The Wings of Eagles

New York State Government "Redefines" Marriage

2011-06-25T01:16:00.007-04:00

The folks who brought you salt water fishing licenses have now decided they can redefine marriage. Really?

Dean Skelos and his alleged Republican (I refer to alleged Republicans not alleged majority) majority in the New York State Senate have placed the foot of the Empire State firmly on the slippery slope by passing the so-called marriage equality law. Can you say detestable? Maybe abomination is a better word.

As a New Yorker I am saddened, yet not surprised. Our state is quickly heading south (like many of our citizens) led by a governor (Andrew Cuomo) who lives out of wedlock with his girlfriend in "The People's House". Quite the moral compass he.

I am not a hater. I am a Christian who isn't ashamed of the Bible. The Bible is the book I use to guide my life. It's a book inspired by the God who establishes marriage as between one man and one woman in Genesis (please see Adam and Eve) and calls homosexuality, not the homosexual, an abomination. Got a problem with that? Take it up with God.

Is homosexuality the worst sin? No. It is just one sin of many sins that Jesus Christ died to forgive if only the sinner will believe and be baptized.

The Good News is that no matter what goes on around us, God is still God and the Gospel is still the Gospel. Let's not get that sinking feeling like Peter by losing our focus.

Some in the Christian community might argue that this came about because we stood quietly on the sidelines and they might be right. However, this in no way will stop us from bringing the truth to the lost world around us. Shall we speak louder? Yes. Shall we speak more boldly? We should. Let us not be discouraged by the world. After all we cannot expect the world to have the same views as we Christians do.

The world's view can change only when the hearts and minds of those who are lost are transformed by the power of the Gospel which comes from God. God will change those hearts if they truly seek and accept His son Jesus Christ. No other power can do that.

Also, this law in no way legitimizes gay marriage nor does it make it right. It just makes it a law.

So no hate speech here. No name calling. Sadness? Yes. Sadness that those who think they are doing the right thing are really leading people farther away from God.

Psalm 119:It's All About the Word of God!

2011-05-19T10:42:00.005-04:00

Wow! Have you ever read something that was life transforming? That impacted you so deeply you had to tell people about it? That happened to me this morning. I read Psalm 119.

I was having just a horrendous start to my day. I had to get out of the house and clear my head and think. So, I took my Bible, got a venti Americano with hazelnut and cream at Starbucks and headed to the marina on Foster Avenue in Sayville. God's word, coffee and water. That's the combination I needed to get me back on track. I was soon to realize, though, that it is God's word that would clear my mind and focus me back where it belonged.

The author of Psalm 119 is not known for certain. And, really, it's not important. What is important as you read this Psalm is that the author fully understood that their comfort, guidance and delight came from the word of God. Whether they used the term precepts, commands, word, law or promise, it all points to the word of God.

We don't get guidance from Oprah or Dr. Phil. We don't get comfort from Joel Osteen or Joyce Meyers. We aren't put back on track by a book by this author or that televangelist. The Bible, the word of God is where we get all of this.

Here's an extra, for no extra cost. If a person says they know better than the word of God, DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM! Case in point. All this hoopla about this Saturday being the rapture is UNBIBLICAL and therefore SINFUL! Mr. Harold Camping /Family Radio is a FALSE TEACHER! He has already been wrong about the end of the world in 1994. The word of God says in Matthew 24:34-36:

³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

That means that no one knows when the end will come except God the Father. Not Harold Camping. Not anyone who follows him. No one! You can't figure it out with numbers or calendars or being clever with twisting what God says.

So, friends, read the Bible. Do what is says and you'll be sure to be doing God's will. Psalm 119 makes it clear that the word is the beginning and the end of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Anything else is just a waste of your time and your life.

The Power of Patiently Waiting - Dean Trune

2011-04-20T11:03:00.001-04:00

Dean Trune gives us a great insight into patiently waiting on God.

We Can Escape Sin!: 1 Corinthians 10:13

2011-03-24T00:22:00.002-04:00

1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that no temptation will come our way that we cannot resist. God will provide an escape for us. Isn't that a great promise?

Notice, it doesn't say we even have to stand and fight the temptation. As Joseph ran from Potipher's wife, we will be given an escape from sin! We just have to ask Him for that escape.

When I am tempted, I have a choice to make. Give in or not. It's that simple. When Joseph was confronted by Potipher's wife, he said, "How can I sin against God?". He couldn't even conceive in his own mind sinning. And when temptation came his way, God gave him an escape, the front door! Joseph RAN! And that's what we need to do. Run to God asking Him for our escape.

Each and everyday, we make many choices, but the most important choice we make is whether to resist temptation when it comes our way. For when we resist temptation, we maintain our relationship with our heavenly Father. When we do not resist, we let sin get in the way of that relationship.

I always notice that when I do not resist, everything seems to go wrong. Things break. Things at home seem to go wrong. It seems like when I let sin get in the way of my relationship with the Father, my life doesn't go so well.

But, when I am in tune with God and making sure I resist temptation, life seems to go pretty well. I have peace. I feel safe.

When I sin, I feel vulnerable and out there on my own. Not a good feeling.

So, today, when you feel tempted, call on the Father and His promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 and seek out His escape for you so that you will not sin!

It's a great promise that He will honor each and every time you call on His help!

Psalm 40 - God's Plan

2011-03-16T14:16:00.004-04:00

Psalm 40 is such a comfort. Read as David recounts how God "heard my cry" and "lifted me out of the slimy pit".

Are you in a "slimy pit" right now? Have you ever been. Oh, yes, know it well.

What a picture this psalm paints. God lifted David out of the slimy pit and put his feet on a rock.

Being out of work, this really speaks to me. Unemployment can feel like a slimy pit, for sure. I feel like I'm sinking. Like I'll never work again.

The first line of this Psalm is key, though. The Psalm starts off, "I waited patiently for the Lord". No! Ugh! There's that "waiting" thing again. Oh, waiting is not my favorite thing to do, but in David's case, he waited "patiently". If that's not the hardest thing to do, I don't know what is.

We have to wait patiently on God. Why? I wondered that, but I think, and this is just my opinion, is that it shows our faith in God. If we are patiently waiting on God, we show Him that we trust Him to do the right thing for us at precisely the right time. Not easy. No, not easy at all, but we see what the fruit of waiting patiently is. The Lord hears us and lifts us out of our slimy pit.

Then, later in the Psalm, David talks about "proclaiming righteousness in the great assembly". Once God pulls us out of that pit, we should tell everyone we can about it. Shout it! It says that "many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord" because of what He's done for us..

How can people see the love of God, unless we show them how He loves us?

So, we cry out to God, wait patiently for Him to answer us, then we proclaim that to as many people as we can and then people will come to know and put their trust in Him!

That's God's plan.

Sound like a good one!

Sounds PERFECT to me!

God bless you.

Wow! It's been a Long While!

2011-03-09T14:12:00.003-05:00

It's good to be back. Lost the writing bug for a while, but it's back. I got very political for a while. Yes, I still can't wait to elect a new President. I think this one is just not right for the country and he proves it just about every day. Looking for the right person to come along and run. Not sure who that will be. But, now I want to write about Jesus. About faith. About Christianity. And, hopefully, it's what God wants me to do.

We're in the Lenten season. Easter is coming. Today, as a matter of fact, is known as Ash Wednesday in some faiths.

As we close in on Easter, this is a good time to reflect on what Easter is really all about. Is it about bunnies and candy and new hats? Or is it the culmination of God sending His Son to redeem the human race from our sins?

Easter is a celebration. It's different than most as it's beginning is a sad event, namely death. The death of Jesus. However, it ends in a grand celebration of LIFE. That life is the resurrected Jesus. It is proof positive of who Jesus is. He is God. Always was, always will be.

As we approach that Easter weekend, it's time to examine yourself and take account of how Easter is reflected in your life. Do you live a life that reflects the Risen Savior? Take time this Easter season to honestly look at yourself and see what you can do differently to reflect the awesome fact that God sent His Son to be the substitute sacrifice for our sins, so we could once again enjoy a relationship with Him!

National Day of Prayer - May 6, 2010

2010-04-07T13:55:00.004-04:00

The National Day of Prayer is quickly approaching!

Do Not Fear! God's Spirit Lives in You!

2010-04-07T08:29:00.002-04:00

1 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Are you afraid today? Have you been afraid in the past? Take heart, because God's Spirit is not a Spirit of fear.

When we are fearful, that is our flesh taking over. God's Spirit, as Paul told Timothy, is a Spirit of power, love and self-discipline. God says "do not fear" 365 times in the Bible, so He must know that fear is something we humans struggle with. And to help us, He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us to guide us through the fearful moments of our lives.

From Him, the Holy Spirit, we get power to overcome even the most daunting challenges in life.

Is it hard to tell people about Jesus? Well, in Acts 1:8 Jesus said this:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Another promise of power from the Holy Spirit.

That is also a promise for those who are Christ followers. When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, He uses His power through us. The power to tell people about Jesus. The power to get through the toughest events in our lives. The power to glorify God by what we think, say and do. We get the power to resist temptation. What can overcome the power of the Creator of the universe?? Nothing can, that's the answer.

Timothy must have been having a problem with being timid. Maybe he was not forceful enough in combating false teaching in the church. Maybe he was having trouble spreading the Gospel. Paul encouraged Timothy by reminding him of the power that was his to use through the Holy Spirit. That encouragement is for us today.

So, do not fear! The Holy Spirit's power is there for you to tap into to spread the Gospel. To resist temptation. To be a good dad or mom or son or daughter. To live a life that is pleasing to God. Tap into that power today. Pray. Pray and pray some more.

To God be the glory!

Hosanna to the King!

2010-03-29T08:31:00.010-04:00

Matthew 21:9 (New International Version)
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"

As the week unfolded, prophecy was again being fulfilled as Jesus, riding a colt, hearing the cheers of the crowd, walking along a road covered in palms, entered Jerusalem. You have to wonder what was on His mind as He saw those cheering people and looked them in the eye knowing that many of the very same ones who were cheering Him, at the end of the week, would be crying out for his crucifixion.

Yet, in He rode. Certain, horrible, painful death loomed in front of Him. However, He knew that death was necessary so that the sins of the very ones who would call for his death and those of all of us could be forgiven. It's the very reason He came down from heaven.

Romans 5:8 (New International Version) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Don't Be the Silent Majority: Don't Give Up the Fight!

2010-03-25T13:17:00.006-04:00

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17)

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Was there really any doubt that the "One" would get his vote? I mean the demweasels have their price, even if it is a political sleight of hand using an Executive Order that has less teeth than a newborn baby. Thank you Mr. Stupak. Although, Bart Stupak was never going to vote against the bill anyway. Why he pulled this charade this long is a mystery, but he's not really two-faced, he's just a liar. Once he caved, the rest of the so-called pro-life democrats followed along. And here we are! Europe!

But, those of us in the majority in this country who oppose the complete takeover of our health care (and then everything else, it seems) by the government cannot let up. We must keep up the pressure, not only on the current crew in Washington, but also on the new people we will vote in come Election Day 2010 and then again in 2012.

For me, I will work tirelessly for the opponents of Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and Steve Israel. They are to blame, with the rest of the democrats, for undermining the foundation of this country. I say dump the lot of them! Dump the Dems!

The United States of America is about personal responsibility, not nanny state handouts. It was built on hard work, honesty, integrity. The grit of generations gone by has gotten us to the position of envy around the world. Sure the bad mouth us, but when there is trouble, either politically or naturally, who does the world look to? The United States of America. That's because we could be counted on to give money, resources and people to help in times of trouble.

This country was founded on great Judeo-Christian principles of doing good to others while living free. Having freedom WITH responsibility and not freedom from responsibility, which the current Democratic-controlled government is touting.

We need to keep fighting to get this country back and not lose heart. We endured Carter, we can fix this problem too.

Get involved. Get vocal. Let your representatives know they are out. Find out who is running against them and help those folks out! Run for office yourself! Do SOMETHING to change this.

Don't be like the people who don't vote and then complain about taxes.

OK, now, take the pledge. Pledge today to do something positive for this country. If we all band together, we can have America back and better for everyone!

God bless you.

And may God show mercy to America.

America R.I.P.

2010-03-22T09:55:00.004-04:00

Not only is this so-called healthcare reform bill a disaster of epic proportion, but our country is dead. It's dead in terms of representative government. Fully 55% of Americans were AGAINST this bill, yet the Democrats and only the Democrats completely ignored the will of the MAJORITY to pass this bill. And, your liberties are now non-existent because "rights" that the government gives you, they can take away. Sad day America, but you voted for it. Enjoy!

Hat tip to Moonbattery for the pic.

Obama Shows Himself For Who He Is

2010-03-03T15:53:00.003-05:00

Mr. Obama showed that he no longer considers himself the President of the United States, but now is the dictator of the US by announcing he was ready to ram through the healthcare bill even though the vast majority of Americans do not want it. So much for government "of the people, by the people and for the people".

Instead of this ill conceived, never able to pay for, bankrupt the country bill, Mr. Obama should have scrapped it and regrouped. Instead of forcing people into a Medicare-like plan, why not make it so the free market, (You remember the free market, right?) can work to make it more affordable so the people who aren't covered and want to be covered (there's always going to be people who do not want coverage) can get coverage.

That's not Mr. Obama's plan. His plan is to make the federal government take over your life. He wants the government in charge of you not you in charge of the government. I'm not Oliver Stone. I don't buy into conspiracy theories. This man, however, is doing everything he can to increase the size, scope and power of the federal government. He is not listening to the citizens of this country. Not at all.

We all need to speak to our representatives and let them know that in no uncertain terms do we want this country to go in the direction Mr.Obama is taking it. That is not the America we want.

It's time to organize.

It's time to act.

Don't let the country slip away.

New York State Has It Wrong

2010-03-02T08:40:00.002-05:00

So, there I sat last night listening to our Elementary School Counselor/Health Teacher as he explained the fourth grade health curriculum. The big topic this year is AIDS/HIV. Why? Not sure why a nine or ten year old needs to know about this disease, but New York State has decided our children will start hearing about it at this age.

So, he showed a video. First of all the video has a copyright date of 1988. Has there been no update to an AIDS video since then? Anyway, they are doing a pretty good job explaining AIDS in the movie using different benign analogies and then it happens. The two children in the video ask the adult, "How do you get AIDS?" The adult, sort of matter of factly, looks them in the eye and says, "Well, there are two ways, sexual contact............."

I didn't hear anything after that. That's all I had to hear. The hair (what little there is at this age) on the back of my neck stood up, a buzzing started in my ears and all I heard in my head was the phrase "opt out".

Sexual contact? OK, so after the video the Health Educator mentions that particular spot in the video and says, yes, we mention sex, but we're not going to talk about it.

What?

You're not going to talk about it?

We're going to tell the kids that it's not a subject we will discuss and then we'll move on.

Wait a minute, sir. You're going to mention sex to a bunch of giggling 9 and 10 year olds and then tell them you're not going to talk about it? OK. So, I guess you've never heard of Google? Think a kid can't do a simple internet search? Think they won't?

So another dad pipes in, "We can opt out of this, right?"

Yes.

Then a bunch of other parents start peppering him with questions. Why is it necessary to talk about this at this age? Why do you have to mention sex? My child is not ready for this. I don't want my child hearing about this.

He retreated to the excuse that it was mandated by the state. Ahhhhh. That's it. I'm just following orders! This was approved at the district level by parents and teachers. Really? The state does not know better than me what my child should be taught. She's my responsibility, not Governor Patterson's.

My child will not be sexualized in any way shape or form, especially by New York State.

And why does AIDS have to be covered three years? They get it in 4th, 5th and 6th grades. Why? What other communicable diseases are covered over a series of years. The answer? Exactly, NONE. Why is that? Is AIDS still the epidemic is once was? No. We don't live in Africa or Haiti or some other third world country where AIDS is rampant. Why shove this down the throats of innocent children? Why do they have to know this at such a young age?

My child will be opting out of this lesson. She won't see the video. There will be other children that will not see the video either. Of the few parents that were there, I think many of them are opting out of that lesson. However, the vast majority of the parents were not there last night. I hope they go on Wednesday to see the second and last presentation of this material. I think reasonable parents will opt out of this video.

Our children are our responsibility. It doesn't take a village to raise them, just dedicated parents or caretakers that care about them and take that responsibility seriously. The village isn't going to raise my child. God allowed my wife and I the privilege of having her and we're going to do whatever we can to protect her from the world as long as we can.

I spoke to her about it. She's OK with my decision because she knows that I love her and only want to protect her.

It's time we change things in this state. We need to change this curriculum to be more age appropriate. New York is so broken, I wonder if that's possible.

The People Have Spoken. Mr. Obama are You Listening?

2010-01-20T08:20:00.005-05:00

With Republican Scott Brown's win in heavily left leaning Democratic Massachusetts last night, the people have started to take back our government. The only question that remains is will Mr. Obama, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid listen? So far, they haven't shown any indication that they care what the people want. So far, in the first year of Obama, all they care about is the Democratic Party agenda even though the vast majority of citizens are against it.

You know the people are angry when a Democrat cannot win a "Kennedy" seat in Massachusetts the land of the Kennedys. Mr. Scott Brown has shown what he said over and over again is true, that the open Senate seat in Massachusetts is indeed "The People's Seat".

Going from here we will see if the arrogance of the "we won" party will continue to push towards their goal of national health insurance that everyone will be forced to buy or face a stiff penalty. Some in the Democratic party, the party that has controlled Congress for years, seem to have gotten the message, but not the Democratic Party leadership. They have their ideological blinders on and want to force us all into Obamacare, which many people believe is unconstitutional.

It's time to speak out, shout out and tell your representatives, Schumer and Gillebrand, here in NY, that you want them to be more like Scott Brown or you'll vote them out. We need representatives that work FOR us. It is the government OF THE PEOPLE. They work for us. Tell them what you think. We need to put pressure on the Democrats to do what we want, not what their party has been trying to do for years. They don't get it that if the people wanted national health insurance, we would have had it long ago. National health insurance DOES NOT WORK. It hasn't worked anywhere in the world. It won't work here.

Do we need to reform the system? Yes, but not how the Democrats are trying to force us to do it. We need to allow competition across state borders. The Democrats have not even addressed that. Another thing they haven't addressed is malpractice reform. Most doctors will tell you that they have to spend an enormous amount of money on malpractice insurance because of the out of this world awards people get at as a result of winning a suit. That's called tort reform and we need that and so do the doctors. It will drive down healthcare costs immediately.

This is a good day to be an American citizen. It shows one person can make a difference. It's worth the fight. It's a good lesson to point out to your children.

It is said that the Democrats will try some slick maneuvers to ram Obamacare through to force it on all of us even though the message from Massachusetts was loud and clear that no one wants it. This election was a clear mandate AGAINST Obama and his and the Democrats' agenda. Time will tell if Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Gillibrand and the rest of the Democrats will do what the voters who sent them there want and that's to represent the citizens and what they want. If not, then we'll just have to vote them out and put people in there like Scott Brown who will do the will of the people who they serve.

Apology Accepted Mr. McGwire, but Don't Bother Packing for Cooperstown

2010-01-12T10:32:00.006-05:00

At first when Mark McGwire told the world what we already suspected that he had taken steroids, I thought, "Well, it's about time!" But then I thought about it and now that apology rings hollow when you look back at a very recent event, the voting for the Hall of Fame. McGwire was named on just 23% of the ballots.

To me McGwire's apology is just a veiled attempt to garner sympathy for future votes.

As a parent who doles out consequences on a regular basis, I have to tell Mr. McGwire that his apology doesn't relieve him of the consequences for his actions. Accept the apology, sure. However, he shouldn't be packing for Cooperstown.

As a lifelong baseball fan I say he's not welcomed in that hallowed hall. If they can ban Shoeless Joe Jackson on charges that really cannot be proved and they can keep Pete Rose, who admitted he bet on baseball games, out of the Hall of Fame, then Mark McGwire should experience the same ban. If this man is ever voted into the HOF, I will never, ever go there again.

It's time baseball got tough on these cheaters, confessed or not, and expunged them from all the records and make sure they never enter the Hall of Fame as inductees. The one thing baseball always protected was its integrity and with the inclusion of such cheaters, that integrity is at the very least in question.

I love the game of baseball. It has always been and will always be my favorite game, but I will be hard pressed to embrace the game I love if cheaters such as Mark McGwire are welcomed into the very institution that celebrates individuals who accomplished great things ON THEIR OWN.

What do you think?

Leave a comment.

How Can the Conservatives Take Our Country Back?

2010-01-08T11:19:00.006-05:00

The Obama administration is imploding under its own weight with the health care disaster they call reform, ACORN, Tim Geitner's indiscretions, being soft and incompetent on terror, Janet Nepalitano saying the system worked when someone actually was able to board a plane with explosives in his Fruit of the Looms, slow to react when we are attacked, not caring about Americans safety by bringing the 9/11 trials to a civilian court in New York City, not caring about what the majority of citizens want when it goes against what the Democratic party wants, the Louisiana Purchase where they gave Louisiana $300 million to sway a vote on health care, bribing Ben Nelson of Nebraska with a sweetheart deal for his state to get him to vote Yes to this health insurance legislation that will bankrupt the country and I can go on and on but I don't want to continue to write the longest sentence I have ever written.

You get the idea.

All that being said, how can the Conservatives take advantage of the situation as the liberal Democrats did last year? What do they have to do to win back the hearts and minds of America?

Number 1 is they have to embrace the fiscal conservatism of Reagan. Continue to say "No" to mortgaging our future and the futures of our children and grandchildren and give attractive, real fiscally-sound alternatives and keep hammering it home. Do not let up.

Number 2 is they need to keep telling the country how unsafe we have become since this administration has come to power. There are plenty of examples. They need to keep that in the media.

Number 3 is they need to continually tell us how the alleged health care reform the Pelosi/Reid led congress is trying to ram down our throats will make us more unhealthy, hurt the quality of care, limit the care we get, and take the control out of our hands and put it in the government's hands.

Number 3 is they need to continually belittle what the Democrats are doing, just as the Saul Alinsky-inspired Democrats are doing to them. Keep telling America how silly the Dems complaints are. Keep laughing at the absurd solutions they propose. Keep saying how out of date and out of touch the Dems/Libs are with regular Americans. Marginalize them every chance they get.

They need to defeat Coakley in Massachusetts on January 19th in the special election to fill Kennedy's seat.

They need to defeat Gillibrand in New York for her Senate seat.

They need to stop fighting in public.

They need to be smarter at winning over younger voters.

They need to rally the base to get out and vote.

They need to listen to the Teabag Party. They are regular Americans that are fed up with how the government is so dysfunctional and out of touch with what we want.

I am sure we can come up with more, but you get the picture.

We need to support those who can deliver this, so we do not lose this country, which we will if the liberal Democrats, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Schumer and their cohorts are allowed to continue to run amok in this country.

Get out and vote. Get involved. Support those who will listen to you and care about what you want.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

YouTube - Avalon - Orphans of God - Front Row Live - Gospel Music Chan

2009-12-15T10:27:00.003-05:00

Great song from Avalon a wonderful Christian group.

This song is uplifting and inspiring! Please watch and listen!

God bless you.

YouTube - Avalon - Orphans of God - Front Row Live - Gospel Music Chan

Posted using ShareThis

Moonbattery: Planned Parenthood: "A Fetus Is Just Like a Fingernail"

2009-12-10T14:19:00.004-05:00

Tip of the hat to Moonbattery for this one.

Read the blog and watch the video. It's an undercover video about a Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic in Appleton, Wisconsin where a woman is getting counseled about her "choices". See the choices she's given.

Your hard earned tax dollars are funding this. You paid for that "counselor" and that "doctor" to tell that woman that the fetus she's carrying is not a baby. That so-called doctor, with 40 years of abortions under his belt, tells the woman that having the abortion is safer than giving birth.

This is a travesty. It's immoral. And you paid for it.

Undercover Planned Parenthood Video

President Obama and EPA Seek to Destroy The America We All Love

2009-12-09T15:46:00.002-05:00

Not through legislation, but through regulation, America is about to be ruined. How White House Climate Czar Carol Browner was ever allowed to get into her position is beyond me.

Friends, we have a mess on our hands. The Obama administration is attacking America from so many sides, it's hard to keep track. Know this, Barack Obama is looking to, in his own words, fundamentally transform America. This is happening now.

Please read the link above. Contact your representatives about this. Tell them to stop this person from changing and ruining America!

US Ready for Another Reagan

2009-12-03T08:35:00.006-05:00

Just as in 1980, after Jimmy Carter set this nation in a direction that would see our citizens held hostage over 400 days by Iranian Islamic extremists, gas prices soar, oil become scarce, and interest rates that made Mob interest rates more attractive, America is ready for another Ronald Reagan to come and rescue us from certain demise.

The problem is, who is our Ronald Reagan? Who exemplifies the character, wit and ideals that Reagan brought to the Presidency? Who is that conservative patriot waiting in the wings on their white horse ready to arrive in the nick of time just like the cavalry?

It wasn't John McCain.

Mitt Romney brings a lot of those qualities to the table, but does he have the strength of character? Is he the staunch conservative that Reagan was? Where is Mitt Romney, anyway? Has anyone heard from him?

Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, is a common sense conservative. He is steadfast in his beliefs. His economic ideas are good. He is an advocate of eliminating the IRS and instituting a "Fair Tax", which is a national sales tax. A radical idea to some, to others it is something that should have been done a long time ago.

Sarah Palin. Well, this lady had whipped up emotions that span the gamut from hatred to adoration. She is also conservative, with a down home common sense approach to governing. She speaks plainly in simple terms. Mrs. Palin fits the mold. She has a successful record of governing having run a city and then the entire state of Alaska. More than the current President has ever done.

We need someone with the backbone to stand and fight for American values. The current Oval Office occupant doesn't seem to have to desire to do that.

In the coming months, I pray that someone will emerge as the best candidate to come in , like Reagan, maybe the greatest President of our generation, and slam the brakes on this reckless ride into oblivion that the present administration and Democratic-led congress seems so adamant about bringing us on.

God bless you.

May God bless America with His grace and mercy.

The seminar president - Washington Times

2009-12-02T14:34:00.001-05:00

The seminar president - Washington Times

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Monicamemo.com

2009-12-02T14:33:00.001-05:00

Monicamemo.com

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American Thinker: After a Takeover of Health Care, Can a One-Child Policy Be Far Behind?

2009-11-25T10:36:00.001-05:00

American Thinker: After a Takeover of Health Care, Can a One-Child Policy Be Far Behind?

If you think that the government is stopping at JUST controlling a huge part of our economy and by default and huge part of our lives, think again. Once they control health services, can other freedoms falling by the side be far behind?

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist - Iraq | War | Map - FOXNews.com

2009-11-25T08:42:00.002-05:00

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist - Iraq | War | Map - FOXNews.com

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This is just horrendous! How can they do this to brave heroes who put their lives on the line for our freedom? So some terrorist got a bloody lip? WHO CARES!

I think that many more high value targets should just be brought in with lead poisoning, maybe behind the ear. This way they can't complain about being "assaulted".

President Obama, stop this insanity! Protect our military heroes! What are you doing Mr. President? Get off the golf course and start doing your job!

The Manhattan Declaration

2009-11-24T12:03:00.003-05:00

I strongly urge you to sign the Manhattan Declaration. Click the link and read about it.

From the web site manhattandeclaration.org:

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

the sanctity of human life
the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Scientific scandal appears to rock climate change promoters

2009-11-20T16:21:00.000-05:00

Scientific scandal appears to rock climate change promoters

Al Gore's world get's rocked by a scandal! This is going to change EVERYTHING! It's that BIG!

To All Who Have Worn the Uniform of this Great Land; THANK YOU!

2009-11-11T09:28:00.004-05:00

There's not many things more moving than seeing someone in uniform. When you understand the selfless sacrifices they go through so that you and I are free and safe, you have to be moved. I am. My father served in the Army, 1st Armored Division, in World War II and my brothers served in the Air Force and Marines in the early 60s.

Neither of them served in Viet Nam, but they served. I am proud of each of them, as well as grateful for what they did for all of us.

Thank you doesn't seem to be enough, but it comes from my heart.

Here's a thought, if you see a veteran, not only today, but from now on, stop and shake their hand and give them a thanks for serving America.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY US MARINE CORPS!

2009-11-10T14:26:00.002-05:00

234 years ago, the United States Marine Corps was established. The premiere fighting force has honored themselves in their service protecting this country from all enemies. To all who served, Sempre Fi!

A Sigh of Relief, but a Call to Not Let Up

2009-11-06T09:44:00.003-05:00

OK, so Election Day is over and the Republicans did really well. All seems better with the world.

It has only taken nine months for Barack Obama to wake the citizens of this country up to the reality of his idea of transforming the country. He's turning it into a socialist regime that holds dear to the tenet that big, intrusive government and not the people is the answer to all of society's ills.

Obamacare/Pelosicare is the government takeover of your health care. Taxes will increase due to the shear size of the cost (now estimated at a staggering $2,000,000,000.00 (that's TRILLION)) and the quality of care will necessarily decrease because so many more people will be inserted into the system. Wait times to see doctors and get critical tests will skyrocket. The quality of life in America will suffer greatly all because of this man's "vision". Can we afford that? Do we really want that?

Cap and trade, which is the single largest tax increase in the planet's history will kill this country. Whatever your thoughts are on global warming or climate change or whatever the latest buzz words are, this is an ill-conceived,, dangerous bill that threatens the lives of every American in the place that is most vulnerable since Obama was elected and that's our wallets. More taxes. Bigger government. More intrusion into our lives. Lower quality of life.

Is that the change you voted for?

Sure, our "image" is better around the world. And the reason for that is obvious. Obama has emasculated this country. He's taken our "swagger" away. He portrays us as weak as the other nations of this planet. He's this century's Neville Chamberlain. Though our image might be better, he's fostered no more cooperation from anyone. Not one foreign leader has jumped on the Obama bandwagon. He's singlehandedly pulled us back to the pack out of the world leadership role we have had for so long. Why would he do that? What is that accomplishing? It's making the world and, worse, our country more dangerous and more in peril.

The people of this country have awakened to see it all slipping away and hopefully it is not too late to save America from slipping away into Europe.

I see some hope, real hope, not the smoke and mirrors hope of Obama in the election results of Tuesday.

We need to keep on keeping on and build momentum for next year and 2012 and take this country back and put it in the right direction again. That direction is fiscal responsibility, less government intrusion in our lives, lower taxes, and more security both domestically and around the world.

God bless you.

May God bless America.

Dear President Obama - Stop Trying to Silence Those Who Disagree with You!

2009-10-20T08:29:00.003-04:00

President Obama has launched an all out assault on your free speech. By targeting Foxnews and "isolating" them, he has taken a step towards silencing all who don't follow his philosophy of bigger government, higher taxes, government control of everything and no one dissenting.

Dissent is what makes this country great and indeed was embraced by the liberals in Washington for the eight years that George Bush was in office. All of a sudden, dissent and speaking out is "unAmerican". The hypocrisy of it all is so obvious.

He has sent David Aexelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Robert Gibbs and the Mao Tse Tung loving Anita Dunn out to tell America that Foxnews is not a news station and shouldn't be treated as such. Well, that's just a lie. They are all lying. One need only watch Foxnews and see the truth and people are watching in record numbers. Newsmax reported on a poll by the League of American Voters that showed that almost 50% of Foxnews viewers are Democrat or Independent. People are flocking to Foxnews because they are fair and balanced as their motto says. They have all points of view on and, yes, they cover the news straight out and probably better than the networks because they don't put a spin on it. They report, you decide.

We all need to speak out about this. Tell the President to stop trying to squelch our free speech!

We need Foxnews if only to counteract the rest of the so-called mainstream media who swoon at every breath and movement of the president. They (the mainstream media) are acting as his public relations bureau rather than keeping him accountable.

The Administration would do well to put their time into governing because, so far, they aren't really doing a good job. They are running this country into the ground and they don't want you to know about it.

Mr. President, with all due respect to the office, stop trying to silence those of us who disagree with you. 2012 is not that far away.

New Family Friendly Movie! "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry" - Opening this Weekend

2009-09-18T09:55:00.001-04:00

YouTube - The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry 2009 Official Trailer

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Obama Friendly ACORN in a Scandal that Rages On - Charlie Gibson from ABC Laughs

2009-09-16T11:13:00.005-04:00

ACORN, the community organization that receives millions (and is slated to receive billions, yes, that's billions with a "b") more) that is being overrun with scandal after scandal and with very close, intimate ties to Obama is being ravaged by scandal after scandal, the most recent one involving a pimp and a prostitute and illegal, underage girls from Nicaragua. Foxnews (and not too many other so-called news outlets) is covering this deeply disturbing story as is the blogosphere, but apparently, the biggest scandal to rock Obama to date has somehow kept itself from one Charles Gibson of ABC. Good thing you're retiring Charlie (or maybe you already have).

Yesterday, Gibson was a guest on the Wade and Roma show being broadcast on 890 WLS radio out of the Windy City. In light of the growing ACORN scandal (one of many brewing for this questionable organization) co-host Don Wade asked the following question of the soon to be retired Mr. Gibson::

Okay, here’s my news question. A Senate bill yesterday passes, cutting off funds to this group called ACORN. Now, we got that bill passed and we have the embarrassing video of ACORN staffers giving tax advice on how to set up a brothel with 13-year-old hookers. It has everything you could want – corruption and sleazy action at tax-funded organizations and it’s got government ties. But nobody’s covering that story. Why?

Gibson: HAHAHAHAHA. HEHEHE. I didn’t even know about it. Um. So, you’ve got me at a loss. I don’t know. Uh. Uh. But my goodness, if it’s got everything including sleaziness in it, we should talk about it this morning.
Roma: This is the American way!

Gibson: Or maybe this is just one you leave to the cables.

Roma: Well, I think this is a huge issue because there’s so much funding that goes into this organization…

Gibson: I know we’ve done some stories about ACORN before, but this one I don’t know about...

Roma: Jake Tapper did some blogging on it. I know he’s blogged at least once on this scandal.

Gibson: You guys are uh really up on the website

A couple of things here:

#1 - Apparently, laughing like a schoolgirl is a technique the left uses so as to minimize a topic or opposition to "O" as if the story was so unimportant and of no value. Charles Gibson is a joke now and the laughs are on him. Good thing he's getting out, because he's of no value to anyone and the only role he's filling at ABC is keeping his seat warm.

#2 - The left keeps attacking Foxnews ("Or maybe this is just one you leave to the cables.") Foxnews is single-handely crushing network "news". It's not really news that the networks provide. It's more of an Obama PR stream. At least Foxnews gives all sides of the story. The networks don't think opposing views are that important since they are Obama advocates. And, isn't it funny how they think they need the Fairness Doctrine? Well, they need it to silence outlets like Foxnews and Talk Radio because they are the last vestiges of dissent against "the one".

This reminds me of what that cuddly Robert Gibbs said on Saturday about the 1.2 million people that were outside of the Capitol in D.C.vehemently protesting Obamacare, the huge deficit, out of control government spending and basically every economic policy of the current administration because they are driving us into oblivion on the backs of the middle class, our children, and our grandchildren. "I don't know who the group is," Gibbs told the press. Yeah, sure Bobby. Your administration is crumbling around you and you don't know about the "group" snarling traffic all around the Capitol building. I guess it's just a busy Saturday on the Mall. A tour bus must have let out up the block. What a buffoon.

If you are watching network "news", you aren't getting the whole story. You have no idea that the President's friends ("Judge me by the people with whom I surround myself.") are falling all around him. Van Jones the "Green Jobs Czar" who is a self-proclaimed Communist, who signed a "Truther" petition suggesting George Bush had something to do with 9/11 (are you kidding me?) and who thinks white men are deliberately directing pollutants into minority areas resigned in disgrace. Now, ACORN, with the most intimate ties to Obama, is shown in shocking undercover videos in several cities giving people advice on how to run whore houses without the IRS finding out, as well as how to hide the fact that underage girls brought in illegally from Nicaragua, were going to be used to work those whore houses. Nice, eh? These are the President's close associates, advisers and, yes, friends. These Czars have to go, but you would never hear that on the network so-called news shows, because, HAHAHAHAHA, those aren't important stories for you to hear. They just "get past" those giants of news journalism.

Whoever controls the media, controls the people. Why aren't you getting the whole story? Why are people like Charlie Gibson not telling you everything you should know?

Questions that are worth asking and deserve answers.

Rep Joe Wilson - He Just Said What We Were All Thinking

2009-09-14T09:06:00.003-04:00

Let's face it, Joe Wilson just yelled out what millions of Americans have been yelling out for months now; he just said it in a very public and high profile environment. The President lied, he lies and will continue to lie. It's not what he says, it's what he does which is completely opposite of what his words portray.

The One is suffering greatly from foot in mouth disease. Liars have this one trait. Their arrogance increases as their lies become more and more outrageous. That's the O's way.

He's attacking those who are calling him on all the lies he's telling.

If he were a child, he'd have been grounded for about a year for all the lies he's told. At this point, his parents would be seeking counseling for him.

Even with the media fully behind this disaster of a President, the lies are coming out and the American people, Republican, Democrat, Independent, are getting wise to this emperor with no clothes. He's falling fast and hard and will more than likely surpass Jimmy Carter as the worst President in modern times.

Now, to keep the pressure up, we must act and act decisively. We need to keep contacting our representatives and senators to tell them no to this joker's agenda. Tell them they'll get voted out if they don't listen to you. Taking their power away is the ultimate threat.

Get involved! Stay informed! Don't let this liar and his minions take this country down!

God bless you.

God bless America!

9-11-01 WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

2009-09-11T14:18:00.000-04:00

The President, you know the one who wants to transform this country into the Soviet Union, wants to change this day that we remember how Islamic terrorists slammed four planes into the United States of America killing over 3000 into a day of service.

Our service to those who died is to remember and honor those lives, not with picking up garbage in parks, but by gathering and remembering and never letting that feeling, that sick, sad feeling go away on this day. If we change the day, we'll forget what it's all about. That's what Chairman Zero wants.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

God bless those who lost loved ones, family and friends on that day.

Thank you to all who ran into harm's way to save those you didn't even know.

Thank you to all of you who put your lives on the line now to keep us safe here at home and around the world.

God bless America!

Enough Already - Some Random Thoughts

2009-09-01T08:37:00.003-04:00

Are you as fed up as I am with this new Administration trying to jam "change" down our throats? Change that hurts America. I wonder if the people who so erroneously voted for this man are happy with what's going on. The polls show, not so much.

Our government is set up to do just a few things. When America was founded by Tom Jefferson and all those guys, they envisioned a limited federal government. Does our federal government seem limited to you? No and it's expanding with each passing day under Barack Obama.

The federal government should defend the country, regulate commerce and build intrastate roadways and bridges. After that, they should leave everything else to the states.

The borders need to be closed up and defended. 12-20 million illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America in our country. This problem has been ongoing for a very long time. This is an easy one. Stop the flow of people over our southern border and make those who are here illegally, thus making them criminals, go home. We love immigrants in America. LEGAL immigrants. My ancestors came here LEGALLY. That's how my family got here. That's how all of our families (in whole or partly) have wound up in this great country. We need more Border Agents and they need the best equipment possible.

We need a strong and well equipped and well cared for military. In these post 9/11 days, our military is more important than ever. We need for them to not only have the best equipment, but we need to care for them and their families. They need a livable wage and benefits. This is imperative.

We need a strong Central Intelligence Agency. We must give this agency the resources and powers they need to get information to keep us safe. In the Bush years, this happened. Water boarding? Hey, I'm all for anything that will get the bad guys to talk. If they need to be persuaded in a strong way to give up information, then so be it. We are talking about the welfare of our country. What Obama is doing allowing Holder to do to the CIA is criminal. We need to support these brave people, not prosecute them! Thomas Sowell has a great article about this.

The government needs to stay out of health care. They cannot run anything efficiently. We need to be able to buy health insurance across state lines. We need reform on malpractice awards. We need frivolous lawsuits stopped. The major reason health care costs are skyrocketing is malpractice insurance rates. This is also causing doctors to leave the medical field. We need other reforms, such as covering pre-existing conditions. But these are things that can be solved without the government takeover of the entire health care industry.

We cannot afford the government to administer our health care. They will wind up rationing care. Quality will suffer. Health care will suffer greatly if we allow them to do this. SAY NO! We need reform, but not a federal take over. That is what Obama wants. That's not what we need.

We need free speech protected. Right now, the media is pro Obama. They love the guy and don't report honestly about him and his administration. Obama wants to squelch those who oppose him and his policies. That sounds like Russia, doesn't it? Ever wonder why he has so many "Czars"? Anyway, I digress, he knows if he controls the media, he controls the country. It's a classic totalitarian dictatorial technique. Chavez is doing it in Venezuela. This country was born on dissent. We need all points presented freely. We need that preserved.

America is being changed by someone with no regard to our constitution or history. Obama has a radical view of America. He wants to make it something that was unintended by our founders. Big government taking over everything. Trillions of dollars being spent that you and I will have to pay for in higher, more oppressive taxes. More government control over your lives. Less quality of care in our health care industry. Freedom of speech being squashed like they did in the Soviet Union. What's going on here? Why is there not more outrage? More yelling? More protesting?

America is eroding under our feet. Will we just stand and take it? Smile? Not do anything because we're afraid of standing up and opposing Obama and being labeled a racist because of his skin color? Look, black, brown, white or green, this guy is ruining our country and the people going along with him, your congressman and senators, are complicit and should be held accountable. Schumer, Gillibrand, Bishop, Israel and the lot should be voted out. We should send a message that they work for us. We don't kowtow to them.

Enough already It's time to take back our country.

America, Healthcare Reform and the Truth

2009-08-25T10:40:00.006-04:00

OK, I haven't posted a "political" commentary in a while. If you aren't political, sorry, but I think I need to do this one.

This country needs Health INSURANCE Reform, NOT healthcare reform. We have the best healthcare on the planet in this country. For now, we have the best medical providers (doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, Physicians Assistants, and so on) in the WORLD!

Our government wants to take over your healthcare. They want to be your healthcare provider. They want to be your medical insurance company. Ever dealt with someone in an insurance company? Imagine what that will be like with someone from the GOVERNMENT. Not pretty. If you think it's hard to get your referral now, just wait.

The truth is that when other countries have tried this, the people's health has suffered. Why is that? Because the governments (Britain and Canada) have been forced to ration the services and medicines they cover because of costs. So, if you need a hip replacement, you wait. And, if you are too old, you don't get that hip. That is no "myth", it's reality. I remember a story about a New York Islanders minor league player that played on a team in Canada. He suffered a dislocated shoulder. Now, in America, if you do that, you go to the hospital and get an MRI and get treated. This guy had to WAIT. One month was the wait just to be seen. Know what happens to a dislocated shoulder if it is not treated right away? The Islander organization had to fly this guy to AMERICA to get checked out and treated. That's our future people, if we let it happen. KEEP the government out of healthcare!

We see angry people at townhall meetings (when the Democrats actually had them before they ran and hid). These are not "mobs" of organized crazies. They are Americans exercising their God-given right to free speech. Angry? Sure. They see the country they love slipping away. They see their freedoms disintegrating before their eyes. I'm angry too. Our current president has a radically unAmerican view of this country. He thinks the government should provide everything to its citizens. He doesn't believe in hard work. He doesn't believe in capitalism or free markets. He doesn't believe in making your own way. He believes in big government CONTROL. Once the government goes that route, they can just as easily take away what they give.

I believe in taking care of poor people. As Christians we called to take care of the poor. However, this is not the government's role. They need to protect the country militarily, build interstate roads and control commerce. After that, they really have no role.

When Americans are left alone by their government, Americans prosper. We take care of each other. Government control like our present administration is proposing and starting to exercise over us weakens us.

This is why there's this push to pass all this bad legislation. The stimulus, remember that? This has done nothing to help the economy. Unemployment is up close to 10% in many states. The stimulus might have been proposed by Bush, but the Democratically CONTROLLED House of Representatives and Senate voted for it and the present DEMOCRATIC President signed it into law. This is their mess. The Democrats including Pelosi, Schumer, Reid, Kennedy and Obama are responsible for skyrocketing budget deficits and spending your money, your children's money and your grandchildren's money unwisely.

They want to push this all through, making everything sound like an emergency, so no one will question them and then when the dust settles, they'll have control over all our lives.

That includes this horrible Cap and Trade bill. This will drive everyone's taxes and energy costs through the roof. In the name of the environment, they want to tax and tax and tax companies. When companies get taxed, guess who pays that bill? You and I pay that bill in higher costs. Think you want to choose between running your air conditioner or buying milk for your baby? That just might happen if this Cap and Trade Bill is enacted.

More and more Americans are speaking out. Polls show that most Americans are opposed to this government takeover of Healthcare. That doesn't make them racist. That doesn't make them unAmerican.

Dissent, peaceful dissent, even if it is loud is what this country is all about, baby!

We cannot let the government take over our lives. We don't want to be Europe. We are AMERICA and for 233 years we've done a pretty darn good job of running this place.

Now is the time to say no to this unprecedented dismantling of our country.

Do you want your parents to be counseled on ending their lives rather than seeking medical care?

If you are a veteran, do you want to be shown the "merits" of ending your life rather than receiving life sustaining medical care?

If you are a freedom loving American (and who isn't?), do you want your government telling you what medical care you can and can't have?

Look, the myth is that this takeover of our medical industry by the government is good for anyone.

And, the number of uninsured that gets thrown around, 47 million is interesting once you break it down:

38% or 18 million have a household median income over $50000 per yearof that 38%, 20% have incomes over $75000
27% or 12.6 million people are illegal aliens (some think this number is closer to 20 million)
33% are eligible for insurance coverage but for whatever reason do not apply for it
That leaves 2% of the population that are uninsured. Why not address those people rather than a full takeover of the entire system? That's just like the government, making a 500 pound bomb to kill a mouse.

John Mackey, the CEO of grocer Whole Foods, had an op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal outlining his vision of what rational, common sense solutions can be enacted now to help decrease healthcare costs. I think it's worth the read. His solutions make much more sense than a wholesale takeover of the healthcare system by the government creating a huge bureaucracy which will in turn require more of your money going to the government in the form of higher taxes.

Call your representatives, tell them to keep the government out of our healthcare system! Enact common sense solutions and not a wholesale takeover of America's healthcare industry which will require higher taxes. Money that we don't have!

Can We Trust God's Promises?

2009-07-13T09:45:00.005-04:00

We all make promises. We make them at home, at work and even at church. At home we might promise to take our kids somewhere fun or, for us guys, we might promise to take out the garbage. Work promises mostly cover getting a certain task finished by a certain time. And church promises might encompass promising to serve in a particular ministry on a certain day or promising to bring in a food item or something for Vacation Bible School.

In general, I think most people want to keep their promises, but from time to time something legitimate happens and our promises get broken. Then, sometimes we break promises for not so legitimate reasons like the infamous "something came up" excuse or "I had a crazy week" excuse. I know you know what I'm talking about. We've all done it a time or two.

When breaking promises becomes a pattern in someone's life a couple of things happen.

First, hopefully, the person's conscience bothers them. That small voice (the Holy Spirit?) talks to them and "convicts" them. They feel bad or they should. An unclear conscience is a sure sign that something is wrong in your life.

Secondly, constant promise breaking damages one's integrity. It gets to the point that trust is broken because the person cannot be counted on to come through when they say so. You've heard this expression and have probably said it too, "I'll believe it when I see it". That's what people say about someone who is a promise breaker.

Now, Jesus made a bunch of promises. In John 14:25-26, He promised the Father would send the Holy Spirit after he ascended to heaven. This is a promise that was fulfilled and recorded by Luke in Acts 2:1-4. Jesus also promised to prepare a place for us in heaven and also return for us (John 14:2-3). Another promise from Hebrews 13:5 should also be comforting to us.

Those are some of the promises. However, how can we be sure that Jesus' promises can be counted on? After all, there has only been one promise that is recorded as being fulfilled. One promise that has physical evidence of coming to pass and that's the sending of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Not exactly. You see there is another promise Jesus made that has been fulfilled and recorded. On this one promise hinges all the others. It is the one promise, that if it did not occur, there would be no Christianity. Jesus would be just another Rabbi that led a decent life and taught some good things.

The promise I speak of comes in John 2:18-21.

Jesus had returned to Jerusalem. He had just cleared the temple of people who were selling livestock and changing money. The Jews asked him under what authority He did this. He answered, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

What He was saying is that He would show what authority He had on the day of His resurrection. With that one event, Jesus proved His deity and established His authority. With the resurrection we can also put our trust in all of His promises. Let's face it, if someone told you that they would die and then at some point come back to life and you witnessed that, you'd pretty much believe anything the person said, wouldn't you?

And, we can see the disciples' reaction in John 14:22, "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

They believed the Scripture and "the words" that Jesus had spoken. You see, they believed it because they saw it.

We can have the same confidence in Jesus' promises because, thankfully, all of this was recorded for us.

Now, we know that Jesus will deliver on His promises. There should be no doubt because He rose on the third day.

Praise God!

May God bless you and keep you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: one man, one woman. It's Biblical, not Political!

Cast Your Anxieties on HIM!

2009-06-18T08:35:00.003-04:00

Life sometimes gets overwhelming, doesn't it? Worries get the best of us sometimes with job insecurity or loss, the economy going so badly, maybe you have an issue with a wayward child or family member, or you or someone close to you is battling a serious health problem. Life has its ups and downs and sometimes those downs can be pretty low and it seems like it is all piling up on you while you are down there. And, by the way, if you are a Christ follower, you are not immune, I repeat, you are not immune from this.

Thankfully, we have a God who loves us. A God who is big enough to carry our burdens for us. And, oh, He is not only able, He wants to do that for us!

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you."

Of course the "He" Peter writes about is God. The Rock is telling us that we can toss all our cares, anxieties, worries on God and He'll carry them for us. We don't have to bear those burdens ourselves. Isn't that a great promise?

With this promise, however, we have to do something. That is often the case. God promises to bless us in some way, IF we'll do it HIS way! So, what is it we have to do? We have to "cast" our anxiety on Him. That's an action we have to take. The word cast means to throw. That means you must let go of those worries. By throwing them to God, you have to let them go. Be done with them. Move on and let God be God. God loves you.

Today we are facing many new perils from within our own country and from outside it also. More and more we hear of threats from North Korea, Venezuela, Iran and others who just plain hate us. After 9/11, I think everyone's anxiety level went up.

God wants to relieve us of that worry. He assures us that He will take care of us. He cares for us! After all, if God did not care for us, Jesus would never have come to die for our sins.

Romans 5:8 says it all, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

God doesn't wait for us to clean our lives up. He didn't wait for you to stop this sin or that sin before His Son died for you. Doesn't that show you that God indeed does care for you? It should.

When you give up your life to Christ, this is the kind of care you get from the King of kings and the LORD or lords.

Please, if you are not a Christ follower, talk to Him. Ask Him to come into your life and invite His Holy Spirit into your heart. This way, you'll be able to cast all your cares on Him! And Peace, the peace that goes beyond all understanding will be yours.

If you are a Christ follower and worries have been getting the best of you, this is a reminder. Let them go and throw them to the Father. He's big enough to take your worries from you and restore that peace to you.

Today, Christ is the answer. He's the Hope we have.

Won't you trust Him with your life today? He died for you. He died so you can live your life to the fullest. And one way that happens is when we let go and throw our worries to Him and allow Him to bear them freeing us to live our lives to the fullest extent for Him and others.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One Man, one woman. It's Biblical, not Political!

David Letterman - Funny or Just Plain Mean?

2009-06-16T08:32:00.003-04:00

If you surf the web, by now you've, no doubt, read about what David Letterman said about Sarah and Willow Palin. He called Sarah a slut and he "joked" about 14-year old Willow being made pregnant during the Yankee game by Alex Rodriguez. Wow! Is that funny or what?

David Letterman is headed towards Al Franken land. He's getting older and meaner as time goes by. Instead of marginalizing those with whom he disagrees politically, he's marginalizing himself. How can anyone watch this guy anymore? He's pathetic.

Then, you have to love the non-apology apology. He apologizes saying that his "joke" about Willow was "misunderstood". Yes, that's what people say when they aren't really saying they are sorry. When they have no remorse. He, in fact, put down those who criticized him by basically saying, I'm sorry you weren't "hip" enough to "get it". So, really, he's insulting those who rightly criticized him.

Letterman is a sad man. He hides behind his "comedian" tag thinking that gives him a pass. But what good is a comedian when he's just not funny anymore? He's not worth watching. It's because of those like him that Air America and liberal shows don't get any ratings. No one is watching them because they are too mean-spirited and thus make themselves inconsequential. Olberman, Maher, Matthews, and their ilk just don't matter anymore. Their dismal ratings show that. They are the white noise of cable.

American's want debate. That's what makes us strong. We want to hear points of view, but not this. Not skewering and attacking and insulting the other side. Especially, not attacking and making sex jokes about the teen daughter of those with which you disagree.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One man, one woman. It's Biblical, not Political!

A Tale of Two Murders

2009-06-04T14:41:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, May 31st, late term abortionist George Tiller was gunned down while attending church. Tiller, who killed viable babies in the third trimester of pregnancy for $5000, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder a man with mental problems with ties to militias, but not any pro-life groups.

That very day President Obama issued this strong statement:

"I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."

Shortly after that, the Obama Administration's Attorney General, Eric Holder dispatched US Marshals to abortion clinics around the country to protect them and make sure more violence did not occur at other facilities. I guess the AG was concerned that there might coordinated attacks on abortionists.

According to Devlin Barrett of the AP, AG Holder is launching an investigation into Tiller's death.

Pro-Life Groups from around the country quickly condemned the killing, as they should. This killing was the antithesis of what the Pro Life movement is about. Though the Pro-Life Movement is all about preserving innocent life, that of the unborn babies of this country and the world, they also understand the taking of this life, seen as not innocent, is not justified and that no one should take the law into their own hands by killing another.

On Monday, June 1st, Army Private William Long, 24, of Conway, Arkansas was gunned down by an Islamic extremist, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who also shot and wounded Provate Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville. These two heroes, through fresh out of Basic Training, were working as Army Recruiters in downtown Little Rock. It was Long's hometown. He grew up there.

Several days later, unlike the instantaneous statement by Obama about the abortionist's death, the President issued this lukewarm statement:

"I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe. I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery, and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long's family as they mourn the loss of their son."

No announcement was made by the Attorney General's office if an investigation was forthcoming.

Can you see the difference in these stories? The intensity of the first to the languid softness of the second. President Obama tips his hand, yet again, as to his priorities. He is the most pro-abortion President ever. He is the most anti-American President we've ever had.

This was an attack, and all accounts say that this Muslim gunman and possibly others were planning other attacks, on American soldiers on American soil and all the President can muster is sadness? But for an abortionist who killed viable babies in the womb for $5000, the President called the murder heinous and he said he was shocked and now his Attorney General is launching a full-scale investigation into the event. Heinous, Mr. President? How about the killing of babies right before they were to be delivered? How's that for HEINOUS?

In Cairo, he called himself a Christian. I submit to you he is nothing of the sort. His actions are OPPOSITE of what a true and genuine Christian would be. His views are OPPOSITE of what a true and genuine Christian would have. He is no more a Christian than Tiller was.

If you are a Christian and you voted for this President, what do you think of him now?

God bless the family of William Long.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One man, one woman; it's Biblical not political!

Culture of Death

2009-06-01T08:17:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller of Kansas was murdered while he was attending church. All people everywhere should condemn this horrific act. I do. No one who believes in the sanctity of life can support murder in any form. They caught the killer and I, for one, hope that justice is swift and decisive. The message has to be that you cannot correct a sin by committing a sin.

George Tiller was a killer. He killed viable babies in the last trimester of pregnancies for $5000. His life was marked with death and death, a violent death, is how his life ended. The tragedy is Mr. Tiller (I refuse to address him as doctor) will not have any other opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's pray that his family will not meet the same fate.

When you sin, you live your life on the edge. God does not bless the sinful life, so anything can happen at any time. Mr. Tiller made the decision to ignore God's teaching and continue killing babies. Though not warranted, his demise is not all that surprising.

Exodus 20:13 states simply, "Thou shalt not murder."

Murder for any cause, however noble, is wrong and should be condemned, especially by the Christian community.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Neither Jew nor Greek

2009-05-29T08:56:00.006-04:00

There's a lot of controversy over the new Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. One of the controversies surrounds her statement about how a Hispanic woman (latina) judge makes better decisions than a white male judge because of her life experiences. President Obama calls that empathy. He wants someone who applies empathy to their judicial decisions rather than just applying the rule of law. That means, instead of just applying the law equally to everyone, Obama wants a judge, and apparently has one in Sotomayor, who takes into consideration the person and their life situation when making a ruling. No longer will the law be applied equally to everyone when Sotomayor becomes a Supreme Court Justice, and she will be confirmed because the Democrats have the votes to confirm her. The highest court in the land will be changed for a very long time once Judge Sotomayor is seated.

So this means that someone who the soon to be Justice sees as disadvantaged will probably have more of a standing in her court than anyone else. She will side with a minority or an immigrant or a woman or a poor person or a homosexual because of her perception of their life's disadvantages. Why, some would ask, is this a bad thing? Well, it's one of those things that can start out being perceived as good. I mean, who doesn't root for the underdog? We want to see disadvantaged people get ahead. We want all Americans to do well and not be taken advantage of in any situation. However, what happens when you, who might not be in one of these categories, go to court, and you are already on the losing end because of who you are and you aren't even given the chance to state your case? That happened to a group of firemen from Connecticut in Sotomayor's court. She dismissed their suit summarily without even hearing the case. Why? Because they were mostly white with one Hispanic in the group. Fairness is an important aspect of any judicial hearing. She, Sotomayor, applies her own fairness to her decisions, apparently.

Thankfully, when we talk about God, we have no such worries. Galatians 3:26-29, James 2:1-11, Romans 2:6-10 and I'm sure there are other examples throughout the Bible too numerous to list here, where we see God telling us that everyone is treated equally by Him. Thank God! So, He does not care if you are rich or poor, white, black, brown, yellow, from the US, Indonesia, or Russia, man or woman. All receive equal treatment from God. We are not subject to the whim of a God who decides things on who you are and what you've experienced. All are welcome and given equal treatment!

So, as the days go by and you hear about empathy and unequal treatment on the part of the new Supreme Court Justice nominee, rest assured that God does not play favorites. You are equal with the giants of the Christian faith when you choose to give your life over to Christ. So, you are equal with Paul the apostle. God will treat you just the same as He treats Billy Graham. You can count on it!

Once again we are reassured that no matter what man does, God does it better.

When you join God's family, you are welcomed as the individual you are and take on the identity of God's child which ensures that you are treated without prejudice by the Creator of the Universe! What a great promise that is!

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One Man, One Woman. It's Biblical, not Political!

What's Different About You?

2009-05-18T14:09:00.003-04:00

A minivan goes zipping by you on the highway doing a brisk 70 MPH (in a 55 MPH zone). And the one thing you notice as you are able to steady your vehicle from the "jet wash", it's got that Jesus fish on the back.

The SUV you are following seems to be meandering down the road. The driver, who has a cell phone glued to his ear, doesn't seem to have a destination in mind, nor a particular lane picked out. As you go to pass, you spy the "Got Jesus?" bumper sticker on the back.

As you walk onto the beach searching out just the right spot, you see an open spot and plop yourself down. The music is blaring all over. You hear hip hop, rap, rock. All the usual music genres. And, to your right, the music blares sounding like all the other radios blasting away, except you see some of the teens in mohawks and others wearing "WWJD" tee shirts.

At work, there's that guy that says he's a Christian. He prays before his meals. He seems nice. He's a pretty cool guy because when you're joking around the water cooler about, you know, women and stuff, he laughs right along with the rest of you. He's so not judgmental.

That Christian lady business owner meets with her accoutant. It's tax time again. Times are tough and when her accountant asks about deductions and gives her a wink, she just goes along, because she needs the money, the government already gets enough of her money, and, hey,everybody does it.

If you ever visit New York City (Manhattan, for those out of towners), you can always tell the tourists. They are the ones with their necks craned looking up at all the tall buildings. They stand out like sore thumbs. They are different. Visitors from other states and foreign lands who you can tell don't live there. They are just visiting.

That's how we are to be as Christians. We are to stand out, even if it annoys others. We should be those "slow pokes" in the right lane with their blue tooth devices in their ears. We should be the ones stubbornly sticking to morals and ethics in our personal lives and business lives. Though nice to listen to, our music should also be different. At the very least, it should have a different message, told in a different and reverential way.

Peter writes in 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12:

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

We should stand out. How else will the Gospel be effectively spread? If we aren't different, then why, oh why, would anyone want God in their lives? Why would they even ask us about God? If we don't have peace through troubles. If we don't have impeccable moral standards. If we don't help those in need. If we aren't exemplary employees. If we aren't the best bosses. If we aren't the most loving parents. If we aren't the most respectful citizens. If we aren't forgiving.

We'll suffer for it. Like Christ suffered. Peter chronicles that in the following verses:

20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

We need to do the right thing and not worry about the consequences because God will care for us.

Or do we blend in to avoid that suffering? Peter tells us later in this letter in chapter 3:

14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."

15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

Again, Peter gives the promise that God will take care of us when we live as God wants and do the right thing. Why, then, would we not want to stand out? Why then would we not want to be different? All we have to do is live our lives as God directs us to and let Him handle the consequences. He will. He promises that. These scriptures prove it. He proved with with Miss California. That is a real example that you can hold on to. If He'll do it for her, He'll certainly do the same for you.

We have to be prepared to give that answer when asked.

Look at Miss California, Carrie Prejean and how she suffered for doing the right thing. She, however, was prepared to give her answer and let God take care of the consequences. Look at the result. She's still Miss California. She's still got her integrity. She was different. She didn't modify her answer or compromise her beliefs to "do the right thing" in the world's eyes. She did the right thing in God's eyes. I believe she proved to the world she truly is an alien in this land.

We have to get out of this mentality that we have to blend in and be like those around us to get along. Jesus didn't get along. The apostles were effective because they preached something different than was being preached by everyone else. They lived what they preached. They stood out. They were effective. Paul, stood out. Peter and John stood out. James stood out. Steven stood out. All stood out. They were different.

If you were in a crowd, would you stand out or blend in?

Are you an alien in this land or a resident?

These are questions we all need to ask ourselves.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Miss California Saga - The Light Shines on Who Really is the Hater

2009-05-12T13:09:00.002-04:00

Carrie Prejean is still Miss California USA. As she should be.

The past three weeks have done one thing and that is shone the light on who really are the haters in the gay marriage issue and it's not the people who believe that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman.

The 21-year old Miss Prejean has endured personal attacks to her character, her intellect, her appearance and her faith. Not to mention having to see her parents attacked as well.

And how has she responded? With grace and civility. She's been silent these three weeks, allowing those who are on the pro-gay side to launch a barrage of hate-filled, intolerant attacks on her. And she kept silent. She took it. Time after time. Day after day. Even hour after hour she was villified, mocked, insulted and attacked on YouTube, on blogs, on Facebook, on Twitter, on cable and in the failing and rapidly insignificant network TV and print media.

Yet, she kept silent.

That is, until today.

Today, at the press conference so deftly promoted and orchestrated by "The Donald", Miss Prejean spoke her mind about the created controversy and resulting attacks. As she has to date, she represented her God, herself, her state and her country flawlessly. Not holding anything back, she intelligently, steadfastly and lovingly stood up for her answer which was based fully on her faith and rather obvious fabulous upbringing. She stood up to those who would have flung rotten vegetables at her had they had the chance. Instead of an eye for an eye approach, she talked about her faith, her right to free speech and how she forgave those who were so hateful and intolerant of her. She reaffirmed her belief that marriage is exclusively between one man and one woman.

She showed love and tolerance to those who will never know what those words really mean.

In the end, the light of reality shone on those hate-filled, intolerant people who attacked Carrie Prejean, but an even brighter light, the light of the love of God shone on Miss Prejean. The light that is the light of Jesus.

The other day I wondered on here if it mattered if we stood up for Christian values. Miss Prejean has shown me that indeed we should. Not necessarily by seeking out areas to speak out against, although, I think that is OK, but when things come up in our day-to-day lives, we should unashamedly and forthrightly, with love, state those values and stick to them. Let God take care of the consequences. We see, that, in Carrie Prejean's case, and so we can rest assured in our lives too, God took care of her and got her through what could have been a personal disaster.

God is good all the time!

To Him be the glory.

May God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One Man, One Woman. It's Biblical, Not Political!

Does Standing Up for Christian Values Really Matter?

2009-05-07T00:27:00.003-04:00

I have been wrestling with this question. Does it really matter, in the long run, if we Christians stand up for Christian values, speak out on issues like abortion and traditional marriage, and get politically active? In the long run, since it seems like we are losing all these battles with more states legalizing homosexual "marriage", no real progress being made against abortion and more and more of America tending towards secularization, are we just wasting our time and energy with these things? Can our time, talent and energy be better spent?

I am torn. As much as it bugs me to no end when I see another state fall to the homosexual pressure and pander to a very vocal minority or I see organizations like Planned Parenthood, who admittedly are one of the nation's largest abortion providers or enablers bankrolled by your tax dollars getting even more of my money (in tax dollars) or I see the country voting for more and more liberal candidates by a wide margin, I wonder if I should be fighting even harder against these things. Or should I be praying more? Or should I be more faithful to living out the Gospel every day? Or should I be loving those around me more and showing them who God is through what I do and say? And just let God take care of the rest?

It's hard to sit and do nothing about these issues. It's hard to see our country ravaged by people who hate who we are and what we stand for. It's hard to see God smeared and mocked and believers persecuted and made fun of. It pains me to see people like Bill Maher hate God and those who love Him. I find it difficult to watch a news report about someone like Miss California, Carrie Prejean, getting vilified in the media and then all Christians getting raked over the coals because, after all, we're not perfect, even though we don't claim to be. This is all hard for me. I find myself getting angry. Wanting to yell and pound my fist and shake someone so they'll WAKE UP. Then, I wonder what God would have me do and I have to tell you that I just don't know. I want to do something. I want to make a difference. That's why I do this. Hopefully, this blog will impact someone somewhere for the good; for God and for our country. But, in the end, when Jesus returns, will all that effort have made any real difference? Will the world have been a better place because of what I and others have done or is the slide of society an inevitable thing that just signals the more imminent return of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ?

It's a question I hope that I can answer someday. Right now, I don't have the answer.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Marriage: One Man, One Woman; It's Biblical, not Political!

Politically Correct or Biblically Correct?

2009-04-22T13:42:00.001-04:00

If you are Miss California, Carrie Prejean, you choose Biblically correct and allow God to help you handle what comes next. What comes next in Miss Prejean's case, is a firestorm of criticism from the pro-gay anything crowd. You see tolerance in the gay community only works one way, their way. Otherwise, you are a hate monger. It would be laughable if is wasn't such a sick way to look at things.

If you are a Christ-follower, you have to feel good about how this lady is handling the whole situation starting from her answer to all her subsequent public appearances. She has handled herself with the grace and humility of Miss USA. That is not taking anything away from the eventual winner, Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton. It's just to say, when you watch Miss Prejean, you could definitely see her representing the Miss USA title in an honorable way.

The lesson this episode teaches those of us who follow Christ is that when the chips are down, when your back is against the wall, when you have that gun to your head and your faith is tested, trust that God is going to bless you when you choose to not be ashamed of your faith and beliefs.

As Charles Stanely says, "Be obedient, and let God take care of the consequences."

Hats off to Miss California, Carrie Prejean! You might have been First Runner up in the pageant, but you are a winner in God's eyes! Your Father in heaven must surely be smiling down on you.

Psalm 27: 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

God Bless You.

Our Brother Went Home

2009-04-20T09:00:00.005-04:00

Our brother went home today. He's with the Father in a much better place than he was on this earth. He's not suffering or anxious or hurting. He's whole and well and experiencing God in a very real way.

We prayed for Paul. We prayed fervently for him to get well. What are we to think now that he did not get well? Where do we go from here? Were our prayers worth it? Does it seem like we wasted our time? Why did God allow this? Why did Paul suffer so much? And now, what about Judy? How could God allow her to go through this and now wind up alone?

I have to tell you that I am hard-pressed to answer those questions. It's OK to have them.

I am directed towards those verses in Isaiah 55:

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

⁹ "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Though they may not be comforting to the extent that they answer all the questions I just posed, these verses give us insight into how we, as people who trust God, should see events such as this.

We have to come to grips with the fact that we aren't always going to have the answers. It's a matter of trust. Do we trust God enough? Are we going to accept that His ways are higher than ours?

Here's how I see times like these. It's not up to us to necessarily come up with all the answers of why did this or that happen. Now is the time for us to rally around Judy and support her and help her as a family, as her family. And by doing this, we show the rest of the world what the love of God really means.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

That's how I see it.

Maybe you feel differently and that's OK. If you want to discuss it, leave a comment!

God bless you.

But, Is He God?

2009-04-15T09:36:00.003-04:00

I bet the majority of people believe that someone named Jesus Christ lived at some time about 2000 years ago. They know what's been said about Him. They probably know the basics. He was born to Mary and Joseph in a manger in Bethlehem. Mary was a virgin. Christmas is the celebration of His birth and many probably think that's when He was born, but that's not the case. Most probably can identify that He had twelve Apostles. I'm certain that a great number of people can tell you that Easter is about when people claim Jesus was crucified, although Easter is when we celebrate his resurrection, not death. That's Good Friday. I'm guessing that's about all that most people can tell you about Jesus.

All of that, of course, is true. But, there's so much more. Jesus is God. He, the Father and the Holy Spirit are all God. Three in one. We call it the trinity, although you won't see the actual word trinity in the Bible. It's one of those God things that's hard to explain.

Well, we know that Jesus was a human man. He was born to a woman, which is one of the prerequisites of being human. He grew up and became a man. At about thirty years old, Jesus started what's called his public ministry. That means He started talking to people about God and life. He went from town to town telling people how God wanted us to live. He talked about love. He talked about not being judgmental. He talked about being honest. He talked about trusting God and having faith. He performed miracles. He healed people's illnesses. He raised some people from the dead. All these things He did, but I'm sure people just thought He was just a good guy. A good teacher. No one really could think of anything negative about Him, because there wasn't anything to tell. It's not like he was telling people to do one thing and He did the opposite. You know and I know, if someone had dirt on Jesus, it would have come out. That's the way people are. No, this Jesus, was perfect, because, after all, He is God and God is perfect.

Admittedly, all of this, except the miracles of course, could have been done by any common man. However, there was one event that proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus was who He claimed to be. He proved He was God by dying on Friday and coming back to life on Sunday. His resurrection is the defining moment of His life as well as Christianity. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. And in all these years, approximately 2000 of them, no one can dispute His resurrection. There's no evidence to the contrary. There are no credible claims to discredit the accounts of His resurrection. No one has or can prove that Jesus Christ did not come back to life that glorious Sunday morning.

Jesus is God and that means that His teachings, His views, His life are to be dealt with by every living human because He came to earth to seek and save the lost. Who are the lost? You and me. What does being lost mean? It means that you and I do things our way instead of the way Jesus taught. We don't live to make God look good. Even when we might do a good thing, we don't give God the credit. We take it ourselves. In essence we live a selfish, self-centered life with God nowhere in sight.

We need to accept the gift Jesus offers. The gift made possible by His death and resurrection. That gift is the cleaning or forgiving of our sins which keep us from having a relationship with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Look at the evidence. You know for sure Jesus is a real person, who is also God because of the perfect life He led, the miracles He performed and His resurrection from the dead. It's overwhelming evidence as to who Jesus is.

He is God.

He has a gift for all who will accept it.

Now you know.

What will you do with Jesus?

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Sunday-The Empty Tomb

2009-04-14T08:17:00.004-04:00

So, Sunday came and the tomb was empty.

So, what?

Well, I'll tell you, it means everything if you call yourself a Christ follower. Without the resurrection, Christianity is a sham.

Thanks to God, however, that aint so.

Jesus was not in the tomb.

No one stole His body, because, for sure it would have shown up and killed the Christian movement. How could the disciples have stolen the body? They all scattered when Jesus died. They were scared. They were confused. There's no way they could have gotten past the Roman guards, much less moved that stone covering the opening. Then, if they did take the body, would they have taken the time to carefully leave the linens behind? I think you would have to say, no! And, the Romans or Jews didn't take the body. If they did, surely they would have produced it to put a stop to these religious rebels. That never happened.

Maybe Jesus was not dead. Well, not so fast. Then, how did He unwrap himself from 75-100 pounds of linen and then move that stone out the way all by himself? No, that's not it either. Besides, the Roman guard at the crucifixion pierced Jesus's side with a spear and water and blood came streaming out. That's a sure sign He was dead.

No, there's no other plausible explanation except that Jesus miraculously came back to life and removed Himself from that tomb in the rock. He showed Himself to over 500 people. That recorded in the Bible. Surely, if that did not happen, someone would have reported that to someone. However, that report never came because it really happened.

Jesus came back to life proving to the entire world who He is; God. The Messiah. The Savior. He is who He claimed to be and He proved it once and for all by being resurrected from the dead.

He is the sinless sacrifice for our sins. He is now alive, in heaven, awaiting His return.

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T08:00:00.005-04:00

Good Friday. I'm not sure where the name of this day comes from. It doesn't come from the Bible. Some people think it's an oxymoron. but it's not. This is Good Friday in every sense of the word. This is the day the Messiah died for our sins so we wouldn't have to pay the penalty ourselves.

Good Friday is the day we remember Jesus's death. His substitutionary death. You see people are sinful by nature. We do things our way and not God's way. That is sin. God has told us that the penalty for sin is death. And there is nothing we can do on earth to pay the penalty for living life our way and ignoring God's way. We are destined for eternal separation from God in hell because of our sin. There is a way out, though. Jesus. He came to earth. He lived a sinless life. He died to pay that penalty for us. It was His gift to humanity. We need to accept that gift to be able to spend eternity with God in heaven. This is the day we remember His death.

Now, His death is not the end. Although Jesus died on Friday, Sunday's a comin!

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Bowing to a King

2009-04-07T09:57:00.003-04:00

Well, the "One" did it again. Can anyone deny the reports of his Muslim roots are true? Can we see that from his first interview as President with Al-Arabiya TV to his lukewarm (at best) embracing of Israel as one of our staunchest allies to now bowing to the king of a country who is not really our friend and a leader who bankrolls terrorsts around the world, that this man is in no way anything other than Muslim at heart?

With that bow he put the United States of America in submission to the Muslim world. By bowing, "O" acknowledged the superiority of this "king" and subjected himself to this monarch who denigrates women. However, one day the "One" will bow to the real King, the King of kings! On that day he will give an account of his behavior and actions and words. On this glorious day, no matter what he does to the great country and how he influences the world, Barack Hussein Obama will bow to Jesus Christ and declare Him the real King!

Get used to this gang. We're pulling back to the pack as a country. We're not No. 1 anymore. At least not in Obama's eyes. We're just one of many. It's that Leninist view he has. Nothing special, just one of the workers.

Well, I just don't buy that, but he's in charge of this land for now. With his cohorts, Reid and Pelosi, he is dismantling this country. He's doing it fast and he has the media on his side, so there'll be no questioning the big man. However, as those of us who vehemently disagree with the President organize and our ideas percolate and we get out there and let our voices be heard, the tide will change as it did when we all came to realize what a disaster Jimmy Carter was. We can make the first steps in 2010. I think we will. I hope we will. But if we don't, that's OK, because on the day that Jesus returns, and He will certainly return, all will be made right.

On that day, we will all bow down and declare who the real King is. That King is our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ!

To God be the glory!

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Where's America Headed? Look @ California

2009-03-27T10:09:00.003-04:00

Communications Consultant Jon Kraushar wrote a very interesting editorial on Foxnews.com today.

Basically, the point of the article is if anyone is interested to know what Barack Obama is doing to America, California is where they should look.

California, like America was once a vibrant, affluent, great place to live. People flocked there. It was the place to be and be seen! Sun and sea. Skiing in the mountains. Agriculture. Viniculture. In one state, you could swim in the morning and ski in the afternoon. They, along with Florida here in the east, supply much of America with fresh vegetables. And their wine is second to none. California was the land of opportunity. You could go there and make a go of it. Sound eerily familar?

Now, not so much. They have become inundated with illegal immigrants. They have embraced radical evnvironmentalism. They have grown their government, being ruled by the Democratic party, and an increasingly left-leaning Governor, to a size that has become unsustainable. According to Kraushar they lead America in spending on government employees. They are the second highest taxed state in the union.

Folks, that's where we're headed. Barack Obama is bankrupting this country with the same type of ideological, radical leftwing approach to society that has left California teetering on the brink. Borrowing got us in this mess and more borrowing is not going to get us out. Our government doesn't need to spend more, they need to pull spending back to sustainable levels. They are literally printing more and more "money" making what you have less valuable. Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner are driving us into the abyss.

Your kids and grandkids are going to have a radically different country to live in if these men have their way. There will be more poverty. They will have less freedom. The government will have much more control over them. It is not a pretty picture.

California, once the playground of the rich, is now wallowing in bloated government,high taxes, rampant illegal immigration, soaring health care costs and they are a harbinger of where the rest of the country under Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Tim Geitner is headed.

We need to organize. We need to speak out. We need to voice our opposition to the new America. We need to stop this now. Call, write, email your representatives and let them know you'll vote them out if they continue down this road.

Friends, we the people are America. The government works for us and not the other way around. They have to listen.

Please, don't let today end without getting involved!

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Out of the Mouth - The Overflow of the Heart

2009-03-20T10:23:00.003-04:00

Matthew 12:34 states: For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

You know where a person's heart is by the words he speaks, which brings me to our illustrious President's public relations, campaign-like stop to the Jay Leno Show last night. Jay, feeding O softball after softball topic, broached the subject of the Whitehouse bowling alley, which many thought would be torn out and replaced with a basketball court because of the current occupant's love for that game. In speaking, sans teleprompter, O tried a self-depricating move telling Jay he's been practicing and actually bowled a 129! And, then, in the ensuing seconds during the laughter, our current defender of the weak, mocked an entire population by saying that his bowling prowess was like "the Special Olympics". Oh, how quaint. The only thing better would have been if he said he bowled like a girl.

First, can you imagine GWB making a comment like that? The media hounds would have barked him up a tree and called for his resignation. I googled "Obama Special Olympics" and found not one major media outlet carrying this horrendous story.

If you aren't a frequenter of Conservative blogs or a Foxnews person, you probably don't know about this story.

What does this comment say about the man? The same as what his enabling government funding of embryonic stem cell research and rescinding the ban on your tax dollars going to fund abortion around the world and the naming of the governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, the most pro-abortion governor in America, to the post of Secretary of Health and Human Services says about him. In his heart, he gives no worth to a human life whether unborn or special needs.

This is the "man" who is leading the way in this country. If that doesn't scare you, nothing ever will.

It's 60 something days into this present administration. Thank God, 2012 is coming.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Huckabee - Bringing Principle Back to the GOP

2009-03-19T08:43:00.004-04:00

In a Washington Times editorial yesterday, Mike Huckabee set out to identify what's wrong with the Republican party. And, what it came down to is like Billy Crystal said in City Slickers, "one thing". That one thing, which Crystal left up to those to whom he was speaking to identify, Huckabee identified for everyone and that is that the Republican party, the GOP, the party of Reagan has abandoned its conservative principles.

He matter of factly and clearly outlined how the party of fiscal and social conservatives have caved and become a party more resembling the party of Jimmy Carter than that of the great Ronald Reagan. They have become a party of conservatives in name only and not in actions.

The basic conservative principles are sound. Limited government. Low taxes. More freedom at the local level to govern. These are the principles set by Thomas Jefferson. This is the crux of the Tenth Amendment. However, today's GOP, previously led by George Bush and John McCain have abandoned these principles, probably because in the end they didn't have the backbone to stay on point in fear of losing elections. Well, they abandoned their principles and did precisely that putting this country on the brink of collapse with a Democatic President and Congress who don't seem to care that they are bankrupting your kids or grandkids.

Now, Mike Huckabee, a man who has successfully run a state as Governor of Arkansas, a man with more managerial experience than our current Oval Office occupant, is set to put the Republicans back on track. If they are smart, they'll listen to this intelligent, articulate, steadfast, honoroable guy and put him in the forefront of the GOP. He has become the voice of the conservative movement in America much like another successful Governor, Ronald Reagan.

Even though we are only 50 days into this incompetent and bumbling administration and the 2012 elections are four years away, you have to believe, right now, Mike Huckabee is the one to watch to bring this country the level-headed, conservative leader we need.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Transparency-You Can See Right Through It

2009-03-12T13:08:00.005-04:00

Transparency. It's what "O" promised. He promised that bills introduced by the Congress would be put on the Internet for review by us, the citizens they would affect. In fact, they'd be there for 48 hours for anyone to read and scrutinize. Wow! What a great thing! What we got was the largest free-spending spree in the history of the world that got crammed down our throats so quickly not even your representatives had enough time to actually read the wording of the bill before they voted on it. Did it ever make it to the Internet? Yes, if you found a conservative web site that somehow obtained a copy of it, but it was over 1000 pages long and it came out less than 24 hours before the vote. Now, I'm a good reader, but not even an Evelyn Woods Valedicotrian could read that fast.

And then the "imperfact" budget came through. Another $400 billion or so of your hard-earned dollars with over 8000 earmarks. You remember what "O" said about earmarks, those pet projects that the Federal government has for years funded? He said he would eliminate them. He would go "line by line" and root them out. What we got was our President, under the cover of a closed door, signing a pork-laden bill into law that he claimed was old business, imperfect and we'll get to the earmark reform thing next year. Excellent convictions there "O". You certainly are making your mark. I guess Nancy Pelosi didn't want earmark reform and since you've pretty much delegated your presidency to her, that's what we got. Now your people, like DICK Durbin are trying to "redefine" earmarks as good things. Well, which is it? Are you going to eliminate this wasteful spending or are you going to redefine everything that's bad for our country as good so you can get away with it?

Oh and speaking of redefining terms, I see your tax cheat Tim "Turotax" Geitner told Charlie Rose that capitalism is going to be different from now on. Earth to Tim, you economic genius you, if capitalism is going to be different, it's not going to be capitalism!

You have to love this administration. All they have to do is redefine things to mean what they want them to mean and every thing is hunky dory! Nice!

OK Mr. President. I'm redefining being a taxpayer as someone who DOESN'T pay any taxes. You guys should recognize that. See? That was easy.

This President and this administration are a train wreck, but you know what? A lot of people voted for these boobs. Change and hope were the buzz words of his campaign and we can only now hope that change comes in 2010 and we can get America back on track away from this President who has no clue how to lead a country.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Embryonic Stem Cells - Wrong in So Many Ways

2009-03-11T10:11:00.002-04:00

The Abortion President has now become the Anti-Embryo President by rescinding the Bush Administration's Policy of not providing your tax dollars to pay for human-destroying Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR).

To date, there are NO CURES that have come out of this ethically and morally challenged "research". Embryonic Stem Cell Research takes frozen embryos (unborn babies) and destroys them to use the cells to try to cure certain conditions, such as Parkinson's Disease. A noble cause, but at what price?

Also, the Abortion/Anti-Baby President has unleashed the scientific community to "police" itself to determine what is ethically and morally OK to do. Oh, yes. We want scientists, many of whom are atheists, determining what research is ethical and moral when the result will be them getting millions of dollars in research grants from the government. Sound like a good idea to you?

Hmmmm, yes, we think killing Down's Syndrome children is the ethically/morally correct thing to do for the greater good. Sound far-fetched? I don't think so. This is the perverbial slippery slope to that type of thing. We should not allow any group to make such determinations, especially when people's lives are involved as well as millions of dollars of taxpayers money.

This is from Dawn Vargo, a bioethics analyst: Despite millions and millions of dollars spent on embryonic stem-cell research, it has failed to provide a single cure, anywhere in the world. Without significant advances, it looks like this is just the latest government bailout of a morally bankrupt and financially failing industry.
The fact is that embryonic stem cells are economically deprived because they are scientifically bankrupt. Over the last 10 years, we've heard many claims about the potential for cures. But with each passing year we've heard the grandiose promise of cures grow fainter — and patients' hope fade even more.

Why, then, is this "research" still being pursued? Why is it necessary? Why should your tax dollars go to support such a thing when there is no evidence to support its viability or it's "promise"? Well, it goes to the culture of death in the scientific community. Why do people still talk about killing people who are terminally ill? Why is abortion still available? People don't have worth to the scientific community, except as research material. They don't believe that you and I are anything more than a collection of cells with no worth or purpose.

Of course, that cannot be farther from the truth. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for my sins and your sins and if we had no worth or purpose, you can bet that never would have happened.

This is just another piece of evidence that the Aborion/Anti-Baby President is not a Christian. Oh, he may be a "man of faith", but that faith doesn't value any life and it's a faith that doesn't translate in his actions. So, in the end, it's no faith at all. Just another lie from this guy, but we're getting used to that from him by now.

I don't know what we can do. We can protest. We should contact the White House and voice our opposition to this act. We must. There are innocent lives at stake. Lives that have no voice except ours.

I am not happy with our government right now. They are going in the wrong direction on everything. This is my country, but that's not the kind of government we should have. It's not representative of the people. Oh, with the media in his pocket, he has high approval ratings, but if they actually reported the truth and stopped printing special commemorative magazines about this guy, he'd be run out of town on a rail.

We need to act. We need to organize. We need to communicate in an effective way that this President is not doing the right thing. In two years, we need to vote for a change. The Right Change. Not this type of change. God willing, we'll have good choices then.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

Where's All The Money Coming From?

2009-02-26T08:48:00.003-05:00

Lost in all the "stimulus" talk and now with the "budget" coming up and the healthcare package being proposed and this thing and that thing, has anyone yet told us where all this money is coming from? Now, you cannot tell me that there are enough people making over $250K per year to fund all these billions of dollars that all these programs are going to cost. Why should our government set up class warfare where they fund everything on the backs of the five percent or so most successful Americans? That's not fair and I don't think it is possible.

The answer is that you and I and our kids and our grandkids are going to pay for this spending frenzy. We got into a lot of this trouble by borrowing money and now the government is borrowing more money (actually, the woman from Arkansas recently begged the Chinese to buy more of our debt on her initial trip over there) from people who wish us harm and keep poisoning a lot of the products we buy from them. As in every case of loans, this money must be repayed with interest. That money is going to come in the form of higher taxes and a weaker dollar meaning things like milk, bread, clothing will cost us more. Is that a good thing? No, it definitely is not.

What can we do? Well, not much right now, but we have to start supporting those who oppose this reckless spendy spree the likes of which the planet has never seen. We have to ban together and organize this opposition. Protest? Well, yes, peacefully. Write letters. Support those who hold values that oppose "Big Government". Make your voices heard and felt! 2010 will be the first opportunity we have to recapture America and start to undo this mess.

Don't lost heart. This country is bigger than a bunch of socialist, nanny-state loving liberals. But you and I have to get in the game or we'll lose it. We cannot let that happen.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on America.

The "O" Speaks!

2009-02-25T13:37:00.003-05:00

Well, the President's first speech to a joint session of congress is over! Phew! Wow, so moving. What an orator! What a man! Puhlease! The guy is a savvy, smooth-talkin politician. That's all he is. Along with his sidekick, Rahm Emanuel, he is not letting a good crisis go to waste. Well, they say it's a crisis or at least they were saying that.

Last night we got the Bill Clinton version of the economic mess. Obviously, old Bill has influence, because "O" did exactly what he had suggested, talk optimistically. We got to hear how even in bad times Americans have pulled together and pulled through. We're strong! We aren't quitters! All true, except we didn't have a government putting a strangle-hold on our money and our freedom. Actually, we did once, and that was FDR and his government. They delayed the end of the Great Depression for ten years because of their meddling and bad choices. Read that, they stuck government's giant hand in things and, as usual, made things worse. Experts agree that we would have pulled through quicker if the government hadn't drummed up "The New Deal". It was more like "The Raw Deal". History tells us that's true, however, "O" and his revisionist take on things completely deny that. Not very honest of you, Mr. President.

Of course, he blamed the mess on Bush, who definitely was part of the problem, but the other part was the Democratically-controlled congress led by Democrats Barney Frank and Christ Dodd. I mean, come on, Chris Dodd is the Chairman of the Banking Committee and he didn't see this mess coming?? Wow, nice job there, Chris. You definitely deserve kudos for that. The Democrats fought against further regulation and oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two main culprits in the housing mess, so they can take credit for that debacle.

Now, they wrote a pork-laden spending bill and our President tells us that they don't want to saddle our children and grandchildren with debt they cannot pay. Earth to O, earth to O, you've already done that by signing this bill! The two percent or so of our richest citizens who are about to get a tax increase do not make sufficient salaries to fund this bill. Uh oh, now what? That's right gang, for those of you who are thinking, higher taxes for all, take a bow.

The "O" can sling words right up with the best of them. but being a good speech maker does not make you a good anything. Having the gift of gab rarely qualifies anyone for anything. Even Bill Murray's Lounge Singer sounded smooth, but of course, that didn't mean he could sing. And, our illustrious President is in that category. One thing he is for sure, though, and that's a slick politician and I don't mean that in a good way. After all, he's from the Chicago school of politics. Also, NOT a compliment.

Our future looks dim, America. It's been mortgaged to the hilt by this President and there's no saying the next president can fix things. We can only hope that by the mid-term elections, we all wake up to the harsh reality that is Obamaworld and we change congress. That's the only thing that might stem the tide of deterioration here in this great land.

We're not dead yet America. However, our doctor is a quack and that's not a good thing for our health. If we rally together around sound ideas and ideals, we can fix this mess. It will have to be without the current government officials, however, and that change will have to take place in 2010.

Stand firm. Keep your eyes open. Don't lose hope.

God bless you and may God have mercy on America.

This, That, and the Other Thing

2009-02-19T07:58:00.003-05:00

I have had a problem deciding what to write about. These days there seems to be so much wrong going on that it is difficult to pick what topic to write about.

Our illustrious President sold us down the river to Socialism to the tune of about $9 trillion by signing the biggest, pork-laden bill in the history of the world. I saw a poll that said 75% of New Yorkers supported him in this. Apparently, they don't realize that all that money is coming from us, the people, not some magic spring of money. We're going to pay dearly for this, monetarily, as well in our loss of freedom.

The car companies want more money. Many predicted this. They are in shambles. Their management has run each company into the ground and now we're supposed to trust them with our money. I say, let them file for chapter 7 or 11 or whatever. Get the management out of there and get people in there who can deal with the unions (if that's possible) and run these companies in a profitable way. We don't want anyone to fail, but if you can't do the job, step aside and let someone more qualified in there. That's what happens to everyday folks like you and I.

Why haven't Democats Chris Dodd and Barney Frank been investigated? These guys deceived the American people about the entire mortgage mess, which is what got us here in the first place. Why did they fight for regulation when George Bush wanted to oversee Freddie Mack and Fannie Mae? They are the ones (Dodd, specifically fillebustered the bill) that blocked the oversight of the agencies from which they (Dodd and Frnak ) received millions of dollars from. When you want to find out the source of the smell, just follow the money. It always leads to the big pile of garbage.

Now there's some made up flap over a New York Post cartoon showing two police officers standing over a dead chimp that they just shot. The one officer says, "Now they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Of course, the PC police are up in arms! Al Sharpton wants an explanation! It's RIDICULOUS! George Bush received the same kind of treatment and even worse, but no one on the left (Democrats) was shocked and disgusted by that! Look, it's a political satire commenting on the horrendous bill that congress wrote and passed and was signed by the One. Cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. (That courtesy of my good friend and brother Mike.)

People, our lives have now changed in ways we won't comprehend for some time. We're not the America of the greatest generation. We've changed and not for the better. Hold on, we're in for a bumpy ride.

Let's hope that in two years we come to our senses and we start the march back to greatness by voting out the louts (Democrats) that have sold our country and their souls. It's time to organize and get people in there that embrace the America of Ronald Reagan and not Jimmy Carter.

God bless you.

Who's Your Daddy America? It's Uncle Sam

2009-02-12T08:24:00.002-05:00

When the One was elected I said goodbye to America. Now, the body has finally been laid to rest with the passing of the most far-reaching, pork-laden, future generation mortgaging spending bill ever to come out of the darkness of Washington, D.C. Remember when the then future President told us that $176B was needed to "fix" the economy? Does anyone remember that? Now, it's possibly up to $9 Trillion. Our future has been ruined by the Democratic party with the help of three spineless RINOs (Republican In Name Only). America is in ruins and it didn't come from an enemy from outside our borders, it came from within. The Democratic party did what countless enemies (including the 19 hijackers) could not do, they brought America down.

Now, although O said there'd be no earmarks, that's about all there is in this bill. Lobbyists lined up and worded the bill such that it hides the earmarks, but rest assured, they are in there. Oh, and good bye to our healthcare system. Instead of having some bean counter in an insurance company making medical decisions about your care, now some bureaucrat in Washington is going to decide what care is cost effective for you. That gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling doesn't it?

Has anyone asked where all this money is coming from? There are no freebies here gang. You and I will be paying for this and so will generations to come. The government, who helped cause this problem with a lending scandal, will now be borrowing more money to "fix" the problem. Apparently, they did not learn from FDR that the government can't fix the economy, they can only perpetuate the problem.

The scoundrels in this government, Frank, Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid and their ilk have sold us down the river. This is mainly on the Democrats people. No blaming Bush anymore. The ball is firmly in O's and his gang's hands. We're in for it now.

Now, get ready. You will have less money to spend and the little you will have left, won't buy as much. But, you should feel good about the fat cats in Washington, I'm sure they will take care of themselves. Oh, wait, they already did. They voted themselves a raise. They already don't pay for healthcare. That's fair, isn't it? They don't contribute to Social Security. That's fair, isn't it? They make the rules that you and I have to live by, but exempt themselves from it. That's fair, isn't it?

I tell you I haven't written in a while because I just didn't know what to write about. The President will go down as the ruination of the USA. Yet, you voted him in, so congratulations America. You helped make that happen.

God please help us!

Stop the Madness

2009-01-30T15:37:00.003-05:00

I have been reading and reading and reading all these stories on the web about thie "stimulus" package. It's up to $819B and climbing. Some have said it's headed up into the several trillion dollars. Some say it's not a stiumlus package. Some say it is.

It seems to promote bigger government. Read that more government intervention and control in our lives. Spending more and more money this country doesn't have.

Politicians like Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, attempted in vain to make the case that somehow providing over $100M for things like condoms would help turn the economy around. Saying, well, more condoms means less babies and somehow that would help the small businessman in Boise, Idaho meet his bills.

At this point, it's gotten so crazy that I think the best thing to do is nothing. Everyone, should stop, take a breath and let a month or two go by so people can relax. The Chosen One keeps making people panicky by saying we have no time to lose and all he's trying to do is shove this whole thing down our throats. He's keeping everyone in a frenzy so we'll buy into this ill-conceived plan.

I say, STOP. Let things settle down. Let the economy find its way.

On another note, can anyone tell me what happened to that first $700B. Does anyone know who has that money and what they are doing with it? While no one in Washington is talking about that they want more and more money on top of that. That's over $1 TRILLION, so far and there are those who say that's not the end. Where will it all end? This is a huge train wreck about to happen to this country and no one seems to want to stop it.

The power hungry Democrats have hit the ground running and they are trying to run this country into the ground with all this frivolous spending in the name of helping the economy which it won't.

Wouldn't it be better if they just took a bunch of this money, say $5000 for every legitimate tax payer of this great land and send it to us? Now, that would stimulate the economy and that would be far less than the $819 Billion they are proposing thus far.

Washington, STOP. You are sending American in the wrong direction. That's not the change we had hoped for.

God bless you and may God have mercy on America.

New York Replaces the Woman from Arkansas

2009-01-23T08:34:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm one New Yawka that is glad to see Hillary Clinton, you know the woman from Arkansas, leave the Empire State for good. While in office, she did nothing for New York. Not one job was created because of her. Not one dollar of tax break was enacted by her. She did nothing. Good bye Hillary. Have a nice time ruining the State Department.

Caroline Kennedy wanted to be New York's next Senator, but apparently she had a personal problem with taxes or a nanny or, as some have said, an affair with a married man or using government funds to hire high class hookers. Oh, wait that was Democratic Governor (now, ex-Governor) Eliot (I'm above the law) Spitzer. Camelot-East will not be established in Albany.

Governor Paterson is ready to name Kirsten Gillibrand from upstate New York as the next Senator from our broken state. Normally, I would be opposed to her. She's a hold over from the Clinton regime. Not a good background. However, she's purported to be a fiscal conservative. Also, downstate Dems like Carolyn McCarthy are villifying her for her (Gillibrand's) endorsement by (oh my hold on there) the National Rifle Association. Mrs, McCarthy is a one-trick pony. Her thing is banning guns. She doesn't even want law abiding Americans who, according to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, have the right to own guns, to be able to own a firearm. Now, I'm sympathetic to Mrs. McCarthy's loss. Her husband was killed by that nut, the Long Island Railroad shooter, Colin Ferguson. Of course, people like Ferguson should never have the ability to own a firearm. However, what Mrs. McCarthy wants to do is tantamount to a teacher punishing the entire class when one student is talking.

Banning gun ownership is not the answer. Making it harder to own a gun is not the answer. Punishing those who use guns unlawfully is the answer. Harsh punishments for people who use firearms for crimes or obtain firearms illegally is the answer. Stopping law abiding citizens from owning firearms is unAmerican. It just is.

Now, back to Mrs. Gillibrand. She is very Sarah Palin-esque in that she gave birth (albeit one without special needs) to a child while in office. She believes in the right of a law abiding citizen to own firearms. However, that's not her only virtue. She'a also fiscally conservative. She voted against the bailout, something the Republican candidate for President didn't do. She's for earmark reform. She's almost too good to be true for this Conservative. She's causing discord in the Democratic party espcially amongst the elite snobs from New York City. That's also a plus in my book!

I'm going to reserve judgment on Mrs. Gillibrand, however, on paper she looks good to me. Rest assured I'll speak out if I think it's necessary. I wish her the best. At least she's a New Yorker representing New Yorkers. That's an error that will finally be rectified with her appointment.

God bless you.

May God forgive and have mercy on America.

Life

2009-01-22T13:13:00.003-05:00

Today marks a very sad anniversary, the 30th anniversary of Roe v Wade and legalized abortion in America. Abortion is the act of killing an unborn baby. Somehow, abortion-rights activists are celebrating an act that could have ended their lives had their mother "exercised her reproductive rights" and killed them in her womb. I guess that's just something they choose to ignore.

The statistics are not there that say that killing the baby you are carrying ever really saves your life. Nowadays, there's no real condition that cannot be treated so a pregnant woman can carry her baby to a point where he or she can be delivered successfully and in a healthy condition. It's just not an issue these days.

No, abortion has mostly been and will continue to be a form of contraception for the vast majority of those who mistakenly and selfishly make that choice.

No baby is a mistake. To suggest such a thing is to boil down a person's life to a set of arbitrary standards to put worth on them. Though someone may think the baby they are carrying is a mistake, I can tell you God doesn't think so. He's the ultimate judge in that matter. Of course to admit that would mean admitting that there is a God and the need to submit our lives to Him. For most, pride precludes them from making that decision.

We kill babies that cannot defend themselves or speak for themselves, but we'll bend over backwards to stop a convicted criminal from getting a needle in his or her arm or we'll move heaven and earth to "save the whales". Can anyone see the incongruity of that?

Today as this horrendous anniversary is remembered, think of this, if you have children, look at them, smell their hair, kiss their cheeks and think about what your life would be without them. Think of what your life would be without your siblings. And don't tell me that you would never do such a thing, but you would never stop someone else from making that decision. Oh really? What if you saw someone kicking a puppy, would you intervene? Would you speak out against animal abuse? How much more worth does a baby have?

Think about it.

God bless you.

May God forgive America.

Hope

2009-01-21T08:21:00.004-05:00

Yesterday in the euphoric atmosphere of the inauguration the one word that kept being repeated was hope. The throngs of Obamatrons were bubbling over with the hope that this man will somehow transform their lives. Over 50 million Americans have put their hope in a man.

The real hope of America and, indeed, the world is not Barrack Hussein Obama or any other man, but Jesus Christ. It is this Jesus that came to earth, while man was still sinful and an enemy of God and lived a perfect life, healed those who were physically sick, even raised the dead. He taught lessons on loving God and loving others. Ultimately, He gave His life as the punishment for everyone's sins. He didn't die for His sins, because He is perfect. He died for my sins and your sins. Those sins separate us from God and will keep us from living eternally with Him when we pass from this life. Then, after He was murdered, He rose, alive on the third day to prove once and for all who He is, God. That one moment in history, Jesus showed that He had the authority to say what He said and do what He did.

With His death and resurrection everyone now has a way to establish a relationship with God. This is a relationship that God wants with all of us (1 Timothy 2:4), but we cannot have that relationship if we reject His son (Mark 8:38, John 14:6). So, the only hope that exists today is not in any man or woman or thing or system of government, it is in Jesus Christ, the Savior, Messiah, the Hope of the world.

Today, I hope that you will see the truth, that Jesus and only Jesus is the hope that all of us can count on.

May God bless you.

May God bless America.

Praying for America

2009-01-20T08:17:00.003-05:00

Today America goes through the peaceful transfer of power from our current President to the new leader of the country. However, for many, there's not a lot of peace because of the new leader coming in.

Many have said that they are hoping the new President will be successful. I am not hoping that, because for him to be successful this country will change in a way that will ruin America for many, many years to come.

God tells us to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-3) in order for us to live in peace. Pray we should, but we should pray that whatever gets done in the next four years will be according to God's law and not the law of men. We should pray for the President's salvation. That his eyes would be open to his need for Jesus Christ and that he would come to give his life to Christ.

Pray also for yourself, that you would be a reflection of the light of Jesus Christ to those around you.

Prayer is the lifeblood of a Christian's life. We need prayer. It gives us that connection to the Father. It keeps us in His presence and brings an intimacy that cannot be achieved any other way.

So, take the time to add the President to your prayer time. Pray for the country. Pray for yourself.

America needs prayer now more than ever, now that we have a President and Congress that seem so opposed to everything we, as Christians, believe in.

God bless you.

May, in His mercy, God bless America.

A Genuine Faith

2009-01-13T08:27:00.003-05:00

In a Gallup poll, more than 80% of Americans identified themselves as Christian. When you see how society is going with abortion, gay marriage, legalizing drugs and so forth, you have to wonder how a nation with a supposed 80% Christian population can embrace these ideas and ideals.

Well, the answer is they can't. So, what's the reason behind that?

I can identify myself as just about anything, a chef, a pro baseball player or even the governor of New York. That doesn't mean, that I am what I say I am. How can you ascertain if I'm telling the truth? Well, the easiest way is to observe me and see if my life reflects my claim.

Christianity can be boiled down to two tenets; love God and love people (Matthew 22:36-40). Now, if someone is not living their life this way, you pretty much can be assured that they are not a Christian. John 13:35 gives another proof of being a Christian. Although, loving people is not the acid test, because I'm sure there are non-Christians that love people, but that is one of the tests of knowing a person could be a Christian. Loving each other is an essential, but without also loving God, one cannot be a Christian.

And how does loving God manifest itself in the life of a Christian? Well, we do the things God has set out for us in the Bible. Now, this is why most people cannot identify who is a true Christian because most people are not familiar with what God teaches in the Bible. To love God we have to be obedient. Let's face it. When a child truly expresses their love for their parents, they are "perfect". They clean their room. They do their homework. They get in by their curfew. They show their love by "listening" to what the parents say and then doing it. It's the exact same way with Christians. If we truly love God, we'll do what He says to do. We'll love people. We'll do good works like helping the poor. We'll take care of our brothers and sisters in Christ when they need help. We will pray. We'll look to God when making decisions. We'll be the best employee we possibly can be. We'll go above and beyond the call. We will just be perfect.

And when a Christian lives out their life according to God's plan, they will stand out from the crowd. They will have a light shined on them. People will start to wonder what is different about them. Then questions get asked and then the Gospel can be shared.

A genuine faith in God will show itself in a crowd. It will be life a big neon finger pointing to the person. Why? Because a Christian is DIFFERENT from the crowd.

So, although 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christian, you can see that the number of genuine Christians is probably much lower than that.

Is your faith genuine today? Are you different from the crowd around you? Take an objective look at yourself and your life. If you fall short, and who doesn't, ask God to make you genuine. Commit to being a genuine Christian by first and foremost, loving God and then letting that love of God manifest itself into loving those around you.

God bless you.

May God bless America.

Reborn to do Good Works

2009-01-09T13:22:00.004-05:00

Many people think you can work your way to heaven. Unfortunately, that's simply not the case. This may be shocking to say, but there are going to be a lot of people in hell who did good things on earth. That's pretty harsh to say, but it is 100% accurate.

In the book of Ephesians 2:8-10 we see what God says about this. We see that "works" don't get us to heaven, but the grace of God does. We cannot give enough to charity, volunteer enough time to a worthy cause or give enough of ourselves to anything on this earth to earn a spot at the table of the LORD. That's because all the work of salvation (or having a relationship with God and spending eternity in Heaven with Him) was already accomplished by Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

However, that doesn't mean once you give your life over to Christ that we just sit back and wait for His second coming. On the contrary, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that there are tasks waiting to be done by all who are saved. These are tasks or works that God has preplanned for everyone to do once they accept the gift of grace He offers us. If we are to be little Christs (Christians), then we must take on the same attitude that Jesus had. And Jesus said in Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." He was the ultimate servant giving His life so that we could live eternally with Him in heaven. We are to do the same for those around us.

Now you might think you're unqualified to serve anyone, but all this means is that we help those around us. Is there an elderly neighbor who needs groceries? Go shopping for them. Is there a physically challenged person you know who needs a ride somewhere? Offer a ride. Does the local food pantry need someone to stock the shelves? Go help out and pack those shelves! And what about the church you attend? Just like your home, the physical building and grounds have needs. Is there a repair you can do? Can you shovel snow? Can you pull some weeds? How about painting? Is there some cleanup that needs to be done? How about helping on a retreat or mission trip? All of things only require a willingness to help.

It's called serving, but what it really does is show that you love God and love people. You love God by doing just what He tells us we should do and you love people by helping them out. In the end, you are showing those who have no relationship with God the same love that God showed you and thus you are showing them God and that's the best way to spread the Good News to those who need to hear it!

God bless you and may God bless America.

A New Year, The Same God

2009-01-07T12:49:00.003-05:00

Someone who I know does not have a relationship with God once remarked to me while discussing some hot button topic that "times have changed and I cannot believe that what was written so long ago can actually apply to today". That was a comment directed at Biblical teaching and how the Bible and its contents really weren't relevant.

Thank God, that's not true. Could you imagine if the teachings of God changed on His whim or just according to how man deemed necessary or relevant? What a horrible picture that would be. How could anyone know how to live? What was true one day would be false the next. Who determines that? Even if it were true, how would believers be told of these changes? If this indeed is true, how do we know what's changed and what has remained the same?

The answer is simple and it is found in Hebrews 13:8. Isn't it comforting to know that God never changes? When we wake in the morning, we don't have to wonder what is right and what is wrong. It has all been laid out for us in the Bible. Sixty-six books written over many, many years by many writers that never met. Yet, it is so cohesive. It's consistency is amazing. It shows that the Bible is truly "God breathed".

So, in the uncertainty of today with the economy, world violence, plunging moral values, know this for sure, that God never changes. He still loves you. His son's atoning death still stands as the payment for your sins. There's still only one way to a relationship with Him and that is through Jesus Christ. And, it still is simple to have forgiveness and everlasting life and that is by giving your life over to Christ. It's the same as it was yesterday, today and forever.

To God be the glory!

God bless you and may God bless America!

The Ultimate Fresh Start

2008-12-30T10:34:00.003-05:00

So, New Year's is coming and I guess many people are thinking about resolutions. You know, resolutions, those changes you make for the first couple of weeks in January and then completely abandon. You have the best of intentions, but you're really not into making a change, just into making the resolution. To steal from a Seinfeld episode when he's at the Rent-a-car counter, "You know how to make the resolution, you just can't keep the resolution."

This time of year is a time of reflection, isn't it? We look back at the previous year and take an account of the events in our lives. Things we did that we look on with fondness, and others that we wish never happened. We wish we had made more money or been a better parent or spouse or employee or boss. There are things in us we wish we could change, but they've been part of us all of our lives. This is true no matter how old you are. We want to change, but January 21st comes around and we just don't have the energy or the wherewithal or the motivation or the mental toughness to carry on.

Take heart! You CAN change with help. There's One out there who will change you. Make you new!

I tell you if you want the ultimate fresh start, Jesus wants to give it to you. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 God gives us the ultimate fresh start promise. He says, once you have Christ in your life, your old self is replaced by a new self! WOW! And that's a fresh start that will last for eternity.

Do you want to change? Do you need to change? Is there something missing in your life? Are you lonely, though you're surrounded by people? Are you angry? Are you missing the mark as a parent? Do you feel like it's all for nothing and you are getting tired of looking back on your life at this time of year and just being disappointed in yourself? Jesus Christ came to this planet, so you would have a new, fresh start. A new you. Not even "the ultimate makeover", because all the old will be stripped away and you will be brand new!

Give it some thought. Get alone with God. Talk to Him. Ask him to change you. Ask Him to come into your heart and make you a new person. Tell him your troubles and your disappointments with yourself and your life. Call out to Him. He will answer you! Psalm 55:16 and Romans 10:13 are just two verses that promises that.

No resolutions this year. You don't need resolutions that you try to keep on your own. Jesus Christ came to this planet and He wants to change you. Use His power to change. It's a change that will last all eternity. It's a permanent change by the Master Changer. This year, don't look back, look up to Christ and allow Him to make you a new person.

God bless you. May God bless America.

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

2008-12-19T08:44:00.002-05:00

The following was posted with permission by my brother and Pastor Mike Cassara. It is his sermon for this Sunday at Nesconset Christian Church. Services are 9:00AM and 10:45AM. I hope you can attend. You can click the link for my home church at the right for directions and more information about Nesconset Christian Church.

Christmas- A Gift for All People

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Luke 1:57 – 2:21

Without a doubt, the story of Jesus’ birth is in fact the greatest story ever told in whatever language it is spoken. And over the past two weeks we have examined exactly how God prepared the world for the entrance of His only Son into this world. First, he informed an aged Jewish priest that his wife who was beyond child bearing years would give birth to a son and they were to name him John. At first Zechariah doubted the angel’s words but just as the angel had said, his wife Elizabeth got pregnant. Then the same angel, Gabriel visited a young cousin of Elizabeth. Her name was Mary. She was engaged to a man but had not yet had sexual relations with him. Yet the angel informs this virgin she will conceive a child. In confusion she asks the angel, “How can this be when I have never been with a man?” The angel tells her the Holy Spirit will come upon her and will overshadow her and a son will be born to her. And then the angel tells us the most shocking news. This child is the promised Messiah that the nation of Israel has been awaiting for literally thousands of years. He shall be called the Son of God for he has come to save men from their sins. Wow!

I am not a big fan of reality Television but there are a few of them that are heartwarming. One is Extreme House Makeover. The best part of the show is at the end when Ty Pennington yells, Move That Bus. To see the reaction of the once broken and hurting families see their new house, to watch how they respond to what has been built just for them often brings tears. There is a new show called The Secret Millionaire. A multi-millionaire will for one week assume the role of a poor and impoverished person. They are placed in an environment where they meet many hurting and struggling people. At the end of the week the millionaire decides who he is going to give substantial amounts of money to. He then cleans up, dresses up in his millionaire digs and finds the folks he has chosen to be a recipient of his benevolence. He reveals to them that he has lied to them all week. He in fact is not poor, he is a millionaire. And then he hands them a check. On one episode, $100,000 was given to a lady in a poor section of San Diego who takes in foster kids. She has a dozen or so kids in her house all at her own expense. Another family received $125,000 to assist with the medical bills they have accumulated since their daughter was diagnosed with cancer. To watch the reactions and responses of these folks brings tears to my eyes. It is always a joy to watch the response to unbelievably good news.

Well if the story of Jesus’ birth is in fact the greatest story ever told, how should we respond to it? What should our reaction be? Well before I answer that question, allow me to make a case as to why this is referred to as The Greatest Story Ever Told.

When God created the universe he subsequently created living creatures, last of all humans. He brought us into existence for the very specific purpose of having a relationship with us. He would be our daddy and we would be his children. He would provide for all of our needs and care for us in a perfect and loving way. We would live under his care and guidelines for our lives and enjoy the rich blessings of being the creator’s child. But the history of mankind has been marked by deliberate and willful choices not to live under God’s care and guidelines. In fact for most of known history, humans have chosen to reject God’s care and guidelines for our lives. When those choices are made, the Bible calls it sin. And those choices have led to a broken relationship with God. Our sins and rejection of God’s involvement in our lives have separated us from God and in fact made us enemies of God. And this is true of the worst of sinners as it is true for the least of sinners. We are all sinners. We have all chosen to reject God’s care for our lives and his guidelines for our lives, thus we can all be spoken of as separated from God and an enemy of God.

But God is driven by two character traits that define who He is. He is a God of Love and also is a God of Justice. As a God of love he could not stand to have his creation separated from Him and in a situation where they are called His enemies. But as a God of Justice, our choices to reject His care and provisions for our life and our choice to reject his guidelines for how we live our lives has to be punished. He wouldn’t be true to who He is if he didn’t enact the punishment we deserve. But He wouldn’t be true to His nature of a loving God if he didn’t do something that would give us a second chance at having the relationship with Him he originally intended when he created mankind.

So because He is God and the sovereign creator of the universe He came up with a plan. He would send His own Son, who dwelt with Him in all the majesty and glory of heaven to this earth. And He would send him to be born of virgin who was engaged to a relatively poor carpenter from a very humble and obscure town in the middle of nowhere. His son would be born and for the first thirty years of his life live a very normal life for a carpenter’s son. And then he would begin to reveal himself for who in fact he was. The son of God sent to this earth to become the substitute punishment for the sins and disobedience of God’s children. After three years of teaching people about God and authenticating his claim to be God in the flesh through incredible and undeniable miracles, Jesus was falsely arrested, put through a trial that was a mockery and sentenced to death, accused of nothing worthy of dying, much less being executed through the extremely agonizing experience of crucifixion. As Jesus hung on that cross, nailed at his wrists and feet with large spikes driven through his flesh, dark clouds began to roll in across Jerusalem where this scene was playing out. The clouds were so dark that the sun was hidden. The ground began to shake violently. In the holy temple, a curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple suddenly was torn in two all on its own. At that moment, Jesus, the son of God who left heaven and all its glory to come to this earth was taking on the full wrath and fury of the Father. Jesus was assuming the sins of mankind on himself and was experiencing the full force of God’s punishment. He cried out, “My God, My God, why are you forsaking me.” The Father in fact had withdrawn his presence from his son and in a realm you and I cannot relate to, Jesus who had no sin in his life became sin and was punished in our place. The wrath and fury that we deserve for our deliberate choices to disobey God and reject His care for our lives was now placed on Jesus, billions of times over.

After six hours of enduring excruciating physical and spiritual torment, Jesus died. But less than 48 hours later, Jesus sprung back to life, bursting forth back on the scene to the amazement of not only his followers but those who had put him to death. He dwelt among his followers for forty more days and then returned to the glory and majesty of heaven. Before He returned to heaven he told his followers to go and tell all the world that if they put their faith and trust in Him and His work on the cross, they would be forgiven of all their sins and be welcomed back into the very relationship that God intended to have with them when He originally created the universe and mankind. Because Jesus died in their place they could receive the gift of salvation. And when people accept the gift of salvation, several things are promised to them.

1. They would become children of God, instead of being enemies of God. Those who choose to accept the gift of salvation would have the relationship with God He originally intended to have with His children.

2. They would be able to stand before God holy and blameless without sin, because Jesus nailed their sins to the cross and left them there forevermore.

3. God would once again care for and provide for them and in turn, they would do their best to live lives that honored God through obedience to His guidelines and plans for their life.

4. And they would not have to fear physical death for no longer would God’s children die. When their physical life on this earth ended they would immediately join the rest of God’s children in all the glory and majesty of heaven, to live forever in place where there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more evil, no more tears. Only joy and the presence of God and His children.

Now you tell me, is that not the greatest story ever told? Is this not the most incredible thing you have ever heard?

Now, that you have heard the great story, the bus has been moved, what is going to be your reaction, your response to this great news? Are you going to walk out of here and say, O that’s a nice, heartwarming story? Or will this story affect your life, change you in some way or manner?

Well I want to go to scripture to see how various people responded to Jesus’ birth and perhaps see how we ought to respond to it.

1. Believe

Simple enough, huh? A couple of weeks ago, we saw how Zechariah failed to believe that God would do what the angel promised him. That’s why he’s silent until his son is born. Then we saw how Mary, in contrast to that, believed that what the angel said really would take place. But here with these shepherds we see another example of faith. After the angels leave, they look at each other and say: What are we waiting for? Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened.

There is no debate. There is no procrastination. They don’t decide to sleep on it. They don’t go to the local library for research. They just figure that it’s all true. That’s faith. Scripture says that without faith it’s impossible to please God. The angel says, “Peace on earth among people with whom he is pleased.” Who is that? It’s those who respond to God’s gift through faith. Scripture says, “For by grace you are saved, through faith....”

Faith means you say yes to all that God was doing through Christ. Yes, he is the Savior of the world. Yes, he came to die for my sins. Yes, through him I find forgiveness and new life. Yes, I want to follow Christ as Lord. Faith isn’t a spectator sport; it’s an active embracing of all that God has promised in Christ. God brings you to a point, and it’s not a time for debate; it’s not a time for sleeping on it; it’s not even a time to do more research; it’s a time act in faith upon what the Lord has said.

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross.

So if you have yet to put your faith in Christ, stop delaying, stop researching, stop thinking about it and just do it. Believe.

2. Obedience

When the angel Gabriel visited Joseph to let him know that his fiancé Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he was told that the child’s name was to be Jesus. That is found in Matthew 1:21. In Luke 2:21, we read, eight days later, when the baby was circumcised he was named Jesus. Now you may think that is a small detail. Not a breathtaking example of obedience. But in fact it was because in those days, Jewish custom pretty much demanded that the first born son is named after the father. I can imagine all the pressure Joseph and Mary would have been under to name their son Joseph. But they were told to name him Jesus and that is what they did.

We see a similar situation with Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were told to name their son John. Luke 1:59-63 (NLT) When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!” “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.”

There is a time to break with family tradition. Maybe the hardest time to do that is at Christmas. There is a time to say: “No. This is what God has told us to do. I know that’s different than how it has always been done in our family, but I must obey him.” Zechariah has learned that he doesn’t call the shots, but neither does their family; God does.

How do we respond to the greatest story ever told? We are committed to learning God’s way for us to live. It’s all here in the Bible so it means we start reading the Bible and learning how to do life God’s way. And then we start doing our best to be obedient. We strive as best as we can to choose God’s ways over our own ways. We admit that He knows what is best and we deliberately choose to follow what He wants us to do, even when those around us don’t understand our choice or pressure us to do otherwise. Jesus said, if you love me you will obey me. Obedience.

3. Tell Others

Luke tells us that after the Shepherds arrived in Bethlehem and saw Jesus lying in the barn in a feeding trough (not a great place for the Son of God to be born), they told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about the child. Luke 2:17

When you embrace Christ—or should I say, he embraces you—something happens to you. You know it. Paul says, “The love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). If you, like the shepherds, have experienced that, you have to tell others about it.

By the way, they weren’t preachers, they weren’t missionaries; but that didn’t matter. They had heard something. They had seen something. That something meant salvation for the whole world. I bet the recipients of The Secret Millionaire’s benevolence immediately got on the phone and called their family and friends and told them the great news. I bet the families on Extreme House Makeover told everyone they knew they had been chosen to be on the show. You see when something great happens to you, you just have to tell others. And when you are born again, and God does this awesome work of salvation and new birth, you just have to tell others.

I’m not one of those Christians who thinks we should get rid of the Christmas trees and eggnog and exchanging of gifts. I like all that stuff. I like Christmas shopping...a little bit. But, do you know what? If we do all that stuff, but don’t talk about Jesus—if we fail to speak of the real meaning of it all; if we neglect to tell someone that this child was born as Savior and Lord, that he was sent by God to die on the cross to dies as our substitute punishment; if we neglect to tell others, we’ve failed to do Christmas right.

The angel said that this is good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. All the people. Did you hear that? Not just religious people, not just Western people, not just poor people or rich people or smart people or not-so-smart people—for all people. So don’t let Christmas go by without telling some people about Jesus.

4. Meditate on All of This

Luke 2:19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

Amidst all the activity, I need to just stop and treasure all these things. I need to ponder them in my heart. I need to engage in some holy wonder.

How do you do that? Maybe that means you stop in the middle of your shopping and sit down and pull out your Bible and just read the Christmas story. Maybe that means you gather your children around a nativity scene each night this week and unwrap a different piece and talk about the role it plays in the Christmas story. Maybe that means you wake up really early one morning this week and find a place you can watch the sunrise and meditate on Zechariah’s words: “The Sunrise on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.” Maybe that means you write the words of the angel on a 3x5 card and pull it out every time you eat: “Behold I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people....”

Luke tells us that the reaction of those who heard the shepherd’s story was astonishment. When you treasure these things in our heart and think about them often, you can’t keep from being astonished by it all. Albert Einstein said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is."

When you do that, when you really let it sink in, you’ll find yourself doing exactly what the shepherds did next. Verse 20 said they went back, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Go back! Where? To your everyday life. Just because you have seen the Christ doesn’t mean you stay in the manger. You go back to where you came from, but you go back glorifying and praising God. You don’t just wait until Sunday to do that. You go back and do that. You do that in the everyday places of life.

John McCain wrote an article for Time Magazine this past August that spoke of his personal journey of faith. In his article McCain shared a powerful story of something that occurred while he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam:

When I was a prisoner of war in Vietnam…my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night. One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.

A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw that same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me. Then he used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp.

The Gifts Brought to Jesus

2008-12-10T08:38:00.002-05:00

We all know the account of the three kings that came from the east to worship the new born savior in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ. They brought gifts of gold, frankinsense and myrrh.

Now we all what gold is and the value it has. It's a precious metal and has great value and worth. If you were to buy an ounce of gold today, it would cost you about $800.

Myrrh was a spice used in embalming. I believe it forshadowed Jesus' death. It was also very valuable in those days and worth it's weight in gold at the time.

However, the interesting gift, to me, is frankinsense. It was used in perfume and incense. The interesting thing, to me anyway, is the tree that frankinsense is derived from, the Boswellia tree. This particular tree is unusual in that it grows in environments so harsh that they sometimes seem like they are growing right out of solid rock. They also have deep roots that make them hardy and strong to withstand any storm. What a symbol that is to us who call ourselves Christ followers. The tree is us. The rock is Jesus. When we give our lives over to Him and we pray and study we grow deep roots and then can withstand any storm because we are rooted and anchored on the rock, Jesus Christ.

This Christmas season, the season we celebrate the birth of the Rock, Jesus Christ, rededicate yourself to growing deep roots. Pray, read, study, get to know your Savior more intimately, so that you can withstand, with His help, any storm that comes into your life.

Merry Christmas.

God bless you and may God bless America.

A Sign of the Times

2008-12-05T09:55:00.002-05:00

By now you've probably heard about the sign that the Governor of Washington state allowed to be put in the rotunda of the her capitol building along with symbols of the holiday season such as a nativity for Christmas and menorah for Hanukkah. This person, who some say stole her election, allowed a placard with the following words on it:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. “There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

How festive. How lovely. You know, that just warms your heart, doesn't it? Seems like the basis of this holiday (Winter Solstice) is to attack people's faith. Wow! What a tradition! You have to think that being an atheist is somewhat akin to being in the KKK. Seeing others, who aren't like you or think the way you do as inferior. Apparently, those who believe in gods, devils, angels have no ability to reason. So we're mindless drones who are able to be manipulated into doing stupid things like help the poor. How stupid can you be?

Look, this placard is not a symbol. It's an attack on people of faith, all faiths, but especially Christians. How dare they denigrate the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world? How dare they? How shameful and cowardly is Governor Gregoire for allowing this and then hiding behind some court decision? This is outrageous.

However, it's not surprising. Jesus said in John 15:18, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."

So, to Governor Gregoire. someone who has tried to minimize and ruin this celebration of CHRISTmas, I have to say shame on you, although, I'm not surprised at how you hate us. In your haste for "tolerance", you've allowed others to show their intolerance and hate. You're a coward and a disgrace. You don't deserve the position you're in and I call on you to resign.

Unto Us

2008-12-01T09:52:00.002-05:00

You know, I love this time of year. I used to hate it, but I've come to appreciate and love what this time of year is all about, the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Christmas time is sort of part one in the complete account of Jesus' life. Notice, I did not use the word "story" because that would make it sound as if it were not factual, which, indeed, it is.

In Matthew and Luke, we get a detailed account of the Savior's birth and how it came about. From the Angel appearing to Mary and Joseph in separate events, to Jesus' foretold birth in Bethlehem, to the family's escape to Egypt. It's all there in the accounts of these two Biblical writers. They were inspired by God's Holy Spirit to document these events giving us all the necessary details. It's such a great start to the complete Jesus account.

We don't get details about Jesus' early life. I believe (and this is just my opinion) that if Jesus' early life were important for us to know about, our Father would have made sure it got into the accounts in the Bible. To me, if God doesn't think it's important, then I don't. Besides it gives us something to talk about when we get to heaven.

Jesus' birth heralds in God's redemption plan for the world. It put it in motion. We all have sinned. We're deserving of eternal separation from God. Although, the world would say differently, man is inherently sinful, not good. That doesn't mean we're all murderers, but we all do something or have done something to break God's laws. However, and thankfully, we're not condemned to hell for eternity if we admit we are sinful and ask God to forgive our sins, to change us and come and live inside us through His Holy Spirit.

We have to give up everything and in doing so, we gain everything. Seems paradoxical, I know, but listen. When we give up all the sin in our lives, all the control in our lives and all the stuff in our lives and hand it over to Jesus, then we become members of God's family and co-inheritors with Jesus. And we receive eternal life with God in heaven and there's nothing on earth that even comes close to that, my friends. That is everything! Spending eternity with God where there is no sorry, no pain, no crisis, no heartache, no death is more than we could ever imagine. Think of your life and all the baggage that you carry around and how exhausting it can be. Now, think of being carefree, pain free, crisis free, sorrow free for the rest of eternity! I would take that for a month, much less eternity. That is what we get when we give our lives to the One, the Redeemer, the Savior. But, we have to give up everything to gain all that. Seems like a small price to pay, doesn't it?

All of this from a little child. One whose birth we celebrate this time of year. Not just any child. Not some made-up child. A real child. God in the flesh. The Savior, Jesus Christ.

Unto us a child was given. That is Jesus, the Christ, the Redeemer, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Emanuel.

Christmas time is the time of giving. Give Jesus your life today and get the greatest gift of all, eternal life in God's family!

Have a blessed and glorious Christmas.

God bless you and may God bless America!

Giving Thanks

2008-11-25T09:47:00.002-05:00

How many times have we heard this advise, "Be thankful for what you have because there are people who have far less than you do."? How hard is it to be thankful when you are in the middle of something like a job loss or the loss of a loved one or a marriage breakup? It's extremely difficult, in those circumstances, to say, I'm thankful for this or that because, let's face it, you are busy dealing with the day-to-day feelings and events having to do with your life. And sometimes life is cruel. It's hard. However, as my dear brother in Christ and my pastor says, "It could be worse."

Although it can be hard to give thanks while you are experiencing life's troubles, we should take time to look at the bigger picture of life and that's our eternal destination. Really and truly, the time we spend on this planet battling this or that is an extremely short time compared to where we will spend eternity.

Think of it this way, you go to the doctor to get your flu shot and you hate getting shots. Many people do hate that because it can hurt a bit. Well, think of the protection you get in the long term for a short term amount of pain. That's what life is. It's that very short pain we endure for a lifetime of pain-free, worry-free living with our heavenly Father. For that we should give thanks.

As Christ followers we experience what others experience. We go through times of anguish, of loss, of anger, but we have this to be thankful for, our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ knows exactly what we are going through and He cares for us. He helps us endure and get through those times and learn from those lessons. We come out of "the valley" better, stronger and able to tell others who experience the same things that it will eventually be OK because God Himself sees you through it all. For that we should give thanks.

So, my friends, if you are experiencing something negative in your life at this time of year, truly give thanks to God who will see you through it. Give thanks that you have the hope He gives us who have been adopted into His family. Give thanks that you have what you have even if it's not much. Give thanks that God gave His Son for you, so that you'd be able to have a relationship with Him.

To anyone, and I truly don't know if anyone reads this, but to those who do, thank you. Next time you're here, leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

May you have a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving, finding something to thank God for.

May God bless you and may God bless America!

Christmas Parade Name Change Causes Fireworks

2008-11-24T10:01:00.004-05:00

Every year the village of Patchogue, Long Island has a Christmas boat parade. It's very well attended (approximately 1500 people show up to see the parade) and has become a well-loved annual community event. That is until this year. The Greater Patchogue Foundation, who runs the annual event, decided that this year political correctness would rule. Apparently fueled by complaints that the Christmas parade was not inclusive enough (apparently all the atheists out there were insulted that they weren't represented in the name of a Christian holiday parade), the Greater Patchogue Foundation changed the name of the parade to the Holiday Boat Parade. Enter the Grucci Fireworks company who were sponsoring the parade.

For those who don't know, Grucci is a long-time and much admired Long Island company. The Grucci family has been providing spectacular fireworks displays for most of the major events around the New York metropolitan area and the country for many, many years. They are unmatched in the fireworks industry. Well, the Gruccis were providing fireworks for this year's Patchogue Christmas Boat parade and when they found out that Christmas was eliminated from the name of the parade, they pulled out. Good for them! Not only did they pull out of the parade, but they encouraged people to not attend. Well, it seems like people listened because the attendance was down a whopping 33% from years gone by. I say good for the Gruccis and all those who stayed away.

Let's face it, this is Christmas time, folks. The nativity display, colorful lights, the inclusion of Santa, the decorating of trees and the like are all CHRISTMAS things. They don't apply to any other celebration. Sorry to those who don't feel included in a celebration that they have no connection to. My advice would be to either embrace the Christmas theme of the year (like many Jews do in celebrating the "secular" (if there truly is such a thing) part of the season) or attend a Christian church at this time of year and see what all the joy and celebrating is all about. Otherwise, stop your bellyaching and come to grips with the fact that we are all different and celebrate different holidays and not everyone has to be included in everything. As a Christian, I don't lament that I am not included in the celebrations of Jews or Muslims.

Jesus was right when he said that "people will hate you because they hated me first." How true LORD.

So, this year, and every year, say "Merry Christmas". Don't deny the time of year. It's Christmas time! It's that time of year that we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Whether people believe in Him or not doesn't change the fact that He is who He is. And if people hate you for it, thank God, because He's the one who sustains us through the times of persecution and it's because of Him we suffer and what better sign in our lives that we are living a life pleasing to God.

Merry Christmas to all.

God bless you and may God bless America!

Where to Go from Here?

2008-11-20T08:21:00.002-05:00

Well, I've settled down now that the election is over. I'm not happy with the person who got in. I took the upside down American flag, signifying distress, off my computer desktop at work. My American flag is still not back up at home, but eventually it will be. It's the symbol of something I believe in, not necessarily the person in the Oval office.

What do we do now? Well, God tells us in the Bible that we're supposed to pray for our leaders. That's what I'll do. It doesn't mean that I think the person is great or a shining star or anything like that. It means the person is now the leader of this country and he needs prayer. This country needs prayer. That's what we need to do.

So, I will take up the task of praying, not only for the President, but for the government (that includes state and local) and this country.

I believe we are entering into a time that God is showing what life is like without Him. America, it's time to open your eyes at the reality. Life without God is not good. It is a life with turmoil and immorality. It is a life without hope. That hope is Jesus Christ.

As Christ followers, we need to pray. That's one of the things we're called to do. I, for one, will endeavor to be obedient to our Father and do so. But not just out of obedience, but out of love for people who are lost; those without Christ.

Join with me and let's all create a chorus, a blanket of prayer for all the lost in this country and around the world.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Changing the Country One Heart at a Time

2008-11-07T08:14:00.002-05:00

I have come to realize that we cannot change this country. You and I cannot effect change. God must change us one heart at a time. When people's hearts change, this country will change. That's the reality we live in. It's always been and it always will be.

As Christians we should stand up for what is Biblical. We cannot stand silent on topics such as abortion, marriage, assisted suicide and the like. We should seek out candidates and public servants that are closely aligned with Biblical views. However, true change will only come when people change. That change will only come when God changes those hearts.

The "job" at hand is and always will be to introduce people to Jesus. Not by pounding them over the head with the Bible and telling them where they are going wrong, but by living our lives in a way that they will see we are different, thus prompting questions and curiosity. Yes, friends, we should be DIFFERENT, not the same. We should stand out, not blend in. When the crowd goes one way, we should go the other. When people say one thing, we should say the other, or better yet, keep silent. There will be some sacrifices. We'll lose friends. Some of our family will be alienated. We may even lose a job. However, for the cause of the Gospel, all of that is insignificant compared to souls being saved and hearts being changed. Jesus sacrificed His life for us while we were still sinners, enemies of His, so having some temporary discomfort should not dissuade us from doing what we have to to spread His good news.

People are not our enemy. Obama is not our enemy. Neither are liberals or al-Qaeda. The enemy is the prince of this world. Our enemy is our heavenly Father's enemy. After all, we are His children. I had an uncle that if you picked a fight with his kids, you picked a fight with him. That's the way we should be. The enemy has picked a fight with our Father, we should jump in. After all, we have Him on our side. Did you ever get in a fight and have your big brother standing just behind you? How did you feel? Pretty brave, I'm sure. Pretty invincible. You felt like you couldn't lose. How much more should we feel like that with Almighty God at our back?

Tuesday was a mighty wake up call to me. I have focused too much on doing things myself. That's why I started this blog, to try to help change things. What a failure that was. I don't even know if anyone is reading this, but I have to do this. I hope that someone will come by and see this and it will help them. I know I cannot change them, but maybe I can help. That's going to be my focus; getting the word, God's Word out.

Will I speak out on issues? For sure I will. The President will be under the microscope and I'll be there when he messes up. However, I will be praying that God will change his heart. That God will influence, not only him, but all of the members of our government. We all should pray and we should get out the word, God's Word. The good news, the Gospel. That's our commission and we should be obedient with enthusiasm and join the fight for the hearts of this country. That's the only way this country will surely change in way that is pleasing to God.

God bless you.

May God change America.

There's Hope, but Not in Men

2008-11-06T11:45:00.002-05:00

I have finally come to realize that the only true hope we have is in Jesus Christ. Time after time I have put my hope in men and I've been burned to one extent or another. Now, it's almost as if I have to ignore people and just focus on Jesus. I don't mean to ignore people as if they don't exist, I mean to ignore them to the point that I put hope in them that they'll be Christ-like in any way. That time is over for me. I will expect the worst, because nine times out of ten, that's what you get.

To the contrary, there has never been a time that I put my hope in our Lord and Savior and have been disappointed. From being able to buy my house, to jobs to getting us through the death of a baby, God has ALWAYS come through. Why is it so hard to remember that when times get tough? I just don't know.

Dear friends, I wish I could say that "this too shall pass", but the reality is different. The newly elected President is set to wreck this country for many decades to come by appointing up to five (depending on his number of terms) Supreme Court Justices. America will cease to exist as we know it because he will appoint justices not only to the Supreme Court, but to the federal courts that will "have empathy" for certain groups. No longer will justice be blind in America. Hold on if you're not in one of those special groups. Your life is about to change and not for the better.

Anyway, the good news is always the good news. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever! Amen?

Amen.

We are called to pray for the president. I have to tell you that I will have trouble in that regard. I have to tell you that I have unsubscribed from "The Presidential Prayer Team". Right now, I just don't have it in me. I know my Father in heaven wants me to do that. I will. I'm just not there yet.

For those of you who consider yourselves conservatives, we have work to do. We have to seek out, find and recruit those who will run on the values of Ronald Reagan. We need people with backbone. People who can communicate that message in a meaningful way to mom and pop America. And people who more closely hold values in line with Biblical values. That is most important. Maybe even consider running for some elected office yourself.

Can we change this country? No, we can't, but we can do our part to be used by God to change America. And that change will come, yes, even revival will come if we get the Gospel out. That's the change we need in America. America needs the LORD. He's the agent of change. He changes the heart. When the heart changes, the person changes. One by one, as people accept Jesus our country will change. That's our mission, yes our commission to spread the Gospel. Oh, there'll be people who reject it. Even the great Christian, Paul the apostle, got run out of city after city. However, he kept going. He focused on his commission, to bring the Gospel to the gentiles. That was his one goal. He knew, while he was doing that, God would be with him and God will be with us as we do what we are commissioned to do, bring the Gospel to those in our community, state and country.

Although the future of America seems dark, Jesus, the Light of the world, can shatter any darkness brought on by those who so not live according to His will and his tenets. It's our job and, indeed, should be our desire to bring the Light to those around us who are shrouded in the darkness. If we don't do that, who will?

God bless you and yours.

May God have mercy on America.

Psalm 146

2008-11-05T13:12:00.001-05:00

The Word of God is always a comfort. From Psalm 146:

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.

4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,

6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

Post Mortem - America

2008-11-05T07:52:00.004-05:00

I'm wearing black today and I took my American flag down this morning. I rolled it up and put it away in my garage. Its symbolism lost all of its meaning last night. I no longer identify with it. I don't want to identify with it. I'm ashamed and dismayed.

It took 232 years, but I believe America is now dead as a republic, as a world leader and as that shining beacon to the world that we were for all those years. We've now taken our place in the background with all the other mediocre countries in the world. Overnight, we've become Europe.

Worse yet, we've spit in God's eye. The 86% of us that identify ourselves somehow with Christianity, have said, God means nothing in our lives and how we live it. Shame on us all.

I would say at this point the government should immediately begin purging God's name from the money, the Pledge and all government buildings. We've proven for once and for all, it was all a sham. That God really has played no part in this country for many years now. Those who hold close to God must now come to grips with the fact that America truly is a Godless country and we are in the minority from now on. True believers make up a very small part of this country. God forgive us. We've taken a country You gave us and turned it over to the forces of darkness. How can we ever recover?

For me, after trying to recover from such a devastating event as this past election, I must focus for once and for all on being a citizen of heaven. That's where my allegiance should have been all along. God forgive me for getting caught up in the politics of this world. A world that is passing away. A world that will be here for a fleeting moment. One that will be burnt up on the glorious day. Even so, LORD Jesus come quickly!

I don't know how you will react to this election. I haven't a clue about anything anymore, except this, that Jesus Christ is LORD, He is Savior, He is God. He hasn't changed today. We've changed. He hasn't left us, we've left Him. His face might have turned from us as a nation, but He loves His children and although we've messed up royally this time, His love endures.

Make this commitment today, that you will focus on your heavenly citizenship. That your commitment to the great commission will be refocused to getting the job done. That you will ask God for boldness, for courage and for wisdom in order to be pleasing in His sight and not to worry about what is happening around us.

It's not going to be easy, but you know that the early church went through much more. They were being killed for their faith. Those who followed "The Way" as it was called, were seen by the Roman government as nothing more than religious zealots bent on overthrowing the government. They did not worship Caesar, so they were summarily killed in one way or another.

Our commitment must be equal to the early disciples. We must have the same level of boldness and courage. With God on our side who can harm us? No one. Not the new President or his political party. In reality, they are in need of prayer. They are about to send this country down a path it probably will never recover from. Shame on them and shame on us for allowing it.

Dear friends, prayer is not more important today than it was yesterday, because it was important yesterday too. If you aren't praying regularly, I suggest you start. You, your family and friends and this land need it now more than ever.

The hope we have in Jesus Christ has not changed because of what happened yesterday. That hope is still there if you have given your life over to Him. The One on whose shoulders the government rests is alive and well today no matter what place He is given in this land.

That is the only truth that is keeping me going today.

God bless you and yours.

May God have mercy on this land.

America Died Tonight

2008-11-04T23:34:00.002-05:00

My country is no more. It died tonight with this election. I believe evil won tonight. This battle goes to those who serve the prince of this world.

There's nothing that can be said right now except if you are a Christian, a God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian, pray. Pray that this travesty will serve as a wake up call for all Christians in America and we will finally turn from our wicked ways and humble ourselves, so that God will heal this land.

Hold on, it's going to get very ugly.

God bless you.

May God have mercy on us.

God Bless America

2008-11-04T08:33:00.002-05:00

Today we elect a new President.

When I went to vote this morning, I couldn't help but feel like I was going to a funeral.

I am hoping that feeling will not be justified tomorrow.

God bless you.

May God bless America.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

Change is Coming with History in the Making

2008-11-03T08:32:00.003-05:00

No matter who gets elected tomorrow, history will be made. Change will be brought to this country. If Barack Obama is elected, this country will get its first African-American President. I believe that will be the smallest change we, as Americans, will experience if he gets in. If America elects John McCain, Sarah Palin will be the first ever female Vice President of this country. The first female to be "a heartbeat away" from being President.

Not only will history be made, but change will come to this great land. Change in the form of bigger, more oppressive government will come if Obama is elected. We will be plunged into a European-type government that will change America in ways we don't want. We'll have a more Communist-like approach to government. Higher taxes and unemployment are sure to follow. It won't be the republicans doing. The democrats will have both the congress and the presidency wielding power that will be unchecked. They will care only about their agenda and not what's good for this country. They think they know better than the founding fathers did. They think their version of America is what is best. It's not. Europe is our example and they aren't exactly burning up the world in economic prosperity. They aren't safer than we are. They have higher taxes than we do. They pay much more for fuel than we do. They are weaker in every way than we are, yet the democrats want to be like them. I don't get it. Being America worked just fine for the last 200 or so years. I don't know why we have to change now.

Sure, there are some things that need fixing. The economy and our energy policy. However, there's always something to fix. That doesn't mean that we need to fundamentally change our form of government to do so. We should fix those things within the framework of the government we have.

Change will come tomorrow. There's one thing that won't change, though. The knowledge and fact that our Almighty Savior, Jesus Christ is the same and will never ever change. I refer you to Hebrews 13:8. What a comfort that is that no matter who is leading this country, who is wrecking our country, Jesus is the same and will never change. Why is that important? Think of this. How can we count on the promises He gives, if He is ever changing? We would never be able to count on the hope He gives us. We would never know how He would respond to our life situations. Why would we follow a God like that? This is part of the uniqueness of our God. The only true God. He never changes. That has to be a comfort to us.

So, no matter who gets in tomorrow and however this country changes in the years to come, know this dear friends, Jesus will never change. He'll be the same loving God He has always been. He's the only one we can count on even when we can't count on ourselves. He's the one constant. The one rock. He's our God and we can count on Him and His promises.

Don't forget to vote and vote your beliefs.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Voting

2008-10-29T09:27:00.002-04:00

There's less than a week to go until Election Day. The citizens of this country enjoy this right, to choose who leads us in our government from our tiny towns to the highest office in the land. Though we have that right, only 3 out of 10 (in a good year) actually partake of that right. It's sad how apathetic we are when it comes to voting.

I want to talk to those of you who call yourselves Christian. Do you plan to vote this year? Please, if you are not, please reconsider. This year, more so than others, is a pivotal election in our history. Not only are there important issues on the table like abortion, gay marriage, redistribution of wealth, higher taxes, and such issues like that, but did you realize that the next President will appoint from between two and five Supreme Court Justices? These are the people who shape the interpretation of law throughout our land. They wield tremendous influence in this country for better or worse.

One candidate, Obama wants the Supreme Court to be sympathetic to certain groups in this country. In a 2001 interview he stated that he wanted the Supreme Court to be involved in redistributing wealth in this country. He also stated that he wanted them (the Supreme Court Justices) to favor some over others. So, he wants some to have an advantage in the courts over others. Now, I don't know about you, but one of the great things about this country is that all are treated equally under the law, so it doesn't matter if you are a corporate CEO or if you serve coffee at the local diner counter, as soon as you step into court, you are treated the same as the next person. Barack Obama wants to change that. This is a fact. The audio of that interview can be found here at the NPR web site. Scroll to the January 18, 2001 interview and listen for yourself.

Why should you be concerned about all of this? Well, if you believe that he government was meant to take your money and give it to someone else, then it means nothing. If you are a parent of a daughter and you believe that your daughter should have the "right" to unfettered abortions and have those abortions without your knowledge or consent even if she's a minor, then it means nothing. If you believe it's OK for babies, fully viable and ALIVE, who survive an abortion attempt to be put into closets and allowed to DIE, then it means nothing. If you believe it's OK to kill a baby at any time during a pregnancy even at delivery, then this issue means nothing to you. If you believe that anyone should be able to marry anyone, such as a man marrying a man, a man marrying several women or even combinations of men and women marrying, then it means nothing. If you don't care about these and other moral issues facing this nation, then the Supreme Court should mean nothing to you.

However, if you are intent on voting what you believe to be the truth as a Christian, then this should mean everything to you. As Christians, we must vote what we believe. If our faith doesn't translate into action, then it is no faith at all. I'd like to refer you to James 2:26. If you are a Bible-believing Christian, this should be important to you.

Vote. Get other Christians to vote. You know I get so many "forwards" in my email. All kinds of things from jokes to chain emails imploring me to say a prayer and then send that email to another five, ten or however many people and then see what happens. What kind of groundswell would there be if we, as Christians, started an email chain exhorting all Christ-followers to simply leave their homes on November 4th and cast a vote for what they believe, what we all believe as the body of Christ? I believe there would be a landslide the likes of which have not been seen in a long time.

Vote. Vote what you believe. Leave the rest to God.

God bless you and may God, in His infinite grace and mercy bless America.

Prayer for America

2008-10-28T14:05:00.002-04:00

There are those who say, "Well, there's nothing left to do but pray." There's a sense of desperation in that statement, isn't there?

Prayer should not be done in desperation by those who call themselves Christ followers. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told not to stop praying, much less leave it to the last possible thing to do in a situation. Prayer should be a constant activity in our day.

That doesn't mean that we are to continually pray, but that throughout the day we should pray from time to time as we go about our daily routines.

We should have been praying for this year's election for some time now. We shouldn't be leaving it to the last moment. If you haven't been praying for this year's election, please start today. Reach out to God and pray from your heart.

Pray for this country too. Pray for peace and protection. Pray that we'll be a light once again to the world. Pray for a revival, the likes of which we've never seen. Pray that our new leaders will govern us in a way that is pleasing and glorifying to God. If ever we needed God, it is now.

Whatever happens next Tuesday, let it not be because God's children didn't pray. Together, in prayer, we wield tremendous power and who can withstand the awesome power of God when His children ask Him for help?

One last thing. Don't let any poll keep you from voting. Your vote does count. It's your privilege and responsibility to vote.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Down the Stretch They Come!

2008-10-27T10:17:00.004-04:00

This year's presidential race is just about over. Election Day is eight days away. Come January, we'll have someone new in the White House.

As the campaigns draw to a close the tension, rhetoric, desperation is being ratcheted up to a fever pitch. More attack ads, more often trying to sway voters. Trying to show the other guy is wrong for the job. Trying, desperately trying to win.

Most of the media is pulling for Obama, as if they would benefit from a Presidency that squashes those who even seem to disagree with him. How long will it be before a President Obama shuts down those media outlets, like FoxNews, that would take him to task on being a Marxist or soft on terrorism. His media attack dogs will be out in force to silence those who even question his abilities, ideas, or methods. Does anyone remember Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union or more recently what Mr. Chavez did in Venezuela as their dictator? Silence those who oppose you, so the masses will get in line. Does that sound like the America you want to live in?

This is going on now, this day, in this country by the Obama campaign. Barbara West, a journalist in Florida on WFTV, was conducting an interview with Joe Biden on TV. She asked him a couple of admittedly tough questions. OH MY! Imagine a politician having to answer actual questions! My oh my what a concept. Well, old Joe never answered the questions. Sure he smiled, he laughed, he seemed surprised that someone would have the audacity to ask some tough questions, but he never answered the questions.

After that, Biden's wife was to be on the same Florida TV station and the Obama campaign canceled that appearance and basically told the station they were now blackballed from any contact with the Obama campaign.

This is from a blog titled "Hal Boedecker, The TV Guy":

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think?

West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx ("From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Quote added by me Eagleswingsbob for reference) and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment.

"Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said.

West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over.

"I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back.

Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

Now back to my blog:

Nice, eh? Ask tough questions, get blackballed. You know that those "in the tank" for Mr. Obama will make sure that they have continuous access to him by never hitting him hard on any issues. Can that be good for the country? Well, no, of course not. You need to know the truth from those in power and the media is the way to that truth, or so it should be. That will be stopped with an Obama regime.

Let's face it, the more you experience Mr. Obama, the scarier he gets.

I recently came back from a trip to Europe, the UK, specifically. I have seen what taxing people to death does to people's spirits. It kills it. His ideas about taking from the rich to giving to the poor is right out of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Karl Marx is the father of Communism in the Soviet Union. COMMUNISM, folks. Remember, the form of government WE FOUGHT AGAINST? This is not freedom. It's not right. It's not America.

In America we succeed or fail on our own. That's the beauty of our system. Someone from a poor background can leave that poverty by working hard. ANYONE can succeed. In Barack Obama's world no one succeeds. It's evil to succeed. You get penalized (taxed) for succeeding. People, you may think the rich are the problem in this country, but they aren't. They are the people who risk their money to create jobs. They are the people who work 18 hour days to build a business and when that business succeeds, they get rewarded by higher earnings. After all, they worked for it. It sustains jobs. They give large sums of money to charities. They keep local economies going because their workers have to buy breakfasts and lunches. They stop at the local shops to drop off dry cleaning. They buy a quart of milk on the way home at the local grocery store. Do you see how it works in a capitalist society? Barack Obama wants to fundamentally change this country into one that is dependent on the government. That's not America.

We are a strong, independent people. We want to do what's right. We are farmers. We are small business owners. We are grocery clerks. We work hard. We love freedom. All of this is slipping away because of people like Barack Obama. He thinks you aren't smart or hard working. He wants to weaken you so you have to depend on the government. Dependence on the government means weakness. You cannot do anything for yourself. Ever want to put up a shed on your property and the town tells you where on your property you can put it and how big it can be and sometimes what color it can be? It's not right and that's just a small thing. Imagine when you are accepting "subsidies" to buy things like a car. Imagine the restrictions that will come with that. They'll tell you that your car has to be a certain size or has to get a certain gas mileage. Can you imagine your government getting that intrusive into your life? Well, it could happen and probably will.

You know that there is literally no such thing as a free lunch. You don't get anything from the government for nothing. There's always a price to pay.

Although I know in my heart that no matter who gets elected, that God has this whole situation in His capable hands, it still concerns me that America is about to change and not for the good if Barack Obama gets in with a Democratically-controlled congress. My child will not benefit from the America I grew up in. She'll not be able to make something of herself. We'll be Europe and I've been there and it's not a place I want to live.

If you are someone with a relationship with God, use this week to pray. Pray for peace. Pray for the right person to get in. Pray for God to forgive this country for its sins. This very well could be God's way of getting our attention. Telling us we are straying too far from Him. After all, he allowed Israel to be overtaken time after time to show them the error of her ways. This could be the same situation.

Friends I have to tell you I am pessimistic about the outcome of this election, but I'm voting. Don't stay home becasue the media says the race is over. Remember, they predicted that Harry Truman lost to Thomas Dewey and THEY WERE WRONG! They are doing this to discourage those who would vote for McCain from coming out. It's a classic strategy. If we, who identify more closely with John McCain get out and vote, we may very well see the media and the Obama campaign who are already planning their celebrations with perverbial egg on their collective faces.

May God bless you all and may God bless America.

McCain or Obama, Does It Really Matter?

2008-10-13T08:20:00.006-04:00

OK, so I was thinking this weekend. I know, that sounds scary and maybe even unique, but I was thinking.

Does it really matter, in the long run, who is elected President of the United States? Eternally, it makes no difference whatsoever and as a Christ follower, that should be my perspective on everything.

No matter who gets in and what havoc they create on this earth, eternally speaking, it does not matter because Christ is still in control, He is still our LORD and Savior, He still protects us and helps us through tough times (please refer to Psalm 23 of the Bible version of your choice) and we will still spend ETERNITY with Him in paradise. And compared to the time a person is in power (up to eight years), eternity is a much longer time than that!

So, take heart, and do what you can, VOTE, but don't worry and keep your eyes on Jesus because He is the Beginning and the End (Alpha and Omega for those of you who prefer).

Our focus should be Jesus and we cannot allow circumstances to dictate our actions or our mental state, that's what our relationship with Jesus should be doing. I refer you to "the peace that surpasses all understanding".

We need to remember these things. It is for times like this that we should be reading and studying God's Word. We should be praying. Of course, these are things we should be doing anyway, but it is for times like these that we reap the benefits of those activities.

So, as things happen and events unfold, read more, pray more, get a keener focus on your LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Cling to the that tree that He died on. Drop all your baggage at the His feet. Resolve today to allow God to shoulder your burdens no matter what they are, whether financial, relationship, work, housing, marriage, or whatever. Get somewhere private, get on your knees and talk to God and hand over your life with all the garbage, weaknesses, sins, virtues, talents, everything. Make up your mind today to let God walk you "through the valley".

And, if you haven't given your life over to the One who is the Rock, then don't let another day go by without giving it all over to Him including your life and life circumstances. He will not only guide you, He will protect you and make sure that in the end, when all is said and done, that you are whole and OK even if it is the day of His return.

Keep that eternal perspective. Don't let circumstances dictate your actions or your mental state (yes, I know I said that already, but I think it's important to repeat). Let your relationship with Him, dictate your response to life's circumstances.

We are different and we should be living differently. We should standout with how we react to life. We should stand out with how peaceful we are. Not that we should not care, but that it should not bother us as those who do not have the Hope we do. The hope and comfort we have because we have a relationship with the One who is in control of the universe.

And it is when we live differently, that those who do not have a relationship with God will be prompted to ask questions and be drawn to Him, the One who saves. After all, that's our purpose on this planet. Let's decide today to fulfill that purpose to God's glory because we are the children of God and we should want what our Father, almighty God, wants and that is that "all would be saved".

God bless you and may God bless America!

Panic? No, Hang Tight

2008-10-10T10:07:00.002-04:00

OK, so things in this country and around the world are crazy right now. Don't panic.

Remember in "It's A Wonderful Life" when everyone was panicking and old man Potter wasn't? He gained control of the banks, transportation, and other industries in the town. Control. That's what it was about, not the money. He had plenty of that.

Sound familiar? The government is playing on the fear, the panic to gain control. In the end we all lose if that happens. Don't panic! Hang in there and keep telling your representatives to stop and don't buy or nationalize industries like banking, which they are talking about.

I am not giving you financial advice. You have to decide financial moves for yourself. My advice is to not make any decisions without thinking about it and researching it. Don't panic! The people who come out of these situations well are those who DO NOT PANIC.

The Word of God is such a comfort in times like this:

Matthew 6(NIV):
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hang in there. It's up to us to be a light to those around us. We have to be that example of "the peace that passes all understanding". This way God will use this to draw more to Himself. We need to "be still" and let God use us.

A couple of blogs ago I was discouraged, but I see this whole thing differently now. We have a responsibility in times like this to show who God is. How He helps us. How we are different. Let's stand tall, arm in arm with our faces towards the storm and let God work through us.

It's all about God, guys. Not us. We have to approach this with that in mind. What can we do to further the spread of the Gospel? What good does it do our mission, to spread the "Good News" if we are worrying, panicking, or talking and being negative? It doesn't do it any good.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Let's take the time to pray for strength. Do it today. Allow God to use you. It's what we're here for.

To God be the glory!

God bless you and may God bless America!

The Alarm is Ringing!

2008-10-09T11:32:00.002-04:00

Hear that? That annoying sound? That's your alarm ringing. Question is will you wake up?

Your government is thinking of buying all the banks. Remember when the Venezuelan dictator Chavez started buying industries and nationalizing them? That's what DICTATORS do. They bring everything under GOVERNMENT control.

Sound familiar? The US government is thinking of BUYING THE BANKING INDUSTRY. Hello? Hear that alarm?

We are a democratic republic, aren't we? Not a dictatorship. Are we? Has anyone out there voted on this? Have any of YOUR representatives or senators asked you about this? No, I didn't think so.

Why are we allowing this? Is anyone paying attention?

It's time to wake up America! We need action. We need to find someone we TRUST. It's not Obama. It's apparently not McCain either. Neither party is doing the right thing. There has to be someone out there.

I do know someone, not a Washington insider, not a politician even, that you can put ALL your trust in. That would be Jesus Christ. He is trustworthy for sure. He's looking out for you. He died for you. When you have a relationship with Him, you can trust Him to take care of you. That doesn't mean that things won't happen. Life still happens even with a relationship with Jesus, but what happens is that He walks through your life with you and helping you. You may get bruised or even battered, but you'll be able to get through it all and be OK at the other side of it.

We need to wake up America and hold our elected officials accountable for what they are doing. We need Jesus more. Give your life to Christ. All things will work for the good for you after that.

God bless you. May God bless America.

I'm Angry and Discouraged

2008-10-08T08:32:00.005-04:00

I didn't watch the debate last night between McCain and Obama. There was nothing either could say to sway me one way or the other. Also, if the guy I want in did poorly, I wanted to save myself the aggravation of watching it.

As we get closer to Election Day, I am getting angrier and more discouraged. I am bracing for what I believe will be one of the darkest days in our nation's history, electing Barack Obama President. Oh, I'm still casting my vote. That matters. I think everyone should still vote, but be aware that things are going to change in this country, and not for the better when he gets in. I hope that I am wrong, I really do, but it's just looking bleak right now.

Why John McCain is not going harder at this guy is beyond me. I think that's where a lot of my anger is coming from. It's like seeing your friend getting beat up and not defending himself and not being able to jump in to help.

We are also seeing how powerful the media is. They want Obama in, although why I cannot fathom, and they are making sure that happens. The masses don't watch people like Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity. These guys, especially the crew from FoxNews, have been demonized in the media, so the vast majority of Americans probably see them as right-wing kooks.

There are things coming out about Obama that are disturbing at best. His associations with people who want to do America harm. These are not just casual relationships, either. It's appalling to me that more of this is not coming out. It's not surprising knowing how the media is, it's just appalling.

My country is about to change radically. I don't like that one bit. Abortion, gay marriage, the second amendment. These are things that will shape our society for years to come, not to mention we are about to be taxed into oblivion. The government will tell you how much you can make. How much is enough for you. Remember, Biden said that people making $250K per year "can afford" to give to others who don't have. Really? Who is he to say that? How can he determine who can afford what? The government is about to take a hold of your life that it will not willingly release.

How can we, as freedom-loving Americans allow that to happen? Why are we being led like lemmings to the brink of disaster by electing this "man"? There are no leaders on the other side. Not McCain, no one. There are no Teddy Roosevelts.

Now, more than ever, we need to lean on God. I have to be honest, that I have been fretting over this whole election and ignoring my own advice from one of my previous blogs on how to weather the storm. I am not focused on Jesus at all. I'm angry. I'm discouraged. I can't believe that this is happening. I can't seem to get it out of my head that my country is not going to be special anymore. It's not a place that people will look to anymore. We are declining as a nation and that hurts.

What hurts even more is that God, though present, is being pushed out of our public lives. When Obama gets in, our freedoms will change also. We won't be able to speak out against things that he deems worthy, like gay marriage, abortion and the like. That will be "hate speech". They will tell us, keep that talk private. Your faith is a private thing. Our pastors will not be able to preach against sinful lifestyles. They will try to silence us. It's a scary thing. This will happen just by electing one man to the presidency. If that happens, I pray to God to have the strength of Daniel.

If we don't come together as a group and I'm talking about Christians and vote for McCain, we will get what we deserve. It's too late to organize. It's too late to do anything but get out there and make sure we get the right person in there.

It's not looking good friends.

I can only hope I am wrong.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Pray for America

2008-10-06T07:52:00.003-04:00

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Friends, it is time to pray. Pray for your country. God gives us this promise in 2 Chronicles, but it comes with conditions. What are they?

The first is that we must be His people. Yes, that's right, God hears His people and not those who aren't called by His name. It's just the way it is. This says God won't hear those who do not give their lives over to Jesus Christ.

The second condition is that we must humble ourselves, pray and seek Him. We must admit that we need God. That without Him, we are nothing and can do nothing. We must admit to Him that we are sinful. We must come clean with all our weaknesses and faults. We have to come down from our own self-styled pedestal and lay at His feet with our face in the dirt. We must look for what He wants from us. How He wants us to live. What He wants us to give up.

The third condition, and I wonder if this isn't the most important, is that we must repent. Turn from our wicked ways is what God tells us. There is no option. We MUST repent. Leave all those things that are keeping us from God at the foot of the cross. Whatever that sin is, porn, drugs, work, food, sex, shopping, we MUST repent and turn from those things.

Once we meet those conditions, God will fulfill His end of the promise. Go ahead and test Him. He's faithful. He's true to His word. He will do what He says.

Friends, we need a revival in this land. We are headed down a horribly sinful path in this country and we need to reverse that. The only way that will happen is with God's help. We cannot do it on our own.

America needs all of the Christ followers now. We must do this or this country could be lost.

Will you set out from now on to humble yourself, repent and pray for America? If we do, we will be astonished at what God will do for our great land. He promised it, He'll deliver.

God bless you and may God bless America.

VP Debate Analysis

2008-10-03T09:30:00.002-04:00

I hate watching debates. I just hate them. It's too aggravating for me because of the sniping that goes back and forth and the half-truth spins people put on facts and the techniques used to make the other person just plain look bad.

That being said, I watched most of the debate last night between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Here's my take on it.

Sarah Palin won this debate hands down. For the last two weeks she has been vilified by the mainstream media, left-wing blogs and those who got convinced she was some air-head, know-nothing from Hole-In-The-Wall, Alaska. Well, OK. Take that criticism and look at what happened last night when she went up against the more experienced, more seasoned, expert Senate debater Joe Biden. Nothing happened. There was no knockout punch. It wasn't Bambi vs. Godzilla. She wasn't embarrassed or shown up. She didn't crash and burn. She more than held her own against the mighty Biden. That makes her the clear winner of this debate. Biden couldn't deliver the final blow and suddenly Rocky gets off the canvas and you can hear the inspirational music start playing in the background.

The choice we have this year is clear to me. We either put all of our trust in someone who will take this country down the path to socialism, higher-taxes, higher-interest rates a la Jimmy Carter, weaker defense and a lower standard of living. That would be Mr. Obama. Or we can elect someone who will protect babies both unborn and newly born after botched abortions, lower taxes, keep our national defense strong and vital, provide oversight and reform to our economy and generally get the federal government out of our way so that we can prosper.

America, make the choice.

God bless you and may God bless America!

We're Losing America

2008-10-02T08:29:00.002-04:00

Let's face it, the America we have today is not the America our parents had. The country is changing and not for the better.

Friends we are embarking into an era where our freedoms will be decreased, our government will become more controlling over our lives and our money and our quality of life will be forever changed.

We're losing America.

As Obama cruises into the Presidency and McCain seems to be happy to hand it to him, I am reminded of how gleeful all those New Yorkers were when the "honorable" Eliot Spitzer was elected Governor of this once great state. Well, America, you get what you pay for and Eliot Spitzer turned out not to be the great governor they all thought he would be, but a common john that frequented prostitutes.

Well, Obama supporters, enjoy your victory. People were happy about Jimmy Carter too. Then when interest rates were in the double digits and our citizens were held hostage in Iran, the happiness gave way to dispair and anger. Yet, Jimmy Carter could do nothing to give economic relief to those who suffered under possibly the worst presidency in our history. Also, he talked to the Iranians. He talked and talked and talked. Negotiated. Cajoled. Talking did nothing to release our citizens from their illegal captivity. Talk is what you'll get from Obama. No action. Just talk. He'll negotiate. He'll take the diplomatic approach. He'll give this country away.

You get what you pay for America.

If you want us to be more like Europe or even China, then elect Obama.

If you think your government can do better with more of your money in the form of higher taxes, then elect Obama.

If you think the government knows better how you should live your life than you do, then elect Obama.

If you don't give a hoot about what America stands for and you think we are the "evil" empire, then by all means vote for Obama.

If you don't care that Obama's close associates are domestic terrorists, then please vote for him.

If, the fact that his closest economic adivisors are the very greedy men that led Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into this economic disaster called the subprime mortgage mess and gave tens of thousands of dollars to Obama and Obama did nothing to reform those entities, then, please, vote for Obama.

Me? I'm not giving my vote to someone who has done nothing as a Senator, wants to increase the size, scope and power of our government and the control they have over us, whose judgement is horrible in making choices like who he associates with, was wrong on Iraq and is such an agent for change he chose a man with 30 years in Washington who was voted the third most liberal senator in America (two places behind Mr. Obama).

I'm giving McCain my vote. He probably will not win, but I have to make a statement in my own way. After all, even though it doesn't look like it anymore, this is still America.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Seems Like McCain is Fading

2008-10-01T16:39:00.002-04:00

Not that this will convince me to not vote or vote for the other person, but it seems like John McCain has lost his way. Ever since he suspended his campaign to work on the bailout plan (which failed by the way), he has faded from sight. Meanwhile, Obama stays in the background letting the economy campaign for him

John McCain needs to do something dramatic and do it quickly or all is lost and we are on our way to becoming Europe.

He needs a better plan than is already out there. The Senate plan is basically the House plan with some tax breaks in there. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. This one still smells.

There's no leadership coming from either side. They are paralyzed by the fear of failure.

As Americans we should be demanding action from our representatives. Clinton, Schumer, where are they? Nowhere to be found. They voted for that horrible bailout. It is so shameful that this do nothing Congress continues to do nothing even in the face of horrific economic events. I cannot imagine what would happen if we were attacked. They'd blame each other while the bombs were falling.

I am tired. I have no patience for this. At 50, nonsense just makes me angry and that what this is, nonsense. Pelosi, Reid, all of them are playing politics with this country bringing us to the brink of an economic meltdown not seen since my parents were kids in the 20s and 30s.

I take solace in the fact that no matter what happens, this is only temporary and whatever pain (economic or otherwise) I have to go through for now, eternity in Heaven awaits those of us who are children of the Almighty Father.

Even so LORD Jesus, come quickly.

God bless you and may God bless America.

Weathering the Storm

2008-09-29T08:09:00.005-04:00

Matthew 8:24-26 (NIV)

24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" 26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

I love this account of the storm in Matthew. It gives us such a great example of how we should react to the storms that come up in our lives, like this financial crisis we are heading into in America.

Can you imagine the disciples conversation in that boat as the wind whipped up and the waves started growing and Jesus slept calmly and peacefully through it all?

Now, rest assured, Jesus wasn't "sleeping on the job". He slept peacefully because He knew the storm, like all things, were completely under His control and there was nothing to fear because of that. He knew all He had to do was command the storm to stop and it would.

The disciples should have followed Jesus' example and relaxed and, yes, slept and let the storm rage around them because the One who controls everything was with them and would not allow the storm to harm them. Think of this, what good would it do in the spreading of the Gospel had Jesus allowed his disciples to be swept out to sea and drowned? First, there would have been no one to actually spread the Gospel and Jesus would have had to pick more men. Also, we would not have this great example of how we are protected by our great and loving LORD and Savior during the storms of life.

Keep this account in mind when a storm comes up in your life, whether it involves money, family, your job or your marriage or anything that causes the wind and the rain to be whipped up in your life. Instead of worrying about the storm, as a Christ follower, realize you have the One who controls everything right there in the boat with you and He will not allow the storm to harm you. Yes, you might get tossed to and fro by the wind and the rain, but the boat will stay afloat and you'll make it to the other side intact so that you can spread the good news that Jesus is your shield in times of trouble.

Enough is Enough!

2008-09-26T08:56:00.002-04:00

OK, is anyone else losing their patience with our representatives in Washington? I know I am.

Who cares about debates when the country is headed down the drain? Who cares what party you belong to when the country is headed down an economic abyss?

These people just don't get it. The country is in trouble and all they can do is play the blame game to try and posture themselves to win an election. I'm sick of it. Are you?

We need an uprising. Not an overthrow of the government, but an uprising of voters or Americans. We need to hold these politicians' feet to the fire until they do something to fix this mess or at least head us down the road to fix it. Enough is enough.

Sure, you can read all kinds of glib comments from all those bloggers out there on one side or the other. They mean nothing at a time like this. We need to fix America and we need to do it now.

This is our economic 9/11. We are being attacked by bad decisions by greedy people. It's an attack on our economic well-being much like Osama Bin Laden's attack on the World Trade Center was. We need to gather up the troops and set off to win this war. Not with guns or missiles, but with sound economic minds coming up with sound approaches to fix this mess.

We don't need Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi or Obama accusing McCain of this or that. We need cooperation and results. It's time everyone. Enough is enough.

Why isn't there more of an outcry from us? Is anyone out there? We should be screaming at our representatives to GET THIS DONE! They work for US! Use this link to find out who your representatives are in the House and Senate and tell them to fix this mess!

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Let's go America. It's time for us to stand up and be heard!

God bless you and yours and may God bless America!

Where's Barack?

2008-09-25T08:26:00.006-04:00

So, the Democratic candidate thinks it's more important to "move forward" than do his job. That's what Barack Obama has told the American people by his reaction to John McCain suspending his campaign to work on the dire financial crisis this country is entering into.

Now, the difference between the two becomes much more evident, doesn't it? One is more interested in becoming President while the other is doing what a real President would do, roll up his sleeves and get to work for the good of the country.

Campaigns don't mean anything when the rubber meets the road and the candidate is nowhere to be found. Also, remember, Barack Obama is still a US Senator (and, hopefully will still be one this time next year) who is "working" for his constituents, supposedly. Being in a political campaign doesn't relieve him of his duties as an elected official. Campaigns can be restarted, debates can be rescheduled.

The country needs the congress to finally do something after being the most do nothing congress in decades. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is finally time to get to work!

To quote the great Theodore Roosevelt, "In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."

It's time to do the right thing and stop doing nothing.

Where is Barack? I guess he's busy preparing for his debate in Mississippi. Who will he debate? I'm not sure, but this I do know, while Nero fiddles and Rome is on fire, John McCain will be in Washington D.C. in the midst of flames doing all he can to put the fire out and save our great land.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

God bless you and may God bless America!

Greed is NOT Good

2008-09-23T08:18:00.002-04:00

Putting the Presidential campaign aside for today we all need to know that there are bad, very bad, even bleak economic times coming. Friends, make no mistake that the failure of Freddie, Fannie, Lehman and company is only the beginning of the downturn.

And your government (Democrats and Republicans) is not being totally honest with us. Maybe they don't want to cause a panic, maybe they don't know how to be honest, but we aren't getting the whole story.

All I have seen and read tells me that things will get worse before they get better.

How did we get in this mess? One word, GREED. With all due respect to Gordon Gecko in the movie "Wall Street", greed is NOT good.

It seems to me that someone somewhere started to loosen the requirements to borrow money. Now, why did they do this? GREED. They wanted to make more and more billions of dollars. When other lending institutions saw that these "free lenders" were gaining market share, they didn't want to be left behind, so everyone jumped on the "subprime loan bandwagon". Disaster was just around the corner.

Now, with those who got these loans unable to pay back the loans, you can see how that can be a problem because now the lending institutions that borrowed the money to lend the money cannot pay back their loans and so on and so on it goes.

So, the government in its infinite wisdom will do what? Print more money to the tune of $700B (for now that is) and "bailout" these lending companies. Now when that happens, your dollars lose their value and you cannot buy as much tomorrow as you did today. You can't stretch something that is shrinking.

Many experts say that the bailout will not stop there and the $700B is more like $2.1 Trillion (yes, trillion). That all comes out of your pocket.

Words like recession and, yes, even depression are being bantered about in the economic circles these days. Conditions are very much the same as before the 1929 crash that sent this country reeling into the Great Depression.

You need to call your representatives and ask them what they are doing with your money. Demand information. Get smart on what is happening and prepare. Somehow prepare for the coming dark economic days.

Say what you will about Libertarian Ron Paul, but he got it right. He predicted this mess a long time ago and it's coming to fruition.

If you watch Glenn Beck you must have headache today. He gives it straight without sugarcoating it. How can you sugar coat a big heap of smelly garbage and make it palatable? You can't. That's how bad it is and how much worse it will get.

I think back to when my mother was alive. I miss her so much. I used to talk to her about her experiences during the depression. In some ways I envied her with those experiences because families were tight. Everyone pulled together. She had to quit school and help support the family. Not great, but you did what you had to in those days and I think we're headed that way again.

If you are a Christ follower hold on and stay close to God. He will sustain us through these times.

Remember the words of Isaiah in chapter 43(NIV):

1 "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

These are promises we should cling to all the time, but especially in the times ahead.

God bless you and yours and may God bless America!

SNL, the Left Proven Out of Touch AGAIN!

2008-09-22T13:19:00.000-04:00

Well, looks like our friends at Saturday Night Live have once again proven they are yesterday's news. A failed attempt at lampooning the New York Times has backfired on them and brought more condemnation on them and the left.

Have you heard about this? They thought it was funny to joke about Todd Palin having an incestuous relationship with his daughter Bristol, who is pregnant. HAHA! That's just a laugh riot! Can you hear all those knees being slapped out there?

Instead of bringing a lighter note to an otherwise nasty presidential campaign, these lunkheads have brought up a topic that was all but being put to the side by the economy and that is bashing Sarah Palin and her family. Wow, and they call Republicans insensitive!

Can you imagine the moral outrage if, say, Rush Limbaugh did a parody about Obama being a Muslim and beating his wife? Wow, now that's GOT to be funny! Oh, man, the left would have a collective stroke trying to get that out on the internet, tv, cable, print. Arianna Huffington and her henchmen bloggers would be speechless and wouldn't that be a pleasure?

Look, no one, and I mean no one on the right is doing anything like this to Obama. To say the left is innocent (come on it's satire, they'll say), is like saying Islam is a religion of peace.

Let's take a look at the man "who approved this message" and wonder, is this REALLY the judgment and moral character we want in the highest office in our great country?

God bless you and may God bless America!

Obama - Wrong on So Many Issues

2008-09-18T08:28:00.005-04:00

How can someone running for arguably the most powerful political position in the world be so wrong on so many issues? Not only does he lack experience, but Barack Obama lacks judgment and possibly moral character. How else can anyone explain his position on the Born Alive Infants Protection Act that protects babies born alive in an attempted abortion? Plainly put, he voted against legislation with the same wording while he was in the Illinois legislature. He voted AGAINST protecting babies born alive from botched abortions! HELLO is anyone out there?

Here's what was happening in a hospital in Chicago. When babies were born alive after an attempted abortion (apparently abortionists don't get it right 100% of the time, thank God), they were putting the babies in a closet or a room and neglecting them until they died. The hospital staff was going against their oath to save lives and just letting the babies dies with no intervention. Sounds like a warm and fuzzy place, doesn't it? Well, someone wrote legislation to protect these innocent, vulnerable babies from being killed. Mr. Obama voted against protecting live babies from being killed through neglect. HE VOTED AGAINST IT! I guess that was another topic above his pay grade.

Innocent babies left dying and Barack Obama did nothing to protect them. That's the bottom line. How can anyone think that this is the kind of "man" that should be President?

Also, guess who Barack's economic advisors are? Guess. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute. (the theme from Jeopardy is playing right now)

Alright, time is up! And heeeere they arrrrrrrre!

They are three Democrats with close ties to Obama who served as Fannie Mae executives: Franklin Raines, former Clinton administration budget director; James Johnson, former aide to Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale; and Jamie Gorelick, former Clinton administration deputy attorney general.

All three Obama-related executives earned millions in compensation from Fannie Mae.

James Johnson earned $21 million in just his last year at Fannie Mae as CEO. He was there for seven years from 1991 to 1998. Mr. Raines earned $90 million in his five years as Fannie Mae CEO, from 1999 to 2004. Mr.Gorelick earned an about $26 million Vice Chair of Fannie Mae from 1998 to 2003, according to author David Frum, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

All three have been involved in mortgage-related financial scandals.

These people are "advising" Obama. Wow, good judgment Barack!

Check out this article, "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac execs now offering advice to Obama" on WorldNet Daily that details more about this story.

How can one man be so wrong on so many important issues? He's was wrong about the surge in Iraq. He's wrong on protecting babies. He's wrong about energy. He's wrong on the economy. He's worng on protecting this country. He associates with the wrong people. He's wrong for this country.

God bless you and may God bless America!