A Shepherd's Christmas Story

This is a fictional story I've imagined of one of the shepherds' experience after being told by the angels that Christ was born in Bethlehem. Enjoy.

ANGELS ARE TERRIFYING! My heart hasn't stopped pounding yet. My comrades and I have run from horizon to horizon, anxious to reach the town of David. We're almost there! I don't know why, but none of us even gave this mission a second thought. Mission? Mission, I think, is the PERFECT word. This has to be the most important work a shepherd has ever undertaken. Sure, each of us has fancied himself a modern-day David, bravely going toe to toe with a bear or a treacherous pack of wild dogs to save our sheep and our livelihood. David is running through my mind, fast as I run from hilltop to hilltop. Night after lonely night, alone in the valley with the flock and my thoughts, my imagination has carried me away to the times of Grandpa's stories. Samson. Moses. Back to David again. David was a shepherd like me, and a musician too. His exploits were always my favorite stories as a child, the things of dreams. Dear God, my mind is racing! The city of David! The city of the great king! We've got to get there quickly! The Christ has been born! Excitement like I've never felt before pounds in my ears. I feel it in the air, and my buddies do too. The moon seems particularly bright tonight and we can actually see where we are going on this hill... And there it is! Not a big town, but where to begin looking for this child? None of us had thought to ask the angels any questions. It just felt like they said, "GO!" And yet we haven't spoken a word to each other. It's like we don't know what we are doing, and yet we do. I soon realize we have been running as if following prey, left and right, to and fro through this ancient village. And...there...it...is. Am I the only one who just knows? I shake off my momentary dazed feeling to realize that I am standing alone. The other shepherds have already stepped towards the familiar smell. A stable. Peace. A deep peace overwhelms me, and suddenly I am not panting, excited, or anything at all but at peace. I feel welcomed into the barn like a son coming home. A young couple are doting over him. Sam is the first to accept the offer to hold the baby. We all begin to talk with the parents, Mary and Joseph they are called. They say a frightening angel told them to name him Jesus. Taking this baby into my scruffy arms seems like the most important thing I've ever done. Jesus. Christ the Lord. Grandpa called him Immanuel. I had never really understood all the religious stories; they weren't as exciting as the heroic stories. But suddenly things I hadn't heard since I was a little boy race through my mind and my heart, and I understand them all. And I believe. In my arms is a helpless little baby, my Messiah. Just lying here in my arms, his almond eyes gazing up at me, he has saved me from my sins. All the guilt that has haunted me on the hilltops will no longer be my uninvited companion. None of it seems to matter anymore. My moment with the Christ has come and gone, and yet feels like it will never end. I used to avoid the streets of town and the leering glances of those who knew the things I'd done. Now, nothing seems more urgent than telling everyone I can find that Christ has come! I'm free!

The numbers are bad.

Medical mistakes account for 195-200,000 deaths per year in the USA. Suicides account for 36,000 deaths. Car wrecks account for 33,000 deaths. Guns account for 12,000. Abortions account for 1,300,000 deaths per year in the USA. There are about one million doctors in America, and 3 million nurses, while over 200 million guns owned by 50 to 75 million Americans. Let's not blame all medical deaths on the doctors; share it with the nurses. 4 million of them, 200,000 deaths. That is one in twenty chance of killing someone. Gun owners : 50 million kill 12,000; that is one in 4,100. One in three pregnancies results in the mother choosing to end it in abortion.

This is a sobering perspective.

God's Environment

I've written the following to help my kids. It's not exhaustive, but covers some important questions. 

Dear beloved children, I put this together for you to help give some perspective. It's long, but I tried to keep my words as few as possible and let God speak for himself.

God’s Biblical Instruction on the Environment

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the Lord.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. ISA 55:8-9NIV
God created the world in six literal days. He created all living things according to their kinds at that time. There have been no new species to appear since then; in fact, samples of all the kinds of animals were preserved in Noah’s ark. The kinds of animals are different classifications than our scientific classifications of phylum, genus, species, etc. These kinds were created and none added to them by any evolutionary process. This original world was perfect, sinless, and free from death; man had responsibility over the creation to study, understand, and care for the environment. Genesis 2:15 "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 1:28 "…Be fruitful and increase in number…."
The fall of Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world; permanent fundamental change, increased difficulty in agriculture-though the world was all vegetarian until after the flood:
Genesis 1:29: Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." Man’s ever-increasing wickedness brought God’s punishment and the most thorough house-cleaning in all of history-worldwide destructive flood. This flood was the greatest erosive and geologic event ever, thoroughly erasing and resculpting the face of the planet with flooding worldwide on the order of 10-30 feet per hour for 960 hours straight upon a world that had never even seen rain before.
God’s covenant with Noah brought the promise of continued seasons, a rainbow as the sign that this flooding would never happen again, and the fundamental change to the world bringing the eating of meat into the diet of man and predators. Genesis 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." He continues in GE 9:
1 "Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."
As can be easily seen on a simple bar graph of the lifetimes of the people listed in Genesis, human life expectancy rapidly plummeted after the flood until it went from over 950 years down to 120, and later [as God mentions in Genesis], down to 70. Only in modern times, with the invention of modern medicine, has that expectancy returned to 70 and above-it was actually down into the 40’s before then. Rare individuals would live to be over 100, but the majority of lives have been cut short by violence and disease throughout history.
Books such as Job briefly describe Leviathan and Behemoth, enormous dinosaur-like creatures which the people of their day were obviously quite familiar with, and frequent mention of dragons both in the Bible and elsewhere indicates their existence in some form in the past.
Job, as well as Psalms and other passages, describes the work of God in personally caring for and feeding the creatures in the wild.
Job 38:41 "Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?"
PS 147:9 "He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call." Israel, the promised land for the Israelite people, was described as a land of milk and honey, but more importantly a land of giant fruit and races of giant people. Perhaps we have not only lost length of days, but the ability to grow very tall and the opportunity to eat much larger produce and enjoy the wonders of great creatures of the past as the world has declined in health since the days of Adam.
　Apparently, the world has changed a great deal since God created it perfect, but since some time after the Israelites settled Canaan it seems to have remained somewhat static. There is little to indicate any other big change since that time, though Revelation describes severe changes in store for earth’s future.
Some important scientific descriptions of our universe from the Bible:
Isaiah describes the water cycle 2,000 years before modern scientists understand it:
Isaiah 55:8-11 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."Note from the followings verse, the earth is not flat, and the apparent expansion of the universe has an explanation [this stretching of the fabric of space-time may explain what scientists believe to be the expanding universe with the appearance of billions of years in age; God perhaps was, and still is, stretching the fabric at more than the speed of light!]
Isaiah 40:22 NIV
"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." When the Israelites inhabited and subdued Canaan, wild animals and enemies were gradually reduced in number. 
From Leviticus 26 we see a long description of how God will manage the entire environment with consequences for the Israelites if they obey or disobey him. A few relevant words from the chapter:
"If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.
6 "‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, …
9 "‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers… [may I note that God is not concerned about human overpopulation?]
14 "‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands… You will plant seed in vain… I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.
‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me,… I will send wild animals against you,…." The New Testament describes creation groaning in its agonizing wait for things to be made right and all the death, hunger, and suffering to cease: Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
Finally, the earth will be renovated by God for its cleansing, a renovation by fire:
2 Peter 3:3 "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." This passage summed up not only the history of the creation as I’ve described, but the lesson we are to learn of it! In the end of time, God will restore creation to the state in which he created it, and all will be perfect. The environment will be forever restored.
Death will no longer be a part of the world: Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.
We are to respect and care for the earthly environment, to be sure, but we must also remember that the spiritual environment within the human soul is eternal.
Additional information from a scientific perspective:
The law of conservation of mass/energy; essentially that mass and energy cannot be created or destroyed, only change form [essentially interchange with each other with nothing lost]. However, a Creator had to create all that mass and energy in the first place; it is utterly impossible for the universe to come into existence any other way. This law guarantees that this universe isn’t going anywhere.

The second law of thermodynamics is the idea of entropy, a fancy word for saying that if you work, you get tired, everything is winding down like a windup clock, everything is getting old and wearing out and dying. This is obvious in life, but also a matter of scientific law. Everything breaks down and becomes less useful; it is utterly impossible for something simple to evolve into something more complex. Only creative activity, by a God or a designer, can turn dirt into people or scrap metal into an airplane. Going back to the law of conservation above, God created the dirt from nothing at all! Then he formed the man out of the dirt. Evolution is impossible because that dirt will never become a living thing with its immeasurable complexity any more than you can unmix a cake mix into flour, eggs, water, etc. What is the missing piece? The Creator who made the dirt and then made it into living creatures with minds, souls, love, and the ability to turn around and worship that Creator. If we ignore the existence of the Creator, and we pretend there is no law of sin and death, we can pretend that we can do whatever we want and we don’t need a Savior to forgive our sins.

So, you want to fundamentally transform America, Barack?

This train of thought came to me while in Sunday School yesterday (yes, I was listening in class). The teacher was talking about Christ renewing our minds that we be transformed. Transformation is a synonym for metamorphosis (when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly)- in other words, change from one thing into something completely different, with virtually none of the previous characteristics ( like from tadpole to frog). Fundamentally means at its foundation or core. There is no greater change possible short of utter destruction.

At its core, the USA is a constitutional republic. How can I make this any clearer- our President wants it to no longer be either based upon the Constitution nor a republic. That is a fundamental violation of his oath of office. All American citizens have a duty to their country to vote him out of office as well as any politician who supports this coup.

Intolerant Bigot Conserves Narrow Marital Definition

So seriously, what is this marriage debate really about?

I think it merits finer definition. In this world of political correctness, there is much to be said for correctly defining terms because the current tactic is to redefine words and therefore win the battle of the lie. As a precursor to my discussion, I will deal with some definition examples as an illustration. First of all, correctness is simply correctness- something is either correct or it's not. Political correctness is a false premise entirely. As is social justice-justice is inherently supposed to be blind and fair, not stratified based upon social standing. Social justice is actually socialism. Gay means happy, not homosexual. Further, being homosexual is not a happier state than being heterosexual anyway.

Back to my discussion, and definitions. Marriage is, by dictionary definition, a union between one man and one woman. Even polygamy is actually more than one marriage-John is married to Sally AND John is married to Jane. Sally is NOT married to Jane. There is no other definition of the term-any more than marriage is also defined as the color 9 or a type of bacteria. Marriage is SUPPORTED by many governments for various reasons, and practiced by virtually every religion and society in world history, but most importantly, marriage is marriage because it was designed as the most elemental unit of society by God himself. It is the FIRST institution as well as the biological basis of society. I think I've covered all the bases sufficiently to prove beyond doubt what marriage is, but could go on for pages and pages.

I challenge you to neither use the term 'traditional marriage' nor the term 'gay marriage.' I have a traditional and a gay marriage-my wife and I were married under the auspices of the state in a legal contract in a church ceremony by our pastor, and we are quite blissfully happy. Marriage is marriage -period. We allow an open door when we call it 'traditional'- there is no other kind! There is traditional food, music, dress, custom, but marriage crosses all boundaries. There is no such thing as 'gay marriage' neither.

I am working backwards now to 'narrow.' A dictionary is not a dictionary if it is not 'narrow' and precise in its definitions; neither is language if words do not mean what they mean! Since all this marriage debate is directed at Christians, yes, Jesus is the only way to heaven and yes that is narrow-minded. He says so! He built heaven, made the rules, and says the way to heaven is narrow because, well, he's been there. He also said he loves the whole world and wants us all on that road, but go ahead and try another way. By the way, Muslims are also narrow-minded in their marriage definition and path to heaven [and forbid abortion and are known to slaughter homosexuals and infidels, but who cares about that].

Conservatism is stuck in the past.

Because it is supposed to be! The idea of conservatism is to conserve what is true and has been true for millenia, not tear it down. Truth never changes. Our understanding does. Liberal should actually mean generous or overflowing-in other words, being liberal with love, affection, generosity, gifts, or encouraging liberty. Love, affection, generosity, and gifts are not proper functions of government, so that leaves liberty-but the 'liberal' of today only adds to government, not liberty. Yes, I know those who claim to be conservatives are often just as misguided as the 'liberals' are. 'Liberals' are often actually progressives. That is a laughable philosophy-that society will progress as government takes ever-increasing control of it. Greedy, selfish people given more power over the greedy, selfish people they govern will not have improving results. Technology progresses. Knowledge progresses. Health and longevity progress. Human nature does not progress-have you read today's headlines? We are just as depraved as cavemen were, with our cannibals, drug-crazed murderers, sexual assailants, etc.You think the same dirty thoughts the cavemen did while on your computer or sitting in rush-hour traffic or talking with your angry boss-or watching TV or listening to the lyrics to your favorite music. Oh, sorry. Meddling:) That is why human nature will not allow government to progress society, because government will still be populated by dirty-rotten people, just like the masses.

A bigot is someone who is utterly intolerant of another's opinion or treats another group with hatred and intolerance as if they are inferior. This used to be a term used for racists and sexists. A narrow-minded, conservative Christian is not a bigot because they believe their set of beliefs is the only correct one-neither is anyone else because they sincerely hold their own beliefs as correct. Actually, one is an idiot if they don't believe something at their core is true! One is by definition a Christian, Republican, transcendentalist, Muslim, Jew, etc. if they hold to the beliefs defining that particular category. It makes no more sense to be a Christian atheist than it does to be a wooden Chevy dishwasher. Holding such beliefs does not make one a bigot. Holding to beliefs that maintain that others' opinions are unworthy of a listen or that other classes of people is inferior is bigotry. Because one holds to the actual definition of marriage does not constitute bigotry; by the way, homosexuals weren't clamoring to be married as little as thirty years ago, because the idea of 'gay marriage' didn't even exist! There has always been freedom of association. Two men have always been able to live together, work together, ride in a car together, drink from the same water fountain. They don't qualify to marry any more than brother and sister, father and son, chicken and tractor do. Their behavior when together cannot be proscribed with any practicality.

Now for the final definition-intolerance. Tolerance is actually an engineering term. It basically means amount of slack. In other words, within precise tolerances car parts are put together. If one uses a huge wrench to tighten plastic parts, they will break, while if one hand-tightens an axle nut, the wheel will fall off! Back to the axle nut-overtighten it and the axle will not turn as designed, and undertighten and, again, the wheel will fall off. Tolerance is actually limited, and socially, tolerance should be limited too. We should not tolerate child abuse, but should openly tolerate free speech that is not vulgar or inciting danger. Redefining marriage is not tolerance, it is a lie. Tolerating a lie is wrong in itself. Looking back at our beginning, we have to correctly define terms. There is no room for tolerance with that. A dog is not a cat, a man is not a BMW, and marriage is not two women-by definition. Bigotry is not part of the equation.

Not that any non Christians or homosexuals care, but Christianity is actually given quite a precise definition. Its dictionary is the Bible, written in black and white for all to see. It never changes. It didn't used to say that black people couldn't marry white people, Jesus was blonde with blue eyes, we must all vote Republican, or that homosexuals could marry. What it does say is that we are all rotten to the core-and our sins have many flavors. Some are more visible than others. It says that there is only one God, and he created us and gave us work to do and rules to follow. They are for our own good. He loves all of us but knows we don't all love him. Those who he has rescued are given the mission to go out and try to rescue others. The rescued will often screw up. Their message will not sit well with the others, because they are rotten and don't believe they are doing anything wrong in need of rescue. Of course some Christians are racist, sexist, prejudiced, bigoted, homophobes, rude, judgmental, and generally rotten. That's the whole point! We're all wrong in some way and need fixing by God. If we aren't dead yet, God is not through with fixing us. Being a Christian does mean being born again-and that is an ugly process to watch. Being born, messing your diaper, being immature and whiny and unable to take care of yourself all over again, can be an ugly process to watch from the outside.

It's kind of like quitting smoking. At one point you were not a smoker, but you tried it. It made you sick and tasted horrible, but it had some stupid appeal to your blind eyes, so you persevered until you began to like it. By then you were hooked. Eventually, with much struggle, you realized what it was doing to you, making you broke and stinky and sick and dying, standing out like an idiot in the 110 or 10 degree weather desperately trying to light another one, that you quit. Now, as a quitter, you hate cigarettes, the smell, seeing others smoke. You may become an activist-'get smoking out of the restaurants, the bars, the colleges.' Now you're repelled a quarter-mile away by the stench and you bug the snot out of everyone around you. Deep down, you know how helpless you were in the grip of the cigarettes, and don't want anyone to be imprisoned, but it may manifest in some anger at those who still smoke because it bugs you so much and may even make you sick.

The difference is that God has the power to change our attitudes, and to be fair, non Christians expect us to have had those changed more quickly than we have allowed. For the ten servants in the quit-smoking program trying to help people because they have a humble understanding what it is like, there is still the one guy at the office fussing at the smokers. It is the same way with Christians-for the ten who deeply struggled to get free from their own sin, and it may have nothing to do with sexual sin, who are out to help the sinners adhere to God's law, there is the one who is repulsed by a particular sin and not acting in a Godly way about it. Homosexual behavior is a particularly distasteful as well as powerful sin, to be honest, so I do not condone this sin and understand how many Christians have difficulty extending grace towards those struggling with it.

In conclusion, I am not chicken to say that God defined marriage as between a man and a woman and I wish to conserve that narrow definition. He blesses true marriage among all peoples, though, not just Christians! God created the family before he created the church because marriage is a model of Christ's relationship to people.

Something from nothing

I would like for you to take a moment to think about, well, nothing. Imagine you don't exist, neither do your friends, family, home, planet, sky, or even heaven. It used to be that way. There was just God. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He-they-were complete, sharing thoughts, each others' company. Then, as the Bible describes in one little sentence, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." God had decided to invent, well, inventing! There was absolutely nothing at all except God, and he decided to invent dirt. Air. Dark. Light. Life. Impossibly invisible particles and vast galaxies, all made from the same raw material-all made from nothing. God even invented time itself! From an unimaginable beginning, we have what you see today. As the saying goes, anyone can count how many apples are in a tree, but only God knows how many trees are in an apple!

In an 'apple' in a garden was the power to live forever, but God also trusted his plan enough to include an 'apple' that would bring death-and the opportunity to choose. With God's love for us, he gave us freedom to choose not to return his love. With one bite of that apple, death and decay and sin entered the world. The clock has been winding down ever since.

A few observations: we used to be able to live forever, eating fruit and walking with God. Sin, decay and death brought huge changes-such that God destroyed all life in a flood and started over. Suddenly living things could eat each other. It is beyond all comprehension what life must have been like originally-the very laws of physics were different; maybe light was faster, gravity stronger. Perhaps friction and radioactive decay and corrosion and rot didn't occur, nothing was poisonous or had fangs. No disease, no fatal injuries. Evil itself wasn't allowed to run the world; there was just one snake in the grass. The pervasive destruction of the flood has utterly and fundamentally changed the oceans, land, and sky in unimaginable ways, leading rapidly to much shorter lifespans.

There were a few promising signs. Enoch and Elijah never died. Many were raised from the dead and healed of diseases. Other miracles appeared. God promised that the seed of the woman would be victorious over the serpent, meaning Christ over the devil. When Christ died, many righteous people were resurrected.

A few exciting things are still to come! Many more people will never die,  joined by many more resurrected people who will ascend into heaven. Jesus will come back. God will fundamentally change the universe again, back to perfection, and there will be a new heavens and a new earth, renovated by fire.

I am deeply moved to worship my Creator. From nothing he created it all, the huge from the invisible. The dying from the living, and life from death. He will fix all we've wrecked. More importantly, he created this whole plan with us in mind because he loves us with an everlasting love and will grant the willing the opportunity to live in his presence forever!

The following verses were my material for this essay. Read on; you'll find some amazing supernatural occurrences and inspiration to worship!

Hebrews 1:1-3 KJV: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ² Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, ...."

Heb 1:3 NIV84: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." 

Genesis 2:9: ^"The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

3:15 KJV:  "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

Genesis 9:3: " Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything."

GE 5:23: "Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

2 Kings 2:11: "As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."

MT 27: 50: "And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵² The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son^[e] of God!”

2 Peter 3:3: "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Revelation 21:1 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.^[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation,...."

1 Thessalonians 4:15: " According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage each other with these words."

So you wanna be salt and light?

 I came across a lively discussion on Facebook last week on the subject of Christians being involved in politics. There were sentiments of discouragement and frustration with the process on the part of some of the Christians as well as offense on the part of some non Christians who felt preached at. 

I am reminded that Paul said that the cross is offensive to those who are perishing, so we can expect as Christians to offend at times-but we must be ever vigilant to never offend when we can avoid it, speaking the truth in love. We must also remember that Jesus said that those who aren't against us are for us [within reasonable limitations] so we must be open to working shoulder-to-shoulder with those who don't share our faith if they share our principles and our cause. This is particularly true in political or governmental service and activism.

...But I'm not writing here to preach at you. Politics is a dirty business with lots of corruption, but then so is just about any other setting in our society :). Politics is, after, all, government service and is a necessary part of any society. It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! Whether you choose to be a government employee, elected official, a member of the press or an activist trying to keep government accountable, there can be honor in that. I would say that there are very few segments of society which Christians should avoid because of the sin necessary to participate-let's say, organized crime, the sex industry,....

I, for one, am glad that many principled Christians worked together to found our great nation at the risk of life and liberty. Not only were they Christians, but they built our founding documents and the doctrines upon which they built our government upon many biblical principles.

Here are a few choice phrases from the Declaration of Independence proclaiming the religious motivation of our Founders:

*the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,

*a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

*We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —

 *That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —

*That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

*...appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, 

*And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

*The Preamble to the US Constitution: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Clearly the Founders followed Christian motivations not only to influence and alter, but abolish government when it was wrong and then build one of, by, and for the people so as to establish the most successful government in all of history.

One critical principle upon which our nation was founded is that God, being sovereign and the one who endows us with unalienable rights, ordained the individual people themselves to be sovereign. We ARE government! We choose the members of government to perform its functions as our servants. It is our responsibility as sovereigns to perform our duty-choose our government through voting, but just as importantly by informing ourselves and others, keeping government accountable, and standing for righteousness. We are each uniquely called by God to serve in some sector of society, and politics/government may not be yours, but ignoring the government we are to choose to rule over us is not justifiable.

I have been somewhat wordy, but let me get to my point: I wrote this essay to speak to one who asked specifically for scriptural justification for Christians being involved in politics. In a desperate attempt to limit my natural wordiness, I will try to shorten this!

Jesus called us to be salt and light and a city on a hill [MT5:13-16]. Government is ordained by God [RO13:1-7, Acts 17:24-28, Exodus through Deuteronomy]. Israel's laws were given by God; Moses was their leader and judge. Thanks to his father-in-law speaking to influence government we have the principle of divisions of jurisdiction [Ex 18]. God called many great government leaders like Samuel, David, Gideon, Solomon. Every Old Testament prophet was called by God to preach to the governments of the nations and to decry the corruption of the people, whether it be religious idolatry or oppressing the poor and stealing from the upright[references too numerous to mention]. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel were important government officials, as were Esther and Nehemiah. John the Baptist was beheaded for being bold enough to speak up[MT 14:4]. God even ordained that the crucifixion of Christ be through the actions of government, petitioned by the people. Yes, that is a horrible example, but evil governments are influenced by evil people just as good governments are influenced by good people.

The book of Acts is full of Christians dealing with government, from the Sanhedrin and priests to the Romans. Peter's speech in Acts 3 was to the people both as individuals needing salvation and as part of a government that had unjustly participated in the crucifixion of Jesus. Acts 4:19-20 are the cry of a man of righteousness influencing the people. Vs. 29-30 are our rallying cry to bold actions. Chapters 5 and 7 exhibit the persecution they endure and Stephen's bold speech decrying the evils of the Israeli government. 16:35-39 illustrate Paul's shrewd use of his rights as a citizen [also in 22:22-29]. The Occupy movement is even described in scripture-19:23-41, especially 32 and 40! Chapters 23-26 detail his dealings with the Roman government, using his rights to obtain opportunity for testimony. Paul finishes up with chapter 28:31: "Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." Of course, Paul's mission was not to change government, but he was unhesitant to exercise his rights as a Roman citizen to advance the gospel, even before kings [Acts 9:15-16]. The book of Philemon is the seed which flourished into the worldwide abolitionist movement, freeing untold millions from slavery. Revelation 11 tells of the two witnesses prophesying to the nations, and the rest of the book tells of God's judgment upon the nations of the earth and finally the establishment of his kingdom on earth.

Our mission as Christians is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If we participate in society as a means of doing so, then so be it!

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2Cor3:17

The British are coming!

Remember that famous warning cry? Paul Revere hurtled through the countryside at midnight, the moon and a torch dimly lighting his way. He charged on, desperate to gain an extra moment's warning for his compatriots of the impending battle.
Moments of courage like that built victory in the Revolutionary War and were the foundation of our great nation.
Ezekiel chapter 33 begins like this: "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, ...."
Yes, that's right - the Lord brings a sword against a land, a sword of punishment. It may hurt; it may kill. We don't like to think about that anymore. We'd prefer to think that Jesus makes us healthy, wealthy and wise and happy, forgives and loves and heals. Sweet baby Jesus! He also disciplines and punishes. Today. If you read Revelations, you realize we ain't seen nothin' yet!
This is the real purpose of my blog as well as the heavy burden upon my heart I shall carry the rest of my life. O how thankful I am that the Holy Spirit provides joy in the midst of pain! God hasn't put down his gavel. He sees the affairs of men and guides them for his glory that men might turn to him and be saved.
For my beloved country perilous times are on the horizon. Who will make the perilous climb to the watchtower and shout the warning? This task is vital as you will read in Ezekiel 33 and further. I say to you, be sure that you are seated with Christ in heavenly places and that you warn of the coming wrath upon this disobedient nation. God is patient, but he cannot ignore evil forever.

Home of the brave?

...I wonder if I live there anymore.

I grew up in the USA during the Reagan era. The misery index was shattered by the Space Shuttle launch, the death-defying President, a new optimism and exploding economy, Olympic victories, the fall of communism; it was indeed Morning in America. Remember the Moral Majority? It was an exciting time to be an American. There was a soaring sense of national pride and enthusiasm. Christians were finally waking up and becoming a positive part of this change. We had a President who was a masterful communicator- inspiring, motivating, encouraging with his wit, candor, and patriotism. In some ways this era was an eight-year pep rally for a nation that had been in doldrums for decades.

Let me stop you right there. Some of you have already begun a list in your minds of what was wrong with that time, with that President. I am not going to dispute this with you; I would be wrong to excuse the sins of any one or any nation. What I will say is this: we were no longer ashamed to be Americans; we held our heads high and worked hard to grow, thrive, succeed, achieve. And we did just that! There were horrible terror attacks, the threat of nuclear annihilation, new epidemic diseases, the Challenger disaster. If you are old enough, do you even remember fallout shelters or the AIDS scare or the terror attack on our Marines in Lebanon? Those memories and fears have faded, scrubbed by the effervescent enthusiasm that we would overcome. Nothing paralyzed us. When Reagan called the Soviet Union an Evil Empire, and later said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" we cheered-and believed. The wall fell in 1989.

Back to your list. Is it still important?

Now, back to the present day. Thinking about what is going on in our nation right now, what is different? Are you afraid of H1N1, economic collapse, terror attack, China? Do you think we need to withdraw from war because we cannot afford to spread ourselves thin? Do you fear what will happen to America if we don't have Obamacare-or if we do? We fear that the economy won't recover because of Obama's policies, or because Congress won't let him implement all of them. Either way, we're wrong-we should have long ago buckled up, got to work, and made the economy better despite what anyone else did about it.

I wonder if I live in America anymore. That nation is still the wealthiest, most powerful nation in world history. She has no significant enemies. She has the most productive workforce in the world, and far and away the best military. Since I grew up? Soviet Union, gone. Eastern Bloc, gone. Japanese economic power-virtually gone. Saddam? Gone. Osama? Gone. Taliban and AlQuaeda? Essentially gone. AIDS? Fading memory. Threat of nuclear annihilation? Are you kidding me?

Yet we are more afraid of one smuggled 'dirty bomb' than of the 30,000 large nuclear warheads the Soviets had aimed at us, and more afraid that China's economy will surpass ours with their cheap dollar-store junk. We are afraid to let our kids play in the yard because they might get hit by a car or fall off their bikes. Congratulations, 9-11 terrorists. Nineteen young men defeated the USA. The elephant is now afraid of the mouse. They killed three thousand in one day; now two million are subject to TSA search in one day-3% receiving invasive pat-downs, or... 60,000. Every day. The terrorists need not try any more to attack on an airplane because they have achieved their goal, placing us all in terror that the guy next to us has a bomb. We have managed to defeat Saddam as well as AlQuaeda despite horrible mismanagement of the war effort, without the draft, without major sacrifice, yet we feel like failures. In WWII everything you can imagine was rationed and ALL young men went off to war. ZERO cars were manufactured for 3 and a half years. Our nation, young and old, sacrificed everything, scraped pennies and bought war bonds, and sent Hershey bars and Marlboros to our boys overseas and crushed the TWO greatest enemies the world had ever seen on both sides of the world at the same time. We suffered one hundred times the casualties of the current war on terror, then turned around and rebuilt most of the world, had lots of babies, started the space race, and generally ran to win in everything.

Do I still live in the home of the brave? It would appear not. Oh, we still have men and women of courage, many of them in the military, but as a nation courage has wilted. I DO NOT fault the current President for this. Yes, he lives to play on our fears. However, they were already there before we elected him.

Once upon a time, we would have looked at China and said, "We can do better!" The competition would have improved our character and driven China to improve theirs. We would have looked at terrorists and said, "Let's roll!" and we would have achieved victory years ago and brought our boys and girls home to tickertape parades. Years ago, we would have looked new diseases in the face and defeated them. Actually, we still do-as Americans have defeated most diseases in modern history-but we no longer have the courage to celebrate it. Remember polio? Didn't think so. Our President died of it during WWII, and we still won-against the Axis powers and the disease.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Over two hundred years ago, a ragtag group of preachers, farmers, and merchants with no army and no navy took on the greatest empire in the world WHILE occupied by them-and won. Then our nation won that empire over to be our greatest allies, and liberty spread throughout the world. The USA became the wealthiest, most powerful, and most generous nation in world history. How then have we become so afraid?

Quite frankly, the reason for this fear is simple-we as a nation refuse to fear the Lord, so he has caused us to fear everything else.

Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

When in the course of human events...

On the hallowed occasion of Independence Day, I wish to remind all of us that the United States of America was founded a nation upon the bedrock of faith in the Christian God and Scriptures. From her Declaration of Independence I have excerpted certain statements to that effect which shall clearly demonstrate the legal contract which the Founders had established before Almighty God.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary,
            the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle us to establish a new nation upon certain truths.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

[of King George]
He has refused his Assent to Laws,
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly,
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone
 He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
For abolishing the free System of English Laws

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens ...[ ]to bear Arms against their Country

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms

a Tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in general Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

The American colonists at one time declared, "We have no king but King Jesus!" The King of England was usurping God's place as ruler over men. This free people were compelled to return things to God's order, for they were doing his bidding and would receive his protection. It is their right, it is their duty- rights, as well as duty, come from God and therefore We, the People of the United States of America were and continue to be bound by this Declaration to uphold our rights and duties.

Signed, this 4th of July, 2012 in the year of our Lord,

James W. England, Jr.

God has no choice

I believe in a God who is all-powerful and who is, in fact, love. He is all-knowing and he is everywhere. He is perfect, righteous, just, and holy. He can do anything he wants-or can he?

Don't Worry,...

Be happy! Here's a little song I (Bobby McFerrin) wrote; you might want to sing it note for note....
You've probably heard how we should be prepared for emergencies and disasters from hurricanes to power outages to economic collapse, collecting vast stocks of food, flashlights, water, money, weapons, fuel-you name it. Certainly insurance is on the list as well. What can one do to prepare for all conceivable scenarios, especially on a limited budget?
I am no disaster -preparedness expert. There are the 'common' disasters, like tornadoes for us Okies, that we don't really take for granted,  but are somewhat prepared for, at least mentally and spiritually.
What do we do about the big ones? Magnitude 10 earthquake, EF 5 tornado, nuclear war, economic collapse, Armageddon ....
The first thing you will need is oil for your lamp. The accompanying survival manual is found in Matthew 6:19-33.

Sacred secrets

I believe with all my heart, as may you, that we can know God personally and hear his guiding Spirit and receive revelation and wisdom that can only come from the Creator. In my Bible study recently, however, I have been reminded that God still remains an unsearchable mystery! I find this rather exciting. Here are a few examples of holy mysteries:
Daniel 12:4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.
Hebrews 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Sampson, Jephthah, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength;  and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
2 Corinthians 12:1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Revelation 10:4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
This reminds me of  Isaiah 55:6-11. Study that mystery! Better yet, go to a Bible website like biblegateway or youversion and go on your own mystery tour of the Word of God.
Remember the greatest mystery of all-Jesus will come again!

Why am I writing this blog?

I dearly love the United States of America.  She is in grave trouble ; you know this. I believe the Lord has the best view of her problems and her future, so it's best to seek his answer.  In my Bible study, I came across the Lord's answer to Daniel's prayer when he knew that Israel's time was almost up. DA9:22-23"Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision : ..."  I will not be innocent of men's blood if I do not share what God puts on my heart. Please keep reading.

Is anyone willing to pray like this?

Daniel chapter 9 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. ³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. ⁶ We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
⁷ “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame —the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. ⁸ O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. ⁹ The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; ¹⁰ we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. ¹¹ All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. ¹² You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. ¹³ Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. ¹⁴ The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
¹⁵ “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. ¹⁶ O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
¹⁷ “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Verses from NIV84


This was the prophet Daniel's prayer of repentance for his nation, knowing that the time of judgment had neared its end. I pray that we hear his words and realize that God STILL has a wrath to turn away [v.16] and our nation is toying with that wrath.

Thank you

I must pause for a moment to give thanks. I have made many attempts in the past to begin sharing my thoughts with the world, and this latest effort is the most promising yet. I am humbled by the opportunity to

The voice of God returns

In my previous post, "Last Words," I talked of the last words of the Old Testament. They were quite telling, and followed by four centuries of silence from God. Who breaks the silence? Some wild-eyed man yelling, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" Many believed his message and were baptized, but it doesn't appear that he was kind. At one point he cried, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the coming wrath?"

Many would say that he was a harsh old-style prophet and doesn't represent the new message of grace. However, he says of Jesus,

"His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. "

Jesus never disagreed with him.

Consider this -harvest of souls includes bringing in the wheat AND burning up the chaff. With unquenchable fire. Forever. We must produce fruit in keeping with repentance. I'm telling you that there will be a day when we have to answer to God. So will our nation. I, for one, am grateful that his amazing grace saves sinners like me.

Last words

Malachi 4:5-6 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that Great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He with turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers; unless I should come and strike the land with a curse."

These are the famous last words of the Old Testament. I won't make too much of it as a prophetic statement to our nation, but we have few greater problems than fathers abandoning their responsibilities to their wives and children and as a consequence children having no natural affection for family. The burden this places on mothers is unexcusable, but mothers aren't always innocent of pushing them away.
Let's face it, God is not obliged to bless the United States while we don't even bless our own flesh and blood.

My next blog, "The Voice of God Returns," will continue the story.

Vote!

I won’t bother you with the old cliches-you’ve heard them all. I want to submit a simple idea to you that may help you with your thoughts about voting in the upcoming election, should you choose to participate.

That idea is, simply, this: YOU are the hiring manager for the most powerful government in world history.
 Long ago, people just like you decided to hire people just like your neighbors to be their employees, to operate the government on a daily basis so they could continue their lives in peace-to farm, invent, teach, preach, build, work, open businesses, raise families. They had God-given rights life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness, and they wanted a small, concisely defined government that would protect the rights of all without taking the rights of any. Government was to serve the people, and those working in it were to be their employees.

Many people work long and hard and spend great deals of money to seek your approval of their application for government service positions. You have the liberty to choose whomever you want for office, but you have some important factors to consider. While these people will be your employees, they will be set loose to run the government for an extended period of time with little control from you. You, in my opinion, want to know that they will show up and do their job. You want them to be honest and follow the rules. You want them to work for you.

It is understood that it is not easy to replace them, but then you wanted to be able to make your choice and then generally leave them alone for a couple of years-you have more important things to do. That makes the "application process" even more important than that for a regular job. If you hire a traditional employee, you can train them for the skills they need, replace them if they don’t work out, promote them if they serve you well, and generally have some time to see if they will work out. If they steal from you or cuss out a customer you can fire them immediately. Remember that you are hiring people and you know that there are honest, hardworking people out there who can be trusted when nobody is looking. As sure as you put up with one bad apple, others will think they can get the job too. You have to watch for the bad apples. Most importantly, you want employees who know their place. They must follow the rules; you don’t give them keys to the safe or the store or allow them to make your own management decisions unless you delegate those powers to them. You have to make sure that the rules are in control and not the employees. That is why those people long ago set up a republic and not a democracy-they wanted a government that the people didn’t have to operate day by grueling day, but one with a written rulebook that kept everything in check.

Please take a moment to read through the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence [below] and see the beauty of what was created there. Then check those applications carefully and vote for only the best on Election Day!

James England



When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.