Christians in a politically correct atmosphere must speak out!

"One Man's Opinion"

by Jim Roane

Pray, tell me, whoever convinced pastors, missionaries, and the clergy at large that we should all be careful not to become too political, or controversial. After all, some say, we are to stick with the fundamentals, the core of the Gospel, not these side issues. I am not building up a straw-man, either.

I would be the first to say, as a missionary, that we should not take on some foreign government if we happen to disagree with their political posturing. Nor should we belligerently stick our chins out just to see if some non-Christian religious fanatic will take a swipe at us. If the not-so-Reverend Terry Jones taught us anything, surely we must understand that tactics like his only provoke the opposition and in the long run accomplish absolutely nothing.

I mean, imagine, The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., has hanged an effigy of President Barack Obama from a gallows on its front lawn, a move that Pastor Terry Jones said was in response to Obama's recent endorsement of same-sex marriage, as well as his stance on abortion and what Jones called his "appeasing of radical Islam."

Now, please explain to me what imbecile behavior like this accomplishes?

So, let's get the point straight, this is not the kind of involvement that is worthy of the name Christian. However, let me give it to you straight. Abortion is evil, unscriptural and up until the 20th Century was never even considered an option in the Christian community. The same goes for homosexuality and gay marriages.

Constitutionally, do women have a right to abortion, and gays to marry? That's not my field, so I really don't know. However, just for the sake of argument, let's say that both are Constitutionally sanctioned; that in no means makes it morally right! Let us not forget how Peter answered the Sanhedrin when faced with a choice between a righteous conscience and the law, both he and the other apostles responded with: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5: 29)

Eventually, the decision meant martyrdom for all but John; but even he was willing to pay that price if necessary, I am sure.

So, let’s keep in focus, something may be legal, but that does not make it right. And, therefore, we have an obligation, and, yes, a Christian duty to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

Occupy Wall Street . . . really? What's the point?

Men without God lose their sense of priorities, their direction, and therefore their future. Black Friday (which actually began for the most part on Thanksgiving Day, a Thursday) is a case in point.

Pray tell me, what kind of madness possesses what you would think were otherwise sensible people to trample someone to death just to get to a Barbie Doll or an Elmo first?  One resourceful shopper came prepared for combat and pull out an aerosol can of pepper spray and doused those surrounding her until she got what she was after.

Well, of course, the news pundits had a hay day reporting all of this in a common refrain. It was Wal-Mart’s or retailers in general fault. They should have better crowd control. The security guards should have been better trained. They should not have tempted the public with such limited supplies at such low prices. They should have done this, or they should have done that. Blah blah blah.

My question is: What about civility? What about decency? Common courtesy? What about respect?

Well, of course, all of that is out the window these days. It’s a dog eat dog world out there with everyone demanding his or her bone.

Another example is this occupy Wall Street crowd. Do they have a legitimate beef? Well, sort of—the trouble is, however, they are not sure what that is. They are after the one per centers—that is, the Warren Buffets, Bill Gates, and the likes. And, of course, for good measure they have thrown in the big banks and corporations like Exxon and few other notables. They’re after them, I said. Never mind the specifics, however. Those details are left fuzzy.

Now, in my opinion, the banks, particularly those that were bailed out, should re-circulate most of that money back into the public sector; after all it was our money first of all. And, if they refuse, and keep hoarding these funds, they should be taxed. More as a punitive lesson than a economic stimulus, however, since I don’t think giving it to the government will accomplish all that much.

The common lesson in all of this stimulus mess is simply this: If you are too big to fail, you’re just too big. This among other reasons is one of the reasons we have anti-monopoly laws (which are rarely, if ever, enforced these days). James talks about the rich hoarding up riches in the last days which make me suspect that those days are just around the corner, if not here already.

Is there an answer? Sure there is. An answer, however, is never a cure. I may know how to heal a bad case of tonsillitis, but that doesn’t mean that I have cured it. You have got to take the medicine first. And, that is just the problem. The average Joe Blow out there, including our elected officials are not willing to discipline themselves long enough to take the cure. Most want their cake and eat it, too.

The Politics Of Hate

At the back of every politician's mind that I know is to win. On surface that is not a bad ambition. The problem comes in when one wants to win at any cost and is willing to pay the price.

Interestingly enough, these candidates usually don’t come out swinging. To begin with, it is all smiles and roses. After all, one mustn’t offend the opposition’s constituency; the goal is to win them over. Little by little, as the race goes on, however, the gloves come off and it’s all bare knuckles after that.

Any projectile in their arsenal is fair game, too. Lies; character assassination; dirty innuendos; anonymous “tips” to the press; past indiscretions (the fresher, the better); hacking emails; hidden cameras. Hey! This is only the surface.

About the sneakiest attack I know, however, is the “Look. I am better than he or she is. Why, I haven’t smoked or cursed or run around with those that did.” Implying, of course, that they are running against a moral degenerate. 

You haven’t? Well, that’s fine and dandy. So what? What difference does that make? First of all, that role is hypocritical. Secondly, what the voting public should be concerned about is not your self righteousness, but what you and your opponents solutions are. Thirdly, granted moral are important and absolutely essential, but the bottom-line is always repentance and forgiveness.

We all need forgiveness, even Mr. or Ms. Self-righteousness. That’s what I look for; and, I believe, that is what God looks for also.

So, I say, enough of the politics of hate; and this, “Look at me. Look at how good I am;” and let’s get on with solving what is wrong with America.

Sure, it would be nice to have a perfect candidate, but until one comes along, I am willing to settle for one who has sought for and received forgiveness; provided, of course, their policies are right for America.  

Has Sex Gone Viral In America?

Has Sex Gone Viral?

I don’t know, but are people more sexually charged than they were say, when I was a young man?

Great day in the morning, it seems that almost everyday some well known figure is accused of sexual harassment. Well, I should be quick to add, not only accused, but in far too many incidences the accusations are actually proven.

Today it is Herman Cain’s 15 minutes of fame. Tomorrow, who knows?

Then there are the cases involving school teachers. Now, we are not just talking about testosteroned charged football coaches talking trash in front of innocent little cheerleaders—no, not on you life—we’re talking about genders of both sexes, male and female. And, they are not just talking trash, they are actually bedding up with students, some as young as 13 and 14 years of age.

Excuse me, but what brought this perversion on?

Well, if you listen closely to what the perpetrators are saying, usually they blame it on an abusive childhood, or a manic depressive disorder, or some other nonsense. Reminds me of the day when Flip Wilson in character as Geraldine used to say, “The Devil made me do it!” At least he didn’t blame his parents or genetics.

Flip, however, was also wrong. It wasn’t the Devil, it was Flip that made him do it.

James wrote a long time ago:

A man must not say when he is tempted, “God is tempting me.” For God has no dealings with evil, and does not himself tempt anyone. No, a man’s temptation is due to the pull of his own inward desires, which can be enormously attractive. His own desire takes hold of him, and that produces sin. And sin in the long run means death—make no mistake about that, brothers of mine! (James 1: 13-16) (J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Now, let me get quickly to the real issue here. One’s sexuality may be the by-produce of many contributing factors—hormone levels, learned behavior, cultural mores, and a host of other causes; however, in the final analysis individuals hold the lasting responsibility. Unchecked lust is a disaster in wait. Garbage in, garbage out is still a fact. In the words of Scripture, “For as [a man or woman] thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7)

Hope you didn’t miss the words “thinks in his heart” because these words are very important. Thinking governs us and in turn society. Flip through any secular magazine, look at a preponderance of advertisements and it is obvious what inspires the average consumer to take a closer look at the product—in a word, sex. Sex sells. Why? The blunt answer is, because modern society's mind is in the gutter.

Hinduism’s Kuma Satra pales in the face of all the trash portrayed in our media where homosexuality, transvestism, transgenderism, polygamous marriages (the list goes on and on) are promoted as an acceptable alternate lifestyle. Morality is no longer an absolute, you can just pick and choose which style you think fits best.

Let’s face it, modern society’s thoughts are all wonky. Why? Because people's hearts are all wrong.

Cases in point. You can’t smoke on television, but you can fornicate. You can’t use the “n” word (and you shouldn’t); but you can defame the name of God. You can’t blow up Brooklyn Bridge (and you shouldn’t); but you can write a book on how you can. Parents can’t stop a minor daughter from getting an abortion, but she generally needs permission to get her ears pierced.

Want more? How about locking up people for smoking pot, unless they bought it at the local pharmacy? Show me any logic in any of that and I will eat my hat.

No wonder our kids are confused.

Do the ungodly have a Constitutional right to pursue that lifestyle? Sure they do, if we can protect the innocent. However, there is where the rub comes in—you can't. So, the question is mute, as far as I am concerned.

So, what am I saying? Simply this: until individuals in society change society by first changing their hearts, we are in for some rough sledding ahead as a nation and as a community of Christians.

Taxed To Exhaustion

I don’t know, but am I just getting old? The problem is that sometimes I just get the feeling that the whole world has gone mad.

A case in point: Taxes. No one I know really likes the IRS. Well, I can see why. We’ve created a monster. And, like all monsters it is out of control. Its tentacles are everywhere, too. We just can’t seem to get a hold of it either.


Mr. Herman (999) Cain suggest a new kind of flat tax, which he says is the simple approach. Problem is, it’s so fuzzy in the details that no one seems to be able to figure it out. So, I guess, we will just have to leave that up to him to explain in hopefully the not too distance future.


Then, there is Mr. Barak (Nobel Peace Prize) Obama, our president, himself, who wants to tax the super rich, and corporations. Well, that’s fine and dandy with me; but a better idea, I believe, would be to give them a tax break if they will promise to reinvest what he suggest as a tax into jobs. Otherwise, all we are doing is taking money away from someone who knows how to create jobs (the corporations) to someone who only knows how to waste it or give it away (the government). 


Oh, my, need I explain? If so, let’s start with the fiasco in Afghanistan. I hope I am wrong, but mark my word. Once we step out of the country the Taliban and their cohorts will come galloping back in from across the Pakistani border to link arms with those brothers that remained to join together for a triumphant march into Kabul. Hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.


And, while I am on the subject of waste, whatever happened to that hullaballoo about all that loss of money in that government funded eco-friendly $500,000 dollars fiasco called Solyndra?


But, hold on, friends, that solar panel company isn't the only business to go belly up after benefiting from a piece of the $800 billion economic stimulus package passed in 2009.

At least four other companies have received stimulus funding only to later file for bankruptcy, and two of those were working on alternative energy. Just click here, if you would like to read more.


So, forget about the bridges to nowhere and passenger-less airports. We have enough fodder to feed this example mill for decades to come.


So, this leads us to the question. Are taxes all bad? The answer is: No, taxes are not all bad. We all agree on that. What we can not seem to get a handle on, however, is how we spend those taxes. So, let’s concentrate on that.


So, I say, let’s quit fussing about all the taxes, and start holding our politicians’ feet to the fire on how we spend them. I know that we have a lot of needy people around the world. And, God knows, that I want to help them. But, I’ve been there. I know where a huge bulk of that money is going. Do I have to tell you?


But, we don’t have to go abroad to see that. Medicare, right here in the good old USA, is a prime example of waste. Texas is a case in point. One dentist in Texas pocketed $13 million dollars for putting orthodontics on welfare children who in most cases did not need it. If you think this is an exaggeration click on this.


So, let’s start with cleaning out the crooks in the system, and start whittling down there. Perhaps that will free up enough tax money to start paying our school teachers more, and improving our education system. Of course, that is just a start. There is much more we can do.


We can save money by insisting that all government contract negotiation be truly competitive and not finding loop holes to give the lion’s share to companies like Halliburton and Exxon Mobil and similar mega corporations. All this talk about small businesses is just that—talk, in my opinion.


When is the last time you heard of the government enforcing the anti-monopoly statues still on the books?


So, unless we are willing to clean up the mess, cutting taxes is a farce. Cut waste, cut out lying to us, cut out greed both in and outside of government, then we will have a clearer vision of just how many taxes we need to cut or keep.


Robin Hood plays well as theater, but in Washington our country would be better off if it were a no show.

However after saying all of that, I must admit that I just voted to have the taxes on my house increased. Want to know why? I have a simple answer—the school district needed it to better educate my grandchildren.

A True Lesson In Why Socialism Fails

From: Scott Redler [mailto:scott@t3trading.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 7:46 AM
To: Jim Roane

Subject: A true lesson in why Socialism fails

Everyone knows I write a RedDog Rant from time to time. I’m for free markets and limited Government. I do believe in Compromise and Common Sense. The below commentary is a lesson learned. America is Truly heading down the wrong road!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A....(substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

What Shall We Do With All These Ilegal Wetbacks That Have Invaded Our Country?

Today, on my daily prayer and power walk—at this age I must walk and pray, because if I kneel I fall asleep!— I passed one of the men that routinely keep the lawns on public property trimmed and mowed in our neighborhood. Without hesitation I said, “Hace frio!” (It is cold) And, not surprisingly he answered me in Spanish.

I though, “Probably an illegal alien.” And, you know what? I was most probably right! Heaven only knows how many are in this country. Not only from Mexico or Latin America, but from around the world. Anyway, to get to the point, I immediately thought of presidential contender Herman Cain who suggested (in humor, he said) that we not only build a fence on our southern border but we should also electrify it and put a coiled string of sharp barbed wire along the top.

Sounds like the man is serious, doesn’t it?

Well, excuse me, because I would listen a whole lot closer if someone would come up with a plan to bring all of our jobs back home. Geography is not the problem. A foreign labor force is.

Let’s imagine for one minute, what would happen if suddenly we shipped all the illegals back to where they came from. Well, most probably most of them eventually would take the same type of jobs they already have here and ship the produce back to us.

Why?

I hope you are ready for this. The answer is that the average out of work American will not work on our farmland; and, furthermore, those illegals holding choice jobs would simply shift geographically back to their homelands to do the same thing and our mega corporations would just lease more super tankers to ship the stuff back to America. And, of course, not only would we lose the tax base, but we would allow the goods through our borders at nominal (if any) tariff rate.

Alabama is a case in point. Last week one small time tomato farmer had already lost 20% of his crop and expected to lose the rest by week’s end. Why? The answer is not hard to find. Alabamians don’t want to pick tomatoes. They had rather join the unemployment lines than do that. Or if they could muster up enough energy, perhaps they would join the Occupy Wall Street crowd, I don’t know.

Paul said, if you are not willing to work, you don’t have a right to eat. Now, that’s Bible.

So, I said all of that to say this: If we are serious about this illegal stuff, then first of all we must get serious about not shipping all of our jobs overseas—that alone would bring back jobs and revenue that would be enough to turn this country around; furthermore, we should put the fence up but leave the doors open until we have enough men and women who are willing to work in these jobs. Otherwise, tomatoes will rot. Lawns will not get mowed. And on and on it goes.

Now, for the history buff, it may interest you to know (if you don’t already) that Spain faced a similar situation when their gentry class refused to dirty their hands following the loss of cheap domestic laborers. What began the downhill spiral that eventually turned Spain into a Third World County was not the defeat of the Spanish Armada (although, that helped) it was the gentry class’s refusal to work. Anybody that was somebody had a title. Sometimes everybody in whole provinces were declared gentry, as in the case of Biscay.

The results? Need I say? Crops were not planted. Roads were not built. Even castles began to fall apart around the super rich. And, for those of us who are missionaries, it should be noted that the Church went begging. Wealth is created by work, and work is created by the people’s desire to acquire something. Think about if for a moment.

Gold left in the ground has absolutely no value whatsoever until it is put to use, or someone is willing to work hard enough to either mine it and sell it or simply buy it. Somewhere along the line, work is required.

As a nation we must keep this in focus. Manna fell only once. And, that was a longtime ago. I don’t expect it will fall on America anytime in the near future, either.

"I'm Old and Tired" by an anonymous contributor

I'm old and I'm tired. Except for brief period in the 50's when I was doing my National Service, I've worked hard since I was 17. Except for some serious health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn't call in sick in nearly 40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as though retirement was a bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.        
  
I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honour"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 
  
I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia, New Zealand, UK, America and Canada, while no one from these countries are allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach love and tolerance..  

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor. 

I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

I'm also tired and fed up with seeing young men and women in their teens and early 20's bedeck themselves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making themselves un-employable and claiming money from the Government.

Yes, I'm tired. But I'm also glad to be old. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter and her children.   Thank God I'm on the way out and not on the way in.

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN 2011

Excuse me, but am I missing something? Did I just hear that Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Winner himself has sent troops to Uganda to help track down a ragtag band of murders that have rallied under a quasi-Christian banner and are trying to liberate that country (of all places) of superstition and witchcraft, among other things. ‘Among others things’, being of course, get filthy rich off the spoils of war.

Where are all the jobs that this “Yes, we can” administration promised the electorate? Well, we now know where at least a hundred of those jobs went. Those proud recipients of the Jobs Program are now mugged down in the jungles of Africa on a mission to free that continent (or at least part of it at this time) from one gang of thugs to hand it over to another gang of similar predilections.

Seems like déjà vu all over again.

I thought we were going to bring the troops home, not shift them off to police in dysfunctional places like Uganda. Getting rid of the pirates and other rift raft in Somalia would make more sense. But, hey, I am just an average citizen, what do I know?

Well, I may not know a lot about politics, but I know a little about what makes a successful society tick, and we just ain’t ticking right now. Our whole political structure has been jolted by one bunch of loonies after another. A horde of loonies now want to occupy Wall Street. Are you kidding? Reform Wall Street? Sure. It could use that. But, occupy the place? Come on let’s get serious.

Let’s just imagine for one moment that these bunch of economic nihilist were successful for just 48 hours. Let’s shut the whole system down for just 2 days. Within 48 hours or less, the buses they ride would stop running. No more gas. Remember you can’t buy something that is shut down. Mom and Pop’s 401K would be just a memory, especially if it were payday. That’s gone. Why? Because the banks are shut down. And with the banks, groceries, medicines, and utilities will no longer be available. Really, is this what they are after? I don’t think so.

But what does Washington do? Washington does nothing. The politicians sit on their fat fannies and create even more gridlock. As a matter of fact, I think I would like to coin a new phrase. Let’s call the present malaise in Washington: “Fat Fanny Gridlock.” That’s far more descriptive than I have heard yet. No plan. No program. Just idle chit chat given in a kind of sing song cadence while they sip on mint juleps and pass the time away on their fat fannies.

But, really what should we expect? Who knows? Eventually the ideal American family just might turn out to be a transvestite daddy married to a trans-sexualized mama with surrogate children who live in an eco-friendly home and enjoy nothing more than to set down at a vegan table each evening to discuss the qualities of inequality. Make sense? Friend, brace yourself. It does to just a whole lot of people. And, that’s scary. Really scary.

Well, believe it or not, the Bible talks about a world like this. Not in the good sense, however. That apocalyptic event is just around the corner, too. And, I should quickly say that you don’t have to be a preacher or a Bible scholar to see the handwriting on the wall. It is there in clear letters. It reads, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. (Daniel 5:25)

Ask any insightful, truthful sociologists and they will tell you it is written there. Any economist will tell you that it is there, things can’t go on like this forever. Hey, why bother with academia. Ask your local grocer and he will tell you the same thing.

Is there hope? Sure there is hope. But not the kind of hope that politicians preach about. That hasn’t worked and it never will. Our only hope is to return to the sound principles on which this nation was founded. The principles of love, and justice, equality, and mutual respect in an atmosphere of loyalty to the one and only true God.

Chaz & All That Razmataz

Television’s most popular show for several seasons in the running has been “Dancing With The Stars.” Now, I have never been into dancing. That was a no-no when I was growing up; however, I understand that quite a few Evangelical Christians love to dance. Anyway, I’m not here to pontificate on that subject at this point, except to say that it does seem like our standard of holiness has been thrown out the window with otherwise faithful church going Christians watching all the filth on television these days.

The point I want to make in this brief commentary is that curiosity got the best of me and I had to watch Chaz Bono dance just because it was such an anomaly. Old Chazy is not a lesbian. No sir, far from that. At least that is what Mr/Ms Chaz claims. Now, I have not been reading up on transgender sex transformation surgery, but I understand from someone who has that Mr. Chaz is still Ms. Chaz technically speaking. Chaz does have a female partner, however.

So, if you are not confused enough by now, hold on.

Chaz has taken so many hormones that it has puffed him and/or her up like an oversized balloon, just ready to pop. The side effects of so much testosterone has produced the desired results, however. She (woops!) — well, let’s just say, shim — shim now has a nice squiggly set of Dutch sideburns.

Now, what is odd about the whole setup is that Chaz seems perfectly at ease with this bizarreness. And, that’s not all, so does most everyone else on the show—at least publically. Not only that, Chaz who bounces around like a rubber penguin got voted back on, thereby eliminating a couple that the show’s judges felt would be in the finals. So, there must be a whole lot of strange people out there voting. I say that because otherwise Chaz’s dancing alone would have never cut it.

Someone said a long time ago, “You should never mix religion and politics.” Well, whoever that person was must have been pretty persuasive because not only have we screwed up politically because of that but we have also allowed science to go wonky on us.

Let’s start with politics. Tear down the traditional family through gay marriages and transgender sex changes and you will rip America apart at the seams. Secondly, let science willy-nilly meander around test tubing babies, changing genders, shooting our vegetables and animals full of artificial hormones, condoning homosexuality as just an alternate life style choice, and doing all the other things that science does and dogmatizes on, and we will end up destroying not only mankind as we know it but sanity itself, in my opinion.

Albert Schweitzer, the eminent German theologian and medical missionary, was once asked by Adlai Stevenson, then a presidential candidate, what he thought was the greatest threat the world would have in the future. Schweitzer replied without hesitation, “Science without moral restraints.”

In many aspects Schweitzer was right. Think of it. Weapons that can destroy every living thing on earth in a matter of minutes. Freakish mutations that portend human abnormalities. Water that is unfit to drink. Air that is unsafe to breathe. Food that is harmful to ingest. And, the list goes on and on.

When will it stop? Never … unless men change for the better morally. Otherwise, we can kiss civilization goodbye as we know it.

Science does not have the final word, though. God does.

And, oh yes, Chaz you are still Chastity, whether you like it or not. Sorry.

Hope as a catalysis for change . . .

American businesses are not obstructed by excessive taxes, I am told. They are stymied by a lack of confidence in the economy. People are just not buying, so businesses are simply keeping what cash they have on their balance sheets for a rainy day.

In a word, people lack hope in the future. Would be customers are afraid to spend what little money they have, and businesses are reluctant to expand. Joseph Heller could not have written a better Catch-22 scenario.

Every economy, including the American one, has its limits, however. So, people have good cause for their apprehension. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that funding a war of attrition that grinds away at our national solvency and a congress that will not act is slowly bankrupting our country.

So, it is easy to understand why there is such poverty of hope.

Yet, through it all, there are still millions of impoverished souls that are perishing not for the lack of sustenance but for the lack of spiritual nourishment. For, truly, as our Master said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)

On the whole, America may not believe that, but it does not alter the fact that it is true.

The economy may run its cycles, have ups and downs, but God’s promises remain steady and true. So as for me, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.” For “On Christ the solid rock I stand, [even though] all other ground is sinking sand.”

And, because of that resolve, I have a firmness of hope that circumstances can not shake.

Yet, many are without that hope simply because they have not had the opportunity to hear about the hope that only Jesus can bring.

Will you continue to pray with us about our upcoming ministry trip to teach pastors overseas? They, too, must be prepared to reach their generation.
Thank you so much for making this possible.

Cartoon of the week . . .

Presidential Contenders



The missing ingredient in political campaigns seems to be integrity. Job numbers are skewed, polls are manipulated, promises are conveniently forgotten, rumors are spread, doubts planted—shall I go on? No. You get the picture, I am sure. And, then there is just plain stubbornness and ideology gridlock.


I’ve often wondered where Stephen Sondheim got the inspiration to write the lyrics to “Send in the Clowns.” Now, I think I know. He must have been watching the congressional debates on C-Span to have been infused with such brilliance. Never mind which debates. Almost any will do as long as they have anything to do with common sense.

Then, there’s the President scolding congress like a bunch of naughty school kids. It’s a circus all around, that’s for sure!

Concerning his generation Jesus once remarked, “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square." (Matt. 11:16) And, I’ve got to admit, it sound pretty much like what’s going on today.

Status quo is Latin for the mess we are in . . .

According to David Gergen, former White House staffer in both Republic and Democrat administrations, what Standard and Poors is saying by downgrading the credit rating of the US government is:

It's not that you don't have the economic capacity to pay your bills, said S&P; we're just not sure you have the political capacity to pay them. One can well object to the decision, as the White House has, but the damage is done in international eyes. Gloom is thick across the waters.

I couldn’t agree more. Our economy has two basic flaws in my opinion. One unstable politics gives it the jitters; and, number two, our stock market is too susceptible to the fluctuations cause by the superstars who play the market for all it is worth. These are not small players, either. These are the big guys responsible for supersized accounts with a lot of clout and a big punch. It is for sure that none standing alone has the power to move the market in one direction or the other to any appreciable degree; but they do act as a catalyst of influence on others. And, in unison the sweep of any trend that they initiate can be very broad indeed.

With a novice in the White House and a bunch of addled nincompoops in Congress and the greed of the superrich running Wall Street I am surprised that we are in as good of shape as we are.

Is this a financial Armageddon? Absolutely not. We have a strong economy fundamentally over the long haul. The problem is—or at least one of the problems is that we want what we want and we want it now. James call this “the lust of the flesh.” And, when you stop and think about it, that is precisely what it is like—kind of a feral lust. A lust gone wild. Reason and patience are not part of the equation. So, in my opinion, the smart investor will just hold steady and the market will correct itself.

One other comment before I close this blog. That is, the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. In my opinion, it is time that someone—preferable the President—pull that out and dust it off. Read if for yourself.

As a matter of fact Our Supreme Court ruled on February 18, 1935 that:

The Fourteenth Amendment, in its fourth section, explicitly declares: 'The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law , ... shall not be questioned.' While this provision was undoubtedly inspired by the desire to put beyond question the obligations of the government issued during the Civil War, its language indicates a broader connotation. We regard it as confirmatory of a fundamental principle which applies as well to the government bonds in question, and to others duly authorized by the Congress, as to those issued before the amendment was adopted. Nor can we perceive any reason for not considering the expression 'the validity of the public debt' as embracing whatever concerns the integrity of the public obligations.

So, all this argument about the debt ceiling and a balanced budget is meaningless as long as Congress continues to legislate us into more financial obligations—included in that of course are entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. If that raises the debt ceiling, so be it.
President Obama, as former President Clinton recommended, should have stepped up to the plate and said, “Argue all you want to about extending the debt limit, but we are going to pay our bills.” And, then argued the case in the courts.

I fully realize that it is a complicated mess, but so-what? Our mess is our status quo.

AAA Credit Rating Not All That Critical

Standard & Poor's is a significant (but not infallible) credit rating agency designated as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company traces its history back to 1860; however, it should be noted that it really did not become a comprehensive rating agency until much later. Although purported to be politically and fiscally neutral it is not without critics. Several antitrust lawsuits have resulted, the results of which are far too complicated for such a short newsletter; nevertheless, it is appropriate to mention that many of its best clients are banks which in the long run profit from higher interest rates brought on by a revised S&P rating.

Congress and the Obama Administration, I feel missed the mark by setting a lower debt ceiling limit. Balancing the budget is one thing, drying up stimulus money, even fiat money, is precisely what we should not be doing at this time. (That may come as a shock to some of my fellow Republicans)

Once the gold and silver standards were trounced out in our political system, the decision was make during the Nixon administration to consider the worth of our money to be based on our own capacity as a nation to produce and exert national and international power. This so-called fiat money is now our standard for currency value. Since then all reserve currencies have been fiat currencies, including the dollar and the euro.

For example, if America were made out of cheese, then the availability of cheese would be the basis for the worth of our currency. America is not make of cheese, however, so we base our currency worth on our national strength to exert power economically and politically, including physically if necessary. Those are the hard facts of reality. Color our national and international policies any color you wish, but the oil fields of Iraq and Libya are prime examples of where we feel our national interest lies—as opposed to the economically insignificant Assad régime in Syria.

Now, what is a stake in all of this political and economic uncertainty? Well, need I say, ‘our entire economic and political structure’? So, the question arises, do we not place ourselves at risk by funneling more fiat money into the economy as a stimulus? Yes, if we exceed the worth of labor and material that goes into the projects. That then become a real problem. Some of the things that we should be concerned about that will definitely deflate the worth of stimulus activity is graft, over pricing, non-revenue producing projects like bridges to nowhere, or subsidized airports out in the middle of Podunk Hollow. Those things are a waste of money, even fiat money. However, if stimulus projects are sound and add to our national worth then I say, ‘Go for it!’

And, by-the-way, it would not hurt to tax and circulate some of the untaxed profits of such billionaire corporations as Amazon.com which reportedly has more cash reserves than the US Government, in my opinion. They don't seem to be willing to put these liquid assets into the job market, so perhaps we should exercise our rights as a government of the people and by the people to do just that. To allow avarice and greed to deny the poor and needy who are willing to work (we are not talking about a hand out here) seem to me to be unconscionable as a Christian. The book of James has a few words for a policy like that.

Now, if by chance anyone is having trouble wrapping their mind around what I have just said (I am not always the clearest writer) allow me to illustrate with the following story from one of the editors at the Campaign for Liberty blogsite:

My nephew, while serving in Iraq, came upon a warehouse of Iraqi Currency with Saddam’s face all over it. He contacted me to find out what it was worth. I called several professional currency traders who confirmed my opinion that since Saddam’s Iraq was no more, neither was his fiat money. It was only worth the paper itself.

In essence fiat money is just as strong as America-no more and no less. Need I say more?

Well, 'yes' and 'no'. 'No' on the business of fiat money, but 'yes' on how this will all effect missions.

To be perfectly honest, long-term I do not know. Short-term it will continue to challenge our monetary priorities, but hopefully not our hearts. For where our money is there lies our heart.

Here's a quick and fascinating breakdown by total amount held and percentage of total U.S. debt, according to Business Insider:

Hong Kong: $121.9 billion (0.9 percent)
Caribbean banking centers: $148.3 (1 percent)
Taiwan: $153.4 billion (1.1 percent)
Brazil: $211.4 billion (1.5 percent)
Oil exporting countries: $229.8 billion (1.6 percent)
Mutual funds: $300.5 billion (2 percent)
Commercial banks: $301.8 billion (2.1 percent)
State, local and federal retirement funds: $320.9 billion (2.2 percent)
Money market mutual funds: $337.7 billion (2.4 percent)
United Kingdom: $346.5 billion (2.4 percent)
Private pension funds: $504.7 billion (3.5 percent)
State and local governments: $506.1 billion (3.5 percent)
Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4 percent)
U.S. households: $959.4 billion (6.6 percent)
China: $1.16 trillion (8 percent)
The U.S. Treasury: $1.63 trillion (11.3 percent)
Social Security trust fund: $2.67 trillion (19 percent)

So America owes foreigners about $4.5 trillion in debt. But America owes America $9.8 trillion.

My prayer is that we remain stable and steadfast in our commitment to missions and the work of the Kingdom.

Honesty Is Still The Best Policy

I'm a Lincoln buff. Truman comes next. One was a Republican, the other a Democrat. Neither were particular religious, in the traditional sense of the word. Both, however, had high moral values. Lincoln was a political pragmatist determined to free the slaves and preserve the Constitution. Which, incidentally, was a tough row to hoe considering that our Founding Fathers were no Martin Luther Kings—that’s for sure. Truman, honest as he was, kept a sheet of stamps in his desk in the Oval Office to use for personal correspondence.

You ask, what’s all of that got to do with the price of tea in China? Well, nothing, except unlike Diogenes of Sinope, I think I have found a couple of honest men—and, imagine, both were politicians! Wouldn’t that be a marvelous discovery today?

Right now, in Dallas—my stomping grounds—the FBI has swooped in on a Country Commissioner who among other things paid out thousands of dollars from his campaign fund to buy Kwanzaa celebration gifts for some cronies of his. Of course, none of this is illegal under current campaign laws. Which is in my way of thinking just another illustration of the irony of our silly political system.

But, like Winston Churchill is reported to have said, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

So, I guess I'll just have to be satified until Jesus returns and straightens the whole mess out.

Fair Trade or Stupidity At Its Best?

At times I am tempted to write a new book entitled — "The American Fair Treaty Agreements” with a subtitle that reads: “Stupidity At Its Best!"  

Why do I say this?

Well, mainly because America is so gullible. Read the news papers. Or listen to the news. It's all over the place. We dare not offend the South Koreans by insisting that they allow more imports of cars and beef from America—after all, they only export around 775,000 vehicles to the USA; while we export a whopping 2,100 to their country — to insist otherwise just might offend them; and we mus'nt do that.   

Excuse me. Did I miss something there? 775 thousand to 21 hundred. Yeah, that's right. Not to mention other things, such as a 40% surcharge tariff on all US beef imports, plus a whole lot of other unfavorable restrictions.

Now, do you want the results of the so-called FTA (Fair Trade Agreement)? Well, want it or not, here it is: 

The U.S. International Trade Commission has projected that the Korea FTA will increase the U.S. global trade deficit, while the U.S. think-tank Economic Policy Institute has projected that it will lead to considerable U.S. job losses. 

And, who championed this lopsided fiasco? You guessed it—the same bunch that the America tax payers just bailed out.  

U.S. financial services firms such as Citigroup have pushed for the Korea FTA. Citigroup’s Laura Lane, corporate co-chair of the U.S.-Korea FTA Business Coalition, stated that “it is the best financial services chapter negotiated in a free trade agreement to date.”  

Really? 

I’m tempted to ask, “Laura what planet did you step off of?” but I won’t, since that would be beneath my dignity. 

All right, enough of this. The bottom line is, “What does this have to do with world evangelism?” 

The quick answer is, “A lot! Primarily because South Korea is only a tip of the iceberg. Take a look at the trade deficits between us and some of our other trade partners: China, Pakistan, all of Latin America, and the list goes on and on.” 

Ask any pastor if the poor economy brought on in large part because of such unfair practices has affected missions giving, and the majority will have to answer with a resounding “Yes!”

Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac were a cause, but not the root cause. The American job market was, however. And, we do not create jobs by shipping them all abroad, and then buying their products. That's not the way it works. Pure and simple.   

So, what should we Christians do? Well, first of all, we should commit the whole misfortune to God in prayer. And, that’s not a cop-out either. Prayer does change things. The Scripture says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that— 

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 

Then, secondly, we should actively pursue avenues of expression to get the message out and do our dead-level best to see that this deficit is changed.  

Otherwise, if we don’t do something positive, we can kiss the era of modern missions good bye because we will simply not have an economy that will sustain it. 

Well, this is just one man’s opinion; but I don’t think I’m too far off base.

Juan Williams: a bigot or a human?

Juan Williams: a bigot or a human?

Just how looney will political correctness go? And, how much of this will the American public tolerate? Read this, for starters!