Matthew 10:11-16, “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
I was born and grew up in the city of Chicago for 37 years. In 2004 I decided to move to the island of Guam. I lived there for 17 years. In 2021 I decided to relocate back to the United States. I chose Pensacola, Florida. After being back in the United States for just several weeks I am disgusted with what I have seen and experienced. I'm going to share some disturbing things with you, if you'd like to read about them. This blog will be quite long, because I am going to get into the insanity of what has been happening to me. When a nation abandons the God of the Holy Bible, the entire base of society deteriorates, so that the majority of people in that depraved culture stop caring, stop loving, stop trying to be a respectable and honest citizen, and descend into all manner of sin and evil. The general trend of American society has been morally, ethically and economically downward for several decades now. Our U.S. society is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah!
On Guam I had no problem getting the prescription medications that I need, but in Florida it has so far been a nightmare! Before I left Guam I already had a medical clinic in Florida (the West Coast Pain Consultants) that seemed that they had accepted me as a new patient. For weeks they had asked me for my MRI notes, doctor's notes, medical records, photo ID, insurance information, et cetera. I quickly complied and sent them everything they needed. I waited and waited as they continued asking for this and for that. I told them when I was moving. After I arrived in Florida, the West Coast Pain Consultants cruelly rejected me as a new patient. I asked the woman who called me why. She coldly said she had no answer. I couldn't believe how rotten they were, to waste weeks of my time and then not even provide a reason why they rejected me. I gave them a bad review on Google, which they deserve!
So now I was in a world of hurt! To make matters worse, I had made advance arrangements weeks before my move to Pensacola for hotel lodging. The Woodspring Suites Hotel in Pensacola sent me confirmation #27388611 for my 31-day reservation for $55 per day. Everything was reserved and confirmed, so I was good to go. But the day I left Guam United Airlines' plane had an idiot light come out. By law the plane couldn't take off until the problem was fixed. So our flight was delayed coming into Honolulu. Consequently I missed my connecting flight to Denver. As a result my 23 hour flight turned into a 43 hour flight. Due to my chronic neck pain because of an old neck injury, I can only fly Business Class seating. Because of the ordeal with United Airline my neck pain was excruciating and I didn't get what I paid for, and they didn't bother to refund me.
I contacted the Woodspring Suites Hotel before I was supposed to arrive on July 1st, 2021. I kindly and responsibly let them know that I was definitely coming, but I would be one day late because of circumstances beyond my control. I offered to pay them upfront for the entire month, and said I would gladly pay for the missed day. They cruelly and sinfully wrote back and cancelled my entire 31-day stay. I begged and threatened them with legal action, but they didn't care. Hotels know that they can hurt people and legally get away with it, because it's buried in their ungodly fine print. Consequently, I ended up sleeping in Wal-Mart's parking lot for three nights (July 2nd, 3rd and 4th). Since it was a holiday weekend, hotels were either all booked already, or wanted a few hundred dollars for just one night to gouge people.
I went to the Super 8 hotel on Mobile Highway in Pensacola. In Indian woman who ran the hotel came to the window when I stopped in to ask if they had a room available for the night. This was on July 2nd. I told the woman what had happened to me, and that I was homeless and desperately needed a room for the night, please. I was wearing my “Jesus” hat. She coldly said with a strong foreign accent, “The price for one night is $450.00!” I was shocked and kindly asked, “Why so much?” Her reply was wicked and filled with greed, “Because we can!” I went to Wal-Mart and slept in their parking lot. That woman did that to Jesus. Matthew 25:40, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Dear friend, the United States today has become worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus warned in the Bible that Sodom was less wicked than today's modern cities. The people of Sodom had no Holy Bible. They were wicked, yes, but they didn't have the opportunity to meet Jesus. Sodom didn't have the blessing to hear Bible preachers. The United States abounds today with Bibles, churches and preachers. Yet we are such a wicked society! Unlike Sodom, the United States has no excuse. It will be far more tolerable on the day of judgment for Sodom, than it will be for the United States!!!
I have only scratched the tip of the surface so far about the wickedness I have seen and experienced firsthand in Pensacola so far. My 31-day confirmed hotel reservation at the Woodspring Suites Hotel was cruelly cancelled because of the hotel owner's ungodly greed. They cancelled my confirmed reservation so they could get a lot more money since it was the 4th of July weekend. They cut my throat because they knew they could and get away with it, just like the wicked greedy woman at Super 8 who tried to take advantage of me in my hardship. If they weren't going to honor our prior agreement, the hotel never should have made that legal agreement with me. They are in big trouble with God. Matthew 18:6, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
On July 5th I was thankfully able to find affordable lodging in Pensacola. But now I couldn't find a doctor who would accept me as a new patient. All across America people are drug addicts! I heard last week that over the past 10 years 500,000 Americans have died from opiate drug overdoses! What is wrong with our country! Why do people abuse substances, get drunk and kill themselves or others in their reckless wicked ways? The United States is a very sick place today folks! Even Sodom and Gomorrah weren't this bad! Because of all the drug abuse, legitimate pain sufferers like me are being punished. Both the U.S. federal government and local state governments have declared all out war on pain drugs.
I was finally able to find one medical clinic in Pensacola that would accept me as a new patient. They assigned a female doctor to me. When I met with her, she cold-turkey stopped 3 of my 4 prescription drugs and didn't explain why. I had been taking 10 mg of Ambien for over 10 years. Now I had zilch, notta, nothing! If you go search Google about suddenly stopping Ambien, it warns not to do it, because it could cause seizures or even death. Yet my doctor risked killing me! What an irresponsibly doctor! Sadly, the laws are so crazy now in the United States that doctors can pretty much kill you and get away with it!
She also cold-turkey stopped my 1,800 mg a day of Gabapentin. She cold-turkey stopped my 80 mg a day of Oxycontin! The only drug she gave me was 4 pills of Percocet 10/325 per day. My MME (Morphine Milligram Equivalents) went from 135 MME daily down to 60 MME a day. My body went into shakes and aching from head to toe for weeks. I sneezed and coughed food all over myself at the Shrimp Basket restaurant, for about 7 seconds, due to the withdrawal effects of the drastic reduction in my prescription pain medications. I was so embarrassed, tears watering from my eyes due to the reaction. I was trembling at my table in the restaurant, blowing my nose on the heavy cloth napkin and drinking my unsweetened tea to try to regain my composure, as I felt sorry for the customers around me seeing all this. I kindly explained to the waitress that my doctor did this to me, cutting my pain drug dosage in half. I have never had such a cold, cruel and irresponsible doctor!!! But I was fortunate to have even found a medical clinic that would accept me, because of the opiate problem today in the United States, and I wasn't about to start complaining. I have to always remember that I NEED THEM, THEY DON'T NEED ME! So I am in a difficult situation.
I have not been able to fall asleep one time before midnight since I arrived in Pensacola on July 2nd, 2021. Brother Lester Roloff (1914-1982) used to wisely say: “One hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight.” On Guam I had a good habit of going to bed every night at about 8 to 9 pm. I woke up around 5 am and walked with God, laboring on my website ministry. I often went walking at sunrise along the ocean. I finally got over the jet lag (time difference between Guam being 15 hours ahead of Pensacola).
But due to the chemical imbalance in my body, because my mean doctor messed with all my medications all at once, I still cannot sleep. Last night at finally fell asleep at 4 am. The same happened the night before, and the night before. I wake up at 11 am. I hate this! My doctor has a male Physician's Assistant (PA)who helps her. He is a nice person, but as a PA he cannot be my doctor. On July 30th the PA prescribed 25 mg of Amitriptyline to help me sleep. It wasn't working, so the nurse through the medical clinic's Patient Portal told me to take two pills at night. But even with 50 mg I still couldn't sleep. I took the Amitriptyline at 8 pm and was still wide awake at midnight. My doctor didn't care and told me to go to Wal-Mart to get an over-the-counter sleep aid. I bought Melatonin. 10 mg is the highest dosage. It didn't work, so I took 40 mg per night, but that didn't work either. My doctor doesn't care at all. I had been taking 10 mg of Ambien for over 10 years, which worked well, but my new doctor says that Ambien adversely reacts with the pain drugs. But I explained to her this is exactly why the drug helps me sleep, because it knocks me out. She refuses to give it to me, so I cannot sleep.
I pleaded last Monday with my doctor to take away the Percocet and please put me back onto Oxycontin, because it works much better to sooth my neck pain. She agreed, although she adamantly refuses to give me any more than 40 mg per day. So I had to wait until Friday when my prescription refill was due. I called at noon on Friday to check the status of my prescription. The automated system said they had my prescriptions but they weren't ready yet. So I waited and I waited and I waited. I went to Walgreens last night but there were seven people in line. My neck was hurting badly and after waiting for 20 minutes and the line not moving I walked out in frustration. I came back Saturday morning and the pharmacist said they didn't have any Oxycontin. I asked her why they didn't bother to call me on Friday to tell me, when my clinic was still open and I could ask them for a different drug? She didn't have an answer. Now I have to wait until Monday to get my pain medications.
I was so frustrated as I was leaving the store. I bought a few other items at Walgreens and got into the checkout line to pay for it. When I got to the cashier I kindly asked her how I could file a complaint against the Walgreen's pharmacy, because they didn't bother to call me to let me know that they didn't have the drug my doctor had prescribed. She kindly said to go to Walgreen's website. Just then I heard another lady behind me in line kindly say that she has a friend at the CVC Pharmacy who just quit! She said her boss insanely told her that she has to fill 1,000 prescriptions per day! She quit and I don't blame her! When I heard that I felt bad and decided not to file a complaint against Walgreen's pharmacy. They had a dozen cars lined up in the drive-thru outside, and another several people inside standing in line. Folks, I don't know what is going on in the United States, but there is a shortage of employees today.
I have literally seen HUNDREDS of perfectly healthy looking people begging on all major street corners for money around Pensacola. It is insane! I was sitting at a traffic light and saw a skinny healthy looking young guy out my right window with a cardboard sign begging for money. Then I glanced out my left window and saw a big McDonald's sign which read: “We pay $13 an hour. Work today and get paid tomorrow!” What a sad paradox! What is going on? Why do why have hundreds of citizens begging for money when jobs are available everywhere?
All of the people I have seen are black or mostly white. Right now hundreds of businesses are hiring. WHATABURGER is hiring, offering college class incentives, health insurance, et cetera. McDonald's is hiring. The Waffle House is hiring, offering flexible hours, health insurance and other perks. Paradise Fitness is hiring. Everywhere I go I see businesses hiring. In fact WHATABURGER has been closing down their dining rooms and even entire restaurants because of a lack of staff. I needed to use their free wi-fi at McDonalds, but their dining room was closed due to lack of staffing. That is ridiculous folks when our society has hundreds of Americans on street corners everywhere begging for money!
The first thing I did when I moved to Pensacola was get my Florida Driver's License. I was happy when they printed on my new license the words: “Safe Driver.” I do drive safe. I try not to go through yellow lights. I try to stay close to the speed limit. I try to obey all traffic laws. But I have never seen such speeders in all my life is here in Pensacola. I mean cars zooming by at dangerous speeds, driving 80 miles an hour in a 40 mph zone. By God's grace I am going to continue to drive safely, but with the way these nuts drive I wouldn't be surprised if I get into an auto accident within a year living here in Pensacola. Sadly, it is unsafe to keep the speed limit, while cars are zooming all around you. Where are the police? I haven't seed hardly any.
All of these things I have mentioned are just symptoms of a society that has forsaken the holy God of the Bible. Our dear Savior gave us the answer in Matthew 24, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” This passage applies to the future Tribulation period, but the principle is universal and certainly is seen in American society today. All we hear in the daily news is about ongoing crime within every level of our government. We hear about an abundance of injustice, fraud and crime across the nation, in every town and city. The United States is sadly one of the most violent society's in the world. Do you think that it is a mere coincidence that our culture also praises violence more than any other nation in history? Television and Hollywood are enamored with violence. It is bad enough that we hear about murders galore in the daily news, but then there are umpteen TV show series about murder (e.g., Cold Case Files, Unsolved Murders, Forensic Files). And then to make matters worse, the music industry often promotes violence in rap music.
When I was forced to sleep in Wal-Mart's parking lot, because of wicked greedy people, I notice about three dozen other cars also spending the nights there too. These are difficult times for many people! If you have a job you should thank God friend. If you are married you should praise God for what you have. Many people live alone and it is a pain often worse than death for some people. Loneliness can be overwhelming, especially during the holidays. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and tell Him so every day. I just told Jesus, “I love you Lord!” As a child of God I CARE. I notice the little things, pay attention to details, and see the importance of doing the little things that make the big things good, better and right!
Sadly, I see the opposite in American society today. I could give you 1,000 examples. When I go to Wal-Mart, or any store, I always grab a shopping cart from the parking lot and bring it into the store with me. I usually grab a stray cart that some uncaring person irresponsibly left sitting in the parking lot. If every customer thought like me, grabbing a cart to bring in with them, there wouldn't be dozens of stray carts sitting around the parking lot. I mean, some people are so rotten and lazy that they won't even return their shopping cart to the cart chorale outside. Friend, do you care? I encourage you to start caring about little things. I know that most people won't care like I do. They won't take the time to bring someone else's cart back into the store. I often grab two carts, just to be helpful. I am a child of the King! I represent the Savior everywhere I go. If nothing else, even if people don't see my good works, I know that the angels do (my two guardians angels) and most importantly, God sees! Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
I haven't even gotten into the frustrations I have suffered because of some shallow local Christians at one of the biggest churches in Pensacola. The horrible and selfish attitudes of some pastors are disturbing. I happily started attending a local church. I won't mention the name at this time. I befriended the senior pastor as a brother. But he was reluctant to reciprocate that friendship. When I told him that I was divorced and hoping to find a wife at church, he horribly misjudged me and even berated me for coming to his church to find a wife. I have little patience with self-righteous pastors who mistreat people.
That childish pastor made me feel like total garbage. He lacks compassion, kind of a runt, like the Apostle Paul. Paul was small in stature, rude in speech, but God used him because he was yielded to God. But a pastor who is set in his own ways (like the guy I am writing about), regardless of his stature and likeability, can never truly be effective for God. He may pastor a large church and have the praise of hundreds of people, but God alone decides if a man is truly successful. The pastor of the church in question gets a low score from me. He should be ashamed of himself for the horrible way he brushed me off and made me feel unloved and unwanted.
That small senior pastor only thought about himself, becoming defensive; but never once prayed with me, never expressed any sympathy for my suffering, neck pain, living out of a suitcase in a hotel, divorce, et cetera. When I first told him that I was sleeping in Wal-Mart's parking lot, I'll never forget the startled look on his face. I could see that he didn't want to help me, so he quickly made his escape and left for the day. What a horrible testimony! God saw what I saw that day, and that the pastor missed a perfect opportunity to help a hurting brother in need. God knows that I hadn't told him of my hardship in hope that he would help me. The thought never once crossed my mind, until I saw his countenance change drastically. I'll never forget that startled look on his face, and how he couldn't get away from me fast enough. Today's pastors are pathetic, woefully lacking people skills, compassion, care, love and the humanity to simply relate to people who are different than they are, outside the “camp” so to speak. I am ashamed of that pastor's very poor behavior, and his proudful response to the matter when I called him out in an email for it. He made a bunch of excuses.
This is an oddity blog. I rarely write this long of an article. I just wanted to share some of the insanity of our American culture today. It is absolutely ridiculous that pain drugs are fully available, but due to crazy laws that punish law-abiding citizens with drug addicts, I cannot get those helpful medications. On Guam I had no problem getting these medications! The United States is a mess today!!! The Walgreens pharmacist was kind today. It is not her fault that they are short on staff. She checked for the availability of Oxycontin on her computer and kindly told me that Oxycontin is not available anywhere in the Florida panhandle!!! That is sad. Of the 15 different pain drugs that I have been prescribed since 2007, Oxycontin is the ONLY one that has really soothed my pain and been gentle on my body, having the least side-effects. Yet I cannot get it because of all the substance abusing stupid people in the United States. Don't tell me that America is not worse than Sodom!
I'm sure you have also had the frequent unpleasant experience as I have of calling businesses and instead of a person you get an annoying automated system. Usually you'll get bounced around, going in circles, and then either reach a deadend or be rudely hung up on. I called the Walgreens at 1731 Springhill Avenue in Mobile, Alabama to speak with their pharmacy. I wanted to know if they had Oxycontin. Mobile is about a 45 minute drive from Pensacola. I immediately got their automated system which told me that there were two calls ahead of me and to please wait.
So I put my mobile phone on speaker phone and worked on my ministry, otherwise I would never have the patience to wait for so long. After 20 minutes of telling me there was two, and then one, caller ahead of me, the message then repeatedly said, “We're sorry, our staff is answering other calls and will be with you short shortly.” That message went on for 45 minutes and then I finally head a phone ringing, but no one ever picked up. I was then rudely disconnected. That is so wicked folks and this type of abuse goes on a million times a day all across our ungodly nation! People just don't care anymore.
What kind of awful society do we have in America today, when you call a business just to be ran in circles by a stupid automated system? I called GEICO for my car insurance when I arrived in Florida. Their stupid automated system made me upset. I kept saying “operator” and “zero” which are universal ways of asking to speak with a human being, but their retarded system doesn't recognize those commands. I found out later that you have to say “Service Team.” Oh brother! I wasted 15 minutes, unable to reach a human being, and I told them what I thought about their horrible system!
Dear friend, this type of irresponsible behavior is just another symptom of a morally degraded culture in the United States. People simply don't care anymore about other people. They habitually lie without giving it a second thought. They don't hesitate to make your life more complicated to simplify theirs. I see this scenario again and again and again. What was started to help people ends up being abused and hurting people! Companies originally started using automated systems to save money, replacing people with technology. But in time lazy employees started shirking customers off with automated systems. Now when you call companies, they waste your time by making you wait for 45 minutes, knowing that no one is ever going to answer the phone. This is abuse and sin. I see it everywhere we go today. Technology is truly a double-edged sword, causing as much hurt and grief as it does offer help to society. For that reason I am leery of technology. These new self-driving cars have already killed pedestrians. They'll never perfect the technology! Too many things can go wrong.
From the greed of the Woodspring Suites hotel that cancelled my 31-day reservation, to the greedy Super 8 hotel that demanded $450 for one night's stay, to the cruelty of the West Coast Pain Consultants who wasted weeks of my time and wouldn't even tell me why, to the uncaring shallow senior pastor of one of the biggest churches in Pensacola (which I am being kind not to name because I love him in Christ despite his being a total jerk) who made me feel like garbage, to the reckless way that many people selfishly drive, to the cold-hearted doctor who risked killing me and couldn't care less about me as a physically hurting human being, to the insane government's war against legitimate pain sufferers, to the contemptible greedy lawyer billboards all around Pensacola, to Americans begging for money on street corners everywhere while hundreds of businesses cannot hire enough people, to the dishonest scammer on Craigslist who tried to con me, American society is waxing worse and worse!
I forgot to tell you about Craigslist. I have been looked for an affordable apartment to rent. It is just me, so I don't need a big place. Why pay for more that I don't need or want? I had good luck on Guam with Craigslist. You just have to be careful and wise to avoid being scammed. yesterday I saw an apartment for $600 locally. I kindly emailed the person and said their rental was perfect for me. They replied minutes later. They were friendly and overly kind. They said they wanted a credit check. A warning flag went up when they said that it doesn't matter if I have good or bad credit, they just want to know if I am honest. Huh? Why would they need to know my credit score if they don't care if I have bad credit?
Another warning flag went up when they provided a link to a website called “IdentityIQ.” So I went to check out the website and they want you to pay a recurring monthly fee. That seemed bizarre. I then did a Google search for “IdentityIQ Craigslist scam,” which immediately came back with a warning that it is indeed a scam! Evidently the scammer gets a kickback from the website for referring people there; or else they want your personal information. I knew then that it was a scam. I flagged the fake advertisement on Craigslist as a fraud. This is American society today, thieves and criminals everywhere. Ironically, the person with the fraudulent Craigslist add told me that they needed to check my honesty. What a wicked person! Someone ought to put up signs all along the Mexican and Canadian borders for anybody thinking of coming into the United States, “WARNING: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I could easily keep going and write about greedy car rental companies, greedy restaurants, greedy attorneys, greedy preachers and greedy dishonest realtors. We are living in a wicked culture of thieves and uncaring people everywhere we go today. I have also met a lot of very friendly people in Pensacola, but you have to be on-guard everywhere that you go. On Guam I never would have hesitated to leave my car windows down or doors unlocked while in the store, but I won't do that here in Florida.
American companies are so rotten today! If you rent a car for 3 days, but then need it for one more day, the greedy car rental agency will charge you for a weekly rate! I had that happen to me here in Pensacola. I said to the woman on the phone, “I only need the car for one more day!” She coldly said, that is our policy, you have now entered into a weekly rate and will have to pay $292 for just one day! Matthew 24, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Is it any wonder why American society is quickly going down and down to Hell?
Attitudes are contagious. A bad attitude spreads like cancer. That is what Jesus meant in Matthew 24, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” When you have a depraved culture filled with open wickedness (e.g., legalized homosexuality, indoctrinating impressionable children with the LGBTQ agenda, indoctrinating impressionable children with the blatant fraud of evolution, indoctrinating impressionable children with the confusion that some of the boys are really girls and girls are boys) you know that this country is at rock bottom morally.
A nation cannot survive subversion from within. It is treason! The Bible prophesies that the coming Man of Sin, the Antichrist, will use peace to destroy society. Daniel 8:25, “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” Our so-called perverse Democracy in the United States is destroying us! Don't you dare criticize the Taliban for rejecting our sicko, perverse and immoral “Democracy” in the United States! They should call it “DEMONocracy!” Democracy is just MOB RULE! It is ruling by the majority. I believe in LIBERTY, freedom for every individual within the boundaries of the law of loving thy neighbour as thyself. President Ronald Reagan was right: “Big government is the problem!”
After living on the quaint island of Guam for 17 years, I have been rudely awakened to the woefully cold, uncompassionate, calloused, uncaring, greedy, shallow and insane American society today!
