We Have Indeed Failed Our Children

 Son...I Failed To Try....2011

          It is my opinion that before this is all over, and by that I mean the Barack Obama era of either a four year or eight year period, he may flee this country. Whether indictments will be part of it or not I don't know but after Americans become aware of the full extent of what this President has done to our nation, to our national and domestic security, of his real intent as opposed to the fictitious constitutional scholar on the covers of Time and Newsweek throughout 2008, and without the media protection that is already starting to crack (I was certainly wrong here!), he will eventually, more likely seek the approval of those outside this country who, although not totally in sync with his anti-colonial spirit of redistribution of wealth, appreciate his larger vision of a ...smaller America and his strong case for a weak America.....
          Having said this ...having given these purely personal opinions, I need to reiterate as I have done consistently in these posts that any of our schemes and all of our schemes, whether they be noble or ignoble, sound or unsound, cleverly devised and painstakingly developed or simply mob induced, will indeed either fail or succeed but not without God's staying hand or lifted hand. We cannot go one way or the other apart from His permission which will ultimately lead to His glory and the benefit of those who trust in Him. 

We Are Failing Our Children....March of 2013

         There are horrendous exceptions of course, there always were and always will be, but a parent's love and protection for a child is a foundation of human society. We cannot say that it is something that elevates us above the animals, for we have all seen heartwarming videos of animals protecting their offspring.
           Those who traveled to America in search of religious liberty and freedom sacrificed greatly for their children... beginning with the voyagers on those three ships...the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery...that weighed anchor at what would become Jamestown in 1607. American parents have not ceased sacrificing since. How many mothers and fathers have worked two and three jobs and gone without even the basic comforts of life in order for their children to survive and someday live in a land of opportunity, with liberties and freedoms, a land that reverenced and trusted in Almighty God... the giver of all that is good? How many gave up their own goals in life for a new goal, the happiness and safety of those children? We've worried about them and prayed for them and taught them everything we thought they needed to know. Need I go on? We did do these things and continue to do them but ultimately we have failed them miserably!
           I'm writing here about the collective whole of American parenting today, specifically as it concerns our children's future. It's an area that we neglected to protect. We didn't think there was a real danger here but America's enemies worked while we slept. They were patient while we sought instant gratification. They grabbed leadership in education while we were more concerned about facilities for the sports teams. They became professors while we became financial advisers. They taught in liberal seminaries and read Rules For Radicals while we golfed and read The Godfather.       They became activists while we watched television. They took over unions while we filled the stadiums and arenas. They allied themselves with every special interest group that voted while we worked on our abs. They cheated while we played by the rules. They lied while we told the truth. They studied the game of chess while we hopped around on a checkerboard shouting out 'King Me!'
           No, we have failed our children! We let others take God out of everything. We'd sooner defend our enemies than the Bible. Our culture is toxic and our reasoning is warped. We believe anything told to us because that's what we have been programmed to do. We reach, as a child in a crib, for every mobile that Silicon Valley extends over us. We will provide our children with any piece of sports equipment they could ever want and chauffeur them anywhere to use it. Their clothing stores have overtaken ours. Then finally we send them off to college to be programmed to function as vassals of what is becoming a malevolent state, congratulating ourselves on a job well done.

Nine Years Today

       Nine years ago today, November 27th 2008, I started these posts. The message has remained the same throughout.....as described in the following post from three years ago:

  .....America, prepare to meet thy God.....there is little difference between the establishment wing, or the the elites of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party, both of which truly serve only the secular ruling class of this world.....America is in the midst of a (globalist) coup....Communism is alive and well.....social media dumbs down an already reality intolerant American mind.....and the American Christian church believes itself to be healthy but it is mistaken.....to Europe and other nations of this world the message has been, if we lose this fight... you lose also.
         As for the Christian posts and message, they can be summarized as.....they don't come any weaker or more unworthy than me.....today is the day for your salvation, not tomorrow......there is no more precious object on this earth, no more valuable possession, than that book gathering dust on the second shelf of your bookcase next to Tom Clancy, Stephen King, Danielle Steel or any one of such authors who you can read forty-five minutes every night before bed.....and.... the majesty, the power and the glory of Jesus Christ is such that the closer you get, the more you know your need of Him as both Lord and Savior, the more you see His righteous judgment, the more thankful you are for His mercy, and the more fleeting this world and its baubles appear!

Note: George W. Bush is a globalist who would rather have seen Hillary Rodham Clinton president than Donald Trump. It hardly gets worse than that....but unlike most conservative pundits, I will not backtrack on supporting him on Iraq! Etched in that collage in my memory on 9/11 is the photos of people leaping off the World Trade Center....I remember one couple holding hands....I remember another man upside down and as if at peace with what was happening. I won't forget "Let's Roll!' Saddam Hussein supported terrorism and he therefore was as good a place to start in defending America as any. I won't ever tell an Iraq or Afghanistan vet that their efforts were in vain as I won't ever tell a Vietnam vet that. I cringe and sometimes shudder when I see an American official playing up to a communist Vietnamese tyrant with the communist flag or bust of Ho Chi Minh in the background....and the same goes with Mao in Red China who helped arm the Viet Cong and NVA....of which we conveniently seem to have forgotten.  Hey...but that's just me.

Seven Lean Cows

         It remains my second favorite film of all time.....the 1999 adaptation of Terence's Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy directed by David Mamet.....a short summary of which is....a London banker's son is accused of petty theft while at the national naval academy and expelled, precipitating his family's all-out defense in the Parliament and national media.
         The film begins as the family.....minus the fourteen year old son.....returns from church in this Edwardian England. The dismissal of the boy is not known yet. The stately father is commenting on the sermon as they enter their home....he seems profoundly interested in the sermon topic of Pharaoh's Dreams in Genesis 41 where....in the first....seven healthy cows are observed....followed by seven ugly and gaunt cows who appear and devour the healthy cows. The scene is then repeated in the second dream with seven good heads of grain being devoured by seven withered heads of grain. The meaning of this of course is that God...through Joseph...is informing Pharaoh that there will be seven good years to prepare for seven years of famine.
          As the film progresses the Winslow family sticks together as they suffer financially and even in their personal lives in support of the youngest son. We have had, here in America, adequate time to prepare for what we have brought upon ourselves. We of course did not prepare....and will be as the Winslow family where paintings and furniture slowly disappear....and difficult personal times accompany their defense of what is right.
          If your heart seems to stop for a moment every time a new abomination envelops our nation....as it does mine....you might consider preparing for what is ahead as did Pharaoh as he believed Joseph. Some possibilities might be to purchase that needed and dependable vehicle now instead of later after your 401k is hard hit. Another might be to take the advice of most financial advisers and put some gold in your portfolio. It is very possible....some believe even probable....that the government....whatever government this is that replaced that of the Founders....will feel forced to limit your money withdrawals when financial catastrophes hit. Live like the Floridian who is always prepared for a major hurricane to take their power, food and water away for weeks if not months. You might accumulate items that could be used for barter.
           You may think that this kind of thinking is a lack of faith in God but it is rather the opposite....it is faith that the Word of God is true. Do we not live as in the days of Noah? Has violence not overcome us as a nation? Are there not false teachers everywhere? Are we not as scoffers saying...."Where is the promise of his coming?" We surely don't really believe in Noah's flood so how can we take seriously God's judgment on the world....at any time?
          Spiritual preparation is far more important than physical preparation but both are scriptural and therefore to be heeded. Peter.....who wrote the above verse.....finished his 2nd Epistle with these words...."You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
   

----This Is Us Without God------

         What is happening on various issues in the media across America at this time is a form of vigilantism and if it goes on may draw harrowingly close to a Kristallnacht mentality! In the animal world it would be similar to sharks who smell blood or a wolf pack surrounding a lone outdoorsman. It is a most base form of political correctness that often breeds violence....and folks.....it is right at our doorstep.
         Hatred for Jews was certainly nothing new but rampant in Germany in November of 1938. All that was needed was a spark. That spark was provided by a German-born Polish Jew who brought his own retribution for persecution of Jews upon a Nazi diplomat in Paris. The immediate response was attacks on Jews in Germany that began on the 9th of November and lasted for two days. They were carried out by Nazi Brownshirt paramilitary forces....and civilians. These wolves rampaged throughout the country smashing the windows of Jewish stores, homes and synagogues while ransacking the same. So it became known also as The Night of Broken Glass. Meanwhile Hitler instructed that spontaneous demonstrations should not be stopped by authorities.
         The government wanted a monetary reimbursement for the attack on the diplomat. How? Roughly 20% of Jewish properties were confiscated. And as for any insurance monies due those whose property was damaged in the attacks....the money was paid....but to the government.
         What surprised the Nazis was that much of the German public disapproved of the vigilante attacks as did many governments all around the world but social and political persecution had now moved on to physical attacks....and we all know what was to come.
         So here we are in America where one has to watch very carefully what one says. One spark and the mobs will be on the move. In fact we have already seen evidences of this while Barack Obama was president. With Donald Trump one would expect that the government would do everything it could to protect citizens but the government cannot stop what so many deluded citizens consider righteous indignation, and the media is more than willing to report it as such.
          When there is no law there must be chaos. America has always been known as a nation of people who had shown extreme precision in forming their government along with their constitution and who....painfully slow at times....ultimately resorted to doing what was right...what was lawful...and what was of logic and common sense. Did Churchill actually say it? Who knows...but it's quoted often enough...."America will always do the right thing.....after everything else has been exhausted." Whether he said it or not it has always been true.....until possibly today.
           Our thinking processes have been drastically altered in this postmodern age. Einstein once said..."It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." Well there's an understatement of humility there but probably truth as well. We do not stay with problems anymore. Whether it is Confederate statues or illegal immigration or politics....and most certainly religion.....we find it tedious to study.
          Our powers of reason have atrophied and the result has been.....well it has been things like CNN....and unfortunately it has been Donald Trump. You see both sides suffer from this malady. When the 'good' side atrophies.....President Trump being the good side of this mess.....you linger on making the same mistakes. When the bad side atrophies......you get Krystallnachts....and worse.
          Gone With The Wind depicts it well. Many people in the South wanted war and when it was declared they celebrated. Have you watched Gone With The Wind lately?  The scene of the dead and dying neatly placed as far as you can see on the broad Atlanta avenue alone is worth the effort. Is it still permissible to own a copy in this politically correct age?

         This is what we wanted. We wanted God out of our lives. At best we would give Him a couple of hours Sunday morning before the game starts. He accommodated our desires. His protective hand is now off of us. What you are seeing every day in the news.....from the mainstream media to impeachment talk......from 'opposition research' to Deep State leaks.....from celebrities to sports.....from North Korea to Iran.....from Wall Street to Broadway to the lobbyists on K Street....from artificial intelligence to virtual reality....from pablum pulpits to late night TV....this is what we wanted....or rather this is us without God.....and it will only get worse until we punctuate... and dwell on....and saturate with tears......"Our Father who art in Heaven.....Hallowed be Thy name.....Thy Kingdom Come....Thy will be done.........."

       

Sons Of Korah

          I am reading in the Psalms just about every day. I was talking to a former pastor recently who I don't get to see very often. He's my age but has been a missionary or a pastor his entire adult life. He's preached extensively on the Psalms....he's written on the Psalms....his life is the Psalms. I told him that it took me over thirty years....of my Christian life.... to find the Psalms....as if the pages in my Bible had been sticking together.
         We all know the story of Korah's rebellion. He didn't like the job that his people were given....carrying these temple things on their shoulders every time the people moved on. There was no union at the time. He got together with a few other people who were also stuck in the same old job and they protested.
         They had no idea the great honor they had in carrying the holy vessels...vessels under wrap so that they couldn't even touch them. God took this protest very seriously and Moses told everyone to back away from the Korahites.....that the earth was going to open up and swallow them. Well, we know about the rebellion of Korah......and what happened....the earth indeed opened and they were swallowed up; so how did the Sons of Korah later get to not only compose a number of the Psalms but been given some of the most beautiful inspired words of worship to put on parchment and to sing?
         God opened up the earth but sons of Korah were not swallowed up. Seven generations later Samuel was born....a Korahite.....and later the Sons of Korah.....as they were known....were given responsibilities once again, this time with the temple itself. God is merciful and did not apply the sin of the fathers onto the children.
         Well...the fathers have greatly rebelled in America.....I'm one of them. Hey, I'm a Boomer...part of the 60s generation.....technically maybe we weren't the first but we sure set this series of calamities in motion. We were groovy man.....can you dig it? We gave you the Beatles and the Stones and meditation and  drugs and protests and free love (but the divorce lawyers aren't free) and the Weathermen (who gave us Obama) and Watergate (that gave us Hillary) and the Watusi (that gave us Disco)...Ok.... I'm stretching it a little on that.
         I challenge any generation to claim more blame than us for Al Franken and Nancy Pelosi.....for Colin Kaepernick and O. J. Simpson....for Michael Moore and Mika or whatever her name is....for higher education as it is today and fake journalism. The earth has opened up and swallowed us....and took our heritage down with us.....along with prayer in schools.....and marriage.....and about 50 million preborn babies.
         If you are in college.....or recently graduated.....or even in high school.....you don't have to follow us in our rebellion. God won't hold it against you for what we did.....unless you do the same thing. So why not start reading the Psalms .....particularly those written by the Sons of Korah?

Psalms 42 through 49...84...85...87...and 88.

Conversation

          I'm not a hugger. Oh I'll hug to play along but it doesn't come easily....unless I have some kind of strong bond with the person....then I probably overhug.....but those occasions are rare. I'm definitely not a kisser. Unfortunately I'm not even a good hand-shaker. There's something about these forms of endearment that by overuse seem to have lost their meaning.
          What has happened to conversation. Even conservative talk radio, with a few exceptions, is losing it's essence. Not often is the listener encouraged to think on their own....but rather programmed....'this is how you respond when they say this.' I've developed a troubling habit over the past few years.  My wife and I might be talking to a couple that we just met and somewhere in the....conversation....I'll say that I generally only talk about politics and religion. Now I don't just talk about politics and religion but that's my inept way of informing them that I generally like to talk about serious things. Folks, this type of behavior doesn't encourage anyone to say....well come on over sometime for tea and crumpets....but the alternative can be an evening of wasted time and no opportunities.
          Rolling the dice and hopping a little figure space by space over a game board is a tough night. Every once in while I get hooked into it. There is one game that I love to play. If you have been a Christian for many years you would remember it. It's called The UnGame. Yes there's a die and yes you hop something or other around but it's just an excuse to pick up a card and answer it. "When were you most frightened in your life?"....might be one question. "Tell us about your high school years" might be another. There's nothing I have found that is more effective in encouraging people to open up than this game. The key....besides the personal nature of the question....is that the person answering a question is up....they don't have to fight for time.....they don't have to talk fast or over anyone.....everyone else's job is simply to listen.
           Let me give you an example. This was from around twenty-five or thirty years ago. An industrial workplace....a power plant to be specific....a dozen men sitting around. The talk is sports or sex jokes or cars...something like that. I brought out this game. We didn't have time to roll dice or anything but I passed these cards around. Now half of us are covered with coal dust and the other half have splotches of lime slurry all over them. Three day beards....belching....and worse....not exactly the audience of Wheel Of Fortune. These men opened up. I did this on a few occasions over the years with the same results.
          Genuine conversation! No football game can compare to this! Pauses....speaking slowly at times to choose the right words.....posing ideas to be pondered.....not being afraid to express doubt or uncertainty....these are the things that build trust....that end with a legitimate handshake.
          I like to look into people's eyes....not a stare....not for minutes at a time....but long enough to try to see what's behind those eyes. Friendships don't come easy with habits like this but they come deeper. We are a society that no longer can converse. We are walled up in our own insecurities....bordered by politically correct rules. Don't let the laughter and fast talking fool you.
          Facebook is the absolute worst thing that could have happened to America. Twitter is a plague in itself. The comment section on news articles can be disturbing. Sermons are too often little Toastmaster exercises. Bible studies can become quicksand. I hadn't played chess in a while. Tonight I booted up computer chess on the Internet....first time I did this...level two came up out of ten levels....I played and won. It was enjoyable but if I were to develop a hobby here....and never moved above level two....well nothing would be learned.....no improvement had. Open that Bible up yourself....just you and God. What does this mean God? I don't understand this Lord. Read it again and again. I'm not saying that instruction is not necessary, for it is, but your not getting an answer if there was no question to begin with.....you won't look for something that was not lost.....and you will not treasure something as much as that which you searched for.
     

...... Bye...Bye...Miss American Pie

          Folks, I suggest that you might pay attention to the dynamics of what is going on in the Alabama special election for a senate seat, instead of only the details, for in the dynamics there may be a sneak preview to a time that the Bible calls....tribulation. Here are those dynamics....the Progressive Left has championed a sexually free society for a century....spawning one abomination after another that hurt children....hurt teens....hurt women....and hurt families.....all this along the lines of Soviet interpretations of man free from belief in God.
          Yet they have moral outrage at accusations of what a certain conservative....a very dangerous conservative.... may or may not have done 40 years ago......accusations that pale in comparison to testimonies under oath by women who accused a sitting United States president.......yet the president in question remained a hero.....to the people appalled at the alleged conduct of a man 40 years ago who has by all accounts led an honorable life since then.
          Republicans......who consistently over half a century have done next to nothing defending the children of America against every child predator peddling violent games.....drugs....rebellion to parents and much more....who rarely speak out with any kind of determination.....have chosen the one time that they do speak out with determination....to be against the man who may or may not have done something wrong 40 years ago.....but who has led an exemplary life since then. These republicans work in a pig sty of dishonesty but are outraged by the scuff marks on the penny loafers...stored in a box...in the attic...for forty years ...of a man who has lived an exemplary life since putting that show box in the attic....if not before.
         Conservatives flee every battle.....deathly afraid that they might not be reelected and actually have to pay for their own health care.  They ignore the blood and guts on the boots of those in Congress with them who serve our children up on a platter to be nibbled on as a chicken wing before cast into the nearest waste basket. The vigilantism we are seeing everywhere in America....combined with a vicious hatred for God....combined with usurped powers and a mob mentality.....is a sickness that has Krystallnacht written all over it. Be ye forewarned! Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.     
           Politics has become a curse to Christians. It has so overwhelmed governance of our nation that there is in essence no governance to speak of. Chaos is everywhere. Is your mind in chaos....or can you see what is happening and therefore with extreme soberness fix your gaze on Jesus...."the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
          The 'joy' spoken of here is you...it is what Jesus accomplished in your redemption.....but our own joy of late.....has been in politics.....and it has let us down with a resounding thud! Whereas it should be...."In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in  praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
         They will hate you for this that you believe....you should see that by now. There is a verse from Proverbs that we might want to reacquaint ourselves with....24:16...."though a righteous man falls seven times, he will get up, but the wicked will stumble into ruin."  God's hand is off of the United States of America. He will judge our schemes. It is His opinion that we should be concerned with.....not the media's....His favor that we should seek.....not the electorate's.....and His counsel that we should follow.

The American People Have Fallen

          Half of America now despises God and makes a mockery of everything good. We have 535 men and women serving in our Congress and maybe forty at most are worthy of the title The Honorable that often precedes their name. Washington and Jefferson and Franklin....Lincoln and Kennedy and Reagan....are names from a country that no longer exists. Why do I say this? Just about every Democrat member and most Republican members have....for whatever reason.....whether it be pure stupidity or political ambition....at the very least looked the other way while our enemies have ravaged us....pillaged our heritage....and left us defenseless. The word honorable has no place with public servants such as this. Talk sweetly to the television cameras all you want.....pretend to be for minorities and women and the dispossessed and fatherless....you have stood by in the face of a mountain of evidence that subversive ideologies planned our collapse by giving us the very America that we have today.....and you did nothing.
          Folks.....friends....the American people have fallen.....there is no American mind anymore. Read Drudge and pick a news article....almost any article....you might then wonder...."how could this happen"......read five more....."what's going on here....is this stuff made up""......read five more...."Oh God what has happened to us?" If you had done this for a few years you might more accurately see the extent of our problem. If you read the Old Testament prophets and the warnings of Jesus and the words of John and Peter and Paul you might see all that is happening as judgment!
   

Alice Cooper Too?

         If you are anywhere near my age....and still have your memory....these names are very very familiar.....Charles Colson....John Dean....John Ehrlichman.....H. R. (Bob) Haldeman....Jeb Magruder....G. Gordon Liddy....E. Howard Hunt....and their are many more. It was Watergate. How many 'gates' have we had since then?
         Colson was known as President Nixon's 'hatchet man.' He was probably pretty despicable. He served seven years (seven months-saw this mistake-sorry) in prison for obstruction of justice. The last thirty years of his life he was one of the most respected men in Washington....maybe grudgingly at times.....but still respected as an honest man. How did this happen in the swamp?
         I probably first heard the term 'born again' in 1976. I voted for Jimmy Carter.....read his book 'Why Not The Best'.....shook his hand. I don't think that I even was interested in what this 'born again' stuff was.....not until 1982.....when I was....born again.
        Charles Colson was given a copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.....who died on the very same day of John Kennedy's assassination by the way....and through various means was confronted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.....and his own sins.....and was.....born again.....and wrote a book by that title.....that I read....after I was born again. He served his time.....reentered society and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ until his death in 2012.
     So what is this...born again stuff? Well, it's not...'stuff.' It is God regenerating a soul.....at His discretion alone....that soul then believes what it has heard in the Gospel of Jesus Christ....believes unto salvation....and is born again.....whereas before being regenerated could not believe unto salvation.....it could only assent to what it had heard. This is why one must search and inquire of God and pray and cling to the robe of Christ until one fully understands.....not how....or even why.....but that one has been born again.
          I'm watching a Christian singer at the piano on Christian television as I type. I had the channel on for no particular reason.....but the beautiful musical compositions caused me to look up....and into the eyes of the woman singer.....she is blind.....and I am humbled beyond what I can express here.
          We have so many theological....doctrinal differences between us....other Christians and myself....and at times we disagree....I don't know about them but I won't let up.....because this is not rocket science......it's words on a page. It has to be worked at but the problem is not in its complexity but in the interference from personal biases. So we'll work at this....until our days are over....or the Lord returns in power and glory....for we share something that can never be undone....we are all born again. We know that we know that we know. We rejoice in the same Savior. We don't just assent....we had our eyes opened....just like this wonderful Christian singer.....whose vision is greater than 90% of this world's people.
          So Charles Colson....this singer Ginny Owens....Jim DeMint....Billy Graham....Martin Luther....Alice Cooper (AKA Vincent Furnier).....Eric Liddell....I'm purposely picking an odd assortment of names the oddest of which is Special Dog.....we are all or all of us had been born again....and we all call to you.....come to Jesus....open your Bible....ask of Him.....He turns no one away!
          Consider this....it will not fail....if you have not been born again.....and you come to be born again....the first thing you will do.....no.....the third thing....the first thing is that you will praise our Savior with every ounce of your being....the second things is that you will value your Bible as the world's greatest treasure that it is.....the third thing is that you will go to whom you love.....to anyone really.....and look for some opportunity......like I do in these posts.....to relay to them what Jesus said to Nicodemus...."....you must be born again."

Note: One particular dictionary gives two primary meanings for the verb 'must,' In the first it mentions the word...necessity. Therefore one might say.....'I must be born again to be a Christian" as in there is a necessity to be born again to be a Christian, In the second it mentions the word...likely. Therefore one might say...."I must be born again......for I am a Christian" as in....I am "logically very likely" born again since I am is a Christian.  I implore of you not to rely on the second definition.....and to search the Scriptures.

God Did Not Commission....Make America Great Again

As the 2016 presidential election started to gain momentum many Americans were as near to turning back to God as they have been in a long time while Christians were starting to fall on their knees in anticipation of another America despising president. And then along came Donald Trump and our humility dissipated in the chants of USA....USA....USA. We can still rejoice in the win last November 8th but only in that Hillary Clinton, whose conscience is obviously seared in her pagan religiosity, is not our Commander in Chief, while Donald Trump may yet someday realize that he is but a man who stands in judgment from God. As for America overall....we have not changed one iota for the better since March of 2016:

           I understand completely where they are coming from.....Sean Hannity....Mark Levin.....Rush Limbaugh.....all of them. I've written almost nine years of posts expressing the very same opinions....only with a qualifier. What I'm referring to are all the comments on America being the greatest nation that ever existed. The Left attacks anything patriotic....the National Anthem being the latest.....and we come to America's defense......and rightly so considering it is our very heritage that they are attacking.
          The following post should make it very clear why we shouldn't be bragging right now about how great America is. If that's what one wants to do then go for it. As for me....I'd rather give credit to those who earned it......and not try to get any of it for myself. One shouldn't confuse segments in America that surely do exhibit the same traits of a once great America.....our military for example....with America as a whole today. One last thing....is this how we pray...."Oh God.....protect this great country of ours"....when our prayer should be...."Oh God....have mercy on us....for we have departed from our heritage....from your blessings....trampled your Word to us....sought our own glory......and deserve that you give us over to the hands of our enemies."

God Did not Commission....'Make America Great Again'.......March 2016

         We have legally killed nearing sixty million babies in the womb since 1973. Nearly half of the American public celebrates this....celebrates! And you do not think that God will judge America?
         The homosexual agenda began its final blitzkrieg within the past decade and has succeeded in legalizing...which is in effect endorsing....marriage between a man and a man...and a woman and a woman.....which is also in effect officially invalidating and rejecting God and the Bible. Our children are  slowly being forced to accept this. And you do not think that God's patience is at an end?
         We have long ago given up our children to what once was referred to as Madison Avenue. In other words nameless people and peopleless corporations are free to raid our youth with the selling of their merchandise that not only subjugates them but indoctrinates them. And you do not think that God's warnings are literal?
         We now educate solely to provide employees for the ultra rich to become even richer. Whole generations of beautiful young minds have been devastated in our Deweyite educational system while we are ignorant of what has transpired concerning these the children that we...love....nor are we particularly interested in researching what happened.
         Communism played upon our lack of discernment and vigilance and not only moved into positions of power in our government, culminating in the Oval Office, and our culture, but were successful in causing ridicule to be heaped upon anyone who was discerning enough to know what happened and actually warn others. And you say that you are a patriot?
         This almost other-worldly globalist species of multi-billionaires may be about to finally get their one-world government, which should be an alarm to anyone who reads their Bible, and yet we laugh at those who actually believe that the return of Jesus Christ in power, judgment and glory is near?
         We are falling-down drunk in our entertainments, drugging our children so as not to disturb our buzz, but our supposed passionate cause for mankind is demonstrated in things like making sure that no one drinks a 32 oz Coke. And we consider ourselves wise?
         The America loving immigrant seeking only freedom and liberty, who has blessed our nation since its founding and continues to bless it, is being replaced with many America hating illegal immigrants and yet we fight to give them the right to take what they want, regardless of who has to pay for it... and we actually thus think ourselves compassionate?
         Violence is now our calling card in America but the words of Jesus describes just such a time as in the days of Noah as being what the world will be like upon His return, yet we adamantly refuse to even consider such nonsense as we perceive it to be?
         The earth is increasingly quaking and the heavens becoming more decipherable in their penetrations of our atmosphere yet we will not put two and two together and consider that God directs the movements of His creation and thus provides an explanation on some of the passages in Revelation.
         Our politicians....on the whole...dubiously referred to as leaders....have not an ounce of the wisdom that our Founding Fathers had whom we now accuse of being racists. Many of these people, you know who they are for their names are in what is called the 'news' every day, are judgements on us from God, aberrations of what was once called the liberal mind.
         Our financial industrial complex, as I heard one commentator put it, is choking on greed from its commissions, to its unsavory practices, to its refusal to amend its ways, and thus risks everyone's retirement but their own.
         Our shepherds.....aka pastors....most of the better ones of whom are soundly asleep as to the nearness of Christ while the rest haven't a clue of the gospel... the proclamation of which they claim as their vocation... yet we think that our churches are doing quite well thank you.
         Technology has stepped over the line of common sense, propriety and decency. The future of mankind is in jeopardy of being overrun by the most hideous creations of robotic and artificial intelligence, yet we actually consider this to be some sort of progress?
         In essence, things that are good are now called bad....and things that are bad are now called good. Those who proudly sign on to this rebellion against God are quite satisfied while those of us who know that this is not right refuse to accept any culpability in what we have become and have placed our trust, not in God, but in a man who according to his own admission doesn't want to "bring God into (the) picture."
         Quite Frankly...God has not sanctioned this 'Make America Great Again' being led by Donald Trump. We did not even consult God beforehand on this. He has not commissioned this president....we alone have done this. We will fail just as the Israelites failed when they entered into battle without God's approbation. This is not to say that we should not have voted as we did or attempt the changes that we do. It is rather a clarion call to this man and those around him, to others in America, to us, and to me, to proclaim with every fiber of our being that we have erred, that we have not sought God's direction, that we have not admitted our own culpability, that we are utterly undone, and then to look to Him who holds every molecule in this universe together and implore of Him undeserved mercy...forgiveness... wisdom and strength...and this entirely for the glory of His name alone of which we have heretofore grossly presumed upon and trampled, and resolve from this moment on to call upon Jesus Christ...our Redeemer, our King, our Fortress as our only refuge.

"So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. (

Aaaah Bach

The following preface is one year old. It's now been over thirteen months since I retired.....35 million 337, 600 seconds.....not that I'm counting. My new job is a buyer.....not with a company or anything like that.....I just go out every day and buy something. I had a conversation today with one of the clerks at Barnes & Noble. He probably sees me more than he sees his wife. We both lamented how if we see a book we have to buy it. He said..."Yeah but I work here at Barnes & Noble." I responded....." Yeah, but I live here!"  I did though throw myself into these posts since retirement.....up at 6 AM listening to Breitbart and typing and reading.....and it's now 1:30 AM. ... and I only bought three books today.

Aaaaah Bach!

         I retired six weeks ago...or was it six years ago....no, it was six weeks ago. "I think that I shall never see...A poem lovely as a tree".... I relay this verse not because I love poetry....although I used to be Rod McKuen's biggest fan...but because had I not at least two weeks of raking leaves so far I may have gone crazy. By the way...did you know that Joyce Kilmer was a guy....Joyce was his middle name as his first name was Alfred. Alfred? I guess I don't blame him.  Anyway, in desperation for things to do I have recently thrown myself into Bach as a last resort! My mini-boom is at my ear as I type. I don't know fugue from fudge but I must say these tunes are every bit as good as everyone has always said.
         I write semifacetiously here. I do know the difference between fugue and fudge. I just prefer fudge. And I have indeed 'thrown myself' somewhat into Bach. And his music is as wonderful as it is acclaimed to be. The following is part of a post from 2010. The last paragraph is the key. We can throw ourselves into many things...politics....fitness....and music... there are important responsibilities and wise pastimes  and good deeds and enjoyments....but there is only one thing that should be all-consuming....only one thing that is  'living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning (of) the thoughts and intentions of the heart.' (Hebrews 4:12)

Aaaah Tabletalk!

         There was a movie a few decades ago, a comedy, where a man was trying to impress a young lady who was very cultured. Advice given to him was that if the topic of classical music came up, just say Aaaah...Bach and that may get him by. If Old English Heroic Epic Poetry is ever brought up to me in a conversation, I may just say Aaaah...Beowulf.  I read Beowulf in high school. It was a great learning experience. I learned how to read thousands of words straight through and not understand a single thought they conveyed.
         I once held a fancy for a young lady in college who was very cultured, in fact she taught Theater Arts 101 as a grad student. This may have been the beginning of my actually... studying....for I signed up for the class and devoured the textbook to impress her. I even took an acting class and went to plays....Aaaah...Moliere!  The peak of my impressing her was when I cleared up a long standing mystery at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. We were working there for a few weeks, actually just rummaging through the stored old materials of the historic Playhouse for anything that the Pitt library's Special Collections could use. During a tour of the building I correctly identified King Edward VIII out of a dozen characters in an old Al Hirschfeld caricature mural, an answer that had up to then eluded everyone...even the director. This young lady looked at me in amazement and said..."You're Smart!" But alas, I'm not cultured. I guessed correctly for I knew it was either the king, later the Duke Of Windsor, or Dagwood Bumstead....Aaaah Blondie!  I'd rather go to a Three Stooges marathon than a ballet. I read everything I had to through high school, but I didn't really read it. But I've since had a metamorphosis, Aaaah...Kafka!  
         Reformed theologian, pastor and teacher R. C. Sproul, through his Ligonier Ministries, publishes a monthly devotional/Bible study called Tabletalk, the name taken from Martin Luther's work of the same title. This booklet comes to our house early so I'm usually a little bit ahead of schedule. Today I was reading the July 15th offering and the Bible verse to be considered was Joshua 1:8.... This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous....       

Note: Ligonier.org offers three months of this great magazine Tabletalk....free...just for asking.
     

Consider Micah

The following post is from August of 2016"

Consider Micah

          Would you be interested in partaking in a little biblical meditative exercise? Before I explain it let me give you a preface: I've written a number of posts over the years on two small books of the Old Testament....Jonah and Nahum...and always in this context....Jonah was told by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and give them a warning that would extend for 40 days....repent or be judged. Nineveh repented....and Jonah wasn't particularly happy about it. Possibly 150 years later another prophet addressed Nineveh....Nahum. God gave him no warning to give....only a declaration of impending judgment. My point is that this whole process of warnings and then prophesied judgment took well over a century as God was very patient. We need to understand this as it relates to the warnings God has been giving to America for a long time! This is not a sign of His failure or inability to keep His promises, it's a sign of His patience!
       The exercise, should you want to do it, is to read the book that is between Jonah and Nahum....the book written by the prophet Micah. Now these words from Micah, once again words of judgment...but also of hope, were to specific people, the people of Judah and Israel, but these books are to us also, certainly at least as examples for us to consider what happens when a nation blessed by God then rejects Him. The book is small but take an evening reading it and contemplating each verse, and possibly referencing different translations and a Study Bible to help with the changing context. Put America in there.... as if....as if....it were written also to us, just to see if our history of blessings and then rejection of our Benefactor is not strikingly similar. And if our rebelliousness is similar, would not the judgment be similar also, and would not the patience extended before judgment be similar...a patience that we may have used up!
        I'm confident that as you read through Micah you will see many instances where we followed the same path as rebellious Judah. You may even be astonished at times.

...... Marx 101

The following post is from 2012....abridged somewhat because of length and with some comments from today in parentheses. This post deals with Communism while the post below it deals with Globalism. Both of these systems give no quarter. Both are intent on subjugating you and me, albeit for different purposes. They will fight it out later after liberty is extinguished. Mitch McConnell is but a tool of the globalists.....Barack Obama but a tool of Communism. Destroying a conservative senatorial candidate a month before the election is a coup.....along with in effect a political assassination.....the repercussions of which effect the freedom and liberty of every young girl or boy in this nation. It effects whether they can worship God or not.....or even if they can be told of God. Our eyes are elsewhere as usual. These people know us better than we know ourselves....admitted....but they think that they are pulling one off on God....who has a hook in their mouths. Prayer from Christians for wisdom and discernment is needed.....but that is not our forte today.....we're into politics.....and doing one lousy job of it.

          Well, it should be apparent to anyone with enough interest to look into it that Communism is back with a vengeance and the prime target is the United States of America. (unfortunately we still prefer to use the descriptive 'the Left' which has become almost meaningless today).  We knew all along that Barack Obama was a Socialist, this was never in doubt, it was what we didn't know about him that was so mystifying. (Well, today we know who he is)
          Karl Marx was the world's foremost critic of Capitalism and therefore a giant influence on both economic theory and world history in the last century. A few years ago I picked up a small book titled Why Read Marx Today by a British academic Jonathan Wolff. In this 2002 book the author's admiration for the brilliance of Marx was dimmed only a little by the unpleasant fact that Communism had failed everywhere it was tried. The author admitted frustration a few times in Marx's limited explanation on how this world takeover by the proletariat was actually going to take place.
          The reason given for it's failure in the Soviet Union was that the Bolsheviks jumped the gun, for as Feudalism came to the point where it could no longer sustain itself and gave way to Capitalism, so would Capitalism would give way to Communism; but a foundation is needed for the next 'ism' to sprout, and Russia provided none. The author did not give reasons for failures elsewhere, instead he just demonstrated a profound disappointment in how these revolutionaries handled their sudden power.
           In Marxist theory the classes were to become so alienated that revolutions would follow...must follow...and that that alienation, if need be, would have to be agitated upon, (this is what we are experiencing in America today....the NFL being one example we did not expect)  It wasn't the lack of an economic foundation in the Soviet Union that brought on the gulag or the lack of a strong economy that brought Mao to butcher his millions but rather a faulty view on man, for if there are no laws man will rule with tyranny.
           As we all know, Marx hated religion, it was the "opium of the people" as we have heard mentioned so often. God was a "barrier" for man to realize his "species-essence" according to Marx, and a "sham" according to Wolff who wrote: "it is a constant source of wonder yet to me that intelligent, educated people can bring themselves to believe any of this." (Breitbart is reporting....November 15th.....that a rural province of China is "denying...pivotal poverty relief packages if (people) do not replace images of Jesus in their households with photos of Xi Jinping"....also Christians are "ignorant" and "need to be taught to worship the state, not God." The article is titled "China Urges Rural Christians To Replace Jesus Images With Xi Jinping" and is up on the Breitbart site right now.)
            Marx's philosophy was that if the concept of "labour" is freed from the oppression of the ruling class then it will eventually sprout up in forms of sharing, fairness and peace towards all, another problem for the author and another failed prediction laid at the feet of Marx. What happens in reality is that the revolutionary seizes power and then will kill as many as it takes, tens of millions if necessary, to eventually demonstrate his great compassion towards mankind! (please allow me to repeat this.....the revolutionary seizes power and then will kill as many as it takes, tens of millions if necessary, to eventually demonstrate his great compassion towards mankind! In like manner our Progressives today will hurt any group...children....women....Blacks....families.....to show how compassionate they are to that group!)
            Marx's philosophy was built upon the future being "dialectical" in nature, changing time and again but always in the direction of the revolution of the proletariat. The fall of the Soviet Union would merely have been seen as an opportunity to tact wider to reach the same goal. Marx would view the chorus of calls today for freedom and liberty in America (conservatives) as the proletariat simply demanding more protection from government to oppress others.
           The generations represented in 2012 will be shown to either be of vintage American stock that may make more mistakes than it should be allotted but ultimately humble itself before it's Creator....and be given strength and wisdom to persevere and overcome..... or..... it will be the last generations of this grand "American Experiment." (With no political party to represent those of vintage American stock in 2017.....the grand American Experiment is all but over.

Note: If you want a good primer on Communism, I highly recommend Paul Kengor's latest book....The Politically Incorrect Guide To Communism..The Killingest Idea Ever.....available now on the shelves at Barnes & Noble.

Goals

GOALS     

         Xi Jimping, China's President and General Secretary of the Communist Party, is going to seriously ramp up communist youth indoctrination in China. The communists are concerned about their youth forgetting "the blood of the revolutionary martyrs." Vladimir Putin is bringing back Soviet-style youth festivals for a similar reason. Mark Zuckerberg has set a goal of one billion Facebook virtual reality users. I think that Steve Bannon has a goal for the 2018 elections.
         I have a goal also. I finished second to the last in a marathon of thousands of runners back in the 80s. It would have been nice to finish and see at least a few others coming in after me but I could not even see whoever that one person was behind me. I tell the story of this marathon occasionally.....of the EMT that rushed out to see if I was OK....and of the mounted police officer who barked at me to hurry up so he could go home. Oh...one more anecdote....an elderly couple waddled across the finish line before me. I had a burst of energy at the end and could have passed them but thought the crowd would boo me....instead they just ignored me and cheered the elderly couple.
         I will never forget that marathon though, for I expect it to be my Christian race. I may come in last...but He has promised that I will finish....and there will be a crowd.....cheering me. You will finish before me.....cheering me also. The only downside in this scenario is that I won't have anyone to cheer on. So I'll cheer you on here. At times it will be an effort to put one foot out after another.....but every step is closer to the finish line. This is a team race. The goal is that every member of the team finishes. Indeed, every person chosen before the foundation of the world will finish! There is a crown awaiting you....and me. Press on! 

...... @POTUS.COM....MAN

          I'm going to rehash a few things from the past two years in this post because it remains relevant. America was divided into two distinct peoples.....half of whom were God-fearing...or close to it... and half of whom were not....or close to it. It was time for the armies to meet on the fields of Marathon. The primary season thus began.
          Whether good, bad or ugly...Ted Cruz was the most likely choice although this was by no means a done deal....but lo and behold a shout was heard and a caped figure standing on top of a New York skyscraper appeared. Whereas Ted Cruz and the other candidates kind of staggered around giving cobwebby, cookie-cutter truisms, Donald Trump waged a campaign of flattery.....America was going to be great again!
           At first it was catharsis. America had been pounded down and ground into dust for eight years under the anti-president Barack Obama. The media kept a lid on the angst but Donald Trump blew that lid to high heaven. Ted Cruz and the others did their best....which wasn't very good....but the caped crusader rallied a nation with dozens of promises....each one noble....but few of which the caped crusader actually believed in.
           We.....the God-fearing....or close to it.... entity in this mess....are now in the doldrums....the great winds once headed for the capital swamp now but a slight warm breeze that actually enhances the stench of the fetid muck and mire.
          A ghostly muse....her consort next to her as a voiceless statue....floats over the parliamentary army dressed in her constantly changing wardrobe of glamour robes...the glimmer of star dust in her silky golden hair mesmerizing........"And now my beauties, something with poison in it I think, with poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell...poppies, poppies, poppies, poppies will put them to sleep."
          Folks, the Wicked Witch of the East was indeed vanquished but there is no Good Witch. We do not live in a superhero comic book. Reality....and hope....is in another Book.

NOTE: Why is H. R. McMaster still in the position that he is in? Why was he put there to begin with? A number of conservative pundits say that President Trump is being ill-served by McMaster....Earl of the Universe.....Queen Ivanka....and Prince Jared...Duke of New York. This is a false dilemma. There are more options than just.....'the president is being ill-served.' One is that he is playing us with a 'good cop-bad cop' scheme......let others take the blame for the decisions being made.
    

A Strobe Light To A Watching World

         Pat Buchanan has an interesting article out right now titled 'Unserious Nation." The issues that dominate our every day news stand in stark contrast to...as Buchanan puts it..."disciplined proceedings and clarity of purpose, direction and goals of our 21st-century rival Xi Jinping's China." He's pointing out that we haven't a clue as to the real difficulties that we are in....while our enemies are focused....on track....and zeroing in on us.
         He also asks this question...."can a country so preoccupied and polarized on such pursuits be taken seriously as a clamant to be the "exceptional nation," a model to which the world should look and aspire."
         Last month President Trump had with a straight face told this to the United Nations in a speech to the general assembly....and I wrote the following post in response:

        "In America, we do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch."

          I had a pleasant conversation with an Englishman last week in Falmouth on Cape Cod while waiting for the arrival of a ferry to take my wife and I and about a hundred others over to Martha's Vineyard. Had I made the above statement to him from President Trump's speech to the United Nations.....just a hunch here....I think that he might have barfed up his breakfast.
          Really Mr. President?  Just what part of our way of life is shining out there? Could it be the violence of our urban areas? How about our higher education system where the primary goal today is to supply the workforce with malleable participants who ask no questions and willingly fit into the mold prescribed for them....all while thought and speech police keep tabs on them? Is it our entertainments....anyone seen the film Mother yet? Just what is our 'way of life' today that we should be proud of? We have to be careful when in the cities....so if we can afford it....we live in gated communities. God has confused our language....(don't think so? try listening to Al Franken or Elizabeth Warren sometime) We are overmedicated and undereducated. President Reagan's 'shining city on a hill' has vehicle barriers all around it and you would need an archaeological dig to find John Winthrop's.
          It's reported that only seventeen percent of college students know how to write in cursive form. The beauty of our freedoms and liberties faded first as chicken scratch notes on a refrigerator or in a letter...and then with the chopped words in a text message.
          The very purpose for our existence was to shine the Light of Jesus Christ to the world.     No...Mr. President...we flash only a strobe light to a watching world today....irritating them in their state-induced stupor that they have grown accustomed to. Yes...Mr. President...there is a light in America...under a bushel....that you.....our entire Congress....our churches.....and even 'we the people'....are sitting on......choosing rather to enjoy the bonfire of our vanities and shining glitter of our superficial leaders.
         

Thanksgiving

The following was first posted on Thanksgiving 2011.

Thankful For Weaknesses

          Thanksgiving is far and away my favorite day of the year. There's no gift exchanges, blessings though such things are, to divert attention from the day, and no pagan bush to drag into the house to be decorated. There are no myths involved, in fact the historical testimony is so strong that even the revisionists have a hard time trying to distort it. As I write this, today's Wall Street Journal is beside me. Every year since 1961 on this day before Thanksgiving their top editorial has been a reprint of the beginning of a first-hand chronicle of the Plymouth Colony's voyage and arrival in their new land. This is part of the heritage that elements of our society are systematically trying to erase. One particular day has since been set apart for Americans to corporately and individually give thanks to God for blessings bestowed.
          Taking advantage of this opportunity, here are some of the things that I am thankful for: I'm thankful that God took a twelve year old boy from a broken home and planted him in an apartment on a modest street amidst fine and decent fellows who would become new friends. I'm thankful that he permitted me to attend a very good high school, rich in tradition and academics, where I would at least experience, although hardly partake in, a scholarly atmosphere, and also how He somehow provided tuition. I'm thankful that in my immaturity He gave me the wisdom to join the army and had mercy on me even as I abused the needed maturing process. I'm thankful for a college degree even though my interests were far more social than academic, and that while working at the university I would meet my future wife. I'm thankful for her patience, love and being my best friend. I'm thankful for thirty-four years (thirty-seven years-now retired) of employment from one company and the friends and coworkers there.
          I'm thankful that God instilled in me, somewhat later in life, an insatiable desire to read, to study and to analyze. I'm thankful that in 1982 He had mercy on the lowest of the low, loved the most unlovable and redeemed the least worthy of it. I'm thankful for the gift of a son who I have watched grow far beyond my own intellectual capabilities and do so without the path of rebellion that I chose. I'm thankful for the perfect match of a wonderful young Christian woman to be his wife (and a beautiful grandson). I'm thankful for failures.... for they make it impossible for me to think that I am something that I am not. I'm thankful that after I fall down, He gives me strength to get up. I'm thankful for heroes, particularly of the Christian faith but also of our nation, for their lives are blueprints that can be deciphered for at least an attempt to emulate. I'm thankful for faithful pastors and the sweet fellowship of other beneficiaries of God's redemption. I'm thankful for a house and a home for our son as he grew up, with loving family all around. I'm thankful for automobiles and money in the bank to keep them running.
          I'm thankful for vision to see this beautiful world, for taste to enjoy tomorrow's meal (Lord willing,) for the hearing of the preached Word and of music and voices, for feeling....both physical and emotional, and for discerning aromas of both warnings and pleasure. I'm thankful that there is no sixth sense, that our knowledge of the future comes not from ESP but from such as the ESV (English Standard Version of God's written word to us.) I'm thankful for being born an American, for freedom and liberty, but even more so for the opportunity to show gratitude for the efforts of those who sacrificed for those freedoms and liberties and, although in an insignificant way, to pick up the banner  they once held aloft.
          I'm thankful for my weaknesses for they give opportunity for God to show His strength. I am thankful most of all that God reached into humanity to adopt a multitude as His family and that He opened my own eyes to see... first myself, and then the cross of Calvary, the empty tomb and the clouds in which Jesus both ascended and will return. I'm thankful for angels all around us. I'm thankful that even though we play no part whatsoever in the salvation of another that we are painted into the picture to the glory of God alone. I'm thankful that, in the same vein, we can pray for the salvation of others and rejoice with them. I'm thankful for many books but especially one, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the last stanza of a song within which reads:

Hobgoblin, nor fowl fiend,
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows, he at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labour night and day
To be a pilgrim.
   

It Was The Beginning Of The End

       I remember sitting with my mother in our living room watching the returns on the 1960 presidential election. This was a big day for many Catholics in America. A year or so after that the nuns ushered us out of school to line Genesee Street in Buffalo, New York. The motorcade passed by slowly and I stared in awe as President Kennedy waved to the Catholic elementary school students. Two years later I was in a different Catholic elementary school in Pittsburgh. On that balmy Friday my homeroom sister came in to the classroom crying. She told us that the president had been shot. We were released to go home.
        It is greatly weathered but I still have in my possession that magazine sized book Four Days, The Historical Record Of The Death of President Kennedy. It took me close to a half a century to zero in on what the editors described in it as "President Kennedy's last official words-the conclusion of the speech he was to have delivered in Dallas."
         That speech that was never given concluded with these words, "...the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: 'Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain'." That Bible excerpt is the last half of the 1st verse of Psalm 127... from the King James Version, which begins with this "Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it." So the full verse is:

          "Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

         I find that pretty astonishing. God as much as surveyed this land....in this world that He created. He brought our forefathers here for a purpose. We would grow great and strong. The schemes of Marx and Lenin would stop at our shores. The nightmare of the Nazis ended with the sound of American bombers and tanks. Israel exists because America exists. Poland stands strong and free because there was an America to back up their courage. In like manner South Korea is not communist because of America. The Gospel of Jesus Christ went out to every corner of the earth from the United States of America. This was our purpose. 
        We will labor in vain as we try to make America great again.  "Except the LORD build the house.....Except the LORD keep the city." We have had a string of disasters, increasing in frequency, defilement and ruin, since those shots were fired 54 years ago from that building and that grassy knoll. Donald Trump is not a reprieve....Ronald Reagan was the reprieve! Jonah is no longer our prophet telling us to repent or else.....Nahum is now telling us what is about to happen....therefore repent! Go find someone to prophesy peace and safety if you want. They're all over the place....or rather listen to Paul...."But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief."            
    

Is It Genuine....Not The Painting....But The Gospel That We Hear Today?

         I just glanced last night at the words....'Leonardo da Vinci painting sells for record $450.3 million" and faintly uttered something to myself like...."Lord have mercy on us!" It's interesting to me anyway that the painting Salvator Mundi may have been completed right around the time, maybe even the very year, that Martin Luther was nailing his 95 Theses into the church door at the castle at Wittenberg thus initiating the 16th century Reformation which in turn was responsible for the very existence of the United States of America. It's also interesting that the painting is an image of Jesus Christ.....dressed in Renaissance clothes....holding a crystal orb.
         Twenty years ago my wife and son and I had a friend who had lived in institutions of one kind or another for his whole life of seventy-nine years. He was the gentlest soul that I have ever met. His mental capabilities were that of a six year old. His smile was more beautiful to me than when seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. He would say "I'm praying for you" every single time that we parted after visiting. He once cried after looking at a picture of Jesus carrying His cross. He gave me a prayer card once with a picture of Jesus on it and it is the only time in the last three decades or so that I could look at an image of Jesus and not wince, for we are not to make images of our Lord and Savior.
          So I look at this painting today.....and wince.....and wonder. To my left as I type...about four feet away hanging on the wall.....is a painting that my mother did many years ago. On occasion she would copy an oil painting of one of the masters at someone's request. She copied van Gogh's The Potato Eaters and I don't even know where that is today. Her finest was The Doctor by English painter Sir Luke Fildes that was impressive as it hung in a local pharmacy for many years. The painting to my left is a Renoir self portrait.
          I'm holding a similar orb as in the Leonardo da Vinci in my fingers right now....well before I started typing again I was. It's actually a clear marble. I bought a few dozen marbles at a flea market recently and put them in a small decorative vase. I enjoy most anything that takes me back before life in America utterly collapsed.
          One particular minor study that I have done over the years was on the Shroud Of Turin. My conclusion....without any doubt...is that this was produced in medieval times. I say this because of the scientific evidence...and I say it because God certainly would not have given us an image of Jesus....for we would then worship the image.....and many in fact do today pertaining to the shroud.
          One rare occasions a friend might ask me who my favorite Impressionist painter was. Early on....being a teenager.....and in need of maturity....I would say Cezanne....for I wanted to be different. Today....it has to be van Gogh. How can it be anything but van Gogh? This luminary of the art world did not always paint in light. The Potato Eaters is very dark. Van Gogh was seminary trained....and a Calvinist....and once preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ before his life changed. He once painted dark paintings but his life had light in it in at least the knowledge of the gospel. Later in life he painted in brilliant colors but there was then darkness in his life. He moved from darkness to light in his painting but from light to darkness in his life.
          America has gone from light to darkness. The accepted gospel today is but a copy....it may be hard to tell the difference at times....but it has no value unto salvation.  Have you at any time fallen as Paul on the road to Damascus under the intense light of Jesus Christ. Have you seen yourself for the first time.....before the beauty and the majesty and the glory of Jesus Christ.....and then elicited praises for the mercies that He offers....praises that continue to this day? If not then you must go out and seek this forgiveness and mercy and love and hope right now....for today is the day to come out of the darkness....and we know not what tomorrow brings!
       
     

It's Been Extended!

Note: Sirius/XM has extended the Billy Graham Channel 145. I don't know how long they extended it for but I'm thankful for whatever it is. Our daughter-in-law and new grandson arrived early and ahead of our son for Thanksgiving. My wife was already with them and I was excited and on the way. I jumped into my pickup truck....yes I'm one of those pickup owners who believe in God....and headed out to see them. I turned on the Billy Graham Channel and before I knew it I was three miles past where I had to turn off. Such is the effect of a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade sermon.....one even that I had heard three or four times in the past couple of weeks.
          I have magnetic bumper-stickers on my tailgate. Right now, along with my Special Dog URL I have...'Billy Graham Channel 145.' I don't care if they go to my posts.....but pray that they reach over and punch in channel 145 on their XM radio.
          My prayer also is that this NFL national anthem controversy might be a blessing in disguise....that men would take this opportunity to discard this Lord's Day pastime....a pastime that I spent much of my early life on....and find a true and eternal passion in the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 

Bill Graham Channel 145

         Sirius/XM radio began a limited run Billy Graham Channel in honor of his 99th birthday. This will only last through November 17th!
        There was a day.....not that long ago....when the average American would turn on their television and while turning that little knob might very well come across a Billy Graham crusade. I did that many times way back when. There was a day....recently.....when the average American might be shopping for a new pair of shoes or a new outfit....and they would pass a Christian bookstore and then stop in to browse. I did that very thing back in 1982....and it was instrumental in my life changing. Many people travel in their work and spend a lot of time in hotels and motels. They might turn off the television in boredom and open the drawer on their bedside table only to find a Gideon Bible. I also did that on a stormy night on a Caribbean cruise back in 1982. That possibility is fading away as more and more of these establishments no longer let the Gideons place that Bible in their rooms.
         Joel Osteen is the new evangelist on television....and radio....and in books. Smart phones and therefore Facebook are what one might stumble across on that trip to the shopping center....and Modern Family and the Big Bang Theory are the only scriptures one might find in their hotel room. We may know that we are in trouble but have no idea that our supply lines are cut. Take advantage of this channel 145 while it lasts. God may have put it here...at this time...for a purpose.

Note: Billy Graham saved his best book for last. He was probably 95 or 96 at the time that he was writing it. Folks that's a lot of experience in watching the world decay. That's probably about the same age of the Apostle John when the Book Of Revelation was given to him to write. Billy Graham's book is titled Where I Am. It was published in 2015 and I've seen it sold as low as $4.99 at Ollie's (Good Stuff Cheap). In fact I've bought about ten copies to give away....it's that good. He simply starts at Genesis and essentially talks to you on the pages all the way through the Revelation. It's also on Audiobook.

You And I Will Be United....Ugh....That Doesn't Sound Too Good Right Now Does It

         How was your church service yesterday? Fine you say? Did you find yourself praying for your pastor during the sermon because the burden weighing him down seemed so great? If not then maybe the service was not so fine after all.
         Our pulpits in America have let us down.....they have let Christian believers down......and most important of all they have let their Lord and Savior down! Did they do this out of malice to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? No.....they did it out of ignorance. The worst that can be said about them is that they became lazy and that when finally apprised of what is going on they still refused to sound a clarion call
          Now maybe you are angry with me......how dare I. Folks....in the world you perceive it to be at this time.....I might agree with you. In the actual world that we live in.....it's time to throw the passions of football and exercise out the window and get to work in defense of your family.
         Do you know what globalism is? Of course you don't. Oh you most certainly understand the economic aspect of it....that's the part that has been fed to you in these worthless newspaper and broadcast media that we have. What you don't know is that this is a society that exists above mere mortals like you and me. Its power is enormous and they consider themselves to be of some sort of deity. You are a serf to them and nothing more. There is no moral law to prevent them from destroying anyone and anything that gets in their way. There is no God that they will be judged by.
         Is there any good news? Folks, the good news is so overwhelming that when one understands it one must fall before the majesty and the power and the glory of Jesus Christ. One must then have His hand put on them hearing..."Stand....fear not....for I am with you." He's coming back folks. Every child's tears throughout this world will be dried. Every mother's cries are heard and will end. Every Christian father's prayer for their children will be answered. Every war will end. Every crushing the skull of a beautiful pre-born baby will cease. Every abomination will be seen for what it is. Every slaughter of God's wonderful animal kingdom will stop. There is a cost to discipleship and we....in America....but not everywhere.... are about $20 trillion in arrears.
          John Ankerberg....to give just one example of many.....leads a wonderful Christian ministry that I have been familiar with for decades. Good looking guy...trim....silver hair.....looks the same as he did in the early 80s.....you'd know him if you saw him. He thinks that the Rapture is next....and then comes the Tribulation. He's wrong....wonderful ministry....more faithful Christian than I will ever be...but he's wrong on this one thing.....and yet even he is warning the church with all that is in him on what is ahead.
         Difficult times are at our doorstep with one foot already in the home. If you don't see this then you are not looking. There are multitudes of pastors out there who would express the same thoughts that I have in this post. There is a winnowing ahead. Possibly the hardest thing will be multitudes....in the church.... who will dig and dig until they come up with an excuse not...not...to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ. The rest of us are united in the love of Jesus Christ. You may not feel so united with me right now but we're coming together....may God add multitudes to us! Maranatha....Come Lord Jesus!! 

Advice From A Greybeard

August 2017:

        I'm writing to you personally in this post. You would have fit in well in the little house on the prairie. You would have been one of those boys in the either Pennsylvania or Virginia who picked up his rifle....kissed his young bride on the cheek.....and answered the call to defend their state. You wouldn't have nearly the education of someone your age today but you have been educated infinitely better.....your conversation would be slow and deliberate.....displaying not only wisdom but common sense....and your vocabulary much greater. Your faith in God would be strong....the strongest thing in your life. Your word would be your bond.
         But here you are today.....whereas 150 years ago the toys and foolish baubles of this world existed only in the big city, today they come at you in every living room in every town in America. You can't find a genuine conversation. Few really use reasoning. Everyone seems to be involved in some giant game of sorts. You look around you and see Sodom and Gomorrah everywhere. When you mention.....the Bible....you are looked down upon, maybe ridiculed, and possibly avoided at all costs.
         Here is my graybeard advice to you but I have to preface it with with some anecdotal analogies. We often find ourselves going through life while struggling to get some quality time with various experts whose knowledge and advice can be very helpful to us. You have an appointment to talk to your adviser in college, and he  (she) will be pleasant and concerned but you might have fifteen minutes and the next student is already standing outside the door. You wait a few weeks for your doctor appointment and rehearse the questions that you will ask, for if you forget one or two it will be another six weeks before you can ask it.
         Your pastor is busy all the time. Stop by for a chat and he'll be glad to see you but short of going into counseling you will inevitably fall short of putting your cares and needs before him. Your financial adviser will have even less time to give, and perish the thought of actually getting to have a conversation with your state or federal representative. Write a letter and you'll get a carefully prepared form letter in return. In summary....face to face time with someone that you need will always be hard to find.
         We live in the very real, but very created spheres of time and space. We can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Jesus Christ created this time and space, and exists outside of it. You do not have to schedule an appointment with Him....and that appointment will not be time limited. You will have His perfect attention....anytime that you want it. He's not going to look at His watch and say that He has to be in the Middle East in fifteen minutes.
         Take these concerns....North Korea....the stock market that is about to collapse....the shadow of the Tower of Babel cast over your home and your children....Sodom and Gomorrah in the news every evening.....your own country collapsing right before your eyes....take them through that always open door to Jesus Christ. He will direct you, ...through His Holy Spirit.... to His mighty and powerful Word.....and this without you even realizing what's going on.
          Others will still scorn and smirk but herein is the second part of my advice. There is ultimately only one thing that matters in this area. It has nothing to do with what others think of you. Let them think whatever they want! It is what Jesus Christ thinks of you that matters! When you finally fully realize this it will free you! It will give you boldness to proclaim His Lordship over all the earth and all its kings....and it will give you the resolve to ignore the taunts of a perishing world. You will no longer be confused for you will know very well what is going on....and maybe you will watch what is going on all around the world...and as did the early Christians...face every new dawn with these words....Maranatha....Lord come!
     

Nebulous To Some......Perspicuous To Others

The following was first posted in December of 2015:

           Astronomers once called everything outside of our own galaxy...nebula... or nebulae in the plural tense. Today the word is properly confined only to interstellar dust and gas clouds. If a concept is cloudy and hard to decipher we might describe it as nebulous.  When Jesus Christ returns to earth with His mighty angels, I presume that the very first sightings of His army will be classified as some sort of nebulae. As He comes closer and a form of sorts begins to take shape, the classification may change to UFO. At the point when men finally recognize that it is the God King of the Christians and the Messiah of the Jews, this from what the world's greatest selling book has always proclaimed, and as every conceivable means of what would then be clearly seen as punishment wreaks havoc upon the earth, men will call on the rocks to fall on them and end their misery.
           Today it is the concept God Himself that is nebulous, even to most of Christendom, and unfortunately to much of Christianity. Although this is certainly true of God in His infinities, it is much the opposite as it relates to God's very existence and also to what should be our self-awareness as His creation, but only the Christian can see this. God created the physics that we try to disprove Him with and the logarithms that we try to replace Him with. He created the measure that we use in an attempt to prove our own autonomy. He created the mind that we refuse to think with, the sight that we refuse to see with and the hearing that we refuse to hear with.
         God is not nebulous in His holiness or His power or His glory or His majesty or His might. His warnings, His righteous judgements, His love and His mercies are not concealed. We are groping around only because we have run from the light.        

"Sovereigns Don't Go Down Without A Fight"

The globalist has apparently pulled out all the stops and called in all their chits with other United States Senators. This is the endgame folks. Roy Moore in the Senate and on television would be trouble....big trouble! The following was first posted last December and I believe that it is worth reconsidering what The Road To Ruin is telling us:

"Even He Is The Eighth....And Is Of The Seven."

         Many of the richest people on this earth will be reading this book because they know who James Rickards is.....and they know that he knows them....personally....along with their habits and the way they conduct business. If you read The Road To Ruin, the Global Elites' Secret Plan For The Next Financial Crisis you will see why I make this statement.
         It's no coincidence that Rickards chose Revelation 6:5-6 to begin his newest book. Certainly he chose it because it depicts the third seal in Revelation....that of the rider on the black horse that brings famine to the earth.... for it is the author's contention that an "instantaneous decline" and "catastrophic collapse" is most likely in America's future. There are a number of biblical references throughout demonstrating that this secular author is familiar with the Bible but it is my belief that God not only led him to that verse but supplied the gift necessary to understand the inherent defects of capitalism when ruled by greed.        .
         Donald Trump was mentioned just once in The Road To Ruin! How could this be considering the subject matter of the book? The answer given is that Donald Trump, or any President of the United States, is but a pawn on the chessboard of the global elites; although it should be mentioned that a single pawn, many a time, was the decisive piece in a chess game. The author gives this description of what happens behind the scenes of world economies..."They (the elites) control global finance and, by extension, global politics, because politics are constrained by finance."
         The most notable economists in power and influence from the past and today have used what are considered the accepted methods in the handling of market emergencies. According to James Rickards, and supported by other experts in these fields, these methods may have been somewhat successful in the past but each case added to the rotting of the foundation which will make the next crisis even more catastrophic. In short, there will be no fixes available the next time, and to make matters worse, according to the author, the elites will use this coming extraordinary emergency to implement their New World Order. Let me remind you that James Rickards is a highly regarded secular economics adviser....not a Bible scholar!
         The market emergencies of 1998 and 2008 were caused by ignorance, greed and gross miscalculations by the well-known experts making the decisions. The overall problems for the world economy, as previously stated, intensified after each crisis. So where are we now? The adhesive is gone from the Band-Aids and there are none left in the first-aid kit anyway! The message given is clear...there is no getting out of this catastrophe that is ahead.
         The author used an analogy of Ian Fleming's fictional SMERSH that was based on Stalin's Red Army counter-intelligence organization of the same name. He's pointing to actual organizations, the names of which we would be familiar, doing the bidding of the elites. Rickards warns... no... he predicts that money riots will occur in America as our financial system begins to unravel. You'll learn a lot about economics and money in general in this book that includes a very clearly written history on what has transpired in financial markets over the ages but particularly in the past century. The names of those in power who brought us to this precipice are given with no holds barred. Keynes is there along with a dozen other economists, and Woodrow Wilson is skewered along with a dozen other world leaders. If I can understand the complex issues as they are described then you will be able to also.
         The author makes this statement...."Sovereigns don't go down without a fight. The response to money riots will be confiscation and brute force. Governing elites will be safe in their hollowed-out mountain command centers. Private elites will fend for themselves in their yachts, helicopters, and gated-communities, which will be converted to armed fortresses." Folks this is coming from a man who dines with the elites of this world and advises our intelligence community!!! He is warning that a "Neofascism  will emerge (which is of the Left by the way)....with liberty lost." In support of this he references a 2008 book by Jonah Goldberg titled Liberal Fascism, a book that I hyped in these posts as much as I am doing here with The Road To Ruin. The author has deciphered the agenda of the elites of this world and details every step of that agenda under this outline...."world money, world taxation, and world order."
        There was something in the historical context of all this that piqued my interest. Mr. Rickards named seven world orders...as he sees them... up to this point...Rome....Charlemagne...the Holy Roman Empire....Westphalia...and the current United Nations, IMF and G-20 structure. Now that's five but he felt it necessary to include China and Islam in the mix. The eighth is what we are headed for. Friends...does that sound familiar? I had been meditating on and off over the years on the major economic systems and world orders we have had. James Rickards gave precision and details to my own meditations, for it has been my contention for quite some time that this New World Order that the Bible describes would most likely need a catastrophe to precede it. James Rickards agrees and describes in his chapter titled Shock Doctrine a step-by-step process that could very well happen.
         Most of the book details past economic crises, why they occurred, what was done to alleviate the situation, how each one contributed to growing the next final collapse, why we have missed the causes, and how through the use of Complexity Theory we can get a murky but usable picture of what is ahead. I know that this sounds daunting in scope but the information flows easily and the message is understandable.

          In his conclusion to The Road To Ruin, Rickards describes an informal debate that he took part in at a theater in New York City. There were four debaters...two teams of two experts. The topic to be debated was whether America would 'ascend' in the future or 'decline.' The author and his partner argued for the latter with what in my opinion were very convincing proofs. The audience voted and the book concludes with this....."Then the debate was over. The audience voted; complacency won.....The elite bubble was intact, at least for the evening."