End Republic or Restore America?

Our Founding Fathers were some of the wisest men of their generation. And, their wisdom was not just limited to writing The Declaration of Independence and leading us to victory in the Revolutionary War. They also crafted The Constitution and The Bill of Rights as the foundational documents of our limited federal government and saw to it that, Under God, our nation got off to a good start. 

But starting good was not enough. They wanted this nation to endure and it was obvious to them it wouldn't occur by happenstance. The lifespan of this democratic Republic would depend on the  lifestyle choices of the American people. Benjamin Franklin warned that our nation would only endure if the American people lived moral lives based on ethical principles such as those found in the Bible. He said, "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom."

This virtue he spoke of is the producer of the happiness referred to by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence.  

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, 

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Thomas Jefferson, speaking for all the founding fathers, claimed to be declaring established truths clearly revealed by the Creator God. These truths were so clearly revealed he called them self-evident! That means they require no proof, explanation or argument. One has to be blind not to see them and dishonest not to acknowledge them. So, what are these truths?

I.  All men are created equal. (Men should have been stated as "individuals" because it includes all human beings without distinction, but prejudices die slowly. Equality of value does not ensure equal giftedness, equal opportunities, or equal lifestyles. God rules over men and circumstances.) 

II. All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. (Unalienable Rights are supernatural gifts from God which cannot legitimately or ultimately be sold, surrendered or taken by mortal man or governments. Yet, if these Rights be temporarily stolen by men, they are safe in God!)

    A.  These Rights include but are not limited to: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. 

• The Right to Life is self-evident. Life originates with the Creator God. And, in all their       attempts to uncover any other origin of life, evolutionists have failed, because life comes from God!  And yet, the Supreme Court of the United States authorized mortal women the "right" to deny "Immortal Unborn Individuals" their "God-given Unalienable Right to Life" in this life. We must understand they still have eternal life and God will make things right in due time.
• The Right to Liberty is self-evident.  All individuals were created in the image of God and given a free will. To exercise this free will man was given a free mind, a free body, opportunity for freely entering relationships, acquiring wealth, land and possessions, etc. Law abiding individuals have a right to live free, and no one has the right to take another person's property, or to compel another person to go against his own conscience. Of course, God desires moral living-- as it is best and leads to blessings. A man may forfeit physical freedom by egregious behavior.
• The Right to Pursue Happiness is self-evident.  God is Good! He enjoys LIFE! He gave us life, in His image, and liberty so we could pursue the same happiness He enjoys due to His Goodness.  The colonists understood that liberty could only be maintained when happiness was pursued by virtuous means. They were not looking for a license to do evil. They wanted freedom to do what was right, as they saw fit, according to the light from God's Word that shined on their paths. They had come to this country for religious freedom, not for freedom from religion

Unfortuantely, things have changed in the USA through the years. New generations arose that had not  experienced religious persecution, or fought for religious freedom, and complacency set in. As Jesus foretold, Satan stoled the Word from the shallow minded, hard times drove others away from the faith, and the distraction of worldly cares and pleasures kept many from effectively promoting godly faith as the preservative of society. The salt lost much of its flavor and the light became less bright.

This spiritual vacuum in society left an opening for secular humanists to take over our school systems and colleges and undermine the faith of many young people who hadn't been grounded in the truth of the Bible during their formative years. History was revised to deny the godly foundation of our country and evolution replaced Creationism in our centers of learning. As a result, many people forgot that happiness cannot be attained without virtue.

Under these conditions the liberal media, educators, judiciary and legislators managed to wreak havoc in our nation. By undermining religion and moral values, they began to rob us of our Unalienable Rights. After all, if there is no Creator God, our Rights have no originator, or guarantor.

So, the liberals offered us relativism to replace Christian morals. They suggested petitioning social workers for help with problems instead of praying. And, they were quite sure the government could fill the role of God. Yes, socialism would be much better than capitalism. Just get on the public dole! 

Americans, who had been born and bred for independence and self-reliance, with help from God and kind neighbors, began to allow themselves to become addicted to government aid. And, it wasn't free. It came at the personal cost of broken homes, forsaken dreams and lost liberty!

We are at a crossroad. We can either allow the wealthiest nation this world has ever known to become the likes of Socialist Russia or we can stand up for what's right in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Reject O-merica!  Let's "Restore America" in this next election!  

 "Of all tyrannies

a tyranny sincerely exercised

for the good of its victim

may be the most oppressive.

 It may be better to live under robber barons

than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep,

his cupidity may at some point be satiated,

but those who torment us for our own good

will torment us without end

for they do so

with the approval

of their own conscience."

C. S. Lewis

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money,

that will herald the end of the republic." — Benjamin Franklin

May I suggest you read the eye-opening, Life At The Bottom, by Theodore Dalrymple. 

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2011/12/the_democratic_partys_war_on_the_poor.html

"the liberal defines success by how many people he has managed to help through government action; the conservative defines success by how many people he has freed from need of such assistance."

You Shall Not Covet or Occupy Wall Street!

"... there exists... in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom."   Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America ( Ch3, 56) 

As you know, we are living in volatile times. Some are currently calling it pre-revolutionary. As the picture illustrates, Occupy Wall Street protesters are out sharing their bleak, distorted picture of the future based on the class warfare message that President Obama and his anti-American, socialist partners have given them. 

Another sign I saw read, "Where's our bailout?" Pure socialism! While it's appropriate to protest bank bailouts and the entire immoral "Too Big to Fail" policy. It is not okay to expect the government, using taxpayer money, to support all American citizens, whether they work or not, from cradle to grave.

Freedom and the Nanny State cannot co-exist! And, in spite of the Utopian dreams, the Nanny State can only hope to offer an impoverished equality among the 99% of its enslaved subjects. No middle class! No hope for change! But these sign bearers don't get it.

We must ask ourselves how much our freedom is worth? Many have already paid for it with their lives! Will we sell ourselves and our children into slavery for the hopes of a piece of bread?

As for me, give me "freedom with inequality" as we have it now! 

We need change, but not the kind that's being forced on us by President Obama and his backers. We need to return to righteousness!

The Bible says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children." Hosea 4:6

America was founded on Christian principles. God wanted us to be a nation of priests for Him. People who know Him and His commandments which under gird progress and prosperity, providing abundant life for those willing to responsibly participate in civic life!

He birthed our nation in freedom through godly and courageous founding fathers who developed God-inspired documents proclaiming and legally ensuring our God-given unalienable rights!

Yes, our founding fathers and the earlier generations of this great nation had godly knowledge. They built their lives and our nation's foundations solidly on their personal understanding of the Bible as God's Holy Word. From young children they knew the 10 Commandments.

The Bible was freely read and used for instruction in our schools and colleges. Godly knowledge filled the land and the nation prospered. And, that's when de Tocqueville visited America and attributed her greatness to her goodness! (What would he say now?)

But, slowly, secular humanists began rewriting our history and taking over our public schools which had been started primarily to teach our nation's children how to read the Bible so they would be virtuous citizens.  Secular humanists rejected godly knowledge and used ungodly judges to twist our founding documents to forbid the very Bible those documents were based on from being used in our schools.

Secular humanists began to lead many people back into spiritual darkness. By forbidding the posting of The 10 Commandments and banning prayer in schools, they left teachers and students afloat in troubled seas, in a morally rudderless boat, without a compass. And this "unguided" boat swiftly drifted into dangerous waters; so that, now we must work to ban guns instead of chewing gum from our schools!

This lack of moral guidance led to the tragic shooting of an eighth grade student in Brownsville, Texas this week. I wonder how many of the 10 Commandments he knew? Knowledge matters!

Those who still know the 10 Commandments know that the Occupy Wall Street movement is wrong, even if our president doesn't. The 1% being used as a political scapegoat cannot carry our sins away or even pay our bills for us! We, as individuals and as a nation, need to return to God!

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17

Occupy Wall Street, while accusing some of greed, is squarely based on covetousness (wanting what belongs to your neighbor), which God's word says is a sin! And, it is not the way to get our nation back on the right track and to secure the renewed blessings of liberty in our land.

As Paul said in Romans 7:7, "I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, "You must not covet."  Well, if you didn't know, now you do. So, "Go and sin no more."  :-)

Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome, is provided in a free country. It does no good to demand rights! If we want to retain our freedom, we must repent of our sins and do what is right.

Thou Shalt Not Covet or Occupy Wall Street!

For more on Alexis de Tocqueville see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville

Democracy in America (1835), published after his travels in the United States, is excellent. It's an education in democracy, freedom based on religiously inculcated virtue, and American exceptionalism. 

Islam and Destruction Go Hand In Hand

While the scholars still debate over who destroyed the ancient Library of Alexandria, modern events continue to mock them. If only their “enlightened” eyes could see, it would be obvious that wherever Islam goes, destruction is His companion. But, western “intellectuals” can’t be bothered with reality.

Very little outcry was heard when the Taliban destroyed the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. For many non-Buddhists, it may very well have seemed to be a trivial event. However, in an age dominated by the secular media, which espouses the near sacred virtues of multiculturalism, one could have expected a loud expression of outrage. But, it didn’t happen because the media rarely criticizes Islam on any level.

Taliban Destruction of Buddhas in March of 2001 from Wikipedia

 

The fanatical Taliban destroyed two standing Buddhas which were sculpted out of a sandstone rock cliff by Buddhist monks in the 6th century. These historical artifacts were older than Islam. They were a testimony to man’s ancient, artistic, engineering abilities. Now they’re gone.

180 ft Buddha of Bamiyan before and after destruction by the Taliban. Wikipedia

Why? On March 13th, 2001, Afghan Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said, "We are destroying the statues in accordance with Islamic law and it is purely a religious issue”. It’s the same reason they use for destroying churches and synagogues, and for slaughtering Christians, Jews and other infidels. It’s nothing personal.

The tragic Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church bombings in Nigeria come to mind. The jihadis in Nigeria won’t stop until they take over Nigeria or someone stops them. And, the loss of life is infinitely more deplorable than the destruction of ancient artifacts. This ungodly slaughter and destruction has gone on in one country after another for over 1400 years now. Two million people have lost their lives in Sudan in the past 50 years and jihad continues in Sudan, Tunisia, Nigeria, Libya, Somalia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Israel, and all around the world. Individuals and entire cultures are perishing.

On December 17, 2011, whether by accident or on purpose, a Muslim mob destroyed the Institute of Egypt, founded by Napoleon in 1798. Maintained for the purpose of advancing scientific research, it contained around 192,000 books and documents from as far back as the 1500s. Now, it’s gone.

Institute of Egypt

 

Cairo Institute of Egypt Burning Dec 17, 2011

 

Egyptian Institute Books Burned

For those of us who wondered how the Alexandrian Library could have perished and why no one stopped it, now we know because we see.

And, now the Salifist Islamists have bigger targets. They actually want to make the pyramids disappear! It’s beyond my comprehension.

Sphinx-pyramid

 

Can you imagine the pyramids and the sphinx covered in wax? (Wouldn’t that melt in the sun? :-) Egyptian tour guides aren’t too happy about the Islamic Salifist’s desire to remove or hide Egypt’s ancient pyramids and other artifacts. Why else would one visit Egypt?

“Anger was directed at Abdel Moneim Al-Shahat, who is highly popular among Egypt’s Salafis and who has questioned the moral integrity of priceless ancient statues that dot the country.

Al-Shahat, who failed to win a seat in an electoral run off this week, denied the statues should be smashed, but suggested they could be covered with wax. “People would be able to see through wax,” he told Dream Television.

His comments aroused painful memories of Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban, which blew up two monumental Buddha statues in Bamiyan in 2001, arguing the pre-Islamic art was idolatrous.”

By Marwa Awad and Crispian Balmer / Reuters

December 9, 2011

http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/people/protesting-tour-guides-fear-islamist-rise.html

The foundational teachings of a society matter. Beliefs manifest in actions. Even the most secularized nations of the West still benefit from the Judeo-Christian teachings its society was based on. Faith, hope and love undergird us and the greatest of these is Love! We believe in the future. We long for peace. We desire to be a blessing to all the peoples of the world.

“Put away your sword,” Jesus told (Peter) him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

Although Gandhi was a great man, his peaceful methods didn’t make the British leave India. Jesus, through their Christianized response to Gandhi, did.

People in western societies who never open the Bible are shaped to some degree by the Christian values that have permeated the West for over 2000 years now.

In contrast, one sees the Islamized societies based on the Koranic teachings of conquest.

“Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.” Koran 2:216

There is no peace within Muslim countries or between them and the rest of the world. Beliefs matter. That’s why Islam and destruction go hand in hand.

Please pray for Muslims to be delivered from the deception and destruction of Islam.

Reagan's Gone, Bachman's Here

President Ronald Reagan's 1981 Christmas Address

I just watched the Obama's Christmas Proclamation for 2011. It was disheartening. We have a president who has no problem waxing eloquent praising Ramadan but is not Christian enough to make a positive statement about the importance of the birth of Jesus. Obama is no Reagan! 

As we head into another election campaign, I think we would do well to remember that the core religious beliefs of a president matter. If we value our faith and our freedoms, we must elect a new president with a Christian worldview to lead this nation during the turbulent days ahead. Not one who just talks about "faith" but one who has a track record of standing on Christian principles. 

The United States of America was founded on Christian principles. The freedoms we hold dear originated with the God of Christmas from Whom our inalienable rights derive. He is the God in Whom we trust! He deserves reverence, appreciation and obedience.

"America is great because America is good. If she ceases to be good she will cease to be great." Alexis de Toqueville

If we want to restore our nation to its former glory and power, we need to return God to our classrooms and to the public arena. Posting the 10 Commandments should not be forbidden in our schools and the freedom to pray should not be restricted. The constitution is on the side of conservatives. We need to take our freedoms back which have been stolen by liberal judges. Christians should have at least as much freedom to publicly practice their faith as Muslims do.  

The politically correct concepts of pluralism, multiculturalism, diversity, relativism and tolerance are stifling Christian freedoms! Secular elites through academia and the media are using these terms to muzzle Christians. Only Judeo-Christian beliefs and practices are considered unacceptable in the  public forum of our country today. 

Liberal judges forbid Christians to pray in schools and at football games and graduation ceremonies while enforcing special "religious rights" for anti-Christian groups like Muslims. Shouldn't the privileges based on diversity, multiculturalism and tolerance apply to our own culture as well? This anti-Christian trend needs to be reversed. Believers should speak up and vote based on their principles rather than their pocket books or their emotions.

These diabolical, dis-ingenuous, "newspeak" terms are undercutting American patriotism and destroying the world's only true melting pot by encouraging ethnic groups to resist integration into mainstream American society.

We desperately need a change of leadership!

We need a courageous, politically incorrect president committed to enforcing the constitution.

We need a president committed to shrinking the size of government and empowering the states.

We need a president who will lead the Congress to massively cut spending.

We need a president who will abolish Obamacare.

We need a president who will deliver us from the current liberal-socialist agenda!

We need a president who will call for an overhaul of the tax system.

We need a president who will lead Congress to cut the extraneous regulations strangling the free market.

We need a president who will appoint judges to make decisions squarely based on the constitution.

We need a president who values life!!!

We need a president who will appoint impartial Department of Justice officials to enforce our laws.

We need a president who will control the borders and work on settling illegal alien issues.

We need a president who will limit immigration to those who are able to adapt to our culture.

We need a president who is not ashamed of America and her historical accomplishments.

We need a president who will support Israel publicly and privately and stand by her friends.

We need a president who leads with confidence, strength and morality.

We need a president who won't try to appease terrorists.

We need a president who will sincerely lead the nation in celebrating our Christian Holidays. 

We need a president who will promote and participate in the National Day of Prayer. 

We need a president who will work to promote unity within the country.

We need a president who will reverse Obama's economically destructive executive orders.

We need a president who does not believe in man made Global Warming.

We need a president who will resist the Green Agenda and abolish the EPA. 

We need a president who will create an energy friendly environment to lower costs and create jobs.

We need a president who will deliver us from dependence on foreign oil which funds terrorism!

Basically, as my 14 year daughter says, "We need a president who is not Obama, who is a conservative, and who will kick the country back in line."

Based on all the qualifications I desire in a president,

Michelle Bachmann is my favorite candidate so far.

JESUS: KING, SAVIOR, MESSIAH, LORD!

Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, and the shepherds

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

                                                                                                       Luke 2:8-14



Star of Bethlehem

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,  saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”  Matthew 2:1-2

The poor, simple shepherds were led by the instructions of an angel to travel a short distance to find their Savior, their Messiah, their Lord!

The rich, wise men were led by a star to travel a great distance to find a new King! 

The lowly shepherds followed the angel's instructions and found Jesus! The wealthy, wise men followed the star and found Jesus!

Near or far, poor or rich: because of His love and goodwill toward mankind, all God's children are somehow made aware of their need of JESUS!  And, all who respond to Jesus in faith find what they need!

May you believe and find what you need today!

 For God so loved the world that

He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16

Merry Christmas!

Global Warming: A Heart Issue

If you are concerned about Global Warming and wondering what the Cap and Trade argument is all about, I'd like to share a few facts with you to answer some of your questions and encourage you to do your own research if you still have concerns.

First of all, let me start with some facts I found in a Wikipedia article on the "demonized" CO2 (carbon dioxide) which scares liberals "green" and makes them want to economically punish the world's industrialized countries.

"CO2 is an important component of Earth's atmosphere because it absorbs and emits infrared radiation ... thereby playing a role in the greenhouse effect."

"Natural sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide include
volcanic outgassing, the combustion of organic matter,
and the respiration processes of living aerobic organisms; (breathing)

man-made sources of carbon dioxide include
the burning of fossil fuels for heating, power generation and transport,
as well as some industrial processes such as cement making."

"Plants convert carbon dioxide to...OXYGEN... which is subsequently used for respiration by... (animals and humans), forming a cycle."

Check out this fact! "Over 95% of total CO2 emissions are natural.
For example, the natural decay of organic material in forests and grasslands, such as dead trees, results in the release of about 220 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year."

"In 1997, Indonesian peat fires were estimated to have released between 13 and 40 percent of the average carbon emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels around the world in a single year."

Note: Huge fires regularly break out around the globe which can't be prevented, predicted or controlled. What can we do about that? Should we worry about it and "carbon" tax somebody? Before we panic, we should be aware of the following God provided solution.

"These natural sources (of carbon dioxide) are nearly balanced by natural sinks, physical and biological processes which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For example, some carbon dioxide dissolves in sea water, and some is removed by plants via photosynthesis. The Earth's oceans contain a huge amount of carbon dioxide in the form of bicarbonate and carbonate ions — much more than the amount in the atmosphere."

"Ultimately, most of the CO2 emitted by human activities will dissolve in the ocean..."

That means if the carbon tax is implemented, industrialized nations will be carbon "capped and taxed" for causing a non-existent problem, and third world countries will be receiving a transfer of wealth by selling their unused "carbon credits" to industrialized nations based on a bogus premise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth's_atmosphere

The CO2/Global Warming debate is another issue which divides liberals and conservatives. Many liberals  really believe we must take action to save the planet from global warming. And, they are, theoretically, willing to submit to economic ruin in an attempt to solve this "perceived" problem. (I say "theoretically" because I don't believe most of them really comprehend what the carbon tax system would do to our economy.) On the other hand, many conservatives believe global warming is a hoax being perpetrated on society by greedy, power hungry politicos like Al Gore.

Since 95% of CO2 is produced naturally, how can reasonable people really believe that mankind can make a difference by changing his ways? Is it likely that the 5% of CO2 produced by human activity could be the tipping point for climate change? If you were asked to devastate your family financially to pay for a cure which offered you a 5% chance of recovering from cancer, would you do it? Chances are even slimmer that the human race is causing and could, therefore, help cure a problem like Global Warming.

Even if the USA causes 25% of the 5% of emissions caused by human activity worldwide, that is only 1.25% of worldwide carbon emissions. Yes, 1.25%! And for that, the "greens" would have the middle class taxed to ruination and destroy our way of life. So far, our current economic slump has helped our Congress resist the Green Agenda, but, we need to be wise and diligent because the battle isn't over.

Please do an internet search on the Green Agenda if you haven't already. Al Gore and his ilk are behind all of this-- for financial and political reasons.

The Global Warming email leaks revealed how scientists were manipulating and falsifying data to support their global warming theory. If you get into the details, some scientists claim that the CO2 levels are increasing and causing global warming. While other scientists insist that temperature fluctuations are cyclical and there is no sustained pattern of warming. Some scientists believe solar flares are more likely causing the problem -- if there is one.  And since the sun warms the earth, that makes sense!

I have read much and listened to scientific lectures on the subject and there is no true consensus among scientists about climate change.

I think the big difference between greens politicos and conservatives on Global Warming boils down to religious beliefs. Environmentalists are more likely to believe in evolution and less likely to believe in a caring and engaged Creator God. For them, mankind is on his own, resources are limited and humans must fend for themselves in a cold, cruel world. Population growth is a serious threat. Fossil fuel use is dirty and dangerous. ETC.

On the other hand, Christian conservatives believe in a Loving Father, God, Who created the earth to be filled with His people. He created the earth with abundant and renewable resources such as water, plants and animals for the sustenance of all His creatures. He also created the earth with the capacity to produce fossil fuels to enhance our lives. And, He sustains the earth by "the Word of His power" as we gratefully and wisely make use of His provisions!

The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 1:3 (NIV 1984)

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Collosians 1:17

I'm sure it sounds simplistic to the worldly wise, but all of the world's dire problems could and would be solved if the majority of mankind would turn from their sinful, unbelieving ways and would put their trust in God. He cares for us!

The climate is under His control!

 Is your heart?

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

World Systems Fail: Put Your Hope In GOD!

Did you hear President Obama’s “Teddy Roosevelt” speech given in Kansas? He tried to gain credibility for his extreme, progressive policies by noting that a progressive Republican president’s policies were similar to his own. He disarmingly smirked as he admitted that Roosevelt was called a socialist for those policies! That was before political correctness had such a chilling affect on speaking truth. But, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

He has the audacity to claim that he has Kansas values (deep roots in Kansas)! You think they are as deep as his roots in Kenya, or Indonesia, or perhaps Hawaii? He said he got his name from his dad and his values from his mom. Have you checked into what those values might be? His mother was a world traveling ”free thinker” whose political and religious values were outside mainstream America. His values; therefore, are not the Heartland USA values found in Kansas.

Obama, following his mother’s lead, is a socialist. He believes the government should solve all problems. He believes the promise of “cradle to grave” security (even though it is unattainable) can seduce Americans into voting for him and forfeiting their basic freedoms. He believes in using legislation and Executive Orders to redistribute wealth, which allows the government to take the hard earned wealth of some citizens and give it to others at home and abroad (mostly to Islamic nations).

As a socialist, he believes in using class warfare to promote his causes. Even though as a candidate he told us he would bring America together, he has been the most divisive president of my lifetime. For example, he encouraged racial tensions by allowing Black Panthers to intimidate white voters at the polls and his administration refused to prosecute them. He encouraged racial tensions by falsely accusing the police of mishandling a case involving a black professor trying to break into his own home. He also encouraged resentment from and toward Hispanics when he accused the State of Arizona of racial profiling for attempting to enforce Federal Immigration Laws. He has recently been encouraging class warfare by blaming those wicked wealthy people (capitalists!) for the 2008 economic downturn (which was actually caused by socialistic government interference with banks and mortgage companies). He encourages class warfare by repeatedly saying, “The rich should pay their fair share!” And, he has encouraged class warfare by supporting Occupy Wall Street!

Obama’s progressive/socialist policies are destroying our economy and robbing us of our freedoms. How many regulations can we bear and have any freedom left? The government is broke. Obama has helped take this nation to the brink of bankruptcy by: creating new government agencies, hiring more government employees, and by pushing a new, uber-expensive socialist program known generally known as Obama Care. (He can’t blame that one on Bush!)

The government’s bills are being paid with money borrowed in the name of taxpayers, and we know, ”The borrower is servant to the lender.”

In the name of recovery, he has spent us into a bottomless pit of debt without bringing new jobs into our economy. He spent a lot of the so-called stimulus money in foreign countries! He used large amounts of money to pay off unions and others who helped elect him. (That includes the money he spent on financially unsustainable and environmentally dirty “green” projects like electric cars which only benefited a handful of people and will never help the overall economy. Not to mention Solyndra!)

He has used the EPA, Executive Orders, and “proposed” regulations like Cap and Trade to block countless American jobs and prosperity for our economy. By limiting drilling for oil; formulating regulations to halt investment in new, cleaner coal based utility companies; discouraging Nuclear Power plants; and also by blocking the Canadian pipeline: he has deliberately hurt our economy!

None of these “green” measures are based on true concern for the world’s environment because he supports drilling for oil in Brazil and continuing to buy oil from the Middle East which drills for it! He supports Nuclear Power in other nations. And, he supports exporting our coal to China where it is burned and affects the atmosphere as much as it would if we burned it here. His policies are not green, they are socialistic! And, they are hurting our country.

On his fourth day in office he used an executive order to fund abortions around the world with US taxpayers money–which most Americans oppose. Combine this executive order with his Senate voting record of support for partial birth abortion, and his three votes to force medical workers to allow aborted babies accidentally born alive to die without medical care, and Obama Care, which forces taxpayers to pay for abortions; and he is the most pro-baby-killing president we’ve ever had.

He has sued Arizona and other states for trying to enforce Federal laws within their states that he refuses to enforce.

He released the 10 Russian spies arrested by the FBI in June of 2010 before they could even be debriefed to reveal their objectives and their contacts in our government. Why would he throw away the results of a successful ten year undercover investigation of Russian spies? Would they have revealed the anti-American activities of socialists and communists in his administration?

He undermined the USA and NATO security by agreeing to a treaty with Russia which cancelled our missile defense system and limited our potential for maintaining our arsenals. He has also spent us into so much debt we’ll have trouble maintaining our conventional defense over time.

He refuses to use the words terrorist, Islamic Radical, and War on Terror, even when Muslims try to blow up US targets and kill people within our borders or around the world.

He openly embraces Islam although Islam openly hates America! (They call us the Great Satan.) He bowed to the King of the Islamic nation of Saudi Arabia, a nation so exclusive and supremacist that no churches may be built within its borders, no Jews may visit the country, and non-Muslims are prohibited from visiting its sacred cities! Islam is a political/religious system seeking to dominate the world. Not something freedom lovers can embrace.

He also endangers America by wasting money having the TSA harass patriotic citizens in airports while allowing Muslims to serve in sensitive Homeland Security positions and welcoming unvetted Islamist refugees into our country! (No practicing Islamist should be in a USA security position! Duh.)

Americans cannot support Obama if they truly believe in our Constitutional Republic. I urge you to keep his past record before you. Please don’t allow yourself to be fooled by any centrist appearing policies he may pragmatically proffer. Remember, he has no problem making promises he won’t keep!

In the Kansas speech he once again pitched the idea that he and those “compassionate” Democrats just want us all to work together (collectivism) to equalize (lower) everyone’s standard of living; whereas those hard-hearted Republicans think everyone should be left to make it (prosper) on their own (individualism) and play by their own rules (have freedom under the rule of law).

He believes capitalism (the way of freedom and individualism) has been tried and failed! So, what’s left? Socialism!

If socialism is so great and capitalism is such a failure, how did America become such a wealthy nation with such a huge middle class? Try naming a wealthy socialist nation with a huge middle class! You can't.

Well, the election is over now and we are facing another 4 years of devastating social and economic  policies under this anti-American president. We have an Executive branch which undermines the rule of law (TSA, NSA, IRS, Benghazi, etc.) while it spies on law abiding American citizens, a Supreme Court which refuses to uphold the constitution, and a Congress which ignores the clear wishes of the American people on taxes, healthcare, immigration, energy policy, etc.

I am proud of all the patriot warriors trying to preserve our freedoms. I am thankful for the Tea Party Groups around the country and every other conservative organization still fighting the fight for right! I applaud them but I know our only hope is in God so I'll close with His Word which is far more important than anything we have to say.  

 In you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;  guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 

Remember, O LORD (Yahweh) , your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Psalm 25:2-3-6

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13   

Broad Way to Destruction

Highway to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. 
Google Images

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

I've seen this picture of the highway to Mecca used to illustrate that Arabs practice apartheid and it clearly proclaims that message, but the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this picture was the words of Jesus about the broad way to destruction. As you can see, there is a broad way of four lanes for Muslims to get to Mecca and there is a narrow way, a one lane exit, for non-Muslims to avoid that mistake.

As the Bible says, "There is a way that seems right to a man (in this case a Muslim) but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12

Mecca is the home of Islam's Kaaba which houses the ancient black stone. It is the number one religious site for those who worship Allah so all Muslim's must, if humanly possible, make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

Non-Muslims, who are classified by Muslims as unclean infidels (unbelievers) are not allowed to go to Mecca. (That's one rule most non-Muslims gladly obey!)

However, this rule reveals a major difference between Christianity and Islam. Christians welcome unbelievers into their assemblies so they can share truth with them and let them decide how they will respond to it. But, Muslims forbid unbelievers entrance into their activities unless they first confess, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet." (Like Nancy Pelosi saying the congressmen must sign the health care bill before they could read it, that's exactly backwards!)

Only after one confesses belief in Allah can one enter the city of Mecca to see the Kaaba where Muslim pilgrims circle the interior courts of the building seven times saying rote prayers and kiss the ancient black stone before heading out to Mt Arafat to throw stones at a symbolic Satan so they can fulfill the 5th Pillar of Islam and become known as a Hajji (one who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca).

Since Islam is the anti-Christ religion, the laws of Islam are opposite the laws of the true God. 

Under the true God, Who is a God of love and freedom, everyone is free to make their own choice. Anyone can take the broad way to destruction if they choose to. They can reject the very existence of God and the need for a personal Savior, or they can follow the teachings of numerous religions like Islam which require the futile and deceptive practice of "works" to earn one's own salvation.

Then, of course, one is also free to respond to the drawing of God's Spirit and choose the narrow gate to life through Jesus Christ, Who provides salvation for all who put their trust in Him alone.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Jesus said, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

He will come in and go out, and find pasture." John 10:9

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; John 11:25

Do you believe the testimony and promises of Jesus? 

 You are free to believe or reject His message. But your choice has consequences.

Please choose eternal life!
 
Don't take the broad way to destruction.

Giving Thanks For The Gift of Faith!

Nothing in life is as important as one’s faith.

The Bible says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8

The Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

I believe knowledge of the Bible, God’s written Word, is extremely important for building one’s faith, but I also realize that Jesus is The Word of God Who became flesh and He is able to speak a Word into the heart which inspires or creates faith. (God’s spoken word will always line up with His written Word.)

He has spoken significant Words into my heart many times. Both His written Word and His spoken Words have drawn me in faith to the “salvation by faith in the blood of Jesus” wherein I stand.

In the following passage the Bible encourages those who have received Christ Jesus the Lord to live their lives “established in the faith… abounding in thanksgiving.” What better season to be reminded of this passage?

Colossians 2: 6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

First of all, one must receive Christ Jesus the Lord to be saved. Accepting a Jesus who is merely a human prophet who did good works will not lead you to salvation. Only Bible truth can set you free from the bondage of sin and give you faith, by the grace of God, to be born again into the kingdom of God.

Faith is available to you! God’s grace will create faith in your heart if you choose to believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth died for your sins. Jesus is, as He said He is, “The Way, The Truth and The Life.” (John 14:6) Jesus said that no one can come into relationship with His Father except through relationship with Him. They are ONE. Jesus is the Door to reach God the Father. There is One Faith, One God, One Spirit, One Body of Believers in Jesus.

If you don’t have peace with God, please turn to Him now. Jesus is as close as the mention of His name. “Those who call upon the name of the LORD will be saved,” Acts 2:21

To be rooted, built up and established in the faith, one must know the Word of God. I urge all of you who have access to the Holy Bible to spend time getting to know it. We are living in perilous times. Those without roots and foundations will not find themselves established enough in the faith to spiritually survive the last days of the era we are living in.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Many deceivers are abroad in the land today. They have believed a lie and they are peddling those lies to others. Don’t allow manmade ideas to deceive you. The traditions of men are temporal not eternal. Ideas not based in the wisdom of Jesus Christ are empty and devoid of life. Worldly principles may sound good but they will lead to death. You must guard your heart and mind to save your eternal life in Christ!

Colossians 2:9-10 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

There is a common misconception being spread around about Jesus which I have already alluded to. Liberal theologians and Muslims alike, deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They are willing to admit He is a historical figure. They will agree that He was a good man, and a good teacher, and possibly a prophet, and maybe even a worker of miracles. But their support ends there.

They will not confess Him as God. Some deny His virgin birth. Some deny His sinless life. Some deny His death on the cross as a propitiation for sin. I believe all of those who deny His deity also deny His resurrection followed by an ascension, but I dare not refer to all liberal theologians as if all are peas in a pod.

Note: Muslims believe in the virgin birth and perhaps the sinless life of a man called Isa, son of Maryam, mentioned in the Qur’an. They refer to him as if he is the same Jesus we believe in, but they deny he was crucified for sin and that he was resurrected from the dead. They believe Allah took him to heaven in his mortal body and that he will soon return in his mortal body as an assistant to their 12th Imam (The one we know as the Anti-Christ.) The Muslim Jesus will tear down all crosses, slaughter pigs and force everyone to convert to Islam or forfeit their lives. As verse eight says, BEWARE!

Now, back to our scripture.   For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

This verse  clearly procliams that Jesus is God. Let me restate it for further clarity.

All the attributes of the Godhead dwell completely in the physical body and personality of Jesus! He is Unique! No one else possesses all the characteristics and abilities of God in a physical body. This means He alone is able to reveal the invisible God to mankind, which is why He told His disciples, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father also." The Son bears the image of His Father in heaven. They are ONE.

We are the limited ones, not Jesus. We lack the capacity to relate to Who God is in Himself! We could search for Him through all eternity and never find Him if He did not choose to reveal Himself to us because God is a Spirit. He Exists in Himself without a physical body!

He came as Jesus, in the flesh, to be with us! That is the meaning of His name Emmanuel! God with us! What grace! What love!

To finish up with this passage let’s look at verse 10a.  "and you are complete in Him,"

Just as the Godhead indwells the physical body of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ dwells in His people!

Just as Jesus, in the flesh, could only reveal a small portion of the Fullness of the Godhead to such limited creatures as we presently are; we can only realize a small portion of the completed perfection which will be revealed in us when we receive our immortal bodies. We are mere seeds in the womb of our experience, as it were, not yet fully formed eternal children of God.

However, this passage says we are complete in Him. Though our bodies and our actions are not perfected in this life, our salvation has been bought and fully paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are complete, finished, matured, born again members of the body of Christ once we have truly placed our faith in Him.

I am truly thankful for this saving faith!

To finish up with this passage let’s look at verse 10b.  "who is the head of all principality and power."

Jesus, the Son of God, in Whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells in physical form, is the Final Authority over all created authorities in the universe apart from and subject to the One and Only Creator Godhead Who eternally exists in Three Persons; namely, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If you are complete in Jesus Christ, you are complete. There is no other authority that can stand against you. As Paul said, “If God is for us, who can stand against us?” Romans 8:31

No other religious faith is equal to the Christian faith because no other Faith embraces Jesus Christ as the only God and Savior Who loves us and gave Himself for us.

So, during this Thanksgiving season, I’m Giving Thanks For The Gift of Faith.

Dr. David Livingstone's Character



Stanley found Livingstone on 10 November 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania, and may have greeted him with the now-famous, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"  wikipedia

I recently had the pleasure of reading The Final Journals of David Livingstone by Dr. Livingstone and The Personal Life of David Livingstone by W. Garden Blaikie, D.D., LLD. Then, because of the controversy about whether Dr. Livingstone gave an accurate account of a massacre he witnessed, I decided to get another perspective on his character by reading  Henry Morton Stanley's: How I Found Livingstone In Central Africa.
                                       
Before I get into what Mr. Stanley reported about Dr. Livingstone's character, let me share with you some background information on how and why they met.

Dr. Livingstone first went to Africa as a missionary in 1840. During his years there his interests expanded far beyond the spreading of the gospel. He sought a cure for the African fever, known today as malaria, which sickened and often killed humans and domestic animals. He studied the plant and animal life, as well as, the lay of the land and its productivity.

He also named Victoria Falls and Lake Lincoln. (Dr. Livingstone honored President Lincoln for ending slavery in the United States because Dr. Livingstone longed to see the end of slavery throughout the world during his lifetime.)

Dr. Livingstone kept detailed journals covering diverse subjects. He wrote about medical treatments he found effective. He mapped his travels using astronomical instruments. His journals were a log of his many discoveries. They are filled with fascinating descriptions and drawings of previously unknown types of insects, fish and animals. His many maps helped the Victorian cartographers produce more accurate travel guides for Central Africa- especially noting the positions of many lakes and rivers. He also shared the names, customs, characteristics, languages and locations of many previously unknown tribes which eventually helped other missionaries in their endeavors to share the gospel with them.

His final mission in Africa was to discover and document the source of the Nile River. He spent many years in that endeavor and was lost to the outside world for much of that time. After a lengthy silence, Mr. Stanley, a journalist and explorer, was sent to Africa as a correspondent of the New York Herald newspaper to find Dr. David Livingstone- dead or alive- so the world might learn more of his work and know his fate.

Mr. Stanley had never met Dr. Livingstone. He had heard many things about him and actually feared that Livingstone might not want to be found. But, nothing was farther from the truth. Dr. Livingstone had suffered many setbacks, both physically and financially, and was in need of a Good Samaritan at the very time that Stanley found him. Looking back on all the problems and delays he had suffered in getting there, even Stanley believed that their meeting was indeed providential.

Mr. Stanley was on assignment. He was paid to find Dr. Livingstone and to report on his health and whereabouts. He was not required to like him. But, his comments about Dr. Livingstone reveal that he came to think very highly of him during their four months together: from November 10th, 1871 thru March 14th, 1872. (Dr. Livingstone had but 13 months to live when Mr. Stanley took leave of him in Africa.) 

Although Mr. Stanley did not profess to be a Christian, he knew one when he saw one. I'm sharing a few quotes from Mr. Stanley's book to add another perspective to the current charges against Dr. David Livingstone. Coming from the pen of one who actually knew him, I think they should be given more weight than baseless suppositions by suspicious, and possibly jaded,contemporary researchers.

Speaking of Dr. Livingstone's travels and experiences, Mr. Stanley said:

 "His lips gave me the details; lips that never lie."

"I defy anyone to be in his society long without thoroughly fathoming him, for in him there is no guile, and what is apparent on the surface is the thing that is in him."

"Livingstone was a character that I venerated, that called forth all my enthusiasm, that evoked nothing but sincerest admiration."

"I grant he is not an angel, but he approaches to that being as near as the nature of a living man will allow."

"In him, religion exhibits its loveliest features; it governs his conduct... towards his servants, ... natives, ... Mohammedans, and all who come in contact with him."

"Religion has... made him a Christian gentleman... a man whose society is pleasurable."

"His gentleness never forsakes him; his hopefulness never deserts him. No harassing anxieties, distraction of mind, long separation from home and kindred, can make him complain... he has such a faith in the goodness of Providence."

"An extreme love of truth is one of his strongest characteristics..."

"... he has, through his uniform kindness and mild, pleasant temper, won all hearts. I observed that universal respect paid to him (by all classes of the natives and the Mohammedans alike)."  

To repeat:

"An extreme love of the truth is one of his strongest characteristics..."

This is not a characteristic that one suddenly abandons after years of habit without a total collapse of the character. Mr. Stanley even recalls Mr. Livingstone sharing the cherished stories of his family history regarding honesty.

Therefore, based on David Livingstone's life and testimonials on his character, I reject the recent claims made by researchers that he lied about the Manyeuma massacre.  

If you like history or just good adventure stories, I recommend you read Mr. Stanley's book, How I Found Livingstone in Central Africa.

Hope you enjoyed this blog.