Category Archives: voting

by | March 7, 2012 · 3:13 pm

Election Season Vision

Every time an election season rolls around, I get a little blue, a little down, a little grumpy. You see, taking a stand on principle, especially when it goes against the mainstream, can be physically and emotionally draining. This time, however, I have the added pleasure of the flue to complicate matters, so you might find me acting a little “snippy.”

And, if you are a regular reader, you may have noticed there was no “Monday Monkey” video this week. Part of the reason has been a shortage of time (beyond normal), but there has also been a sick wife, daughter, and self. The thought of editing anything made my head hurt.

Yet, as much as I attempt to fight the good fight, be salt and light, and keep a roof over my family’s head, I must remember “this world is not my home, I’m only passing through.” As much as I may be tempted to stress over national and world economies, “my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” One day this world will pass away, even America. This is only a temporary stop, so I shouldn’t let it bother me too much.

One day I will go to a land where there will be no more elections, no more propaganda, no more political parties, no more special interests, only the High King of Glory reigning in righteousness and truth. That must be my focus, my vision, “whatever befall.”

“Be Thou My Vision”

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

 

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by | February 29, 2012 · 11:30 am

Based on a True Story

Here’s the Story

On this past Saturday I went to hear Rick Santorum speak. What I did not expect was to meet Bill Maher and Michael Moore in the lobby. Awkward.

“Hey, Anthony, what’s up, my brother,” asked Bill as he grabbed my hand to shake it. “Can I give you a hug, my friend? Good to finally meet you in person,” said Mr. Moore.

“What are you two doing here,” I asked, “and where do you know me from?”

Bill said, “HBO asked me to do some research on Christian bloggers, and when I found your site, well, you won me over!” He went on to say, “I was so blinded by my hatred of Christianity that I would never give it an honest chance; but then I read your blog. You changed my mind. Since then I have become a believer.”

Michael Moore’s story was similar. He said, “I was working on a new anti-Republican, anti-Evangelical documentary when I read your brilliant blog. The power of your intellect, combined with the non-conspiratorial power of the Holy Spirit, convinced me I was headed down a liberal road to destruction. I confessed my sins and became a believer. Did you read my comment on The Recovering Legalist?”

“Wow! Unbelievable! This is awesome news,” I said. “Are you here because you’re leaving the Democrat party?” “No,” they said. The reason they came to hear Rick Santorum was to seek wisdom which they could use to transform the liberal Democrat political machine.

Here’s the True Part

Last Saturday I went to hear Rick Santorum speak. That’s the truth. The above was based on a true story.

While visiting the hospital today (one of those pastoral things) I heard one nurse comment to another, “It’ll be a great movie, and it’s based on a true story.” Really? Makes one wonder what part is true.

John 8:31-32 … So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“As a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth.” ~ Thomas Aquinas

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by | February 8, 2012 · 10:54 pm

The Oval Office Thermometer

I have written a lot, even when I should have already called it quits and gone to bed. But I have erased it all. Why? Because a simple message deserves a simple post.

In the near future our country will be going to the polls to elect a president. Who we elect will say a lot about the people of this nation, for one thing remains the same: we get what we deserve.

My prayer is that a God-fearing, honorable, trust-worthy, man of character will be elected. He doesn’t have to be a Christian, but it would be nice if he bore no animosity to my faith. It was none other than George Washington who said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.“*

Now, more than ever, especially with recent action taken by the Obama administration, our country has taken a turn toward complete secularism. The leaders of our country seem to think that religion, especially the Christian faith, is harmful, unfair, and destructive to our society. But it was another founding father, John Adams, who said: “[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.“**

But if history continues down the path it has been taking, I fear the next election will result in a further slide downward. It won’t be the president’s fault, either. It will be the fault of a people that put him in office. The reason is pretty simple: the type of president we elect is going to be a representation of the heart of the people who vote.

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people. – Proverbs 14:34

“We the people” are the thermostat. We elect a thermometer.

*(Source: George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796.)

**(Source: John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)

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by | May 20, 2011 · 10:45 am

Venting Before the End of the World

The following are random issues on which I am going to vent for the last time – unless the end doesn’t come tomorrow.

Idiots that Predict the Second Coming of Christ

Poster in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachus...

Image via Wikipedia

I am not going to take a lot of time with this one, but when will people learn? If you haven’t heard, a well-intentioned fool has predicted the Rapture to take place tomorrow, May 21st, 2011. You can click the link below and go straight to the source of all this nonsense. Or, if you are wise, you could just stick with the words of Jesus:

Matthew 24:36 KJV – “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Mark 13:32 KJV – “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”

If the words of Jesus aren’t convincing enough, then here’s where you can learn that Jesus was wrong: ebiblefellowship.com.

Idiots that Take Advantage of Stupidity and Show Their Own Foolishness in the Process

Believe it or not, there are folks out there that are making money off of those who believe in the rapture, and I’m not talking about Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (no offense, guys…I bought your books). I’m talking about people who sell pet insurance to people who want their pets to be taken care of in the event that the owner is raptured. If you don’t believe me, just check them out: http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/.

There are a couple of things about this that irritate me. For one, these folks are truly going to be lost without hope if the rapture comes any time soon. For that matter, they are lost without hope because they deny faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of the their eschatology. I believe the day will come when the trump of God shall sound and all the dead in Christ shall rise, the living to meet them in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). I also believe that cars crash, hearts stop, cancer kills, and spiders bite. These folks could meet their Maker unprepared at any time, regardless of some fool’s predictions.

Secondly, I am irritated that these folks have made me sad for my little dog! What if the rapture comes tomorrow, or next week, what will happen to Nugget? Do you suppose that God will mercifully take the lives of the pets of Christians in order to keep them from suffering in a post-resurrection world? Who knows? Probably not. That’s sad. On the other hand, I have plenty of family and friends, not to mention church members, that will probably still be here when that time comes.

I just wish that I had a parrot that said, “Told you so, told you so, told you so…”

Hypocritical Liberals

San Fransisco just approved a measure to be put on the ballot for the November elections. Up for a vote is whether or not to ban circumcision.  Click {here} for story on ballot.

Yes, without any measure guaranteeing religious freedom, voters will attempt to ban the age-old procedure because it is painful to little boys and denies their rights as individuals to decide. EXCUSE ME!?

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t these the same, caring, loving, considerate, pro-choice folk who, given the opportunity, would see nothing at all wrong with chopping a baby to bits only eight days earlier? So let me get this straight, it is OK to kill a child by poking scissors into it’s skull and sucking out it’s brain, or by letting it die of “natural causes” on a metal table, but it’s a crime of abuse to circumsize only eight days later? You’re kidding, right?!?

Forgiving Egyptian Debt

Brilliant! Just brilliant, President Obama. We have bridges that are falling apart and miles of southern acreage destroyed by tornadoes, but you’re willing to give a Billion dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood? The very same people who will turn right around and say thanks with a bomb or a knife to the throat? The least you could do is tell them all debts would be forgiven if they stop butchering Coptic Christians. Oh, but that would be to much, wouldn’t it. We wouldn’t want to offend the fledgling Islamic state, would we?

Just look, it takes an Australian paper to say something: The Australian accuses West of ignoring Coptic Christians.

The End?

I feel better, now. Hope to see you in Heaven on the 21st, if you are one of the “elect,” of course. But if the rapture doesn’t take place on Saturday, I will be in church on Sunday worshiping the One who is not slack concerning His promises, but is longsuffering and “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

P.S.

To all the atheist planning “after judgment” or “rapture” parties,  please take note: rapture or not, this life on earth will end.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” – Hebrews 9:27-28 KJV

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by | November 1, 2010 · 10:44 pm

Don’t Give Up On Her Yet

Some people want to say that America has seen her best days. Some want to say that God is done with America.  Some want to give up hope that this nation can ever see a revival of morality and a return to its founding principles.  Some Christians say that we should just abandon ship and only focus on the Ship of Zion.  Well, if America is “going to h*** in a hand-basket,” then we need to do what only a people with a will can do…get out of the basket!

To be able to elect who we want to lead our country is an unbelievable privilege.  Just stop and think about it.  How many countries have come and gone which had a form of government which was set up to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people?”  How many billions live in subjection this very moment to a dictator or tyrant, or even a king?  We have been given a sacred treasure in our Constitution, one which was purchased with the lives, fortunes, and sacred honor of our founding forefathers.  Are we to treat such a priceless gift with flippancy and disrespect?  I hope not, but so many do.

Don’t give up on America, guys.  The journey is not over. This nation is not like all of the ones which have come and gone.  We are unique in our founding, our foundations, and our Founders.  The United States is not like any nation before it, and there is none like it today.  We have the rarest of abilities in that WE can decide who will lead us.  WE can decide what laws we will accept.  WE can decide the moral direction of this nation, for WE are the power and the authority to whom our leaders are accountable.  God, through His providence, allowed our founding fathers to create a Constitution which spells out the divinely given rights of the people, not of kings.  WE ratified our Constitution and Bill of Rights.  WE elect those to whom WE give the authority to govern.  WE can decide when enough is ENOUGH.

God-fearing men and women forged an uncharted, untravelled path when they chose to wade through the pain and suffering of building America.  They fought for freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  The took what was NOT and brought it into BEING.  What is NOT right now, can BE AGAIN.  All it will take is the same level of sacrifice that our forefathers were willing to give.  The United States, “one nation under God,” does not have to cease to exist, or continue to decline….WE can decide right now that WE will begin again as WE did before, so help us God.

What is the answer?  Revival.

The reason we need revival can be found in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”  Are the righteous in authority?  They could be.  They should be.  Otherwise the people will mourn.

Who are the ones in authority?  Well, in one sense, it is people like our President, or our congressmen, senators, or judges.  The context of this verse of Scripture would definitely imply that.  But, again, America is different.  We the people have no king or dictator.  No princes rule over us.  We are ruled by Law.  We are self-governed.  WE are in authority.  So the question then is this:  Are the people of the United States righteous?  The answer to that has to be an unquestionable “no.”  If the government, then, is of the people, and if the people are wicked, the nation will mourn, not rejoice.

Turn, therefore, oh citizens of this great land.  Turn back to the paths from which you have strayed; to the paths hewn from the wilderness by honorable, moral, God-fearing men and women.  Walk in those paths and follow in the footsteps of those like Washington and Lincoln.  We don’t need to see every man and woman in the country turn to Christ as their Savior.  Not every founding father was aborn-again Christian.  However, the overwhelming majority were men and women who knew that this great nation did not come about by chance, nor simply by the strength of men, but by the Providence of a guiding Hand.  Turn, therefore, back to the God that brought this nation into being, and can just as easily revive it from the dust heap of irrelevance. “WE THE PEOPLE” are in authority, so WE need to get our act together and elect men and women who will do what a righteous people demand.  It can start with just a few.  It can start with YOU.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(4th verse, National Anthem)

P.S. For all of you who doubt that the founding of this nation was based on the faith of Christianity, please refer to the above verse, and the comments from the Supreme Court in The Church of the Holy Trinity vs. The United States, 1892.  Oh, how far we have come.

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