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Fifth Sunday of Eastertide April 28

26 Apr

Commitment-The worship service could have a place where members can bring their survey sheets forward and place them on the alter as their offering to God. Members of the Board or a committee set up for the purpose could then review the survey sheets and direct members to areas where they may be able to serve. Most churches have a personnel committee of volunteers appointed before the annual meeting to develop a list of officers to be voted on but the church really needs a year long committee of those interested in helping people find ways to use their gifts that gets to know members and the church structure. It should be a year round work as committee members get to know people and their talents and the opportunities the church has to use those talents rather then a hurried affair by a randomly elected nominations committee charged with filling empty slots with warm bodies common in most churches. The Board may then consider those listed which have no current opportunities to see if they may provide opportunities to begin additional ministries which had not previously been offered. The church needs to take the long view of training members to be disciples by involving them in the church’s ministry rather than simply filling vacant positions. Many churches complain that they can’t get people to fill positions, but they only approach the 5-10% of their members who are already over committed. It is no wonder they get turned down. The Bible says God gave every member, talents to build up the church. The church needs to get to know the other 90-95% of members to see what talents God has given them.

 

 

Schools-Education-AF

25 Apr

Liberal politicians are pushing social justice training in teacher licensing requirements so teachers will have to take it if they want to teach in the public schools. Since private schools often hire licensed teachers to insure they are qualified, it would also allow them to infiltrate private schools through their teachers unless private schools set up a separate program to license teachers. Many of the teachers coming out of our public colleges and universities are already liberal but some private colleges and universities, particularly those attached to conservative churches, still turn out quality teachers. Those States could deny accreditation to colleges and universities in their State that don’t include social justice training in their curriculum which would force Christian students who want to teach to go out of State to school (which is much more costly since schools charge more for tuition to out of State students) or go to State universities, where they would be forced to take the social justice training to graduate. It would also mean they could not get licensed to teach in the State. Voters need to tell their State legislators to enact legislation blocking the State Board of Education from requiring social justice training or find another job.

 

 
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Schools-Education-AE

25 Apr

Critical Race Theory teaches that all White people support White supremacy and that Black people are all victims and White people are all oppressors. They fail to recognize the inherent desire for dominance in all of us. While America is predominantly White and slaves were predominantly Black, that is only one instance. Slavery has existed since early history among all groups and cultures. In fact, it was the White race that began the movement to free the slaves and labeling America as White supremacist ignores the sacrifices and lives that have been given by White people to free the slaves. Though free, they would not get any real equality until Martin Luther King and other Blacks brought it to national attention. The battle for equality was begun openly in the 1960’s and has been largely won through efforts to get Black people and White people to work together. However, Black people could not have gotten equality if it had not been for the White people that fought for it because Black people did not have the power of the vote, or the financial resources, or the positions of power to achieve it without wholesale bloodshed. In fact, when you scratch the surface of the movement to get Black equality, you find that those pushing it are predominantly White and are the same ones who pushed White Supremacy before they were forced to go underground by the weight of public opinion. When they found they could not segregate Black people through the law, they have begun to create divisions by inciting Black people against the police and White people in general. The so-called diversity training is designed to make White people feel guilty for oppressing Black people, even though most present-day White people are not racist. Their rhetoric is designed to create hatred among Black people for White people by blowing racially motivated incidents out of proportion. They are designed to get Black support, not equality for Black people. In fact, diversity training is not about seeking equality at all, it is about creating divisions among the races and undoing the past success in erasing racism. It is a smokescreen to hide their true objectives, and is very similar to what Hitler did in Germany by demonizing the Jews and blaming them for Germany’s problems. By demonizing White people and blaming them for America’s problems, they are hiding their efforts to take control of the media, and the educational and political institutions. By stirring up trouble, it gives them an excuse to step in and exert their control.

 

 
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Schools-Education-AD

25 Apr

The second problem arises from the fact that someone must write the common core curriculum. State and federal teacher’s unions have been pushing for years to get teaching on morality, particularly Christian morality that teaches the value of life and the value of the family, out of our schools and replace it with an amoral liberal philosophy that promotes sexual freedom, including abortion and Gay privileges, and rebellion against parental authority so they can mold students to accept a Socialist society. They see the common core as a way of forcing their liberal Socialist values on our society. As long as the common core curriculum is written by those supporting Socialism and liberal values, the lives of the weak and frail will be in jeopardy and by breaking down the family, the building block of a free society, civilization itself will be in jeopardy. We have already seen how much damage they have done in school districts where they have gained control. If they push through a common core curriculum, they will be able to control all schools nationwide.

 

 
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Schools-Education-AC

25 Apr

Common Core- Sponsors of a common core curriculum press the idea that we should have one standard curriculum so that students transferring from one school to another will not face problems due to areas which their new school emphasizes that their previous school may not have emphasized. That sounds reasonable with the widespread mobility of families today, however it overlooks two basic facts. First, the schools originally taught kids to think for themselves. By learning the basics in Math and phonics in English, students were equipped to handle variables in curriculum when they changed schools by brushing up in areas they missed. However, since they are now taught the new Math and are no longer taught phonics in English, students are now dependent on the teacher for what they learn. As a result it is very difficult for them to brush up on areas they are deficient in. Thus, the need for a standard curriculum has been created by their failed educational policies and would not be needed otherwise.

 

 
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Fourth Sunday of Eastertide-April 21

17 Apr

Pray The church should urge members to spend the week praying over the list of opportunities in light of the items on the list or their discussion with representatives about where the Lord would have them use their talents to serve God. Some things members may feel called to might not have opportunities currently but should be seriously considered along with those that are available. Members should also be open to considering new interests that they might not have considered before and add them to their list. Members can then prioritize their interests from great interest down to passing interest since it is unlikely they can be actively involved in everything that interests them. The members could then mark them on the sheet

 

 

Healthcare-F

15 Apr

While liberals promote universal government health care, they ignore the facts. Government health is very expensive to operate because of the bureaucracy it creates to administer it. However it was presented as cheaper than private insurance because it is subsidized by the government with tax money, so the patient only sees part of the cost. In addition, it made health care more expensive as doctors and health care organizations struggled to cover the added cost of tests and paperwork required by the government and were no longer forced to hold down prices to keep care affordable. Private insurance companies had to raise rates to cover the increased cost resulting in more people who couldn’t afford insurance so the government expanded its insurance to cover more people. Private insurance couldn’t compete and so many companies folded or moved to other more profitable programs resulting in more people turning to government insurance. In addition, many doctors quit medicine or turned to medical research or teaching due to their opposition to growing government paperwork and arbitrary rejection of claims. Those remaining faced increased patient loads and cut corners to see more patients, but shear numbers caused increased delays in seeing and treating patients, resulting in poorer quality treatment. In addition, more doctors refused to accept clients with Medicare and Medicaid due to the low reimbursement and high amount of paperwork.  Those who accept them often do not recommend treatment to Medicaid and Medicare patients which they feel will not be covered by the government, resulting in prolonged sickness and premature deaths.  The United States has experienced all this as a result of Obamacare. While it provides health coverage for more people, it provides far inferior care. While death rates are falling in underdeveloped countries, they are rising in the United States and other developing countries, so while people are living longer in underdeveloped countries, the life expectancy in the United States and other developed countries is dropping. While liberal claim they want to make health care available to everyone, the increasing cost of private insurance makes it out of reach for an increasing number of people, including not only the poor but an increasing number in the working class and middle class. Those unable to afford private insurance are forced to accept government covered care which is poor quality since doctors cut corners to maximize profit and they no longer have to worry about the patient finding another doctor since few doctors accept government insurance.

 

 

Healthcare-E

15 Apr

President Biden just cut payments to Medicare Advantage providers for the second time in his administration. Though he continues to claim Republicans are trying to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits, he continues to do so quietly so no one will notice. Medicare Advantage plans are privately run government funded plans which are increasingly popular because they offer a lot more benefits then traditional Medicare. They can do that because they are much more efficient in handling billing than the government and they are able to cut fraud through greater scrutiny. It enables them to offer more services with little or no extra cost. By cutting payments to providers, it will force the providers to cut services offered or require higher copays. That will mean more of the cost will be born by Seniors. President Biden hands out added benefits with great fanfare to get votes and then cuts services quietly so they won’t notice. The purpose of the cuts is to make Advantage plans less attractive and push Seniors back to traditional Medicare to allow the government greater control over the health care industry. President Obama pushed ObamaCare which would have gradually forced private insurance providers out of the market and given the  government complete control over the healthcare market. President Trump gutted the worst abuses of Obamacare but President Biden is seeking to reinstate them.

 

 

video-The Fields Are White-Sermon

10 Apr

 

Third Sunday of Eastertide-April 14

10 Apr

Showcase volunteer opportunities in church/community-This is a good time to inform the members about the vast number of volunteer opportunities that are available. A list such as the volunteer talent search survey I reproduced in my book “Rebuilding The Kingdom” under “To Preserve The Light” could be handed out and members urged to look it over, pray about how and where God would have them serve,  and consider what things they would like to be involved in. The church board could also have representatives of the various committees in the church and representatives of Christian service organizations in the community set up tables with displays in the fellowship hall and be available after church or in the afternoon or evening to talk to those who are interested in volunteering.