Could our public schools be better run by state and local citizens?

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bad teachers, Common Core, education, government bloat, learning differences, NEA, public-schools, states-rights, teach-to-the-test, teachers' unions, tenure, US Constitution

Republican Proposes Eliminating Department of Education. Here Are 7 Reasons That’s A Great Idea.

 

For years, I fought the NEA as a teacher, to teach to the student, the individual student instead of the “class.” Sadly, at tis point, the NEA is more interested in political statements an political correctness than in the actual education of our students. If you look at the front page of their website, there is very little about the education f our students, but much about various political viewpoints.

The NEA is arguably one of the most powerful Unions in America.They are noted for huge donations to candidates of the Democrat party and to the party itself. They also played a huge role in the design and implementation of “Obamacare.”It is very confusing to me, as a teacher, that the focus of tis powerful union is on anything BUT the education of our students.

I began asking about the significance of the Dept of Education 2 or 3 decades ago as the curricula began to stray from the basics of reading, writing and math. Now, students are taught many things that will carry little significance as they enter real world and become productive citizens.

Who knows their children better, the federal government or the locals? Who can better adjust the curriculum to improve local results?

This article is wonderful!  What do you think?

**********

House Republican has proposed abolishing the

Department of Education.

By: Aaron Bandler

February 9, 2017

A House Republican has proposed abolishing the Department of Education.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) put forth a bill that simply states that the department will cease to exist at the end of 2018. It has the support of at least seven other House Republicans, including Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Raul Labrador (R-ID)

Here are seven reasons why eliminating the Department of Education would be a great idea.

1. Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education as a form of political payback to the teachers unions. According to Reason, Carter had decide to establish the department to thank the National Education Association (NEA) for their support in 1976 and, given his low approval ratings at the time, he hoped that forming the Department of Education would ensure the NEA’s support for the 1980 election.

A House Democrat even admitted at the time, “The idea of an Education Department is really a bad one. But it’s NEA’s top priority. There are school teachers in every congressional district and most of us simply don’t need the aggravation of taking them on.”

The NEA’s executive director in 1980 declared, “There’d be no department without the NEA.”

What better way to help break the teachers unions’ iron grip on education than abolishing the Department of Education?

2. The department is unconstitutional. The Constitution makes no mention of education; it is not an enumerated power given to the federal government. Therefore, under the Tenth Amendment, education should be left to the states and the federal government should be kept out of it.

 3. The results under the Department of Education have been abysmal. In January 2016, the Daily Wire highlighted the following statistics from Mark Levin’s Plunder and Deceit: Big Government’s Exploitation of Young People and the Future:

• U.S. fifteen-year-olds scored below average in math, science and reading among OECD nations, according to the Program for International Student Assessment. This is despite the fact that Luxembourg and Norway are the only two OECD nations that spent more per student on education than the U.S.
• Only 43 percent of students who took the SAT in 2013 were deemed as “college-ready.”
• 2013 was the fifth straight year where less than half of those taking the SAT scored above 1550, which is “the threshold for demonstrating the capability to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of B-minus or better in a four-year degree college or university.”
• Only 26 percent of U.S. 12th graders are skilled in math and only 38 percent are skilled in reading, according to the 2013 NAEP report.
• 66 percent of all applicants to the Armed Services Vocational Battery “fail to meet the minimal educational standards on the tests.”

Levin also cites a study by Andrew Coulson, director of Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, which determined that SAT scores over the past 40 years have declined by an average of 3 percent, similar to trends observed by the NAEP.

“Consistent with those patterns, there has been essentially no correlation between what states have spent on education and their measured academic outcomes,” Coulson writes.”

The Department of Education has been an abject failure; it only makes sense to get rid of it.

4. Eliminating the Department of Education would end Common Core. The Daily Wire has previously highlighted the following about Common Core:

As Michelle Malkin has explained, Common Core has further federalized education and co-opted schools into dumbed-down standards, revisionist left-wing history and ridiculous math problems that are more complicated than they need to be while setting back children’s progress in this crucial subject compared to other countries. It is also a massive data mining scheme that collects “information on every student’s personality, attitudes, values, beliefs, and disposition, a psychological profile called Interpersonal Skills Standards and anchors” that the federal government uses as part of a “decision making model,” according to Fox News.

Read more here!

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A Nation Divided Against Itself Can Not Stand! Part 1

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Americans, change, Conservatives, constitution, Cruz, democrats, divisions, election 2016, Founders, history, Liberals, obama, Republicans, Trump

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

It’s written in the Bible (Mark 3:24-25), and it is the foundation of one of President Abraham Lincoln’s most important speeches.

On June 16, 1858 more than 1,000 delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, statehouse for the Republican State Convention. At 5:00 p.m. they chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. At 8:00 p.m. Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues in the Hall of Representatives. The title reflects part of the speech’s introduction, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” a concept familiar to Lincoln’s audience as a statement by Jesus recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). House Divided Speech, Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858. Read more HERE.

Decades later, running on a platform that publicly declared his intention to “fundamentally change America,” against the wishes of millions of Americans, President Obama has succeeded in is goal to piece by piece dismantle and disrespect the very foundation of our nation: our Constitution and the rule of law.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

A Historical background via Obama the Great Divider, by J. Robert Smith

 “Throughout our nation’s history, division has been the rule; unity, the exception.  That goes back to the Revolution.  When it was clear to the Founders and outraged colonists that the British had no interest in redressing their grievances, they elected to divide, to fight for independence.

“Lucky for us and the world that they chose to do so. 

“Today, many Americans aren’t acquainted with the fact that colonists weren’t unanimous for independence.  A sizeable minority — Tories — backed the Crown.  They supported British troops and some fought alongside them. 

“The nation’s early, formative political era was marked by sharp divisions.  Federalists versus Jeffersonians.  Pro-Jackson versus Anti-Jackson factions.  Disputes over slavery were ongoing.  There was a whiskey rebellion and another war with the British.

“By the mid 1800s, the nation divided into sections and fought a civil war.  That, assuredly, was a tragic division.  620,000 military casualties, north and south, say so.  A ravaged South and a depleted North say so, too. 

“But as Lincoln stated, the war came, despite efforts at reconciliation.  The good that resulted from the war was the abolition of slavery.  And though it would take another hundred years, and yet more divisions and trials, abolition set African-Americans on the path to gaining their full God-given rights.  

“In the 20^th Century, Americans divided about other wars as well.  World Wars I and II, Vietnam and the Iraq War.  Toward the end, they divided about the Cold War.  

“And they’ve divided about the New Deal, the Fair Deal, The Great Society and the Reagan Revolution.  They’ve divided culturally, starting in the 1960s, over drugs, sex and rock and roll.  They’ve divided over abortion.

“As we look back over the long arc of the nation’s history, we see that from divisions came resolutions.  Freedom, more often than not, was advanced.  Our rights better secured.  Our nation, strengthened.   

“We live in a time of momentous divisions.  Many of us will not live to see the resolutions completely.  Since the early part of the 20^th Century, a great conflict has not only been playing out abroad, but at home, between statism and freedom. 

“At home, the statists – call them progressives, liberals or leftists – have worked diligently to advance government, to centralize authority in a political elite and bureaucracy and to, thereby, abridge the rights of the individual.  They dismiss the original intent that undergirds the Constitution, claiming a right to make interpretations that are frequently aimed at pressing their causes and increasing their power.  Many disdain our values, faith and traditions.

“Where shall we find common ground with the statists?  Compromise?  Compromise must invariably lead to less, not more, freedom.  And wasn’t that tried by our parents’ and grandparents’ generations?  Aren’t we, in part, struggling against a looming tyranny – albeit a soft tyranny – because of the good will and accommodations of our predecessors? 

Though ideological opponents, these two responsible leaders were also friends.

“Note, too, that overseas, in the 20^th Century and now, tyrants, established or aspiring, all sought or seek unity.  Unity under their rule in the service of the state.  Inevitably, they use force to achieve that end.  Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Pol Pot and an assortment of lesser dictators all bullied, imprisoned, maimed or killed millions who failed to unite with their will. 

“Today, the Castro brothers are still at it.  Hugo Chavez is attempting it in Venezuela.  The mullahs are at it in Iran.  Kim Jong-Il has been at it in North Korea.  So are the Chinese.  Putin isn’t far from reasserting unity in service to the Russian state. 

“In our nation, we are fortunate that the Founders had great insight into human nature and the wisdom to arrange our government in ways that divided and authority.   They instituted checks and balances to thwart the tyranny of any faction, or combination of factions, to impose unity on us. 

“In the last ninety years, the barriers erected by the Founders to protect us from the tyranny of unity have been breached.  But they still stand.  It falls to us to repair and strengthen those barriers.  To reclaim the full measure of freedom which is our birthright and was intended us by the Founders.  And pass on that freedom to our children and theirs.” Read more HERE

If you listen to both Hillary and Bernie, they are so angry, so victimized, so … dead set on the next chapter in the self-destruction of America, that cannot or will not change course. Even the “driveby” media has nothing good to say, nothing hopeful, nothing uplifting to point to in anything going on. MORE coming soon.

 

 

 

PREPARE!

Tags

America, faith, God, INTERCESSION, People of Faith, politically incorrect, prayer, truth, WAR ROOM, work

If you are paying attention to life and events around our nation and world, it is clear, something is coming. Something uncomfortable … unpleasant … uninvited. Are you prepared?
I am not necessarily talking about stockpiling food & water, although there is no harm in that type of preparation. I’m  more concerned with a general attitude.

9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!
Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”

Some might have heard of the new film in theaters at the writing of this, War Room. This is the preparation I speak of. This is the greatest weapon believers have against the riding tide of selfishness and lawlessness.

Prayer. I am not talking about “bless me” prayers, but prayer that is violent against all that stands against our God and Creator. (Eph 6:10-20, Matt 11:12) We have been silent and ineffectual long enough! There is a time to turn the other cheek, but now is the time to take a stand, as unpopular or politically incorrect as it may be. It is God we should be concerned with pleasing, not man.
As we approach a turning point election, I challenge all people of faith to pray against the surge of evil that challenges traditional Biblical values in our nation and work diligently together to stem the attack on our families, our faith, and our freedoms, for the sake of our children and the children of the nations!

Minimum Wage: A Parable

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employment, fairness, labor unions, minimum wage, negotiations, unemployment, wage, work

“God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.

“Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.

“He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’

“They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

“When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’

“Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, ‘These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.’

“He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’

“Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Colossians 3:17

9 Ways to Become Happy

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9 Ways to Become Happy, changes, compassionate, contentment, depression, despair, discouragement, goodness, grief, harassment, hopelessness, humble, humility, humilty, joy, kindness, life answers, life struggles, life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness, LONELINESS, morality, mourning, persecution, poor in spirit, suicide, Teacher

Who among us does NOT want to be happy? Silly question! Happiness is a universal goal or desire of mankind something all humans have in common. Even our “Declaration of Independence” includes happiness in its list of “unalienable rights” guaranteed by our Creator.

What IS happiness? The dictionary defines it as good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy. Some people define happiness in terms of achievement of personal goals like a six figure salary, or a new car. Others seek that perfect relationship (which, btw, does not exist!) Some seek temporary gratification by putting others down or using the weaker ones around us for our personal advantage. Still others just want everyone to agree with them … on everything!

Whatever your definition, I’d be willing to bet it includes some element of human comfort, so as I post these 9 methods toward happiness, you may find them foreign. They are, however, proven over centuries in a variety of cultures and circumstances.

9 Ways to Become Happy

• “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (or “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.”)
• “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad. (or “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.)
• “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.(or “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.)
• “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full. (or “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.)
• “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy. (or “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.)
• “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God. (or “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.)
• “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children. (or “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.)
• “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (or “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.)
• “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you. (or “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.)

WOW, huh?

These are commonly known as “The Beatitudes,” a message delivered by Jesus. Most Americans have some knowledge of Jesus, and even if they do not believe Him to be the Son of GOD, as He claimed to be, they see Him as a great Teacher.

Maybe He’s on to something here, eh? With suicide rates up, depression, despair, & discouragement overtaking the lives and hearts of many Americans, perhaps our culture’s compass has become skewed? Perhaps, all the “selfish feel good” mentality is counter productive? Maybe money isn’t the answer to all our problems, after all. Maybe it’s time for a new direction, as taught by an ancient wise “Teacher?”

How badly do you want to Be HAPPY? Badly enough to try a different way of thinking? A different way of living? You decide.

**NOTE: The BEATITUDES are found in Matthew 5: 3-12. The versions shown above include the Living Bible and the Message Bible is in parenthesis above, linked for your convenience.

What Can You and I DO?

Tags

Afghanistan War Vets, help, Iraq War Vets, veterans, Veterans Crisis Hotline, WE THE PEOPLE

While we hope and pray our politicians will wake up and fulfill the promises made to our returning Veterans, too many are dying in the wait. Too many spend their days on the phone trying to get help to no avail.

I am OUTRAGED! I hope I am not alone. So … I ask you:

WHAT CAN WE DO???

How can we help?

Bottom line, We, the people are responsible for these heroic men and women! It is OUR way of life they have served to preserve. It is OUR future they have fought to protect while politicians squander it away for their our short-sighted gain.

Many Vets I listen to just want JOBS! We all know this administration is deliberately KILLING jobs making it harder and harder for these struggling Vets to find gainful employment. So I repeat …

WHAT CAN WE DO???

How can we help?

PLEASE … let’s discuss it here and come up with a plan! Surely, we can do SOMETHING!!!

NEW Facebook page: WE CAN HELP VETS Stop by and LIKE us!!!

♫ I Want to Know What Love Is ♫

Tags

character, character of God, difficulty, emptiness, faith, faithfulness, God, goodness, help, hurt, loss, love, Love of God, people, promises, promises of GOD

We are surrounded by promises, in America, and most of them never had any intention of being fulfilled! Politicians say exactly what they think we want to hear, not because they actually believe it, but simply to earn our trust and our vote. Broken promises have been in the news lately with the “If you like your plan and your Doctor, you can keep them!” lie. The President and his adherents knew from the beginning that was a lie, yet they intentionally repeated it for months.

Contrary to the multitude of unfulfilled promises of politicians, GOD fulfills promises everyday. The Bible is filled with wonderful & lofty promises that, frankly, are incredibly hard to believe. Yet, any one of us can challenge GOD’S faithfulness by apprehending any promise in faith.

At the top of the page is a promise: All things are possible with God. (Matthew 19:26)

Believe that? I mean do you believe it in your LIFE, or just with your head? There is a difference!

There are many, many more!

Pick a promise! Choose one that fits a difficult circumstance in your life. Pick it & believe it! Each & every promise issues from the loving heart of God. Every one! But that’s not the cool part! The cool part is that GOD has spoken each promise to ME and to YOU … as individuals! When GOD says, “Don’t be afraid, for I AM with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I AM your GOD! I will comfort you! Yes, I will help you! And I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness!” (Isaiah 41:10) GOD is talking to me, but HE is also talking to you. All we have to do … is actively BELIEVE! Can you do that? I can …if I remember who GOD is. If I remember He designed Creation, all its moving parts (not the parts mankind has corrupted, but the wondrous ways Laws of Nature,) and brought it into being with a Word! Ha!

In spite of GOD’S vastness, or maybe because if it, GOD has set His unfathomable love on us, and we see that in His promises. All his promises flow from that love and are evidenced in His unspeakable GOODNESS!

The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ, and through Christ we say yes to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20

LOVE. It’s our deepest, most urgent need. It’s a requirement for life. Every single human shares this basic need, yet in spite of the volumes written on the topic, a vast array of poems and songs written on the subject, few of us have a clear handle of exactly what Love is.

We often hear “Life is a journey” these days, and I suggest that Love is our destination and our source. We taste it on clear sunny days. We smell it in a gentle spring shower. We hear it in the laughter of children, and we get a glimpse in the touch of a loved one. Never a banquet, only a sample, enough to compel us onward … and a Promise.

Love is not weak, easy, or shallow. Love always … always multiplies. The deepest Love is a promise, a unity of hearts, goals, and future hope.

11 I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.
12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!
14 I will let you find me,” says the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. Jeremiah 29:11-14

As humans, we typically look for the easy route, the path of lest resistance. But the richness of God’s Love takes us always into the deep water without a life jacket, not to drown us, as some suppose, but to empower us to fly higher, dive deeper, push harder, to continue on when there are no landmarks we recognize to take GOD’s love to each and every person. God’s love soothes and inspires. His love never changes … NEVER! Still, it doesn’t always feel like a warm blanket either, but Love is always … always ultimately drawing us to Him: our Source and our Goal, the Beginning and the End. One taste just isn’t enough, but how do we get there?

This song as always been a prayer to me. I’m asking God to show me what Love is … and I know He will answer. Care to take the plunge with me? It’s a little scary, but … is it safe? “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

♫ I Want to Know What Love is ♫

I gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I’m older
Aaaah woah-ah-aah

Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders
And through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
Aaaah woah-oh-ooh

I’m gonna take a little time
A little time to look around me, oooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh oooh
I’ve got nowhere left to hide
It looks like love has finally found me

In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
I can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
And I wanna feel, I want to feel what love is
And I know, I know you can show me

Let’s talk about love
(I wanna know what love is) the love that you feel inside
(I want you to show me) I’m feeling so much love
(I wanna feel what love is) no, you just cannot hide
(I know you can show me) yeah, woah-oh-ooh
I wanna know what love is, let’s talk about love
(I want you to show me) I wanna feel it too
(I wanna feel what love is) I wanna feel it too
And I know, and I know, I know you can show me
Show me what is real, woah (woah), yeah I know
(I wanna know what love is) hey I wanna know what love
(I want you to show me), I wanna know, I wanna know, want know
(I wanna feel what love is), hey I wanna feel, love
I know you can show me, yeah

GOD is love! He is in the business of LOVE … for the Love of GOD!

♫ That’s Why I Pray ♫

Tags

America's Psychosis, bullying, call to prayer, faith, forgiveness, God, kindness, mass shootings, mental illness, prayer, second amendment

Oh oh oh oh, oh oh, yeah

Man on the TV’s gone insane, everybody’s just laughing
People ‘cross the world holding on
The earth caved in, the ocean came down crashing
My neighbor lost his house ’cause he can’t find a job
Don’t you dare pledge allegiance, don’t you dare speak of God
Speak of God
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Obamanomics Kills Jobs as GOP Dithers

“If it weren’t for a shamelessly dishonest, hyper-protective liberal media, the American people would know, unanimously and without doubt, that Obamanomics is killing American jobs. There is no silver lining in the December jobs numbers.

Experts and analysts were expecting this latest jobs report, released Friday, to show 200,000 new payroll jobs in December, but there were only 74,000, which is 37 percent of the goal. Not 90 percent, not 80, not 70, not even 50 percent. Just 37 percent.

If these abominable numbers had occurred under George W. Bush’s watch, the GOP would have had hell to pay for decades. But liberal presidents always get a pass in the form of wildly far-fetched excuses and rationalizations for their failed policies.

Attentive minds, however, will not be fooled. As the liberal media live by the dishonest rationalization, so they must die by it, as well. With the help of sympathetic economists, they have been whitewashing Obama’s perennially anemic economy as being in “recovery” for 52 months now.” Read MORE

♫ “That’s Why I Pray” ♫

Now I’m begging for forgiveness
I wanna make a difference even in the smallest way
I’m only one person, but I can feel it working
I believe in better days
That’s why I pray

Some stupid video posted as a joke, somebody’s life gets ruined
Out of everything we can create
Where is the cure to keep the sick from losing
Babies having babies ’cause their parents are always gone
Somehow we have forgotten how to make a house a home
How to make a house a home
Oh! Oh! Yeah! Yeah!

Seems “bullying” is in the news every week as either a teen commits suicide or a politician uses “bullying” language in reference to an opponent or opposition party. If “bullying” is defined as someone acting loudly arrogant and overbearing, then many in the headlines fall into that category. Problem is, we, as adults, are teaching our kids how to bully and when to bully, and it starts in the White House! Until we, as adults, remember we are all Americans & we all have a voice, our kids will pay the price for our bigotry.

Moral Intelligence and Public School Bullying

“On December 4, 2013 Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million member American Federation of Teachers (AFT), spoke on C-Span about bullying, particularly of gay students. Ms. Weingarten said, with surprise in her voice, that she doesn’t understand why gay students are still bullied in public schools, because in 2013, “It’s cool to be gay.” She also said she is gay, and now speaks about it openly.

As a psychotherapist, I tell clients that being surprised by another person’s behavior often results from erroneous assumptions about the person, usually because you see them as you want them to be rather than as they are. As Ms. Weingarten talked about the love that not only dares speak its name but never shuts its yap, I imagined how it would sound if a heterosexual male schoolteacher said, “The way I do sex is cool.” Read MORE

♫ “That’s Why I Pray” ♫

I’m begging for forgiveness, I wanna make a difference
Even in the smallest way
I’m only one person, but I can feel it working
I believe in better days
That’s why I pray, yeah
That’s why I pray, yeah

These demons from my past haunt me every night
And I just can’t get through it
If I could forget them on my own, I’ll let go and just move on
But heaven knows I am only human

Politicians have chosen to make firearms an issue in place of the more controversial issue of Mental illness. In doing so, they totally miss the point in an attempt to distract the public and give a semblance of “taking action!” We, as Americans, must demand better! Our streets are littered with people … human beings who have lost their way by means of mental illness, not to be confused with substance abuse!

Mass Shootings: America’s Psychosis

After every mass shooting, I write a variant of the same column. Perhaps I’ll republish this one when the next attack happens.

The increase in mass shootings over the course of the past several decades is not imaginary. In 2000, The New York Times analyzed 100 mass shootings between 1949 and 1999 and found that 73 of them had happened since 1990. Since 2000, according to Mother Jones magazine, there have been 33 more, including the recent massacre at the Navy Yard. The majority of the killers have untreated mental illness. Read MORE

♫ “That’s Why I Pray” ♫

And that’s why I pray, yeah yeah
That’s why I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray

Yes I’m begging for forgiveness (I’m begging for forgiveness)
I just wanna make a difference (Just wanna make a difference)
I believe (I believe) in better days
That’s why I pray

Music & Lyrics(in italics) by BIG & RICH

Please PRAY, now more than ever …

for this nation,

for our fellow Americans,

for our leaders – both elected and otherwise.

♫ Like a Rock ♫

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Bob Seger, character, community-service, compassion, goodness, Helping others, homeless, integrity, kindness, Like a Rock, mentally ill, music, neighbors, service, stand, take stand, truth

Popular approval of Congress has reached an all time low as Americans reel under the vast scope of myriad scandals and lies perpetrated by this Administration. Yes! We have seen corruption before. Yes, we’ve been lied to before. Yes, we’ve even seen huge character flaws in our leaders before, but never … NEVER to the depth and scope to which we’re seeing today.

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Why? What has changed? What has happened to allow or facilitate such widespread corruption?

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Will a building stand if its foundation is compromised?

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Will a traveler reach his destination without first plotting his course & naming his destination?

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Can a nation long survive which has shredded its moral compass and floats aimlessly on sentimentalism?

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Perhaps innocently, perhaps with vile intent, social mores held firm throughout global civilizations over thousands of years, have suddenly (over the past few decades) come into question. GOD was declared dead April 8, 1966, and since that time, little by little, the once universal boundaries of Right & Wrong, have blurred. What was once, not more than generation ago, accepted behavior, has become “Old-fashioned” and “intolerant.”

Funny thing is, GOD is no place defined in our Founding documents, and the early Framers each held different personal beliefs. They intentionally kept all reference to GOD ambiguous so various individual beliefs might be adapted and accepted.

♫ Like a Rock ♫

• The point is CHARACTER.
• The point is GOALS … self-improvement … serving others.
• The point is standing for something bigger than yourself.
  The point is growing in personal integrity and service to the community… by choice, rather than by mandate.
• The point … is standing firm on some defined principles that are other aware.

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Without a firm foundation to stand on, the tides of political correctness too easily blow us around until we find ourselves … surrounded by Corruption. Like so many of our political leaders, bought and sold to the highest bidder, we, too, succumb to the popular trends and thoughts, victims of popular opinion.

How did we get here? We allowed it by our own compromise.

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Take a stand for GOODNESS
Take a stand for KINDNESS
Take a stand for TRUTH
Take a stand for COMPASSION
Take a stand for your Neighbor, for the Homeless, for the mentally infirmed … to be personally involved!

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Find something bigger than yourself worth STANDING FOR, worth giving your life’s passion to support, worth working toward and Take a Stand.

“We must stop acting like children.
We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings,
which are like winds that toss us around from place to place.”
Eph 4:14 CEV

♫ Like a Rock ♫

Words and music by Bob Seger

Stood there boldly
Sweatin’ in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I’d never felt that strong
Like a rock

I was eighteen
Didn’t have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock

My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock

Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin’ ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock

And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams

Twenty years now
Where’d they go?
Twenty years
I don’t know
Sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they’ve gone

And sometimes late at night
When I’m bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin’ a ghostly white
And I recall
I Recall …

Like a rock. standin’ arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin’ from the gate
Like a rock, carryin’ the weight
Like a rock

Like a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock

Our Moral Dilemma

Tags

"moral dilemma", America, dilemma, freedom, God-reliance, self-reliance

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Proverbs 3: 5-12 The Message (vs. 5-6 shown)

This has long been one of my favorite Bible passages. It’s filled with hope, especially when times are tough. It reminds me of the old TV program from the 60’s called, “Father Knows Best!” And it’s true – He does know best. Here we find reminders of God’s correction, favor, and love wrapped in warm, cozy blankets of promise.

So, I nestle under the shadow of His wing, then I’m reminded …

“10 Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. 11 Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. 12 We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. 13 So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6: 10-13 CEV

In this land we know as America, we have certain understanding of freedom. To most of us, it is built on a bold, self-reliance that tackles difficulties head on and creatively solves or endures the hardship, right? We pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, and so forth! The notion that “God helps those that help themselves,” though blatantly unbiblical, is something most of us are familiar with. In fact, God blesses the meek (not weak) in spirit which is pretty much the antithesis of “God helps those that help themselves.”

Meek is not weak, and neither is dependency on God a weak thing. In Jeremiah 17:5 (CEV), we read …

“This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

What is the difference between dependence on God and dependence on Government?

Simple! Government is the same as man. It is just a group of men and/or women. These Bible verses indicate that dependence on man – ANY man or group of people, is not a good idea.

Maybe this is the great error of America! Proverbs 28: 26 says,

Only fools would trust
what they alone think,
but if you live by wisdom,
you will do all right.

Abraham and Terah travelling from Ur to Haran, illustration for Everyday Life in Bible Times (National Geographic Society, 1968), by American illustrator Tom Lovell (1909-1997).

The great heroes of the Bible were FREE enough within themselves to go against the grain of society and attach themselves to an unseen God. Abraham was called out of Ur, where pagan worship included child sacrifices and sexual promiscuity as part of their worship. They put their faith in God alone. God knows it was not Abraham’s choice to sacrifice his son, Isaac, but he was willing, if that is what this God required. Was Abraham relying on his wisdom? his strength? his ability as a problem-solver? No. He simply (though it certainly is not always easy) trusted God.

The-Landing-of-the-Pilgrims-by-Henry-A-Bacon-circa-1877

William Bradford, though a young man of only 30, lead the group of travelers, a mix of “Saints and Strangers.” on a 65 day sea voyage across stormy seas. They sought Virginia, but ended up on the coast of Massachusetts. They were on their own … but God orchestrated their survival, and they were deeply grateful. Thanksgiving resulted.

There is a moral dilemma within America today. Clearly, we have lost our compass as a nation, yet there are those among us yearning to be free. We understand that freedom issues from the throne of God, not from Washington, D.C. Still, the struggle toward self-reliance conflicts with biblical direction toward God-reliance. Interestingly, both the heroes of the Bible and heroes from early America stand among the “strongest” men and women to me. Somehow, their dependence on God freed them to walk in the same “independence” that created the Universe, that crafted elegant and beautiful melodies with harmonies of innumerable sounds, that painted nature with elaborate and myriad colors, textures, and shapes. Like so many other God-principles, to find true freedom, it seems we must sell out to the Author of freedom. (see Luke 17: 33 CEV, Mark 10: 35-45) Will we?