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Freedom of Religion-D-AB

29 Sep

When Hitler moved against the Jews, some churches spoke out but were attacked by politicians for doing so, as liberal politicians are doing today. Many churches chose to remain silent, as many are doing today. While many people talk about how many Jews died as the result, nothing is said about the Christians who were imprisoned and even killed because they spoke out against the extermination of the Jews. We say it won’t happen here but it already is. We don’t hear about it because the press is not reporting it. Liberal politicians are demonizing Christians just as Hitler did the Jews. Christians are being jailed and churches are being burned for speaking out against abortion and Gay privileges, as well as other government abuses. Our country was founded on Christian principles and Christian values spread as pastors preached the Word of God. However, recently liberal values have spread through our country because liberal politicians and media have been vocal about their values but the church has been silent about God’s values. We have the privilege of voting for candidates for political office but Christians cannot vote intelligently if they are not informed about issues and where candidates stand on them. Either the church speaks up now or it will be silenced for good.

 

 
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Posted in Church & Society, Freedom of Religion

 

Freedom of Religion-D-AA

29 Sep

I was asked by a well-known organization to notify local pastors that voter guides were available for the upcoming election and began calling pastors. A common answer I got was that they didn’t tell their people how to vote. The voter guides don’t tell you how to vote, they merely tell you what the candidate’s position is on various issues, so the real question is why they don’t want to do it. Is it fear that the government would harass them, is it fear that their people will not want them to, or is it merely because they don’t feel the church should influence society by encouraging their members to exercise their right to vote. The guides don’t tell you how to vote, so it isn’t endorsing any candidate so the government has no legitimate objection. The unions and other organizations freely distribute lists of who they want their members to vote for and the government doesn’t object. Churches are no different than other organizations, other than the fact that their position is not politically correct. It differs from the beliefs of those who are in power. When the government  denies churches their first Amendment rights, solely because they are Christian, then we have a very serious problem. Churches should be teaching Christian values and Christians will want representatives that will uphold Christian moral values, and there is nothing wrong with distributing information on the candidate’s positions on issues, it is public  information. Pastors should want their members to be informed so they can vote responsibly. Many pastors have been cowered into silence by liberal lies about the separation of church and State. The Constitution forbids the government from prohibiting the free exercise of religion and then follows with prohibiting it from restricting the freedom of speech. There is no exemption clause allowing the government to restrict the freedom of speech of pastors or churches. That is a fabrication of liberal politicians who believe they are not bound by the Constitution or federal law and can make their own laws. It is time the church stands up for  its God-given rights or it will lose them altogether.

 

 
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Posted in Church & Society, Freedom of Religion

 

Senior Citizen issues-J

28 Sep

Lawmakers are pushing a bill called the Social Security Fairness Act which would repeal (WEP) Windfall Elimination Provision and (GPO) Government Pension Offset. They allow Social Security to be reduced by the amount of their pension. They were designed to prevent double dipping for those who worked at jobs taking out Social Security and jobs that took out for government retirement benefits, such as police, fire fighters, and other government workers. WEP is for individuals who are eligible for the pensions and GPO is for spouses and survivors of pensioners. It would affect only two million receiving WEP and 800,000 receiving GPO and would not benefit the majority of Seniors. While they say it deprives Seniors of benefits they earned, repealing them would enable them to draw from both funds. People who worked two jobs paying into Social Security had their credits combined and the same should be done with those working government jobs. The government jobs are high end union jobs which pay well so they are receiving good benefits from their government pension. If both husband and wife worked at both kinds of jobs, they could draw four pensions, far above the average Senior. Repealing them would add about two billion dollars to cost of Social Security and strain an already stressed system.  At times while I was out of work, I did substituting in the schools and I taught at a community college on the side for a while but didn’t have enough credits to draw a pension so I merged my school benefits in with my Social Security because they were so few. If they make any changes, they should require the two funds be merged so those eligible only drew from one fund. It is evident the Democrats want to appease government union workers who are becoming unhappy with the performance of the Democrats and abandoning them after a  long history of supporting Democrats who in turn gave special benefits and privileges to government union workers through closed shop laws requiring that government workers had to belong to the union and pay union dues, as well as fighting right to work laws that allowed people to work in union shops without being forced  to join the union. They also pushed through generous wage packages that provided government workers with wages and benefits well above the market average.

 
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Posted in Senior Citizen Issues

 

Senior Citizen issues-I

28 Sep

While Democrats continue to declare that Republicans want to cut Medicare, they hide the fact that they are the true threat. This coming October, Medicare Advantage plans will change a lot. Recent cuts in payments by President Biden will result in drastic cuts in services available to Seniors. They will also result in more doctors refusing to accept Medicare Advantage plans. Many doctors are already beginning to refuse to accept Medicare Advantage plans as a result of last year’s cuts. My wife just got notice one of her medical providers no longer accepts Medicare Advantage coverage. Medicare Advantage plans are paid for with Medicare funds but are administered by private companies which have lower overhead and a lot less waste. As a result, they can offer clients a lot more services than traditional Medicare administered by the government for the same amount of money. Many Seniors prefer them because they can get more services without having to pay more, however, with cuts in government payments, those companies can not offer a lot of the benefits previously provided. The goal of Democrats is to return many Seniors to government plans where the government can weed out those requiring expensive services by denying them services resulting in an early death or directing them to lower cost maintenance plans where the symptoms are treated but they are not cured. Their goal is to eventually merge it with a universal health care plan where a government panel could cut off treatment to those no longer felt worth the expense. Republicans on the other hand want to cut benefits to illegal immigrants and others who did not pay into the system or meet eligibility requirements to preserve the fund for Seniors who paid into the program and deserve to receive it.

 
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Posted in Senior Citizen Issues

 

Fifth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 29

26 Sep

Adults-Dealing with Issues Many pastors tell me they don’t get involved in political issues, however many of those political issues are also moral issues. Supporting abortion isn’t just a political viewpoint, it is a violation of God’s moral law and destroys the fabric of the nation. Many adults have no other source of information besides the liberal media, which has increasingly pushed liberal agendas without any discussion. In fact, the liberal media often blocks any attempt to present the facts and allow voters to decide the issue for themselves. Politicians seek to control the population by controlling what they hear. If people only hear one view, they think it is true. As a result, the church must teach Christian values and help people decide what is right. Christians cannot live a Christian lifestyle unless they have the freedom to be able to do it. Liberal politicians and judges are determined to take away our right to do that through laws and judicial decisions. The church must help members understand the results of liberal policies and oppose attempts to impose liberal policies which are detrimental to the country and violate God’s moral law.  If we are to maintain the right to spread the Gospel, we must oppose attempts to force Christians to go against their beliefs and support actions condemned by Scripture. That requires a membership that understands the issues and who votes in judges and politicians who will uphold citizen’s rights and the rule of law. Liberal politicians are trying to silence the church because they know that informed citizens will not fall for their lies.

 
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Posted in Church ministry, Faith in practice, Kingdomtide, Politics

 

Sanctity of Life-A-3-G

21 Sep

Rapists hope the woman will abort the baby if they become pregnant so that it will destroy the evidence and protect them from prosecution. However, when the woman decides to keep the baby, they sometimes file for child custody to harass the woman and gain custody so they won’t have to pay child support. Rapists also use custody laws to get at children and molest them. They may also use the laws to threaten the mother and force her to continue submitting to the rapist. Right to Life groups seek to help rape victims choose life for the baby and protect the mother and the child. They have been pushing a Federal law, “The Rape Survivors Child Custody Act” to protect women who are victims of rape and choose to keep their child. We must also encourage States to pass laws terminating the custody rights of rapists. Recently, a 10 year old girl was raped and became pregnant. Children’s Services seized the girl and took her to an abortion clinic and got her an abortion against her parent’s wishes. While the rapist stole her innocence, Children’s Service took her child. Adults can say it is different because the baby was conceived during rape, but a 10 year old girl does not make that distinction. To her, it was her child regardless of how it was conceived. She was victimized as much, if not more, by Children’s Services than she was by the rapist. In addition, by aborting the baby, the rapist probably went free because the abortionist destroyed the evidence.

 
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Posted in Sanctity of life

 

Sanctity of LIfe-A-2-L

21 Sep

Kamala Harris has been crying about a woman who died because she couldn’t get medical care due to the repeal of Roe vs Wade, however it is a lie. The woman had a chemical abortion. The baby was not completely expelled leading to an infection which spread killing the mother. By the time she was taken to the hospital, it had spread to where medical care was no longer able to save her. Medical personnel did all they could but it was too late to save her. The Federal Drug Administration approved the drugs for home use without medical supervision. The pills are given to the woman by the doctor or clinic. The woman takes them home and takes the pills. The baby is then expelled.  As a result, the woman is often alone or with friends or family who are not trained to spot complications. If medical personnel had been supervising it or if she had been in a hospital where she could have been monitored, it probably would have been caught immediately and treated but the abortion is directly responsible and the FDA is equally guilty for approving it for home use without medical supervision. She would probably be alive today if she had not had the abortion or if she had medical supervision. If she would have carried it to term, she probably would have been supervised by a doctor or midwife during delivery where any complications could have been handled immediately. Women die regularly from botched abortions but the abortion industry hides the facts so they will not lose business. They claim abortions are to protect the life of the mother but such instances are very rare. The abortion puts the mother at added risk because it is not natural and puts added stress on the mother. The abortion industry not only has no value for life, either that of the mother or the child, it also has no value for truth. Abortion is not the safe procedure they say it is. Many are rushed and careless resulting in injury and even death to the mother.

 

 
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Posted in Sanctity of life

 

Sanctity of LIfe-A-2-K

21 Sep

Planned Parenthood is pushing for unlimited abortion under the pretense of protecting the mother. They recently pushed through an amendment to the Ohio State Constitution under the pretense of protecting mothers when their life was threatened but included a phrase that would allow an abortion if the doctors felt the women’s mental health was in danger. It gives the doctor the authority to perform abortions up to the time of birth for any reason , since every unwanted pregnancy is stressful to the mother. It also opens the door to the doctor doing it even when the mother objects because it says the doctor may perform it if he feels it is necessary but does not require the mother’s consent. That allows them to abort a baby when a rapist or a  relative engaging in incest brings in a pregnant woman and seeks an abortion even when the woman doesn’t want it. It also allows parents, husbands or boyfriends to force the woman to have the abortion against her will. It also included a provision that prevents interference when the woman or young girl wants an abortion. That prevents parents of a minor child from preventing her from getting an abortion, and allows a girl as young as 10 or 11 to get an abortion without her parents knowledge or consent. They claim they care about the poor girl but they just want the money. They are also pushing the same scam in other States to overturn pro-life laws.

 

 
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Posted in Sanctity of life

 

Fourth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 22

21 Sep

Youth-dealing with issues Many youth groups have lots of fun stuff but are short on teaching about the faith. In addition, most teaching is theological and does not deal with the basic issues young people are struggling with every day in school and at home. As a result, most youth drop out of church when they graduate from high school or before because they do not see the church having anything relevant to say in the issues they are struggling with. They will be discussing the issues with their classmates and teachers where they get a secular view, but youth groups need to have regular discussions of important issues they face so young people can get a Christian view of the issues. Without it, the youth accept the secular view by default because they do not have the knowledge to recognize the errors in liberal teachings. (see “Truly In The World, But Not Of It”-part A & B for information on important issues today. I also have a number of courses on Christian values in my series on Basic Christian Beliefs)

 
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Posted in Church ministry, Faith in practice, Kingdomtide, Ministry To Youth

 

video-Rosh Hosanna

17 Sep

 
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Posted in Final Harvest

 
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