♫ Like a Rock ♫

Tags

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

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We’ve Been Deceived

Tags

correction, Daniel 1-2, deception, gratitutde, humility, integrity, One nation under God, unity

Lately, I have tried diligently to pull back from the political aspect of what is happening in America. There is no political solution to the mess we have made of this nation. None! Yes, we might change one or two people, but can we change the nation?

As I look around, and I do look around all the time, I see a nation of people (myself included) who are so comfortable in our circumstances, even though they aren’t perfect, that we exclude God. It isn’t until something goes wrong, until we get sick, or are fired, or wreck our car … until we are faced with a difficult, seemingly impossible challenge that many of us turn to God and blame him for our situation. “Why me, God? If you love me so much, why have you allowed this cancer, or this unemployment, or this sheriff’s sale, or?” “If you are so great, why are there poor people? Why do children die from dreadful illnesses? Why … Why … Why?”

A man and a few of his friends once lived in a nation conquered by another. The “enemy” king, as he sought to establish his counselors and advisers, looked for truth, wisdom, and understanding to do what was best for his people, rather than only his friends or those who blindly agreed with him. He interviewed thousands of young people, regardless of their nationality or heritage, including the young man and his friends. He narrowed the field, and then made an impossible request to the finalists. He had a dream that troubled him, so he asked these would-be advisers to tell him not just the interpretation of the dream, but the dream itself. The candidates begged and pleaded with the king to simply allow them to interpret his dream, but the king stood his ground knowing they would simply try to appease him. No, he wanted them to give him the dream, then interpret it, or they would be slain. The young man and his friends understood only God could see into the thoughts of men, so they sought God in the matter of the king’s dream. God answered and showed the young “enemy” the king’s dream which he then told the king and received great honor. But the young man and his friends thanked God for caring for them, in spite of their precarious situation. Daniel 1-2, my paraphrase

For false christs and false prophets will rise and
show great signs and wonders to deceive,
if possible, even the elect. Mt 24: 24

From the Garden of Eden to Washington DC to your home and mine, the love of this world distracts all of us from the Love of God and and deceives us from perceiving the Love of God all around us. Brother and sister argue over inheritance across the nation. Parents and children despair over belongings or lifestyle choices. As believers, our focus SHOULD be set on things above, on allowing God’s character to grow and mature in us, rather than on seeking that next pay raise or mortgage approval.

Whether rich or poor, in America, we ought to be content (Phil 4:12) and GRATEFUL, rather than blame others for our perceived lack. Just because my TV is only 24 inches and not a 55″ flat screen doesn’t mean I lack! Just because my car is 10 yrs old doesn’t mean I lack. Just because I rent and do not own a home, doesn’t mean I lack. Just because I haven’t eaten meat in a month doesn’t mean I lack.

Americans, we have allowed our hearts to become too worldly and tangled up in carnal matters, myself included. Are we too haughty, too intelligent(?) to need God and let Him lead us. Or too sophisticated? or … what?

A God-less people will never thrive or know the Liberties declared by our Founding documents because Liberty issues ONLY from the throne of God. (definition of God is an individual thing). It’s quite amazing to me that we have been brow-beaten into accepting the mandated prayer times for Islam but Christians are not permitted to pray. Students may carry a Koran to school, but not a Bible. It’s no big deal that thousands of CHRISTIANS are being slaughtered in Egypt and Syria by Muslims, but we dare not raise our voice against a culture that has brought NOTHING but hatred, destruction, and bigotry to global civilization since its inception.

We judge rather than seek God. We see what we’re told to see and refuse to see the TRUTH. Our hearts have turned to stone as those in power corrupt our sensibilities calling evil good and good evil. Unless the American people return to God and ask His help in setting America right, we are doomed to reap what we have sown. Destruction.

When has our nation been more greatly divided … ? Hatred and bigotry have issued from THIS administration … regardless of the source. Its not about blame, but about correction! Let’s get back on course and allow one another to WORSHIP as GOD instructs: from our knees!

Controlling the Masses

Tags

adminstration, evil, First Amendment, integrity, journalism, justice, Martin, right, Zimmerman, Zimmerman-Martin

Is there a difference between what is RIGHT, and what is lawful? Sadly, yes! There is also a gulf between what is RIGHT, and what is accepted. But … none of that is important. What is important is … controlling the masses, and this job has fallen to our illustrious mainstream media as they spoon feed the low-information voters precisely how the Adminstration directs.

The villain? Evil! The participants, ALL human flesh! This is not what the liberal media or the liberal-owned school system tells us, but human beings are flawed, imperfect creatures capable of good AND evil by free will. At this point in history, evil is making a surge while “good men” do nothing (or very little.)

The Zimmerman/Martin case is a perfect example of our human condition. Two men living near one another. Neither familiar with the other. One, a law-abiding citizen exercising his right to self-protection. The other, out for an evening walk.

Each man is suspicious of the other. WHY?

GENERAL TRUTH: Humans are afraid of what we do no know. Instinct.

THE CASE: Z calls in “suspicious youth” to local police. He’s told to return to his vehicle. As he turns to do just that, M jumps him, knocks him down, pounds his head into the ground. Wounds confirm this. Z fears for his life, pulls his legally owned & registered weapon and fires. M dies. The MEDIA goes wild. Accuses Z of everything from child molestation to racism, to murder.

THE QUERY: Did Z honestly fear for his life and act out of that fear?

WHERE IS JUSTICE? No, REAL justice … you know, FAIRNESS under the LAW? I guess that only applies under politically correct circumstances, too.

BOTTOM LINE: Z’s life is over! He will either be convicted of the crime of protecting himself, OR he will be acquitted, in which case, he will most likely be gunned down by a mainstream media junkie or a falsely irate person of color spoon-fed HATE, again, by the same MEDIA.

There have been many, many articles written about our waning First Amendment rights, but I haven’t read anything about our state-run/owned media and the vanished FREE PRESS so instrumental in the obtaining of our Liberty at America’s birth.

Most of my life, the press has operated left of center, but they generally made a professional effort to at least present some smithering of all sides of a debate. This is no longer true, which leads me to ask one final question today:

Are there no TRUE JOURNALISTS left in America to fairly inform the people. I know of a handful, but surely there are more with some journalistic pride, some measure of integrity?

Whatever happened to … HONOR?

Tags

character, integrity, lost, moral compass, Our sacred Honor, social decline

Do Americans ever consider the innumerable sacrifices made by previous Americans to purchase the liberties so casually laid aside these days? Do we understand the concepts of pledging to one another “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor?”

• When did Americans lose sight of reality, of the realistic difference between our NEEDS and our WANTS?
• When did Americans lose appreciation for the value of good, honest work?
• When did Americans stop talking to one another and become a nation of isolationists living in loneliness?
• Did the Bible and the Constitution become “old-fashioned” simultaneously? Is that a peculiar ‘coincidence?’

It is appalling to me that as a civilization, we have been manipulated to turn on one another, to question the values our parents and grandparents valued – that made America the most desired destination of NON-Americans, that made America the MOST entrepreneurial, the MOST innovative, the MOST prosperous, the MOST generous, the MOST charitable, and the MOST self-reliant. Within the time of a generation, what was once sought after – CHARACTER – is now scoffed at as “Old-fashioned.”

Is it any wonder our economy is in the tubes and failing, our society is in open decay, and our political structure is corrupt to the very roots.

Aimless wondering

Lost without a compass, most people will wonder in a circle. Many Americans have thrown aside the moral compass that guided our parents and grandparents. Problem is, nothing has taken its place. In the absence of a moral compass, these Americans wonder making moral decisions subjectively. With nothing to rest our decisions on, nothing to remind us of consequences or rewards, it is natural to wonder in circles, making no progress in spite of the political jargon.

First Comes Honor

By Steve McCann

A nation without honor is a nation without a future. Today the United States finds itself in a quagmire of ever-increasing self-doubt and foreboding. Chief among the factors that have brought America to this point has been the abandonment of a sense of what is right, just and true as it relates to the duty imposed by conscience. Honor is being abandoned and replaced by duplicity, avarice, self-aggrandizement, cowardice, and an unbridled lust for power and notoriety.

These characteristics are symptomatic of the bulk of the American governing class that has increasingly adopted, as their sacrosanct tenet, the concept that the end justifies the means. In their position atop the societal pyramid they have been devastatingly influential in undermining the morality and integrity of the citizenry. As Herbert Hoover once observed: “When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.”

As the greatest fear of the founding fathers comes to pass — an overwhelmingly powerful central government — the base nature of the human race comes increasingly to the fore. This evolutionary process, while underway for some time, has thoroughly permeated society as the nation is now reaching the tipping point.

Whether in the various state capitols or the once hallowed halls of Congress or the now tarnished grandeur of the White House, the acquisition and retention of political power by any means necessary, and the attendant access to ever larger sums of money, either borrowed, created out of whole cloth or coerced from the taxpayers, has become firmly entrenched in the nation’s political psyche. Party identity notwithstanding, in order to achieve this end, nothing is beyond the pale — be it fraud, corruption, outright lies, or immorality.

No one person on the American landscape today more epitomizes this descent into dishonor than Barack Obama. His earliest days in politics were marked with unethical and oftentimes dishonest tactics in eliminating his opposition. He has revealed an untroubled willingness to prevaricate and make up so-called facts to suit his personal agenda. He has proven himself to be untrustworthy and a man whose word is meaningless. His narcissism knows no bounds as he oversees the premeditated decline of the United States concurrent with seeking to transform the nation into his vision of a socialist state. All the while exploiting his skin color as he calculatingly divides Americans into groups which he coldly and with forethought pits against each other.

The recent re-election campaign of Barack Obama encapsulated all these traits into the strategy employed as he set out to not only personally destroy his opposition by innuendo and falsehoods but to hoodwink the American voter. Unfortunately, the voters have become receptive to these tactics as they have been conditioned over the past forty years by an education establishment — dominated by greed, self-absorption and fealty to statist ideology — to believe that government, as controlled by the American left, is the source of wealth and salvation. Adding to this indoctrination, the entertainment industry, whose primary concern is an unfettered lifestyle, has slowly but surely convinced a near majority of the people that there are no moral absolutes.

The mainstream media, also concerned with an unfettered lifestyle but more importantly with access to the politically powerful, have chosen sides and become an extension of the state propaganda machinery as well as pawns in the hands of Barack Obama and the Democrats. Many in the media, also greatly influenced by the education and entertainment establishment, have left any semblance of honor at the doorway of cronyism as they safeguard their standard of living.

Far too many in the corporate and financial sphere have cast their principles aside as they too are increasingly operating their enterprises with the end justifies the means mindset. Further, as much of the free market is effectively under the thumb of government bureaucrats and politicians, many are convinced that in order to survive and prosper they must “play the game” with Washington D.C. and financially support those who have amassed the power to destroy them. Others have willing prostituted themselves and openly become crony capitalists eerily reminiscent of the relationship between industry and the government in fascist Italy and Germany.

This debasement of honor has extended its tentacles into many religious institutions who are now preaching the gospel of big government, abortion, euthanasia, and the toleration of any lifestyle. (emphasis bbb’s) They are doing so in order to maintain some semblance of a congregation and the income derived from the same as well as groveling before the almighty monolith on the shores of the Potomac River… Read more

Have we become nation that has embraced “the Ends justify the means” mentality? What will it cost us? What has it already cost us?

One Quick Question

Tags

character, Congress, freedom, government, impeach, integrity, justice, obama, representation, trust

How is it, in the light of even a few of the illegal or questionable actions of this administration, that no move toward impeachment has begun?

We’re Done with Compromise, with Mediocrity, and Mis-Representation!

Tags

"life lessons", accountability, America, character, character training, honesty, Human nature, integrity, Military appreciation, moral character, One nation under God, responsibility, spiritual, United We Stand, WE THE PEOPLE

BOTH sides of the aisle have a history of flying above the Law and below the moral radar. Each side has their own banter, but the 2010 election began a turn … There is a rumble, a deep rumble as one by one, AMERICANS – WE THE PEOPLE are awakening. We look around and barely recognize our America. The rumble of dissent is growing. The rumble of Patriotism is rising. The rumble from the “home of the brave and the land of the free” can be heard in the distance, swelling in volume and intensity. Neither left, nor right, Liberal nor conservative, Democrat or Republican … but AMERICANS are beginning to see, to hear, to smell a rat that is stinking up the whole nation with poisonous words designed to terrorize and turn American against American.

Divided we fall; United, we Stand!

America’s Moral Decline

“The book, entitled “American Social Diseases,” highlights problems such as crime and drug use, and a “spiritual and moral crisis.” The book says the U.S. suffers from a “spiritual deficit” and faces “moral extinction.” It also cites “excessive sexual indulgence” as a problem.”

“Although some observers whine and gnash their teeth about how this [“Strategic defaults”–walking away from your mortgage] symbolizes the decline and fall of American morality, it’s what corporate borrowers have been doing forever, so it’s about time we eliminated the double-standard. (It’s also the way your bank views you–as a business transaction–so don’t romanticize it as an Indian blood-promise.)” READ MORE

Montana Bear Tragedy is about what happens to wildlife, in this case a bear, when visitors do not pay attention to the signs forbidding feeding the bears. CONTINUE READING

“Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman could only dream of the kind of sophisticated and cosmopolitan understanding that folks in Peoria have now compared to the old days … By contrast, we have never had an Establishment that was so ill-equipped to lead. It is the Establishment, not the people, that is falling down on the job.” CONTINUE READING

WE THE PEOPLE need to retrace our steps. We need to find our “center,” our “CHARACTER.” We allowed it to slip away, not just in recent months, but over the last few decades. Piece by piece, bit by bit, the American Character was worn away by lies, greed, and self-indulgence. It’s not about religion, but about moral character. Moral character is what built America and what has sustained her. Unheard of sentiments like: take responsibility for yourself, finish what you start, be tough but fair, take pride in your work, and always do your best. Now, America’s character is “relative,” “subjective” – A hand up has become a hand out. A nation of individuals has become a pool of conformists. A nation of free and creative thinkers and entrepreneurs has become a nation of clones who spout the party line eloquently and wait for the prompts.

It’s not in labels or party affiliation, but in character, integrity, honesty. THESE are what Americans, what WE THE PEOPLE seek. We’re done with compromise, with mediocrity, and mis-representation! We’re holding our elected officials to accountability! WE THE PEOPLE are NOT as dumb as the elected elite seem to think we are. WE THE PEOPLE will speak until we’re heard, because this is OUR country!