Me and Mister, Mr. Jones

I’m not a crier but I wish I was.  So when something — anything — moves me to the point I can feel my jaw flutter and eyes get humid, I pause to embrace the moment.  If I get to the point of wiping a tear from my cheek, my family no longer watches the screen but turns to behold this rarest of happenings in dear old Dad.

The movie The Shack, the couch scene in Prince of Tides, and nearly every episode of The Chosen seem to reliably birth one of these scarce, sacred moments within me.  But as of last night, a new contender broke through my subfloor with such soaking power, the sump pump kicked in.   Meet Mr. Jones.

Released in 2020, this is, without doubt, a must-see movie.  But today, as the world holds its breath watching Ukraine, Putin, extensive human suffering, and geopolitical deception, Mr. Jones is a must-see-now movie. 

Set in 1932-1933, we are transported into the belly of Hell on Earth when Josef Stalin inflicted a Luciferian famine upon Ukraine.  Similar to Hotel Rwanda, we only have to see a handful of hideous scenes of torturous death and then imagine for ourselves the same repeated endlessly across the entire country.

Historically named the Holodomor, which means death by starvation, Stalin’s propensity for malevolence is maniacally manifested in this man-made, systematic starvation of his people.  Years earlier, Stalin’s collectivist-sculpting regime had begun canvassing the land to drag farmers and landowners into exile and death.

Up to 1930, Ukraine was called the Bread Basket of Europe.  By 1933, it became the dread casket for nearly seven million innocent men, women, and children.

As the skilled farming class, or Kulaks, were removed or overrun, their properties were designedly transferred to the lower-class peasants.  The vivid horrors of redistribution bore its grisly face as the recipients of these land handouts had neither the skill nor the motivation to successfully cultivate crops.  

As more and more people were apprehended for banishment and death, productivity plummeted.  What’s worse, as productivity plummeted, Stalin confiscated what little harvest there was and all of it was shipped to Moscow.  It truly became a Hunger Games where Panem lived in hedonistic opulence while the sub-humans in the districts were dying to dine on tree bark soup.

The gruesome scenes were a demonic photo-negative of God’s bountiful and benevolent design:

Elohim placed man in the orchard in Eden to work the land and care for it

~ Genesis Ch. 2

In Stalin’s demented quest for utopia, the curtain was pulled back to reveal he was no god at all but instead a slave in the hands of The Satan, who is incapable of fruitful, creative governance.  

The thief [The Satan] comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; but I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.

~Jesus in John’s Gospel

Keep in mind that in Stalin’s world, wealth is oppression and property is theft.  Also keep in mind that when Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum bloviate that you will no longer own private property by 2030, call it what it is; dekulakization.

Does this sound like abundant life to you?

Meet Mr. Jones

The protagonist in this true story is Scottish journalist, Gareth Jones.  Jones embarks on a providential journey to Ukraine during the height of the famine.  He experienced firsthand the cataclysmal suffering of the people and was enraged the world was unaware.

The antagonist is the Pulitzer Prizing winning journalist from the New York Times, Walter Duranty. Walter appears to have welcomed a myriad of demons into his life.

Duranty, embedded in Moscow and Stalin’s back pocket, published to the world a rosy-eyed view of Russia’s resurgence as a prosperous, industrial giant of a nation.  Not only did he vehemently swat down rumors of famine, but he insisted bellies were full in the thriving Districts of Panem.

Jones could not remain silent.  When asked, “What is your agenda?” He replied, “The truth.”  Predictably, he published his pieces about the millions being starved to death in Ukraine.  

The Fact-checkers of the day swarmed to defend Stalin’s darling Duranty, who doubled-down on all his denials.

The Debunked Banners were so convincing, the United States moved to recognize Stalin’s Soviet Union in 1933.

Behold the ancestral heritage of the New York Times.  To this day, Duranty’s Pulitzer had not been taken away.

Prophecies From the Book of Orwell

A gripping thread through the movie are glimpses of George Orwell, who at the time was writing his life-changing book, Animal Farm.  Orwell used the Holodomor as the construct for his poignant allegory, reminding us all of two critically important things.  

First, when people in power declare to you who are the oppressed and who is doing the oppressing, beware.  And second, when these same power brokers present to you their solution to remedy the imbalance; fight them with everything you have.

Once you’ve watched Mr. Jones and have read Animal Farm, you should next spend time reading the works of Klaus Schwab and review the World Economic Forum’s website.  Then imagine the devils of Davos coming to implement a more equitable, CCP-inspired lifestyle in your country, your state; your farm.

Please retain the ghastliness of what has been described here so you have a meaningful response to those who praise the worthiness of the Press or tout the glories of collectivism, redistribution, and Communism.

Time to Lift the Nose of This Led Zeppelin 

Once a month I have the honor to serve as a guest on the IFA Pray Livestream.  The night before broadcast, The Lord prompted me to watch Mr. Jones.  Late the next morning and still shaken, I was on my famous kneeler in my office preparing for the call.  I then did something I hadn’t tried for decades.

Lord, if you have something specific to say to me…

…in that moment, I randomly opened my Bible as if cutting the deck for a card trick.  The verse I opened to could never have been mustered by mere magic:  It was supernatural.

When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen and there are no cattle in the stalls… 

~ The Prophet Habakkuk sounding eerily like the prophet Kulak

Queue the tear duct humidifier again.

As if lifted from the pages of Animal Farm or clipped from a scene in Mr. Jones, I was just handed a near perfect description of Holodomor.

Do not miss the message.  If we aren’t careful and prayerful, this passage could be a prophetic foreshadow of what Ukraine could look like again.  That is to say, we desperately need virtuous, principled leaders endowed with wisdom and integrity to rise up, own the table, and negotiate an end to this invasion.

Otherwise, we will hear the same haunting lament found in the accompanying verse sputtered by our Ukrainian brothers and sisters today:

I listened and my stomach churned; the sound made my lips quiver.  My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying, and I shook as I tried to walk.  I long for the day of distress to come upon the people who attack us.

~ Habakkuk 3:16  

Yes Lord, we pray for the day of great distress to come upon all those who attack Ukraine.  We pray that the prized gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment be released within leaders who know Your Voice and can be used like a healing balm in Your Hand.  Silence the confusion, lies, and misdirections which are intended to deceive good people.  May the unchanging virtues of Your Kingdom reign supremely upon the Earth.

And may we see clearly today what generations from now will know is the Truth.

Photo Credit: Holodomor Memorial Statue in Kyiv.