RSS
 

First Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 3

31 Aug

Salt & Light Kingdomtide involves life in the kingdom. While Jesus is coming back someday to establish His kingdom on the earth, we are called to redeem the world around us as we live out our life every day. We are called to transform our world as we become salt and light in our community. Salt is a preservative. It prevents the spread of decay by creating a condition that prevents the growth of that which causes decay. Christians are called to create a situation in their community that prevents the spread of evil. They can do that by winning souls and turning them from evil and by enacting laws that prevent the spread of evil by punishing those who engage in it. Light on the other hand exposes that which is hidden so we don’t trip over it. Evil likes to hide in the dark, but light exposes it so it can be removed or destroyed. Christians are also called to expose evil. Evil thrives on lies but Christians are called to teach the truth, exposing the lies. In addition, through education we teach others the consequences of sin and by living out God’s love, we show the world the benefits of love and care for each other and it will stand out in contrast to the evil in selfishness and hatred. Kingdomtide should be a time when we seek to cultivate the qualities that enable us to be salt and light in our communities.

 

 

Intro to Kingdomtide-video

31 Aug

Kingdomtide begins Sunday

 

Violence and Social Strife-D-O

30 Aug

It really made no difference whether the police officer in Minnesota was guilty or not because the verdict was already determined before the trial started. Maxine Waters called for riots in the streets if the officers were cleared so the jury knew their only choice was to convict them or face more rioting. The officers never had a chance for a fair trial. We have to decide whether we want a country ruled by law and justice or one ruled by mob rule. After the verdict, new rioting broke out even though the officers were convicted and leading Democrats began calling for defunding the police. Of course cities ruled by Democrats realized they could not eliminate the police or there would not be anyone to keep order so they slashed the police budgets. Then they faced the question of where to make cuts. Since the conflict between police and Black subjects usually occurred in  Black areas, they reduced the police patrols in Black areas to reduce the chance of conflict. Since criminals no longer had to worry about police, they went on a field day and crime in Black areas exploded. Of course the victims in the Black areas were mostly Black so Black people suffered the most. Liberals just don’t seem to be able to foresee the consequences of their actions.

 

 

Violence and Social Strife-D-N

30 Aug

Democrats say they want to reduce racial discrimination by police. The media continues to play up the death of the Black man being arrested by police in Minnesota. They make him out to be an innocent bystander attacked by police, but the fact is, he had a long violent criminal record and was high on drugs at the time. We don’t know what resistance he put up before finally being subdued. The one video recording it conveniently left that out. Reports are that he didn’t die on the street but died later in the ambulance after he slipped out of his handcuffs and died of a drug-induced heart attack while making a violent attempt to escape. It is hard to make any judgement without all the facts. Our media today seems to portray what they want you to believe and leaves out a lot of facts needed to make an intelligent decision. That contrasted with a more recent incident in St Louis where a Black security officer was gunned down when he responded to an alarm at a pawn shop. He interrupted a group of looters who were in the process of looting the pawn shop and they shot him. Although he was Black and just doing his job, he lost his life, yet it was never mentioned on the media. Apparently Black lives only matter to them if they can use it to stir up social strife.

 

 

Violence and Social Strife-D-M

30 Aug

Democrats say they want to reduce mass incarceration. One way they are trying to do it is by reducing penalties for crimes. They have been dropping some minor crimes and no longer consider them crimes and reducing sentences for other crimes. In addition, they are pushing to eliminate bail so a criminal can be released without bail and still be expected to show up for his trial. That is the purpose of bail, to guarantee he will show up. All these things have not reduced the amount of people incarcerated. By letting minor criminals go with a slap on the wrist, they encourage them to commit more crimes. Punishment is supposed to make it so they don’t gain from breaking the law. When punishment is weak, they can commit the crime and put up with a little inconvenience before going out and committing more crimes. Crime has continued to rise in areas where laws are not enforced.

 

 

Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 27

26 Aug

Dealing with issues teens & Adults One of the greatest needs today is the teaching of Biblical values. Our country was founded on the principle that the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people. That means that it will be run by the people, will consist of everyday citizens, not career politicians, and shall be geared toward benefiting the people. That requires that the people be informed about what is going on and able to decide what is best for them. The result was a push for universal education so everyone would be educated and for affordable newspapers to inform the people so they could vote intelligently. Up until the 1970’s, the churches, the schools and media were active in teaching Christian values so even those who did not attend church generally supported Christian values and open discussion of issues was allowed and even encouraged. Since then, the schools and the media have become increasingly liberal and have increasingly pushed their views openly and actively suppressed any opposing views. In addition, the church has been very lax in teaching Christian values to its members. Eighty percent of active churchgoers say they want their church to teach moral values, especially those regarding the family. Since they don’t understand Biblical values, many who attend church today hold liberal views while continuing to give lip service to the Bible. Young people who once received Christian values in school are increasingly being indoctrinated with liberal values and persecuted when they question them. The church must actively teach members Christian values and to question what they hear from the media. In addition, the church needs to help members understand why those values are important so they can defend them against liberal teaching. As a result, I have created a series of courses on Udemy on Christian values and how they differ from man-centered values to help church leaders understand and teach Biblical values. They are in a series of short videos so they can be shown one at a time and allow a discussion time in between.

 

Politics-C-F

25 Aug

The preamble to the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and we are granted certain rights by God including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It also states that governments are instituted to protect those rights and receive their power from the consent of the people. That was a new concept and it took decades to work out the details and implement those principles. The present policy of government to enact and enforce laws which violate the will of the people is an open violation of the principles that our country was founded on and an establishing of the very conditions our founding fathers fought to be free from. The people have had every opportunity to correct the situation through the ballot box but have failed to hold their elected officials accountable by not making their will known and watching their officials to see that they carry out the will of the people, and  by not voting out those that violate the public trust. By continuing to reelect them, they are allowing the politicians to continue enacting and enforcing the laws which violate the will of the people. If the people do not move to take back control of the politicians, they will soon lose the ability to do so as the politicians consolidate their power and push laws in every State that will allow them to control the elections and manipulate the results for their own benefit.

 

 
No Comments

Posted in Politics

 

Politics-C-E

25 Aug

The Supreme Court has ruled that religious organizations are exempt and are still free to decide for themselves whether to conduct same-sex marriages or not but government employees must do so. While the Supreme Court upheld the rights of religious institutions to be guided by their faith, they abolished the right of persons of faith who work for the government to be guided by their faith. I am certain now that a precedence has been set allowing the Supreme Court to set aside the Constitution when it gets in the way of their agenda, we will see attempts to get the Supreme Court to repeal that exemption, just as we have seen attempts by President Biden and many of his public officials to force religious institutions to conduct abortions and to support Gay marriages in violation of the Supreme Court decision. The liberal press has severely criticized judges who seek to uphold the Constitution because they stand in the way of liberals imposing their will on the American people. Chief Justice John Roberts proclaimed that when five Supreme court judges can ignore the Constitution and ignore the will of the people, imposing their will on the country, there is nothing left between us and a socialist dictatorship. Supreme Court justices are appointed, not elected, and serve for life. They can only be removed by impeachment to isolate them from political pressure but it can’t protect us from Supreme Court justices who put their own agenda before the will of the people.

 

 

Politics-C-D

25 Aug

The Democrats are calling for judicial reform but we have to ask what they are changing and how they are changing it. Our country was founded on the rule of law and the Biblical principle that no one is above the law, including the President. The Constitution was the law of the land and the Supreme Court the final say regarding the application of federal laws. However, we are seeing increasing Democrat appointed judges who have taken the law into their own hands and bent it to promote their agenda. We are seeing how far our country has fallen. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe vs Wade that the States could not enforce voter enacted laws protecting unborn children in spite of the Constitution’s declaration protecting the right to life. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled  in Obergefell vs Hodges, that the laws of the States that banned same sex marriages were unconstitutional and that same sex couples have a right to marry. In doing so, the Supreme Court openly violated the Constitution by overturning laws exacted by the people of the States that were in force. They believe that the Supreme Court can overturn a legitimate vote of the people and the people no longer have any vote on the matter. The Constitution does not give the Supreme Court the right to rule in cases of State laws. By ruling that the laws were unenforceable or unconstitutional, it in effect repealed those laws.  The Constitution specifically states that anything not delegated to the U.S. government is the jurisdiction of the States. The 2015 ruling dealt with the institution of marriage which the Constitution never delegated to the federal government so it has no jurisdiction over it. The Supreme Court should not even been ruling on the case. In overturning Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that unborn babies were subject  to the protection of the courts. While it allows the States to enact their own laws regarding unborn babies, the federal government and all federal agencies and officials are bound to protect them by the Constitution, yet President Biden and multiple federal agencies and officials continue to support and even mandate abortions in open violation of the Constitution.

 

 

 

Thirteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 20

17 Aug

Assisting Neighbors-Assist with yard work. As people get older, they often cannot do many things they used to do, such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, or mowing the lawn and it is getting very hard to get people to do the work. In addition, we face a growing number of single women and families headed by women who need assistance. Professional people are often way too expensive for those on limited incomes. Teens used to do the work to earn spending money but many parents now give the kids money to buy a lot of things they used to earn money to get for themselves. In addition, many kids are so busy with sports and other school activities that they no longer have time to do such work. A neighbor mowing their own lawn or shoveling their own walk can easily mow an extra lawn or shovel an extra walk and it is a good way to teach teens the value of a dollar or the joy of helping someone in need. In addition, those out of work could use the money. While it doesn’t pay like a full time job, it provides a little money until a job can be found.