This morning I pulled into a parking space at work and sat in the car for a few moments before going inside the office. I was reluctant to leave the solitude of my car for the distractions of the office. As I sat looking out the window at woods distorted by rivulets of rain water flowing down my windshield, I said a quick prayer: "Dear Jesus, please help me to know you as my best friend."
On the ride in to work this morning I was thinking about the past 57 years and how much has happened. Yesterday I turned 58 years old. So much has changed in my lifetime, yet some things have barely changed at all. For example, my perspective on Jesus has been for most of my life as a bearded man in robes who endured a cross for my sins about 2,000 years before I was born. I understood He loved me and wanted to restore the relationship between His Father and mankind; and I knew that His Spirit was sent to us as our personal Counselor to help us live the 'Christian walk'; but He's always been more Savior than brother to me, too holy and busy leading more obedient and passionate Christians to spend time hanging out with this worldly disciple.
It's only been since reading books like "The Shack" by Paul Young, "He Loves Me!" by Wayne Jacobsen, "What's So Amazing About Grace" by Phillip Yancey, and "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore" by Jake Colsen that my eyes and heart have been opened to how much Jesus wants a personal relationship with me. Far from the dry pages of scripture, these books have revealed to me what Joseph Scrivens sensed 150 years ago when he penned "What a Friend We Have In Jesus." While Scrivens' message focussed on trials and temptations, he understood that Jesus was the kind of friend who was willing to walk with us anywhere if we'd just invite Him into our circumstances.
Prior to reading books like those mentioned above, I came from a legalistic, literal background, and I was afraid that if I read and accepted something that wasn't verbatim what is found in scripture, then I was risking my salvation. I'm learning better. Perhaps the book that has most affected my perception of God has been "The Shack" - a story about Papa - the Father disguised as a beautiful black woman; Sarayu - an almost physical Holy Spirit, and Jesus - the brother who loves to wrap His arms around you and lead you on walks through the woods and across waters. The Shack and these other books have challenged my understanding of what I've been taught about God for most of my life; but they ring true and because of the God they reveal, I feel as though I've found the door that allows me to have an intimate relationship with Him.
Paul warned us about telling people about God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice and then loading them down with legalism - putting them back under the bonds of the Law. The Shack succeeded in presenting the God who got saved between Malachi and Matthew. We no longer need to worry about a schizophrenic God who wavers between holy justice and conditional love depending upon our performance. Papa is not the God who takes out His wrath against mankind on the person of Jesus, His only Son. Papa is the God Who keeps a constant vigil for every lost child and who picks up His robes and runs to embrace those who come to their senses and admit that His ways are better than their own. Jesus is not the unfortunate victim of an angry Father and a sinful world who went to that cross reluctantly, begging for God to come up with another solution for saving humanity. Jesus charged directly at sin, risking His own life to save those whom God loves passionately. As Wayne Jacobsen, author of "He Loves Me!", points out - only Jesus could hold the Father's passion and the weight of all sin upon His person and bear it until the Father's passion consumed sin.
When you really understand what Jesus meant when He said that He came not to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him might be saved; you understand that God doesn't want to punish you for your sins, He's not angry at you for failings, He's not uncomfortable with your filth and scars or your low self-esteem; but He's passionately in love with you. If you understand His love, grace, and forgiveness, you no longer need to appease Him out of fear of hell; you're free to love Him. Papa doesn't want servants, He wants relationships. Religion serves, love fills the emptiness in our hearts, and allows us to see God the way Jesus spoke to us about in scriptures.
And so this morning I asked Jesus to come be more than my Savior, but to help me know Him as the friend He has always been to me. I know that as I spend more time hanging out with Jesus, I'm going to start seeing the world not through my distorted viewpoint, but through His. I may have to let go of my alter-ego, Bubba BiGot Jr, III and become a new creation in His image.
Some things change slowly, but I'm grateful that God doesn't leave us like He found us. We could 'what if' our past decisions for eternity, but thank God that He never stops coaxing us towards Him. If, occasionally, I slip up and say or do something nice or out of character for me; just know that it's Jesus putting His hands over my soulish mouth and speaking through me. And if at some point I become this totally cool and loveable guy who everyone wants to be around - just know that He's almost done with me and it's time to go Home.
I Love You Daddy
This morning, I dropped my daughter off at the airport so that she could fly out to California in the hopes that the doctors at Berkeley can help get her cancer into remission. Tomorrow morning, my baby girl leaves for Appalachian State University to start college. And this past weekend at Myrtle Beach, I was able to spend time with my youngest son and his fiance.
Perhaps the thing that means to most to me is to hear the words, "I love you Daddy." Too often they're said in parting, and since we don't know if we'll get another chance to express our love for one another, it's important that those words are said.
This week is particularly tough because for my two daughters, life is about to change immediately. In a few months life will change for my son. They know that I love them, but I don't know if they understand how proud I am of them. My son has found a beautiful bride to partner with and their lives, like those of my daughters, will take it's own course. Finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with is a wonderful and necessary thing. We weren't created to live for ourselves. I'm proud of him for committing himself to such a fine young woman who loves him back.
My youngest daughter, the baby girl who's been my constant companion every weekend since she was three, is now going to college so that she can learn how to help other children. She's grown way too fast. She's beautiful and smart and has a gentle heart under that tough facade she puts on around others. When she's with me, she likes to cuddle, and when she's able to sleep, she looks too young and innocent for the world she's about to enter. And as much as I want to protect her and keep her near, I love her too much to stifle her and hinder her potential to be all that God created her to become.
My other daughter, the one who's in stage 5 cancer, she's amazed and humbled me with her strength and endurance. When she was little, if something was hard, she would quit. Now that she's fighting for her life, she's not quitting. In spite of constant pain and debilitating drugs, she gets up every day glad to be alive. Three years ago the doctors gave her three months to live. She's still defying death, even when the reports all come back negative. She calls me several times a day, saying "What's up, you good looking man?" She shows so much appreciation for every little thing that I and anyone else does for her, for she understands that nothing is fair or deserved in this life. Every good thing is a blessing from God. This daughter has two boys of her own, and she misses them so much she cries herself to sleep each night thinking of them. She can't afford much on her small disability check, but she's always trying to find something for the boys. She'll do anything, and has done some questionable things, for them. Most of all, I'm proud of her gentle and giving heart. I'm going to write a story about her life and tell about all the obstacles she's had to overcome. My prayer is that she will be around to see it published.
Life hasn't gone the way I thought it would when I was growing up. Squandered opportunities and 'what-ifs' could haunt me to an early grave; except for knowing that everything I've done hasn't been pointless. I've got some great kids who love me in spite of the failed relationships that brought them into this world. My biggest regret is that there are three more children from my first marriage who I allowed myself to lose touch with. I've missed out on their journeys from children to adulthood; but I'm sure that I would have every reason to be just as proud of what they've become as I have in my youngest three. I can't ever hear "I love you Daddy" from my oldest children, but I can honestly say that I love them.
I pray for my kids. I'm getting worn out early in life. The time for playing catch or wrestling on the floor is past for me. Still, whenever I hear them say, "I love you Daddy", I'm drawn back to the time I could hoist them onto my shoulders, or tuck them in and tell them not to grow up too fast. I want to be a Daddy for as long as I possibly can.
Perhaps the thing that means to most to me is to hear the words, "I love you Daddy." Too often they're said in parting, and since we don't know if we'll get another chance to express our love for one another, it's important that those words are said.
This week is particularly tough because for my two daughters, life is about to change immediately. In a few months life will change for my son. They know that I love them, but I don't know if they understand how proud I am of them. My son has found a beautiful bride to partner with and their lives, like those of my daughters, will take it's own course. Finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with is a wonderful and necessary thing. We weren't created to live for ourselves. I'm proud of him for committing himself to such a fine young woman who loves him back.
My youngest daughter, the baby girl who's been my constant companion every weekend since she was three, is now going to college so that she can learn how to help other children. She's grown way too fast. She's beautiful and smart and has a gentle heart under that tough facade she puts on around others. When she's with me, she likes to cuddle, and when she's able to sleep, she looks too young and innocent for the world she's about to enter. And as much as I want to protect her and keep her near, I love her too much to stifle her and hinder her potential to be all that God created her to become.
My other daughter, the one who's in stage 5 cancer, she's amazed and humbled me with her strength and endurance. When she was little, if something was hard, she would quit. Now that she's fighting for her life, she's not quitting. In spite of constant pain and debilitating drugs, she gets up every day glad to be alive. Three years ago the doctors gave her three months to live. She's still defying death, even when the reports all come back negative. She calls me several times a day, saying "What's up, you good looking man?" She shows so much appreciation for every little thing that I and anyone else does for her, for she understands that nothing is fair or deserved in this life. Every good thing is a blessing from God. This daughter has two boys of her own, and she misses them so much she cries herself to sleep each night thinking of them. She can't afford much on her small disability check, but she's always trying to find something for the boys. She'll do anything, and has done some questionable things, for them. Most of all, I'm proud of her gentle and giving heart. I'm going to write a story about her life and tell about all the obstacles she's had to overcome. My prayer is that she will be around to see it published.
Life hasn't gone the way I thought it would when I was growing up. Squandered opportunities and 'what-ifs' could haunt me to an early grave; except for knowing that everything I've done hasn't been pointless. I've got some great kids who love me in spite of the failed relationships that brought them into this world. My biggest regret is that there are three more children from my first marriage who I allowed myself to lose touch with. I've missed out on their journeys from children to adulthood; but I'm sure that I would have every reason to be just as proud of what they've become as I have in my youngest three. I can't ever hear "I love you Daddy" from my oldest children, but I can honestly say that I love them.
I pray for my kids. I'm getting worn out early in life. The time for playing catch or wrestling on the floor is past for me. Still, whenever I hear them say, "I love you Daddy", I'm drawn back to the time I could hoist them onto my shoulders, or tuck them in and tell them not to grow up too fast. I want to be a Daddy for as long as I possibly can.
Father's Day
Sunday is Father's Day and on Saturday I'm going to see a daughter I haven't seen since she was two years old. Now she has two children of her own. I've six children and seven grandchildren - only two of whom have ever met me. By all rights, I haven't been the kind of father you see depicted on a Norman Rockwell painting. I tried to do right by my youngest daughter, but it's been a tough and shameful road.
As I think about the ideal human father, I'm drawn to Joseph, the father of Jesus. He married a woman in spite of the shame her presumed infidelity brought upon him. He loved her and protected her and her son from those who would kill them. Joseph took his family to another country to protect them from Herod and he took a child that wasn't his as a son and brought Him up as his own. Joseph didn't own much, but what he had, he shared with Jesus. He taught him a skill that provided a profession for the young man. Apparently, Joseph made sure that Jesus was schooled because Jesus' knowledge and insight impressed scholars, even at a young age. Probably, Joseph talked to Jesus about responsibility for himself and for his mother and siblings.
We don't know what happened to Joseph - how long he was around, how he died, etc. But we do know the character of the son he raised. While Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human. He learned how to walk, then talk, then to use both hammer and scripture with purpose. Before Jesus died, He charged John to care for his mother, probably just as Joseph charged Him to care for her before he died.
Joseph was not well-known. Although his wife is revered today, Joseph is mostly forgotten. All we know about him is that he did the right things, never seeking a reputation for himself. Joseph's legacy however is the Savior of the whole world. Not bad for a poor carpenter from Bethany.
I've fathered some great kids. Although I wasn't around much in their lives, they are still my legacy and I'm very proud of them.
As I think about the ideal human father, I'm drawn to Joseph, the father of Jesus. He married a woman in spite of the shame her presumed infidelity brought upon him. He loved her and protected her and her son from those who would kill them. Joseph took his family to another country to protect them from Herod and he took a child that wasn't his as a son and brought Him up as his own. Joseph didn't own much, but what he had, he shared with Jesus. He taught him a skill that provided a profession for the young man. Apparently, Joseph made sure that Jesus was schooled because Jesus' knowledge and insight impressed scholars, even at a young age. Probably, Joseph talked to Jesus about responsibility for himself and for his mother and siblings.
We don't know what happened to Joseph - how long he was around, how he died, etc. But we do know the character of the son he raised. While Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human. He learned how to walk, then talk, then to use both hammer and scripture with purpose. Before Jesus died, He charged John to care for his mother, probably just as Joseph charged Him to care for her before he died.
Joseph was not well-known. Although his wife is revered today, Joseph is mostly forgotten. All we know about him is that he did the right things, never seeking a reputation for himself. Joseph's legacy however is the Savior of the whole world. Not bad for a poor carpenter from Bethany.
I've fathered some great kids. Although I wasn't around much in their lives, they are still my legacy and I'm very proud of them.
America's Founding History - In their own words
My friend, James M. Pratt, has assembled the collection you see above so that we all might educate ourselves about our nation's purpose.
This past weekend, my family took a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It's a favorite destination for anyone east of the Mississippi. Normally it's difficult to find a vacancy at a hotel from June until November in Gatlinburg. However, we noticed that every hotel/motel in the area had a vacancy sign lit. The economy is just one indicator that our country is in peril - but it's a big indicator because it's a reflection of our confidence in our government and in the businesses that provide the jobs and the security we all desire.
Already many politicians are lining themselves up for a run for President in 2012. Partisianship has never been more prevalent. While the politicians rant and rave and blame one another for America's woes, Americans react with fear and anger. We can't believe that we elected these people to serve us; we thought that the government worked for us; we thought we lived in a republic - government by the people, for the people, of the people. We used to. I remember when we did.
The vision that our founders had for America is not the vision shared by our leaders today. To be sure, there were disagreements among our Founders about the best form of government for a free people. We didn't arrive at our Constitution overnight. It took decades to come up with our founding documents, and those were based on thousands of years of study - as far back as Plato and Aristotle. Millions have served to protect the founding principles of our nation; over a million have given their lives for the cause of freedom.
Inside those documents are the solution to America's problems today. Understand them and it doesn't matter what party you belong to. America is bigger than any party. The economy was a factor preceeding and during the Revolutionary War as colonists rejected the high taxes imposed on the people by a government that neglected the people. We can learn from past experience, so I encourage everyone to get your collection. Just click on the link above.
I think you'll also enjoy James' latest blog post about WWII veteran Howie Beach and other D-Day veterans. Check out http://www.jmprattcom.blogspot.com/.
Crap & True Confessions
When you were growing up, did you envision your life turning out the way it did? Or did life take you on a ride through the ghettos and bypass the country clubs? When did you realize that your life was beyond your control?
Life isn't fair. Murphy is omnipresent. If you’re lied to enough, eventually you’re going to believe a lie. Good people suffer injustice, and the rights of criminals are protected by law. Even in this land of opportunity, most people never rise above mediocrity and their only footnote in history is an obituary. And that's just talking about everyone else!
I don't live in a mansion and life hasn't always been easy. Still, I've been around long enough to know that there are things that money can't fix: things like death, loss of trust, stupidity, and the government. If money could fix those things, Oprah could stay thin, Rosie O'Donnell wouldn't be paranoid, the Catholic Church wouldn't waste money compensating the victims of perverted priests, and the trillions of dollars thrown at welfare wouldn't result in more people in poverty today than ever before.
I myself came from very humble beginnings. Out of five sons, only three of us survived birth. Out of ten million sperm, I won. I’ve often wondered what I’ve missed out on had another sperm gotten to that egg first. Maybe I'd be able to sing, play the piano, paint a fractal, cure a disease - heck, I'd just like to learn to swim, but my legs and arms won't both move at the same time... Don’t get me wrong, my parents were great, but I turned out a shithead - at least in my own mind. I’ve lived for the moment. I’ve taken the smoothest route at the time - only to pay dearly later on. I’ve given up too quickly and compromised my dreams by settling for second or third best. In addition to learning survival skills, I’ve learned to wear a facade - to pretend that I was in control of my own destiny. Actually, I avoided risks; which resulted in missed opportunities. Shame became my constant companion and I’ve devoted a lot of time trying to hide him from my friends and family. I developed other skills to disguise my shame: loyalty, humor, and the ability to teach others how not to be like myself.
Not that I’ve needed help. Life throws us curveballs too. A storm can come along and destroy your home; a better qualified person can take your job; a deadbeat friend or relative can drag you down with them. Loved ones die and leave you with a hole in your heart that can't be filled. Life is full of crap, and often life gets tiring.
Skills acquired in life can, and often are, cruel protectors. Shame can keep us from knowing the difference between a values statement and an observation. My wife can say "It's time to cut the grass." but what hear is "You're a lazy, worthless slug, and I wonder why I ever married you!" What my wife meant was that the grass needs to be cut, but my own opinion of myself caused me to hear something else completely.
Yet, in spite of all the crap that comes our way, there is a brighter side to life. There is this thing called hope. It's a God-thing that often defies logic and reason. And where there is hope, there is an opportunity to learn and profit from our mistakes.
I've learned that self-discipline is a work of the flesh that keeps me from living in the grace of God. I’ve discovered that facts change depending upon my perception. I've also learned that people who tell the truth don't have to remember anything. There's a lot of freedom in being transparent, which may explain why there are so many depressed people in the world today.
There's something else I've learned: a seed grows well in crap. In fact, crap provides the perfect environment for a seed to grow into something beautiful. God uses crap to bless our lives with. An unplanned child from a broken marriage might become a daddy's girl who brings him great pride and joy. Cancer can destroy the body of a loved one, but it can't kill their spirit or prevent a miracle in the form of a beautiful grandson. Bankruptcy may destroy your credit, but you’ll find that in losing your possessions that they no longer possess you. Acquaintenances may turn their backs on you when your facade crumbles, but it's then that you discover who your real friends are.
Everyone you meet has crap in their lives. Most want the same thing you do: to be loved, valued, to count for something. Maybe you've seen someone who's going through so much crap that you're thankful for your own. We're told to get our crap together; so maybe that's what we ought to do. With all the crap in this world, surely there is enough of us to turn it in to something wonderful: a home for the homeless, a shoulder to cry on, or a cause to donate to or volunteer for.
Life’s crap can be a blessing in disguise. It may stink while you’re going through it, but without it, you can’t grow. If you’ve got crap in your life now – rejoice! Grow something!
Life isn't fair. Murphy is omnipresent. If you’re lied to enough, eventually you’re going to believe a lie. Good people suffer injustice, and the rights of criminals are protected by law. Even in this land of opportunity, most people never rise above mediocrity and their only footnote in history is an obituary. And that's just talking about everyone else!
I don't live in a mansion and life hasn't always been easy. Still, I've been around long enough to know that there are things that money can't fix: things like death, loss of trust, stupidity, and the government. If money could fix those things, Oprah could stay thin, Rosie O'Donnell wouldn't be paranoid, the Catholic Church wouldn't waste money compensating the victims of perverted priests, and the trillions of dollars thrown at welfare wouldn't result in more people in poverty today than ever before.
I myself came from very humble beginnings. Out of five sons, only three of us survived birth. Out of ten million sperm, I won. I’ve often wondered what I’ve missed out on had another sperm gotten to that egg first. Maybe I'd be able to sing, play the piano, paint a fractal, cure a disease - heck, I'd just like to learn to swim, but my legs and arms won't both move at the same time... Don’t get me wrong, my parents were great, but I turned out a shithead - at least in my own mind. I’ve lived for the moment. I’ve taken the smoothest route at the time - only to pay dearly later on. I’ve given up too quickly and compromised my dreams by settling for second or third best. In addition to learning survival skills, I’ve learned to wear a facade - to pretend that I was in control of my own destiny. Actually, I avoided risks; which resulted in missed opportunities. Shame became my constant companion and I’ve devoted a lot of time trying to hide him from my friends and family. I developed other skills to disguise my shame: loyalty, humor, and the ability to teach others how not to be like myself.
Not that I’ve needed help. Life throws us curveballs too. A storm can come along and destroy your home; a better qualified person can take your job; a deadbeat friend or relative can drag you down with them. Loved ones die and leave you with a hole in your heart that can't be filled. Life is full of crap, and often life gets tiring.
Skills acquired in life can, and often are, cruel protectors. Shame can keep us from knowing the difference between a values statement and an observation. My wife can say "It's time to cut the grass." but what hear is "You're a lazy, worthless slug, and I wonder why I ever married you!" What my wife meant was that the grass needs to be cut, but my own opinion of myself caused me to hear something else completely.
Yet, in spite of all the crap that comes our way, there is a brighter side to life. There is this thing called hope. It's a God-thing that often defies logic and reason. And where there is hope, there is an opportunity to learn and profit from our mistakes.
I've learned that self-discipline is a work of the flesh that keeps me from living in the grace of God. I’ve discovered that facts change depending upon my perception. I've also learned that people who tell the truth don't have to remember anything. There's a lot of freedom in being transparent, which may explain why there are so many depressed people in the world today.
There's something else I've learned: a seed grows well in crap. In fact, crap provides the perfect environment for a seed to grow into something beautiful. God uses crap to bless our lives with. An unplanned child from a broken marriage might become a daddy's girl who brings him great pride and joy. Cancer can destroy the body of a loved one, but it can't kill their spirit or prevent a miracle in the form of a beautiful grandson. Bankruptcy may destroy your credit, but you’ll find that in losing your possessions that they no longer possess you. Acquaintenances may turn their backs on you when your facade crumbles, but it's then that you discover who your real friends are.
Everyone you meet has crap in their lives. Most want the same thing you do: to be loved, valued, to count for something. Maybe you've seen someone who's going through so much crap that you're thankful for your own. We're told to get our crap together; so maybe that's what we ought to do. With all the crap in this world, surely there is enough of us to turn it in to something wonderful: a home for the homeless, a shoulder to cry on, or a cause to donate to or volunteer for.
Life’s crap can be a blessing in disguise. It may stink while you’re going through it, but without it, you can’t grow. If you’ve got crap in your life now – rejoice! Grow something!
No one is alone
A young man ended his life today. Though we'll never know what went through his mind in those final moments, it was an act of hopeless finality . We do know how it's affected his friends whom he reached out to just before committing the act.
I don't know if this young man understood that there was still something worth living for. If he hadn't turned his phone off after that last text, he would have quickly found out that his friends were on their way to help him. Some called 911, some jumped into their cars, and some kept trying to get him back on that phone. They all hoped and prayed they would not be too late. Now they are left with the undeserved feeling that they were too late and had done too little.
I'm certain that most parents of this boy's friends are as horrified as I am; for regardless of how we felt about this young man, we know that his death is affecting our children, and we are afraid for them. We can't understand the hopelessness and depression our children are experiencing. To us, they have their whole lives ahead of them - the chance to go farther and become more than we've accomplished in our lives.
If I could say one thing to my daughter and her friends as they mourn the loss of their friend it would be this: You're not in this life alone, no matter how it might feel at times. You are loved with a passion that would cause any of us to lay down our lives for you. You are the best thing we've ever done - you have inside you the best your mom and dad could offer.
If we've been so blind to not see what you're going through, please forgive us. We might come home exhausted and stressed from trying to make it from one paycheck to the next and not realize that you need us to pay as much attention to you as we do to our jobs. We may have left you at home to be supervised by a television; or if we've watched TV together, we may have only conversed during station breaks. Forgive us.
It is natural to want to place the blame for this young man's death on someone or something: depression, drugs, the education system, the government, the church, the media and televion and video games and unemployment....anywhere but accept our responsibility.
I met this young man briefly one time and don't even recall his appearance. Yet, he was important to my daughter. They were friends. If he was important to her, he should have been more important to me. They rushed to try to save him but were too late. Now they sit together, broken hearted and hurting and alone, and the parents are trying to give them space to grieve. I think that we should be there with our children, letting them know that they are not alone, that they are valued and loved and needed. I called my daughter and asked if I could come over to her friend's house where the kids are gathering but she said no, that she was OK, really and for me not to worry. But I do worry, and before I let her go I told her I love her and that I'm here for her no matter what. She's never alone in this life. I'm her dad, she's my purpose in life. I'm praying for my daughter and her friends and for this young man. I pray that as a parent that I'll be more attuned to what my daughter is experiencing and that she will always feel like she can turn to me when life just seems too hard. We're in this together.
I didn't talk to her about God and that He's there with them as they mourn. Hopefully they will remember that He's their first and best hope. At least they've been taught that. I just pray that it's real right now.
Maybe if there is one good thing that could come out of the young man's death, it's that those who loved him will understand that what he's done to them is not something they would wish on those they love. Life is but a vapor and gone too quickly; but how precious is every soul.
This evening my daughter posted a note to her friend on Facebook. He's not here for her to tell him that she loves him. She's still trying to save him, but barring that, her most heartfelt desire is that he'll find the peace there that he couldn't find here. His friends could use some of that peace too.
I don't know if this young man understood that there was still something worth living for. If he hadn't turned his phone off after that last text, he would have quickly found out that his friends were on their way to help him. Some called 911, some jumped into their cars, and some kept trying to get him back on that phone. They all hoped and prayed they would not be too late. Now they are left with the undeserved feeling that they were too late and had done too little.
I'm certain that most parents of this boy's friends are as horrified as I am; for regardless of how we felt about this young man, we know that his death is affecting our children, and we are afraid for them. We can't understand the hopelessness and depression our children are experiencing. To us, they have their whole lives ahead of them - the chance to go farther and become more than we've accomplished in our lives.
If I could say one thing to my daughter and her friends as they mourn the loss of their friend it would be this: You're not in this life alone, no matter how it might feel at times. You are loved with a passion that would cause any of us to lay down our lives for you. You are the best thing we've ever done - you have inside you the best your mom and dad could offer.
If we've been so blind to not see what you're going through, please forgive us. We might come home exhausted and stressed from trying to make it from one paycheck to the next and not realize that you need us to pay as much attention to you as we do to our jobs. We may have left you at home to be supervised by a television; or if we've watched TV together, we may have only conversed during station breaks. Forgive us.
It is natural to want to place the blame for this young man's death on someone or something: depression, drugs, the education system, the government, the church, the media and televion and video games and unemployment....anywhere but accept our responsibility.
I met this young man briefly one time and don't even recall his appearance. Yet, he was important to my daughter. They were friends. If he was important to her, he should have been more important to me. They rushed to try to save him but were too late. Now they sit together, broken hearted and hurting and alone, and the parents are trying to give them space to grieve. I think that we should be there with our children, letting them know that they are not alone, that they are valued and loved and needed. I called my daughter and asked if I could come over to her friend's house where the kids are gathering but she said no, that she was OK, really and for me not to worry. But I do worry, and before I let her go I told her I love her and that I'm here for her no matter what. She's never alone in this life. I'm her dad, she's my purpose in life. I'm praying for my daughter and her friends and for this young man. I pray that as a parent that I'll be more attuned to what my daughter is experiencing and that she will always feel like she can turn to me when life just seems too hard. We're in this together.
I didn't talk to her about God and that He's there with them as they mourn. Hopefully they will remember that He's their first and best hope. At least they've been taught that. I just pray that it's real right now.
Maybe if there is one good thing that could come out of the young man's death, it's that those who loved him will understand that what he's done to them is not something they would wish on those they love. Life is but a vapor and gone too quickly; but how precious is every soul.
This evening my daughter posted a note to her friend on Facebook. He's not here for her to tell him that she loves him. She's still trying to save him, but barring that, her most heartfelt desire is that he'll find the peace there that he couldn't find here. His friends could use some of that peace too.
Faulty Worldviews
"Thoughts are often lies we tell ourselves". Rick Warren - pastor, Saddleback Church.
Have you ever wondered what the world was coming to, especially with all the bad news you see and read about today? How is it that the citizens of the most powerful, benevolent nation in Earth's history is so completely divided and at odds with itself? How is it that we've strayed so far from the ideals that made America great? How is it that we can't seem to find even one person who has a clue how to fix the problems now facing our nation, and the world? How is it that our neighbors and co-workers define America differently than us? How is it that one Christian can vote Republican and another vote Democrat when the core principles of each party are the opposite of the other?
Rick Warren suggests that all behavior is based on our system of beliefs. We act according to our beliefs. What we think is what we do, even if that act is self-destructive and illogical. Every time we make a decision, at that moment we believe it is the right thing for us. The way we look at problems and determine the solutions to those problems is our worldview. "Your worldview is the set of perspectives, values, and convictions that you believe to be true. It is the foundation of your life." (Rick Warren) Rick goes on to say that not everything we believe is true; that we "pick up false and faulty ideas from culture, friends, parents, books, movies, music, the media, and many other imperfect sources that we're not even aware of."
I've long wondered how a Christian could vote for someone on the Democratic ticket. I'm sure there are Democrats who wonder how a Christian can vote Republican. It's seldom about the candidates themselves, and more about the core principles each party stands for. Could it be, and I think it must be, that neither party is based entirely on truth?
Os Guiness, author of "The Case for Civility; And Why Our Future Depends On It", says that the reason we have faulty worldviews is because we've been taught lies about truth. We're taught that truth is dead, or that there is no such thing as truth; that we're all just accidents, so truth is irrelevant. Even so, what is it that victims of injustice desire the most? "Justice through truth - and if not justice, then at least truth...Without truth there can be no justice and no reconciliation."
Our society has embraced an idea of tolerance and relativism - that says that we affirm that all views are equally valid. America has passed laws, called hate-crimes, should someone vocalize or act in a way that others interpret as judgmental or intolerant.
As a Christian, I choose to believe that the God described in scriptures is real and that the scriptures themselves are true. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." There is liberty in truth; there is bondage in a faulty worldview. So how do I know what is true?
Besides the truth revealed in the Bible, and in nature, I can also know the truth because it is in my heart (conscience). I know right from wrong. I know that killing babies is wrong, just as I know that ignoring the poor and needy is wrong. I may choose to go along with an abortion for convenience sake, or hold on to my money to feed my own family; but my conscience will tell me I was wrong. But there's another way to know the truth; and that's by comparing my ideas with the way the world really works. Truth conforms to reality; and I can test my worldview by asking the following questions:
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why is the world such a mess?
3. Is there a solution?
4. What is my purpose?
Can Darwinism fully explain where I came from? Some may think so, but where are the intermediate fossiles that link mankind with animals? When has science ever created a new species? What are the odds that so many different life forms would exist, let alone come from one dead source? To me, intelligent design makes far more sense.
And if there is a Creator, then the idea that life is purposeless and nothing matters must give way to the knowledge that God gives all human life sanctity, value, meaning, and purpose.
Our culture rejects the idea of sin, and places the blame for all the world's ills everywhere but upon ourselves. Society teaches us to deny our responsibility for evil. We make excuses for those who commit evil. On the other hand, people ask, "If God is real, then why is there so much evil in the world today?" By implication, if God is sovereign, then every sin calls into doubt God's knowledge of what is best; so all we can do is to live the best way we know how. The problem with this worldview is that we cannot consistently do good. We can do good things, but we can't be good. Try being good and see how long you succeed. The only answer that makes sense is that Christ has overcome sin and that if we'll simply confess that we're incapable of being good (tell the truth), then He will forgive us. If you've ever been forgiven for a wrong you've done to someone else, you know what that freedom feels like.
The world is looking for salvation in all the wrong places: politics, the law, education, pacifism, economics, psychology, etc. If you've done harm to someone at some point, you probably know what guilt feels like. In my life it's spelled GUILT. Guilt has played a big part in my worldview. How does your worldview handle guilt? How can we reconcile all the wrongs every person has ever done so that we can live in a world free of guilt? The only worldview that offers a solution to this is redemption through Christ; first with God, and then in all our relationships. Not that all of our problems will go away; but through grace we can accept God's will for our lives. Because we've received grace, we cannot deny God's grace on others. We must learn to see others as God sees them rather than through our faulty worldviews...which is hard for me because I'm a bigot and I'm getting old and cranky and it's hard for an old dog to change.
Our concepts of freedom, the rule of law, and limited government come from the scriptures. It's how civilized man agrees to limit his own desires for the common good. We consciously or subconsciously desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves because we feel insignificant in the scheme of life. That's not how God views us though. He created us on purpose for a purpose. Our challenge is to discover that purpose and fulfill it. This morning in worship service one of our members commented that he'd 'just like a clue about what that purpose is.' I've often felt that way and fretted about whether I've missed what God wants me to do. As my wife also pointed out this morning, it's not about what God wants me to do, it's about what He wants to do through me. See how there's a difference from that viewpoint?
God called us to fulfill the Great Commmission: To love God with everything we are, and to love others as we love ourselves. Sounds simple, but it's not easy. If you view God as holy and sovereign, then you would probably obey God out of fear. I didn't know how to love God until I read "The Shack" by William P. Young.
I find it hard to like, let alone love, a liberal. If I pray for one, it's more likely to focus on God's wrath upon him than it is God's blessings on him. But a scriptural worldview tells me that every person is important to God, and if that person is important to God as much as I am, then that person ought to be important to me.
Before my pastor went to New Orleans to help families rebuild after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes and lives, I was of the opinion that they deserved what they got by ignoring all the warnings to get out ahead of the storm. Then Jimmy went down and worked on the homes of some ladies and those statistics suddenly had names; and because of Jimmy's excellent blogging, those names had faces and they had stories and they had worth. Through Jimmy's eyes, I saw people I cared nothing for as God sees them. That's how I learn to love others as I love myself.
My worldview is not perfect. I'm a fundamental Christian born in the South who loves my country with a passion. I can turn a blind eye to my daughter's faults, and I can ignore the faults of the people I am in relationship with. I can find fault with people who have a different worldview than I have - because I've not walked in their shoes or been forced to make the decisions they've had to make. The only place I can get a worldview that is based on reality is in the scriptures. I can compare my viewpoint with that of God's and if mine is different, then I know mine is the one that is wrong. I believe that scripture is inspired and protected by God, so based on that viewpoint, I choose to believe the nature and person of the God described inside. The only way that I can know God's solution and purpose for my life is to study the scriptures and to let them guide me through this journey.
People that know me probably think that I'm doing a lousy job being what I believe. I agree.
Have you ever wondered what the world was coming to, especially with all the bad news you see and read about today? How is it that the citizens of the most powerful, benevolent nation in Earth's history is so completely divided and at odds with itself? How is it that we've strayed so far from the ideals that made America great? How is it that we can't seem to find even one person who has a clue how to fix the problems now facing our nation, and the world? How is it that our neighbors and co-workers define America differently than us? How is it that one Christian can vote Republican and another vote Democrat when the core principles of each party are the opposite of the other?
Rick Warren suggests that all behavior is based on our system of beliefs. We act according to our beliefs. What we think is what we do, even if that act is self-destructive and illogical. Every time we make a decision, at that moment we believe it is the right thing for us. The way we look at problems and determine the solutions to those problems is our worldview. "Your worldview is the set of perspectives, values, and convictions that you believe to be true. It is the foundation of your life." (Rick Warren) Rick goes on to say that not everything we believe is true; that we "pick up false and faulty ideas from culture, friends, parents, books, movies, music, the media, and many other imperfect sources that we're not even aware of."
I've long wondered how a Christian could vote for someone on the Democratic ticket. I'm sure there are Democrats who wonder how a Christian can vote Republican. It's seldom about the candidates themselves, and more about the core principles each party stands for. Could it be, and I think it must be, that neither party is based entirely on truth?
Os Guiness, author of "The Case for Civility; And Why Our Future Depends On It", says that the reason we have faulty worldviews is because we've been taught lies about truth. We're taught that truth is dead, or that there is no such thing as truth; that we're all just accidents, so truth is irrelevant. Even so, what is it that victims of injustice desire the most? "Justice through truth - and if not justice, then at least truth...Without truth there can be no justice and no reconciliation."
Our society has embraced an idea of tolerance and relativism - that says that we affirm that all views are equally valid. America has passed laws, called hate-crimes, should someone vocalize or act in a way that others interpret as judgmental or intolerant.
As a Christian, I choose to believe that the God described in scriptures is real and that the scriptures themselves are true. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." There is liberty in truth; there is bondage in a faulty worldview. So how do I know what is true?
Besides the truth revealed in the Bible, and in nature, I can also know the truth because it is in my heart (conscience). I know right from wrong. I know that killing babies is wrong, just as I know that ignoring the poor and needy is wrong. I may choose to go along with an abortion for convenience sake, or hold on to my money to feed my own family; but my conscience will tell me I was wrong. But there's another way to know the truth; and that's by comparing my ideas with the way the world really works. Truth conforms to reality; and I can test my worldview by asking the following questions:
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why is the world such a mess?
3. Is there a solution?
4. What is my purpose?
Can Darwinism fully explain where I came from? Some may think so, but where are the intermediate fossiles that link mankind with animals? When has science ever created a new species? What are the odds that so many different life forms would exist, let alone come from one dead source? To me, intelligent design makes far more sense.
And if there is a Creator, then the idea that life is purposeless and nothing matters must give way to the knowledge that God gives all human life sanctity, value, meaning, and purpose.
Our culture rejects the idea of sin, and places the blame for all the world's ills everywhere but upon ourselves. Society teaches us to deny our responsibility for evil. We make excuses for those who commit evil. On the other hand, people ask, "If God is real, then why is there so much evil in the world today?" By implication, if God is sovereign, then every sin calls into doubt God's knowledge of what is best; so all we can do is to live the best way we know how. The problem with this worldview is that we cannot consistently do good. We can do good things, but we can't be good. Try being good and see how long you succeed. The only answer that makes sense is that Christ has overcome sin and that if we'll simply confess that we're incapable of being good (tell the truth), then He will forgive us. If you've ever been forgiven for a wrong you've done to someone else, you know what that freedom feels like.
The world is looking for salvation in all the wrong places: politics, the law, education, pacifism, economics, psychology, etc. If you've done harm to someone at some point, you probably know what guilt feels like. In my life it's spelled GUILT. Guilt has played a big part in my worldview. How does your worldview handle guilt? How can we reconcile all the wrongs every person has ever done so that we can live in a world free of guilt? The only worldview that offers a solution to this is redemption through Christ; first with God, and then in all our relationships. Not that all of our problems will go away; but through grace we can accept God's will for our lives. Because we've received grace, we cannot deny God's grace on others. We must learn to see others as God sees them rather than through our faulty worldviews...which is hard for me because I'm a bigot and I'm getting old and cranky and it's hard for an old dog to change.
Our concepts of freedom, the rule of law, and limited government come from the scriptures. It's how civilized man agrees to limit his own desires for the common good. We consciously or subconsciously desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves because we feel insignificant in the scheme of life. That's not how God views us though. He created us on purpose for a purpose. Our challenge is to discover that purpose and fulfill it. This morning in worship service one of our members commented that he'd 'just like a clue about what that purpose is.' I've often felt that way and fretted about whether I've missed what God wants me to do. As my wife also pointed out this morning, it's not about what God wants me to do, it's about what He wants to do through me. See how there's a difference from that viewpoint?
God called us to fulfill the Great Commmission: To love God with everything we are, and to love others as we love ourselves. Sounds simple, but it's not easy. If you view God as holy and sovereign, then you would probably obey God out of fear. I didn't know how to love God until I read "The Shack" by William P. Young.
I find it hard to like, let alone love, a liberal. If I pray for one, it's more likely to focus on God's wrath upon him than it is God's blessings on him. But a scriptural worldview tells me that every person is important to God, and if that person is important to God as much as I am, then that person ought to be important to me.
Before my pastor went to New Orleans to help families rebuild after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes and lives, I was of the opinion that they deserved what they got by ignoring all the warnings to get out ahead of the storm. Then Jimmy went down and worked on the homes of some ladies and those statistics suddenly had names; and because of Jimmy's excellent blogging, those names had faces and they had stories and they had worth. Through Jimmy's eyes, I saw people I cared nothing for as God sees them. That's how I learn to love others as I love myself.
My worldview is not perfect. I'm a fundamental Christian born in the South who loves my country with a passion. I can turn a blind eye to my daughter's faults, and I can ignore the faults of the people I am in relationship with. I can find fault with people who have a different worldview than I have - because I've not walked in their shoes or been forced to make the decisions they've had to make. The only place I can get a worldview that is based on reality is in the scriptures. I can compare my viewpoint with that of God's and if mine is different, then I know mine is the one that is wrong. I believe that scripture is inspired and protected by God, so based on that viewpoint, I choose to believe the nature and person of the God described inside. The only way that I can know God's solution and purpose for my life is to study the scriptures and to let them guide me through this journey.
People that know me probably think that I'm doing a lousy job being what I believe. I agree.
Is America a Christian Nation?
Recently our President, Barry Obama, made a statement to the international community that America is not a Christian nation. His statement has created much controversy. Here's my opinion:
Barry is correct - America is not a Christian nation. We used to be. Anyone who has read the writings of our Founding Fathers can see the influence that Christianity had on the development of our form of government. John Adams wrote: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
I listened this morning to radio talk hosts debate whether America should be a Christian nation or whether there has only been a movement over the last 30-40 years where religion has tried to affect politics. The truth is that the religious right hasn't been trying to assume control over our government, we're just responding to the attempts by 'liberals' to remove God from our government. Christians are simply protecting the freedoms of religion that our founding fathers intended. When I was growing up, my parents lived out their faith in all aspects of their life. It's been my generation that has compromised and apologized and demonized Christianity until the very term no longer stands for morality and goodness and love.
If one can separate his faith from his politics, he has no faith - only a religion. Our character reflects our faith. Perhaps that is the problem. We are a generation of compromisers who are willing to push God aside so that we can live our lives on our own terms. Again, Obama was correct - America is not a Christian nation. If we were, he would not be in office. The faith of our Founding Fathers was evidenced in their character and their vision for America. Conversely, the lack of character and the vision of our leaders today reflect the absence of faith in the God upon whom our nation's principles were founded. And if our elected officials lack the moral and ethical standards of their predecessors, so too have those who sent them to office.
Eighty percent of Americans claim to be Christians, yet over half of American voters voted for a candidate and a party that believes it's OK to murder babies, steal property (imminent domain), impoverish the constituents through taxes and welfare programs (Democrats have succeeded in keeping an entire segment of Americans - through second and third generations - in poverty and indebted to them through various welfare social programs); who want to remove God from our schools, businesses and national monuments...the list goes on. Black ministers stand in their pulpits on Sunday mornings vigorously urging their congregations to vote for a political party to ensure their sustenance rather than relying upon God to provide it. This is not the actions of a people who believe in God. If we believe something, we act accordingly; otherwise it's an opinion subject to whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.
In America today, people who consider themselves Christians are just as likely to commit adultery, become addicted to pornography, abandon their spouses and children, have an abortion, and break the Commandments as much as a person who is not a Christian. I myself have been guilty of choosing my own way over God's way. I'm a product of my culture, and I know that it becomes very hard for others to distinguish my actions from those of a godless person. I have compromised my faith at the altar of 'self' and have been part of America's turn from God. If I have any claim to Christianity, it's that I know I've been wrong; and in knowing the difference between right and wrong I'm fearful for the direction away from God that America is taking. For certain, God has not turned His back on America; America has turned her back on Him.
There is much fault to be laid at the feet of fundamental Christians, of whom I consider myself one. We focus on a God of justice and pay lip service to the God of love. We desire justice more than we desire to serve one another. If we practiced what we preached, fewer Americans would feel compelled to rely upon our government. If we were more willing to care for our fellow man, we would attact people to Christ. If we had real faith when confronted with problems bigger than our ability to solve, we'd not surrender our freedoms to the government in return for their taking responsibility for us, but we'd turn to God who has the heart of the king in His hand.
George Washington wrote: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency."
(George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789) He went on to say, "The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest purposes. Should, hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted by the Supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction and sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting an inviolable, and if I may so express myself, that no Wall of words, that no mound of parchm[en]t can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other." (George Washington, fragments of the Draft First Inaugural Address, April 1789)
Our founders understood human nature far better than we do today. We have everything to lose if we ignore or deny the importance of faith in God in our private lives as well as in our government.
The Southern United States of America
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, 1780
Some historians believe if the South had won the Civil War, that the United States that we know today would not exist; that we would probably see two or three smaller nations separating Mexico from Canada. Novelist William W. Johnstone wrote an entire series of stories about the aftermath of a global war that left the United States in shambles and how a band of patriots carved out their own part of America to defend so that they could live according to the vision of our founding fathers. The Soutern United States consists of patriots; the liberals take the northeast; and criminal gangs get the west coast in the "Ashes" series envisioned by Johnstone.
In the SUSA, every able bodied citizen is required to work. Every citizen is armed and serves as part of the militia. Laws are few and are based on common sense. There is no welfare state. Widows and orphans are cared for by their neighbors. Justice is quick and certain. Every citizen can read and understand the laws. Lawyers are not in high demand. Lawsuits are not allowed. Crooks are 'invited' to leave, after making restitution. Those who do not agree with the form of government agreed upon by the majority are also encouraged to leave. What you have left are a people truly united in purpose.
Every citizen is allowed to practice their faith as they see fit. Parents are expected to parent their children so that the State doesn't have to. Caring for the environment means that you use only what you need and leave the rest for future generations. Education is required - with great concentration on learning the way the government works and an equal education on how to defend it. Public office is a sacrifice. It doesn't pay well. Only those who care deeply about serving their nation are asked to serve; no one runs for office - it's unseemly and self-serving to do so.
Alliances with other nations are not entered into lightly, so that the SUSA doesn't get involved in disputes that put their own nation at risk. But if attacked, the SUSA responds quickly and without regard to unilateral approval from other nations. Gangs are put down fast and hard.
The media is expected to report the truth, nothing more. An accurate weather report is preferable to an editorial opinion. Celebrity is over-rated. Every citizen is entitled to privacy. Libelous and speculative accounts are treated as an assault upon a citizen with prison time as punishment. Prisoners earn their room and board; it's not a fun place to be.
Visitors from other nations are free to visit, but if they want to stay they've got to prove their good intentions by serving in the militia for at least four years, during which time they undergo extensive background investigation and constant supervision. Promotions in the military are based upon experience and performance, not upon political appointments or social status.
The citizens of the SUSA are fiercely independent and protective of their own. Character is paramount. Loyalty, honesty, and courage are expected of all. Bad character is punished. Mistakes are forgiven, but not forgotten.
I beleive there are many Americans who would choose to live under SUSA rather than under the government we've allowed to control us today. I would. And should America ever split geographically, I hope that the conservatives claim the warm, fertile lands of the South where we can create for ourselves a simpler lifestle; one that permits the time necessary to commune with God and live according to those ways more conducive to liberty and selflessness.
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, 1780
Some historians believe if the South had won the Civil War, that the United States that we know today would not exist; that we would probably see two or three smaller nations separating Mexico from Canada. Novelist William W. Johnstone wrote an entire series of stories about the aftermath of a global war that left the United States in shambles and how a band of patriots carved out their own part of America to defend so that they could live according to the vision of our founding fathers. The Soutern United States consists of patriots; the liberals take the northeast; and criminal gangs get the west coast in the "Ashes" series envisioned by Johnstone.
In the SUSA, every able bodied citizen is required to work. Every citizen is armed and serves as part of the militia. Laws are few and are based on common sense. There is no welfare state. Widows and orphans are cared for by their neighbors. Justice is quick and certain. Every citizen can read and understand the laws. Lawyers are not in high demand. Lawsuits are not allowed. Crooks are 'invited' to leave, after making restitution. Those who do not agree with the form of government agreed upon by the majority are also encouraged to leave. What you have left are a people truly united in purpose.
Every citizen is allowed to practice their faith as they see fit. Parents are expected to parent their children so that the State doesn't have to. Caring for the environment means that you use only what you need and leave the rest for future generations. Education is required - with great concentration on learning the way the government works and an equal education on how to defend it. Public office is a sacrifice. It doesn't pay well. Only those who care deeply about serving their nation are asked to serve; no one runs for office - it's unseemly and self-serving to do so.
Alliances with other nations are not entered into lightly, so that the SUSA doesn't get involved in disputes that put their own nation at risk. But if attacked, the SUSA responds quickly and without regard to unilateral approval from other nations. Gangs are put down fast and hard.
The media is expected to report the truth, nothing more. An accurate weather report is preferable to an editorial opinion. Celebrity is over-rated. Every citizen is entitled to privacy. Libelous and speculative accounts are treated as an assault upon a citizen with prison time as punishment. Prisoners earn their room and board; it's not a fun place to be.
Visitors from other nations are free to visit, but if they want to stay they've got to prove their good intentions by serving in the militia for at least four years, during which time they undergo extensive background investigation and constant supervision. Promotions in the military are based upon experience and performance, not upon political appointments or social status.
The citizens of the SUSA are fiercely independent and protective of their own. Character is paramount. Loyalty, honesty, and courage are expected of all. Bad character is punished. Mistakes are forgiven, but not forgotten.
I beleive there are many Americans who would choose to live under SUSA rather than under the government we've allowed to control us today. I would. And should America ever split geographically, I hope that the conservatives claim the warm, fertile lands of the South where we can create for ourselves a simpler lifestle; one that permits the time necessary to commune with God and live according to those ways more conducive to liberty and selflessness.
Getting Unstuck
A few years ago, when my youngest daughter was about 12 years of age, money was a bit tight as Christmas approached and I struggled to come up with something special for her Christmas gift. I decided to write her a story - something she could keep over the years that would remind her of the good times we've had as she's grown up. I also wanted to include some fatherly advice that would help her avoid some of my mistakes.
That first story was about a talking pelican named Peter. We had made a trip to the Outer Banks that summer, and I thought that including something we'd shared would make the story more real to her. 2003 had been a particularly trying year for us. My mother had just passed and it would be our first Christmas without her. Peter's job was to help my daughter deal with our loss, so he told her the story of Oscar the oyster and how this special crustacean used something that caused him much pain to create something of great beauty and value - a perfect dark blue pearl. Peter's goal was to focus Laura's pain on the good memories she had of her grandmother. It was cathartic to me as well.
The next Christmas, Laura's story was about a talking brown bear who taught her that courage was doing the right thing in the presence of fear. That summer we'd gone to the Smoky Mountains, so John, the talking brown bear, was a natural way of reminding Laura of our trip.
Three years ago I was struggling for an idea for Laura's stories. She's growing older and reading at a much more sophisticated level than I could write. I came upon the idea of a sequel to the novel I've not yet written - a story based on a dream I had several years earlier. This story was different because it was more of an action/adventure story and I had to be careful not to write myself into a corner by giving away too much of Sea Tree before it's actually written. "Beyond Sea Tree - A Smoky Mountain Adventure" turned out to be bigger than I at first thought and became a trilogy. The next year she got the second installment at Christmas, but because I was working two jobs most of last year I was unable to complete her story in time for this past Christmas. I've had to promise to give it to her for her graduation this January. Laura said it had better be extra good for having to wait eighteen months for her finished story.
The problem is that I've been stuck. Not one page has been written, and graduation is only nine weeks from now. The first two installments were simple narrative with no fatherly advice that Laura can remember me by. Only last night did the glimmer of an idea come as to the message I want to leave with my daughter. The past couple of years have been a bit stressful for my baby girl. She's reached the point where she's realized that her childhood is just about over and she's not sure she's ready to become an adult. She's stressing over whether she will get into Appalachian State University so she can be with her best friend Erin. I certainly hope she gets in, even though we still don't know how we're going to pay for her education. If my daughter is going to leave home however, I want her to be with her best friend. Erin is the kind of friend every parent wants their children to have.
What fatherly advice should I give my daughter at this point in her life? It must be relevant, and most of all, truthful. Here's what I came up with: It's not enough to say that things will get better, that tomorrow will be brighter, that what she's experiencing today is just a phase she's going through. The truth is that good things don't happen by accident. We live in a broken world. Kindness and charity are a decision, not a natural response to what life throws our way. Love is a gift. By limiting our own desires and by submitting our wills to someone or something besides ourselves, we consciously make this world a better place than we found it.
I could go on to say that if Laura wants to really live her own life, she needs to not simply hope for the best - that things will work out in her favor. No, if she wants good things to happen for her, she's got to do things that attract those dreams she has for herself. Simply letting life happen and reacting to it is a waste of our precious time. She doesn't want to end up in stuck with a life that is repeated too often by far too many: get up-go to work-go home-go to sleep-get up-go to work-survive until the weekend-it's over before you know it-back to work.
That's where I've been most of my adult life. Like a hamster on a wheel - running as fast as I can and getting nowhere fast; with no reward other than graying hair, deeper wrinkles, and less energy to maintain the pace. What I want to do in the final chapter of Beyond Sea Tree is to make sure Laura doesn't get on the wheel that goes nowhere. The good things we dream of aren't on that wheel. She's got to go find them.
So now I've discovered how her story will end. I've only to put it on paper. I'm getting unstuck. Once this story is behind me, I'm free to work on one other old project - a self-help book I wrote and published that never sold. This time I'm going to rewrite and publish it online for free. Money is still tight at Christmas. Maybe by giving away what I do have I'll make room for something better. In the end, I hope the stories both written and lived, will tell a tale worth remembering.
That first story was about a talking pelican named Peter. We had made a trip to the Outer Banks that summer, and I thought that including something we'd shared would make the story more real to her. 2003 had been a particularly trying year for us. My mother had just passed and it would be our first Christmas without her. Peter's job was to help my daughter deal with our loss, so he told her the story of Oscar the oyster and how this special crustacean used something that caused him much pain to create something of great beauty and value - a perfect dark blue pearl. Peter's goal was to focus Laura's pain on the good memories she had of her grandmother. It was cathartic to me as well.
The next Christmas, Laura's story was about a talking brown bear who taught her that courage was doing the right thing in the presence of fear. That summer we'd gone to the Smoky Mountains, so John, the talking brown bear, was a natural way of reminding Laura of our trip.
Three years ago I was struggling for an idea for Laura's stories. She's growing older and reading at a much more sophisticated level than I could write. I came upon the idea of a sequel to the novel I've not yet written - a story based on a dream I had several years earlier. This story was different because it was more of an action/adventure story and I had to be careful not to write myself into a corner by giving away too much of Sea Tree before it's actually written. "Beyond Sea Tree - A Smoky Mountain Adventure" turned out to be bigger than I at first thought and became a trilogy. The next year she got the second installment at Christmas, but because I was working two jobs most of last year I was unable to complete her story in time for this past Christmas. I've had to promise to give it to her for her graduation this January. Laura said it had better be extra good for having to wait eighteen months for her finished story.
The problem is that I've been stuck. Not one page has been written, and graduation is only nine weeks from now. The first two installments were simple narrative with no fatherly advice that Laura can remember me by. Only last night did the glimmer of an idea come as to the message I want to leave with my daughter. The past couple of years have been a bit stressful for my baby girl. She's reached the point where she's realized that her childhood is just about over and she's not sure she's ready to become an adult. She's stressing over whether she will get into Appalachian State University so she can be with her best friend Erin. I certainly hope she gets in, even though we still don't know how we're going to pay for her education. If my daughter is going to leave home however, I want her to be with her best friend. Erin is the kind of friend every parent wants their children to have.
What fatherly advice should I give my daughter at this point in her life? It must be relevant, and most of all, truthful. Here's what I came up with: It's not enough to say that things will get better, that tomorrow will be brighter, that what she's experiencing today is just a phase she's going through. The truth is that good things don't happen by accident. We live in a broken world. Kindness and charity are a decision, not a natural response to what life throws our way. Love is a gift. By limiting our own desires and by submitting our wills to someone or something besides ourselves, we consciously make this world a better place than we found it.
I could go on to say that if Laura wants to really live her own life, she needs to not simply hope for the best - that things will work out in her favor. No, if she wants good things to happen for her, she's got to do things that attract those dreams she has for herself. Simply letting life happen and reacting to it is a waste of our precious time. She doesn't want to end up in stuck with a life that is repeated too often by far too many: get up-go to work-go home-go to sleep-get up-go to work-survive until the weekend-it's over before you know it-back to work.
That's where I've been most of my adult life. Like a hamster on a wheel - running as fast as I can and getting nowhere fast; with no reward other than graying hair, deeper wrinkles, and less energy to maintain the pace. What I want to do in the final chapter of Beyond Sea Tree is to make sure Laura doesn't get on the wheel that goes nowhere. The good things we dream of aren't on that wheel. She's got to go find them.
So now I've discovered how her story will end. I've only to put it on paper. I'm getting unstuck. Once this story is behind me, I'm free to work on one other old project - a self-help book I wrote and published that never sold. This time I'm going to rewrite and publish it online for free. Money is still tight at Christmas. Maybe by giving away what I do have I'll make room for something better. In the end, I hope the stories both written and lived, will tell a tale worth remembering.
The 5,000 Year Leap
America is in the middle of a crisis and it's easy to be overwhelmed with all the bad news coming at us. We're made to feel that we have no control over what's going to happen to us; and we're spending a lot of time blaming someone else. That time could be better spent doing the things we can affect. The good news is, there is a plan that will solve most of our problems. It's not a new plan; it's the original plan - one that took 5,000 years to learn. It's as relevant today as it was in 1776. The problem is that too few Americans know the plan well enough. We can do something about it - we can educate ourselves. And once we know there's a different path than the one we seem hell-bent on following; we can do some specific things that will turn the nation around. Not only that, but we will positively affect the entire world if we go where the Founders pointed us. Give them to your teenagers so that they will learn the truth about what made America the greatest nation on God's earth. The 5,000 Year Leap is probably the finest treatise on the formation of the United States that I've ever read.
Amazon and other online outlets have been flooded with orders for Dr. W. Cleon Skousen's book, "The 5000 Year Leap". Recently, Glenn Beck promoted the book on his 9.12 Project program. People ordering the book from Glenn's site and directly from Amazon are complaining that they're not getting the updated, official version of the book as shown on Glenn's site.
James Pratt recently secured the rights to publish Dr. Skousen's book from his family. This version, the only official version, is only available at www.usconstitutioncoach.com. You need to get this book. There are plenty of copies available at the link above.
I follow James' blog (link on the right). James writes about the things that are important and relevant in my life - and I think in the lives of my friends. His personal story is inspiring and provides hope in the potential for every human being. I encourage everyone to start following James Pratt. He's got some great stuff planned for the near future. For now, start with The 5000 Year Leap, and if you really want the ultimate U.S. history collection - order the U.S. Constitution Coach Kit. Once you own these resources you'll be among the few who truly understand the miracle that is America.
Amazon and other online outlets have been flooded with orders for Dr. W. Cleon Skousen's book, "The 5000 Year Leap". Recently, Glenn Beck promoted the book on his 9.12 Project program. People ordering the book from Glenn's site and directly from Amazon are complaining that they're not getting the updated, official version of the book as shown on Glenn's site.
James Pratt recently secured the rights to publish Dr. Skousen's book from his family. This version, the only official version, is only available at www.usconstitutioncoach.com. You need to get this book. There are plenty of copies available at the link above.
I follow James' blog (link on the right). James writes about the things that are important and relevant in my life - and I think in the lives of my friends. His personal story is inspiring and provides hope in the potential for every human being. I encourage everyone to start following James Pratt. He's got some great stuff planned for the near future. For now, start with The 5000 Year Leap, and if you really want the ultimate U.S. history collection - order the U.S. Constitution Coach Kit. Once you own these resources you'll be among the few who truly understand the miracle that is America.
SFC Tart and Other Heroes
There's a guy on Facebook who started a group - Soldiers Aren't Heroes. He's catching a lot of flack, deservedly, from Facebook fans. I signed up for the group to get his hateful post removed from Facebook, not because he doesn't have the right to express his opinions, but simply because he's wrong. People have this notion that they have the right to do whatever they want, but that's not true: we only have the right to do the right thing. Man may make laws that permit people to do the wrong thing, but these laws are secondary to natural and spiritual laws, just as the law of aerodynamics doesn't negate the law of gravity.
I spent 24 years in the Army. These were my most productive years so far - but I'm not done living yet. Although I never fought in battle during those years, I did serve with combat veterans who are indeed heroes in my book. While stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, I served with a Medal of Honor winner; a former Marine sniper who had served three tours in VietNam before switching over to the Army and volunteering for his fourth tour.
Our Command Sergeant Major was the youngest CSM in the Army at the time, also having served multiple tours of duty in combat. I was in the Sergeant Major's office changing some light bulbs one morning when a Major walked in and demanded something silly and trivial. CSM Sinkata looked at the Major and replied, "Sir, with all due respect, get the hell out of my office." The Major was shocked and angered and marched into the Brigade Commander's office to complain about the Sergeant Major. After listening to the Major, the Colonel looked the Major in the eye and said, "You heard my Sergeant Major, get the hell out of my office too."
I served as a Platoon Sergeant in Bravo Company, 252nd Armor in Schweinfurt, Germany - the cesspool of the 3rd Infantry Division, in the early 1980s. Of all my tours, this was the worst. We were only 30 miles from what is now the Czech Republic and were always in the field either on alert or training. Our barracks were in terrible shape. Most rooms had no doors. Our motor pool was usually a mud puddle, and our compound was surrounded by beet fields. On days when the wind was blowing across our barracks, the farmers would use manure spreaders to fertilize their fields.
The only bright spot during my year in 252 was Sergeant First Class William Tart. SFC Tart was tall, thin, and surly. He had no real friends, but he had the respect of senior NCOs and officers. Many times we would be ordered to do something stupid, for no other reason than because a general was going to be visiting or some BS reason. More often than not, Sergeant Tart's platoon would be tasked with some particularly odious detail, probably because the staff and command knew that SFC Tart would get it done. He might not like it. He might tell you what he thought of you and your stupid ideas, but when it came down to it, SFC Tart followed orders. When he stood before his men in formation to give them the bad news, it wasn't coming from the First Sergeant, the Platoon Leader, the Commander, or someone else: the orders for his platoon came from him.
Sergeant Tart's men didn't like him. Neither did the men in other platoons. They didn't know that he stood up for them and that he often was able to get his superiors to listen to his advice, thus making their lives easier. I was the only NCO that Sergeant Tart felt comfortable talking to, probably because he knew I was missing my family back in the States as much as he missed his. SFC Tart carried a picture of his family. He worried about them, especially during that time when President Carter was in office and the military pay had been frozen for three years, gas was rationed, inflation and unemployment back in the States was in the double digits. Here we were thousands of miles away from our families, unable to do more than send our paychecks home so our families could survive. The way that Sergeant Tart chose to deal with his worries was to immerse himself in his work and to be the best platoon sergeant he could be. He might not have been the most personable leader in the Army, but he was the most professional that I served with. He cared about his men as much as he cared about accomplishing his missions. SFC Tart's men were the most proficient, most professional of any platoon in Bravo Company...or the battalion for that matter.
There are other soldiers that I served with who impressed me with their courage, loyalty, and professionalism. Most I can't even recall their names. There was Sergeant Joseph Vickers, with whom I'd sit and play chess during the middle of the night while monitoring Soviet radio traffic from the basement of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. There was Captain Wilbur A. Curran, the finest commander I ever served under. A former pilot in VietNam, CPT Curran was one of those laid-back officers the men loved. He promoted me to Sergeant. I still have the photo.
CPT Curran was succeeded by CPT Lester Crapps, the worst commander I ever served under. The man was fat, but he could run the daylights out of us. CPT Crapps had no personal life, so he spent his making our lives miserable. As is the way in the Army, CPT Crapps messed up, so much they had to move him up so they could keep an eye on him. I think that's the way it works in a lot of government positions.
Darren What's-his-name on Facebook claims that soldiers are not heroes; that they are stupid and don't know what they are fighting for. But I've been there, and I know otherwise. Soldiers fight wars to win the peace. Soldiers don't fight for politicians, not even for the President. Soldiers fight for something bigger - our nation and our liberties. You won't see tears running down a soldier's face because he's proud of who's in office; but you will see tears when the flag passes and the National Anthem is played. A soldier will risk his or her life because he knows that his team mate will risk their's. A soldier will snap a smart salute when he passes a superior, but his arm will rise slowly, linger on the brim of his cap, and lower ever so slowly to his side when he presents the flag to a widow or a mother who's lost her son in battle. A soldier will not leave a fallen comrade, and will do everything within his power to avoid harming the innocent. Unless one has served, they cannot know the sense of pride a service member has in being part of a team, of serving a righteous cause - freedom over tyranny - no matter where it rears its ugly head. Just getting up and putting on their boots every day is more than most Americans are willing to do; so yes - soldiers are heroes.
I spent 24 years in the Army. These were my most productive years so far - but I'm not done living yet. Although I never fought in battle during those years, I did serve with combat veterans who are indeed heroes in my book. While stationed at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, I served with a Medal of Honor winner; a former Marine sniper who had served three tours in VietNam before switching over to the Army and volunteering for his fourth tour.
Our Command Sergeant Major was the youngest CSM in the Army at the time, also having served multiple tours of duty in combat. I was in the Sergeant Major's office changing some light bulbs one morning when a Major walked in and demanded something silly and trivial. CSM Sinkata looked at the Major and replied, "Sir, with all due respect, get the hell out of my office." The Major was shocked and angered and marched into the Brigade Commander's office to complain about the Sergeant Major. After listening to the Major, the Colonel looked the Major in the eye and said, "You heard my Sergeant Major, get the hell out of my office too."
I served as a Platoon Sergeant in Bravo Company, 252nd Armor in Schweinfurt, Germany - the cesspool of the 3rd Infantry Division, in the early 1980s. Of all my tours, this was the worst. We were only 30 miles from what is now the Czech Republic and were always in the field either on alert or training. Our barracks were in terrible shape. Most rooms had no doors. Our motor pool was usually a mud puddle, and our compound was surrounded by beet fields. On days when the wind was blowing across our barracks, the farmers would use manure spreaders to fertilize their fields.
The only bright spot during my year in 252 was Sergeant First Class William Tart. SFC Tart was tall, thin, and surly. He had no real friends, but he had the respect of senior NCOs and officers. Many times we would be ordered to do something stupid, for no other reason than because a general was going to be visiting or some BS reason. More often than not, Sergeant Tart's platoon would be tasked with some particularly odious detail, probably because the staff and command knew that SFC Tart would get it done. He might not like it. He might tell you what he thought of you and your stupid ideas, but when it came down to it, SFC Tart followed orders. When he stood before his men in formation to give them the bad news, it wasn't coming from the First Sergeant, the Platoon Leader, the Commander, or someone else: the orders for his platoon came from him.
Sergeant Tart's men didn't like him. Neither did the men in other platoons. They didn't know that he stood up for them and that he often was able to get his superiors to listen to his advice, thus making their lives easier. I was the only NCO that Sergeant Tart felt comfortable talking to, probably because he knew I was missing my family back in the States as much as he missed his. SFC Tart carried a picture of his family. He worried about them, especially during that time when President Carter was in office and the military pay had been frozen for three years, gas was rationed, inflation and unemployment back in the States was in the double digits. Here we were thousands of miles away from our families, unable to do more than send our paychecks home so our families could survive. The way that Sergeant Tart chose to deal with his worries was to immerse himself in his work and to be the best platoon sergeant he could be. He might not have been the most personable leader in the Army, but he was the most professional that I served with. He cared about his men as much as he cared about accomplishing his missions. SFC Tart's men were the most proficient, most professional of any platoon in Bravo Company...or the battalion for that matter.
There are other soldiers that I served with who impressed me with their courage, loyalty, and professionalism. Most I can't even recall their names. There was Sergeant Joseph Vickers, with whom I'd sit and play chess during the middle of the night while monitoring Soviet radio traffic from the basement of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin. There was Captain Wilbur A. Curran, the finest commander I ever served under. A former pilot in VietNam, CPT Curran was one of those laid-back officers the men loved. He promoted me to Sergeant. I still have the photo.
CPT Curran was succeeded by CPT Lester Crapps, the worst commander I ever served under. The man was fat, but he could run the daylights out of us. CPT Crapps had no personal life, so he spent his making our lives miserable. As is the way in the Army, CPT Crapps messed up, so much they had to move him up so they could keep an eye on him. I think that's the way it works in a lot of government positions.
Darren What's-his-name on Facebook claims that soldiers are not heroes; that they are stupid and don't know what they are fighting for. But I've been there, and I know otherwise. Soldiers fight wars to win the peace. Soldiers don't fight for politicians, not even for the President. Soldiers fight for something bigger - our nation and our liberties. You won't see tears running down a soldier's face because he's proud of who's in office; but you will see tears when the flag passes and the National Anthem is played. A soldier will risk his or her life because he knows that his team mate will risk their's. A soldier will snap a smart salute when he passes a superior, but his arm will rise slowly, linger on the brim of his cap, and lower ever so slowly to his side when he presents the flag to a widow or a mother who's lost her son in battle. A soldier will not leave a fallen comrade, and will do everything within his power to avoid harming the innocent. Unless one has served, they cannot know the sense of pride a service member has in being part of a team, of serving a righteous cause - freedom over tyranny - no matter where it rears its ugly head. Just getting up and putting on their boots every day is more than most Americans are willing to do; so yes - soldiers are heroes.
Quotes from the Sages and Modern Thought
1. “Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” - Robert Louis Stevenson
2. "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State." - James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 25, 1788 - considered the 'father of the Constitution'
3. "With respect to the words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators." - James Madison
4. Thomas Jefferson's prediction: "The natural progress of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield."
5. "There is in the nature of government an impatience of control that disposes those invested with power to look with an evil eye upon all external attempts to restrain or direct its operations. This has its origin in the love of power. Representatives of the people are not superior to the people themselves." - Alexander Hamilton - Federalist Paper No.15, 1787.
6. "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison - 1788
7. "I place economy among the first and most important of republic virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." -Thomas Jefferson to William Plumer, 1816
8. "The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson
9. "Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrants." - James Madison
10. "Judge the future by the past." - Patrick Henry - 1736-1799
11. "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations - entangling alliances with none." - Thomas Jefferson, 1801 inaugural address.
12. "America... well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extraction, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force... She might become dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit." - John Quincy Adams; Address, 4 July 1821
13. "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all... The Nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest ... Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world." - George Washington, Farewell Address, 17 Sept. 1796.
14. "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." - Thomas Jefferson
15. "No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representative of the people is superior to the people." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 78.
16. "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." - John Quincy Adams, 6th President of USA.
17. "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Alexander Tyler (When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Scottish Historian/Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over two thousand years previous to that time. NOTE > some have questioned the source of this quote, and that the last name was 'Tytler', not Tyler)
18. "On every question of construction (of The Constitution), let us carry ourselves back to the time when The Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." - Thomas Jefferson
19. "A small leak can sink a great ship." - Benjamin Franklin
20. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke 1729-1797
21. "Aided by a little sophistry on the words 'general welfare', [they claim] a right to do not only the acts to effect that which are specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they shall think or pretend will be for the general welfare." --- Thomas Jefferson 1825 to W. Giles.
22. "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul." - Mark 8:36
23. "No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence." - George Washington to James Madison 1789.
24. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
"Thomas Jefferson - letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802).
25. "...There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. ... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing." - Daniel Webster, June 1, 1837
26. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson
27. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” --Thomas Jefferson
28. "It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder." Frederic Bastiat's famous economics book The Law, published in 1850
29. "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." - Mohandas K. Ghandi
30. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln ??
31. "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato 429-347 B.C.
32. "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." - William Pitt (1759-1806)
33. "Trust but verify" - Ronald Reagan, U.S. President, 1980-88
34. "The only proper purpose of government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of government are: to protect you from criminals; the military, to protect you from foreign invaders; and, the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law." - 'Atlas Shrugged', by renowned philosopher Ayn Rand, 1957.
35. "The decline of great powers is caused by simple economic over extension." - Paul Kennedy 'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers - economic change and military conflicts 1500-2000'
36. "Government is best that governs least." - Henry Thoreau, in 'Civil Disobedience' -'people should not permit governments to overrule'
37. "Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens against crimes against themselves or their property. When government -- in pursuit of good intentions -- tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the costs come in inefficiency, lack of innovation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. It is my view that what is important is cutting government spending, however spending is financed. A so-called deficit is a disguised and hidden form of taxation. The real burden on the public is what government spends (and mandates others to spend). As I have said repeatedly, I would rather have government spend one trillion dollars with a deficit of a half a trillion than have government spend two trillion dollars with no deficit." - Milton Friedman, Noble laureate
38. "The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. Both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists." - Ernest Hemingway - 1899-1961 - Nobel laureate Literature 1954
39. “By adopting programs to redistribute substantial amounts of income, a nation guarantees that its government will become more powerful and invasive in other ways.” - Robert Higgs
40. "It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion. If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." - Dr. Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945.
2. "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State." - James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 25, 1788 - considered the 'father of the Constitution'
3. "With respect to the words 'general welfare,' I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators." - James Madison
4. Thomas Jefferson's prediction: "The natural progress of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield."
5. "There is in the nature of government an impatience of control that disposes those invested with power to look with an evil eye upon all external attempts to restrain or direct its operations. This has its origin in the love of power. Representatives of the people are not superior to the people themselves." - Alexander Hamilton - Federalist Paper No.15, 1787.
6. "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison - 1788
7. "I place economy among the first and most important of republic virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." -Thomas Jefferson to William Plumer, 1816
8. "The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson
9. "Democracy was the right of the people to choose their own tyrants." - James Madison
10. "Judge the future by the past." - Patrick Henry - 1736-1799
11. "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations - entangling alliances with none." - Thomas Jefferson, 1801 inaugural address.
12. "America... well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extraction, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force... She might become dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit." - John Quincy Adams; Address, 4 July 1821
13. "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all... The Nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest ... Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world." - George Washington, Farewell Address, 17 Sept. 1796.
14. "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." - Thomas Jefferson
15. "No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representative of the people is superior to the people." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper No. 78.
16. "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." - John Quincy Adams, 6th President of USA.
17. "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Alexander Tyler (When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Scottish Historian/Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over two thousand years previous to that time. NOTE > some have questioned the source of this quote, and that the last name was 'Tytler', not Tyler)
18. "On every question of construction (of The Constitution), let us carry ourselves back to the time when The Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." - Thomas Jefferson
19. "A small leak can sink a great ship." - Benjamin Franklin
20. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke 1729-1797
21. "Aided by a little sophistry on the words 'general welfare', [they claim] a right to do not only the acts to effect that which are specifically enumerated and permitted, but whatsoever they shall think or pretend will be for the general welfare." --- Thomas Jefferson 1825 to W. Giles.
22. "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world but lose his own soul." - Mark 8:36
23. "No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence." - George Washington to James Madison 1789.
24. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
"Thomas Jefferson - letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802).
25. "...There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. ... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing." - Daniel Webster, June 1, 1837
26. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson
27. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” --Thomas Jefferson
28. "It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder." Frederic Bastiat's famous economics book The Law, published in 1850
29. "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." - Mohandas K. Ghandi
30. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all the people some of the time, but not all the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln ??
31. "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato 429-347 B.C.
32. "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." - William Pitt (1759-1806)
33. "Trust but verify" - Ronald Reagan, U.S. President, 1980-88
34. "The only proper purpose of government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of government are: to protect you from criminals; the military, to protect you from foreign invaders; and, the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law." - 'Atlas Shrugged', by renowned philosopher Ayn Rand, 1957.
35. "The decline of great powers is caused by simple economic over extension." - Paul Kennedy 'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers - economic change and military conflicts 1500-2000'
36. "Government is best that governs least." - Henry Thoreau, in 'Civil Disobedience' -'people should not permit governments to overrule'
37. "Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens against crimes against themselves or their property. When government -- in pursuit of good intentions -- tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the costs come in inefficiency, lack of innovation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player. It is my view that what is important is cutting government spending, however spending is financed. A so-called deficit is a disguised and hidden form of taxation. The real burden on the public is what government spends (and mandates others to spend). As I have said repeatedly, I would rather have government spend one trillion dollars with a deficit of a half a trillion than have government spend two trillion dollars with no deficit." - Milton Friedman, Noble laureate
38. "The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. Both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists." - Ernest Hemingway - 1899-1961 - Nobel laureate Literature 1954
39. “By adopting programs to redistribute substantial amounts of income, a nation guarantees that its government will become more powerful and invasive in other ways.” - Robert Higgs
40. "It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion. If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State." - Dr. Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945.
Ronald Reagan - The Last of America's Great Visionaries
"There can be no question that Mr. Reagan was one of the greatest visionaries since Lincoln to occupy the presidency of the United States" - December 4, 2000 - by Steven G. Calabresi, a professor of law at Northwestern University and National Co-Chairman of the Federalist Society.
History, unless it is rewritten, will record Ronald Reagan as the exception to more than a century of mediocre Commanders In Chief. As George Washington set the moral bar after which no other President has been able to attain; so Ronald Reagan set the economic and patriotic bar that no President since him has even approached. Certainly we are a nation divided against itself as greatly as it was during Lincoln's tenure; and our economy has retreated below that of what Ronald Reagan himself inherited.
The Reagan era was:
1. The first era in 50 years that the private sector share of the economy was not reduced by government expanding its share of the economic pie faster than economic growth. In fact, government's share was reduced for the first time. Reagan believed that government was part of the problem, not the solution to America's problems.
2. Federal social spending ratios stopped rising, and fell, for the first time in over 3 decades. Lyndon Johnson's social programs, aggravated by Carter's ineptness and reluctance to make hard and necessary decisions had Americans facing double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, and double digit mortgage rates prior to Ronald Reagan taking office.
3. The early 1980s was the first interruption in the rapid up-swing of federal regulatory activity spending in 2 decades. In fact, during the 1980s, spending declined in real terms - - only to resume its fast upward pace in the 1990s.
4. Taxes were reduced by large amounts, and the economy expanded together with a new climate of competition and regulatory burden reductions. This resulted in higher employment, which in turn provided greater revenue to the government.
5. A decade of declining real median family income was reversed to the upside. In 1978, I purchased my first home - at a 24% interest rate. When rates dropped under President Reagan and I refinanced, my disposable income increased by 16%.
6. Double digit inflation and interest rates were eliminated as mentioned above.
7. Debt increased due to lack of congressional spending cuts following tax cut approval, but debt ratios were higher 9 years later. Still, when President Reagan left office, the debt ratio was 54% compared to 71% under President Clinton.
8. International terrorism was faced head-on. While nations like Iran and Libya thumbed their noses at President Carter, they saw in Ronald Reagan someone willing to stand up to them. The Soviets found out that Reagan was not only able to build a larger missle defense system but was willing to use them in defense of our nation.
9. The Evil Empire was brought to its knees, without increasing the defense spending ratio, ending a 40-year cold war. I served in Berlin, Germany during the Carter years. Berlin was the spy-capital of the world then. Anytime Americans visited East Berlin we were shadowed by Soviet and East German military. 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain, the Soviets in East Berlin were brazen. On one occasion, they informed us that they would fire a dummy round into our compound to prove how powerful they were. As stated, a round fired from over 20 miles away landed on the 40 yard line of our football field. Our mission was not to defend Berlin should an attack come, but to destroy intelligence before the enemy could get to it. We were expected to hold off an attack for no more than 30 minutes before being overrun. A decade later, Ronald Reagan had the Soviets tearing down the Berlin Wall and the nation of Germany reunited. This was preceeded by the mighty Soviet army being forced out of Afghanistan by freedom fighters supported by American weapons and money. Ronald Reagan was not afraid to tackle those who prey on the weak or who threatened democracy.
10. A 2-decade slide in voter turnout and citizen trust in government was reversed, only to collapse to new lows in the 1990s. Ronald Reagan won by embarrassingly wide numbers in both elections. That record was only reversed in the last election as unprecedented numbers turned out to vote, not so much for President Obama, but for change that would hopefully improve the lives of angry and frightened Americans. So far that change has not been positive.
During the last election, many candidates - even those on of the opposite party evoked Ronald Reagan in an effort to appeal to the American voter. Regardless of party, Ronald Reagan was respected and loved by Americans for his positive attitude, his humor, his great ability to communicate, his steadfast focus on defeating communism, and the way he treated everyone around him. People knew that Ronald Reagan cared about them and about America. He had confidence in the people and in America's potential for good in this world.
We need another Ronald Reagan...but he, or she, has yet to step up. Perhaps that's as it should be. George Washington reluctantly left retirement three times to serve our country - each time because he knew that someone had to lead. We must be careful to not lightly entrust our freedoms to those who wave their hands most frantically for the position. Let us look towards that person who's vision in not based on their ideals but on America's founding principles of smaller government, more liberties for the citizen, to live within our means rather than indebtedness, who will protect our nation and represent America abroad as the apex of civilization where free men and women cooperate for a greater good.
History, unless it is rewritten, will record Ronald Reagan as the exception to more than a century of mediocre Commanders In Chief. As George Washington set the moral bar after which no other President has been able to attain; so Ronald Reagan set the economic and patriotic bar that no President since him has even approached. Certainly we are a nation divided against itself as greatly as it was during Lincoln's tenure; and our economy has retreated below that of what Ronald Reagan himself inherited.
The Reagan era was:
1. The first era in 50 years that the private sector share of the economy was not reduced by government expanding its share of the economic pie faster than economic growth. In fact, government's share was reduced for the first time. Reagan believed that government was part of the problem, not the solution to America's problems.
2. Federal social spending ratios stopped rising, and fell, for the first time in over 3 decades. Lyndon Johnson's social programs, aggravated by Carter's ineptness and reluctance to make hard and necessary decisions had Americans facing double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, and double digit mortgage rates prior to Ronald Reagan taking office.
3. The early 1980s was the first interruption in the rapid up-swing of federal regulatory activity spending in 2 decades. In fact, during the 1980s, spending declined in real terms - - only to resume its fast upward pace in the 1990s.
4. Taxes were reduced by large amounts, and the economy expanded together with a new climate of competition and regulatory burden reductions. This resulted in higher employment, which in turn provided greater revenue to the government.
5. A decade of declining real median family income was reversed to the upside. In 1978, I purchased my first home - at a 24% interest rate. When rates dropped under President Reagan and I refinanced, my disposable income increased by 16%.
6. Double digit inflation and interest rates were eliminated as mentioned above.
7. Debt increased due to lack of congressional spending cuts following tax cut approval, but debt ratios were higher 9 years later. Still, when President Reagan left office, the debt ratio was 54% compared to 71% under President Clinton.
8. International terrorism was faced head-on. While nations like Iran and Libya thumbed their noses at President Carter, they saw in Ronald Reagan someone willing to stand up to them. The Soviets found out that Reagan was not only able to build a larger missle defense system but was willing to use them in defense of our nation.
9. The Evil Empire was brought to its knees, without increasing the defense spending ratio, ending a 40-year cold war. I served in Berlin, Germany during the Carter years. Berlin was the spy-capital of the world then. Anytime Americans visited East Berlin we were shadowed by Soviet and East German military. 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain, the Soviets in East Berlin were brazen. On one occasion, they informed us that they would fire a dummy round into our compound to prove how powerful they were. As stated, a round fired from over 20 miles away landed on the 40 yard line of our football field. Our mission was not to defend Berlin should an attack come, but to destroy intelligence before the enemy could get to it. We were expected to hold off an attack for no more than 30 minutes before being overrun. A decade later, Ronald Reagan had the Soviets tearing down the Berlin Wall and the nation of Germany reunited. This was preceeded by the mighty Soviet army being forced out of Afghanistan by freedom fighters supported by American weapons and money. Ronald Reagan was not afraid to tackle those who prey on the weak or who threatened democracy.
10. A 2-decade slide in voter turnout and citizen trust in government was reversed, only to collapse to new lows in the 1990s. Ronald Reagan won by embarrassingly wide numbers in both elections. That record was only reversed in the last election as unprecedented numbers turned out to vote, not so much for President Obama, but for change that would hopefully improve the lives of angry and frightened Americans. So far that change has not been positive.
During the last election, many candidates - even those on of the opposite party evoked Ronald Reagan in an effort to appeal to the American voter. Regardless of party, Ronald Reagan was respected and loved by Americans for his positive attitude, his humor, his great ability to communicate, his steadfast focus on defeating communism, and the way he treated everyone around him. People knew that Ronald Reagan cared about them and about America. He had confidence in the people and in America's potential for good in this world.
We need another Ronald Reagan...but he, or she, has yet to step up. Perhaps that's as it should be. George Washington reluctantly left retirement three times to serve our country - each time because he knew that someone had to lead. We must be careful to not lightly entrust our freedoms to those who wave their hands most frantically for the position. Let us look towards that person who's vision in not based on their ideals but on America's founding principles of smaller government, more liberties for the citizen, to live within our means rather than indebtedness, who will protect our nation and represent America abroad as the apex of civilization where free men and women cooperate for a greater good.
Glorifying the Father
My favorite blog is Woodshavings, written by my friend and pastor Jimmy Chalmers. Jimmy has been down in New Orleans helping families rebuild their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Jimmy posts daily updates on his blog, keeping the rest of us informed on the progress and telling us stories about the human beings behind the statistics. Recently Jimmy has had the priviledge of working with groups of teenagers who forego their spring breaks and senior trips to do something far more important - helping others. In spite of all the doom and gloom we hear on the news today, there's good things happening, and they are being done by the generation who are inheriting the mess my generation is leaving them. There is hope for America when our young people can grasp what our politicians cannot - that serving others, not having authority over others, is what makes America great. The work being done in NOLA today is being done by volunteers, not by the government. Most of those volunteers are there because they want to serve God. Long after the people of NOLA have given up hope in our government, they can still hope in the Father, who continues to send help their way in the form of pastors and tradesmen and teenagers.
Then the Father blesses those who serve by using the people of NOLA to serve them. Mrs. Phillips and Mrs Holloway and so many grateful recipients of God's army of volunteers turn around and cook for those who came to help. They give God thanks for His provision, they tell their stories so that the rest of us can know the faces behind the statistics.
Together, they all paint a picture of the love of God for His children. He doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with us, but what a wonderful way of inspiring hope where there is none, a sense of accomplishment where there's doubt in our purpose, and love when we think we're in this world all alone.
I'm certain that Jimmy is going to return to his family and friends a changed man. He's been a vital part of what God is doing in people's lives. It's for this time and this place that Jimmy was created; and he is giving his life so that the Father is proven real and relevant and involved in our circumstances. This is the type of cooperation I believe God intended between us and Him; so that whatever is done in Heaven is done here on Earth.
Jimmy posts daily updates on his blog, keeping the rest of us informed on the progress and telling us stories about the human beings behind the statistics. Recently Jimmy has had the priviledge of working with groups of teenagers who forego their spring breaks and senior trips to do something far more important - helping others. In spite of all the doom and gloom we hear on the news today, there's good things happening, and they are being done by the generation who are inheriting the mess my generation is leaving them. There is hope for America when our young people can grasp what our politicians cannot - that serving others, not having authority over others, is what makes America great. The work being done in NOLA today is being done by volunteers, not by the government. Most of those volunteers are there because they want to serve God. Long after the people of NOLA have given up hope in our government, they can still hope in the Father, who continues to send help their way in the form of pastors and tradesmen and teenagers.
Then the Father blesses those who serve by using the people of NOLA to serve them. Mrs. Phillips and Mrs Holloway and so many grateful recipients of God's army of volunteers turn around and cook for those who came to help. They give God thanks for His provision, they tell their stories so that the rest of us can know the faces behind the statistics.
Together, they all paint a picture of the love of God for His children. He doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with us, but what a wonderful way of inspiring hope where there is none, a sense of accomplishment where there's doubt in our purpose, and love when we think we're in this world all alone.
I'm certain that Jimmy is going to return to his family and friends a changed man. He's been a vital part of what God is doing in people's lives. It's for this time and this place that Jimmy was created; and he is giving his life so that the Father is proven real and relevant and involved in our circumstances. This is the type of cooperation I believe God intended between us and Him; so that whatever is done in Heaven is done here on Earth.
Glenn Beck - 9 Principles to Believe In
Glenn Beck, one of the brightest, courageous, and honest reporters in media today has been studying our founding fathers and has come up with 9 principles upon which we can turn America around from our country's socialistic policies. Follow the link above and if you agree with Glenn, then email him your picture. Do it today!
God bless America.
God bless America.
Old People Are Out of Touch....Not!
By my senior year of high school, I thought I'd figured out the course of my life. It was the middle of the hippie generation and Elvis had been relegated to the 'oldies' and the Beatles were experimenting with LSD. I assumed that my education had provided me everything I needed to know to succeed in life, and that the advice and admonitions of my parents and other adults were no longer relevant to my generation. After all, man had already walked on the moon; when my parents were my age they were still riding in horse and buggy. The big vinyl records my parents bought had been reduced to more mobile cassette tapes that could be play in cars or boom boxes. Technology had made obsolute the world my parents knew, and the rules that worked for them no longer mattered in the modern age of my youth.
Fast forward thirty-nine years: I'm 40 years older than my youngest child - just as my parents were in their 40s when I was born. The math I learned in high school is being taught in middle school today. I struggled to learn how to use a typewriter, and elementary school kids are typing on computers and wiring electronic devices for their parents. Where I was taught two years of a dead language, my daughter has learned four years of Spanish - a good thing since there's so many Hispanics in our country today.
My daughter can argue (not that she has, but she could) that the values and experiences I had growing up are no longer relevant to the world today. She can assert that her world provides nuclear energy, computers that calculate at light-speed, cell phones, the Internet which makes it possible to communicate with people on the other side of the world, missle defense systems, satellites that can bounce television signals or can zoom in and find a mountain goat standing on the side of the Himalayas. Where we only put a man on the moon, there's now a space station orbiting our planet. People today can text and twitter and blog and webinar, and never have to affix a stamp and wait on snail mail.
My parents wouldn't recognize the world I live in today. It has advanced so far in my own life time. But here's the thing: My generation didn't build the rocket that took the first man to the moon. We didn't invent the cassette player or electric guitars or any of the modern conveniences that I enjoyed.... It was my parent's generation that created those things! And the things that my daughter takes for granted today were built by my generation, not her own. Every generation has created so that the next generation can enjoy more from life than what they were given.
Who knows what great advances in technology lie ahead for my daughter's generation? What she will learn, given time and experience, is that the principles that guided man to the moon, to the space station, and ultimately to space colonization are relevant to every generation. It is vision, courage, compassion, love, faith, discipline - those intangible things that are inherent to human beings created in the image of our Creator, that makes us always relevant to all humanity. Certainly greed, hatred, pride, jealousy and lack of compassion are present in all generations, but even children know the difference between right and wrong. By choosing to limit ourselves and putting others first, we accomplish great things that improve the world. Conversely, by seeking power over, and ignoring the needs of others, we make the world a more terrible place.
When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments upon which mankind would live in relation to Him and to one another, one of those commandments was this: Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, so that thy days shall be long upon this earth. God said that His wisdom is passed from one generation to another, and that man's longevity on this planet is assured only if we tap into that wisdom.
It is incumbent upon the next generation to determine what they will do for future generations. They can choose to go it alone, but they do so at their own peril. After all, I love my daughter and I want her life's experiences to be better than my own. I can live without ever traveling beyond the earth's ozone, but I leave her to reach for the stars. Like my parents, and the generations before, I pray for God's wisdom for myself and my children and for future generations.
Fast forward thirty-nine years: I'm 40 years older than my youngest child - just as my parents were in their 40s when I was born. The math I learned in high school is being taught in middle school today. I struggled to learn how to use a typewriter, and elementary school kids are typing on computers and wiring electronic devices for their parents. Where I was taught two years of a dead language, my daughter has learned four years of Spanish - a good thing since there's so many Hispanics in our country today.
My daughter can argue (not that she has, but she could) that the values and experiences I had growing up are no longer relevant to the world today. She can assert that her world provides nuclear energy, computers that calculate at light-speed, cell phones, the Internet which makes it possible to communicate with people on the other side of the world, missle defense systems, satellites that can bounce television signals or can zoom in and find a mountain goat standing on the side of the Himalayas. Where we only put a man on the moon, there's now a space station orbiting our planet. People today can text and twitter and blog and webinar, and never have to affix a stamp and wait on snail mail.
My parents wouldn't recognize the world I live in today. It has advanced so far in my own life time. But here's the thing: My generation didn't build the rocket that took the first man to the moon. We didn't invent the cassette player or electric guitars or any of the modern conveniences that I enjoyed.... It was my parent's generation that created those things! And the things that my daughter takes for granted today were built by my generation, not her own. Every generation has created so that the next generation can enjoy more from life than what they were given.
Who knows what great advances in technology lie ahead for my daughter's generation? What she will learn, given time and experience, is that the principles that guided man to the moon, to the space station, and ultimately to space colonization are relevant to every generation. It is vision, courage, compassion, love, faith, discipline - those intangible things that are inherent to human beings created in the image of our Creator, that makes us always relevant to all humanity. Certainly greed, hatred, pride, jealousy and lack of compassion are present in all generations, but even children know the difference between right and wrong. By choosing to limit ourselves and putting others first, we accomplish great things that improve the world. Conversely, by seeking power over, and ignoring the needs of others, we make the world a more terrible place.
When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments upon which mankind would live in relation to Him and to one another, one of those commandments was this: Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother, so that thy days shall be long upon this earth. God said that His wisdom is passed from one generation to another, and that man's longevity on this planet is assured only if we tap into that wisdom.
It is incumbent upon the next generation to determine what they will do for future generations. They can choose to go it alone, but they do so at their own peril. After all, I love my daughter and I want her life's experiences to be better than my own. I can live without ever traveling beyond the earth's ozone, but I leave her to reach for the stars. Like my parents, and the generations before, I pray for God's wisdom for myself and my children and for future generations.
Down on Main Street
My father ran a hardware store in downtown Oxford. On one side of his store stood a pool hall and on the other, Jones Drug Store. Across the street was Morton-Sherman hardware, a slightly larger and better-lit store than my father's, and both owned by George Morton. Both stores had their own loyal customer base. Morton-Sherman attracted the tradesmen - painters and carpenters; Morton's drew the farmers. I often recall my father hefting one hundred pound sacks of feed onto each shoulder and walking it out to a farmer's pickup. Dad believed that service was included in the sale.
During the winter, when there were no crops to tend, those farmers who knew the guitar or banjo or autoharp would spend the days around the coal-fired pot bellied stove, playing bluegrass and spitting into empty coffee cans. My dad could play with the best of them. Customers were seldom in a hurry and the store was often full of people enjoying the music.
Some days, when things were really slow, my dad would pull out the barrel with the checkerboard and he, in grey work shirt and a farmer in bib overalls would slap the board, mumbling "King me". Dad always played the red checkers and won more than he lost.
My father dropped out of school in the fourth grade. He was needed on the farm. He grew up with a love for the soil and an appreciation for the farmer. Dad learned math on his own. He maintained a ledger in which he wrote how much seed, fertilizer, and canned goods he loaned out to farmers on credit. At harvest, the farmers would sell their crops and come pay their bills. If my dad knew they'd had a tough year, he forgave much or all of the debt. That's how he and other businessmen treated their friends and neighbors when I was growing up.
Saturdays were the busiest days at the store. My brother and I would walk the four blocks from our house to the store. We'd look at the candy jar and our dad would nod his OK for us to take a peppermint or horehound stick from the jar. Sometimes we'd help out by weighing and bagging nails or filling glass jars from the molasses barrel. Usually my father would give us movie money for a matinee at the Orpheum Theater. If there was any money left, we'd buy bubblegum, candy and comics at Roses Department Store. Across the street from the Orpheum was the fire department and the court house. In front of the court house was a news stand called The Blue Dot. The Blue Dot was run by a blind man. As children we were always amazed that he could make change from paper money just by the way it felt.
Oxford's downtown consisted of one block of stores on Main Street, another block of stores on College Street, and two blocks running horizontally in either direction from Williamsboro and Hillsboro Streets. The east end of town was anchored by a couple of service stations, one a Texaco and the other Esso; the west by a Chevy dealership. To the north was the Methodist church, and to the south was the First Baptist Church. In the dead center of town were two barber shops - Basement Barber Shop where I got my first haircut, and City Barber Shop where the good barber worked. Within those six commercial blocks were businessmen, bankers, judges, deputies, and ministers, and all knew each other by first name. Six days a week, these people passed each other with a wave or finalized a contract with a handshake and a promise; they tipped waitresses, checked the oil and washed windshields, fed parking meters, rang up sales and wrapped packages.
On Sundays, downtown Oxford was quiet, except at the Methodist and Baptist church ends. Awnings were rolled up and the blue law enforced as the townspeople worshipped and rested from six days of labor. Those were truly Happy Days for me; simpler, friendlier times when my dad made a decent living for his wife and sons. Certainly things weren't perfect back then, but people like my dad lived as good a life as they knew how. The lessons I learned have stuck with me and I strive to live up to my dad's example. I wish my children could experience the childhood I enjoyed.
During the winter, when there were no crops to tend, those farmers who knew the guitar or banjo or autoharp would spend the days around the coal-fired pot bellied stove, playing bluegrass and spitting into empty coffee cans. My dad could play with the best of them. Customers were seldom in a hurry and the store was often full of people enjoying the music.
Some days, when things were really slow, my dad would pull out the barrel with the checkerboard and he, in grey work shirt and a farmer in bib overalls would slap the board, mumbling "King me". Dad always played the red checkers and won more than he lost.
My father dropped out of school in the fourth grade. He was needed on the farm. He grew up with a love for the soil and an appreciation for the farmer. Dad learned math on his own. He maintained a ledger in which he wrote how much seed, fertilizer, and canned goods he loaned out to farmers on credit. At harvest, the farmers would sell their crops and come pay their bills. If my dad knew they'd had a tough year, he forgave much or all of the debt. That's how he and other businessmen treated their friends and neighbors when I was growing up.
Saturdays were the busiest days at the store. My brother and I would walk the four blocks from our house to the store. We'd look at the candy jar and our dad would nod his OK for us to take a peppermint or horehound stick from the jar. Sometimes we'd help out by weighing and bagging nails or filling glass jars from the molasses barrel. Usually my father would give us movie money for a matinee at the Orpheum Theater. If there was any money left, we'd buy bubblegum, candy and comics at Roses Department Store. Across the street from the Orpheum was the fire department and the court house. In front of the court house was a news stand called The Blue Dot. The Blue Dot was run by a blind man. As children we were always amazed that he could make change from paper money just by the way it felt.
Oxford's downtown consisted of one block of stores on Main Street, another block of stores on College Street, and two blocks running horizontally in either direction from Williamsboro and Hillsboro Streets. The east end of town was anchored by a couple of service stations, one a Texaco and the other Esso; the west by a Chevy dealership. To the north was the Methodist church, and to the south was the First Baptist Church. In the dead center of town were two barber shops - Basement Barber Shop where I got my first haircut, and City Barber Shop where the good barber worked. Within those six commercial blocks were businessmen, bankers, judges, deputies, and ministers, and all knew each other by first name. Six days a week, these people passed each other with a wave or finalized a contract with a handshake and a promise; they tipped waitresses, checked the oil and washed windshields, fed parking meters, rang up sales and wrapped packages.
On Sundays, downtown Oxford was quiet, except at the Methodist and Baptist church ends. Awnings were rolled up and the blue law enforced as the townspeople worshipped and rested from six days of labor. Those were truly Happy Days for me; simpler, friendlier times when my dad made a decent living for his wife and sons. Certainly things weren't perfect back then, but people like my dad lived as good a life as they knew how. The lessons I learned have stuck with me and I strive to live up to my dad's example. I wish my children could experience the childhood I enjoyed.
Hope For Our Young Generation
A week ago Friday, 17 year old Danny was playing basketball with his dad. For perhaps only the second time in his memory, Danny won. His dad boasted that that would be the last time Danny beat him. It was. The following day, Danny's dad passed away.
A few months shy of graduating from high school, Danny found himself planning and paying for his father's funeral. He chose the music, found a pastor, and made the arrangements. On Saturday, Danny eulogized his dad, referring to him as his best friend.
On Sunday, Danny visited with us in Creedmoor at The Carpenter's Shop, which meets at Jon & Jill's Restaurant on Main Street. He listened to Jimmy talk about using our God-given talents to help others, as Jimmy has been doing for the folks down in New Orleans. Following church, Danny came over to our house for lunch. I'm very impressed with the character of this young man.
Danny recently joined the N.C. National Guard and will ship off to Ft. Benning, Georgia for basic training in June, followed by advanced training in air traffic control at Ft. Rucker, AL. Danny hopes to attend college so he can become an Apache helicopter pilot. He chose the National Guard because he wants to be close to home to help his mom raise his two younger brothers and a sister. Chances are that in a couple of years Danny could find himself serving in Afghanistan or wherever his country needs him.
When he's not in school making good grades, Danny is working sometimes two jobs to help provide for his family. When his father passed, Danny stepped up to the plate in spite of the pain of his dad's loss. Danny is a young man of excellent character and courage. He is already on his way to becoming a good leader.
Danny gives me hope for America's future. He understands sacrifice and duty to family and country. He doesn't demand someone else bear his burdens; he mans-up and does his best. I'm proud to know this young man and I pray for him, that he will realize his potential for making his part of the world better.
A few months shy of graduating from high school, Danny found himself planning and paying for his father's funeral. He chose the music, found a pastor, and made the arrangements. On Saturday, Danny eulogized his dad, referring to him as his best friend.
On Sunday, Danny visited with us in Creedmoor at The Carpenter's Shop, which meets at Jon & Jill's Restaurant on Main Street. He listened to Jimmy talk about using our God-given talents to help others, as Jimmy has been doing for the folks down in New Orleans. Following church, Danny came over to our house for lunch. I'm very impressed with the character of this young man.
Danny recently joined the N.C. National Guard and will ship off to Ft. Benning, Georgia for basic training in June, followed by advanced training in air traffic control at Ft. Rucker, AL. Danny hopes to attend college so he can become an Apache helicopter pilot. He chose the National Guard because he wants to be close to home to help his mom raise his two younger brothers and a sister. Chances are that in a couple of years Danny could find himself serving in Afghanistan or wherever his country needs him.
When he's not in school making good grades, Danny is working sometimes two jobs to help provide for his family. When his father passed, Danny stepped up to the plate in spite of the pain of his dad's loss. Danny is a young man of excellent character and courage. He is already on his way to becoming a good leader.
Danny gives me hope for America's future. He understands sacrifice and duty to family and country. He doesn't demand someone else bear his burdens; he mans-up and does his best. I'm proud to know this young man and I pray for him, that he will realize his potential for making his part of the world better.
I Know Ma Ratts!
Relatively few Americans today devote attention to preserving and protecting the democratic principles we take for granted. Like the frog who's slowly boiled to death in a kettle, Americans are being lulled into accepting more and more government control over their lives. Each successive generation surrenders personal liberties in exchange for not having to preserve them. In my own lifetime, America has gone from the greatest force for good on this planet to a nation of ineffective, lazy socialists. As a result, there is a rise of evil regimes torturing and killing millions of innocents because they no longer fear the United States. We must reclaim our national virtue and morality and lift America back to its place of significance in worldly affairs, but first we need to reeducate our own citizens.
We begin with an understanding of the principles upon which our Founders based their vision. These great men and women rejected the European theories of government and believed that a free citizen could create prosperity for himself and for the nation. In our Declaration of Independence, the Founders declared that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --"
The Founders then went on to identify those rights in the Bill of Rights. It was their intention to provide equal rights for all; but what does it mean when they say that "all men are created equal"?
They understood the difference between equal rights and equality. It was their intention to provide equal opportunity, but not to expect equal results. Take for example our nation's policies on education: We provide, at tax-payer expense, a free secondary education for all (including non-citizens). Granted, there are disparities in the quality of the teachers and the way the school systems divide up the funds, but overall, every child is given the opportunity to learn the basics of what it takes to succeed in life. Because some students do not put forth the same effort, they don't make the same grades as those who put forth more effort. Equal opportunity, but not equal results. Where our school systems fail however is when we lower the standards so that under-achievers can have the appearance of success. In an effort to be sensitive to some, our educational system has stifled the potential of all. America's educational system stacks up poorly behind less affluent nations, and we've lost many high-tech jobs to other countries as a result.
In fact, I believe that failures in our schools can be linked to the quality of the leaders we're raising up. Our Founders were all men who read and studied philosophy, theology, and politics. They were learned men who understood human nature. Our politicians today were taught by the radicals of the 60s and 70s who wanted to trade democracy for an unrealistic utopia. Where our Founders learned from history, our leaders today are taught revisionist history. Our education system has also failed to produce visionaries like our Founding Fathers. Our politicians today spend most of their time blaming the other party and the rest of their time taking more and more taxes to pay for things the government was never intended to be involved in.
The current efforts of the President and Congress to 'stimulate' our economy is another example of where our public servants fail the American people. President Obama believes that it is permissable to take from the more successful citizens and redistribute it to the less productive. Our Founders believed, correctly, that every citizen is entitled to equal rights but not equal possessions. It has been proven over and over that some people can lose fortunes and regain them while others can gain them and turn right around and lose them. What was important to the Founders is that every citizen be afforded the right to pursue prosperity for themselves and their kin. When the government decides to penalize the entrepreneur to subsidize another class of citizen, they violate the law by violating the rights of the affluent. Some may think that's OK, that the wealthy (a subjective term), can afford to lose (have stolen) their possessions and money; but when the government is given that sort of power from the people, they can choose to exercise that power over all citizens. This is why it is important for all citizens to protect and preserve our rights by voting out the greedy and power-hungry politicians.
Alexander Hamilton said that "Inequality would exist as long as liberty existed...It would unavoidably result from that very liberty itself." Our Founders understood that the citizens "cannot delegate to the government the power to do anything except that which they have the lawful right to do themselves". (Dr. Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap) It is illegal for my neighbor to take something from me simply because he doesn't have it. So too, it is illegal, according to our founding documents, for the people to expect the government to take what is not theirs and give it to someone else. This is communism, and it hasn't worked in other nations - which is why so many foreigners attempt to immigrate to America.
Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and now President Obama have advanced the welfare state philosophy in violation of their oaths to protect and defend the Constition of the United States. Our Founders never intended for the government to have power over helping the 'less fortunate'. Responsibility lies with the individual citizen first, then with the family, the neighbor, the church, the county, and then the state. No federal authority to provide for the welfare of our citizens was granted or deemed necessary - yet every four years politicians win elections by promising the people what it does not have the legal right to give; and they deliver by stealing from other citizens.
We begin with an understanding of the principles upon which our Founders based their vision. These great men and women rejected the European theories of government and believed that a free citizen could create prosperity for himself and for the nation. In our Declaration of Independence, the Founders declared that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --"
The Founders then went on to identify those rights in the Bill of Rights. It was their intention to provide equal rights for all; but what does it mean when they say that "all men are created equal"?
They understood the difference between equal rights and equality. It was their intention to provide equal opportunity, but not to expect equal results. Take for example our nation's policies on education: We provide, at tax-payer expense, a free secondary education for all (including non-citizens). Granted, there are disparities in the quality of the teachers and the way the school systems divide up the funds, but overall, every child is given the opportunity to learn the basics of what it takes to succeed in life. Because some students do not put forth the same effort, they don't make the same grades as those who put forth more effort. Equal opportunity, but not equal results. Where our school systems fail however is when we lower the standards so that under-achievers can have the appearance of success. In an effort to be sensitive to some, our educational system has stifled the potential of all. America's educational system stacks up poorly behind less affluent nations, and we've lost many high-tech jobs to other countries as a result.
In fact, I believe that failures in our schools can be linked to the quality of the leaders we're raising up. Our Founders were all men who read and studied philosophy, theology, and politics. They were learned men who understood human nature. Our politicians today were taught by the radicals of the 60s and 70s who wanted to trade democracy for an unrealistic utopia. Where our Founders learned from history, our leaders today are taught revisionist history. Our education system has also failed to produce visionaries like our Founding Fathers. Our politicians today spend most of their time blaming the other party and the rest of their time taking more and more taxes to pay for things the government was never intended to be involved in.
The current efforts of the President and Congress to 'stimulate' our economy is another example of where our public servants fail the American people. President Obama believes that it is permissable to take from the more successful citizens and redistribute it to the less productive. Our Founders believed, correctly, that every citizen is entitled to equal rights but not equal possessions. It has been proven over and over that some people can lose fortunes and regain them while others can gain them and turn right around and lose them. What was important to the Founders is that every citizen be afforded the right to pursue prosperity for themselves and their kin. When the government decides to penalize the entrepreneur to subsidize another class of citizen, they violate the law by violating the rights of the affluent. Some may think that's OK, that the wealthy (a subjective term), can afford to lose (have stolen) their possessions and money; but when the government is given that sort of power from the people, they can choose to exercise that power over all citizens. This is why it is important for all citizens to protect and preserve our rights by voting out the greedy and power-hungry politicians.
Alexander Hamilton said that "Inequality would exist as long as liberty existed...It would unavoidably result from that very liberty itself." Our Founders understood that the citizens "cannot delegate to the government the power to do anything except that which they have the lawful right to do themselves". (Dr. Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap) It is illegal for my neighbor to take something from me simply because he doesn't have it. So too, it is illegal, according to our founding documents, for the people to expect the government to take what is not theirs and give it to someone else. This is communism, and it hasn't worked in other nations - which is why so many foreigners attempt to immigrate to America.
Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, and now President Obama have advanced the welfare state philosophy in violation of their oaths to protect and defend the Constition of the United States. Our Founders never intended for the government to have power over helping the 'less fortunate'. Responsibility lies with the individual citizen first, then with the family, the neighbor, the church, the county, and then the state. No federal authority to provide for the welfare of our citizens was granted or deemed necessary - yet every four years politicians win elections by promising the people what it does not have the legal right to give; and they deliver by stealing from other citizens.
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