudicated, FPU verified the student enrollment of all 350
students over a three day period to ensure that each visa was issued
to a bona fide student athlete. The new screening system was very
successful and resulted in an improved relationship with ISSA and
all the high schools involved in the process.

——————–
IMMIGRANT VISA FRAUD
——————–

¶5. (U) In February 2008, the FPU staff conducted field
investigations on outstanding immigrant visa cases over the course
of three days. Two of the Unit’s Fraud Investigators organized the
trips and invited an entry-level officer (ELO) in the Consular
Section to participate each day, in order to serve as a training
opportunity and help orient the ELOs to the work involved in
conducting a fraud investigation. The two-day field trip covered
four parishes and resulted in the completion of four immigrant visa
case investigations, of which two were determined to be fraudulent

KINGSTON 00000425 002 OF 003

relationships. FPU plans to continue to organize these field trips
bimonthly.

——–
DV FRAUD
——–

¶6. (U) Kingston is not a DV post.

——————————————–
AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES AND PASSPORT FRAUD
——————————————–

¶7. (U) FPU continues to investigate passport and CRBA applications
for the ACS Unit by providing Lexis Nexis and other database
searches on applications in order to assist the ACS officers in
their adjudication process. Particularly in the rush of passport
applications that has followed the implementation of the Western
Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), ACS has brought more cases to
FPU’s attention for verification of U.S. civil documents and Lexis
searches to verify the passport applicants’ claims to citizenship.

————–
ADOPTION FRAUD
————–

¶8. (U) FPU regularly investigates adoption cases where the
applicant’s orphan status is uncertain. Jamaica has a tradition of
informal adoption without documentation, which makes it difficult
for Jamaican applicants to establish their eligibility. Often, an
applicant’s relatives in the United States will adopt the applicant
despite the fact that the applicant does not qualify as an orphan.
FPU conducts regular field investigations to the applicants’ homes
in order to determine who is caring for the applicant and whether
the family meets the poverty definitions of the INA.

———————————–
ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD
———————————–

¶9. (U) Post’s DHS/USCIS Officer-in-Charge reports no asylum cases
for the second quarter of 2008.

——————————————–
COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES
——————————————–

¶10. (U) FPU continued our public outreach efforts with airline and
immigration officer trainings in January and February. FPU trained
60 new airline representatives and 20 immigration officers on
fraudulent document detection, facial recognition and U.S. travel
document requirements.

——————————–
COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES
——————————–

¶11. (SBU) In February, FPU sponsored a roundtable meeting with all
U.S. law enforcement agencies at Post: the U.S. Marshals, the
Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),
the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS), the Regional Security Office,
and the Consular Section. It was the first gathering of these
agencies in recent memory to discuss fraud issues and was a highly
successful meeting. The group agreed to implement better
information-sharing practices and to meet more regularly to discuss
fraud trends and other cross-cutting issues.

¶12. (SBU) As a result of the law enforcement roundtable meeting, our
DHS colleagues have begun to regularly share lists of Jamaican
deportees that have arrived on the monthly Justice Prisoner and
Alien Transportation System (JPATS) flights from the U.S. FPU has
used this information to ensure that all deportees have been entered
into the CLASS database. FPU has also received invaluable drug
interdiction intelligence from DEA and NAS, as well as developed a
closer relationship with the U.S. Marshals office to detect wanted
fugitives who apply for visas.

——————————-
COOPERATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT
——————————-

¶13. (U) FPU hosted a three-day visit by the Department’s Fraud
Prevention Programs (CA/FPP) liaison for the Caribbean in February
and shared our best practices, as well as the challenges we face in

KINGSTON 00000425 003 OF 003

detecting and preventing fraud in Kingston. The visit produced
valuable results and strengthened our working relationship with the
Department and our regional colleagues.

—————————
AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN
—————————

¶14. (SBU) FRAUDULENT ENTRY TO CONSULAR SECTION: In March, FPU
received information from the Consular Process Facilitator that
applicants appeared to be entering the compound without valid
appointment letters. After our staff identified several applicants
who had entered improperly, FPU investigated and discovered that
these applicants were arriving at the entrance and asking for
admission to the American Citizen Services Unit. Upon further
investigation, the applicants admitted that they had paid a vendor
outside on the sidewalk approximately US $100 each for information
on how to access the Consular Section. The A/RSO-I interrogated the
vendor and turned her over to the Jamaican Fraud Squad for criminal
investigation.

———————
STAFFING AND TRAINING
———————

¶15. (U) OFFICER TRAINING: In February, FPU coordinated and hosted
an intensive, three hour training session for visa officers to
review visa security features, exemplars of backdated immigration
stamps, common fraudulent groups and trends, and investigative
interviewing skills. The presentation was the inaugural session in
what is planned to be monthly officer training sessions to cover a
range of fraud prevention issues as they arise.

¶16. (U) OFFICER FIELD TRIPS: In March, FPU coordinated an off-site
field trip to the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) to learn
about the process to obtain local birth and marriage certificates.
The RGD provided an insightful presentation and tour of its
facilities. FPU learned that the RGD has many security measures in
place and treats its security paper much like visa foils in terms of
access and accountability. Officers were able to ask questions
about the most common fraud trends that arise in visa interviews
with regards to local birth and marriage records. The director of
the RGD, Dr. Patricia Holness, personally gave the presentation and
guided us on the tour. The field trip provided officers and staff
with a better understanding of the RGD and built confidence in the
RGD’s ability to prevent fraud.

¶17. (U) LES TRAINING: Fraud Investigator Erica Beresford attended
PC-542 Fraud Prevention Workshop at FSI on March 10-14, 2008. Ms.
Beresford learned critical new investigative skills and how to apply
the latest CA/FPP tools. She also benefited from interacting with
her colleagues from around the world. Upon Ms. Beresford’s return
to Post, she shared her experiences in a roundtable discussion with
the rest of the Fraud Prevention Unit. The training was immensely
valuable and Post plans to nominate another LES staff member for the
next available training course.

¶18. (U) The Fraud Prevention Manager (FPM) position is vacant. The
current FPM is Jennifer L. Williams, an ELO in a six month rotation.

Why The World Hates Jesus
as we head further into end time waters, one of the most amazing things you will see occurring right before your very eyes is how much the world really hates Jesus and everything that He stands for.
As you will see in the verses I will give you below, not do only many in the world not like Jesus, but they actually hate Him. The first verse I will give you below is coming directly from Jesus Himself and He specifically tells us in this verse that the world is literally going to hate Him.
Not only did the world hate Him and put him to death within three and half years after He officially started His miracle ministry, but this hatred for Him has continued on and it is still continuing to this very day. However, there is something very different with the hatred and disdain that we are now seeing for our personal Lord and Savior.
My brothers and I are from the United States. We believe that our country to date is the greatest and most powerful Christian nation that has ever been formed on the face of this earth. The reason our country is still the world’s greatest and biggest superpower that the world has ever seen is due to the anointing that God the Father Himself has placed upon this country as a result of our earlier Christian foundations that were initially established and placed in Him.
God Himself is the One who has made this country as great as it has turned out to be. Jesus tells us that the end will not come until His gospel has been preached to the whole world. And in order for that to be able to happen, God had to make sure that there was at least one strong and powerful nation operating under His anointing that would be able to work and operate with the material blessings that He would bestow upon them so they could accomplish this specific goal for Him.
Though some other countries may be starting to catch up, America still has sent out more missionaries to the rest of the world to preach the gospel than any other country has ever done before. And now with the major advancements made in technology over the last 100 years or so with television and the internet, the world has now become much more interconnected with one another.
We can now reach people all over the world with the gospel of Jesus in a way that we have never been able to do before. Christianity can now be preached and delivered to many in the world today through television and the internet. We can now reach many more people with the gospel than what we could before with just direct missionary work.
However, as great and rosy as this scenario appears to be for our country, there is now a major storm cloud that has formed out over our horizon, and our country is now starting to develop cancer cells that will only strengthen and grow wider, deeper, and stronger over the coming years. And again, Jesus was one step ahead of all of this with some of the specific prophecies He made in the New Testament before He ascended to His Father.
Jesus has already told us that there would be a falling away and a departing from their faith in Him in the end times, and that many of His own elect were going to be fooled and deceived by other false belief systems, signs and wonders being done by the dark side, and many of the false teachers, false prophets and false christs that would come upon this earth in the latter days. And this is exactly what we are starting to see.
Not only is anti-Semitism on the rise across much of the world today, but there is also a major and noticeable increase in the rise against Christianity itself. Much of Europe is now turning away from Christianity to a more secular agenda, and even many in our own country are coming out and attacking the basics teachings of true Christianity.
What I believe is really occurring is that an antichrist spirit is now starting to invade and envelop much of the world. The battle lines are now really being drawn between true born-again Christians and the rest of the world.
If a real live Antichrist is going to come to rule this entire world during the last 7 years of this world, which is known as the Great Tribulation, then I believe that an antichrist spirit will proceed his coming in order to help prepare the way for him to be able to gain full control of the entire world during those last 7 years. And now with our own country being officially invaded by this antichrist spirit, I believe that we are now on the way to Armageddon.
Whether or not any of this happens in any of our lifetimes obviously remains to be seen. But I believe major Bible prophecies are now starting to come to pass and we are now truly living in the end times.
This antichrist spirit is like a cancer cell and it is now spreading to every corner of the globe. I am afraid there is now no way we can stop this antichrist spirit from forming out and spreading its wings. All we can do as good, Christian soldiers is to rise up and fight against it whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. And it is rearing its ugly head in all walks of our life.
We now have an antichrist spirit that has invaded and infected all of our school systems, media, and judicial systems. We have very liberal and atheistic teachers, professors and principals trying to ban the Bible and any form of prayer from any part of the school life, along with trying to ban any type of teaching on the debate of creation versus evolution.
We now have many college professors who are teaching very liberal and secular points of view right in the middle of their actual classes, and then criticizing and ridiculing any conservative Christian who tries to speak up to give an opposing point of view for other students to consider. As a result of the liberal and anti-Christian bias that is on many of our college campuses today, some Christians are either losing their faith or falling away from parts of their faith in the Lord due to the secular, liberal and atheistic views of these college professors and teachers.
We now have a media that has become highly secular and humanistic. Not only do they not like God and everything that He stands for, but they want Him out of every possible public arena. As a result, many of our major newspapers and magazines across this country are now preaching a very liberal and godless secular agenda.
And then to top it off, the ACLU, which is supposed to be our friend and ally, and who is supposed to protecting all of our civil liberties and rights, has now joined sides with this secular movement, and they are now filing ridiculous lawsuits trying to stop the free expression of our faith in any form of the public eye.
And not only are we not receiving any help from our own media or any of these civil liberty organizations, but this antichrist spirit has now invaded our own judicial system. We now have liberal and secular judges making rulings and decisions in some of these court cases that are a complete abomination against the Lord. Abortion is still a legalized crime in our country, and every single day 4000 unborn children are being murdered in cold blood right in the middle of their mother’s wombs. We still have a mass genocide occurring every single day in this Christian country due to the liberal and secular agendas now running through parts of our judicial system and government.
Jesus has already told us that the truth will set us free. However, just the opposite is also true. Not having or seeing the truth, and not operating and walking in those godly truths, will cause us to become slaves to the devil. Jesus has already told us that those who sin will become slaves to their sins.
Those who are living and working in these godless, secular camps may think they are free from any moral absolutes or any moral restrictions from the Lord, but in reality they have become mindless slaves to the dark side, and they have now become nothing but pure pawns for the devil to use as he sees fit to further his agenda to rule the world through the coming Antichrist.
Many of these people are operating under direct, demonic influence with some of their warped and debased points of view. Demons are playing some of these people like fiddles, and these people are totally clueless as to what is really going on behind the scenes between God and the devil for all of their souls.
As a result, Christians are now made fun of, attacked, and criticized on a non-stop and regular basis, both in the media and on the streets in real life. Christian bashing is now the “in” thing to do among many in the media and hollywood elite. We are now looked upon by many in the secular world today as outcasts, right-wing extremists, Jesus freaks and homophobes.
Popular TV and radio talk show host Bill O’Reilly has recently written a very good and powerful book on this unfolding dilemma in our society today. He calls what is now going on with all of this an actual “culture war” – a culture war between secular-progressives and the traditional, conservative Americans who still want to try and stay true to their basic conservative Christian beliefs that this country was initially founded on.
What is really going on with all of this once you step back and look at the big picture is that we are now heading into end time waters as specifically prophesied out of our Bible. With the coming of a real live Antichrist who will rule this world for most, if not all of the last 7 years of this world, it is only logical to conclude that we will see an antichrist spirit start to invade this entire world to prepare for his coming – and that is exactly what we are now starting to see enter onto the world stage.
What this means for all Christians is that this antichrist spirit is not going to be going away. And not only is this antichrist spirit not going to be going away, but it is only going to get bigger and grow wider and stronger over the coming years until it finally leads up to the real Antichrist, who will then take center stage on the world as a ruler over a 10 nation confederacy.
The battle lines are now being drawn between God’s people and the devil’s people. Sooner or later, every unbeliever will have to make a decision as to which side they are going to stand on for all of eternity.
Since we receive so many emails from new believers, I want to use this article to try and answer a question that many of them have either had or will be having sometime in the near future as they continue to grow in their own personal walks with the Lord.
This 50 million dollar question is why – why do so many people hate Jesus and everything that He personally stands for?
Once you start reading the Bible and start learning what the big picture is really all about, one of the questions many of you will have is how can so many people in this world hate the one and only Savior that can actually save them? Once you come to see and understand who Jesus really is and what He is actually all about, you will wonder – how can anyone literally come to hate Him?
We are talking about a perfect God-being, a perfect God and Lord who has nothing but all of our best interests at heart. How can anyone really hate Jesus when all He wants to do is save us and bring us back into heaven with Him and His Father after we die and cross over?
Jesus Himself answers this specific question for us in the two verses I will give you in this article. When you study very carefully what He is trying to tell us in these first two verses, and then take this revelation and plug it into the big picture, you will see very clearly why so many people have hated Jesus throughout the years, and why they still continue to hate Him to this very day – even in this supposedly enlightened day and age.
THE SCRIPTURE VERSES

To fully answer this question, you need to really meditate on three specific pieces of revelation that is being given to us by the Lord. I will break these verses down under these three specific revelations so you can fully understand why so many in the world have hated our Lord and Savior for a little over 2000 years since His birth into our world.
1. The World Hates Jesus Because He Testifies That Its Works Are Evil

This first verse I will give you is coming direct from Jesus Himself. In this verse is full and complete revelation as to why so many in the world today hate Jesus. The second verse will then add some additional understanding to this revelation.
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7)

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:19-21)
In this first verse, Jesus is flat out telling us that the world is never going to love Him, embrace Him, or accept Him. He is telling us that the world is literally going to “hate” Him.
Notice that Jesus is using the word “hate.” The word hate is the strongest word you can use to describe when you really do not like someone. It is one thing not to like someone, but it is quite another thing to actually hate someone. And we are talking about the world actually hating God Almighty Himself, since Jesus is also God and Lord Himself and is the second Person of the Divine Trinity.
So you can see how strong and intense of a word “hate” really is, here are some definitions of this word from Webster’s Dictionary and several different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries:
To feel extreme enmity toward
To have strong dislike or ill will for, loath, despise
A strong negative reaction, a feeling toward someone considered an enemy
An intense feeling of aversion or enmity, which could prompt a person to loath someone or something
After Jesus makes this specific statement that the world is always going to hate Him, then notices what He says next. He then gives us the specific reason as to why so many in the world are always going hate Him – and this reason is because Jesus will be testifying that “its works are evil.” And this is where you really get into the real heart and crux of this entire matter.
Jesus then gives us an additional revelation in the second verse as to why so many people have hated Him and will continue to hate Him until He comes back to our earth to set up His Millennium Kingdom. In this second verse He tells us that many in our world are always going to love darkness over light. In other words, they will love and choose evil over good. They will always prefer to do bad and evil things instead of choosing to do good and godly things.
Also notice that Jesus uses the specific words that these people are “practicing evil.” Those who are practicing evil are people who are doing evil things on some type of regular and consistent basis and who are making no attempt to try and pull out of it. We see this exact dilemma unfolding with many of our criminals. Some of these criminals keep repeating and “practicing” the same behavior patterns that got them thrown into jail in the first place. But not only does this revelation apply to criminals, but it also applies to all of us to one degree or another.
Bottom line – we are all sinners and we all need a personal Savior in Jesus Christ to save us from those sins. This now leaves each person with one of two choices they will have to eventually make in this life.
We can either admit that we are all fallen and corrupt sinners, born that way through our mother’s womb, and then be willing to accept the redemption and pardon that Jesus is willing to offer to us through His sacrificial death on the cross – or we can refuse to admit that we are sinners, that we do not need Jesus to save us from our sinful states, and then go on living and thinking that we will never really have to face any type of personal judgment on our lives or any kind of eternal consequences for all of the actions we have taken in this life once we die and cross over.
If you can’t or won’t admit that you are a fallen sinner, then you will see no need to accept Jesus as your personal Savior. You will then become totally self-sufficient and totally self-reliant in your own tunnel vision, and you will then go on your merry way living this life as if you are in complete control of your own destiny. And this is the exact attitude and the exact path that many atheists, agnostics and secular people are now taking.
What is quite amazing about all of this is how deceitful the human heart and mind can become when it comes to real spiritual truths. People can justify and rationalize some of the most abominable and sinful behaviors imaginable. Pedophiles are a perfect example. Some of them have convinced and persuaded themselves that what they are wanting to do is perfectly natural and normal and that society should not try and stop them from doing it.
Homosexuals will try and justify that their type of sexual practices are again something that is completely healthy and normal, even though God the Father calls this type of lifestyle an abomination and is one of the extreme sins that will keep you from being able to enter into heaven.
Those who support pro-choice in the abortion debate have convinced themselves that all women have the right to play God with the life of their unborn child, and that she alone, instead of God Himself, can determine whether or not her unborn child lives or dies before they are born through her womb.
Bottom line – the main reason that so many in the world have always hated Jesus is because they know that He is God Almighty and that He has drawn a major battle line in the sand with what we can and cannot do in this life.
Jesus has set up the ways and commandments that we are to follow in this life. He has let all of us know, loud and clear, what the real rules of the game are and how we are to play this game of life.
As a result of the sin nature and rebellious streak that every one of us has been born into this world with, each person will have to make their own personal decision as to whether or not they are going to follow God’s ways and commandments for their lives, or follow their own ways or the ways of this world. You cannot have this both ways.
You are either going to admit that you are a sinner, that you need a personal Savior to save you, and then take that big step to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior – or you are going to refuse to accept Jesus and His gift of eternal salvation and go on your own merry way determined that no one is going to tell you what to do or how to live your life. You want total freedom to do what you want and be what you want, and you do not want any rules, commandments or moral absolutes telling you what you can and cannot do in this life.
To those who will choose to walk in this kind of darkness, over the course of time they will come to loathe and hate Jesus and everything that He stands for. They know Jesus stands not only for mercy, love and favor, but they also know He stands for righteousness and judgment and that there is no way He is ever going to approve or condone some of the specific sins they are walking in.
The second verse above tells us that those who walk in this kind of darkness will not come to the light because they know the light will expose their sins. As a result, they would prefer to keep a safe distance from the Lord or from any other Christians for that matter. As a result, they will never come to the saving grace and knowledge that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Though they know they are gambling with their eternal fates, as they know they will eventually die and have to cross over into something – the pull of the dark side is too strong for many of them and they will thus choose to never pull out of their darkness, even to the day they literally die and depart from this life.
And then it happens. The minute they die and depart from this life, their souls will immediately pull up and leave their bodies, and they will then be immediately dropped into the pit of hell itself – never, ever being given another chance to change course. They are now lost for ever, and they will never, ever be given another window of opportunity to make things right with the Lord.
And all of this could have been so easily avoided had they swallowed their pride, relied on their common sense and intelligence, and thought things all the way through. It does not take a rocket scientist to see how flawed, how imperfect, and what corrupt and fallen sinners we all truly are and that only Jesus Christ can save us from this fallen state.
So if you want to know why so much of the liberal and secular world hate Jesus, hate all Christians, and hate everything that Christianity stands for – look no further than the reasons just given to us in the above two verses.
The prideful, sinning secularists are living and wallowing in their own personal sins and iniquities, and they do not want God, Jesus or any other Christians pointing out and exposing their sins, their flaws, and the way they are wanting to live their lives in their carnal, primal and hedonistic worlds. They want the license and the freedom to be able to continue to live in their sinning ways.
Christianity, when preached in its truest and purest form, is the only faith and religion that will call out sin for what it really is and call out man for what he really is – a wretched sinner in need of a personal Savior.
No other false religion, cult or New Age movement will call out the big picture for what it really is. This is why Christianity is the only faith that gets made fun of and ridiculed by the world – because it is the only faith that poses a direct threat to all of the sins these people are living in and walking in.
2. Admitting That We Are Sinners

If Jesus is God and Lord Himself, and He is perfect in His being and in His knowledge in all things, then why can’t the world accept all of His statements as being pure, solid truth? If Jesus is telling us that some of our behaviors and actions are going to be sinful and wrong in His sight, and that we are all sinners in need of a personal Savior, then why can’t the world accept His word and opinion on the matter and get with His program and accept Him as their personal Savior?
The first obvious hurdle for many is to be willing to see and accept the fact that we are all fallen sinners. God has made it as easy as He possibly could by giving all of us these basic truths from His Word. But yet so many think they know better than God as to what the real spiritual truths are in this life.
As a result of our egos and flesh, many people will have a hard time in admitting to either themselves or to God that they are flawed sinners in need of His saving grace. They want to be their own person. They want to live this life by their own rules and regulations, and they want to believe they are capable of accomplishing big and great things, all operating out of their own natural strength and intelligence.
And then you have Satan and his horde of demons adding to the mix, as they will try and start to play with people’s mind, trying to get them to fall into a false way of thinking and looking at the world. One of the greatest deceptions that Satan has ever thrown onto mankind is the false belief that we can all become “like god” in some way or some fashion.
Many areas of the New Age movement, and some of the other false religions and cults that are still in operation in the world today, will try and tell you that you have the ability to attain some kind of state of “godness” in your earthly state. Instead of looking direct to Jesus for eternal salvation, they will try to get you to look inside of yourself and convince you that you have the power within your own natural being to save and sanctify yourself.
They will try and tell you that you have the ability to tap into a God-consciousness that is already in you, and that you can reach and obtain higher levels of consciousness and spiritual development without going through the Holy Spirit.
In other words, you have the supernatural power within yourself to change yourself for the better if you will just learn how to find it and tap into it. You do not need Jesus to save you from your sins or to give you the gift of eternal salvation. You do not need the Holy Spirit living and operating on the inside of you to change yourself for the better. You can do this all by yourself if you will just spend enough time seeking to find the right kind of hidden, spiritual knowledge.
How many people in some kind of position of power and authority have fallen from incredible heights as a result of succumbing to this false way of thinking? How many people have become a “god” in their own little worlds and then eventually fell and lost it all? Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Satan himself are perfect examples of three humans and one angel who have fallen from the tops of major mountains and kingdoms as a result of thinking that they had become some kind of god themselves. Their pride truly came right before all of their falls.
Here is the verse from Genesis that will show you exactly how Satan was able to trick and fool Eve to eat off of the tree that the Lord had told her to stay away from:
And the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)
Notice two key words that Satan spoke to Eve to get her to sin against the Lord. He told her that if she would eat the fruit off of this tree, that she would then become “like God.” In other words, that she could become a god herself. And if you can become like God yourself, then you will never need God or His Son Jesus.
This is the same lie and the same ruse that Satan has been using down through the ages with all of the other false religions and cults that he has started, and man has been falling for it ever since. Man has never learned from the history of his past, and many people just keep repeating the same destructive behavior patterns over and over again.
With man always having to do battle with his pride, ego and the dark desires of his flesh, you will always have a certain percentage of the human race who will never accept Jesus and everything that He stands for. To accept Jesus would be to admit that they are flawed sinners and that they do not have the power, the ability or the means to be able to save and sanctify themselves.
This is why the Bible tells us that pride will always come before the fall. The spirit and sin of pride has caused one-third of the angelic host to be forever banished from heaven, and I am afraid that same spirit will also be keeping a certain percentage of the human race from ever entering into the loving and saving grace of our one and only true Savior, Jesus Christ.
As a result of not being able to admit they are sinners in the first place, many of these unbelieving and unrepentant sinners will hate Jesus and everything that He stands for. Jesus is a constant reminder of their own earthly mortality and of the fleshly sins they are living in – and they just cannot bear the thought that the paths they have chosen to follow in this life are the wrong paths.
As a result, you will always have many in the world today who will be at odds and enmity with the Lord. That is why Jesus has told all of us loud and clear that we will become His Father’s enemy if we ever become too friendly with the world and the ways of it.
The Holy Spirit can bring His conviction down upon these people, but they still have to be willing to accept and work with that conviction once it comes upon them. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will wrestle and strive with these kinds of people. However, there is a limit to God’s patience and mercy and He will not strive with these people forever.
3. Be Willing to Repent

Once you are able to see and admit that you are a fallen sinner in need of a personal Savior, then the next big step you will need to make before you can receive eternal salvation from the Lord is to be willing to repent from your sins. And this is the second main hurdle that many in the secular camp cannot make.
To repent means to be willing to have a change of mind and a change of heart. It means to be willing to pull out of the sinful life you have been living in and make an attempt to live in the new life that Jesus will now be giving you once you accept Him as your Lord and Savior. It means to be willing to turn from the sins you have been living in.
But this particular hurdle is one that many sinners have a real problem with. Many of them are living in heavier sins they do not want to pull out of. They do not want to give up these heavier sins because of the pleasure and gratification they are receiving from these sins – even when it is explained to them that they will have the power of the Holy Spirit Himself to help them pull out of these sins.
Many of the unsaved are living in vices such as addictions to alcohol and drugs. Other are living in very promiscuous sexual lifestyles and they do not want to give up the sexual pleasures and gratification they are receiving from this hedonistic type of lifestyle. Others are living in homosexual lifestyles which they know are going against the ways and commandments of God. Others are making and earning money through some type of criminal enterprise, knowing they are not only breaking some of God’s laws, but they also breaking some of the laws of our society.
For many who are living in these heavier sin areas – the money, the power, the glory, along with all of the material pleasures and sexual gratification that comes from living in these types of heavier sins, is just too much for some of them and they thus have no natural desire to ever want to pull out of these heavier sin areas – even though they know they are gambling with their eternal fates. They would prefer to literally die in the fleshly, carnal and primal pleasures they are now living in.
The Bible makes it very clear that one of the key steps in being able to receive the gift of eternal salvation from the Lord is to be willing to repent of your sins. Again, being willing to repent from your sins means that you are willing to turn from those sins and pull out of those sins. And where you have a stronger type of sin that you are being held in bondage too such as drugs or alcohol, you will agree to work with the power of the Holy Spirit to help pull you out of it once you have accepted Jesus as your Savior.
In the Bible Basis section of our site, we have an article titled “True Repentance Will Lead to Salvation.” In that article, I give you the key verses where repentance is being directly linked to us being able to receive the gift of eternal salvation from the Lord.
If you are willing to admit that you are a sinner, and then you are willing to accept Jesus as your personal Savior, Jesus will then give you His supernatural power through the Holy Spirit to help break you free from any of these heavier sins as long as you are in total agreement with it and are willing to work with Him during the deliverance process. There is absolutely nothing that the power of God cannot set you totally and completely free from if you are willing to accept the Lord’s help and then be willing to work with Him on it.
For the purposes of this article, I will once more give you some of these key verses so you can see how repentance is a key, essential ingredient in being able to receive the gift of eternal salvation from the Lord.
“I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30)

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

“For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation … (2 Corinthians 7:10)

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)
Notice the very first verse is telling us that unless we are willing to repent from our sins, that we will perish. In other words, we will not be able to receive God’s gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus unless we are first willing to repent. In each one of these verses, repentance is being directly linked to being able to receive the gift of eternal salvation from the Lord.
This is why the Christian faith is such a direct threat to many living in these secular and humanistic type of environments. They know that God is “commanding” them to repent or else they will all die in their sins. But yet they will let their ego and pride tell them that they know better than God as to how they should be living their lives. As a result, they will set a course in their lives that no one, including God Himself, will tell them how they are going to live their lives – even if it means that it will lead to their own eternal destruction.
Like the famous Frank Sinatra song “I Did It My Way” – at least they will die with the satisfaction that they did it their way before they go to their final destination, which will be direct to hell itself.
It is simply mind-blowing that the spirit of pride can so blind and so distort so many people’s view of reality to the extent that they will refuse to accept the pardon and redemption that Jesus Christ is willing to offer them through the Blood that He has personally shed for each and everyone of them on the cross.