Holding on to the Promises

Tags

faith, fruit of the Spirit, God is working, liberty, life, Philippians 4, promises

Around the beginning of the year, a new chapter began in my life, and I want to share some of it with you. It had to do with His WORD, His Promises, and my (us, as believers) position “In Christ!”

Every promise contained in the New Testament
belongs to every believer.

Everything God asks from us,
He first gives to us so He knows
we have it to give back to Him.

Woman taking refuge in the wings of God inspired by Psalm17:8

If something ugly is happening in our life, we must meet it with something GOOD because we “overcome evil with ________!!!” (GOOD Romans 12:21)

Find the Promise(S) God has assigned to your circumstances, and hold on tightly!!! Look for His GOODNESS!!!

“In every area of struggle in your life, God has granted you life and godliness. The truth is in every area of need and struggle, He has placed a promise there so that by the exercise of that promise, you would know the fullness of His affection for you and you would wake up to greater love.”

From FULLNESS NOW ~ Graham Cooke

Does this mean pulling the “cliche” promises into practice? The promises that so many of us quote without really apprehending their power? The ones we sometimes throw toward our friends when they’re in trouble and we don’t know what to say or do? Those promises?

OK So … I thank you, FATHER, for this opportunity to challenge the veracity of Your word and since I can do nothing, FATHER, I depend on You. Teach me how to “exercise” Your promises for Your glory! What is the promise(s) for my current situation?

• Phil 4: 6-7 NASB
  6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• Phil 4: 8-9
  8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
• Phil 4: 11-13
  11 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
• Phil 4:19
  19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Cor 2:9
  But as it is written (Isaiah 64:4):
  “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
  Nor have entered into the heart of man
  The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
  Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
  Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

While the WORD has been familiar to me for decades, God is opening my eyes and my heart to … MORE!
More richness,
More abundant life,
More fullness,
More Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control!

GOD is GOOD, and every transaction with Him must result in GOODNESS!!! But I leave you to chew on this a while.

“There is no security is what God is doing.
There is only security in who GOD is!”
Graham Cooke

Advertisement

Blind Leading the Blind

Tags

choices, communism, fun, hollywood, lifestyle, morality, motivation, people, progressive, SEN. MCCARTHY, sex, virtue, WALTON'S, WE THE PEOPLE

Lassie (CBS)
1954 – 1974
Shown: Jon Provost

Hollywood has long been a cauldron of Progressivism. Remember Sen. McCarthy in the 1950’s? Had he not discredited his theories with his own alcoholism, maybe things could have been yanked up back then. Remember the “Black List” of Hollywood stars, directors, writers, etc suspected (or known) to be Communist sympathizers? They weren’t planning a violent coup. Instead, they created program after program that subtly and progressively dismantled or mocked what most Americans know as “traditional American values.” So who or what governs your morality?

If you compare the programs of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s to the programs today, what are the most obvious differences? Look closely, the progression from the respectful, kind, and caring family programs like Bonanza (1959-1973), Combat (1962-1967), Flipper (1963-1967), Waltons (1971-1981), Little House on the Prairie (1974-1983), Lassie (1954-1974), and dozens more to the what seem to be hideously biased Progressive TV “comedies” that represent the lower possibilities of human interaction … and they’re presented as the Best New TV Comedies of 2013, which are a smorgasbord of base behaviors. Really? This is the BEST we can do?

There was a time not so long ago when at least some in Hollywood had a glimpse of the potential for their industry to impact the population for GOOD! Under the guise of entertainment, at least some writers and producers sought to motivate people to “improve” themselves: either improve their circumstances via hard work and education, or “improve” their character by inspiring people to a more virtuous life.

American culture, too, rewarded those who worked toward self-improvement. Lifelong loyalty at work was rewarded with retirement. A “clean life” was desirable, and was often rewarded with success. Now, in contrast, a “clean life” is a joke, often the brunt of jokes like the football player, Tim Tebow. Even worse, it seems many cajole such virtuous individuals in the hope they will “fall!” We don’t hear about the alcoholic that succeeds in living “dry” and rebuilding his life, but the press circles especially celebrities with alcohol or drug issues just waiting for them to self-destruct … and we, the people keep buying the trash they give us.

Although still recovering from his injuries overseas, Sgt. Sanchez insisted on leaving his electric wheelchair to walk the flag down Main Street, U.S.A., saying “If it’s for the colors, I’ll walk”

What do you suppose would happen if We, the People demanded, by virtue of our dollars, more wholesome, virtuous movies and TV programs? Is morality really old-fashioned or just too hard for today’s weak-willed citizen? Must every TV sitcom be about SEX? Is there such a thing as a loving relationship that does NOT focus on SEX? If we say we, as a society, are dismayed by the 50% divorce rate, might we not seek solutions rather than further exploitations? If we’re concerned about the violence in our society, might we not question the “gangsta” lifestyle endorsed by many high profile musicians? Is there anything FUN besides SEX?

What do you care about? What motivates your choices? As much as I disagree with the blind hatred of Islamic fighters, on some level, I respect their commitment to a cause, although it is driven more by fear and hate than real devotion, it seems. Most Americans are not devoted to anything bigger than themselves … even many who claim a religion. Is there anything worth living for? worth fighting for? worth dying for?

FUN with WORDS: Homophones

Tags

English, fun, homophones, language, word games, words

An old joke tells of someone asking the assistant at a paper shop: ‘Do you keep stationery?’ and she replies: ‘No, I wriggle about a bit.’ She clearly thought he meant the word that is spelt ‘stationary’. There are many pairs of words like this, which sound the same but are spelt differently. They are called homophones or sometimes homonyms.

Identify the pairs of homophones from the following clues.

Example: One word means a place for keeping aircraft; the other word means a shaped piece of wood, metal, etc. on which you can hang clothes.
Answer: Hangar/hanger.

1. One word means simple; the other means an aircraft.

2. One word means expected; the other word means condensed vapour (vapor).

3. One word is nautical; the other is central to the body.

4. One word means connections; the other is an animal.

CONTINUE HERE

DESTINY CALLS: WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP ME?

Tags

America, Inspiration Monday, Land of the Free, liberty, Liberty speaks, poem, poetry, self-governing people

A place in history, of time untolled,
A purpose and plan struggled against the mold,
Some strangers from across the sea,
Set out knowing nothing at all of me.

Looking through the stars, a stirring they felt,
On my distant shores, gratefully they knelt.
A firm foundation, their hearts to heaven soared,
With a twinkle in their eye and a future reward.

A city on hill, a new world of freedom,
A people self-governed, contrary to a kingdom.
That was the plan; that was the dream,
To rule over themselves without selfish scheme.

Alas, it now seems that some devilish machine
Has usurped the plan and banished the dream,
No longer this people willing to behave well,
Sold their will and devotion to a vile cartel.

Yet, off in the distance, muffled by noise,
Still Liberty’s voice, it calls with poise,
“Stand up and be counted, all you who’d be free,
The time has come to support and defend me!”

“Too busy,” you say, to get involved;
“Too much corruption, and lies, and scandals unresolved!”
Ah, but who allowed that to happen,” Liberty dares to inquire,
“Self-governing was the call, not sit back and retire!”

This ‘self-governing’ people has stopped governing altogether,
Stopped trying to improve, stopped reaching higher.
It’s so much easier to just sit and collect a check,
“Leave the heavy lifting to others while I enjoy my new deck!”

But the Land of the Free simply will not survive,
If mediocrity and laziness overpower our drive,
To conquer all obstacles, to rise to every challenge,
To grow up, to face up, and stand in the balance!

Inspiration Monday: looking through the stars Hope you don’t mind me dropping back in this week. I do miss the challenge of the “weekly assignment!”

EDUCATION: A Primary Tool is the Liberal Arsenal

Tags

civics, curriculum, dumbed-down, education, Great Divide, I'm OK; You're OK, John Dewey, NEA, New Education, paleo-moral judgments, politically correct

I spent a decade teaching in a private school in my attempt to negotiate the Union trap doors and administrative bullying, so I know first hand how manipulative our education system can be. It all seems so innocent. Subtle changes here. Rewording there. Omission of certain details in the life of George Washington or skewed emphasis on uncertainties in the life of Abraham Lincoln don’t seem like monumental issues in the overall education of children. Toss in a little “I’m OK; You’re OK” and John Dewey’s perspective on education as part of a young teacher’s training, and we begin to see – way back in the 70’s – the beginnings of what we are reaping today. In their effort to indoctrinate our students in a politically correct manner, relevant disciplines have been compromised, watered (dumbed) down, or completely omitted. There is evidence, the decline in US education has much greater impact on our further than most of us may realize.

To any American who believes whole-heartedly in the virtue of our public school system, please know you are completely … UNAWARE!!!

Education’s Great Divide: My Time in the Trenches

By Glenn Fairman

In thinking about how valuable education is in cultivating the next generation of Americans, my mind took me back nearly twenty years to when I was a graduate student functioning as a substitute teacher at La Puente High School in Southern California. On one assignment, I was to cover a social studies class of some old-timer; he had written down in his instructions that since his classes were on a field trip, my sole duty was to show a movie at 6th period to those who did not attend. What I found that day opened my eyes.

In a dusty corner shelf of the room was a set of thirty-year-old textbooks from the mid-1960s, and although my memory cannot now relinquish their title, their contents burned themselves into my brain. As I flipped through the pages, I was astonished to find what I would now consider an upper-level college textbook under color of what in the high schools used to be termed “civics.” This text contained a very detailed understanding of political theory, constitutional law, macroeconomics, American history, and comparative political systems. I spent the rest of the day in slack-jawed amazement, perusing what a student in a working-class town was expected to know before the mavens of education began tinkering with the curricula of our schools.

When the instructor returned at the end of the day, I revealed my astonishment to him, and he informed me that he had used those texts when he first hired on. Now, however, could not do so, since they would be incomprehensible to nearly every student — especially considering that the nature of history and American government had been changed in the current texts. The teacher related to me that the current texts had been scaled down to what used to be a grammar-school understanding, and they carried within them a jaundiced view of America, preferring to accentuate the warts and blemishes rather than the achievements of our political system.

I then made it my business, when finding an older teacher, to ask if education had been “dumbed down.” To a person, I found that this question unleashed volatile diatribes on how dull children had become since the responders had begun as idealistic young men and women in the field. Algebra teachers informed me that every year they were forced to eliminate problem sets that previous years had mastered. English teachers who once taught Shakespeare and Dante were now reduced to leading seniors through Orwell’s Animal Farm or postmodern novels featuring teens in existential moral dilemmas. Moreover, the analysis of themes in book reports had been deconstructed into not what the author was attempting to portray, but what personal emotions were elicited in the reader.

Teachers, who are part and parcel the products of our New Education, can never be fully aware of what diminution has been wrought subsequent to the Great Divide. From elementary school and into the colleges, disciplines of objective knowledge have been either discounted or leveled, and critical thinking has been pushed aside for the subtle indoctrination of a specific worldview. Students are deemed to be merely clever animals, and the slow, simmering replacement of a spiritual for a biological self-definition is therefore woven into the fabric of how they are taught life and the world.

Campus speech codes and filtered curricula have denuded the classical goal of the acquisition of a free and analytic mind. The capacity to seek and apprehend truth has devolved into the project to fashion pliable minds with correct and proper opinions, in which truth itself is a problematic, wavering, conventional construct. Passion and commitment in service to a politicized cause are indeed more valuable than the veracity of that cause, since the absence of truth renders one construction of the world coequal with another.

The moral equality of lifestyles, as well as the preferred end of an equality of material results, is deemed by those who design curricula to be consistent with “anointed ideologies.” All permutations of sexuality are to be held valid, protected from the scrutiny of blighted paleo-moral judgments. All cultures and religions are also worthy of celebration — with the exceptions of Christianity and the American regime, who are guilty of a plethora of crimes throughout the earth and must therefore be lowered in stature to ensure the final egalitarian assessment of distinction-free understanding. The fiction must be implanted that we are all one worldwide loving and happy family, benevolent and divided only by geographical and artificial political overlays.

Read more: HERE

For those with children or grandchildren in public schools today, I cannot urge you enough to pay VERY close attention to the assignments, the textbooks, and the classroom discussions so you are both informed and able to rebut in your time with these children. It is a VITAL INTEREST to educate this generation about the workings of our government as the Founders intended, to educate our students on HOW to learn because teachers do NOT! Some teachers actually (I know this, too, first hand) read from a SCRIPT, and they call that “teaching!” We all know our ABC’s, so let’s USE the skills and knowledge we have to educate our children. We cannot count on the government sponsored public school system to uphold our “traditional American values,” if we are not willing to do so ourselves.

The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle that Changed the World is an excellent place to start. The future of our nation depends on the values and Constitutional knowledge of our children and grandchildren, and who is better equipped to help them understand than US … you and me working together to LIVE and BREATHE LIBERTY as a God-given gift and responsibility! We must turn the tide.

Related articles:

Parents as Teachers: Every Parent Can Be a Child’s First and Best Teacher

7 Signs That U.S. Education Decline Is Jeopardizing Its National Security

Corruption in the Public Schools

LIBERALISM AND SOCIAL CONTROL: THE NEW CLASS’ WILL TO POWER

Liberalism’s Modest Proposals

National Education Association

Blogathon Carries On …

OK, well … I’m enjoying a nice long weekend, mostly with family, but it seems I have some “time off” to attend my personal “stuff!” My friend “Citizen Tom” nominated me for this lovely – award/challenge! Thanks Tom!

What to do? Well, here are the rules.

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.

2. They must also answer the 11 questions the “tagger” has set for them.

3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.

4. They must then choose 11 bloggers and tag them in their post.

5. These “lucky” bloggers must then be told.

6. No tag backs.

Here are the questions for the people I was tagged by TOM to answer. Since this is a blog that mixes politics and religion I will alternate between the two. When you answer, feel free to elaborate.

1. What is your favorite Bible story?
   hahaha Well, right off the bat, my hackles go up at the phrasing of this question! (I’m such a “heretic!”) There are parables in the Bible, and there are illustrations of Biblical principles but I choose not to call them stories because, to many, that gives them less importance! Anyway … My favorite would have to be, though it is a difficult choice, the advent of the Birth of Christ. From the conception of John the Baptist through the lamentations in the streets for the slaying of two year old babies it is absolutely fascinating to see the Sovereign Provision of God, how the prophecies of the Old Covenant are fulfilled to the letter …




2. Who is your favorite president?
   George Washington! Such a principled man, a man of extreme inner strength of character – strong enough to withstand the cry of the people to make him King! It amazes me and frustrates me because we see few such men or women in “public service” today.
3. What is your favorite book in the Bible?
   This changes from time to time, but I’d have to say currently it is Psalms. There is a Psalm to fit EVERY human need, condition, and emotion, and it’s a comfort to know that David was a “man after God’s own heart” even though he was a horrible father, and murderer, an adulterer, but he had a repentant, “teachable” heart.
4. What is your favorite person in history? Does not have to be a political leader.

   Well … after some thought, the one(s) I admire most throughout history are the ones excluded from the hsitory books except by generalizations. The feudal farmers, the early American settlers, the tribal peoples around the world, those who have endured grave oppression, those who have sacrificed personally for the good of others … The nameless heroes throughout time. His name is … the OTHER!

5. Which of parables that Jesus told has had the most significance in your life?

   The Parable of the Bags of Gold (Mt 25: 14-30) – to whom much is given, much is expected (and I’m not talking taxes here!!)

6. What type of government do you think works best?
   ” … government of the people, by the people, for the people” because it takes into account HUMAN NATURE!
7. Which character in the Bible do you identify with the most?

   DAVID! lol Imperfect, sinner yet called “a man after God’s own heart!” I want to be that … A woman after God’s own heart!

8. Have you read a book about politics?

   Yes, currently making my way through a few: the The 5000 Year Leap, by W. Cleon Skousen; Miracles of the American Revolution, by Larkin Spivey; and the political thriller, Black List, by Brad Thor.

9. Have you read a book about religion?

   Yes, but interestingly, the books I have read on “religion” are also books with a political flavor, as well. As listed above, The Celtic Crusades trilogy, and The Dragon King Saga (fiction), by Stephen R. Lawhead; and Miracles of the American Revolution, by Larkin Spivey

10. If you answered “yes” to question 8, please name the book and the author. SEE #8! lol
11. If you answered “yes” to question 9, please name the book and the author. SEE #9! 🙂

The Parable of the Bags of Gold: Mt 25:14 – 30

Here are the blogs I tagged. Why did I pick these blogs? Why did I pick you? Your blog discusses either (or both) politics and religion. I enjoy reading your posts, and I believe others will enjoy reading them, too! 🙂 I hope you do not find this too annoying or tedious!

Should you choose to accept this mission, here are your 11 questions:

1. Where is your birthplace?

2. Have you traveled outside the USA? Where & why?

3. What is your favorite genre of music? Artist?

4. Do you have a personal HERO? Who & why? or Why not?

5. Glass half-full or half empty? Why?

6. What motivates you to get up in the morning?

7. Do you have a favorite novel or film? Title & author/director

8. Have you enjoyed any affiliation with the US Military?

9. Beverage of choice?

10. Favorite non-computer activity

11. On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being Off-the-charts, how do you rate your passion for the USA?

You lucky chosen ones … must answer these questions to the best of your ability. This post will NOT self-destruct, but YOU might if you refuse to participate! 😉

1. America’s Watchtower

2. Village of the Banned

3. The Unknown Soldier Blog

4. The Constitution Club

5. Sword at the Ready

6. The Patriot Factor

7. Socialism is not the Answer

8. The Lorinov Report

9. Nice Deb

10. Freedombytheway

11. Green Mountain Scribes

‘NATIONAL EMPTY CHAIR DAY’ CLOUDS DNC DAY ONE

by MICHAEL PATRICK LEAHY

As Day One of the DNC dawns in Charlotte, North Carolina, conservatives are making mischief, having declared Monday “National Empty Chair Day.”

The event is inspired by Clint Eastwood’s dialogue with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention Thursday; the iconic actor/director declared Barack Obama is not doing his job as president.

Conservatives over the weekend posted various images of empty chairs on social media networks, especially Twitter and Facebook.

Though the gavel to officially open the proceedings of the DNC won’t come down until Tuesday, the DNC website lists Monday as “Day One” of the convention.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Just some fun, but at the same time, it helps Conservatives express their dissatisfaction with the current regime while adding a sense of “volume” to the debate.

We-the-People – Can you See?

Tags

success

I’ve written about this more times than I wish I felt the need to, and yet it seems the message still falls of deaf ears. Most of our Seniors remember the First Depression – before Welfare, before Foodstamps, before Medicaid, before unemployment compensation. How on earth did those people survive without government handouts? Did they grumble about the government OWING them “a house, food and a vehicle so they could pursue happiness?” or were they somehow even grateful for what little they might have as long as they were still FREE to live their LIFE as they chose?

Money (and/or power) is NOT the only measure of SUCCESS. No, seriously! While money can buy comfort, it cannot buy health (as cliche as that seems, just ask the millions of Americans with some form of cancer how important health is.) Money cannot buy you happiness. It can buy you pleasure, but pleasure doesn’t guarantee happiness.

We get so envious of those sometimes in the news – celebrities and athletes who, though talented, are simply not worth the money they receive for their efforts while the daycare workers – teaching our children in their most formative years – get minimum wage or only slightly above. We get so envious of what the WEALTHY have that we seem to “LACK,” that it messes up our equilibrium, and we lose our focus. Before we know it, all we can see is what we seem to lack. Can you walk in a straight line forward while continuously focused to your left or right?

I suppose I’m unique in that money has never meant much to me. Perhaps that’s why I don’t have much! Ha! I have enough to pay my bills, have lunch out with a friend now and then, go to a movie once in a while, or stop for ice cream after an exceptionally good workout! But what makes me an extraordinarily wealthy woman is not the items I own or the clothes I wear, but the people that surround me.

My fear for our nation is that people have lost sight of this truth, the blessings of FREEDOM. We, as a people, are so self-consumed with getting more, buying a bigger house, a newer car, the latest cell phone or techno gadget that we have lost sight of our life, liberty, and … our neighbors, our friends, and our family. And what about a hobby? What is the element of FUN in our daily lives? Laughter … games … bowling night … choir practice … bridge club … THIS is pursuing happiness! Not a bigger paycheck, but the simple pleasures of life that money can’t buy and the government can’t take away!

Obama Sucks! [video]

As if We Don’t have Enough Drama