Necrotizing Fasciitis (Lesion)....NFL

        The necrotizing fasciitis lesion (NFL) that has infected our nation in the past year....originated in the bowels of the Soviet Union's Comintern and was borne westward by the many apparatchiks implanted in our society over the past century....necrotizing fasciitis being the medical term for flesh eating disease.  This is but one of many reasons why Communism must be studied and dissected not only in our educational system from secondary to higher education but in adult reading.....meditation......and prayer. You scoff perhaps? Put the effort in my friends and when you see the horror of the images and how quickly it can spread....you will scoff no more.

        The following preface and post are from the beginning of September. The Politically Incorrect Guide To Communism by Paul Kengor is due out on October 2nd. I'll be at Barnes & Noble (Lord willing) bright and early that morning. Communism works in a nation through sympathetic 'fellow travelers' and dupes. Fellow Travelers espouse the dictates of Communism while dupes are more the 'useful idiots' that Lenin spoke of....this possibly because throughout their schooling and beyond they never had the information given to them on what exactly Communism is....how it plays on the weakness of that very educational system....how it targets certain key areas of the culture (the NFL is one of the latest) and how it turns citizens who once loved their heritage into dupes who seek to destroy it.

        We face a number of enemies in America. Number one on that list of enemies would be Communism. If you don't know this it's because America's educational system has never adequately taught about it and certainly never warned of it, for our educational system was one of the first things that Communism sought to compromise.
         Communism cannot exist for long nor can it take hold in a nation whose God is the LORD. If Christianity weakens in a nation then Communism's potential strengthens proportionally...and vice versa. Donald Trump and 'Make America Great Again' are conservative and patriotic America's attempt to defeat the enemy within. It cannot be achieved in this godless American culture as it exists today!
        Should God move upon us and bring us to repentance, then Communism would be clearly seen as the venomous snake that it is.....lying in the mud as the flood waters of disbelief and fake religion recede. If we can come to see that Communism is our fiercest enemy.....that its power is such that it can tear any nation apart....no matter how strong....whose God is not the Lord.....and until we tearful come to recognize that we are just such a nation.....we will continue to break apart according to the plan of that infernal manifesto.

We Need To Call It What It Is.....Communism

         .......Regnery publishes an ongoing series of books under the general heading of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to..." The format is what sets it apart from typical conservative books. Let me add an anecdote here. Thirty-five years ago I just ambled into a Christian bookstore as my wife was shopping at Penny's. God was at this time just beginning to clear my senses as to seriously considering my relationship to a holy God. There were stirrings going on and it was God's decision that those stirrings would not dissipate but would rise as magma and explode upon my world that I was indeed a hopeless sinner in need of something I had absolutely no ability on my own to acquire.
         I browsed the books, maybe picking up a few, but what caught my attention was a book in outline form. My education in Catholic schools was immersed in the alphanumeric outline. I found it easy to write essays in outline form and even easier to navigate a difficult subject if broken down into whole sentences under a specific topic but separated so as to add significance to each thought. Anyway the book was the Christian apologetic Evidence That Demands A Verdict written by Josh McDowell. It categorized my questions and set in motion a search that changed my life. It's still in print today.
         The Regnery book I'm alluding to is The Politically Incorrect Guide To Communism....and the author is Professor of Political Science Paul Kengor. I've read just about everything that he has authored and highlighted them time and again in these posts of almost nine years...the two most often mentioned being Dupes: How America's Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century. and Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left has Sabotaged Family and Marriage.
         Communism is the enemy that is at the center of just about every attack today upon our nation. It slithers diabolically in amongst the violent protests in our streets, it wakes up Maxine Waters and puts words in her mouth, it demands that Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee be expunged from our society, it's in the water coolers of all mainstream media offices, it matriculated...gained tenure and now chooses its apprentices in higher education, it has molded Colin Kaepernick's mind....took up residence in the White House for sixteen of the past 24 years.....and has even taken over whole 'Christian' denominations!
        This book is needed! The word Leftist that is mostly used does not suffice. Communism itself has seen to it that whenever it is brought up in America that it is to be tempered with McCarthyism....Red Scare....and witch hunt. My hope is that The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism becomes the first book (that I know of) of its kind to break into the bestseller lists. Won't you join me in this attempt to awaken America to that enemy which has been heretofore purposely ignored and even ridiculed? Please consider ordering it today....you'll not  be disappointed....that is should the Lord give us time to continue on the temporal side of defending our nation.

NOTE: You can read my reviews on both of Paul Kengor's books under the August 9th post heading.... Doubly Dangerous.     

*****Warning Breitbart Listeners****

My intention was to move this post quickly over to my humor page but Steve Bannon's drill sergeant quick cadence indoctrination of what used to be a legitimate conservative radio program has altered that. His intention is to run this rapid-fire-elect my guy-don't ask the tough questions about Donald Trump for the next year. Fight back Breitbart listeners or you will be turned into robot before you know what happened! Mr. Bannon just at this moment said to the listeners....almost too fast to understand....'you run the show...you control the tempo'....don't believe it.....you're being herded folks!

          Dear Diary......Today was a very good day in that I may have been set free from two very addictive habits! It began early as I rose and sort of half-stumbled downstairs in the dark. I turned on the Keurig as normal.....put the flag back in its holder just outside our front door......picked up the Communist Daily that is delivered every morning.....and turned on Breitbart News Daily on Sirius/XM channel 125. Oh how I have wished for so long that I could break this habit and actually sleep in. Well tomorrow might be that day.
          Steve Bannon has been back on the show....temporarily he kind of says....along with the British guy who says that he's an atheist but references God a lot. It must be like what falling off the wagon is like. I could feel that political power just shooting through my veins. It was just like the summer of 2016 where I felt like we could do anything in politics!
          But then for some reason he....Steve Bannon.....President Trump's brain before the lobotomy surgery.... said a couple of things that used to sound so good but today sound like the shrill of a barker in a small town carnival....not that there's anything wrong with the shrill of a barker at a small town carnival.....some of my best friends are carnival barkers.....but it's not something that you want to get up at 5:30 in the morning for.
         It's not really the actual words that he said....it's more what was implied.....Breitbart News had defeated the $30 million Washington machine in Alabama. I recognized immediately that something was wrong with that picture. God had given Roy Moore that victory. God puts kings on the throne...and takes them off the throne. He put Barack Obama in the Oval Office and then put Donald Trump there....for His purposes....which may not be our desired purposes! He alone yanked off the half mask from Hillary Clinton....the Phantom Of The Oprah! He put Breitbart where it is at. He causes Rush Limbaugh to rise....and to fall.....and speaking of Rush Limbaugh.....President Trump's personal bail bondsman....that's the second addiction that I may have been set free from.
        You see...addiction is an illness. One often does what one does not want to do. I always turn on Rush Limbaugh even though I know that I may regret it. Well, I really wanted to see what he would say about Roy Moore and Luther Strange. You see he hadn't said anything during the whole controversy. It was embarrassing. Did Donald Trump really endorse Luther Strange or had I just had a nightmare? Would he say anything about President Trump's establishment candidate losing?
       Not only did he address it...he referenced me and apparently a whole lot of others who had been emailing him and asking him why he was not calling President Trump out on this egregious betrayal of campaign promises. He then finally gave us our answer....he had not said anything about Luther Strange because he did not want to appear to influence the election.....he wanted to see how it would turn out without his godlike powers behind one of the candidates! Does he actually expect us to believe this? Unfortunately yes he does....and most probably will.

      Folks...there's a bit of venting in this post...and a little hyperbole....and I'll move it over to my venting (humor) page shortly....but there is a looming problem with Breitbart if they think that we are just going to be patsies for Steve Bannon's plan. To quote Mr Bannon himself...does he think that we are morons? We will see when Alex Marlow returns to hosting the show....if he returns to hosting....if we are still allowed to use our own brains or if we must download Steve Bannon's....as powerful as it could be at times. No...I'll be stubbing my toe again in the darkness of the morning hours.....putting out the flag and getting the paper....and I'll probably tune back into Rush on occasion....but neither have the hold that they once had. This is not necessarily to criticize their efforts....but to admit that the sweet savor of truth and peace comes only from one source....that being the thin....overly highlighted and pencil marked pages of God's Word.
   

......Phil Robertson Saves The Show.......

         There were some problems with the 'live feed' but I did get to see most of the Roy Moore rally in Alabama last night. There were a couple of tremors on the dance floor.....building in intensity. I felt them because I was just sitting in the hay in the corner of the barn like a wallflower.....but most who were up and dancing did not seem to notice.
         Here's the gist of it....Conservative Christian.....not just conservative.....but conservative Christian Roy Moore....is up against establishment elite candidate, and current appointed Senator Luther Strange in today's Alabama election for the seat of Jeff Sessions. Nothing odd here...just a good old-fashioned political dog fight.
         Donald Trump ran against the establishment....but was in Alabama a few days ago trying to get... establishment candidate...  Luther Strange elected. This has been a rumbling tremor since the president endorsed Mitch McConnell's candidate.....a tremor felt by many....but apparently not by all.....certainly not Rush Limbaugh.
         Nigel Farage traveled 4000 miles on a day's notice to Alabama to support President Trump at a Roy Moore rally. Oh he was vocal in support of the man he probably knows little about but his real emphasis was President Trump. That's the second tremor.
         Kingpin tidal wave Steve Bannon followed Nigel Farage. It was obvious to the discerning ear that Bannon's real support in the rally was also for Donald Trump. If Roy Moore wins the runoff election today, he and Mr. Bannon may find themselves at loggerheads on some issues in the future because there is a fundamental difference between the two....and it relates to doing what is right and not just what is of apparent economic nationalistic interest. This is the third tremor.
         Phil Roberson followed Steve Bannon. I think that I've seen two episodes of the Duck program or whatever it is while on vacation. Just a reminder here....we do not get extended cable so I'm unfamiliar with most of the cable hit shows. Robertson's talk was nothing short of profound in his emphasis on the eternal over the temporal. Here's the fourth tremor....as he finished...before he walked off the stage....he said with the most serious of expressions to the crowd......"we better get a godly man in the White House" He paused to let that sink. It was cold water in the face of those who know who Donald Trump really is. Robertson finished with this and walked off the stage...."the Ten Commandments... trump... politics..... pun intended." In my opinion, some in the house were stunned for a moment.

        The following few paragraphs pertain to the direction that Steve Bannon...may be...taking Breitbart since his return to the news organization.

A Note To Steve Bannon:

           Your considerable energies are being expended as I type, I'm sure, on plans to 'primary' establishment Republicans in 2018. If you come to us in any way with the rallying cry that President Trump needs our help in the Congress....we won't be with you. Try this instead....'President Trump doesn't need help....he needs a message.' This president only acts in our favor when he feels that he has to, or when our concerns happen to coincide with his.
            Yes, the primaries are the way to go. The elites need pushed out and the challengers need careful vetting. We were with you in 2016 and will be with you again if you continue as you currently are in endorsing Roy Moore over Donald Trump in Alabama.
          We are simple people Mr. Bannon. We may have a high school education or we may have a PHD but we are normal everyday Americans (albeit from the past) in that what is right is right....and what is wrong is wrong. We won't waver. Give us honesty....your best effort....and a humble reverence and dependence upon God who not only established this nation for His purposes but sustained us, at times with the rod, in our dalliances with the world....and we will follow. Play us for a sucker as Donald Trump has and you are on your own.

           If only our biggest problem was healthcare.....if only our chief concern were Republicans in name only....but these aren't even in the top ten....maybe not in the top 100. We are not only attempting to banish Almighty God....as if that could even be done....we are day by day adding idols and golden calfs of neighboring pagan nations. We should have no sure expectation of reaching this November let alone November 2018....but nonetheless we will try to restore sanity and reverence for God....if necessary right up to the day that a trumpet is heard and...."as lighting comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Colin Kaepernick....You Have Been Duped!

The following post is from last October: 

         NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has determined that he will remain seated during the playing of the national anthem before games because, as he sees it, the anthem honors a country that oppresses black people and people of color. Like so many others, he has been lied to and then bought into that lie. This is the communism that few are concerned about, a communism whose near century long mission has been to destroy our American heritage in order to bring about chaos and pave the way for totalitarianism.
          Black people are not oppressed as Mr. Kaepernick charged. Merriam-Webster defines 'oppress' as "to treat (a person or group of people) in a cruel or unfair way." The more accurate word would be...repressed...."kept under control by force," and this not by America but by those who despise what our flag and our anthem truly represents! This is the crime of today! Colin Kaepernick's outrage is legitimate but misunderstood and misplaced, directed at America where it should be directed at those who are trying to destroy America.
          The reader might object to my statement that blacks are not oppressed in that this young man is black and I am not... shouldn't he have a better understanding of this? On most things...yes...on this issue...no! Blacks at one time were oppressed...to America's great shame. Tens of thousands of Americans died carrying our flag into heavy canister shot to rid us of slavery, and many more worked tirelessly to eliminate Jim Crow laws.
          Mr. Kaepernick....Communism, Progressivism, and all of their dupes of which you are now rubbing elbows with, have repressed black communities for the better part of a century for their own nefarious gain. They lie to you and condescend to you to a despicable degree. They want you to do exactly what you have chosen to do with your actions and comments.  I've been lied to also young man, most recently by the elite establishment types in the Republican Party who try to repress the opinion of anyone who does not buy into their continuous schemes that serve only to perpetuate their power. Oppression is indeed rearing its ugly head but it is directed to anyone, of any color, who refuses to cede to these usurpers all of their God-given rights and constitutional liberties.
        There are hundreds of thousands of marked graves, carefully manicured in our nation, that represent sacrifice against an enemy that you just aided and abetted through your ignorance. There are thousands of unmarked makeshift graves in Europe, and on rocky beaches in the Pacific, and in the dense jungle of Vietnam and rocky terrain of Korea, and many other foreign soils, and thousands more watery graves whose sacrifices represent what you chose to dishonor.      

           Go back to your roots young man, and I'm not referring to Africa. You have the intellect...put it to use! Recalculate your blessings and from whence they came. Consider again your own tattoos and think about adding another...."Romans 12:2"...Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 ....BICYCLING....    

         My wife and I have taken up bicycling. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got outfitted with bikes....helmets....a few other accessories.....and a truck hitch to haul the bikes to various trails. We're going to be newbies on this for a while but bicycling is certainly serving it's intended purpose so far for exercise and enjoyment.
         We found ourselves in Ohio today and shared an interesting experience. Being new to longer bike rides, I have a tendency to pay too much attention to any 'downhills' at the beginning because I know that they will be 'uphills' on the way back. So we both noticed....what we thought was ....a noticeable downgrade at the beginning that seemed to continue for a couple of miles, therefore I expected a workout as we headed back to the truck.
         I was ready to huff and puff a little as we were in the last stretch but it never happened and before I knew it my wife said...."There's the truck!" What happened to the uphills? Now I know that there is a bit of optical illusion involved.....as I said....we're real new to this....but we had a similar experience last weekend on Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod! It appears that being new to bicycling I may be a little overly apprehensive at the beginning of these rides.
         If you have read more than a few of my posts you might expect where I'm going to go from here. I just sat on the bike for a while and pondered the Christian walk. Somewhere in these past posts I remarked that if at the beginning I knew now how hard at times it would be....and how discouraging at other times....I don't know that I would have continued.
         Yes....there may be hills ahead but Isaiah tells us "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." (Is 40:4)  It's not an optical illusion...the hills are there....but there is something illusory involved that God orchestrates. We see through the hills to the glory and majesty of the Lord.....that sustains us....and if we look closely today.....we will also see the coming of the Lord.

...."Not Once Has He Wavered".....

          Roy Moore published an autobiography in 2005, reprinted in 2009, titled So Help Me God. I have a copy of the second printing in my hands and the following are either full blurbs or part of much longer blurbs in endorsement of the book. This is the man who Donald Trump is choosing establishment elite Luther Strange over. Roy Moore is a man who has been fighting on the front lines....in the trenches....for us....for a long time....over 40 years if you include Vietnam....while Donald Trump was buildings casinos.....hobnobbing with Bill and Hillary....and remodeling Mar-a-Lago.

"In the face of all our travails, Americans can take hope that God has given us men like Roy S. Moore." Ann Coulter

"I greatly admire Judge Roy Moore and the courageous stand he has taken to defend the principles in which so many of us believe. He has confronted formidable opposition, but not once has he wavered in his efforts to combat judicial tyranny and to uphold the Judeo-Christian foundation that undergirds our nation's system of government." Dr. James Dobson

"Throughout recorded history, brave men have been called on to stand up and read and take a stand-sometimes for country, sometimes for family, sometimes for the Lord above. Roy Moore is such a man." Zell Miller, former United States Senator from Georgia and the last great Democrat. (if you don't beeve me find a copy of his book...A National Party No More.

"Chief Justice Roy Moore is a proven fighter for his faith and our freedom."Oliver North

"This book is a must-read in order to understand how judicial supremacists have denied our inalienable right to acknowledge God." Phyllis Schlafly

current endorsements in the Alabama Senate race:

"...the election is a chance for staunch conservatives to stand-up to the establishment GOP.." Steve Bannon

"I'm proud to announce the Senate Conservatives Fund's endorsement of Judge Roy Moore... Ken Cuccinelli, President

         Many other prominent conservatives and Tea Party leaders have endorsed this man who President Trump has worked to defeat. Why is this. Well who really knows with Donald Trump. Whatever his real agenda and master plan is he hasn't revealed it to anyone beyond his inner circle of Ivanka and Jared...and maybe a choice gathering of globalist advisers.
         My gut feeling is that Roy Moore is too 'Christian' for Donald Trump. Evangelicals calling down an anointing are OK....they can't hurt anything....but there's too much of that old time religion in this man Moore....Old Rugged Cross....that  kind of thing.....probably has a Bible on his desk. There surely would be problems ahead with him. Better Luther Strange and take the heat.

Monday Morning Briefing....Nope....No Soberness Yet

        OK.....for the sake of setting up this post...I'm a communist. I despise America and hate God. What's my plan? I want all of those deplorable patriots to be totally consumed with defending Donald Trump! I do not want them even close to looking at what is really happening. I want them passionate.....I want their conservative radio hosts defending Trump three hours every show.....I don't want them criticizing this man or these people will start thinking again! I want Christian pastors telling their sheep that are about to be sheared that everything is fine.....and I want Donald Trump......to be Donald Trump.....for that stirs the pot! So I'm very happy right now for that's exactly what's happening.
        So I will encourage my useful idiots that are literally everywhere to make even more outlandish accusations against this president for that keeps the rabble occupied; but as well as this offensive is going one has to watch his flanks, for there are some things happening that concern me. Not all of the conservative talk show hosts are falling in line. That Breitbart guy Marlowe is a big pain in the butt and that Savage character isn't much better. At least their big cheese Limburgher is doing what we want.
        The other flank is of even more concern. Under no circumstances are these Christians to wake up, for if they do then we will be set back another twenty years. It's utterly impossible to fool these people if they're not kept under control. My dupes are of little use here. All I can do is read the Monday morning briefings and hope that there is no evidence of soberness from the previous days church services. This gospel nonsense spreads like wildfire when that breath from who knows where inflames those embers. A whole region can go up in flames in a few weeks, and the entire country before you can do anything about it.
        

Your Deal With Death

         The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) translates the verse this way......"For you said, "We have cut a deal with Death, and we have made an agreement with Sheol..." Most translations prefer the wordage...'made a covenant'...instead of 'cut a deal'...but the essence is the same. Judah made a deal with Egypt....to protect them from Assyria....instead of obeying God and relying on Him!
          A verse that most Christians are aware of immediately follows....."Therefore the Lord GOD said: 'Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, the one who believes will be unshakable'." These verses speak not only to events then...and at a future time...but to the terrors of the unsaved facing God in judgment.
          Israel is then told..."Your deal with Death will be dissolved.....Only terror will cause you to understand the message." Most translations word it as the message causing terror. Either way...the deal wasn't going to work! The big plan for Egypt to save them was going to go bust.
          Everyone is trying to cut deals today. Somewhere in the past I wrote something like this.....Donald Trump thinks that he made a deal with God...'He doesn't step on my toes...I don't step on his'......and we seemed to have signed on to it.  It's going to be pure terror to those who see the fulfillment of what is fifteen verses later...."Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise, storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire. The multitude of all nations going to battle against Ariel-" (Jerusalem)

I Got Mine....Sorry Bout Your Luck

         The great strength of the Progressive Left is that there is no logic or genuine reasoning or common sense involved in their movement. To say that they can be easily led is an understatement. The weakness in the Conservative Right is that there is no single core value to hold it together. There are only core values...plural...that can be and have been brought together to temporarily end the reign of Progressive terror.
         To some of us a core value is the constitution. To others it is, as Steve Bannon would describe it, economic nationalism. To many of us our flag is the hill that we would die on if necessary. Many have been so negatively effected by Obamacare that health care is what drives them. There are more. Each and every individual core value involves logic, genuine reasoning and common sense.
         What we are seeing today....this week to be more specific....may be the beginning of the breakup of the conservative movement leading not to a restoration of Progressivism's reign of terror....but to that beast of the Establishment.
         I just heard....one hour ago....the single most disgusting....and condescending radio interview that I have....maybe ever heard.....and it was on one of conservative talk radio's strongest programs. The issue was health care and the interviewee was Lindsey Graham. The pathetic soft intonation of his voice and the patronizingly constructed phrases meant to have us believe that he is one of us was unnerving in that not only was this conservative talk radio...but part of the best of talk radio.
         The absence of a unifying core value is evident in how we so easily let down our guard. We may use logic, genuine reasoning and common sense but we do so only in defense of our own individual core values. We are willing to see other's values....once brothers in arms... go by the wayside as long as our own values are still addressed. President Trump abandoned his supporters on the immigration issue.....he's abandoned other supporters on their issues.....he is attempting to consolidate what is left with anyone else in the Republican establishment or even Democrat Party....to insure the success of his own personal core value.....himself!

Note: The New York Times is reporting on more leaks intended to humiliate Jeff Sessions. The White House is being forced to deny rumors that we may not leave the Paris Climate Accord. There's a story out of Australia where someone told a TPP participant to "keep a seat warm," implying that we may go back to that. President Trump will give conservatives only what he absolutely has to or what serves his purposes also. Now I hear Trump supporters say things like..."Oh, we knew all along that he wasn't a conservative".....no no no....we told you that. Now we're asking them to at least think through what he is saying before cheering him on so quickly.

"Crushing The Collective"

         We are well familiar with the condition of up to half of America. We see it every day on television and read about it on Breitbart or the Drudge Report. The other half is us. What is inexplicable to many of us in that latter half is how we can continue to give seemingly unconditional support to Donald Trump given who he has turned out to be. The political prognosis as to our liberty is far worse than we thought it to be in November.  
          When a whole people collapses it is often hard to determine the year of its collapse...sometimes even the decade of the collapse. So when was ours? A more appropriate question would be...when as a people did we forget God....in what decade did we officially deny Him?
           I was at Barnes & Noble bright and early last Tuesday for the releases of Crushing The Collective, The Last Chance To Keep America Free And Self-Governed." by Charles W. Sasser. This is my habit on purchasing new books on Communism. I highly recommend it. If your understanding of Communism comes solely from the American education system then you could use this book. As a people we have been taught little to nothing on Communism and what we have been taught is often skewed in favor of Communism. There is a reason and an explanation for this and you can begin your research with this very easy to read and digest book.
           Many have referenced historian Edward Gibbon on reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Mr. Sasser does the same thing in these seventeen reasons as they are shown in his book. Consider them if you will and form your own opinions if they relate to our having forgotten God. Yes, we must continue to try....but unless we first look within ourselves....at our own culpability....even in the church....the very best we can do is restore our hope from this past November....which is really no hope at all without first humbling ourselves before our God and our Creator.

undermining of the dignity and sanctity of home and family

military buildups against enemies outside, when the real decadence was within

a mad craze for pleasure and entertainment

decay of religion and spirituality

weakened people prone to outsourcing their duties to immigrants and barbarian mercenaries

men becoming too effeminate and cowardly to live a tougher, "manly' lifestyle

inflation and all-consuming taxation

a top-heavy expanded bureaucracy

concentrated political power and accompanying corruption

loss of historical traditions

general immorality and sexual perversions

a welfare state

government oppression

redistribution of dwindling wealth

reliance on military power

debasement of currency

failure to provide incentives for intellectual and economic efforts

Rush As Seinfeld...Not That There's Anything Wrong With That

President Trump is not just working with Schumer and Pelosi in order to get his agenda done. He's doing it because he is closer to them to then to us. The agenda is changing! That should be evidence enough.

         I encourage you to take advantage of the public email that Rush Limbaugh provides (ELRushbo@EIBnet.com). I try to put my message in the title. In this way whoever scans the mail might get an idea of where his listeners are really at. For example, my last mail was titled...'Rush, You Are Becoming Irrelevant.' If your concerns are becoming heightened more each and every day would you consider passing these posts on for others to at least consider? I would appreciate it. Thanks.

         Rush Limbaugh's radio program has become Seinfeld redux. It's a show about nothing. Take today's episode for example. 'Jerry' is mad because some people said that he told people on the air not to take Hurricane Irma too seriously. He spent over an hour on that. Then came climate change for the remainder of the second hour. Mixed throughout the three hours were about a half a dozen commercials for Donald Trump.
         You would never know that he's in trouble from listening to him. You can hide those things when you are the whole show. All you have to do is keep ignoring the elephant in the room.....but you can only do that for so long.....and that's where he's at right now. His power for decades was like a Cat5 hurricane. It generated its own power and ate up everything in its path but it's already down to a Cat4 and will not be able to avoid passing over President Donald Trump much longer which will weaken it considerably.
         Rush's mistake was that when Donald Trump showed signs of not really being who he said that he was in the campaign, that he just shrugged it off and swept the evidence under the rug. Jared And Ivanka came in...no big deal. Conservatives were leaving.....no big deal again. The president's tweets were sad....Rush said that they were genius! Trump endorsed establishment Alabama candidate for the Senate Luther Strange and Rush basically ignored it. Week after week and month after month passed where Rush did nothing but defend Donald Trump. The repetition itself was nauseating. Even a little bit of balance on defending the president and holding him to his promises would have kept Rush's credibility intact.
         So how does Rush now return to defending conservative principles? Well actually he can do it because he just ignores his own mistakes.....and acts like they never happened. Whose going to challenge him on enabling Donald Trump for months anyway.....callers? No, he'll steer the eye of the hurricane back over the warm water of conservative ire once again and regain some strength.....and we'll welcome him back to the battlefield....of which he was once led....and of which we never left.

Tell Me Again......Should I Clap Or Boo?

           It was odd enough to make the news.....a late night television talk show host  (these shows are recorded earlier in the day) got a bulletin and reported to his audience that Donald Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey. The crowd cheered. The host scolded them for cheering....they were supposed to be booing, You can't really blame the liberal audience though for they don't do any thinking on their own....and no one had cued them in ahead of time.
           So they are still hyperventilating over President Trump.......why? Donald Trump is no threat to Democrats anymore! Not any more than George H. W. or George W. Bush were. Originally the celebrities sounded like typical communist dupes but now they're more like that television audience that might be able to follow cue cards but not arguments. The Democrat leadership is to blame here. They fashioned this rent-a-circus....at least give them their directions!
            Folks, I at times have wondered if there was some way that we could hold our own unofficial primaries the year before the official presidential primary season starts. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and others could campaign for the conservative vote, The winner would then run against the establishment candidates, which would include Donald Trump, in the official Republican primaries. There's absolutely no way that the elites could choose the nominee in this scenario.
           As much as any future elections are speculated about, and as important as they may turn out to be, President Trump will be challenged on even more important issues, and possibly in the very near future. God causes nation to rise and to fall. He installs leaders for His purposes. In this respect God gave us Donald Trump....but then He also gave us Barack Obama. May He have mercy upon us....for our powers of discernment are often as ineffectual as those who do not even know Him.
         

....The Parched Arid Land We Chose To Live On....

           The above photo is of my hardhat during the run-up to the 2012 campaign. The stickers remained until they wore off....long after the campaign ended. Although there were people at the top of the Conservative movement that encouraged Jim DeMint to run, he chose not to. I was disappointed but I really can't blame him. Even the conservative base, as evidenced in 2016, is difficult to reason with in this modern political culture.
            As strong as the Tea Party and Conservative movements were in 2012 we were not able to discern true strength and integrity nor distinguish between the genuine and the fake. Our strength grew over the next four years but discernment lay dormant, as a cheap imitation of conservatism in Donald Trump lured us over men and women of greater character, wisdom and purpose.      
           Consider if you will the following letter that was published in the Wall Street Journal on November 3, 2010 as an open letter to conservative Republicans who had just been elected to the 2011 Congress with the help of the Senate Conservative Fund that was founded by then South Carolina Senator DeMint. The key words are..."you must now overcome determined party insiders...."
            Congratulations to all the Tea-Party candidates who overcame a determined, partisan opposition to win their elections. The next campaign begins today. Because you must now overcome determined party insiders if this nation is going to be spared from fiscal disaster. Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you here in the first place. The establishment is much more likely to try to buy off your votes than to buy into your limited-government philosophy. Consider what former GOP senator-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott told the Washington Post earlier this year: "As soon as they get here we need to co-opt them."
            Don't let them. Co-option is coercion. Washington operates on a favor-based economy and for every earmark, committee assignment or fancy title that's given, payback is expected in return. The chits come due when the roll call votes begin. This is how big-spending bills that everyone decries in public always manage to pass with just enough votes.
           President Trump has been co-opted. This man of few principles was trapped by his own voluminous ego. He who lived by coercion was himself coerced by even stronger personalities. I've written before that even Jim DeMint could not turn this country around, but what he and others could have done is given us the high ground in this battle....and given us integrity in leadership....which would at least be fertile ground for what we are most in need of.....that is evidenced in this portion of of a resolution for a "day for National prayer and humiliation" that was adopted in the Senate, placed on the desk of President Lincoln, and signed on March 30,1863.

           And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People?

Clever Fiendish Visionary(s)

         Mark Zuckerberg is in a way today's Christopher Columbus as he wants to 'connect' the entire world. Columbus gets the blame for bringing the good but mostly the bad from Europe to the innocent Americas. Zuckerberg gets the credit for his attempt to bring the 'good' to the world that Europe had never reached. It's my opinion yes, but others also see this as Mark Zuckerberg's attempt to bring the social disease of social media to the tiniest hamlets in the furthest reaches of this world
         A recent survey of 50 Nobel laureates (one quarter of living laureates) were asked for their opinion on the 10 greatest threats to mankind. One of them (the laureates were not identified) named Facebook. The British article on this survey added this as a comment...."Mark Zuckerberg's firm knows a truly shocking amount about its users. What would happen if the billionaire decided to go to the dark side? We may find out if his rumored bid to become US President becomes a reality."
         Facebook doesn't have to 'go' to the dark side because that's where it came from. It fed on our narcissism, took our eyes off of where they should be, and its potential to guide this world into oblivion is real. The following is a very recent post and one of many posts over the years on Facebook. This isn't a plea to give up Facebook, it's rather a plea to realize what you are dealing with.

CLEVER FIENDISH VISIONARY(S)    

         Considering where this unfettered technology is going....it doesn't surprise me at all that the San Andreas Fault runs over the western edge of the Silicon Valley....or that Silicon Valley's "playground" is San Fransisco, as author Mike Hoefflinger, "builder, observer" and former Facebook general manager of Intel Inside Programs, describes it in his new book Becoming Facebook, The 10 Challenges That Defined The Company That's Disrupting The World.
         We follow Facebook's explosive growth as we read through the book....more succinctly we observe Mark Zuckerberg meet one challenge after another. The Beatles may be gone but they changed music forever, and the author is quite willing to envision Facebook someday being passed up by other companies and newer ideas but Zuckerberg will always be the man who changed the world....who connected the world.
         As described by the author, Zuckerberg is "inventing the future" along with "a very small group of people who run consumer technology companies that.....create the things we cannot live without." He calls the leaders of these major companies changing the world...."clever-foolish visionary(s)" but what flashed through my mind the moment I saw this was...clever-fiendish visionary(s).
         One might think that chapter after chapter of philosophies developed and challenges met might be dull but the author was successful in avoiding that pitfall. Facebook "mistakes" were not only mentioned but highlighted. It all seems so humble until you realize that the book could not possibly be written without mentioning Mark Zuckerberg's faux pas, for there were so many of them. As a matter of fact this is a running theme in the book.....that one not only cannot be afraid to fail... but if one is not failing....then there must be some kind of problem....for true greatness can come about in no other way but in taking great risks and failing on some.
          At times reading the book was almost like being in the board room or at least in one of the companies all-hands meetings. There was a goal to be met and that goal wasn't just greater numbers....it was actually greater ideas. There seemed to be a fairly open furlong-by-furlong description of the race with competitors......particularly Google. Of course it might be easy to be so open when one is winning.
          We meet a lot of the most important personalities involved in Facebook's rise over the years, none of whom are detailed at length, but all of whom are pieces of a puzzle....but therein is the huge problem with Mark Zuckerberg's goal of connecting the world.....the puzzle....what will it look like when it is finished? Will it be a serene landscape with families of all different ethnicities enjoying together the clover and the sunshine...or will it be one of dystopian metropolitan carnage where the people are connected all right....to Big Brother? My personal belief after years of looking into and being concerned about not only social media but these giant megalithic "consumer technology companies" is the latter.
          The author often gives a warning to us about the tyranny of social media without realizing it. He describes Facebook's NewsFeed in terms of a "meteoric rise," and as "becoming the lens to your world," and this to "Show you the stories that matter most to you." You are probably familiar with the Narcissus myth where the proud Narcissus was led by an enemy to a pool where he fell in love with his own reflection, and remained there, interested only in....the story that mattered most to him....himself....until he died.
          According to Mr. Hoefflinger's book, Facebook noticed this back in 2006 that..."people were clicking through other people's profile's but lack a central, easy way of answering their biggest question: "What's going on?"  They would then "build and launch Facebook's most important feature: NewsFeed.....the search engine of your life....a continuing updated, roughly reverse chronological listing in the middle of your Facebook page of the most important goings-on among the people and things to which you were connected that included status updates, wall posts, photos and people tagged in photos, events, group activities and new connections." The author then noted that it was...."nearly a decade later, delivering over 200 million stories to screens worldwide every minute..."
         "Everything began" relates the author on February 4th, 2004 at Harvard. It quickly spread to Columbia, Stanford and Yale...then Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, MIT, Boston U, New York U., Brown, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Duke, Georgetown,  the University of Virginia, Boston College, Tufts, Northeastern, the University of Illinois, The University of Florida, Wellesley, the University of North Carolina, The University of Michigan, Michigan State,  UCLA, Emory, Tulane and the University of Chicago. Soon after it spread to all U.S. colleges and then it was opened up to the high schools in the U. S. and the U. K. This progression....is in no small way....responsible for the general lack of discernment and knowledge in our citizenry today.
          The mobile transition took Facebook's potential to infinity...and beyond! According to the author "Only four countries with  Internet infrastructures had eluded Facebook's winning pursuits....China...Russia...Japan (and) South Korea," but over the weekend it was reported that Facebook is now attempting another risk venture in China.
           There are no safeguards in place or even really considered as concerns artificial intelligence of which all of these consumer technology companies are heavily invested in. Elon Musk, mentioned often in the book, just a few days ago is reported as describing artificial intelligence as more of a danger than North Korea. This 'connect the whole world' dream so often mentioned by Mark Zuckerberg is described as nothing more than building friendships but I see it more of a fiendishly friendly persuasion in action where everyone is 'persuaded' by one means or another....to want that which they are told to want.
           The author gives us these questions to ponder...."What if instead of messaging just with people, we could message with things? What if over time those things could become as intelligent as people and do work on our behalf. What if a group made up of people and intelligent things could converse and get things done together? What if this kind of messaging supersedes mobile apps the way mobile apps superseded the web?"
           Take that magic carpet ride to the netherworld of artificial intelligence if you want, but if you are a Christian then you might just realize that since there is a demonic world...what would prevent demonic intrusions in artificial intelligence?
   

  TODAY'S PROPHETS

          We have the Bible....the God-breathed very Word of God.....but apparently we have many prophets today who expand upon the Word of God. Now, it takes two to tango so you have to have an individual...man or woman....who either claims to be a prophet or humbly denies this but takes advantage of many other people calling him or her a prophet; and you have to have people who accept that this man or woman is a genuine prophet of God.
          This condition can only come about when the people either forget or never fully understood to begin with that Scripture is neither to be added to or taken away from. There are a lot of natural sources of information that we use with which to navigate this life but all of that information confirms the Word of God and never adds to it.
           So we have a book out now, only the latest, where a man receives...prophesies.....directly from God. These prophesies concern Donald John Trump. The evidence given that they are from God is that this man wrote something down in 2011 where Donald Trump would be God's anointed to restore America to greatness. Donald Trump has since become our president so the prophesy obviously has to be true.
           The book...these prophesies rather....tell us not to worry about all this 'judgement on America' talk...for this is the work of the enemy. The author gives us the following from one of his prophesies...."The Spirit of God says: I will protect America and Israel, for this next president will be a man of his word......this man's word is his bond."
           When I started this book I thought that it would be based entirely on the 'prophesy" from 2011 but that was only the beginning.....for there are many more. The author comes right out and says..."America is not under judgment"....it doesn't get any clearer than that.
           We follow the Trump campaign in 2016 being given a great boost through prayer by those who were motivated by this book. We follow President Trump in the first few months of his administration and are told of God's direct message that...."(President Trump) is designing a dream team to lead our country's future."
           I can't tell you how many books like this that I've read over the years. So many Christians want this type of communication with God. They do this because, although they pour over the words of Scripture looking for messages, they wind up looking beyond those mere words on the pages as if they were not enough.
          If there is genuine prophesy involved in these many books it will be fulfilled prophesy...."and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray." (Matt 24:11)
       

YEAR SIXTEEN

The following from July 3, 2012 wasn't a post...but a preface to a post. I thought that I would bring it back today.....five years later.....and sixteen years to the day of September 11th, 2001:

         I will, Lord willing, put out the flag tomorrow morning, the same thing that I do six days of the week, Sundays being the only day that I won't do this, for I want to give no opportunity for mixing politics, even patriotism, with that special day given to us...The Lord's Day...a gift in the form of a commandment. But that's me. Tomorrow is also Independence Day, I will be remembering but I won't be celebrating for that would be like passengers of the Titanic toasting its christening even as the icy water poured into hold after hold after hold. But that's also me.
         It is a time in America for introspection, for meditation, for repentance and for work...not for celebrating, not now, not as the cracks in our foundation threaten the very integrity of our constitutional republic, not as belief in our creator, our benefactor, our sustainer and our God is held up to ridicule, not as much of the Christian church sits as the British steamship SS Californian, oblivious to the Titanic's distress signals pleading for help.
          I am not alone in giving this clarion call, for it comes from other Americans who have not been distracted by the trivialities of life, and have thus seen the trap door fall open on a Trojan Horse. The warning comes from other Christians who have read of the first temple in Jerusalem that was once filled with the glory of God, and who take no solace in that which is often masked as Christianity today. The warning also comes from Europeans who have already seen their liberty suffocated in the false compassion of multiculturalism. Scoff if you wish but there is ample evidence available to us that we are not what we once were, that our antivirus software has expired, and that our God has given us sign after sign of His displeasure. 

Warnings

         I am not a fan of The Weather Channel because of its political leanings, but I had it on in the background over the weekend as I sat in my living room chair reading and typing these posts, and from what I saw they called this storm in Texas right.
         I don't know any of the personalities on The Weather Channel....couldn't give you a name.....but the main moderator of all the various reporters sloshing around in their rain suits and hoods seemed to keep much of the focus on the Houston area and the potential for serious inland flooding. It caught my attention....why was he emphasizing this so much when a Cat4 was about to hit land on the coast?         What the percentage is of economists and investment professionals I don't know, but they are out there, some are very big names, and they have been warning everyone who will listen that a market crash is coming that one....may be the worst crash ever, and two....there are no fixes available this time around.
        Has anyone heard of Stephen Hawking? I think so. He's is one of the many who in increasing numbers are warning about the extreme potential danger of artificial intelligence.
        Political science professor, author and expert on Communism Paul Kengor has warned Americans in books, numerous articles and interviews for years that Communism is behind much of the upheaval in just about every aspect of our collapsing society and nation.
        Some warnings go unheeded and people wind up suffering. Some warnings go unheeded but nothing happens. There are some warnings that people take seriously and are spared suffering while there are times when when people heed a warning but nothing comes of it. This is all common sense. Ultimately the wise consider legitimate warnings and then make the best decision that they can., while those who are not wise do not consider warnings at all if those warnings might conflict with their plans.
        There is only one source of warnings that we should never doubt nor ignore. It's said that Jeremiah, the 'weeping prophet', warned the people of Judah and Israel for forty years but this description is incomplete for he has been warning readers with at least general principles now for over 2600 years. Isaiah warned and continues to warn...as did Daniel.... Jonah..... Nahum..... Paul.... Peter..... John....and many others.... Jesus Christ has warned us....nations and individuals.....and continues to warn us.....and will continue until He appears in the clouds with His army of angels but by then it will be too late to heed any of His warnings.
   

On The Fox News Web Site....Can You Believe That?

        I had to go a week without Breitbart radio in the morning. I didn't get the shakes but I needed to decompress when we returned from Cape Cod. On the bright side I didn't have to listen to Brother Rush's Traveling Trump Salvation Show for a week. I did have my trusty iPhone and I had to carry my charger with me because I was using it so much. I came across an opinion piece on Fox by a young man named Joshua Rogers. The article was titled 'What Did Jesus say about natural disasters?' I expected a hit piece where Jesus was non-committal on natural disasters...but it wasn't. I had to read it over three times before it set in that Fox published a piece on the front page on God....and it was actually good!
       Now I don't know who this young man is or anything about him but here's what he had to say....he brought to mind a terrible accident near where he lives when a tree fell on a vehicle. His pastor mentioned it from the pulpit with this..."Do you think that kind of thing happened by accident? There's no way." The author grimaced when he heard that but thought about it and was forced to adjust his thinking on the statement. He writes..."Christians like me are more comfortable invoking the idea of God's sovereignty in good times than in bad. And nowhere is that more evident than in natural disasters. We're understandably uncomfortable giving God the credit when it comes to hurricane winds crushing helpless grandmothers in their homes or floods drowning children."
       He then gives us some of our thoughts..."If the winds and waves obey Jesus, why wouldn't he step in and help all those in harm's way." He goes on to quote Scripture with the words of Jesus on a natural disaster mentioned in the New Testament....""(W)hat about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them.....Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish too."
        Here on Fox News web site we actually read about Jesus pointing to a "potential disaster (where he...Jesus) gets to the heart of the issue and focuses on the potential disaster that threatens everyone who ever lived: the day they meet God face to face." Folks...the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actually addressed in the article...on Fox Internet....talk about God's sovereignty!
        The following is the last paragraph of the article....."As we watch the footage of people fighting helplessly in the face of nature's wrath, we should contemplate the day when we will all face God and answer for how we responded to the gift of his Son. On that day, we will only survive the storm if we have already thrown ourselves at the mercy of the only one who can provide the eternal shelter our souls need in this life an the next."
        All of this on Fox News web site! I can only wonder....and hope...if this might be a renewal of something from long ago where the general American public hears....from secular sources (Fox News in this case).....that God is sovereign in all things. This article did not address prayer in and around natural disasters. That wasn't the focus. Prayers are being offered in abundance right now. May God have mercy on us in more ways than one. May he protect our land which is in the middle of a prefect storm...only part of which is weather....and may He wake us up in the process.

Wild Boar On The Loose

         The following post is from March. No clear thinking individual who is honest with himself could have witnessed Donald Trump's utter betrayal on the first Obamacare repeal and  replace scam and easily believe him again. He looked into our eyes and out-and-out lied to us....treating us like plebeian landowners who he was going to buy out in order to build a casino. It was an enormous hint that he was not who he said that he was. Limbaugh, Hannity and some others then let their 'beloved' audiences down by not calling the president out for this....and constantly reminding their listeners of it as the months wore on.
         We screamed as Jared and Ivanka came in while they basically turned a blind eye. They were so smart....and now they look and sound like jilted lovers who put on a brave face with their friends to avoid the embarrassment. Until Donald Trump drops his silly 'God bless whoever' comments and shows actual humility and reverence for the One who looks at him no more than any other king, president or emperor given power for a purpose of which only God Himself knows.....until we see some kind of change.....there is no hope for this man.
        Take what you can get. Plead mercies from God for so foolishly looking for a king and a champion.....and  not bowing before the King of Kings.

Wild Boar On The Loose

         So Donald Trump the Profane threatened with these words a conservative congressman who was only following his conscience "...I'm gonna come after you." This if that congressman does not toe the line and vote for Obamacare Light.... Ryancare.... Trumpcare.... or whatever you want to call it. Aah but he was only joking they say. Friends this was no joke. President Trump will finesse if he can and strong-arm if necessary just as he did in acquiring property and building a tower. Donald Trump doesn't like it when you don't do it his way....and he never forgets! There was indeed a message in that smile. Conservatives had a number of good choices in the primaries, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul being two, yet they showed their immaturity in choosing Donald Trump.
         The butt buddy elites of both parties worried that a President Trump would be a wild boar in the vineyard of their deep state...and we reveled in that thought... but he may turn out to be just a wild boar on the loose everywhere. His model glamorous daughter is moving into the West Wing...where her husband...who has no business being there... already is. He tweets like a teen whose Introduction To Safe Spaces class was cancelled leaving him nothing better to do but either tweet or update his Facebook page.
          Friends, you have been duped....not duped into voting for Donald Trump in the general election....there was no choice in that....but duped into making a champion out of him.....duped into thinking that 'Make America Great Again' has anything to do with the Lordship of Jesus Christ....forgetful that God said to rebellious Israel..."They may build, but I will tear down...," and soothed and massaged by most of today's church that refuses to preach anything but 'peace' when there is none outside of Jesus Christ!

       

Mirror Mirror On The Wall.....

         I've always been a fan of Robert Redford and his films. I tried acting in college...well sort of....I took an acting class at Pitt. I had a scene to work on....not a part....a scene. I was Paul Bratter from Barefoot In The Park. I stood on a stool and talked to the a hole in the skylight. I coulda been a contender but the second half of the class was improvisation. I utterly failed as a snake and gave up acting. Well anyway Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are together in a movie once again. They play two aging people who find each other and get intimate. That's all I know about it. I doubt very much that I'll see it at the theater.
        I bring this topic up because Robert Redford seemingly has had it all in his life. His good looks dominated the silver screen in the 70s. He's well respected in the profession and I'm sure he's rich. I used to dream about being a movie star as a teen. I had it all.....a great imagination.....terrific daydreaming skills....and a magic mirror that showed me what wasn't there.....but I wouldn't trade one day of my life for one day of Mr. Redfords. I wouldn't take the chance that God would stick me there where I would therefore never see the majestic glory and beauty of Jesus Christ and fall before Him in humble praise and adoration. I got food on the table and money in the bank in case the truck's transmission explodes....a wonderful wife and family.....and 67 years of memories.....the bad ones washed in the fountain of grace so as to instruct but not terrify.....and the good ones to recall again and again and again as thank offerings to a merciful and loving Savior who never demanded a screen test for He would direct any and all who came to Him!
      As I type, Frank Sinatra's voice is softly heard in the background on Sirius/XM. The song is My Way. Some of those lyrics are these..."I've lived a life that's full...I've traveled each and every highway...but more, much more than this....I did it my way." Well I did it my way for a long time....those are the bad memories. Thank you Lord that I failed in so many of my goals....for the record will show that truly we are to...."Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many."

In A Nutshell

I was on a college campus again today and usually follow those visits up with a post directed to students:    

        It was a cool evening for late August in Western Pennsylvania. I should add that it was a welcome coolness for it had been a wickedly hot summer that taxed the air-conditioning system to the max. John Miller sat on his patio....idly looking off in the distance as neighbors passed by walking their dogs....while a few bicyclists sped by in multi-colored shirts and helmets....hunched over on their racing bikes....and an occasional cardinal or wren landed for a moment on the white handrail before spotting a perch that was more interesting. Nate thought it an unusual sight. His father was often if not always out on the patio but he was either reading or writing something or at least listening to talk radio.

Nate:  Hey dad. What's up? (Nate noticed that it took his dad about a second for his head to turn. Now a second may not be much time but it was a second that wasn't usually there.)

Mr. Miller:  Nate! Oh...I was just sitting here thinking.

        Nate had a good idea what his dad was thinking about. The two of them had spent a lot of time together over the past year travelling to college campuses. His dad dropped all of his other interests and directed his full attention to this college quest. It would ultimately be Nate's choice on where to matriculate but Mr. Miller did tell him from the get-go that he did reserve the right to veto any school where there were some serious problems. For example...if there was no good church nearby where the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached every week then the college would get the veto. One particular school was binked after Mr. Miller read one copy of the student newspaper because there was far too much sexual innuendo in it. And on yet another, the two of them had travelled 300 miles for a campus visit to an elite school. They were five minutes into the tour when Mr. Miller asked the young guide what the college policy was for girls in a boy's room. The young student guide quickly answered with...."Three days." Nate's dad asked what 'three days' meant and the answer was that a girl could not stay in a boy's room for more than three days for then she would have to be considered a resident. Nothing was said. Nothing had to be said....bink!

Nate: Tomorrows the big day. (he knew that the big day....(Nate's leaving for the college that was his first choice)...was probably on his dad's mind.)

Mr. Miller: Yeah (Nate looked at his dad, for he almost never spoke in one word sentences. He walked out onto the patio and pulled up a chair next to his him)  

Nate: Dad...in a nutshell....any thoughts on how I should schedule my days or anything? (after asking this he knew immediately that his dad never said anything...in a nutshell)
                 
Mr. Miller: In a nutshell?  No....no thoughts....in a nutshell. (they both laughed) Son....OK.....I'll give the nutshell method a try. Maybe it will help. (Mr. Miller looked over at the same male cardinal that had returned....thinking as he took in the wonderful color of one of God's feathered creatures....he looked back to Nate.)

Mr. Miller: Nate...incorporate!. Incorporate quality Bible time into your daily schedule no matter how hard the engineering courses are. Look at it this way....you're going off for four years to read God's Word....and taking some engineering courses to fill in the time. (they both laughed again) Incorporate some current events reading also. Either that or when ....Lord Willing....you graduate....you won't know what's going on in America and your discernment on the news will have atrophied.  And divest....

Nate: Divest?

Mr. Miller: Incorporate and divest Nate. Find a pastime or a sport that can calm you amidst what is going on in the world....and divest yourself of anything that you may enjoy now that might in some way divert you from God's plan for you. (Nate took it all in and did not say anything, for he knew that his dad would let him know when he was done.)

Mr. Miller: One last think son.....sharpen.

Nate: Sharpen?

Mr. Miller: You're going to make new friends.....good friends.....look for those who know and love Jesus Christ....let them sharpen you....and you in turn sharpen them....that's it.

Nate: Incorporate....divest....and sharpen....got it!

Mr. Miller: Oh, and one more thing....text....text your mom and me regularly. (they both laughed again.)

Nate: Incorporate....divest....sharpen....and text.

Mr. Miller: Now you got it!

Three Developments

         Drudge had an article up earlier from The Week magazine written by Jonathan Merritt titled The Rise and fall of the Christian bookstore. The article begins with this...."Back in the 1990s, it seemed that every city and town in America had a strip mall with a Christian bookstore.... But today, these Christian bookstores are a dying breed. Indeed, it seems we are fast approaching an America where this particular brand of religious retailer will be no more than a memory."
         The article went on to describe the tremendous growth of Christian publishing beginning with Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970 which "rocked the marketplace." By 1983 the AP noticed this in an article titled..."Christian books sales are booming." Then came the digital age and according to The Week....major bookstores such as Borders, B. Dalton and Waldenbooks fell by the wayside, while the coup de gras was the "shuttering" of the nation's largest Christian bookstore chain, Family Christian Stores. So far so good as to the accuracy of the article but although the statistics are accurate, the accompanying analysis was not.
         According to that analysis...."the demise of Christian bookstores may actually be good news for Christianity itself." Now I would like to ask you to sit down, of course you are already probably sitting down, before you read the last sentence in the article.
         The Week is a secular source so we cannot expect them to see the real problems within Christianity but we often find that the secular media inadvertently informs us of where the problems are. So what the author envisioned was this....since the   and mortar bookstores will go....so will the "religious kitsch" or the "trinketization of Christianity." Since you will no longer just be able to walk into a Christian bookstore and buy whatever silly book has become a bestseller.....the quality of the writing....the prose.... should improve in order for the literature to sell. Finally.....since Christian bookstores typically sold only books that held to historically accepted biblical truths....one man/one woman marriage for example....."fresh and risky reflections" of Christianity may be the books of the future. Folks, let me interpret this for you.....liberal Christianity will be there to pick up the pieces!
          The following is the last sentence from the article...."These three developments - the purging of religious kitsch, better quality prose, and a greater diversity of ideas - means the loss of retailers is a gain for readers. Hallelujah." I see three different developments....no more Christian bookstores, no more walk-ins like I was in 1982 where it changed my life, and no more Christian stores where a person at least knows that the gospel of Jesus Christ is somewhere on the other side of those glass doors - means that we're in trouble. Maranatha!