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Saturday, February 28, 2009

2e

One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

Exodus 12:49

Immigration

This is one issue on which I differ greatly with my fellow Christian Conservatives.

For me, it is not a political matter. It is a matter of adherence to the Will and Character of God.

The current immigration laws of the USA are discriminatory in practice and not of a biblical worldview. Any true believer, once aware of the facts, would ever be able to stand against illegal immigration, but would fight to change the laws of this nation with regards to this issue.

Stay tuned.

Going Up or Down? You Should Know Already.

Here is a video from a debate that took place during now-President Obama's Senate campaign. Watch particularly from :22 - :31.



Look, if you REALLY ARE A Christian; a believer in Jesus Christ and the atonement He provided for us on the cross, then you KNOW whether you are going up or down. You don't have to ask HIM about it. There are so many 'believers' who are NOT sure. They should stop calling themselves Christians. The church is responsible for this by the way. It has, for too long, preached a watered-down gospel. ( I will provide, in a future post some examples of this. Right now I am experiencing some technical difficulties with regards to videos.)



The President is not the only one like this, but he is the President, hence the high-profile standards. Don't tell me that we are on the same side because you believe like I do. You do NOT believe like I do if you do not know for a certainty whether you are going up or down. In all fairness, this video was a while ago, and it's possible that by sitting under the preaching of Jeremiah Wright, he learned of his true fate, but I doubt that. Heh.

Just my occasional political twist on matters of faith.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Living Life in the Overflow

Our church has a new website. Pay us a visit...

A Good Laugh

There's not too much at the Onion anymore that's all that good. They have gotten little too vulgar for my taste. But this one is alright:

Friday, February 20, 2009

My Award

I want you to know that I have not forgotten about my award and my obligation. I am looking over some blogs and making decisions. Soon to follow.

2e

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

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Focus Part Two - Yes, You Can.

In the first part of this lesson, we talked about how when there is a work to be done, distractions will come. We talked about how one of those distractions is sin; represented in the story of Nehemiah by Sanballat.

Let's move on now to the next distraction that will come: Tobiah. It is found in the same passage; Nehemiah 4:1-3

From the Web Bible Encyclopedia:
Tobiah - pleasing to Jehovah, the “servant”

Tobiah is the believer; your co-laborer in Christ. Tobiah is the one that is supposed to be on your side. Tobiah is the one who says "Praise the Lord!" to your face, and talks about you behind your back. Tobiah is your fellow laborer sneaking around to get in the other door before you and then smiling at you once you're in the room together.

This is not to say that fellow believers should never be trusted. On the contrary, we are supposed to be of the same mind. (1Cor 2:16). But Tobiah-minded believers say that even though you are doing the work, it will fail. They wish you failure. I do not understand this at all. Why, if indeed they claim to have the same interests at heart, the same goals to achieve, would they wish failure upon you? I accept the fact that perhaps they may not agree with the method, or the plan, but to wish failure upon your co-laborer is plain wrong.

"Well, preacher", you say. "Tobiah wasn't a co-laborer." Yup. You're right. However, Mr. Pleasing-to-Jehovah was an Ammonite.

Ammonites were descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot. Along with the Moabites, this tribe hired Balaam to curse Israel. They were, through Lot, closely related to the Israelites through blood and language.

You see, it is their close relation that makes them a 'co-laborer'. Even though they were not working along side the Israelites in this task, they were originally from the same family, and that is how we draw the connection.

Let's move on.

So after Nehemiah prays, we see this verse:

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Nehemiah 4:6

Why is it that the wall was able to be built, halfway completed, even though there were these distractions and oppositions? Because the people had amind to work

You can get a lot done if you have a mind to work. You can get even more done if those that are with you have a mind to work. You can get people to do extraordinary things as long as you and they have a mind to work. You can beat the oppostion if you have a mind to work.

You can reach the unreachable.

You can do the impossible.

You can beat the enemy.

You can overcome every obstacle...

if you have the mind to work.

When the people have a mind to work, they can.





Brief Briefs

"Brief Briefs" is my new recurring entry for our two cents on current and newsworthy events. I hope you enjoy.

13-Year Old Father

Clearly this kid lacked some sort of sex education. How is it that the first thing he decides to do with
it, once he can do something with it, is exactly what he shouldn't be doing with it. Didn't his parents see this girl he was hanging with, and that she was clearly much more physically mature than him?

He was 12 at conception!

Great Britain started down this path a long time ago. What path? They started down the path of a godless nation. They formed their own god to suit their needs; in government and society. Now they are paying the price. If this continues, he could be a grandfather at 25! America should take heed now. This is what happens when you remove God. And yes, her parents are just as much to blame as are his.


But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Jeremiah 7:23-24, 28


Evolving Christians

Either you are a Christian or you believe in evolution. You can NOT have both. The Word of God states clearly that God created all things:

Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.
Revelation 4:11 AMP

For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
Romans 1:20-21 AMP

When you suggest that God did or didn't do something when His Word clearly states the opposite, you have broken the second commandment and created a god to suit yourself. This is what Adam & Eve did in the garden when tempted.

These preachers are preaching lies. We pray for their flock, that they not be led astray.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Transparency

trans⋅par⋅ent

–adjective

Having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen.

In other words, if something is truly transparent, it can not be seen at all.


Saturday, February 14, 2009

On Tough Love: The Octuplet Mama

The following is from Mama. I had to censor a couple of words but she still said it better than I could have....


Boo hoo. Nadya Suleman was an only child and didn’t like it. So she did what any self-indulgent only child would do. She went on to fill the “need” she had by having scads of her own kids, no matter how this affected anyone else.

Am I saying that “only children” are destined to be selfish or over-indulged? Of course not. It’s all in how you raise them. But something clearly went wrong somewhere in Ms. Suleman’s life.

The woman is well-spoken, but is clearly delusional. She believes she can actually raise all of these children on her own, without government assistance. First of all, even without the octuplets, she had six very young children and no real job. Even if she had a job, she would have to make an astronomical amount of money to have to pay any Federal Income taxes. In fact, if she holds any kind of job at all, with all of her dependents, she will receive money from the IRS every year as Earned Income Credit. So taxpayers that are actually paying into the system will be providing for her fourteen children’s education, subsidized health care, food stamps, and daycare. We are probably already paying for Ms. Suleman’s education. How else can an unemployed woman with a houseful of kids afford to go to college?

The idiot doctor who ignored this woman’s apparent mental instability and implanted her with six more embryos (knowing full well she already had six tots and no husband to help) was clearly irresponsible. But her parents–what the h*** were they thinking?

In this age of entitlement, there are too many parents out there that believe being a good parent means indulging every whim of their offspring. Perhaps Nadya’s parents felt bad that they didn’t provide a sibling for their little girl to play with. She had to get this sense of entitlement from somewhere. Nadya is certainly getting back at her parents for any sins they committed.

Not only is Ms. Suleman depending on the village to help raise her clan, but these parents of hers have given up their home, their money, their retirement years and their lives to Ms. Suleman’s population explosion. They’ve allowed their daughter and her children to take up every inch of their small home and have actually had to file for bankruptcy. We watched a Dateline report showing grandma and grandpa running themselves ragged feeding and dressing and driving the little ones to school. Any parent would help out their child and their beautiful grandhildren, right?

Maybe. After the first one, or two, or even three. Maybe. If unavoidable circumstances led to rough times. But when a grown woman keeps forking over thousands of dollars to have babies she can’t afford to feed or provide housing for, mom and dad need to make her STOP. By putting her out while there is still a chance she can provide for her kids. By not allowing her to become so dependent upon them (and the public) so that now there is no way in h*** she can ever provide for the physical or emotional needs of all these kids. About 10 kids ago, it would have been rough for poor Nadya to make it on her own. But at least it would have been possible.

I feel sorry for Nadya’s parents. They look so tired. And now they’re stuck with raising a houseful of children pretty much until they die. The only other option would be to walk away from their beautiful grandchildren and allow them to be scattered amongst other relatives or the pathetic foster care system. Despite her protests, there is no way Ms. Nadya can care for these kids without them.

I love having my adult kids live here with us. But Oldest Son has started paying us rent. We are not obligated to provide for him until we die. And if he does something really stupid that he knows we don’t approve of, he knows he’ll be out paying a lot more rent to some stranger. Which is why today he took out two bags worth of trash from his bedroom. And why I don’t think I’ll be spending my golden years raising babies.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Life Lesson # 42

Never sign anything that you have not read.

Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.
Proverbs 17:7

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Parenting Guideline # 452

Lawmaker Presses for Free Speech in Foul-mouthed Student's Blog Case.

OK.

1. This girl called her teacher a naughty word.
2. She did it on her blog, which she wrote on her own computer in her home.
3. The school found out and meted out punishment.
4. A senator proposes a bill prohibiting students from bad-mouthing teachers.

The mother says:

"...she wished her daughter "had used more sophisticated language," but said it was up to her, not the school board, to mete out the punishment. "It's for me to discipline her at home, not for the school."
My two cents:

1. The school has no jurisdiction in the home.
2. The mother's right, and shame on her if she doesn't do something about it.
3. The senator's bill should never go through.

Give me a break! You mean that every time a student curses out a teacher....? If this happened on school grounds, it would be one thing; on a school computer, alright. But really, at home? that's the parents' job. And there's certainly no bill needed! What a waste of time. Just type it up in the student handbook. That's what they always did when I was in school.

If a child even gets to this point, it's to the parents' shame.

I was playing with matches on the side of my house one day. My neighbor didn't call th epolice when he saw me. He didn't come out and give me some kind of speech. He walked over and knocked on our front door and told my parents what I was up to. I got a whoopin' and never played with matches again. Pretty simple really.

Alright here it is, and I know some of you are gonna protest. It's the Word of God.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 KJV

He who spares his rod [of discipline] hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines diligently and punishes him early.
Proverbs 13:24 AMP

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Proverbs 22:15 KJV

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

What's the Big Deal?

Lawsuit: Florida Clinic Botched Abortion, Threw Out Live Baby

"Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique (the 'doctor'). Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby....one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can."


OK. So what's the problem?

Abortion is legal in this country. I do not agree with that, but it is.

The woman,
Sycloria Williams, went to have an abortion, at 23 weeks. I do not agree with that.

Her plans were to terminate the life growing inside of her. Instead, the life was terminated outside of her. Why is she suing?

Why is there such outrage?

The best quote from this story is this one:

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."


Huh? Wasn't 'it' a human being before 'it' came out of her?

Was it alright to kill a human being if you can't see them?

Are you kidding me?

I think this is one of the most tragic things I have heard of in a long time. But I am sure it has happened before. I just do not understand why...
"Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations."
Maybe because this will put a spotlight on their American holocaust and show it for what it really is: Murder of innocent people.

Reality Check: All aborted babies end up in plastic bags. Plastic bags do not decompose.

AHAZ WAS twenty years old when he began his sixteen-year reign in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father [forefather]. But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made molten images for the Baals. And he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom] and burned his sons as an offering, after the abominable customs of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.
2 Chronicles 28:1-3 (emphasis mine)


You can read up on Hinnom at Easton's Bible Dictionary:

God wasn't happy with it then. He is not happy with it now.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Jubilee

Jubilee is the name of the great semi-centennial festival of the Hebrews. It lasted for a year. During this year the land was to be fallow, and the Israelites were only permitted to gather the spontaneous produce of the fields (Lev. 25:11-12). All landed property during that year reverted to its original owner (Lev. 25:13-34; Lev. 27:16-24), and all who were slaves were set free (Lev. 25:39-54), and all debts were remitted.

Sounds like God already knew man wasn't going to be a good steward of his finances.

"Focus" - Part One

"SIN"

The story of Nehemiah is chock full of lessons for the believer. One of those many lessons is how to overcome the challenge of distraction.


In the book of Nehemiah, he has gone, with the blessing of the Persian king, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

It is good if you read the whole story so you can get an idea of the whole scope of things. Some of it is a lot of names. If those names are a challenge for you, I think God will let you slide by if you call Jedaiah, 'Jed' and Harumaph, 'Harry'. Really, don't you think God would like you to get the message He has for you before you get discouraged because you can't read all the names. When you decide to do a full study on it, then you can go back and look up all the names. Until then...

Chapter 3 talks about where everyone was working on the wall. Let's look at 3:28

From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.
Nehemiah 3:28
Each person was working on the part of the wall that was near their house. This is how we should be in this world as well as in the church. There are a lot of walls that need to be rebuilt. There are walls of this nation that need repair.

There are all different sections of the wall. Those who 'live' on that part of the wall are responsible for its repair.

Your calling is your 'home'. If your calling is blogging on certain topics, then perhaps that is your part of the wall. If your 'home' is politics, start rebuilding. If your 'home' is ministry, start repairing the breaches.

If you are going to undertake this task with the rest of us, you must be aware of one thing: you can not do it without calling on God first. I will address that in a future post.

Repairing the wall requires going back to the original plan. Only someone who knows the original layout of that part of the wall is qualified to rebuild that part of the wall. It is the responsibility of people that live on that part of the wall to fix it. Wherever you call 'home', it is your responsibility to fix that part of the wall. You may be a preacher, a missionary, someone who shares their faith on the job or a pray-er. Your home is on that part of the wall. Your security in the city depends on that part of the wall. Walls enable you to see the enemy from afar. It's your responsibility to repair that part of the wall.

Part of the reason that I had such trouble blogging in the past is that during the election season, I was so drawn to the political realm and had so many opinions on the various goings-on from a godly perspective, but didn't know how to separate the two. So, here I am, on my part of the wall. And I am here to stay.

Rebuilding the part of the wall that is near your house is also a personal matter. Take care of the wall near your home; your personal life, your marriage, your children. If everyone saw to the repair of their own part of the wall, the wall would be fixed.

Some parts of the wall have too many people working on them. Stick to your own portion and leave others' alone.

OK. Let's move on to Chapter 4.

Nehemiah 4:1-3

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.


Understand this: When you start doing a good work, someone will always oppose you. Don't ever think that you will get away with completing anything noble without some sort of opposition. We have seen this play out in our own nation. You've probably seen it in your own lives; if not, your own struggles. But stand firm because righteousness brings a righteous reward. Righteous action may attract opposition. So what?

Now you need some name research.

From Jewishencyclopedia.com: "Sanballat," according to Sayce (in Hastings, "Dict. Bible," s.v.), is connected with the Assyrian "Sinballidh," and means "Sin has vivified."

Sanballat means 'Sin has given life'. We are not talking about (a)sin, like cursing and the like. We are talking about (b)Sin, a Sumerian god. Now, (b)Sin was a false god because we know that there is only one God. That is the belief to which we ascribe here. Without getting into too much depth on this note, let's say that all (a)sin is some sort of false god or worshipping of some sort of false god. So, for our purposes, (a)sin and (b)Sin are one in the same, if not very closely related. Follow me?

Be assured that there are many things that will try to get in the way of your righteous endeavors. And as sure as that is, it is sure that one of them will be sin.

Sin seems to be able to distract you at any given time but especially when you are making some headway. It can be something as subtle as despising the actions
of another or the person themselves, or as loud as some addiction.

Sin will creep up on you and do what Sanballat did. It will mock you. As soon as you get anything accomplished, sin is right there to mock you; to bring about feelings of worthlessness and doubt about yourself and your task at hand.

Tobiah was Sanballat's henchman: "Yeah, boss. What you said boss. Heh." Tobiah will further point out your failures and shortcomings.

Wait until you hear what Tobiah means!




Monday, February 9, 2009

Czech Law

Chop, chop.

Personally, I think this law should be in effect for certain repeat offenders in the States.

To Encourage Our Friend

I don't feel no ways tired.

I've come too far from where I started from.

Nobody told me

that the road would be easy.

I don't believe He brought me this far

to leave me.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

How much is it?

In the biblical standard of time, the world has been around for approximately 6000 years. At least that's how I understand it. I know, that puts all those million, billion years evolutionists on their heads. Frankly, I don't care. There's less proof for evolution (read: no proof) than the wind. Anyway, so, 6000 years.

For the sake of this post, let's say that the world has been around for 6,342 years. Stay with me.

That would be 2,314,830 days. (That's millions).

That would be 55,555,920 hours. (That's millions).

That would be 3,333,355,200 minutes. (That's billions).

That would be 200,001,312,000 seconds. (That's billions).

So, if you had $4.00 for every second that the earth has been in existence, you would have 800 billion dollars.

That's how much that is.

Tick - tock.

Friday, February 6, 2009

2e

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Why is it that in this world we have so much trouble dealing with events? If we were to look back over history, we would see that everything has been already. Yet, we act as if we are the first to encounter it. We are so self-absorbed that we can not even learn from our own successes and failures.

Even our country could learn from times past, both in its own history and the history of the world, of how to deal with our current struggles. Yet we forget the lessons learned by ourselves and others. We even re-write history at times to appease the masses. We will NOT succeed that way.

If we remember nothing else, can we please remember the words of the 'teacher' (and that, without misquoting him):

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

In Memoriam

In memory of my Aunt Shirley.

A truly great and accomplished woman.





SHIRLEY FARLEY BURD
AGE: 81 WILMINGTON, N.C.

Shirley Farley Burd, 81, died Friday (Jan. 2, 2009) at the Commons at Brightmore in Wilmington, N.C. She was born in Pluckemin on Aug. 27, 1927, a daughter of the late Raymond and Katherine Horton Farley. She had lived in Pluckemin until moving to Germantown, Tenn., in 1972 and had resided there until moving to Wilmington, N.C., in 2003.

Shirley was a registered nurse, having received her nursing degree from Somerset Hospital School of Nursing in 1948. She obtained her bachelor's degree in 1956, her master's degree in 1957 and her doctorate degree in nursing education in 1966, all from Rutgers University.

Mrs. Burd worked as a nurse at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, from 1948 to 1950 and at Lyons Veterans Administration Medical Center in Lyons from 1950 to 1957. She then became a professor of nursing and taught at Rutgers University College of Nursing in Newark from 1957 to 1966; at Vanderbilt University College of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn., from 1966 to 1972 and finally at the University of Tennessee College of Nursing in Memphis, Tenn., from 1972 until retiring in 1990.

She was a member of the American Nurses Association and the Academy of Nursing.

She was predeceased by her husband, Robert L. Burd, who died Sept. 16, 2003.

Shirley is survived by two sisters, Katherine F. Sweeney of Wilmington, N.C., and Annette F. Azud; a brother-in-law, Ernest Burd of Vass, N.C.; a sister-in-law, Karen Farley Wilkinson of Marathon, Fla., and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held Jan. 6, at the Layton Funeral Home, 475 Main St., Bedminster. Interment was at Pluckemin Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Rutgers University College of Nursing, 180 University Ave., Suite 102, Newark, NJ 07102 or the Far Hills-Bedminster Fire Co., P.O. Box 431, Far Hills, NJ 07931. Special thanks is extended to the staff of Brightmore for the compassionate care shown to Shirley.