A Dividing Line

A couple of months ago I started to notice something....  I wasn't sure what it was at the time.  As time has gone by it has been coming more and more into focus.  At first I thought it was just me.  Am I the only one noticing these things?  Or am I just viewing things differently now?  I realized that I was not the only one noticing these things.  Also I think in part that God is continuing to change me and mold me more and more into the likeness of His son.  What I was noticing were things happening and changing across society at large and things being exposed that were once hidden.  All of these things pertained to how we viewed God and whether we were submitted to His will and not our own.


The release of the abortion videos has frighteningly been largely a ho hum for many.  Most people who support abortion have not even bothered to watch them and think they are just conspiratorial lies.  Christians mostly have been totally appalled at the depth of the depravity to which we have fallen.  Unfortunately there seem to be some Christians who fall into the former group and not the latter.  It has further divided people and made harder their positions in most cases.  It is a situation that God cares a great deal about, and has judged nations over.


Then we had Donald Trump come on the scene.  His big entrance included some strong words on immigration.  People have further divided on this issue, but in this instance, it seems to have made people reverse course and go against what they had previously supported.  It also revealed more openly the hatred people hold in their heart for those who differ with them.  People have had horrible and yet superficial reactions to Trump.  He's just the facilitator as that would have come out at some point anyway, and has.  Whether people realize it or not, how we treat foreigners, strangers, and immigrants is very important to God.  I don't think either side has even considered that, nor when confronted with it seem to care very much.  Again, this was just another point exposed where people had to make a choice.  This too is an area where God has judged nations over. 


We had the gay marriage ruling in June that has now come to the point where the government is now jailing Christians for their beliefs in God.  This was a day long warned about but that most people felt assured would never come about.  How is two same sex people getting married supposed to affect anyone else?  It's their private business.  Except now we have Christians having their businesses, homes, livelihoods, and now even their freedom taken away as a result of this ruling.  This subject is even splitting the church as some denominations have become false religions that seem more interested in the lust of the flesh than the will of God.  It has completely finished removing us from our foundations on Godly principles with the judge jailing the clerk for her faith saying that it would be a bad precedent to allow Gods law to supersede the will of the court.  So we now have it declared that Government is above God.  Problem is, people are buying that argument.  Not surprising though since we are now in the 3rd full generation raised without the Bible or prayers being taught that we are just animals that sprang up accidentally from some prehistoric soup cocktail. 


Now more than ever before I feel this next election is not just about who our next leaders will be, but about whether we will accept or reject God.  Frankly, I think it is our last chance based on what I am seeing with God exposing all of the evils for everyone to see and forcing people to take a stand one way or another, for or against Yahweh. 


The silence of the Christian too may be seen as complicity in these things as well.  We not only have to just give lip service to our convictions in the Lord, but also stand up for what we believe with actions.  We need to speak out what we believe to a lost and crumbling nation.  We need to not fear what they may say or do to us, for if God be for us, who can be against us?  Now more than ever we need to be obedient to the word of God and set the example for others, even if it means jail or worse.  Again I hearken back to Esther, who knows if we were not put here for a time such as this?


The agenda of the evil one has been laid bare.  We have been given notice.  Choose this day who you are going to serve.  Will it be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Creator of the universe?  Or will you reject that path and take your own route or that of another god?  Wide is the path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the way that leads to life.  Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life.  no man comes to the father but by me.  You show that be being obedient to Him.  Jesus also says, if you love me, keep my commandments, not do as thou wilt.  


Judgment is coming.  God is still in control.  At this very moment He is working in the world and preparing His way.  We are either for him or against him.  It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.  We ought to obey God rather than men.

Exposure

Is it just me or are have we been seeing a lot of things exposed recently.  Most recently we are seeing two major things exposed.  We are seeing a political party exposed and we are seeing the exposure of the abortion practice. 


In the political world, the Donald has been used to expose the Republican party, FOX News, and the "conservative" world.  We can see on full display how the republican establishment goes about choosing one of their own and doing what it can to grease the wheels for them, and how vicious and mean spirited they can be when someone like Trump crashes their party and doesn't play by their rules.  They have been out to get him, and it was none the more obvious then in the debate. 


I have been a bit naive in the past that the republican party should be one where freedom is expected, and ideas welcomed.  Trumps candidacy is showing otherwise.  Yes, we have seen it slowly rearing its head since the last mid terms where the "establishment" seized power and drove out those nasty freedom loving tea partiers so they could get on with the business as usual in DC of ignoring the public and working side by side with democrats to undermine the will of the people.  But this early on presidential run has proven, out in the open, the republicans disdain for anyone not in their exclusive little republican club.  They think they are right and special because of the R by their name and how dare anyone challenge them.  They show nthat they will use any dorty trick they can to destroy another fellow republican who doesn't tow the line. 


The other issue that has been exposed the last couple months is the absolute horror and evil that has been operating in the abortion industry hiding under the positive guise as "womens health".  The absolute ghoulish and cavalier way that these folks talk about procedures to kill babies in such a way as to customize the haversting of human organs (which is againt the law).  I can't find the words to describe how this sickens and saddens me.  And to think this rotten practice has been going on hidden in the shadows for all these years....


There is a relation here.  We have seen now how the republican party uses this disgusting practice as a political ploy to get votes.  The establishment republicans who run congress have their little vote so they can say they are gainst abortion, while at the same time still allow it to go on.  We couldn't get the votes, you know, the rules...  Except that they can make their own voting rules and could stop it if they wanted.  We saw Mitch McConnel using the abortion issue as a tool to punish Ted Cruz for calling out the leader as the liar he is.  How can you toy with the murder of innocent babies just to make a political point and punish a fellow party member.  Doesn't saving lives take precedent to any of that?


And this takes us back to the original point, that the party is being exposed for who they truly are; democrat lite.  The democrats had come out of the closet at the onset of the Obama Presidency and are now openly statist and anti constitution.  they make no bones about it.  Now the Republicans too are being exposed as being not all that different.  They disdain those who truly love freedom and want us to return to constitutionality.  It eats away their power.


My other thoughts on all the exposures over the last decade or two, including things like molestation in the Catholic church, and how gay issue has exposed denominations, and other issues too, is this; with the exposure, it makes people responsible.  With the knowledge of what is going on, it makes people have to react to it.  When you don't react, you become complicit in the wrongdoings.  You become hard hearted towards wrong.  Judgment will be coming after exposure.  How that plays out will depend on how we react to these things. 

Hype-eractive

In these days of information access, people who want your attention for whatever reason seem to always go to the extremes to get it.  Fear mongering and over exaggeration have become the means of advertising by which they draw people in to watch their show or click their link.  Often these hyped up headlines are used to deceive as well. 


In a way, the internet has turned into this side show carnival with all of the callers out there trying to get you to stop at their booth and play thier game....  maybe you will win a prize.  If you enter their tent, you just might see the most amazing freak you have ever seen.  Go to the big top and see all the entertainment to excite and amaze you.  You will be amazed by what you see.


A lot of these hype headlines are hooks to draw you in.  See this little puppy.  What he does next is amazing.  then you waste 2 minutes of your life watching some dog play with a bird or something or other.  Or in the political realm you might see something like, what Obama just did will make you mad.  Then of course you have to click and find out what it is.  Sometimes it is not even a story, but just a headline.  Other times you find out, maybe after believing it, that it was a fake story put out by some sort of "satire" page.  Yet other times it ends up being a propaganda piece trying to convince you of the evils of the other party.  There is so much bull it is hard to tell where the grass is.


The problem with this sort of thing is that it makes people jaded.  It all begins to look alike and people tune it out.  Then when something comes along the really IS important, nobody believes it, nor are interested in it.  They just think it as being more bologna.
 

Most people just buy their own brand of bologna.  They believe what they want to believe and any evidence to the contrary is just denied offhand because they see it as just a different brand of bologna that they don't like.  The left will never believe anything from Faux news, nor will those on the right accept an MSNBC description.  It is all the hyped up and dishonest propaganda that makes people like this. 


Similar things happen in my favorite genre of weather.  News outlets put out scare tales of some impending doom coming from the next storm that never come to pass or live up to the hype.  Then after a while, people just stop believing it.  That can cost lives. 


Perhaps it was the memes that began this whole thing.  I remember when people first started using them.  A picture with a little phrase on it seems to hold more sway on peoples thoughts than any television advertisement ever could.  People pass them around like crazy in the social circles.  It doesn't matter whether it is truth or not, just that it sends out the right messages and puts thoughts into peoples heads.


Most of it really boils down to money.  All those clicks and reads generate revenue for the things being promoted.  Money is power.  Power is control.  Control is money.  It is an endless circle, just as any carnival is, to separate you from your money... and control. 


Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Poverty and Politics

I wanted to take a minute to examine this picture I have seen going around.  This is nothing against the person who posted it or of those for who this may be true.  It is an examination of how this argument is often used.

Something like this is often brought up in response to a conservative talking about reforming the program or cutting the budget.  The intent is often to paint anyone who is for reform of the program as mean spirited cruel bigoted individuals who want people to starve and making grandma choose between having electricity or eating dog food. This statement is just as bigoted as it claims the other side is.

This argument is also used to stamp down and mute out the truth about the massive fraud and abuse that IS in the program. Because someone points out that truth is not them calling every individual on food stamps names or stereotyping them.  It is people who wish to truly help the people who need help and don’t like that help being abused by those who do not need it.  We are not going to be able to help anybody if we keep going further into debt, in part, because the conditions are made to force people onto a program and then secondly that the program is not policed to prevent the fraud and abuse from occurring. 

Maybe it is not popular to stand up to this sort of message, but it is the truth.  What we need to do is set the conditions for people to get off of food stamps by having jobs.  By more people having jobs, we will have a larger tax base to help those who are still in need.  We need to balance the budget and pay off the debt.  If we keep borrowing we will go bankrupt and won’t be able to help anybody.   We need to stop giving away money we don’t have to people who don’t like us and use that to help our own.  We need to begin teaching biblical morality to our children so that people will be a little more responsible as adults and there won’t be such a high crime rate that keeps jobs away from the cities and poorer areas.

Those things are not bigoted statements or stereotyping.  They are reality.  Until people began grasping those realities and implementing them, we will go bankrupt and everyone will be stealing from their neighbor just to survive.  Instead we stereotype those people as being bigoted and accuse them of stereotyping the poor.  There is not much time left before this house of cards falls down and there will not be any assistance or opportunity for success for anyone.

Be Careful What You Wish For

In the book of first Samuel, we have a situation where Israel asks God for a king (roughly chapters 6-10).   Up until that point and time Israel lived with a very democratic system of governance.  They had their individual communities and tribes and elders all loosely knit together as a nation.  Each community had judges and governance was very participatory and required involvement on the part of the people.


Israel, as usual, was not happy with this system and wanted to be like other nations that had a king over them.  Why they were not happy, I don’t know.  Maybe it was just easier to have a king make all the decisions for everyone rather than everyone having to put forth an effort to govern themselves.  (sound familiar? Lol)   Anyway, they were willing to give up a certain part of their sovereignty, I suppose for a little security.  They had, after all, been at war and maybe they felt a strong centralized government would better serve them against the terrorists that kept invading.


In a blog I as reading, the anonymous author said this, “As well as a rejection of God, I see this choice as a rejection of community. In the systems of clans and judges there is room for debate, for consensus perhaps; but with that room comes messiness and effort. It is, I think, the harder route.


When you try to live in community, when no one person is ‘in charge’, then you have to be open to listening to others and to questioning yourself. You can’t just follow the rules, you have to engage with them, test them, even challenge them, or their interpretation. You have to be willing to change.


When someone is telling you what to do from on high you don’t need to wonder if it’s right or wrong, you don’t need to inquire into yourself; you’re just following orders.
In this, latter, model there is no personal responsibility. There is no group ownership of faith.”


When I look at our nation, I see a very similar path as what the Israeli’s had taken.  When we first started out, our model was of a small central government and each of the states being rather sovereign in and of themselves, governing themselves as they saw fit. It required effort, involvement, and that willingness to battle it out in the realm of ideas. 

Over time, we Americans wanted less and less involvement and we wanted more and more to be told what to do.  We also wanted more and more of what could be given to us rather than earning it.  Too, it was our desire that our  personal responsibilities in taking care of ourselves and our families, as well as our communities be dictated to us.


It then come to me as  no surprise that we find ourselves in a situation where we have a dictatorial government that wishes to control every aspect of our lives and no longer respects the sovereignty of the state, county, or municipality.  Those entities have been bought out and made dependent upon the federal government, and the people gladly handed off the responsibility so their own lives would be easier.


The people got what they asked for, but hadn’t thought out the consequences.  Now a number of people are beginning to regret the decisions they made, and are beginning to see the need to take back the power they gave up.  It will not be easy though. Those who hold such power are not prone to just handing it over.  I don’t recall too many times in history where a government just handed over their authority to the people without the people forcibly taking it.

Be careful what you wish for.  You just might get it.

We Are The Evil Empire

There was a time where the United States of America stood for freedom, justice, Godly morals, love thy neighbor, and that which was good in man.  It really was not that long ago.  It was in my lifetime.  When I look at the country now, I don’t know who we have become.  We are unrecognizable now from the moral super power we once were.  Not only are we unrecognizable; but we are living a delusion, thinking we still are the moral super power.

IN my lifetime, we used to believe that every child had the right to live.  That changed in 1971 and now we have slaughtered over 50,000,000 people on the alters of liberalism.  How can we speak to others of human rights when we do not even value the lives of our own humans?  The souls of the murdered scream for vengeance.

In my lifetime, we used to value ourselves and our bodies.  Sex was viewed as a sacred thing given only in love to a partner of the opposite sex in a lifelong bond.  Now we live in a society of sexual deviants that only cares about self-gratification in the moment.  We have devalued the bond between two people of the opposite sex that we feel it is ok to have intercourse with anyone, without consequence or responsibility.  Entire industries have sprung up to serve the self-serving instant gratification seeking spoiled brats, including the murder factories mentioned above. 

In my lifetime, you could not even show a belly button on the screen.  Today it is almost impossible to find a movie without a pornographic sex scene between unmarried people.  The themes of movies were once good vs evil where the good triumphed in the end compared to today’s films of special effects and gore where you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys and you are never quite sure which one won.  How can we speak of being a moral people when our pop icons are barely more than porn stars who have flashed their private areas to millions to gawk at?

In my lifetime, sex between two people of the same sex was considered a perversion and a mental illness.  Today, not only is it considered normal, but we are redefining our social institutions to accommodate this perversion of nature.  Now that this is normalized, we have people who want to have sex with little children wanting to be recognized and accepted into society as normal as well.

In my lifetime, Foods could be mostly trusted to be what they were naturally.  The beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables were closely related to the exact same things we had eaten naturally since our beginnings.  Today we have these scientifically produced monster foods that are destroying the very environment we need to survive in and may even be killing us off slowly.  In a sick need for greed we are putting our entire existence on this planet in jeopardy just to create a few more bucks into a corporations coffers.

Doesn’t it seem a little odd that today, in the country we once considered the evil empire just 30 years ago, Russia, Bibles are allowed and taught in their schools, and sex is at least recognized as only normal between a man and woman?  And that this evil empire considers what we are doing to our food supply so dangerous to the existence of people on this planet that they are saying war may result from our tampering with the food chain?  Maybe Russia is not the evil empire any more.  I think we have taken up that role, and most don’t even see it.

We Want Information

A while back I turned off my TV.  I haven't been listening to the talk radio much either.  The only real news I get is from people posting on the Facebook pages.  During that time of not having any talking heads whispering in my ear, I have found a difference in the way I am viewing things.  It is a little more discerned, I think.


This is what I am seeing when it comes to information lately.  I see a lot of people making personal attacks.  People attack the President, congressmen, some guy in a court case, whoever they don't agree with.  When I say attack, I mean that they will not say anything about a policy, a position,  but it will be just like, they guy is a bum (or many worse things)because I disagree with him.  That type of thing goes nowhere.  It does not advance anything, build anything, or mend anything.  It just destroys and divides.


The other thing I see going on is the promotion of news that isn't news.  There are numerous sites out there that put out ridiculous stories that are just flat out not true, or are only partially true, and people are reposting these things all over the internet as if they were true.  These often revolve around political and/or religious issues dealing with conspiratorial type subjects.   I've been fooled by a couple of these myself from time to time mainly because I want them to be true.


These types of things in their volume make it difficult at times to discern what is really true and what is not.  It all just becomes a big clanging bell that everyone just becomes deaf from.  Information has become so watered down that people get to where they don't believe anything anyone else says and only believe what they want to believe, deceiving themselves and others.


Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."  It would be wise to examine what we are posting and passing along to see if we are meeting this mark.  Are we sharing truth, honesty, justness,lovely, virtuous, praise worthy items of good report?  Or are we sharing trash that isn't true, unfairly puts down, ugly, questionable things from questionable sources with no virtue?

The Obama Speech

Toady, I sat and listened to the speech President Obama gave to the school student. I had some serious reservations about the presidents agenda based on what I had heard and seen on the questionnaire. It was all a plot to brainwash our children to serve the state and turn our little children’s minds full of mush into anti American communists; or so I was told.

What I heard was a good and appropriate speech filled with posit5ives about school and the children’s future. It was not the evil message that was being portrayed. Perhaps he changed it due to public pressure, but I will never know. What I do know is that he talked about personal responsibility and overcoming obstacles.

I am sure that in his heart, Obama believes what he said. I believe in what he said. We’ll leave the arguments on the difference of ideas on how we get there for another day. Today I just want to give kudos where I feel they are due and I give kudos to Obama for the message he delivered.

I began to listen to some of the commentary Rush Limbaugh had to offer afterwards. I don’t often say it, but I think I have to disagree with his after coverage of the speech. He immediately said that Obama was lying, in so many words. He took the opportunity to go after policies of the president and the people surrounding the president. Rush, I think you missed a great opportunity here.

What could have been pointed out is that we WANT our children to take personal responsibility for their education and futures. We WANT our children to look past and overcome obstacles they face. We WANT our children to focus on their futures to grow up to be whatever it is they want to be. We WANT our children being respectful of teachers, parents, and other authorities. These ARE conservative principles.

It would have been a great opportunity to talk about how conservatives wish to have these hopes and dreams for our children implemented and how conservative ideas best represent the greatest opportunity for those ideals to be brought to fruition in the children’s adult years. It would have been a great opportunity to talk about the greatness of our country and how these opportunities can be best achieved here.

Instead, we get more ranting and fear mongering. If this was the presidents intention all along to give this version of the speech, I feel duped. I feel that those that are out there trying to talk about the values I hold dropped the ball and misled me. I think people want to b FOR something positive and good, not constantly angry and suspicious about every motive.

At least for one day let the two sides put down the gloves and agree together that the president gave a great message today. We can argue about how we get there tomorrow.

Offering Solutions for Health Care

I just read a blog where the blogger was complaining about people opposing the government paying for her health care. Her argument was that she had a child with mental issues and the bills were piling up despite her job having insurance coverage for her that she pays $300 out of $900 a month on. The first part of my response was as follows:

Who pays the government for the government to pay your medical expenses? Taxpayers. Your advocating taking more money out of MY pocket so YOU don't have to pay YOUR expenses? No Ma'am. I feel ya but I got enough of my own expenses. Maybe the govt can get a car insurance option that will keep my car running for free?

Not being the kind to just complain, I offered my opinion on what would make things more affordable in health care. I will delve deeper into the details here.

If they really want to drive down cost, let insurance companies cross state lines and compete with one another. People will choose the ones with the lowest cost/best quality. Currently insurance companies have to be licenses state by state and cannot cross state lines without holding multiple licenses. This stifles competition and causes prices to rise, especially in states where they may be taxed more. Why should the same insurance coverage cost 30% more than the state right next to it? Competition drives down prices.

Get rid of HMO's that limit your care options to certain doctors and hospitals so people can shop around for the best prices in health care. Prices will drop to stay competitive. Again, we go back to free market economics. If you need an operation, why should you pay $30,000 for said operation when the hospital in the next town over you can get the same operation for $25,000? And so on. You will go where there is both lower price and equal quality. In an HMO, you cannot. For my stomach problem I had to see 5 different doctors because they kept leaving the HMO or changing to a different one. As a result I had to repeat the whole process each time and it cost much more money.

Take regulations off insurance companies to cover elective services like face lifts and sex changes. Keep insurance for those who really are sick. It used to be that insurance would only be for catastrophic issues such as car accidents and operations, broken bones or serious illness. Now every little doctor visit is covered. We used to have to pay the $50 for a physical ourselves. Now that same physical costs $300 plus dollars, but we only pay maybe $25 of it. If we had to pay for it, we would be outraged at $50 for an aspirin, and other such outrageous charges. We’d buy our own aspirin for $5 for a whole bottle at the Osco. Elective surgeries were just that, elective and not covered. Part of our insurance payments go for tummy tucks and adadicktome’s. That’s fine if people want to do those things, but having it covered by insurance means I am paying for it in my premiums.

Insist that doctors fix problems instead of prescribing pharmaceuticals that just mask symptoms. If we took the time to really find the problem instead of just writing prescriptions, we would have healthier people long term. This would drive down cost as less people would need care. What they call it is managed care. In other words, keep the people on the pills for life and never really fix the health issue. Pharmaceuticals are making billions on people being sick, not people being well. We don’t complain though when we only pay a $5 co-pay to just feel better. If we had to pay the $25 per pill, we’d be up in arms and want to be healed so we wouldn’t have to take and pay for the stupid pills.

The more insulated we are from the costs of health care, the more out of hand the cost will get. We all pay for it in the end, whether it is higher premiums or higher taxes. Nothing is for free