Ghosts Of Christmas Past

            Childhood memories are a powerful force. I'll remind you of a film that usually is given the top spot in 'greatest films of all time' polls.....Citizen Kane.....where the protagonist after a wild life of riches and fame....lies on his deathbed and utters one word....'Rosebud.' Most of us know by now the meaning of that word in the film.
             I'll wax a little personal in this Christmas post....as sometimes I seem to just have to talk to somebody even if I don't know them. I was raised in a one-parent home where my mother hardly had enough money to put food on the table and pay the bills. The lights and the telephone were turned off often....and bill collectors were not uncommon. Those experiences stuck with me like Super Glue on balsa wood. Life as an adult was different as there was always money for a new car or vacations and all the books I wanted....but there were a few occurrences over the past week that oddly brought back some of those older memories.
            A small check from an insurance company was sent to me by mistake and I didn't think a whole lot about it....until the company that it was supposed to go to called....and an uneasy feeling of a bill collector came back momentarily to my mind. Then tonight...with the banks closed....and I behind as usual....trying to get a handful of crisp $10 bills to give to some kids for Christmas....and no money left laying around the house after a week of shopping.....had to try to cash a personal check at the grocery store. The manager was very accommodating and wished me Merry Christmas with a smile....but that pang came back on trying to cash a personal check for my mother in my youth when there may or may not have been funds to cover it in the bank.
             Well I'm thankful for those two pangs from the past....although two is probably enough....for I never want to forget the blessings that God has given.....not only for money in the bank today.....but also for those times without money....for the experiences proved valuable later in life..

Note: As it so happened....just this morning I have to have an emergency home repair that will cost about $600...and once again I thank God that I have only to write a check....but most of America does not have money in the bank or a 401k as backup on unexpected expenses. President Trump probably tweeted three or four times this week alone how the stock market set a record.....but when it goes down for a week....as it had recently.....he'll say as he did then....."I don't pay attention to the stock market." What a despicable liar this man is....but we refuse to hold him accountable....or contemplate replacing him as our 2020 nominee....for just look at the stock market....and 'O but look at the job statistics'....but apparently few of us have experience on how you can have a job....for years and years....and still struggle with the basic necessities of life. Donald Trump actually leads us astray in the areas that we are in most need of help....a humble dependence on our God and our benefactor over our entire existence as a nation. Woe are we....conservatives and evangelicals....for we sold our heritage for a mess of pottage.

DISPATCHES

Voted For Him....Celebrated....Fool Me Once....Not Twice!

Here are a couple of questions that I'd like to hear talked about...."What might the economy be today had any of the conservatives on the debate stage become president?" The same regulations would have been eliminated....and the corporate tax would have been lowered. "Is there one conservative federal judge that was added that would not have been added with any of these other candidates?".....the answer to this is no....and...."what would the national debt total be without Trump?" We conservatives seem too often to be only concerned with statistical trends that begin in 2017. If we would take those trends back a decade we would see in most cases a linear downward slope....(or upward)....since the financial crisis of 2008.

Aviv Kochavi is Israel's equivalent of our military Joint Chiefs of Staff. He spoke at an awards ceremony recently in Israel....and what he said there is not earth-shaking in content but to those of us who are genuinely and seriously concerned about Israel....it was necessary to hear....for he was very transparent on how the next war might effect the Israeli population. It is transparency....warnings like this that we need to hear in America....and one reason that I occasionally bring up a renewal of our military draft....for it would not be pretty....and also the hammer that will eventually come down from a $23 trillion debt....for it also would not be pretty....and thus after hearing these things....republicans might pay closer attention to the words and tweets of President Trump....and at least consider the possible consequences of impetuous and arrogant and risky and often greedy and sometimes just plain vindictive decisions of a man who is unfit on two counts for the job he is in....his character....and his inexperience on any problems that a boatload of money cannot cure. All of the Israeli news sites have reported on Aviv Kochavi's comments but I recommend that of the Times Of Israel. It can easily be Googled....Times of Israel....Aviv Kochavi.

 A Trump rally of evangelicals is hastily being arranged in Miami for January 3rd in an attempt to insure that hemorrhaging in his support does not follow the events of the last week. My prayer is and has been for quite a while this....that God might open our eyes to Donald Trump....that the President might realize that he is not going to have four more years to build his statue to himself....and that lacking the opportunity for his malignant narcissism to drive him....that he might settle in with advisers whose purpose no longer would be to insure a reelection....and who might be able to curtail his vindictiveness and impetuousness....not having  to worry about a midnight tweet announcing that they are gone....and that this administration might be able to deal with enormous.....possibly even monstrous....difficulties that must surely ahead....even though the official line is that we now have 'peace and security'....and that our best days are ahead of us.

"A large number" of evangelical leaders (aka....megachurch pastors....ministry presidents.....and celebrity pastors)....signed a letter castigating Christianity Today. One signer added...."I hope Christianity Today will now tell us who they will support for president in 2020 out of the Democrat field." That's the problem....they see only two alternatives.....a Democrat or Trump. Republicans are cancelling primaries to make sure there are only two alternatives....can't Mike Pence carry on the Trump agenda....or how about this novel idea....do the right thing....trust in Christ and not in man? Or how about this....let's look at how the church and its Saturday college football mentality and insipid preaching and Christless Christianity may be partially responsible for the mess we are in? In other words....we are as much to blame as the Democrats for what we have become as a people! They make a good telethon video but failed to feed their own sheep....heed warnings to the church....or admit they may not be as knowledgeable as they think. We're all culpable....let's admit that....and prostrate ourselves before our Savior....and see if He will guide us through what we have brought upon ourselves.

Update: After a quick look at the list of signers from the above letter....and a quick count....it appears that there are about 110 of whom are directors or founders or heads in one way or another of ministry organizations of one sort or another. Most of the other 75 or so are pastors....of churches that I presume are well-known or influential in some way in their own local area. Thrown in the mix are Michele Bachmann and a couple of singers and a comedian....I'm trying to remember here....and an author and a Christian radio host...and Ralph Reed and Jerry Falwell Jr. and Paula White and Mike Huckabee.....(Sarah's dad.) I know that we in the church suffer from a dearth of men who preach the cross....and the gospel of salvation....and thus a dearth of men who preach Christ....for that is evident in the America we have today....but are we also becoming a little top-heavy on ministries? Please don't get me wrong....many are very good and a great help to people in need....and I've supported a lot of them over the years....but let's not confuse this....that they are not the church....particularly since they often hold to a very basic doctrinal stance because they need a diverse financial support base. I recognize a lot of the names on this list....particularly the names of organizations....and a lot of them I have always thought highly of....but I would trade the whole lot of them for one man of stature in America that could preach like Charles Haddon Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones....a man like these men who the news media might look to for comment....instead of the usual suspects today.....for in their ministries were....(and still is through books and tape).... the proclamation of the gospel of salvation....and preaching Christ....and that is what America needs most....the lack of which produces an evangelical church with little discernment on how it is being used by Donald Trump.

Update: The President usually attends a normal ultra-liberal church on Christmas but this year....what with the potential crack in evangelical support.....he choose a social conservative megachurch. Last night in preparing for sleep....I listened to a recording of a 1859 Charles Spurgeon sermon....The Fainting Warrior.....(folks....the pastor who will give you your pablum tomorrow should be passing his time reading sermons like this instead of playing Mr. Handyman or even Mr. Family Man).....O that someone would make a huge mistake and the President would be stuck in a service with a sermon such as the one mentioned here!

Original post on this topic: Drudge has had all day in bold letters the headline....CT Christianity Today....TRUMP BLASTS 'FAR LEFT' MAG....EVANGELICALS BATTLE. Christianity Today may not be a conservative Christian magazine anymore....but its editor-in-chief is to be given great credit for doing what no one else on that level is doing.....defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.....instead of defending a man who has spent his entire life trying to make a deal....to his profit....regardless of who might lose in that deal. Oh I forgot.....we follow orders and do not read about him do we? So this editor-in-chief.....this fake news journalist....will now also become an enemy of the people like everyone else who dares criticize our savior in the White House. You should at least read the Christianity Today editorial.....and Rolling Stone has an opinion piece out on this titled....'Mr. President, You Asked for A Prayer....This Might Not Be The Answer You Were Looking For, But It's The One This Country Needs.'

NBC has a headline right now in which I did not read the article because the headline says it all...."Impeachment is the historic price Trump pays for doing business his way." One of the last songs played before the President entered the Michigan rally arena was Frank Sinatra's My Way.... the final words in a slower tempo.....Yes, it was my.....way. The President was from the beginning just going to do everything his way.....the way he built his towers.....and casinos....and loopholed his way out of mistakes and bankruptcies.....and increased the fortune that his father started him out with.....regardless of long-standing tried & true policies....regardless of who he had to antagonize along the way....regardless of laws and ethics.....regardless of alliances and the need for civility.....and most of all regardless the need that truth be spoken....not half-truths....not just selected truths....but conscience fed truths. To use a favorite term of his....'well see'....where this impeachment goes....but it won't be settled by the Senate or a trial....or even at the ballot box....but solely by God's will.....for His purposes....and to His glory.

State Of The Union Reality Show: I have been posting since well back in the Obama administration that the State of the Union should be trash-canned. Thomas Jefferson refused to do one as it is too much like the British Speech From The Throne. Our constitution demands nothing more than the President sending a report over to the Congress. As for this year....Pelosi already extended an invitation. I think that I used this phrase in one of those previous posts....I don't care if I were a Democrat or a Republican....wild horses couldn't drag me to that abomination under these circumstances.

I don't know if the adage was created by Abraham Lincoln or not but apparently he liked to use it...."The man who represents himself has a fool for a client." Either way Donald Trump has represented himself in such a way.....every single solitary day it seems....just about throughout every day....for three years. Even looking back through history....can you think of one person who took this tact for even a tenth of the amount of time....or even a hundredth? He has taken a difficult situation and made it so much worse....and still does....probably as I type right now.

It's been reported that President Trump "pitched" to members of the Army and Navy football teams in the locker room the possibility of letting service academy athletes go and play pro sports if they can before serving their required active duty. This is a perfect example of Donald Trump's mind. He said they could go and make their fortune first. That is all this man thinks about....and it's a lousy idea. What he ought to be thinking about right now is the military draft....not the NFL draft....because if we become involved in a war on two fronts....a reality which he is risking for greed and personal glory....the draft will indeed be necessary once again. There are no more student deferments anymore....beyond the semester at the time of the draft notice. We all know that by now do we not? Or do we? I doubt if Donald Trump ever gave any of this a second thought.

You are not going to find anyone more pro-Israel than I am....or anyone who knows more than I the importance of the month of May in 1948....but evangelicals over the years have screwed up their theology on this big time. God brought forth this nation....and they will see their Messiah in due time....but they are going to be judged first....as we will be. President Trump's paperwork decisions do not add to Israel's security....only to evangelical polling support. Our mission is to treat the state of Israel fairly and honestly....and keep our commitments to them. God will control events related to Israel....we are to trust in Him....and pray for Israel's repentance....and our own.

It was a brilliant move....deceptive and manipulative but brilliant just the same....do away with press conferences where the questions can be understood....and non-answers easily discerned....and replace them with helicopter noise....shouted questions....soliloquy answers....and a 'see you later-bye." If a strong conservative challenger ever meets President Trump on a debate stage it will be all over....for the President won't be able to explain away what he really has done....what he has taken credit for in the economy that any conservative candidate in 2016 would have done....and that without turbo-charging an already monstrous national debt....and how much a mess of things he made in foreign policy.

The following from the 2018 elections cycle is attributed to the New Jersey congressman who is switching to the Republican Party...."I'm strongly and unequivocally pro-choice. I support Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose. Any efforts to weaken or undermine that right will face my fierce opposition." Congratulations Republicans! President Trump seems thrilled....for now....until someone later brings this up....but I don't think it would be Ivanka. Trump could not care less about abortion as it's all just a political gaming rules to him.

NEW....Tuesday morning: A report was released in Lebanon claiming to be a rough draft of the President Trump's 'Deal of the Century.' My initial impression is that it would be a house of cards. We don't even know if this report is legitimate....and it's not complete....and it is too early to speculate upon. China is part of it as is Saudi Arabia. There was one line that set off an alarm to me....many more than one actually but one in particular....."if Israel rejects the deal the US will end economic support to the state." Similar consequences were mentioned concerning the Palestinian Authority and Hamas....and there was no explanation to go along with the statement....but if there is any legitimacy to this report then they had better explain this....for on the face of it....it would be totally unacceptable....for Israel would be putting trust....not in the government of the United States.....but in the person and deal making of Donald Trump.

Paid family leave for federal workers....thanks to Ivanka....who should never have been let near the Oval Office....and she will be turned loose if her father gets a second term. Update....Ivanka recently said that she might leave the White House if her father wins a second term....but I remember this....in December of 2016....just after her father was elected....there was concern from conservatives on what involvement she might have in her father's decision making. Leslie Stahl brought this up in an interview. Ivanka's answer? "Oh....I'm just just going to be a daughter."

Note: We almost removed President Clinton from office....but when Democrats impeach it is a coup....and all the intelligence agencies are in on it. What we attempted to do was right....and I supported it....but what they are attempting to do is overturning an election? Talk radio is not taking into consideration the fringe element in this divided society....which is growing on both sides all the time. They could get the same message across without the vitriol....without shouting....but they....some of the hosts.....the main hosts....choose not to.

The Drudge Report is right now....Tuesday evening....highlighting two newspaper front pages from December 19, 1998....when President Clinton was formally impeached. Republicans are being bombarded with the lie that the Trump impeachment is just an attempt to nullify the results of a national election. Will these readers of Drudge see in the old newspaper front pages how we did the same thing to a Democrat president....and that it wasn't a coup....it was politics.....and maybe they will even see that Democrats back then were not led to a state of near hysteria....fomenting of a revolution.....and that there is indeed a serious difference in these two impeachments....and that would be in the psychological brute-force and megalomania of Donald Trump.