Pro-God, Pro-Life, and Proud of it!

FIRE THE SENATE!

It has been nearly 1000 days since the U.S. Senate and Harry Reid have approved a budget. Shame on them. This is unforgivable and unconscionable with the economy in this kind of shape. It is truly the “Do-Nothing Senate.” Get the facts, then get out the vote to remove the cowards who are truly derelict in their duty. We need leaders, patriots, and statesmen who are courageous and steadfast to make the tough choices that are right, virtuous, and self-sacrificing. Whether Republican or Democrat, their days need to be numbered.

Click here:  DoNothingSenate

The Perils of Leadership

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.
Louis D. Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice

With all due respect, I am tired of our current President. He is wearing me out. You never know what he is going to do next. This latest escapade with “recess appointments” is about the last straw. I would like to think that he is well meaning, but there seems to be a systematic–no, chronic breakdown of protocol with regard to our Constitutional structure. All the promised “hope and change” was much more than the American people bargained for. I know it’s a tough job, but it does not come with much learning curve time. Judgment typically comes with experience, but apparently Mr. Obama did not come with either.

And now, the opposing party is vetting their nominations to oppose President Obama in the fall. Here we are with still months to go before the August primary, and I fear that we will become just as tired and worn out with this arduous process as well. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country and our Constitution, but I so tire of the partisan rhetoric, wrangling, and rules.  There has got to be a better way than all the caucuses and primaries and other concoctions political parties can contrive to maintain their power and influence. Power does corrupt. And it appears that bipartisanship has reached an impasse. Third parties don’t have a chance because the two-party system has written all the rules.

Well, anyway, I’ve gotten all that off my chest. Complaining does not do any good, in and of itself, but when all this becomes a threat to our liberty, then it is certainly time for action. So…what do we do? I don’t really know what else to do but pray.  The Scriptures tell us: When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, when the wicked rule the people groan. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. We need God in America. ”In God we trust,” and “one nation under God” are more than just cultural rhetoric. They are ancient wisdom, understood by our wise founding fathers. They are words that have stood the test of time, the test of tyranny and triumph, yesterday, today, and forever:

Daniel 2:21 – “He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.”

Psalm 75:7 – “But God is the Judge; He puts down one and exalts another.”

I enjoy zealous leaders, but give me a man of understanding any day.

Time Travel: Samoa leaps into the future

Yes, you read it right. Samoa is skipping Friday to join its major trade partners on the other side of the International Date Line. No joke…Samoans went to bed last night–which is Thursday there–and woke up on Saturday on the western side of the date line.  In fact, they would have really missed Friday if they were awake at 11:59 pm on Thursday, and a minute later, poof!…it was Saturday! Although Samoa will not be any closer to its nearest neighboring islands of Tonga and Fiji or its biggest trading partners of New Zealand and Australia, it now shares the same day with them all, reversing 120 years of sharing America’s side of the date line. Samoa is now three hours ahead of eastern Australia rather than 21 hours behind it.  Instead of being the last country on earth to enjoy a day or a new year, Samoa now becomes the first to see those new days dawn. For many, time zones and time changes have always been a challenge to understand, but to cross over the international dateline?…that’s a greater challenge altogether! If you happen to be an American landing in Samoa at this writing, sorry. You have already missed Friday, and if you stay 24 hours, it will be gone forever.  You won’t get this day back when you come home unless you come home now! Go figure. Hey, one more thought…the island of American Samoa, Samoa’s nearest eastern neighbor, will now become the last place on earth to experience the day’s sunset in the South Pacific–Samoa’s former claim to fame. If you take the short trip today back and forth from American Samoa to the nation of Samoa, then you will be skipping a day altogether, several times, but only today, whichever day that is.  Well, anyway, you figure it out.

Christmas 2011

Celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior–this is God’s greatest gift to us! The gifts, the Christmas trees, the decorations and lights are all beautiful expressions of this most important event in all humanity…the incarnation of God, “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.” Galatians 4:4 tells us the God sent His Son in the fulness of time–at just the right time! God does everything at just the right time. I am so grateful to Him for His goodness, His providence, and His constancy. Receive Jesus into your life and experience this for yourself.

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.
Yet, in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heav’n.
No ear may hear his coming; but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell,
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel. 

Send Washington A Message

I am so tired of the budgetary standoff going on in Washington. I am sending House and Senate members a message:

CUT SPENDING BEFORE RAISING TAXES

• Americans have complained about the size of government for decades. We have a bloated bureaucracy. We have so much waste in programs and subsidies. We have a huge lack of local and regional oversight. Government is the biggest employer in the country–that is a travesty because government produces NOTHING!
• It is grossly UNFAIR and unAmerican to expect a small group of citizen taxpayers to pay extra taxes simply because they have more resources…especially when tax money is being squandered on super-sized government! Genuine economic justice gives equal protection under law. Where is equality when one small group is singled out like this?
• We need leaders who are willing to face the facts and make the tough decisions. Americans are overtaxed and underprotected. Government needs to keep to its Constitutional responsibilities and release the private sector to be the economic stimulus it is designed to be. Government will NEVER be big enough to oversee America’s economy, nor should it be, because when it gets that big, America will cease to be America.

When you do not manage well the money you have, you should not be given more! Congress needs to get its financial house in order before asking for more.

Democrat or Republican, I will not vote for a Senator, Representative, or President who believes differently.

First National Observance of Thanksgiving

On this day, 222 years ago, America observed its first national day of thanksgiving as proclaimed by President George Washington on October 3, 1789. In this Thanksgiving Proclamation, Washington commends as a national duty the fulfillment of this responsibility to honor God and for Americans to celebrate their new Constitution and more particularly, the recent congressional passage of the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) sent to the states for passage just one week prior to this proclamation:

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

Today’s courts would have thrown this proclamation out as unconstitutional, but Washington, prompted by the U.S. House and Senate, with the First Amendment fresh on their minds and on its way to the States, boldly announced America’s dependence on God and His providential blessings by declaring a day of prayer and thanksgiving. Not only that, but Washington proclaimed this as the duty of all nations! God, send us another Washington!

Pilgrims, Pumpkins, and Prayers

Here is a potpourri of thoughts for Thanksgiving:

I am grateful this Thanksgiving day for our Pilgrim forefathers who braved the tempestuous seas and unpioneered territory to sow the seeds of religious and political liberty which fruit we enjoy today. I am grateful for the abundance we possess in America because of the blessing of God’s providence. My gratefulness is directed toward “Our father’s God, to Thee, Author of Liberty, to Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright, with freedom’s Holy Light; Protect us by Thy might, Great God, our King.”

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

 Thoughts on Gratitude:

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” -Cicero

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19:

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Commentary on the Scripture…

What is God’s will for your life?    Make the choice to rejoice.    Be careful to be prayerful.    Have the attitude of gratitude.

This Thanksgiving, don’t just be thankful, but give thanks to God.

A blessed Thanksgiving to all!

Thank a Vet

What we now call Veterans Day, was originally Armistice Day celebrating the official end of World War I on November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM Paris time–historically remembered as 11-11-11–the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Today, 11/11/11, is a unique day of remembrance. Every American should take time to thank a vet and whisper a prayer of thanksgiving and dependence on the One whose providence has favored us and protected us through the centuries.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the Name of the LORD our God.
Psalm 20:7 

October 31 – Happy Reformation Day

Liberty of conscience is an American hallmark. We can thank Martin Luther and other Reformers and Radicals for it. We can also thank the Pilgrims and their contemporaries for pioneering and forging those truths into the idea called America.

Pie, anyone?

It seems like the prevailing thought today, and one that is certainly promulgated by the current administration in Washington, is that the so-called “economic pie” is fixed, and that there is just so much wealth in the world that when one group gets it, it is taken away from the others, therefore, wealth can only be accumulated at the expense of others. There isn’t a more socialistic view than this, and it couldn’t be more wrong. In a moral free enterprise system, wealth creates more wealth. Typically, accumulated assets are either spent or invested thus creating more jobs, goods and services and more capital investment, improvements, expansion and economic growth. The pie gets bigger! What government needs to do is to find ways to stimulate the growth of the pie, not how to redistribute its pieces. In most kitchen cupboards, you will find 8,9, or 10-inch pie pans. Who’s to say that we can’t have 11, 12, or even 13-inch pans? With today’s economic crisis, we need some good old Yankee ingenuity to get baking again…and making the pans bigger! America is in economic troubles, as well as the rest of the world economies. But America does not have to buy into the troubles that have plagued Europe and follow their path of failed socialized economic policies. America has always had a better idea, indeed exceptional ones. Our citizens and leaders must come together in the same entrepreneurial spirit and face this crisis with stern optimism.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) spoke this week at the Heritage Foundation about saving the American idea. Here is a principled Congressman who thinks and then acts accordingly. May God increase his tribe in Congress! Here are some of his comments regarding economic “class warfare” in America:

…the President is barnstorming swing states, pushing a divisive message that pits one group of Americans against another on the basis of class.

This just won’t work in America. Class is not a fixed designation in this country. We are an upwardly mobile society with a lot of movement between income groups.

The Treasury Department’s latest study on income mobility in America found that during the ten-year period starting in 1996, roughly half of the taxpayers who started in the bottom 20 percent had moved up to a higher income group by 2005.

Meanwhile, half of all taxpayers ended up in a different income group at the end of ten years. Many moved up, and some moved down, but economic growth resulted in rising incomes for most people over this period.

Another recent survey of over 500 successful entrepreneurs found that 93 percent came from middle-class or lower-class backgrounds. The majority were the first in their families to launch a business.

Their stories are the American story: Millions of immigrants fled from the closed societies of the Old World to the security of equal rights in this land of upward mobility.

Telling Americans they are stuck in their current station in life, that they are victims of circumstances beyond their control, and that government’s role is to help them cope with it – well, that’s not who we are. That’s not what we do.

Our Founding Fathers rejected this mentality. In societies marked by class structure, an elite class made up of rich and powerful patrons supplies the needs of a large client underclass that toils, but cannot own. The unfairness of closed societies is the kindling for class warfare, where the interests of “capital” and “labor” are perpetually in conflict. What one class wins, the other loses.

The legacy of this tradition can still be seen in Europe today: Top-heavy welfare states have replaced the traditional aristocracies, and masses of the long-term unemployed are locked into the new lower class.

The United States was destined to break out of this bleak history. Our future would not be staked on traditional class structures, but on civic solidarity. Gone would be the struggle of class against class.

Instead, Americans would work, compete, and co-operate in an open market, climb the ladder of opportunity, and keep the fruits of their efforts.

Self-government and the rule of law would secure our equal, God-given rights. Our political and economic systems – rooted in freedom and responsibility – would reward, and thus cultivate, traditional virtues.

Given that the President’s policies have moved us closer to the European model, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that his class-based rhetoric has followed suit.

We shouldn’t be surprised… but we have every right to be disappointed. Instead of appealing to the hope and optimism that were hallmarks of his first campaign, he has launched his second campaign by preying on the emotions of fear, envy, and resentment.

This has the potential to be just as damaging as his misguided policies. Sowing social unrest and class resentment makes America weaker, not stronger. Pitting one group against another only distracts us from the true sources of inequity in this country – corporate welfare that enriches the powerful, and empty promises that betray the powerless.

…These actions starkly highlight the difference between the two parties that lies at the heart of the matter:  Whether we are a nation that still believes in equality of opportunity, or whether we are moving away from that, and towards an insistence on equality of outcome.

If you believe in the former, you follow the American Idea that justice is done when we level the playing field at the starting line, and rewards are proportionate to merit and effort.

If you believe in the latter kind of equality, you think most differences in wealth and rewards are matters of luck or exploitation, and that few really deserve what they have.

That’s the moral basis of class warfare – a false morality that confuses fairness with redistribution, and promotes class envy instead of social mobility.

I’d like to introduce President Obama to the Ronald Reagan he isn’t so eager to quote – the man who said, “Since when do we in America believe that our society is made up of two diametrically opposed classes – one rich, one poor – both in a permanent state of conflict and neither able to get ahead except at the expense of the other? Since when do we in America accept this alien and discredited theory of social and class warfare? Since when do we in America endorse the politics of envy and division?”

President Reagan was absolutely right. Instead of policies that make it harder for Americans to rise, let’s lower the hurdles to upward mobility.

That’s what the American Idea is all about. You know, in the midst of all the joys and sorrows of our everyday lives, I think we sometimes forget why America was considered such an exceptional nation at its Founding, and why it remains so.

To me, the results of the Founders’ exceptional vision can be summed up in a single sentence: Throughout human history, the American Idea has done more to help the poor than any other economic system ever designed.

Americans, guided by our ideals, have sacrificed everything to combat tyranny and brutal dictators; we’ve expanded opportunity, opened markets, and inspired others to resist oppression; we’ve exported innovation and imagination; and we’ve welcomed immigrants seeking a fresh start.

Here in America – unlike most places on earth – all citizens have the right to rise.

(Congressman Ryan’s address can be seen and read in toto at:
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/10/26/video-rep-paul-ryan-on-saving-the-american-idea)

As we once again approach our historic Thanksgiving holidays, we need to be reminded that God is the source of our wealth and the wisdom to create it (Deuteronomy 8:18). He is to be thanked as the Founder of the feast. With regard to our economic concerns, I believe if we humble ourselves in repentance and prayerfully seek His face, He will hear our prayers and heal our land. Our Founding Fathers understood this and, seeking Divine Providence, formulated the American way based on the Biblical way. Doing it God’s way, there will be enough pie for everyone.

Perry-Bachmann Ticket??

Hmmm…the conservative political landscape is getting interesting. What do you think…a Perry-Bachmann ticket in 2012?

TX Gov Rick Perry and MN Congressman Michelle Bachmann

Debt Ceiling Debate

The ups and downs of debate on the recently passed debt ceiling bill have come and gone. Neither side got just what they wanted–compromise won the day…again. But there is light at the end of this long tunnel of debt and it is expressed well by some members of Congress who understand not only the immediacy of action, but the higher ground of understanding that will fuel the multifaceted wisdom needed to chart the future of our great nation. The junior Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, in all of his youthfulness, gives me hope for our future. May God increase his tribe! Listen to his wise words that will hopefully and prayerfully raise us up from the current level of debate and compromise:

July 4, 2011…Still much work to do

The Libertarian Examiner is reporting on a poll that reveals only 42% of Americans know the year of America’s independence–1776. With younger people polled, the figure is worse. (Poll results)  We have much work to do.

This is the bold proclamation of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776:

 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

God, not government, endows us with rights. From our God-given right to Liberty comes:

Individual…

• Liberty of Conscience– (the right to our own opinions, beliefs and convictions)
• Religious Liberty– (the right to religious activity according to the convictions of conscience)
• Liberty of  Action– (the right of self-expression and protection– to speak our mind; peacefully assemble; bear  arms, etc.)
• Economic Liberty– (the right to acquire and control our own property)

Corporate…

• Civil (or political) Liberty– (the right to determine the form and process of our own civil government)

These individual and corporate liberties are precious to us as Americans because they were purchased and protected with the blood, sweat, and tears of our forefathers who committed to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. The absolute least we can do is remember July 4, 1776 as well as those conflicts and wars where American lives were (and are) on the line to protect these liberties. Take some time on July 4 to remember and return thanks to God who superintends it all.

“One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” – Psalm 33:12

President Roosevelt’s D-Day Prayer

June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

In his prayer, President Roosevelt referred to our fighting men as, “Thy heroic servants” in “a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization” and he asked God to “give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith” that they may triumph in the “righteousness of our cause.”

On America’s battlefields today, can we still pray in that manner? Aggressive fascism comes in all shapes and sizes–even under the cloak of religious zeal. Our republic, religion, and culture are inextricably tied to Judeo-Christian values and no other ethical system. I believe Roosevelt’s prayer is applicable for us today.