A Parable of Faith Activation

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aide, community-service, compassion, faith, fear, government, government-programs, help, people, personal service to others, Self-sacrifice, service, The Little Dutch Boy, unselfishness, volunteers

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but YOU {emphasis bjb} do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2: 14- 17

“The dam is breaking! The dam is breaking! Emergency!!!” The screams of the people of Borderville frantically scurrying to get out of harm’s way echoed from the hillsides surrounding the town. Chaos everywhere! People watched in horror from hilltops and housetops as a wall of water rushed down the ravine sweeping over everything in its path. Thousands of homes gone in a moment. Families swept away. Utter and complete devastation in the wake with more tragedy ahead in its path.

Warnings had been given prior, but no one listened. There was a lot of talk, several plans were put forth, money had even been allocated, but nothing was done. Now, it was too late.

Emergency broadcasts flooded the airways urgently notifying people to seek higher ground. There was a cry, too, for volunteers to help tend the wounded and homeless.

It wasn’t long before the government issued a “warning” to local residents, and they began to organize shelters and supplies for the many victims. The Governor sought Federal assistance asking it be declared an “EMERGENCY!” Thousands of homes had already been destroyed. Many lives had been lost, and still the enormity of this tragedy was only beginning.

The water surged downhill wiping out everything in its path. Homes, schools, churches … businesses. It was ruthless.

Within a half hour of the breach, three or four helicopters peppered the sky. Whether journalists reporting the story or government agencies looking at the devastation was unclear. News bulletins resounded across the nation.

The hours began to roll by. The path of tragedy grew. The cry for help continued. Checks began to pour in from the American public. Emergency “#800” phones were organized. Government agencies brought supplies to nearby make shift shelters. Piles of blankets and cases of water grew.

The following weekend, pleas issued from pulpits in churches, tabernacles, mosques, as well as community outreach programs. Tons of building and survival supplies were quickly being gathered at points from coast to coast.

Hollywood celebrities and politicians issued calls for help from their walled-in mansions and executive offices. Photos flashed across TV screens and computer screens of the gorgeous celebs at fundraisers supporting the victims relief effort.

Hours and days passed. The flood continued to demolish town after town, home after home. Politicians chose sides: some pleaded for more money and supplies to tend the victims, and others wanted, first, to repair the dam.

“Oh no, we must let the water go and take care of the people first! That is the compassionate thing. To repair the dam is taking food out of the childrens’ mouths!” they said.

A handful of volunteers gathered at the local Red Cross. The size or their task was immeasurable. Money was plentiful. Supplies from the government were available, but volunteers were scarce. Seems everyone had a reason not to lend a physical hand to help the distraught and displaced survivors.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

There is a children’s story I recall – The Little Dutch Boy, by Mary Mapes Dodge. Peter Miller writes this synopsis of the tale:

“Dutch legend has it that there was once a small boy who upon passing a dyke (or dam) on his way to school noticed a slight leak as the sea trickled in through a small hole. Knowing that he would be in trouble if he were to be late for school, the boy poked his finger into the hole and so stemmed the flow of water. Some time later a passerby saw him and went to get help. This came in the form of other men who were able to effect repairs on the dyke and seal up the leak.

“This story is told to children to teach them that if they act quickly and in time, even they with their limited strength and resources can avert disasters. The fact that the Little Dutch Boy used his finger to stop the flow of water, is used as an illustration of self-sacrifice. The physical lesson is also taught: a small trickle of water soon becomes a stream and the stream a torrent and the torrent a flood sweeping all before it, Dyke material, roadways and cars, and even railway tracks and bridges and whole trains.”

The Bible teaches God is a personal God. He is interested in our individual growth and character. In America, and in our world today, there are several “dams breaking.” We have agency upon agency duplicating tasks and spending obscene amounts of money, and accomplishing little. President Johnson back in the 60’s declared a “War on Poverty,” establishing “Social Security (creating medicare & medicaid) and “Food Stamp Act.”

As noble as the “War on Poverty” idea is, we have MORE poverty today, not less. We’ve lost the “War on Poverty!” Look around! If these programs actually worked, wouldn’t the percentages decrease and the numbers of thriving Americans increase? Service programs abound, but people willing to volunteer their time and talents are few. Government not equipped to tend the needs of individual families or communities. Government cannot empathize or feel compassion. We can!

See, only we, as individuals and neighbors know the specific needs of one another and have the ability to feel compassion. The thing about helping others … not only does serving one another help them, the victims, but it activates us! There is something reciprocal that happens when we reach out to “care” for another human being. I’ve heard it from missionaries to go with the warm intention of helping others, but they return feeling more a recipient than a giver.

It’s about people, a “People Connection” that opens our hearts and drowns the fears we have of people, of strangers. We are free to serve, yes, but only in doing does the reverse become true – our service frees us! Only in service to our neighbors does our faith become activated. Regardless of whether our religion is Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism … it is our personal service to others that confirms, affirms, and activates our Faith.

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Is military fight a supernatural battle?

Tags

“So help me God”, COEXIST, freedom of religion, Jihadists, mainstream faiths, military, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, Military for Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), Tolerance, U.S. military

By Diane Markins

Does including the phrase, “So help me God” to an oath add value or impact? The United States Air Force Academy believed so in 1984 when it changed the candidate oath to include these words. But now they are removing the same words because of a complaint by the Military for Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

Only a year ago, the Latin word for “God” was removed from the logo of an Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The word was removed after objections by the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

Is religion in the U.S. military under attack from “friendly fire?” Undermining and demeaning Christian faith in the armed forces is expected to come from Jihadists, but it seems that there is a domestic battle being waged as well.

Read MORE

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

“Two military chaplains are suing Eric Shinseki, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, or VA, for allegedly being harassed and drummed out of a training and placement program because of their Christian faith.

Chaplains Major Steven Firtko, U.S. Army (Retired) and Lieutenant Commander Dan Klender, U.S. Navy, claim they were mocked, scolded and threatened for their faith while enrolled in the San Diego VA-DOD Clinical Pastoral Education Center program, which trains and distributes chaplains to military and VA medical centers in the San Diego area.



According to their lawsuit, Firtko and Klender allege the Center’s supervisor, Ms. Nancy Dietsch, a VA employee, derided them in classrooms and even had one of them dismissed for failing to renounce his Christian beliefs.

In July, Firtko, Klender and their sponsoring organization, the Conservative Baptist Association of America, filed formal complaint against Dietsch and the VA.

Now the lawsuit, filed with the help of Military-Veterans Advocacy, explains that Firtko and Klender have exhausted all administrative options and that the harassment the chaplains endured violates the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Administrative Procedures Act and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“No American choosing to serve in the armed forces should be openly ridiculed for his Christian faith, and that is most obviously true for chaplains participating in a chaplain training program,” said Commander J.B. Wells, U. S. Navy (Ret.), executive director of Military-Veterans Advocacy. “Not only was the treatment these men received inappropriate, it was also a violation of federal law and the religious freedom guarantees of the First Amendment.”

The lawsuit, Conservative Baptist Association of America v. Shinseki, has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”

DREW ZAHN

How can atheism “COEXIST” with mainstream faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, Buddism) when it precludes any existence of God while the others assume a sovereign power of some nature? We managed for 235 years to peacefully live side by side, yet now, in the name of “tolerance” ALL reference to any deity is being erased. Are we so childish that anyone who disagrees must be WRONG? and therefore, denied freedom?

Trust in God, not the “Rapture!”

Tags

END TIMES, Jesus Christ, Pre-tribulation Rapture, Rapture, trust

For years, I sat under teaching on what may or may not occur as TIME winds down and we approach “END TIMES!” The last thing I want to do is start a raucous, but … just suppose the whole idea of the “Rapture” is wrong. Just suppose! What if Christians today (or whenever the end comes) are required to endure the “Tribulation.” What if “End time” Believers are required, like those in past generations and past civilizations, to stand against vile persecution. What if … ?

In all honesty, I think it is cruel and lazy for various denominations and pastors to build up the hope of such an event without hard evidence. It is very similar, in my view, of popular dependence on government handouts instead of the work of their own hands to provide for their needs. Think about it …

1. God wants us to be dependent on Him and Him alone, right? (Matthew 22:36-40; 1 John 3:1-3 (The Message)
2. God either is, or He isn’t able and willing to meet every need we have, right? (Phil 4:4-9; Mt 6: 28-30; Luke 12:27)
3. God is either changing us, His children, from glory to glory, into the likeness of Jesus, or he isn’t, right? (2 Cor 3:12-18)

The concept of “Rapture” is a relatively new one, arising in the early 1800’s. This is not a theological study stating the impossibility of Rapture, but it is raising a challenge to the MENTALITY often associated with raptured thinking, i.e Escapism!

Jesus came …

to save sinners: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” (1 Tim 1:15)

to destroy the works of the evil one: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

to give us life, and that abundantly: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:7-10)

If Jesus came to bring us LIFE, and that abundantly, why would any of us seek to escape the life He has given us?

The “Rapture,” as taught by many local groups may be real, but either way, should we not remain focused on our Source and our Goal = JESUS CHRIST? Should we not be prepared to follow wherever … wherever He leads us whether through the valley or to the mountaintop? Many times, END TIMES teaching distract us from Jesus. We think we want to know exactly what is coming, but let me ask you this …

How many of us are now exactly where we planned to be 5, 10, 25, or 50 years ago? Yea, me either! But GOD’s plan is ALWAYS better than ours. A few more verses to set your thinkers to work. Consider the lives of the martyrs, and believers in other lands like Iran or Nigeria currently. They suffer and die daily for the sake of Christ. Are we “Special” children of God? Of course not! But if our eyes are on Christ, whatever happens comes through God’s loving fingers, right? (Rom 8: 28)

“Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

3Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and [a]cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Ps 37: 3-6

“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Revelation 20:4-6

A Constitutional Battle: Shari’ah’s Uphill Climb

Tags

America's sexual revolution, Muslim family law, Shari'ah law

Shari’ah’s Uphill Climb

by John Witte Jr.

A constitutional battle over Muslim family law has begun. In November 2010, Oklahoma voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning the use of Muslim Shari’ah and other international laws in its state courts. This was a direct rejoinder to other Western nations allowing Muslim citizens to enforce Muslim marriage contracts in state courts and to resolve family law issues before Shari’ah tribunals without state interference. Oklahoma’s citizens wanted none of it, and they voted to ban the use of Shari’ah altogether. Twelve other states are discussing comparable measures.

In January 2012, however, a federal appeals court upheld a lower federal court injunction of Oklahoma’s amendment. Singling out a specific religious law for special prohibition, the court of appeals concluded, violated the First Amendment Establishment Clause and unjustifiably injured Oklahoma’s Muslim citizens. This leaves Oklahoma courts with a stark choice: allow Muslims to use Shari’ah to govern internal religious affairs and the private lives of voluntary members, or equally prohibit all religious groups from exercising comparable authority through organs of internal mediation, ecclesiastical discipline, and canon law.

Oklahoma can likely escape this choice by crafting a more neutrally-phrased constitutional amendment. But deft legal drafting will not end the matter. As American Muslims grow stronger and anti-Muslim sentiment in America goes deeper, constitutional and cultural battles over Muslim laws and tribunals will likely escalate.

Many Shari’ah advocates reject America’s sexual revolution of the past half century, built on cultural and constitutional ideals of sexual privacy, equality, and autonomy. They reject the easy-in/easy-out system of American family law that has brought ruin to so many women and children. They reject America’s legal protections for nonmarital sex, sodomy, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Distrusting the modern liberal state’s capacity to reform its laws of sexuality, marriage, and family life, Shari’ah advocates want out.

They have two main objectives: to give Muslims the right to opt out of the state’s liberal family law into their own religious community’s morally rigorous system; and to give Muslim religious officials the right to operate that system for voluntary members without undue state interference or review.

…. PLEASE CONTINUE

Is Shari’ah “religion” or “politics” …
or BOTH?

What about the US CONSTITUTION?

Overdone with the “War on Christmas!”

Tags

all-inclusive, christian, Christmas, COEXIST, Hanukkah, Jesus, non-inclusive, saturnalia, Secular humanism, Winter Solstice

Already overdone with the War on Christmas!

I just happened to read this article detailing the views of Penn Jillette (from Penn & Tiller comedy team.) Ya, know … it really gets my goat, as they say! He rambles on for several minutes about how Martin Luther King, Jr, talked to everyone beyond the “Christian” community to the world. According to Penn, MLK was all inclusive, and Penn sees “Merry Christmas” as a non-inclusive greeting, permitted but, he asks why? Well, let me explain why …

If not for Jesus, the birth of this baby foretold centuries before in detail, this season would be no different than any other. For some it is the Winter Solstice. For others, Hanukkah. I choose not to recognize the other newer excuse for a holiday because it’s a fraud, in my opinion. This is not the format to debate the validity of other belief systems. I am simply answering the question posed by Penn.

Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.

What makes this season special is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Was Jesus born December 25? NO! Probably in September sometime, but that’s not the point. The ancients politicians and power mongers played the same game Penn is pushing, trying to be all-inclusive, they chose the date of the popular pagan celebration of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25 and adopted it for Jesus’ birthday, in the absence of Biblical evidence to the contrary.

Christmas is just another target of the Secular humanists, or Progressives, whose goal is to remove all semblance of “religion” from American culture, but in the process, they have themselves created a religion which is taught in our schools, colleges, and many TV programs & movies. In their attempt to sell the “all-inclusive” society, Secular Humanists remove all evidence of culture, in effect, sterilizing the American life experience. No longer is America the land of apple pie, baseball, and Mickey Mouse, for fear someone may be … offended. Except for the Muslims, that is, who are permitted to do as they please, even disobey American law.

“Is this what’s happening? John Dewey, remembered for his efforts in establishing America’s current educational systems, was one of the chief signers of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto. It seems the Humanists have been interested in America’s education system for nearly a century. They have been absolutely successful in teaching children that God is imaginary and contrary to “science.”

This depiction of America’s first Christmas was painted in 1975 by local artist Claribel Jett. Based on what was known at that time, she envisioned the event occurring near Lake Jackson. Painting courtesy Claribel Jett

Why is it, after hundreds of years … HUNDREDS of YEARS … that it is suddenly “offensive” to issue a blanket greeting of “Merry Christmas?” Jews, Pagans, Christians and Buddhists, have “coexisted” for centuries without assuming offense at our differences. Americans have become so juvenile, encouraged to be so by the sensation-hungry media, that they choose to be offended at the mere suggestion of other viewpoints while being encouraged to be “all-inclusive” or “tolerant?” In other words, the meaning of the terms: tolerance and inclusion, are being absolutely reversed for political purposes! That leaves an impossible situation since one cannot celebrate both non-existence of God and the Presence of God simultaneously. However, if logic was used, it becomes very simple: if there is no God, why is it offensive for some to believe in God?

This secular humanist viewpoint also raises the question … If we remove God and Godly morality, is it acceptable that the foundation of our Republic is also removed? Without “traditional American values,” based on Biblical morality, what remains as a national moral compass?

What fascinates me about this whole debate is how easily the ground is surrendered. The Constitution of the United States forbids CONGRESS, on a federal level, from establishing a specific religion as the National religion. Period! It also mandates that you and I must be permitted to worship in accordance with our beliefs, inside the boundaries of Law. Human sacrifice, for example, is not acceptable because it is federally unlawful. In fact, in the early Republic, several individual states did, in fact, have a State religion, but it was not a Federally established, by the CONGRESS religion. We have strayed so far from the essence of our Founders’ Constitution.

Contrary to popular mis-understanding, there is nothing un-Constitutional about a Nativity on State property. There is nothing un-Constitutional about a Christmas pageant in a public school singing “Silent Night” or Away in a Manger,” as long as no one is imprisoned for disagreeing. Cities and towns across America are under assault from secular humanists and atheists who demand their right to be offended. How silly! How can they be offended by a God they believe does not exist?

I’ve never understood that bumper sticker, “COEXIST.” This is what we’ve done for generations. We have peacefully coexisted with others of various and sundry beliefs, cultures, religions, and ethnicities. The secular humanist (Progressives) notion of COEXIST means strip away everything that enriches our culture with variety, and water it all down to what we have in common …. which is what?

Related reading:

How December 25 Became Christmas

Santa Gets the Boot…for a little while.

Secular Humanism – Excluding God from Schools & Society

Controversial Ellwood City Nativity Scene Moved To New Location

North America’s first Christmas?

The Muslims Trojan Horse

Tags

500 historical errors in public school textbooks, aclu, American Muslim Council, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Clinton Administration, No Child Left Behind, UN International Baccalaureate

The Fort Hood shooting was a shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others. It is the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base. The sole suspect is Nidal Malik Hasan, an Islamic U.S. Army Major serving as a psychiatrist.

via Right Side News

If you thought the UN International Baccalaureate and federal No Child Left Behind educational schemes were bad enough, you might want to look a little deeper.

Since the 9/11 attacks, you would think the administration following would use a little prudence if they were sincerely concerned about a radical Muslim threat. When Obama took his oath of office, he instead defied America in numerous ways. He has given 1.5 billion dollars to Muslim-led Egypt in foreign aid, shortly after the Muslim Brotherhood declared war on the United States. This is the same man that said America is “no longer a Christian nation,” followed by a reference that America may be noted as a Muslim nation.

Muslim Indoctrination in Public Schools

Interestingly enough, in recent years American public schools have been indoctrinated with the Muslim religion. Studies have shown over 500 historical errors in public school textbooks, giving an Islamic slant to our youth.

As a result, our youth are subject to the following teachings:

• -Learning to become a Muslim
• -Fasting for Ramadan
• -Learning the five pillars of Islam
• -Memorize verses of the Koran
• -Adopt a Muslim name
• -Stage a Jihad (war against non-Muslims)

How did this happen? The ACLU, the American Muslim Council, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Clinton Administration joined together and made a clause that opened the door to Muslim teaching, while attacking anyone who speaks of the Christian religion in public schools.

Hence, you see the courts backing the Muslim agenda when, for example, a school in California is teaching their students a three-week course which essentially requires them to become a Muslim for that period of time!

This also very well explains why my ministry has been under incessant attack for bringing a moral and Constitutional message to public schools.

To prove my point, a representative from the American Muslim Council, Abdul Rahman Al-Amoudi, today serves a 23-year prison sentence for being one of the top fundraisers of Al Qaeda in the U.S.

In addition, there are over 225 Muslim schools in the U.S., and around 50,000 children who are being taught to, and I quote Brigitte Gabriel with ACT! For America, “foster an environment of hate, loathing and resentment toward Western culture, Christians, Jews, Shiites, secular Muslims and non-Muslims.”

America, why is this happening? In a nation that was founded on Christian principles, whose students were nurtured in a Biblical worldview, could it be that the Christians became apathetic, went to sleep, and allowed this radical agenda to creep in unnoticed by the public at large? (Read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28)

Muslim Infiltration in Universities

Saudi’s have taken advantage of the Title 6 program that our government implemented after WWII for the education of young Americans about foreign cultures and languages.

How? They are using their riches from oil to pump millions of dollars into our universities to appoint Arab professors in departments such as political science, middle east study, etc. who are brainwashing our students with an anti-American point of view. They teach that we are the problem; that our foreign policy is the problem; that our wealth, enlightenment, and success are oppressing the rest of the world.

This explains why Obama is apologizing to other nations. This is why he is targeting the youth vote after this anti-American curriculum is sneaking its way into our schools. This is also why the ACLU quickly represents Muslims while refusing to defend Christians who practice their faith…in public schools.

Public Schools are Teaching What?!

CONTINUE READING …

What’s America’s Lowest Common Denominator?

Tags

"dumbing down", Chick-fil-a" movement, lowest common denominator, Sandra Fluk - contraception debate

Does this women speak for you? She SURE doesn’t speak for me or my three adult children! I’m appalled by her attitude even more than her licentiousness, not to mention her assumption that ALL women are like her.

Most of us are aware of the deliberate “dumbing down” of America’s schools and are working to counter this “educational” movement toward total inclusion by virtue of the lowest common denominator method. The jist of it is that classroom requirements are lowered to the ability of the least capable students, so no one ‘feels’ left out. Heaven forbid kids today grow up like we did, with “smart” kids and “dumb” kids. We survived and the “dumb” kids received the help they needed to be rejoined with the “smart” kids. That was the 60’s, at least that was my experience.

Now, I’m seeing the same kind of “dumbing down” in reference to character. When I was a kid, it was desirable to be a man or woman of integrity. Nothing was more important or more valuable that one’s WORD. If difficulties arose in life (after the age of 25), they were faced and dealt with. If help was needed, we asked for help.

Some of us still strive to improve our character, but sadly, there seem to be an increasing umber of Americans who have given up on character improvement. Instead, some people seek revenge, others seek money or power, still others seem only to run after anything and everything they think might bring a moment’s satisfaction. I think of the “Sandra Fluk – contraception” issue of the spring or the “Chick-fil-a” conflict. These are just two of many examples easily available in the headlines that delineate a significant line of demarcation between those who want to lower the moral standard to include every conceivable human weakness, lust, or addiction – except traditional Judeo-Christian ethics.

We’ve seen how the “dumbing down” movement has worked in our schools (NOT!). And we’re seeing how it is working in our morality via the media & Hollywood as we’ve seen it for years. Now, however, the fruit is really starting to stink up the place. Kids killing kids, kids having babies, parents stylishly neglecting their parental responsibilities. It’s not about contraception. It’s not about the availability of porn. It’s a general across the board lowering of the standard even within “Christian” schools, churches, and families. It’s just too much trouble to live by those darn 10 Commandments or even the “Golden Rule!” Just too … costly to our time, our self-indulgence, our “ME-time!”

For those of us who are believers in a Biblical morality or a Biblical reality, one day we will have to give an accounting of our behavior, our attitudes, and our words. Character DOES Count! Are you raising or lowering the Character Common Denominator?

NO, JESUS IS NOT A SOCIALIST!

NOTE: I want to preface this article with a brief, but heartfelt prayer for divine understanding to touch each and every reader who seeks the TRUTH. May each one find the TRUTH they need!

via WND.com

A group of self-described “progressive” Christian evangelicals calling themselves “Red Letter Christians,” and led by the left-oriented Sojourners magazine (Celebrating Faith in Action for Social Justice) and left-oriented religious pundits like Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo, has recently emerged in the body politic. These self-proclaimed “progressives” have been making a lot of noise recently complaining about the ties that other Christian evangelicals have long held with the conservative movement in the United States, including the conservative movement in the Republican Party.

One policy under attack by these “progressives” is the conservative effort to “cut programs to the poor.” They say that such a policy goes against Jesus Christ’s commands in chapter 24 of the book of Matthew to feed those who are hungry.

These “Red Letter Christians” are making a lot of noise, but they are just a bunch of clanging cymbals – and the love that they claim to spout has no truth in it whatsoever.

What these misguided religious zealots conveniently fail to note is that nowhere in the New Testament or the other books of the Bible do Jesus Christ, His apostles, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, Moses or the Hebrew prophets command the government to take money from its citizens and transfer it to poor people. In fact, the Bible says just the opposite.

God presents us with three general ways in the Bible to take care of the poor and needy:

• 1) through the family;
• 2) through the church; and
• 3) through individual charity.

The applicable passages for these three ways are Deuteronomy 14:28, 29, Numbers 18:24, Matthew 6:1-4 and 1 Timothy 5:3-16.

Now, the first two ways are pretty clear. People’s first obligation is to the needy, poor, widowed and orphaned in their own families. Only after they do this do they have any obligation to help the needy, poor, widowed and orphaned through their local church organization. God established the pattern for this kind of church giving in Numbers 18:24 and Deuteronomy 14:28, 29. As David Chilton points out in his great book “Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators,” the bulk of Christian giving to the local church should be geared toward financing professional theologians, experts in biblical law and church discipline, teachers of God’s word and leaders skilled in worship. It was only every third year that all the giving was set aside to help the needy, poor, widowed and orphaned. Even then, the money was not given just to anyone who showed up. Those able to work but don’t do not qualify for help. Also, those who have families to take care of them don’t qualify, nor do widows under age 60 qualify, according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5:3-16.

Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, talks about the third way in Matthew 6. He tells His listeners that they should give individual charity. He also says they should give such charity secretly: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

In other words, Jesus is not a socialist. Nor is he a liberal. In fact, in none of the Bible passages just cited, nor in any others I know of, does Jesus, God or even Moses cite the government as the means by which the poor, needy, widowed and orphaned are housed, clothed and fed.

Thus, a simple, straightforward reading of the Bible, God’s Word, including the “Red Letter” words of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, clearly shows that the American welfare state is anti-Christian and unbiblical. Any Christian who advocates such a government welfare system (including clergymen or women) should be harshly rebuked. Furthermore, any members of any political party, including Republicans, Democrats, Reform Party members, Libertarians or whatever, who advocate such a socialist system yet claim to be Christian should be reprimanded by their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and by all church leaders.

If any such party members refuse to repent and change their ways, then their names should be posted at their church and throughout the whole land so that all Christians in the United States can know not to vote for these people or place them in positions of authority and leadership. Of course, all Christians should encourage families to take care of their own. And they should also encourage their churches to give at least one-third of their gross income to help the poor, needy, widowed and orphaned.

On that note, it is interesting to recall that the 10th Commandment in Exodus 20:17 actually protects private property by commanding people not to covet their neighbor’s house or belongings. That commands applies to the average citizen as well as the elected official, the judge and all other government officials.

Furthermore, the Bible condemns laziness and praises hard work. Proverbs 10:4 says, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” Proverbs 14:23 says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

Finally, it is interesting to note that, in Mark 7:20-23, not only does Jesus Christ declare that all sex outside of heterosexual marriage, including homosexuality, pre-marital sex and adultery, is evil, he also declares that both greed and envy are evil. Thus, Jesus Christ condemns both the greed of the rich man as well as the greed of the poor man, and the envy of the poor man as well as the envy of the rich man.

Thus, God condemns the politics of envy of the left, and he extols the virtues of hard work and capitalism, not just the value of charity!

Jesus angrily corrects those who use religion for their own gain

Liberals and socialists like the “Red Letter Christians,” Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Ted Kennedy and former Vice President Al Gore are violating the commands of Jesus Christ, who is God in the Flesh. They are also violating the commands that God gives all of us in the Hebrew Scriptures as well. If they truly want to follow the words of Jesus in the New Testament, they should stop their opposition to the real Christian movement in America and join it. One of the first things they should do immediately is help cut government programs for the poor.

Christians must stop the ungodly, immoral rape of American citizens with the totalitarian, socialist welfare state! They must establish a proper and godly system of family, church and private charity. Not just Christians, but all true Americans should follow God’s clear guidance in this matter. God will reward us mightily for our obedience in these matters.

The tomb is empty. He is no longer dead!

NOTE: If you doubt the opinions expressed here, please read the portions of the Bible referenced and ask yourself who is being addressed. Jesus was never a politician, so he never addressed the people concerning the government other than to answer the question about taxes. His answer was to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Instead, Jesus spoke to people, to individuals, to neighbors, to the Good Samaritan who crossed public prejudice to help his “neighbor,” while religious bigots refused him help. Helping the poor, the down-trodden, the weak is not up to others or the government. It’s up to YOU and ME! It’s up to responsible individuals whether motivated by faith or compassion to help however they can. THAT is Jesus’ way. THAT is what Jesus’ words say! And THAT is what is so intimidating. He puts the responsibility on US, not on others, not on government organizations or even social organizations. PLEASE read it again. Double check the words. Hear the heart of Christ!

ADDITIONAL READING:

“Go ye!” – Patriarchs and Pioneers; Part 1

IS JESUS CHRIST A SOCIALIST?

Resurrection Day 2012: ‘Jesus Was a Commie’?

Marxist Communist Magazine Claims Jesus Was A Militant Leftist

The Passion of the Socialist Christ

Jesus Was Not A Socialist Then, Nor Would He be a Democrat Today

Socialism v Free Enterprise: Translating ObamaSpeak

Tags

Class Warfare, Declaration of Independence, Socialism v Free Enterprise, tax "fairness", US Constitution, Who is responsible?

What He Said v What He Meant

by Mark Alexander via The Patriot Post

“Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.”
Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richards Almanack, 1735)

Barack Hussein Obama never so much as operated a corner lemonade stand, but his perspective on free enterprise, shaped by his lifelong socialist indoctrination, is certainly getting some traction.

Invoking the two pillars of his re-election campaign, tax “fairness” and class warfare, Obama first focused on the tax piece, asserting, “I’m not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy.”

In ObamaSpeak, “gut the investments” translates as “cut taxes,” and “grow the economy” translates as “grow the government.” This remark was a smokescreen in regard to Democrat efforts to let the across-the-board Bush tax rates expire, which, in effect, will raise taxes on all Americans who earn a living rather than live on the dole.

To that end, Obama’s Senate lap dog, Patty Murray (D-WA), served up this ultimatum: “If we can’t get a good deal — a balanced deal that calls on the wealthy to pay their fair share — then I will absolutely continue this debate into 2013 rather than lock in a long-term deal this year that throws middle-class families under the bus.”

Of course, EVERY aspect of her classist rhetoric requires a secret decoder ring.

“Good deal” means “raising taxes” and “balanced deal” means “more spending.” If the Demo-gogues were serious about balancing anything, they’d do precisely what “middle-class families” do during tough times: cut expenses.

“The wealthy” means “tax payers rather than tax consumers.” As for paying their “fair share,” the producers and job creators who earn $250,000-and-above (which is the target for Obama’s looming tax increase) while constituting just two percent of the population already pay 43.6 percent of all federal income taxes. Obama is also keenly aware that the top 25 percent of income earners already pay more than 84 percent of income tax revenues and the top 50 percent of earners now pay almost 98 percent of all income tax revenue collected — which means he’s all but created a voting majority who pay little or no federal income tax.

Clearly, Democrats don’t represent the “99 percent.” Instead, they pander to the 50 percent who are the beneficiaries of confiscated and redistributed wealth from the other 50 percent. I invoke again the timeless words of George Bernard Shaw: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”

Continuing with the translation exercise, Murray says Senate Demos won’t “lock in a long-term deal,” meaning “extend tax relief for tax payers,” and “throwing middle-class families under the bus” is what Obama and his Socialist Democrats do best.

Every dollar paid into the bloated federal coffers is one less dollar to be spent or invested in the private sector — where all those “middle-class families” Obama and his cadres use for cannon fodder — are barely making ends meet.

After pitching his plug for tax increases, Obama then got way off his teleprompted script with the most pointed classist and collectivist rhetoric he has yet to regurgitate: “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. … If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

Of course, in the context of his socialist agenda, “somebody else” is his collectivist euphemism for “government,” a.k.a. Hillary Clinton’s “village.”

Finally, he asserted that collectivism is responsible for the existence of the middle class: “So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. That’s how we created the middle class.” (As a half-truth, he may be partially correct. More middle-class folks could be wealthy if socialist government taxes and regulation weren’t holding them back.)

According to Obama, then, we owe all that we are and all that we own to government.

Notably, after having presided over four years of a flat-lined economy, despite spending trillions of dollars with nothing to show but trillions of dollars in debt, Obama’s chronic Narcissistic Personality Disorder enables him to completely ignore reality.

Every time he diverts from his ObamaPrompter, as he did with his assessment of free enterprise, he exposes his ultra-Leftist agenda. Some memorable examples include his recent assertion that, “The private sector is doing fine,” but we need more government jobs. Then there was his infamous comment to Joe the Plumber that we need to “spread the wealth around.” My personal favorite, however, was when an open mike caught his whispered assurance to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: “After my election I’ll have more flexibility.”

Contemplate those words again: “After my election I’ll have more flexibility.”

As if he hasn’t yet done enough damage to our economy, culture and world standing in his first term? One wonders just what other damage he’d do with “more flexibility” in a second term.

Obama leads his lemmings to believe that business owners are millionaires driven by greed who don’t care about the jobs they create and the families those jobs support. In fact, the vast majority of small businesses — those which make up the foundation of our economy — are owned by men and women who put in long hours for not much more money than their managers and supervisors. But that’s during a healthy economy.

In a failing economy, like the current one under the Obama regime, small business owners who are personally liable for the debt required to operate their businesses, are taking out second home mortgages, maxing their credit cards, and borrowing from relatives and retirement savings in order to keep their businesses solvent.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wasted no time returning fire in defense of free enterprise.

“The idea to say that Steve Jobs didn’t build Apple, that Henry Ford didn’t build Ford Motor, that Papa John didn’t build Papa John Pizza, that Ray Kroc didn’t build McDonald’s, that Bill Gates didn’t build Microsoft — you go on down the list … to say something like that is not just foolishness, it is insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America and it’s wrong,” Romney said. > > > READ MORE

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Many Americans have a confused concept of compassion. Many of these Americans are very well intended, faithful people who have been beguiled by the misconceptions in various media that surround us. It is true there are many needy people among us – those with genuine needs as a result of devastating situations in their lives. These people need help. No one denies this. The question is who is responsible for the care of those in need. “GO & DO LIKEWISE” I propose that it is my responsibility and yours – as INDIVIDUALS – to personally tend the needs of the poor and help those in need in whatever ways we are each able. If we each put that on ourselves, the government would not be in the debt it finds itself. We ARE our brothers’ keeper, my friends, and the sooner we begin to take up the slack, the sooner our government can tend the duties for which it is responsible – i.e securing our borders and protecting our citizens via the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Check the video below!

Paterno statue comes down

Tags

Joe Paterno, Penn State sex scandal, PSU

After weeks of speculation, Penn State’s President Rod Erickson ordered the statue of iconic football coach Joe Paterno removed from it’s perch near Beaver Stadium.

Associated Press:

The famed statue of Joe Paterno was taken down from outside the Penn State football stadium Sunday, eliminating a key piece of the iconography surrounding the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant.

Workers lifted the 7-foot-tall statue off its base and used a forklift to move it into Beaver Stadium as the 100 to 150 students watching chanted, “We are Penn State.”

The university announced earlier Sunday that it was taking down the monument in the wake of an investigative report that found the late coach and three other top Penn State administrators concealed sex abuse claims against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The statue, weighing more than 900 pounds, was built in 2001 in honor of Paterno’s record-setting 324th Division 1 coaching victory and his “contributions to the university.”

A spokeswoman for the Paterno family didn’t immediately return phone and email messages.

Construction vehicles and police arrived shortly after dawn Sunday, barricading the street and sidewalks near the statue, erecting a chain-link fence then concealing the statue with a blue tarp.

Penn State President Rod Erickson said he decided to have the statue removed and put into storage because it “has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing.”

“I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse,” Erickson said in a statement released at 7 a.m. Sunday.

The Freeh report made it clear that Paterno, who was widely respected for trying to teach a code of behavior to his student athletes, failed to live up to that code when it counted the most — the protection of children. In the end, he was more concerned about the reputation of his football program than in the safety of kids.

NOTE: This is in many ways reflective of the standard of behavior we have allowed in our nation. At one point in our history, we expected integrity in those who held leadership positions. No longer is that true … or is it? Perhaps, we just took our eye off the ball for a while. The truly pathetic part of this whole scandal is how it makes whatever good was accomplished by Paterno over the course of his lifetime at Penn State null and void.

I pray healing and restoration for the victims, and I pray for peace for the families involved – all of them!