Environmental Socialism ...

Lone Star Showdown II: Texas vs. the EPA
by Chris Bounds on September 20, 2010

As we have said before, being the strongest state in the union has put a huge target on the back of Texas. Texas is already battling the Obama Administration for its lack of support at the Mexican border, ObamaCare mandates, and being the only state singled in the $26 billion bailout bill. Last week the Lone Star State opened up another front in its defensive battle against the ever-increasing oppressive measures from Washington by suing the Environmental Protection Agency.

Top 20 Socialist sound bites: Watch Here

Last Tuesday, Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit against the EPA stating that the mandates it is imposing are illegal and will cost Texas thousands of jobs by driving up energy costs. In addition, he explained that the EPA used “flawed science” based the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an organization formed by the United Nations. WOAI explains:

“The state explained that the IPCC, and therefore the EPA, relied on flawed science to conclude that greenhouse emissions endanger public health and welfare,” Abbott said. “Because the Administration predicated its Endangerment Finding on the IPCC’s questionable facts, the state is seeking to prevent the EPA’s new rules, and the economic harm that will result from these regulations, from being imposed on Texas employers, workers, and enforcement agencies.”

…”The IPCC had the objectivity, reliability, and propriety of its scientific assessments called into question after a scandal erupted late last year,” Abbott said.

…”Today’s court filings challenge the EPA’s attempts to ignore federal law, impose their federally mandated deadlines and force Texas to spend millions of dollars advancing the Administration’s regulatory agenda,” Abbott said.

The scandal Abbott referred to is the same scandal that must have sent a cold chill down the spine of Al Gore – ClimateGate. Of course that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to make a few million bucks off the eco-fraud. But I digress.

Looking at the rules the EPA is imposing on Texas, the biggest impact will come from the regulation of carbon dioxide by extending clean air standards to tailpipes of personal cars and trucks. The “Tailoring Rule” would require Texas to comply with all clean air regulations by January 2, 2011, less than five months away, or the EPA will step in and enforce it.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is in lockstep with the attorney general. Governor Perry called the EPA’s measures “sweeping mandates and draconian punishments undoing decades of progress, painting entrepreneurs as selfish and destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.” He even pushed back at Washington, suggesting they get on board with Texas in its effort to solve energy and environmental efforts by taking the state’s “all-of-the-above approach” – encouraging the development and use of all types of energy sources from coal to wind. Given the Obama Administration’s attitude towards conventional energy products, Perry’s words likely fell on deaf ears.

Washington may feel obligated to lower the success of every state in order to achieve a socialist utopia, but I firmly suggest they take good notice of the slogan “Don’t mess with Texas.” While Texas is not alone in the fight against the EPA since Virginia and Alabama filed separate suits, Texas is certainly a leader in the stand against tyrannical moves by the government that suppress constitutional rights reserved to the States and to the People. Win, lose, or draw in this showdown with the EPA, the Lone Star State is set to leave a Texas sized bruise on the backside of the federal government come November 2nd. Let’s do-si-do!

Jesus Is The Light

1 Peter 5: 6-10 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Why do we need to talk about evolution on my blog? After all, most of my readers are believers and have already rejected evolution. The verses above make the reasons we need to stand up to evolution very clear. God is under relentless attack. The cause of Christ and the Bible are at war on multiple fronts. I will continue to focus on the promises of God for believers in Christ. That is where our hope, peace, joy, rest, and victory is found. But we must not forget that our enemy never sleeps. He is lurking in the shadows and determined to discredit God, Jesus Christ, the Bible and rob all believers of their meaning and purpose, and their witness. Evolution is our enemy's plan and is at the front line of the battle for our minds. I will also focus on the other key areas where our beliefs, freedoms and way of life are under attack. That means I will be talking about false teachings within the church, Islam, Politics, Media, Illegal Immigration, Evolution and any other issue where Christianity is under attack or being misrepresented. We must know our enemy and “resist him, and stand firm in our faith.” I will do my best to balance these topics which tend to be negative, with Biblical teachings and insights that will encourage all of us in our walk with Christ.

I fully realize that most Christians naturally don’t want to read about this. It is negative. But that is the problem. We are called to give testimony for Christ. Most Christians are afraid to talk about creation, because scientific evolution has taken such an anti-God stand. Christianity has allowed the evil one to step in and totally take over the debate. We are told 90% of Americans believe in God which is confirmed ... in this CBS poll was conducted November 18-21, 2004. Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they did evolve, God guided the process. Just 13% say that God was not involved. But most would not substitute the teaching of creationism for the teaching of evolution in public schools. In other words, the majority of those who believe in God are intimidated by the intelectuals, and have chosen to give the devil and atheistic evolution the pulpit in educating their children. The poll also showed that 65% of Americans do support teaching both creation and evolution in our public schools. But like our politicians who think they know what is best for the unknowing masses, the educational system also thinks we are the ignorant masses and need to be programmed with their atheistic dogma whether we agree with it or not. Atheistic evolution is presented as legitimate science and therefore not religion ... they say. But I would contend that evolution is being delivered with more than religious fervor, and it influences the values of it's followers just like any other religion would. Additionally it surely is being followed by faith in Darwin's teachings, rather than scientific proof. Is it any wonder that we are living in a values neutral society?

Listen to what scientific atheists have to say: Sir Arthur Keith writes in evolution and Ethics; “Christ’s teaching is … in direct opposition to the law(lie) of evolution and, Christian ethics are out of harmony with human nature and secretly antagonistic to nature’s scheme of evolution and ethics; … and the law of Christ is incompatible with the law of evolution … Nay, the two laws are at war with each other. If we follow evolutionary ethics to their strict, logical conclusion, we must abandon the hope of ever attaining a universal system of ethics because the ways of national evolution, both in the past and in the present, are cruel, brutal, ruthless, and without mercy. The sermon on the mount is in condemnation of the evolutionary ladder.” The conclusion is that Christianity has failed because it is anti-evolutionary.

Atheistic Darwinists are clearly anti-Christian. More Babble: “What I want to urge upon you is militant atheism … My approach to attacking creationism is to attack religion as a whole. Children are especially vulnerable to the infection of religion … It’s time to question the abuse of childhood innocence with superstitious ideas of hellfire and damnation … such labeling of children with their parents’ religion (Christian child and Muslim child) is child abuse.” Richard Dawkins. Like many of Dawkins’ statements, this one is not totally untrue. If atheistic Darwinism were actually legitimate scientific truth and there was no creation, his statement could be totally true. but when he lumps Islam and Christianity together ... he is 50% correct at best.

“Evolution has become far more than a scientific theory. Evolution has become a unifying materialistic philosophy that has most of the elements of a religion.” Sir Julian Huxley UNESCO’s first director General wrote that “our present knowledge indeed forces us to the view that the whole of reality is evolution … a single process of self transformation.” It is no wonder that the UN is at odds with the US and our Christian ideals on most issues. “UNESCO's general philosophy should be scientific world humanism, global in extent, and evolutionary in background."

“The implications of modern science however are clearly inconsistent with most religious traditions … No inherent moral or ethical laws exist, nor are there absolute guiding principles for human society. The universe cares nothing for us and we have no ultimate meaning in life.” Professor William Provine, Cornell University. No meaning in life? Is this the type of babble we want our children and the current and future leaders of America taught? Unfortunately, people today are choosing their values, often with little or no regard for the welfare of others.”

If you still think that evolutionists do not wish to replace God and the Bible with evolution, how about this? “Evolution is a general postulate to which all theories, all hypotheses, all systems must henceforward bow and which they must satisfy in order to be thinkable and true. Evolution is a light which illuminates all facts, a trajectory which all lines of thought must follow.” Roman Catholic priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Clearly, this priest fell and hit his head. I have a different Light that I am following and my Light doesn’t bow down to Darwin or stoop to satisfy the theory of evolution. “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

The problem is that there are two contrasting worldviews that shape our thinking. Let’s look at the conflicts between atheistic Darwinian materialistic Evolution, and Biblical Judeo/Christian Creation.

Materialistic View: “Ultimate reality is an impersonal matter. No God exists. The universe was created by chance events without ultimate purpose. Man is the product of impersonal time plus chance plus matter. As a result, no man has eternal value, or dignity, or any meaning other that that which is subjectively derived. Morality is defined by every individual according to his own views and interests. Morality is ultimately relative because every person is the final authority for his own views. The afterlife brings eternal annihilation (personal extinction) for everyone.”

Christian View: “Ultimate reality is an infinite personal loving God. The universe was lovingly created by God in His image and is loved by Him. Because of this, all men are endowed with eternal value and dignity. Their value is not derived ultimately from themselves, but from a source transcending themselves, God Himself. Morality is defined by God and is immutable because it is based upon God’s unchanging Character. The afterlife involves either eternal life with God (personal immortality) or eternal separation from Him (personal judgment).”

How has evolution influenced the world’s religions in the past 150 years? Here are some of the philosophies or religions that have assumed or incorporated evolution into their beliefs: naturalism, existentialism, materialism, Marxism, atheism, humanism, occultism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, liberal Judaism and Christianity, some Islam and Catholicism, and most cults, new religions and the new age movement.

Question: If all of these philosophies and religions in some way embrace evolution, then why is evolution not a violation of church and state? Answer: Because they are peddling it as legitimate proven science.

Another Good Question: Since evolution offers no hope, purpose or meaning, why would anyone willingly embrace it?
Answers: Ignorance, pride, lust, and evil desires are very powerful forces controlled by the evil one.
Also,people want to be the god of their own life.

Fortunately, not all scientists are on the same page. “One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be a divine intent behind it … speaking for myself, I can only say that the grandeur of the cosmos serves to confirm my belief in the certainty of a creator.” Wernher von Braun, former Director of America’s space program.


Evolutionists would be wise to remember “Pascal’s Wager” which says; “If a Christian bets his life on God’s existence and His promise of eternity in bliss with Him ... and is wrong, he has only lost his life, which atheists claim is a meaningless delusion anyway. But if an atheist bets that there is no God and thus no eternal judgment after death and is wrong, he will suffer his error for eternity.”

So what are the mathematical odds of evolution being true and correct: 1 trillion to 1.

There is an ongoing battle for the minds of men. And the author of this lie called evolution is the prince of the world forces of darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness. But we can be strong and courageous because our God is the God of all grace, and He has called us to His eternal glory in Christ, and He will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us.

God Bless you my friend, Bob
Ref: Darwin’s leap Of Faith, by Ankerberg/Weldon

The Stumbling Man

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

A number of years ago a friend of mine told me that he could accept the Bible if it wasn’t for the first few chapters of Genesis. He is an anthropology major and educator and has spent his entire life in the public school system. Well, my friend wasn’t being totally honest … was he? You see I could have pointed out hundreds of truths in the Bible that are not in the first three chapters that he doesn't agree with. This is the same friend that thinks he has great knowledge of the Bible. How do I know? I once heard him make an offer to a pastor friend to speak at his church. Can you imagine the arrogance of an atheist making such an offer? I do think he was sincere. He has been teaching his opinions and principles in the school system for years unquestioned, and sees himself as an authority of sorts. In reality, he has clearly never studied the Bible.

I believe that this conversation with my friend is at the heart of what is wrong with Christianity today. People approach God as if their opinion is relevant or important. This first verse of Genesis is true whether my friend can accept it or not, and for sure there is no way you can reject the first three chapters of the Bible and accept the rest.

Okay, now I will ask you a vital question. Is “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” true, or is it a lie? Do you believe the theory of evolution is true or is it false? The answers to these questions determine what our beliefs are likely to be on a whole list of issues that would include your purpose and meaning in life, abortion, environmentalism, euthanasia, and personal values. This is why there is no possible resolution on these issues politically. Christians not wanting to make waves or look foolish ... say nothing, and before you know it they and their children come to believe the lie.

By the way ... What do your children believe? Never, Never, Never ... allow atheists to train your children on this subject!

The problem is that like my teacher friend, millions of Christians have accepted the teaching of evolution as truth. The difference between my athiest friend and many Christians is that he is honest. That means they have to either deny Genesis 1:1 and conclude the Bible is a lie or they just have a compromised belief system. This dilemma has resulted in as many as 7-8 out of 10 professed Christians who are not sure what they believe on creation.

If the Bible is false on creation, why should anyone believe any of the other Biblical teachings? This is not an issue up for discussion. Jesus claimed to be God. Was he telling the truth? Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. I have accepted Jesus and his promises as truth. If I choose not to believe Genesis 1:1, why would I believe in the Savior who claimed to be indwell-ed by the creator? John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” If there is no creator, my entire belief system is destroyed.

Darwinian Evolution is an atheistic lie which has been and is being taught to our children as scientific fact. My teacher friend is right. Christians who say they believe in evolution are hypocrites. One belief or the other is false. They cannot both be true. I am convinced that the evidence for creation far outweighs evolution and in the weeks ahead I will demonstrate this fact.

Evolutionists who believe that evolution is scientific fact have been clearly deceived as we will also demonstrate.

I will start by saying that we clearly won’t resolve this question, but we each must resolve the question in our individual minds. I will begin by saying that even long before I was a Christian, evolution made no sense to me. The idea that our life has no meaning and purpose is foreign to me. When you think about it, most people who believe in evolution think life has meaning and purpose. They only believe in evolution because it has been accepted as fact in their high school and college science classes and to not agree brings ridicule by atheists. If you ask them; so do you really believe you evolved from a slug and your entire life has no meaning whatsoever?" ... What fool would actually say; "yes, I evolved from a slug"?

First and foremost, let’s make one thing clear. After 1859, atheists took over modern science and converted modern science from the belief that we lived in a universe that has been created by a “God of order” to an atheistic worldview with an agenda consistent with their "NO god" beliefs. Modern day science considers everything they do in the context of evolution as scientific law and anyone questioning evolution as fact is quickly and totally disregarded as unscientific and ignorant. Although atheists cannot deny the order of the universe, they refer to the order that is everywhere as the "appearance of order". This is an insult to legitimate science and to God. God’s word says: “I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.” Isaiah 45:12.

Have you ever imagined how much money has been wasted focusing on space exploration? The more we have learned, the more we have concluded that space travel into the cosmos, outside our solar system, is not only virtually impossible … it is absolutely impossible. It is estimated that there are 100-500 billion suns in our galaxy and a trillion other galaxies. Hello ... clueless. We are wasting our time and money. Growing numbers of space scientists are concluding that sending messages into outer space is a pointless pursuit. Why in the world would intelligent people send radio messages, at the cost of billions of dollars, to stars in space that if received and answered it would take 50,000 years to receive a reply? Science is out of control. Atheists trying to prove their ideas and reach their goals, and further their plans.I certainly look forward to exploring the heavens when I receive my heavenly body and supernatural abilities, but humans are way out of their league.

Talk about the ignorance and arrogance of atheistic science in our world today … Richard Dawkins, leading atheist, Professor of Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University has told us “Darwin explained everything about life here on earth.” And he also said” but it is also possible that we are really alone in the universe” In other words, we know everything we need to know … but in reality, we know nothing. Professor of understanding ... what a sick joke. The fact is that Darwin didn’t really explain anything about life. Unless, of course you want to believe life has no meaning and our survival of the fittest existence leads nowhere and has no purpose beyond comforting ourselves. Is there anything to follow death? My atheist friends say: DIRT. Atheists don’t talk about what makes a human being different from a monkey or a caterpillar, and what is different between mankind and every other living creature? How did life begin? The atheists “spontaneous” answer is both insultingly absurd and scientifically laughable. 150 years ago Louis Pasteur proved that “spontaneous generation” was pure superstition. The law of biogenesis was established as irrefutable scientific fact. This law inarguably states that; "life only comes from life."

Although atheists admit that this law is not debatable, they object that unless there is at least one exception, they are forced to admit that life could have come about only through a supernatural act of creation. Since this is not possible in their world … they conveniently disregard the established law of science. They somehow think that this irrefutable law must have somehow been mysteriously overturned millions of times throughout the world. Not only is this unscientific … it is the opposite of science … it is scientific heresy. This same type of unscientific science is now being applied to the creation and promotion of the global warming hoax. And if you say … no way, I say … why would they not violate the rules of science, when rules and values have no meaning to slugs and gorillas? … this is survival of the fittest my friend. I can hear it now: "We need that money for our new project; and besides even if it’s not true, it will improve the environment. Besides all that, I need to pay for all of my stuff."

In closing, Nobel Prize winning physicist Erwin Scrodinger one of the architects of quantum physics and an atheist, made this realistic admission: “The scientific picture of the real world around me is … ghastly silent about all … that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us … It knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good and bad, God and eternity … Whence came I and whither go I? That is the great unfathomable question, the same for every one of us. Science has no answer for it.”

The consensus of scientists throughout all fields is that science cannot answer the WHY questions of life.
Darwinism is in fact mankind stumbling in darkness.

The truth is that all men were created for a purpose by an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God who created all and who is Lord over all. As a Christian, I believe this by faith. Atheistic science believes in Darwinism by faith also. Darwinism is not legitimate science ... it is another form of religion ... unfortunately a false religion that has deceived millions to embrace an evil lie.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

A MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: What do your children believe? ... email them this post ... begin a dialogue ... their eternal life is in the balance.
Ref: Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny ... Dave Hunt

God Bless you my friends, Bob

Unvarnished Truth

How do we answer out of control Unions? The Truth ... Unvarnished.

NJ Gov. Christie Clashes with Teacher at Town Hall

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is known for telling it like he sees it. At a town hall meeting yesterday in Raritan, NJ, he made sure to bolster that reputation. The fireworks start in the beginning and go until about 1:53.

Governor Christie explains how the teacher‘s union in the state refused to compromise to save the state’s crucial education dollars and the specific facts that are often not explained in the multi-million dollar ads bought by the teachers unions. The reality is that the union brought their lay offs on themselves by refusing to be reasonable.

">WATCH THIS ONE

Floyd Patterson, Call Your Office

by Peter Wehner - 09.08.2010 - 6:51 PM

In his remarks in Cleveland today, President Obama said so many things that are so misleading that it will take time to sort through the entire mess. But some claims — like “I’m committed to fiscal responsibility” — belong in a remake of The Twilight Zone.

What Obama said is not only untrue; it is the very opposite of the truth. And for the president to warn that “if we don’t get a handle on [the long-term deficit] soon, it can endanger our future” is particularly ludicrous, given that in 20 months, he has done so much to make our fiscal situation worse, from wasteful and expensive stimulus legislation to double-digit increases in non-defense discretionary spending to a huge new health-care entitlement. It is as if the president takes particular delight in not only saying things that are misleading but in saying things that are audaciously misleading.

Obama also has a habit of deriding not just the policies but also the motivations of his opponents. He almost never acknowledges the good faith of his critics; they are people to be mocked, ridiculed, derided. The only reason they oppose Obama is “politics pure and simple.” Republicans “prey on people’s fears and anxieties,” he said today. There is no room for genuine philosophical differences. It is as if Obama believes his ideas are so transparently brilliant and wise and beyond challenge that only the malicious and malevolent can oppose him.

And what is striking is how Obama, under growing political pressure, increasingly feels sorry for himself. “They talk about me like a dog,” the president told a crowd in Wisconsin earlier this week. “That’s not in my prepared remarks, it’s just — but it’s true.” And echoing the remarks made this morning by his top aide David Axelrod — who insisted “we didn’t create the mess we’re in” — Obama in his Cleveland speech said, “When I walked in [to the White House], wrapped in a nice bow, was a $1.3 trillion deficit sitting on my door step — a welcoming present.”

What’s so revealing about Obama is that comments about how terribly unfair life has been for him since he assumed office are extemporaneous, off the cuff, from the heart. For example, neither Obama’s claim that “they talk about me like a dog” nor his statement in Cleveland about his “welcoming present” were in the prepared text. (Here’s the “As Prepared for Delivery” version of the Cleveland remarks.)

What we are seeing, then, is Barack Obama unplugged. He is a man used to being cosseted and who believes negative comments about him are a violation of an unwritten moral code.

“This is more than an inconvenience,” David Axelrod wrote in a memo to Obama on November 28, 2006, in raising concerns about Obama’s thin skin. “It goes to your willingness and ability to put up with something you have never experienced on a sustained basis: criticism. At the risk of triggering the very reaction that concerns me, I don’t know if you are Muhammad Ali or Floyd Patterson when it comes to taking a punch. You care far too much what is written and said about you. … When the largely irrelevant Alan Keyes attacked you, you flinched.”

He did then, and he still does to this day.

It turns out that the president is more like Floyd Patterson than Muhammad Ali.

Peter's Problems

Mathew 16:13-19; 22-23 He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

……… Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Can you even imagine the excitement and pride that Peter must have been experiencing when he was first highly commended for answering Jesus’ question correctly, and then to be told that God would be using him in an extremely important role; and then fast forward a few days later ... the shame as he is told; "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Now think about this for a minute. Are we guilty (just like Peter) of rebuking Christ when we consciously or unconsciously choose to not follow God but rather to run after "the things of men" ... the priorities of the world.

Can you relate to Peter? I sure can. One moment I am a devoted disciple of Christ, studying, praying, teaching and following; and then without warning … the next thing you know, I’m back to my old foolish self-centered ways. "The things of men" are lurking ... waiting to seize the moment, to take over, to control our speech, thoughts and actions. Christ always brought Peter back in line, and He always brings you and I back in line also. But the question is: "How can we transform our mind to alter this inevitable moment? Answer: prayer and meditation on the Word and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Paul was no different as he made it clear when he said;
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” and then concluded ... O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose Peter, considering his obvious flaws? God clearly could have moved upon and chosen anyone He wished to fulfill His purposes and build his church upon. Well the truth is that for the most part, Jesus chose everyday ordinary people. Peter’s problems were very similar to yours and mine.

So, if we want to see our flaws and change, we just need to look at Peter or the others more deeply. God will show us our flaws. What were Peter’s problems? Focusing more deeply on a specific person or topic is a form of meditating on the word … are you looking deeply for truth and application? We can do this on basically any person or topic in the Bible. This is how God speaks to us and brings growth. We are called to meditate on the word. A good sermon or Bible study is another form of meditating on the word, but unfortunately quite often the teacher is regurgitating worldly ideas, and being "mindful of the things of men" rather than meditating on God's Word. But even great teaching or sermons should never replace your personal meditation time with the Lord. The primary reason that we become too busy to meditate is that from a human perspective, we do not want to see our flaws … we do not want to change, we want to unconsciously hang on to control of our lives and do, or not do, as we please. Our old nature is very powerful.

It would clearly take a hundred pages to search the depths of Peter, but let’s take a deeper look and see what we uncover. Peter did not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit at this point as we continually do, but Jesus makes it clear that God revealed to Peter the answer to His question. So at that moment God spoke to Peter in his spirit, or maybe got the truth directly from Jesus previously … but the key here is that Peter was listening. Have you considered the fact that you have the ability to call upon the Lord in the Spirit every minute of every day, and He will speak to you? He will give you the steps ... He will make your path straight. Are you asking God for the answers, and for the steps He wants you to take, or are you just unconsciously plowing ahead as Peter did much of the time? Interestingly, in this verse, Peter apparently waited as others answered. Could it be that he was meditating for an answer from God and got a quick reply? The good news is that listening to God brought not only the desired answer, but also praise and rewards.

Another key point to this verse has been set up by Jesus. Note that he asks two questions. The questions could be paraphrased like this: “what does the world say about me? And the second could be; “what is the truth about me?” Do you see what a difference it makes when we look deeper? Peter was focused on the truth … not on what the world thought about Jesus. Later, when Jesus predicted His own death and persecution, Peter’s defense mechanisms immediately sprung into action. His man of flesh jumped into the conversation. He was no longer listening to God, but rather the voice of Satan. Can you imagine: one moment, recognizing Jesus as God, and then turning around and rebuking Him? Peter must have taken the praise that he had received earlier, very personally. We are all guilty of this … God provides success or wisdom, and we somehow unconsciously conclude that it is our own doing and our pride takes over. Do you see the subtle transition here? The unconscious transfer of focus is often instantaneous. The same thing can and does happen to you and me … every moment of every day, as long as we are still here in our human form. Our enemy Satan is a cunning stalking lion, waiting patiently to seize the moment, and to make us look or act foolish. But unlike Peter, we have the Holy Spirit and the written Word to rescue us. We have a way of escape from our old habits, and lust and pride, and our enemy and his demons.

Six days later, Jesus chose Peter and a few others to go on a walk up the mountain. Wait a minute you say; why did he choose Peter? Wasn’t Jesus angry with Peter from the few days before? … no, of course not. Jesus wasn’t speaking to Peter literally when he said “Get behind Me, Satan, you are an offense to me.” He was speaking directly to the spirit of the devil who was attacking Him through Peter. He was ministering to Peter as He rebuked the spirit of evil. Jesus had forgiven Peter. Now he is taking Peter on a lesson walk. At the transfiguration, Peter is humbled to the point that he wants to do something … although His plan was typical of our old nature. Rather than watching, listening and learning from the things of God; a natural tendency is to take charge and do something. In this case Peter was ready to start building before He even clearly understood all of the facts. God will make it clear to us ... what we need to do, and when we need to do it. We need to release leadership to Christ. He is God and perfectly capable of leading and guiding our lives.

There is so much more here but let’s finish this post at the “Last Supper” Jesus had brought the disciples together to teach them all of the most important things they needed to know and remember before He was to be crucified. The first lesson: Jesus washed the disciple’s feet. Why didn’t any of the disciples offer to do the foot washing or to assist Jesus? Obviously, Jesus knew they were still prideful men. Peter once again, rather than following Jesus’ lead; challenged Jesus … in a more respectful way. Peter saw the foot-washing from a human perspective … he did not understand that the washing was a symbol of spiritual cleansing, and that Christ was modeling humility … the first lesson. Instead of asking; “why is Jesus doing this and what is He saying to me?” All Peter saw was: Jesus washing feet ... and thought: NO. He certainly did not see the real message: Peter washing feet. Are you the humble man or woman God wants you to be? Will you stand in your pride until God humbles you for your own good, or will you humble yourself like Peter finally ... sort of, did when Jesus made the truth clear to him? If you are not meditating on the Word, your answer to God is: NO.

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
God Bless you my friends, Bob

Simple Math ...

Questions?
Do we REALLY need another 50 billion for infrastructure?
I don't think so.

How big is the $871 Billion that was provided in the stimulus plan?

Well if you put $871 billion into a fund to stimulate jobs ... you could make
8.7 million small business loans for $100,000 each.
How many Jobs would that create? Well if each business employs
the owner plus 1 employee on average, that would create 17.4 million new jobs.

What other benefits would this create?

1. 17.4 million workers not collecting unemployment.
2. 8.7 million loans that are being paid back.
3. 17.4 million additional new taxpayers.
4. And the biggest increase of all would come from
a real stimulus plan ... new job production creates
new production and a resulting multiplying effect.

In other words when people have a job they hire a
contractor who goes to Home Depot and buys supplies ...
and on and on.

Newly employed people buy houses and furniture etc.
employing many many more. That's called a recovery.

The most truthful statement I have heard
from a politician this past year: ... Y.O.U. ... L.I.E.

Any Questions?

What did we get instead? Recovery summer ...
Now ... that's a big whoopee ... doo!

Somehow Obama's numbers just don't add up!

YOU DO THE MATH ...

THE BIG QUESTION: WHY WOULD THIS PLAN NEVER WORK FOR OBAMA???
ANSWER: THAT'S EASY ... THERE ARE NO UNIONS INVOLVED IN SMALL BUSINESSES,
AND OBAMA IS 100% SOLD OUT TO THE UNIONS ...
ANY TALK ABOUT STIMULATING SMALL BUSINESSES IS ELECTION YEAR CAMPAIGN RHETORIC.

Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
God bless you my friends, Bob

Churning part 2

Part 2 from Paula at "Along a Narrow Way". I wanted to share it with you because I had a very positive response on Churning part 1. http://alonganarrowway.blogspot.com/2010/08/churning-part-1.html Enjoy ... Bob

Earlier this week I posted about what it means when God begins to stir the waters in our lives. I wrote specifically about what God showed me about churning process, and how it will bring back to the surface things that we had allowed to settle so that he can remove them from our lives once and for all.


But that is certainly not the only reason that God stirs up the waters around us. He also reminded me that moving water moves us and moving water brings life! He brought me to the book of Ezekiel when the angel of the Lord showed him the river of God flowing from the temple, and one particular passage stood out to me:


"Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes ... But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt." - Ezekiel 47:8-9, 11


This verse speaks about the life that be found in the flowing waters, a life that heals the water of the sea, a life that draws as supports a great multitude of fish. But it also says that in the stagnant places - the marshes and swamps - that healing isn't found. Why? Because healing involves change, and change cannot take place in a pool of stagnant water. In fact, when water does not move, when it is not constantly flowing it becomes a breeding ground for disease and decay. That's certainly not what I want for my life, and I know that it's not what God wants for us either!

So often we ask God to change things for us - change our lives, change our hearts, change our circumstances. Why is it, then, that we get so upset when things around us begin to move? Without movement, where will the change come from? Imagine for a moment that you are standing in chest deep water and you want to reach a destination a mile away. What options do you have? If the water is still you can try to walk through it, which is a slow, labor filled, and exhausting process. You could pick up your feet and swim ... it's certainly faster than walking, but again it requires that you do all the work. But if the water is moving ... if there is a current, you don't have to do anything at all. Pick up your feet and the river will bring you where you want to go!

God stirs the waters to move us along! But so often we fail to recognize his hand in what is happening. We see the waters churning and we become afraid. We take our stance, plant our feet and think "I have to survive this. God please help me survive it!" Have you ever tried standing still in the midst of a strong current? It's HARD! But God doesn't stir the water to test our strength ... he doesn't want us to try to stand against it at all. He wants us to recognize that he is the one who is stirring the waters because he wants to move us from the place we've been to a different (and better) place. It is his hand that guides us, his wing that shelters us, and his plan that will move us, if only we will get out of our own way! All we have to do is let go of our fear, stop trying to control our own lives, pick up our feet, and allow God to carry us to somewhere new. And the best part is that if we can do that, if we submit to the flow and give up control we will find ourselves healed along the way.

So don't get stuck in stagnation. When the waters of your life begin to move, when everything seems impossibly uprooted and things begin to swirl out of your control don't be discouraged. Know that God is on the move. He is right there in the midst of the storm, and he is orchestrating all that you are going through to remove those things that don't belong in your life, to carry you to new places, and to create an ending that will bless your life and bring Him glory!

God bless you my friends, Bob

Churning

This post is written by a friend, Paula at "Along a Narrow Way". I wanted to share it with you because I am convinced the Lord is clearly speaking through Paula; and I thought this one would speak to your heart, as it has mine. Give Paula a visit at http://alonganarrowway.blogspot.com/2010/08/churning-part-1.html She has many other Godly inspired messages. Enjoy ... Bob

For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. - John 5:2


I have always loved this particular image - the picture of the angel of the Lord reaching down and quite literally stirring things up on behalf of the people who were in need. It's such a wonderful reminder that God is always willing to actively involve himself in the circumstances of our lives in order to see us blessed. He has never once forgotten the work that needs to be completed, the promises that need to be fulfilled, or the wounds that need to be healed in our lives.


But recently I've been spending time meditating on what that image really entails. Because while the mental picture of of an angel stirring up a pool is very pretty in theory, the actual experience that we go through when the waters of our lives begin to swirl around us can be a completely unsettling and uncomfortable experience. I know that there have been so many times when I have found myself in the midst of what felt like a chaotic swirl, where suddenly everything was up in the air and stability seemed like a thing of the past. At times like that it can be easy to look around and wonder why God would let things get to such a point.


After all, when the waters are still things are much easier. There is a certain comfort in knowing that things will be the same tomorrow as they were today. There's a security and peace that comes with the familiar. Still waters are calm waters, and who doesn't want smooth sailing? But when things get stirred up, when everything around us becomes uprooted and starts to change, it can be a frightening experience. So why would God do that to us? Why are his answers so often worked out in the midst of a swirl of uncertainty?


One of the first things that God showed me when I asked him about this was that churning waters will bring to the surface things that may have settled to the bottom. A lot of times we allow old issues, habits, wounds, or fears to remain in our lives because they are no longer in the forefront of our minds and hearts. They're still there, but we don't see or feel them every day, and it can be very easy to ignore them. But even though we aren't dealing with these issues on a day-to-day basis, they're still there underneath the surface.


I know that there were many issues in my life that I spent years ignoring no matter how long God tried to speak to me about changing them. He would speak to me about something that I needed to correct, and I would think "Oh, I'm not that bad. That's hardly an problem for me anymore." It's not that I didn't want to deal with them, but they were no longer on the surface of my life, and so I was able to pretend they weren't there. But God doesn't want us to be half-healed or kind-of-restored. He wants to finish the work he began in us! And sometimes the only way he can get us to deal with the mud and sludge in the background of our lives is to bring it back to the surface!


It all came to a head for me one day when I found myself acting like a nasty jerk because someone else was getting on my nerves. I sat back and thought: "I'm not normally like this! Why is it that when someone's bothering me I act like a completely different person?" What God showed me was that the other person's actions weren't causing me to do anything that wasn't already in me to do. They were merely stirring the pot a little bit, and as a result, all of these behaviors that I thought I'd dealt with were coming back to the surface. What he told me was that I needed to allow him to remove them from my life once and for all. I asked "How will I know when it's done?" and he told me I would know I was free of all of those old issues when no amount of aggravation could bring them out of me any more.


The process wasn't easy. It took time, it was uncomfortable, and it seemed like every day I was faced with another situation that churned up the waters. But I recognized the hand of God in what was happening, and when I came out the other side, I was a different person. God had stirred up the waters in my life, and as a result I was made well. http://alonganarrowway.blogspot.com/2010/08/churning-part-1.html


I think this post is a great example of what happens when a believer meditates on the Word. God will often say things to them that are profound. Things that you or I might not have remotely considered. They are unique to the individual believer, but clearly true for all of us to learn and grow from. Why don't we all meditate on God's Word, every day? He has commanded us and given us promises, if we do or don't. Meditate on the Word, my friends. God may well have plans for you, or I ... to be the next Joshua. One thing we can be sure of ... there is a lot of churning that needs to be done.

Joshua 1:8-9 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

God Bless you my friends, Bob

A Certain Victory

1 Peter 1:3-9 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

My research defines the “abundant or great mercy” in this verse as: special and immediate regard to the misery which is the consequence of sins which is God’s free grace and gift as displayed in the forgiveness of sins as extended to men in their guilt. Isn’t that amazing, God has special and instant regard for your misery when you sin. All you must do is turn your eyes upon Christ and his Word. He will give you relief from the misery you have created.

Now let’s look at this phrase “inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.” Some would have us believe that when we sin as born again believers, we can lose our salvation. I contend that this verse and many others refutes this unbiblical teaching. The inheritance here as described in my Greek dictionary is defined: “kieronomia: Devine salvation, considered both as promised and as already bestowed is designated an inheritance in the N.T. so far as man the heir obtains possession of it” … incorruptible,: the inheritance of the believer is called Apthartos, incorruptible not like the body that is going to be done away with, It is something that the believer receives in this life and will continue to have after this life is over. It is not subject to the same kind of deterioration as the present body in which the believer suffers. Amiantos: undefiled … That which has nothing to do in it that defiles; unpolluted; not capable of fading.

Well, that pretty much says it all … we are heirs to eternal life. Our inheritance is already bestowed, we already possess eternal life. Future sins cannot cause us to lose our inheritance. Our eternal life in heaven is undefiled and incorruptible. Nothing we can do, or not do, will change God’s promised inheritance for us. Unlike mere men, such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, our heavenly father cannot change his mind, or lose our inheritance through foolishness, or through the cycles and problems of the world that normal men are subject to. Our Heavenly Father has secured our inheritance eternally on the cross at Calvary … once for all sin, and for ALL eternity. Does that mean there are no consequences for sin? I did not say that … God has also promised rewards in Heaven, which can be lost as a result of sin. Also, as we all know … here and now sin brings negative consequences. But even more worse than that God has promised that to defile His temple will bring His wrath. And worst of all, sin results in separation from God and a loss of the fellowship and guidance from the Holy Spirit. But the good news is that no matter what, we can never, ever, (no way ... no how) lose our inheritance: ETERNAL LIFE WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN! Praise be to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Why would anyone ever reject such an amazing offer of Jesus Christ's free gift of eternal life in heaven? Pride and ignorance. They have been blinded by the god of this world, and his teachings. These are the only answers that I can come up with.

Do you still struggle with areas of sin in your life? I know some might say no … but most likely they will lie about other things as well. Now is as good of a time as any to take a good look at yourself from God’s perspective. Why not start here: Jesus is talking directly to you.

Have you ever thought about what God sees when he looks at you?

He does not see what you or I most likely see. He no longer sees the old you who died along with Christ on the cross of Calvary. Our heavenly father sees each of us as completely new in Christ. And he wants us to see ourselves in that exact same light ... the light of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. The old life is not changed but rather exchanged for that which is altogether new. When God looks at our old man now he sees a man whose sins past, present and future ... have been washed away by the blood of Jesus, shed for each of us, on the cross at Calvary.

He wants us to keep our eyes focused on the redeemer … not on our weaknesses and failings. As long as we look upon the righteousness of Christ, we can have victory over the evil one who wants to bring us down. The forces of evil have no power over us when we stand firm with our vision focused on Christ and His Holy Word. We must surrender our hearts and minds to the leading of the Holy Spirit as he leads us to a path of righteousness.

Would you like to have victory over Satan and his demons every time he tempts or attacks you? We can always win over the prince of the world. We are promised “A Certain Victory" each and every time we come up against the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Jesus did in the wilderness, we must reject the evil tempter. Again, boldly, confidently, and with courage, we must use the "Sword of the Spirit" the Word of Truth, call out your enemies as Jesus did 2000 years ago. He faced Satan in the wilderness as an example for all of us to follow. The battle plan; sequence of events; and victory is clear:

stand and confront;
refute the lies;
use the Sword of the Spirit;
Satan will retreat;
and angels will come to minister to you.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD. Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE. Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST. Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”. Mathew 4:1-11

We face exactly the same temptations today as Jesus did. The lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the sinful pride of life. all of the attacks we will face can be categorized in under these three areas. And we are to use exactly the same defense against our enemies as Jesus did. When you are tempted by lust or pride, follow the Holy Spirit. Get ready … memorize the word; meditate on it. And when the evil one comes to tempt or attack you, call him out … repeat or read God’s truth to the tempter and Satan and his demons will flee from you every time ...

... and angels will come to minister to you.
God Bless you my friends, Bob

9/11 Mosque? ... NO!

Opposing Mosque Does Not Violate Freedom of Religion!
The Islamic fanatics that we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are for sure in favor of this Mosque being built. And make no mistake Imam Rauk is not a moderate trying to build bridges. Listen to his own words: click here. The 80 million radical Muslims who are spread throughout the Muslim world will surely see this mosque as a world headquarters for their cause. We must all come to the conclusion ... there is a worldwide jihad to conquer the world for Islam. Now are American Muslims, with only .6% of our population followers of this Jihad? For the most part, obviously not. But you can estimate there are 50,000 followers already in America who would join the radicals against America if given the chance. The political goals, plans and Koranic instructions of worldwide Islam clearly make it different that all other religions, and as a result it should be treated differently. The jihad is an act of war and our enemies are using mosques as points of attack; and for planning and training of jihadists worldwide. Until we are able to come to grips with this reality, America and the world will never be safe from the dangers posed by Islam. If Christians were using churches as safe havens from which to plan and launch attacks on our citizens, I would be the first to say ... these fanatics must be stopped. I know this sounds crazy, because it is not happening here yet ... but view the clips on this post, and then tell me what you think. Watch the clips here:Two Islams

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 Liberty Juice ... begin
The mosque at ground zero… It’s become one of those hot topics that most people feel very strongly about, no matter what side your opinion falls on. I’ve read article after article, listened to different pundits and taken into consideration all of the comments that I’ve read on the issue. However, there are a few arguments in favor of the mosque that keep circulating that baffle me because they are completely irrelevant, no matter how hard the liberals try to convince you of the opposite, to the real debate.

I’ve heard repeatedly that we should be supportive of this endeavor because America has the right to Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Religion. Without delving too deeply into the hypocrisy of the left, who seeks to eliminate speech when they can’t debate it and win (see the Fairness Doctrine and Net Neutrality) and who abhor and seek to diminish the intelligence of those who treasure their faith in this country (see the liberals applaud to Obama as he mocks those who “cling to their guns and religion”).

Liberals, on both of these issues, historically wave a very wobbly and unconvincing flag. They hold their nose when around people of faith, mock them behind their backs, and would eliminate both rights for all Americans as quickly as possible, given the slightest opportunity. So, I do find it quite hilarious and ironic that all of a sudden; the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion rights now have as some of it’s greatest champions and defenders, those very same people who constantly seek to destroy it outside of this incident.

For those of you who have been swayed by this argument, it’s because you have eaten up the sound bites without much thought or consideration to the debate. Let me be clear, nobody is attempting to do away with anyone’s right to speech or religion. Those amendments and clauses specifically mean that the government will not throw you in prison or retaliate if you practice your religion and/or engage in free speech, as long as you aren’t infringing on the rights or harming anyone else. Given that and the fact that nobody has threatened these people with prison or government retaliation, those arguments are completely irrelevant to the discussion. Freedom of speech is a two-way street and it doesn’t mean that your speech won‘t result in other other forms of consequences. For example, I have the right to insult whomever I wish, most likely without fearing prison time. Yet, I know the consequence of that may be that someone will choose to defend themselves and scream right back at me.

People in favor of the mosque essentially looming over our 9/11 cemetery are free to speak as loudly in favor of it as they wish. However, those of us who find it insulting, degrading, and heartbreaking have just as much of a right to protest in an equally passionate manner.

Nobody is saying these people cannot build a mosque!! The thousands of mosques that are throughout our country are testimony to the fact that we liberally apply and value our freedom of religion.

However, those who are in charge of this endeavor say they do so in order to “build ties.” Yet, when you know that at least 70% of Americans are not in favor of this and you realize that chaos, heartbreak and wounds that are being reopened as a result of this pursuit, why would you think that it would be at all successful in healing?

Certainly, not every Muslim is an extremist. We know this. Many of them have adopted the American culture and love this country. But the extremists within the Islamic community does run large and deep and they absolutely detest America. In fact, it consists of at least 7% of Muslims, which means there are about 80 million Muslim extremist worldwide. That being said, it’s an asinine point to try and compare this to a Timothy McVeigh incident or to a church being built near the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh was no Christian. In fact, it’s pretty well known that he was an atheist. But, for the sake of example, let’s pretend that he did this under the guise of Christianity and in the name of God. Christianity would be under fire, but most of the world and anyone with a shred of common sense would know that it was an anomaly…an exception to the rule. Because, Christians don’t go around blowing things up. But, extremist Muslims, and there are many of them, do.

The entire world has had to change the way it goes about traveling, airports are barely recognizable as they were pre-9/11, and countries all over the world are on constant vigilance against none other than radical Muslims. This is not so because of Christianity or other religions. Only because of Islam. So, let’s call a spade a spade and quit comparing this to an isolated incident with some mental wacko.

We must also take into consideration that historically Muslims build mosques in areas that they have conquered. The Koran (018:021) states: ’Build a building over them, their Lord knows best about them;’ and those who prevailed in their affair said, ’We will surely make a mosque over them.’ What message would this send echoing across the world and what kind of radicalism with this further inspire for the 80 Million extremists worldwide? It should be no surprise that there are a ton of religious and extremists implications to this entire business.

The bottom line is this… anybody attempting to unite, heal and build ties, as they claim is their intent, would not continue down what is clearly a provocative and painful road for not just New Yorkers, but Americans. They would not have resisted meetings with Governor Paterson, concerning a more logical, less painful place for their message- mere blocks away.

Charles Krauthammer said it best in his own take:

Just as the people of Japan today would not think of planting their flag at Pearl Harbor, despite the fact that no Japanese under the age of 85 has any possible responsibility for that infamy, representatives of contemporary Islam — the overwhelming majority of whose adherents are equally innocent of the infamy committed on 9/11 in their name — should exercise comparable respect for what even Obama calls hallowed ground and take up the governor’s offer.
Posted: 24 Aug 2010 Liberty Juice ... end

Now think about this additional reality. The 80 million radical Muslims worldwide are on a quest or Jihad to conquer the world. They have already positioned themselves to control all of Europe within the next 30 years. When that happens, those European Muslims who are now moderate, will join with the radicals. How do I know this? Because if they don't ... they will be stoned to death. Also, the truth is that the radicals are following the teachings of the Koran which teaches that in any conquered nation ... sharia and the Koran will be the ruling law. Bibles, and Christian churches, and other religions will either be forbidden, or at best be allowed to exist as inferior citizens.

Do we want that reality from any religion in America? Even if it were Christianity? Based upon what I have been reading and listening to from the Christian leaders in America ... no thank you. I will keep my freedom of speech and my freedom of religion, just as they are. True Biblical Christianity has been distorted so much, that I won't be surprised to hear someone call themselves an atheist Christian in the near future. Why not, there are millions of atheists in America that call themselves Christians already while at the same time denying the Bible and denying that Jesus is anything more than a good teacher. Any religion, Christianity or otherwise that becomes the state religion will surely be perverted in the same ways our constitution has been twisted.

God Bless you my friends, Bob

The Burning House

1 Corinthians 3:1-15 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual men, but as carnal, even as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine explained to me that he had noted on an application for a Christian school in Orange County for his children that he believed in “Free Grace” rather than “Lordship Salvation”. He then went on to explain that he was then advised by the principal of that school that his family would not be admitted to the school as a result of his "free grace" belief.

This saddens me because very Godly Christians stand firm on both sides of this issue. But one thing is certain; the school’s leadership was clearly showing where a legalistic viewpoint can easily end up. I am convinced this issue will not even exist in heaven. Jesus is and will be worshiped as Lord of all; and all who are there, will be there ONLY as a result of His sacrifice for us and His "Free Gift" of grace. I have previously stated my belief on this issue. The scripture above is one of many that strongly reinforces my "free grace" beliefs.

Lets begin here with the specific Greek words: Natural man 2:14 Psuchikos: this pertains to the natural, as distinguished from spiritual or glorified nature of man, driven by animal or fallen, sinful instincts of man. Carnal man 3:1 Sarkikos: has an affinity to natural sinful propensities. Affinity means: a natural liking or attraction; inherent likeness or close resemblance. Paul was clearly describing two different people. One (natural man) who could not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness to him … and another (carnal man) who did receive the things of God but who to a large degree appeared on the outside to live like the natural man. So the question is: Are they both lost spiritually and going to hell or, are carnal men saved and going to spend their lives with Christ in heaven? Lordship would teach that these carnal men are lacking of repentance, and therefore most likely never truly accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Beyond God and the individual person, how could someone else know that? Others have told me that these carnal Christians have a false hope, and have lost their salvation due to their sins. Without repentance they will be rejected by God, along with the goats singled out by God in yesterdays post. What do you think?

Now, let’s look at the teaching that follows and see what Paul has to say. First Paul talks about his teaching to them. He fed them milk, not meat. He did not expect them to be mature in Christ at the time of their conversion. A carnal person is a spiritually immature Christian, a babe in Christ, but please note: Paul did refer to them as brothers in Christ. By placing their faith in Christ, they had been justified (past tense) … in contrast to the natural man, this is the key difference in their spiritual position. Although carnal and behaving like mere men, the babes were saved, as a result of Christ’s work on the cross.

Paul then points to the evidence of their carnality … envy, strife and division over the teachings of men, rather than a focus on Christ and his Word. Next Paul explains that men are only ministers who God has spoken to them through, and that it is God who gives the increase, and that he and Appollos are not important. Think about it. How many Christians in our society today are focused on a minister rather than God and His Holy Truth? How many have allowed a teacher to come between them and Jesus Christ? How many millions have spent their entire Christian life never going beyond this carnal state of spirituality ... many as pastors or church leaders?

How about you? If your pastor’s teaching was demonstrated to be unbiblical, would you stand with him or with the truth? What would you do? I have been researching the teachings of a number of national Christian leaders and what I am finding is not Biblically correct. You need to be a Berean. Is this you God is talking to? Are you trying to be tolerant and politically correct, and as a result, have you and your church become Laodiceans?

Next, the apostle explains that there will be rewards according to our labor, in Heaven. We are God’s building. The context here is “according to the grace of God” (Ephesians 2:8-10) Paul laid a foundation which is Jesus Christ. Once again, this is the key difference between the natural man and the carnal man. The natural man viewed this foundation as foolishness and instead … his building is built on sand. Now Paul speaks to each believer: “But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” What would Oprah say to that?

Or what about this false teaching of two world renowned Christians, who agreed about this heretical teaching, on national TV?: “what do you think is the future of Christianity?" “Everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not … they are members of the body of Christ. That is what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world or the Buddhist world or the Christian world or the non believing world … they are members of the body of Christ, because they have been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think that they are saved and that they are going to be with us in heaven.” "Oh, I’m so thrilled to hear you say that … there’s a wideness in God’s mercy.” This is heresy. I greatly respect these men but their views here are contrary to the Bible. I have many more examples, but this should suffice for now. Our church is being led astray! We must be Bereans!

The day speaks of the time when Christ will judge the merits of His servant’s works … not whether they receive forgiveness of sin. The fire here does not refer to the eternal fire of damnation. Revelation 20:10. The warning is that we will each be erecting our house with different materials. Some pure works will stand the test of fire, and are compared to gold, silver, and precious stones. These Christians will receive rewards, according to their own labor. Other Christian’s efforts will be burned up, and they will suffer loss ... but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. We will be cleansed of our unworthiness by fire on this day. Does that mean I am teaching that Jesus is not my Lord? Never! NO! Never! It means that the Bible teaches that once I have accepted Christ's free gift of forgiveness and eternal life, I enter His protection eternally ... even if all my works are burned up … I will be saved like a man running from a "Burning House" in spite of myself. Not because of what I did; or did not do. I cannot earn my way to heaven. I can only have victory over my old self, as I abide in Christ and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life. I can only be saved eternally because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, and when I trust in Him ... by His grace, I am justified, and redeemed, and eternally positioned with Jesus spiritually in Heaven ... NOW and forever, past tense ... my forgiveness and salvation is finished. When I fall and I am sure I will, Christ will always be there to save me, forever, ALWAYS … for eternity.

Years ago, I was teaching this chapter in a bible study in my home. An atheist lady named Barbara was there and as I finished, she said; “that doesn’t make any sense. If that is true, then I can just pray to receive Christ and then do whatever I want” "Not a good Idea, Barbara, I said, ... read the next verse."

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 1 Cor. 3:16-17.

Barbara read it out loud and then said; “I don’t get it.” I then asked; “which YOU will God destroy, Barbara?” She said; “huh?” I then explained; “God has already promised eternal life to the man running from the burning house, If the spiritual you is secure for eternity ... then, God must be talking about the physical you that will be destroyed."
“Oh” she said; “I don’t want to go there.”

God Bless you my friends, Bob

The Old Cowboy

One Sunday Morning, an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin. Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn-out old hat and an equally worn, dog-eared Bible.

The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed with expensive clothes and fine jewelry. As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They were all appalled by his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.

As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor. "Before you come back in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate attire for worship in church." The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.

The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The preacher approached the cowboy and said, "I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church."

"I did," replied the old cowboy.

"And what was his reply?" asked the preacher.

"Well, sir, God told me that he didn't have a clue what I should wear. He said he'd never been in this church."

The Judgment of The Sheep and the Goats

Matthew 25:31-46 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Blessed are the Sheep ...
God Bless you my friends, Bob

Unlawful Change?

ANN COULTER
JUSTICE BRENNAN'S FOOTNOTE GAVE US ANCHOR BABIES
August 4, 2010

Democrats act as if the right to run across the border when you're 8 1/2 months pregnant, give birth in a U.S. hospital and then immediately start collecting welfare was exactly what our forebears had in mind, a sacred constitutional right, as old as the 14th Amendment itself.

The louder liberals talk about some ancient constitutional right, the surer you should be that it was invented in the last few decades.

In fact, this alleged right derives only from a footnote slyly slipped into a Supreme Court opinion by Justice Brennan in 1982. You might say it snuck in when no one was looking, and now we have to let it stay.

The 14th Amendment was added after the Civil War in order to overrule the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, which had held that black slaves were not citizens of the United States. The precise purpose of the amendment was to stop sleazy Southern states from denying citizenship rights to newly freed slaves -- many of whom had roots in this country longer than a lot of white people.

The amendment guaranteed that freed slaves would have all the privileges of citizenship by providing: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The drafters of the 14th amendment had no intention of conferring citizenship on the children of aliens who happened to be born in the U.S. (For my younger readers, back in those days, people cleaned their own houses and raised their own kids.)

Inasmuch as America was not the massive welfare state operating as a magnet for malingerers, frauds and cheats that it is today, it's amazing the drafters even considered the amendment's effect on the children of aliens.

But they did.

The very author of the citizenship clause, Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, expressly said: "This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers."

In the 1884 case Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment did not even confer citizenship on Indians -- because they were subject to tribal jurisdiction, not U.S. jurisdiction.

For a hundred years, that was how it stood, with only one case adding the caveat that children born to legal permanent residents of the U.S., gainfully employed, and who were not employed by a foreign government would also be deemed citizens under the 14th Amendment. (United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898.)

And then, out of the blue in 1982, Justice Brennan slipped a footnote into his 5-4 opinion in Plyler v. Doe, asserting that "no plausible distinction with respect to Fourteenth Amendment 'jurisdiction' can be drawn between resident aliens whose entry into the United States was lawful, and resident aliens whose entry was unlawful." (Other than the part about one being lawful and the other not.)

Brennan's authority for this lunatic statement was that it appeared in a 1912 book written by Clement L. Bouve. (Yes, the Clement L. Bouve -- the one you've heard so much about over the years.) Bouve was not a senator, not an elected official, certainly not a judge -- just some guy who wrote a book.

So on one hand we have the history, the objective, the author's intent and 100 years of history of the 14th Amendment, which says that the 14th Amendment does not confer citizenship on children born to illegal immigrants.

On the other hand, we have a random outburst by some guy named Clement -- who, I'm guessing, was too cheap to hire an American housekeeper.

Any half-wit, including Clement L. Bouve, could conjure up a raft of such "plausible distinction(s)" before breakfast. Among them: Legal immigrants have been checked for subversive ties, contagious diseases, and have some qualification to be here other than "lives within walking distance."

But most important, Americans have a right to decide, as the people of other countries do, who becomes a citizen.

Combine Justice Brennan's footnote with America's ludicrously generous welfare policies, and you end up with a bankrupt country.

Consider the story of one family of illegal immigrants described in the Spring 2005 Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons:

"Cristobal Silverio came illegally from Oxtotilan, Mexico, in 1997 and brought his wife Felipa, plus three children aged 19, 12 and 8. Felipa ... gave birth to a new daughter, her anchor baby, named Flor. Flor was premature, spent three months in the neonatal incubator, and cost San Joaquin Hospital more than $300,000. Meanwhile, (Felipa's 19-year-old daughter) Lourdes plus her illegal alien husband produced their own anchor baby, Esmeralda. Grandma Felipa created a second anchor baby, Cristian. ... The two Silverio anchor babies generate $1,000 per month in public welfare funding. Flor gets $600 per month for asthma. Healthy Cristian gets $400. Cristobal and Felipa last year earned $18,000 picking fruit. Flor and Cristian were paid $12,000 for being anchor babies."

In the Silverios' munificent new hometown of Stockton, Calif., 70 percent of the 2,300 babies born in 2003 in the San Joaquin General Hospital were anchor babies. As of this month, Stockton is $23 million in the hole.

It's bad enough to be governed by 5-4 decisions written by liberal judicial activists. In the case of "anchor babies," America is being governed by Brennan's 1982 footnote. By Ann Coulter

It doesn't matter what the issue is, or what their beliefs are politically, no judge or politician should ever have the ability to alter the law by inserting their views into the law. I would love for someone to demonstrate that this story is untrue, but whether you agree with her or not, Ann Coulter knows the law and legal issues as well as most. Obviously, there is only one exception that I would be in favor changing the law, in any event ... murdering innocent babies.

God bless you my friends, Bob

The Unholy Trinity

The Internet’s “Unholy Trinity”
Posted: 04 Aug 2010 02:00 AM PDT Liberty Juice





As the Obama Administration continues the push to regulate your Internet service through Net neutrality, an “Unholy Trinity” of backroom players keeps emerging. Anyone concerned about our future freedom from federal control over the Internet should be concerned about what these people are doing.

First, there is the overtly socialist group, Free Press, funded (surprise!) in part by George Soros’ foundation. Established in 2002, Free Press has been led for most of the past decade by the leftist professor Robert McChesney. Two years ago, McChesney revealed his colors by saying, “Any serious effort to reform the media system would have to necessarily be part of a revolutionary program to overthrow the capitalist system itself.”

Given this, no one should be surprised that: The Federal Communications Commission hired Free Press’ spokeswoman to be its mouthpiece to promote federal “neutrality” regulation. The FCC has repeatedly given Free Press a federally sponsored platform to promote its socialist agenda. Hillary Clinton’s State Department brought on a top Free Press official to help push her views globally. Free Press employees have been in multiple closed-door meetings with White House and federal officials, discussing Internet “neutrality” policy?

Second, there is Google, whose motivation for federal control is clear. When you control more than 70 percent of America’s Internet searches and more than 40 percent of its video streams, you don’t want a pesky thing like competition interfering with your billions in profits. What better way to cement your dominance than by helping write the rules that will ensure it? Google employees and executives gave a whooping $803,000 to the Obama campaign. CEO Eric Schmidt actively stumped for candidate Obama and then (along with other Google executives) paid $25,000 each to fund the Obama inaugural.

The third part of the “Unholy Trinity” is former Google top lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin, who is helping write Administration policy on the Internet. (As Jay Leno might put it, “Well, what are the odds of THAT?!”) McLaughlin was reprimanded this year for improper contacts with Google officials. More troubling for the White House, Ken Boehm at the National Legal Policy Center just released White House emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act which show that even after this reprimand, McLaughlin was circumventing clear federal “transparency” rules to communicate with both Free Press and his former employer about Internet neutrality regulation.

The Internet has triumphed for 20 years because government at all levels has wisely held off regulating it. Even the Clinton Administration agreed with that policy in a famous 1997 report. It’s high time for light to shine on the Free Press/Google/McLaughlin charade on Internet policy. The Internet is too valuable to allow a monopoly company and a Marxist nonprofit drive federal policy.

God Bless you my friends, Bob